Essential Skills Guidance
Standards Review and Revision Committee Resource Developed by:
CDE Competencies and Skills Internal Support Team
- Floyd Cobb, Executive Director, Teaching and Learning
- Melissa Colsman, Associate Commissioner, Division of Student Learning
- Karol Gates, Director, Office of Standards and Instructional Support
- Nancie Linville, Retired Director, Office of Early Learning & School Readiness
- Roseyn Hood, Special Assistant to the Commissioner
- Scott Ross, Director, Office of Learning Supports
- Robin Russel, Graduation Guidelines Manager, Office of Postsecondary and Workforce Readiness
- Misti Ruthven, Director, Office of Postsecondary Readiness
- Becky Russell, School Library/Digital Literacy Instructional Specialist, State Library
- Sharon Triolo-Moloney, Retired P-3 Alignment Director
Colorado Essential Skills
Purpose:
In 2008, Colorado passed legislation (Senate Bill 212, also known as CAP4K) that requires the State Board of Education to adopt content standards that prepare students for the 21st century workforce and for active citizenship upon receiving a high school diploma. In addition to the requirement that students meet those content standards, students must also (to the extent practicable) develop and demonstrate skills (Fig. 1) essential for success in professional life. The same law also requires a revision to the Colorado Academic standards by July 1, 2018, and every six years thereafter.
During the 2008-10 standards development process, these skills were referred to as “21st Century Skills.” However, the standards review and revision process created an opportunity for these skills to be revisited and clarified. In an effort to update Colorado’s 21st Century Skills and better align these skills from preschool through postsecondary, the Colorado Department of Education brought together a cross-unit team of specialists to create this Essential Skills Guidance Resource document that would serve as a supplement to the revised Colorado Academic Standards. The intention of this guiding document is to clearly identify how these statutorily identified skills manifest in early childhood and continue through their postsecondary pursuits leading to in-demand employment skills. Developmentally appropriate support for these skills should occur in all subject areas throughout students’ academic careers. Understanding the importance of these skills is the first step in achieving life-long success for all students.
Essential Skills Framework Development:
The framework for the Essential Skills document was influenced by the groundwork laid by the in-demand skills identified in the 2015 Colorado Talent Pipeline Report (PDF). The Pipeline report was authored by the Colorado Workforce Development Council in partnership with a number of state agencies[1]. The goal of this publication was to explore Colorado jobs that have high growth rates in an effort to better align student skills with behaviors necessary for successful employment in Colorado. To that end, the group “… identified 20 core skills necessary to enter the workforce or continue education beyond high school; these include skills such as critical thinking, creativity, self-direction, cultural awareness, time management and self-advocacy” (CWDC, 2016, p. 5). These skills were grouped under four core categories of Entrepreneurial, Personal, Civic/Interpersonal and Professional skills to add greater clarity to the dispositions that all graduates should demonstrate. This Essential Skills document uses these core skills categories to group the essential P – 12 academic skills from CAP4K to enable focus on the development of postsecondary and workforce skills that Colorado graduates should demonstrate.
Figure 1: Essential Skills Required in the Colorado Academic Standards
- creativity and innovation skills;
- critical-thinking and problem-solving skills
- communication and collaboration skills; social and cultural awareness; civic engagement
- initiative and self-direction;
- flexibility;
- productivity and accountability;
- character and leadership;
- the ability to use the information and communications technologies to find, evaluate, create and communicate information
As this document was in the process of refinement, CDE sought feedback from the public and other statewide participants in business and industry, education, non-profit organizations and government sectors. This process occurred throughout 2017, helping to improve the final version of this resource guide.
The Essential Skills resource document has been developed to ensure that the core skills can be meaningfully applied regardless of age/grade. The framework relies upon the Dreyfus model (Dreyfus & Dreyfus, 1980, 2005) which delineates the acquisition of skills from Novice, Advanced Beginner, Competent, Proficient and Expert. The model “… describes changes in skill performance as moving from reliance on rules, to analysis, toward intuition based on past experience” (Maine Department of Education (n.d.), p.iii).
With the understanding that these skills must incorporate developmental stages relevant for a preschool-12 audience, the Dreyfus model has been modified to Novice, Advanced Beginner, Strategic Learner and Emerging Expert, which are also found in a similar document produced by the Maine Department of Education (Maine Department of Education (n.d.), p.iii). The demonstration of each of these essential skills are cumulative as indicated by the word and that resides at the beginning of each subsequent indicator. For example, an advanced beginner in the informed risk-taking category under personal skills should be able to “demonstrate a willingness to try new things, and demonstrate flexibility, imagination and inventiveness in taking on tasks and activities.”
Personal Skills[2]
A Colorado graduate demonstrates personal skills through self-awareness, initiative and self-direction, personal responsibility and self-management, adaptability and flexibility, and perseverance and resilience. A student with these skills can:
|
|
Novice |
Advanced Beginner |
Strategic Learner |
Emerging Expert |
|
Self-Awareness |
Accurately recognize one’s own emotions, thoughts and values and how they influence behavior |
… and appropriately express one’s own emotions, thoughts and values and identify how they influence behavior |
… and assess personal strengths and limitations, with a well-grounded sense of confidence, optimism and a ‘growth mindset’ |
… and adapt to environments with appropriate emotions and behaviors, demonstrate personal awareness through the development of positive relationships |
|
Initiative/ Self-Direction |
Recognize personal characteristics, preferences, thoughts and strengths |
… and pursue opportunities to engage and learn interests |
… and apply knowledge to set goals, make informed decisions and transfer to new contexts |
… and make responsibility for and pursue opportunities |
|
Personal Responsibility |
Handle impulses and behavior with minimal direction |
… and discern differences of effective and ineffective processes, communication and tasks |
… and regulate one’s emotions, thoughts and behaviors in different situations |
… and develop, plan and organize self-behavior |
|
Adaptability/ Flexibility |
Recognize emotional response to ideas that differ from one’s own |
… and regulate reactions to differing perspectives |
… and look for and value in different perspectives expressed by others |
… and demonstrate ways to adapt and reach workable solutions |
|
Perseverance/ Resilience |
Resist distractions, maintain attention, and continue the task at hand through frustration or challenges |
… and set goals and develop strategies to remain focused on learning goals |
… and focus on learning goals by employing motivation and familiar strategies for engagement and evaluate progress, making necessary changes to stay the course |
… and work effectively in a climate of ambiguity and changing priorities |
Entrepreneurial Skills[3]
A Colorado graduate demonstrates entrepreneurial skills through critical thinking and problem-solving, creativity and innovation, inquiry and analysis, and risk-taking. A student with these skills can:
|
|
Novice |
Advanced Beginner |
Strategic Learner |
Emerging Expert |
| Critical Thinking/ Problem Solving |
Recognize that problems can be identified and possible solutions can be generated |
… and define the problem using a variety of strategies |
… and make connections between information gathered and personal experiences to apply and/or test solutions |
… and “interpret information and draw conclusions based upon information gathered to formulate a new problem.”[4] |
|
Creativity/ Innovation |
Demonstrate curiosity, imagination and eagerness to learn more |
… and build on personal experience to specify a challenging problem to investigate |
… and engage in novel approaches, moves, directions, ideas and/or perspectives |
… and synthesize ideas in original and surprising ways |
|
Inquiry/ Analysis |
Recognize and describe cause-and-effect relationships and patterns in everyday experiences |
… and investigate to form hypotheses, make observations and draw conclusions |
… and test hypotheses/prototype with planned process for getting feedback |
… and make predictions and design data/information collection and analysis strategies |
|
Informed Risk Taking |
Demonstrate a willingness to try new things |
… and demonstrate flexibility, imagination and inventiveness in taking on tasks and activities |
… and innovate from failure, connect learning across domains and recognize new opportunities |
… and act on creative ideas to make a tangible and useful contribution |
Civic/Interpersonal Skills[5]
A Colorado graduate demonstrates civic/interpersonal skills through collaboration and teamwork, strong communication skills, global and cultural awareness, civic engagement and strong character. A student with these skills can:
|
|
Novice |
Advanced Beginner |
Strategic Learner |
Emerging Expert |
| Collaboration/ Teamwork |
Recognize how personal actions have had a positive or negative impact on others with feedback as needed |
… and recognize how members of a community rely on each other, considering personal contributions as applicable |
… and “follow a process identified by others to help generate ideas, negotiate roles and responsibilities, and respects consensus in decision making”[6] |
… and use interpersonal skills to learn and work with individuals from diverse backgrounds |
|
Communication (using information and communications technologies) |
Articulate personal strengths and challenges using different forms of communication to express oneself |
… and consider purpose, formality of context and audience, and distinct cultural norms when planning content, mode, delivery and expression |
… and “establish goals for communication and plan out steps accordingly”[7] |
… and articulate thoughts and ideas effectively using oral, written and nonverbal communication skills in a variety of forms and contexts (including multi-lingual) |
|
Global/ Cultural Awareness |
Compare attitudes and beliefs as an individual to others |
… and identify and explain multiple perspectives (cultural, global) when exploring events, ideas and issues |
… and plan and evaluate complex solutions to global challenges that are appropriate to their contexts using multiple disciplinary perspectives (such as cultural, historical and scientific) |
… and apply knowledge and skills to implement sophisticated, appropriate and workable solutions to address complex global problems using interdisciplinary perspectives independently or with others |
|
Civic Engagement |
Identify and reflect upon personal connections to community systems |
… and connect knowledge (facts, theories, etc.) from personal ideas and understandings to civic engagement |
… and participate in social or community activities |
… and “participate effectively in civic life”[8] |
|
Character |
Demonstrate an understanding of cause and effect related to personal decisions |
… and state a position and reflect on possible objections to, assumptions and implications of the position |
… and apply ethical perspectives/ concepts to an ethical question/ situation/ scenario |
… and “apply a fundamental understanding of the ethical/legal issues in many context including the access and use of information”[9] |
Professional Skills[10]
A Colorado graduate demonstrates professional skills through task and time management, career awareness, information literacy, productivity and accountability, self-advocacy and leadership. A student with these skills can:
|
|
Novice |
Advanced Beginner |
Strategic Learner |
Emerging Expert |
| Task/ Time Management |
Articulate task requirements and identify deadlines |
… and develop and utilize basic task and time-management strategies effectively |
… and demonstrate task-management attributes associated with producing high-quality products including the abilities to:
|
… and set personal goals and take responsibility for those goals through reflection upon prior outcomes |
|
Career Awareness |
Ask questions and learn more about careers and other life pursuits |
… and connect careers and other life pursuits to personal interest |
… and “pursue a path of inquiry initiated by personal connections to careers and other life pursuits”[11] |
… and demonstrate knowledge, understanding and personal awareness of how one’s dreams and interests translate into career fulfillment and career pathways available in local, regional, national and global arenas |
|
Information Literacy |
Articulate the most effective options to access information needed for a specific purpose |
… and identify and evaluate key attributes of a variety of information sources (e.g., books, newspapers, online or print articles, social media) for validity |
… and “examine how individuals interpret messages differently, how values and points of view are included or excluded, and how media can influence beliefs and behaviors”[12] |
… and “analyze both how and why media messages are constructed and for what purposes,”[13] and use information accurately, ethically and creatively for the issue or problem at hand |
|
Use Information and Communications Technologies |
Find information through the use of technologies |
… and communicate information through the use of technologies |
… and evaluate information through the use of technologies |
… and create information through the use of technologies |
|
Self-Advocacy |
Appropriately express a range of emotions to communicate personal ideas/needs |
… and ask questions to develop further personal understanding |
… and demonstrate confidence in sharing ideas/feelings |
… and demonstrate an accurate and clear sense of goals, abilities, needs and know how to request and/or acquire them |
|
Leadership |
Model positive behaviors for others |
… and demonstrate leadership skills (e.g., organizing others, taking initiative, team-building) |
… and demonstrate confidence while recognizing that personal actions impact others |
…and educate and inspire others to realize their potential |
Footnotes
[1] Department of Higher Education; Department of Education; Department of Labor and Employment; Office of Economic Development and International Trade; Office of State Planning and Budgeting; State Demography Office at the Department of Local Affairs.
[2] The Personal Skills chart draws heavily from The Partnership for 21st Century Skills (2009) and Maine Department of Education (n.d.).
[3] The Entrepreneurial Skills chart draws heavily from The Partnership for 21st Century Skills (2009) and Maine Department of Education (n.d.).
[4] The Partnership for 21st Century Skills (2009). P21 framework definitions. Retrieved from http://www.p21.org/storage/documents/docs/P21_Framework_Definitions_New_Logo_2015.pdf
[5] The Civic/Interpersonal Skills chart draws heavily from The Partnership for 21st Century Skills (2009) and Maine Department of Education (n.d.).
[6] Maine Department of Education (n.d.). Understanding Maine’s Guiding Principles report, p.22.
[7] Ibid, p. 3
[8] The Partnership for 21st Century Skills (2009). P21 framework definitions. Retrieved from http://www.p21.org/storage/documents/docs/P21_Framework_Definitions_New_Logo_2015.pdf
[9] ibid p. 2
[10] The Professional Skills chart draws heavily from The Partnership for 21st Century Skills (2009) and Maine Department of Education (n.d.).
[11] Maine Department of Education (n.d.). Understanding Maine’s Guiding Principles report, p.26.
[12] The Partnership for 21st Century Skills (2009). P21 framework definitions, p.5. Retrieved from
http://www.p21.org/storage/documents/docs/P21_Framework_Definitions_New_Logo_2015.pdf
[13] ibid p. 5
References
Association of American Colleges and Universities (2010). Civic Engagement VALUE Rubric. Retrieved from https://www.aacu.org/civic-engagement-value-rubric
Association of American Colleges and Universities (2010). Oral Communication VALUE Rubric. Retrieved from https://www.aacu.org/value/rubrics/oral-communication
Association of American Colleges and Universities (2010). Written Communication VALUE Rubric. Retrieved from http://www.aacu.org/value/rubrics/WrittenCommunication.cfm
Association of American Colleges and Universities (n.d.). Problem Solving VALUE Rubric. Retrieved from http://www.aacu.org/value/rubrics/problem-solving
Colorado Department of Education (2016). ICAP Quality Indicators. Retrieved from https://www.cde.state.co.us/postsecondary/hsqualityindicatorsandelements
Colorado Department of Education (n.d.). Early Learning Development Guidelines. Retrieved from http://www.cde.state.co.us/sites/default/files/Early%20Learning%20Guidelines.pdf
Colorado Department of Education (n.d.). State Model Evaluation System for Teachers. Retrieved from http://www.cde.state.co.us/educatoreffectiveness/smes-teacher#teacherrubric
Colorado Workforce Development Council (2016). Colorado Talent Pipeline Report. Retrieved from https://www.colorado.gov/pacific/cwdc/colorado-talent-pipeline-report
Dreyfus, S. E. & Dreyfus, H. L. (1980). A five-stage model of the mental activities involved in directed skill acquisition (No. ORC-80-2). Berkeley, CA: University of California Operations Research Center.
EnGauge (2010). EnGauge 21st Century Skills. Retrieved from http://pict.sdsu.edu/engauge21st.pdf
Maine Department of Education (n.d.). Understanding Maine’s Guiding Principles report.
The Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (2015). Core competencies document. Retrieved from http://www.casel.org/core-competencies/
The College Board (2014). P21 report for Arts Education. New York, NY: Retrieved from http://www.nationalartsstandards.org/sites/default/files/College%20Board%20Research-%20%20P21%20Report.pdf
The Partnership for 21st Century Skills (2009). P21 framework definitions. Retrieved from http://www.p21.org/storage/documents/docs/P21_Framework_Definitions_New_Logo_2015.pdf
Wiggins, G (2009). Creativity Rubric. Retrieved from https://grantwiggins.files.wordpress.com/2012/02/creative.pdf
