EDU 7211SEAN FOX

CARRIE MCDERMOTT

A Quantitative Analysis of the Technology Available for

21st Century Skills

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Statement of the Problem

In a time where economic tension is turgid, and financial frugality has become commonplace, schools are in need of exemplary leadership.  In an attempt to combat the losses yielded by the recession, districts need to diagnose the elements that successfully utilize 21st century learning skills, in accordance with current standards in order to broadcast those skills to schools in search of reform.

Research Overview

Education has undergone prolific changes since the birth of this nation. Education has frequently changed to accommodate the growing needs of society. Systematic changes are evident in each of these reforms: Common Schools Progressive Movement Great Society Programs Excellence Reform 21st Century Learning

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Common Schools

The first educational movement, according to Elmore (1987) was the growth of the common school in the nineteenth century.

Education was centered on morality, religion, and knowledge and considered to be essential tools necessary to maintain a regimented and successful democracy separate and apart from England’s influence.

This movement started paving the way for publicly funded education.

According to Kaestle (1983), “educators of this period stressed the traditional goals of American schooling; intelligent citizenship, industrious habits, and upright behavior (64).

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Turn of the Century and a Need for Change…

Problems with common schools helped pave the way for a profound movement with new emphasis.

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Progressive Education

There were two phases: Change was needed to shift society and provide

greater opportunities for democratic living. Development of pedagogical theories and

curriculum to strengthen education. Both psychological and political methodology

was infused into education by Dewey. Dewey believed the purpose of education was

to develop intellectual abilities. He equated thinking with problem solving and

maintained that learning was achieved by doing. According to Wyett (1998), the emergence of

vocational education, school laboratories, home economics, and physical education of the need for giving more attention to the interests and needs

of students (153).

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Great Society Programs

Great Society programs were implemented by Lyndon Johnson to help better the lives of Americans, especially the economically disadvantaged.

These programs focused on educational equity and included a resurgence of standardized curriculum.

The Elementary and Secondary Act of 1065, Head Start, Volunteers in

Service to Americans (VISTA), and the Economic Opportunity Act of 1964 were all school-centered ideas implemented during this time.

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The 1980s Protracted Change…

The current state of education was under the microscope with the release of “A Nation at Risk.” At-risk students, at-risk parents,

at-risk educators, at-risk legislators, at-risk school boards members, and at-risk communities left the public startled and unsettled.

Schools across the country were criticized for underperformance.

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Excellence Reform

According to Crosby (1993), the text of a Nation at Risk told Americans, “If an unfriendly foreign power had attempted to impose on America the mediocre educational performance that exists today, we might well have viewed it as an act of war.”

Five central areas of concern were noted in the report “A Nation at Risk,” content, standards and expectations, time, leadership, fiscal support, and teaching.

The secondary classroom environment was altered first with an infusion of technology, followed by the adoption of more rigorous standards, and significantly more time dedicated to studying the basics. High school graduation requirements were strengthened and all students seeking a diploma were required to take four years of English; three years of mathematics, science, and social studies; and at least one semester of computer science.”

In 1981, Market Data retrieval reported 18% of schools had computers.

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Global Influence Demands Change…

The world our current education system was designed for is very different from the world we currently reside.

Reports conducted by the Secretary’s Commission on Achieving Necessary Skills (SCANS) indicated that the standard of living in the United States was jeopardized unless immediate changes were made to education and workforce preparation (NCEE, 1990; SCANS 1991)

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21st Century Learning

The challenges of educating today’s child are compounded by the pressures of society and the innovation of a global market in which the face of the workplace has changed.

The school system must be relevant and equipped to prepare future generations with the tools necessary to be successful. Critical thinking and problems solving skills are essential elements of the next generation of schools.

Schrum and Levin (2009) highlighted Bruce Mehlman, Assistant Secretary for Technology Policy, comments on education, “Raised amidst pervasive, multi-gigabit wireless networks, the high school class of 2030 will be a truly digital generation, more empowered - and more challenged - than any who have come before. Information and communications technologies are changing everything, transforming organizations,  and redefining the skills and talents needed to succeed in the 21st century (31).”

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Methodology

The methodology used for this study was a quantitative analysis of an extensive survey created by the National Center for Education Statistics and comprised of various academic inquiries synthesized through SPSS.

SPSS, a product of IBM, is a data mining software designed to target specific functions of statistical research.

The targeted functions used in this study were …..

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Data Collection

A survey was administered to determine the technological integration among schools in Suffolk county.

The survey was intended to gauge the level of technological fluency in a given district, showcasing strengths and highlighting weaknesses.

The end result was an identification of districts who adequately exhibit skills to properly implement 21st century learning.

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Data Findings

Data Findings

Conclusions

Recommendations

References

Allen, L. (2008).  The technology implications of a nation at risk: A nation at risk issued a warning that schools were not preparing students to meet the country’s “demand forhighly skilled workers in new fields.”  Phi Delta Kappan, 608-611.Bell, T. (1993).  Reflections one decade after a nation at risk.  Phi Delta Kappan,  592-599.Berube, M.R. (1994).  American school reform: Progressive, equity, and excellence movements, 1883- 1993.  Westport, CT: Praeger.  Berube, Mr. R. & Berube, C. T. (2007).  The end of school reform.  Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.  Blake, S. (2008).  A nation at risk and the blind men: When a nation at risk appeared, everyone saw school reform through a lens of preconceived ideas about teaching and learning.  Phi Delta Kappan, 601-604.Bloom, J.M. (1987).  Class, race, and the civil rights movement.  Bloomington: Indiana University Press.Brown-Collier, E. (2002).  Johnson’s great society: Its legacy in the 1990’s.  Review of Social Economy, 259-268.Casey, L., Bicard, D., Bicard, S., and Nichols, S.(2008).  A much delayed response to a nation at risk: Recent innovations in general and special educations. Phi Delta Kappan, 593-596.Cohen, D.K. & Barnes, C.A. (1993).  Pedagogy and policy.  Teaching for understanding: Challenges for policy and practice.  Cohen, D.K., Mclaughlin, M.W., and Talbert J.E., San Francisco: Jossey Bass: 207-239.

References

Coleman, J. (1985).  Schools and the communities they serve.  Phi Delta Kappan, 527-532.Collin, A. & Halverson, R. (2009) Rethinking education in the age of technology. New York, NY: Teachers College Press.  Clark, K. (2010, January). States are leading the way on shared approaches.  U.S. News & World Report, 147(1), 23.Crosby, E. (1993).  The ‘at-risk’ decade. Phi Delta Kappan, 598-605.Eisner, E. (2001).  What does it mean to say a school is doing well?  Phi Delta Kappan, 367- 376.Friedman, T. (2005).  The world is flat: A brief history of the twenty-first century.  New York, NY:  Farrar, Strauss & Giroux.Friedman, T. (2007).  The world is flat: A brief history of the twenty-first century.   Expanded edition.  New York, NY: Farrar, Strauss & Giroux.Fullan, M. (2001).  Leading in a culture of change.  San Francisco, CA: Jossey Bass.Gordon, K. (ed.) (1968).  Agenda for the nation, Washington: The brookings institution.Generals, D. (2000).  Booker T. Washington and progressive education: An experimentalist approach to curriculum development and reform.  The Journal of         Negro Education, 69 (3), 215- 232.  Hammill, G., (2005, winter/spring). Mixing and managing four generations of employees.    Farleigh Dickenson University Magazine, Online.  Retrieved from     http://www.fdu.edu/newspubs/magazine/05ws/generations/htm

Hargreaves, A., & Dawe, R. (1990).  Paths of professional development:  Contrived collegiality, collaborative culture, and the case of peer coaching.  Teaching & Teacher Education, 6, 227- 241.

References

Hargreaves, A., & Fink, D. (2006).  Sustainable leadership.  San Francisco, CA: Jossey- Bass.      Hargrove, T., Walker, B., Huber, R., Corrigan, S., & Moore, C. (2004).  No teacher left behind: Supporting teachers as they implement standards-based reform in a test-based education environment.  Education, 567-571.    Hewitt, T. (2008).  Speculations on a nation at risk: Illusions and realities.  Phi Delta  Kappan, 575- 580.Kaestle, C.F. (1983).  Pillars of the republic.  New York: Hill and WangKaplowitz, C. (1998).  Struggles of the first ‘new democrat’:  Jimmy carter, youth employment policy and the great society legacy.  Presidential Studies Quarterly, 187-205.Kirsch, I., Braun H., Yamamoto, K., & Sum, A. (2007).  America’s perfect storm: Three forces changing our nation’s future.  Princeton, NJ.  Educational Testing Service.Leithwood, K. A., & Riehl, C.  (2003).  What we know about successful school leadership.  Philadelphia, PA:  Laboratory for Student Success, Temple  University. Loveless, T. (2009, August 8). Smart child left behind. New York Times, 14. Medina, Jennifer (2010, April 13).  Bill would allow layoffs of teachers with seniority.  The New York Times, pp. A1, A21.Marzano, R.; Waters, T.; & McNulty, B. (2005).  School leadership that works:  From research to results.  Alexandria, VA:  Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development and Aurora, CO: Mid-Continent Research for Education and Learning.Maurizio, Amelia; Wilson, John (2004).  Policymakers and 21st century skills.  T.H.E. Journal 32 (1), 28-30.

References

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