Finding a way to effectively assess and teach 21st-century skills can be a powerful foundation for reform in assessment, curricula and classroom learning.

Innovations

Although there have been many efforts to test students’ progress in schools and define new skills and curriculum, such efforts to date have been limited to local, regional and national initiatives. ATC21S represents an international effort to broker common standards, assessments and terminology in 21st-century skills around the world.

What ATC21S Will Deliver

Formative and Summative Assessments

ATC21S is developing an assessment framework to map how students learn these two specific skills: collaborative problem-solving and ICT literacy — learning in digital networks. The results will provide resources for policy-makers and teachers to guide students’ problem-solving and digital capabilities.

These assessments will allow education jurisdictions to evaluate student achievement, identify gaps in development or competence, and see where they may need to invest in curriculum change.

A Structure for Timely Data Gathering

ATC21S’ assessment structure will allow for fast feedback. The data will shorten timeframes for policy and curriculum decisions and allow for monitoring of system-level achievements in 21st-century skills. The project is also working to identify the kinds of data that educational jurisdictions need to inform those strategic decisions.

Research Findings

The research underpinning the project will be published in educational white papers, journals and books to ensure that the approach and the materials stand up to international academic scrutiny. A country toolkit will also be made available for governments to more easily consume the research deliverables and enable them to scale and apply the learning’s locally.

Resources for Policy-Makers and Educators

The final product of the project will be a resource kit placed in the public domain to help others replicate the work, including the following:

  • Conceptual white papers. Five white papers covering 21st-century skills, methodical issues, technical challenges with computer-based assessments, classroom and formative evaluation, and policy frameworks.  These white papers are available on our white paper page.
  • Exemplar tasks. Prototypes to make it clear what the assessment might resemble.
  • Theoretical frameworks. Defining and explaining the theory behind the skills being assessed.
  • Learning progressions. Defining what teachers will see as students’ skills improve and ways to help them progress.
  • Formative assessment advice. Intervention and lesson-plan recommendations based on input from teachers.
  • Summative assessment data. Aggregated data to inform decision-making and policy.
  • Case studies. Examples from countries implementing the assessment and teaching materials.
  • Technical requirements. Bandwidth, software, hardware and administrative procedures.
  • Platform of delivery. Information on how delivery systems might be constructed and used.
  • Policy framework. Recommendations for effective policy changes to support 21st-century skills initiatives.
  • ATC21S White Papers »

    ATC21S’ foundational research, written by more than 60 of the world’s top education researchers.
  • 21st-Century Skills »

    Learn about the critical skills students need to be successful in the digital age and beyond.
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