Why Defining Readiness Matters in Education

Concrete meanings of “postsecondary success” and “life readiness” vary among, and even within, sectors.

“Postsecondary success” typically is defined as completion of an education program after high school graduation.

“Life readiness” refers to a broader view that blends aspects of college and career preparation with 21st century cognitive skills. This integrated approach is essential, experts say, for students to incorporate lifelong learning as a basic life skill necessary to thrive in the globally and digitally connected 21st century.

The Partnership for 21st Century Learning (P21) is leading a global conversation about what 21st century learning looks like in and beyond school. The P21 Framework defines readiness as when a student succeeds “in a world where change is constant and learning never stops.”³

The Education Foundation subscribes to the broader definition of readiness as the most effective approach for our students’ immediate and future success. That is why we are gearing our actions toward dialing our community into the ongoing global conversation about how we can complement each other’s efforts and provide the competencies that students need to thrive in school and compete in college and the workforce.

The concept of 21st century skills is not new. There is almost universal acknowledgement that students today need more than basic subject matter and tools of technology.

Mickey Revenaugh, board chair of the International Association for K-12 Online Learning, writing for Pearson Global School Resources, compared college and career readiness in the 20th and 21st centuries:

“Back in the 20th century, ‘college readiness’ and ‘career readiness’ were two fairly distinct things. They defined secondary school life by sending some kids down one path and some down another, and those paths rarely crossed. And nobody gave a serious thought to any of this much before ninth grade.

“In this new world of ours, every single one of our students needs postsecondary education. . . Even the most highly skilled and tightly focused of our young people will need to retool, adapt, and restart many times over the span of their lives.”⁴

At minimum, students need to be taught the “Four Cs” — critical thinking for problem-solving; communication; collaboration; and creativity for innovating⁵ ⁶. Our constant connection to the world’s societies has led many experts to add cultural competency and global citizenship to the list.⁷

Learning these competencies and related executive functions, starting in early childhood, is seen as key to helping a student advance through the education continuum and beyond to college, career and life success.⁸

In a recent survey of business decision-makers conducted by Zogby Analytics, 62 percent of respondents reported experiencing more difficulty finding job candidates with adequate social-emotional skills than candidates with adequate technical skills, and 88 percent agreed that there will be an increasing need for future employees to bring those skills to the workplace.⁹

Education experts encourage schools to embrace the imperatives of an integrated life readiness approach by:

· empowering students to begin envisioning their futures before high school by leveraging digital learning and technology and expanding transition support and real-world experiences for K-8.
· blending “college readiness” and “career readiness” to give all our students real options for learning success in school and life success after high school. That means creating new personalized learning pathways that combine academic curriculum with real-world experiences.¹⁰
· fostering a student-centered environment that encourages students to become more intrinsically motivated, self-directed learners.¹¹

School systems that have adopted innovative 21st century approaches have seen improvements in student proficiency.¹²

Thanks to the efforts and leadership of educators, policymakers, employers, philanthropists, and a community committed to its schools, Sarasota County has well-regarded and high-performing public schools.

Among the district’s improvements are increases in language arts and mathematics proficiency, higher rates of FAFSA completions and high school graduation, and lower absenteeism.¹³ ¹⁴

As community and student advocates, we all have work to do in key areas where student performance along the continuum is a primary indicator of overall success.

That is why we partner with institutions, community organizations, colleges, businesses and educators that are engaging in rigorous research to identify roadblocks impeding student readiness and creating innovative initiatives that spur improvements.

By investing our energies in helping solve communal problems, we are changing the trajectory of all students’ lifelong learning journeys.