A week or so ago I posted on my visit with Pam Moran and the senior admin team of Albermarle County Public Schools. I mentioned a very clear figure they showed me that they use to articulate the “sweet spot” we are aiming for when we use the (dreaded) term 21C skills. With thanks, their permission, and all credit to Albermarle County Public Schools, here it is. Many of us have used a two axis argument: content and context, or rigor and relationships, in this figure. Including relevance is critical: if the students are not engaged with why they are at school, and why a new method of learning is needed, the rest is a bust. We have focused on the rigor (content) axis for years; we have made some progress on the relationships (context) axis; let’s make sure we get to the sweet spot by including measures and progress on the relevance axis.
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