21st Century Wake Up Call for Middle Schoolers

America's grim economic situation is only made grimer by the fact that our high school and college graduates are not prepared for the global work force. As if all the reports during the last 15 years concerning poor student preparedness (Nation at Risk, 1983, 1999) have not been enough to jolt us out of our complacency, the current economic downturn is a wake up call, and we have been hitting the snooze button for too long.

The University of Oklahoma's instructional blog, Pii, recently published the findings of a survey by Washington D.C. based Peter Hart Research Associates, who interviewed 301 businesses concerning entry-level college graduates in their firms. The findings showed that graduates were deemed ready for entry level positions, but did not appear to have the qualities to advance them in the organization.

That seems normal. Few 22-year-olds possess the same abilities as someone who has put in that Rule of 10,000 hours we have been talking about recently. But what the study found grads were deficient in were the kind of 21st century skills we have been talking about in education for at least ten years. Students were most lacking in global knowledge, critical thinking, self-direction, adaptability, and writing skills.

Writing skills? That one threw me, especially since America's high school students do relatively well on the writing assessment on the No Child Left Behind tests. Interestingly, what the corporate CEO's advised colleges to do is GIVE MORE ESSAY TESTS. A really "old school," low tech answer, given all our computer technology, but hey, the countries coming up from behind us - particularly China - are about as old school as you can get. They still hold high expectations for their graduates, along with honor, parental support, and valuing intelligence and education.

On the last Third International Math and Science Study, the top four scoring countries were Singapore, Taiwan, South Korea, and Hong Kong. Students tested were 13 years old. America fell to 12th place, indicating that to get our college graduates up to snuff on their global knowledge, critical thinking skills, and writing ability, we have to get our 13 year olds realigned first. And not just in math and science, but in all subjects.