Strategies California Superintendents Use to Implement 21st Century Skills Programs
Abstract
The purpose of this study was to identify strategies used by California superintendents to
implement 21st Century Skills programs in their districts. More specifically, the study
attempted to discover (a) what strategies do superintendents use to develop 21st Century Skills
in their district?, (b) What indicators do superintendents use to evaluate the implementation of
21st Century Skills in their district?, (c) How do superintendents include key stakeholders in
their implementation of 21st Century Skills? This study employed a mixed methods approach
in which 22 superintendents throughout the state of California completed surveys. Among the
superintendents who completed the survey, 10 participated in a semi-structured interview.
Finally, the participating superintendents presented documents for analysis. Triangulation of
the data was used to generate answers to the research questions. The following are some of
the key findings of the study. First, the most common method for implementing 21st Century
Skills is Project Based Learning. Second, superintendents use professional development
methods to build their district’s capacity such as: professional learning communities,
instructional coaching, and train the trainer model. Fourth, superintendents used numerous
formative and summative measures to evaluate their district’s 21st Century Skills
implementation (e.g., graduation rates and portfolio assessments). Fifth, superintendents
evaluated their districts implementation of 21st Century Skills by collecting feedback from key
stakeholders (e.g., principals, teachers, and parents). The results of this study present
strategies that support the development of 21st Century Skills but will require future research to
confirm their effect on student achievement.