DPI is making a big deal out of the fact that North Carolina has received the “21st Century Skills Practice of the Year Award” from a national organization, the Partnership for 21st Century Skills.
The Partnership wasted no time awarding North Carolina this honor. The “Practice of the Year,” North Carolina’s Writing Instruction System Pilot project, is less than a year old.
Moreover, in an April 22, 2009 memo, DPI folk wrote,
Feedback from the field regarding the new System has thus far been mixed, with several clear messages emerging regarding what needs to change to improve the System, the means by which it is implemented, and the manner in which DPI supports LEAs in their implementation.
So, the Partnership gave the “Practice of the Year Award” to North Carolina for an initiative that received “mixed” reviews from the field and will be changed accordingly. Perhaps most telling is the finding that school systems did their own thing. DPI staff found,
The purpose of the System was not always clear to LEAs. Consequently, LEAs have implemented the System in ways other than how it was intended. In many cases, this has taken the form of treating the assignments more as tightly controlled standardized assessments than as authentic, classroom writing assignments.
Now, back to that national organization, the Partnership for 21st Century Skills. They gave awards to only those states that participate in their programs – nobody else. In North Carolina, the North Carolina Business Committee for Education (NCBCE), which is located in the NC Governor’s Office, is the organization affiliated with the Partnership. Eight other states participate in PF21CS programs.
The bottom line: Among the nine states that work with the Partnership, six received the “21st Century Skills Practice of the Year Award.” And North Carolina received the award for a program that is less than a year old, received mixed reviews, will be changed, and was implemented improperly by school systems.
Got it.
