The Partnership for 21st Century Skills Officially Launches
The P21 Professional Development Affiliate Program
Program Continues to Forge a National Group
Of 21st Century Skills Professional Development Specialists
TUCSON, Ariz.-Jan. 30-The Partnership for 21st Century Skills officially launched the P21 Professional Development Affiliate program, which, to date, has trained 50 participants from 24 organizations on how to assist stakeholders in infusing 21st century skills into their education systems. The program plans to train 100 practitioners by the end of 2009.
The Affiliate program equips participants with the knowledge and tools necessary for aligning existing professional development offerings with the Partnership's Framework for 21st Learning - which makes clear the skills, knowledge and expertise students must master to succeed in work and life. The program also enables participants to help states, districts and schools combine core subject teaching and learning with 21st century skills, such as creativity, innovation and critical thinking.
"As more states join the Partnership and districts and schools investigate how to combine existing educational practices with 21st century skills, there is an increasing need for professional development programs that support this reform," said Paige Kuni, worldwide manager of K-12 education for Intel Corporation and chair of the Partnership for 21st Century Skills. "By forging a national network of providers that can assist educators in embedding 21st century skills into education, the Affiliate program fills this void."
The program is designed for national and regional organizations that provide training and professional development programs to school administrators and instructional leaders. Upon completion of the program, participants join a national community committed to infusing 21st century skills into K-12 instructional practices and sharing their work with colleagues.
"Through the Affiliate program, the Partnership provides a means for the country's leading suppliers of professional development services to infuse 21st century skills into their existing program models," said Ken Kay, president of the Partnership for 21st Century Skills. "The official launch of this program demonstrates the commitment the Partnership for 21st Century Skills has to creating the resources that will assist schools, districts and states in combining every aspect of their education system with 21st century skills."
The P21 Professional Development Affiliate program is part of the Partnership's coordinated effort to expand the body of knowledge and resources that support professional development in the area of 21st century skills. The next program will be offered in April and then in the fall. For more information on the program or the services offered by the P21 affiliates, visit the Partnership's Web site.
More than 50 people from 24 organizations participated in the program's official launch, including:
Apple (Nora Mallernee-Yokota, Gerry Smith)
Arizona K-12 Center (Kathy Weibke, Penny Kotterman, Taryl Hargens)
Atomic Learning (Jacki Kientzle, Andrea Carlson)
BrainSmart (Donna Wilson, Marcus Conyers)
Center for Education Innovation and Regional Economic Development (Bruce Connolly, Kathy Onarheim)
Council on 21st Century Learning (Stevan Kalmon, Dixie Good, Greg Wilborn)
Community Unit School District 200 (Ali Maggio-Beiermeister, Margo Sorrick)
Edvantia (John Putnam, Dr. John Ross)
The EdVenture Group (Lydotta Taylor, Carrie Calloway, Erika Shaffer)
EMints (Lorie Kaplan, Roxanne Kerwood)
Learning.com (Candace Peterson, Jeff Meyer)
Learning Point Associates (Gary Money, Dawn Dolby)
Metiri Group (Cheryl Lemke, Ed Coughlin)
Mid-Ohio Educational Service Center (Michael Cline, Christyne Pigman, Michael Wellin)
National Council of Teachers of English (Sharon Roth)
National Education Association (Tom Blanford)
Nobel Learning Communities (Patty Miler, Susan Race, Shari Anisman)
Pearson Teacher Education and Development Group (Dr. Keith Dunham, Dr. Mark Jamison, Adam Garry)
Public Consulting Group (Jim Flanagan, Julie Meltzer)
Quantum Learning Network (Steve Arrowood, Liesl Pykles, Amy Smith)
SEDL (Dr. Cheryl Harris, Danny Martinez, Laura Shankland)
SchoolKit (Beth Daynes, Adam Smith)
Verizon (ThinkFinity) (Jennifer Fritschi, LeeAnn Lindsey)
Virtual High School Global Consortium (Liz Pape, Neal Sonnenberg)
About the Partnership for 21st Century Skills: The Partnership for 21st Century Skills is the leading advocacy organization focused on infusing 21st century skills into education. The organization brings together the business community, education leaders, and policymakers to define a powerful vision for 21st century education to ensure every child's success as citizens and workers in the 21st century. The Partnership encourages schools, districts, and states to advocate for the infusion of 21st century skills into education and provides tools and resources to help facilitate and drive change.
21st Century Skills Leadership States include: Arizona, Iowa, Kansas, Maine, Massachusetts, New Jersey, North Carolina, South Dakota, Wisconsin and West Virginia.
Member organizations include: Adobe Systems, Inc., American Association of School Librarians, Apple, ASCD, Atomic Learning, Blackboard, Inc., Cable in the Classroom, Cisco Systems, Corporation for Public Broadcasting, Davis Publications, Dell, Inc., EF Education, Education Networks of America, Educational Testing Service, Ford Motor Company Fund, Gale, Cengage Learning, Hewlett Packard, Intel Corporation, JA Worldwide®, KnowledgeWorks Foundation, K12, Learning.com, Learning Point Associates, LEGO Group, Lenovo, Measured Progress, McGraw-Hill, Microsoft Corporation, National Education Association, Oracle Education Foundation, Pearson, PolyVision, Scholastic Education, Sesame Workshop, THINKronize, Verizon, and Wireless Generation. Organizations interested in joining the Partnership may contact info@21stcenturyskills.org.
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