This book about assessment reform is the collective output of a year of effort by five international working groups under the umbrella organization Assessment and Teaching of 21st Century Skills (ATC21S) at the University of Melbourne. The initiative is sponsored by Intel, Cisco, and Microsoft, and began as a task force in 2008.
The curious reader might choose to begin with the foreword, followed by an overview gained by reading the abstracts and scanning the section headings and extensive references in each of the six chapters. Thereafter, the book should be consulted on an as-needed basis.
The case for reform is made in the foreword: “But assessment only works if it is measuring the right things. Traditional assessment methods typically fail to measure the high-level skills, knowledge and attitudes and characteristics of self-directed and collaborative learning that are increasingly important for our global economy and fast-changing world.” The working groups were charged with analyzing the range of problems that inhibit assessment reform and specifying potential solutions that can advance assessment reform. The book is the product of phase one; subsequent work is intended to formulate and develop 21st century skills assessments.
Chapter 1 explores the changing role of education and schools, and describes the evolution of ATC21S. Chapter 2 organizes 21st century skills into four groups: ways of thinking, ways of working, tools for working, and living in the world. The model built from input from many countries around the globe is called KSAVE, which considers knowledge, skills, attitudes, values, and ethics.
Chapter 3 surveys the methodological perspectives through an examination of psychological and educational variables. It is the educational psychology of instrument development. Needless to say, it focuses on new tasks and the use of technology-based measurement tools. This is a long, technical chapter, of greatest value to people with expertise in the field. The next “chapter reviews the contribution of new information communication technologies to the advancement of educational assessment.” Most interesting are examples of research and development on technology-based assessment in different parts of the world. This chapter concludes with a brief discussion of potential themes for research projects.
Chapter 5 addresses new assessments and environments for knowledge building. It takes the reader back to the realm of educational psychology, presenting “a set of developmental sequences leading from entry-level capabilities to the abilities that characterize members of high-performing knowledge-creating teams.” The last chapter discusses policy frameworks for assessments that have been put into place in Australia, Finland, Singapore, and the UK. In particular, the focus is on instances where assessment measures mastery of 21st century skills and reports information at the national, state, and local levels.
Those who will obtain the greatest value from the book are policy makers, assessment developers, and scholars investigating 21st century skills and ways to measure them. It is difficult to read as a nonfiction book or as a textbook. This text works best as a reference to be consulted via its comprehensive index. In conclusion, the book is of particular value to people conducting research on revamping curriculum and assessment practices to meet the needs of 21st century society.
