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=Kansas Joins Partnership for 21st Century Skills= //Date: Friday, April 25, 2008 1:02 PM From: USA Office usaoffice@usa-ks.org//

The Partnership for 21st Century Skills, the nation’s leading advocacy organization focused on infusing 21st century skills into education, recently approved the Kansas application to join with seven other Leadership States in promoting 21st century teaching and learning skills for all students.

“We believe that the Partnership and its member states will assist in guiding us in our systemic and forward thinking educational improvement efforts. Additionally, as a national education leader, we believe the Kansas team can offer similarly important guidance to others as we tackle unprecedented challenges in educating students for success in an increasingly global and competitive society,” said Alexa Posny, Kansas Commissioner of Education.

The Kansas State Board of Education approved the submission of the Kansas application in December 2007. This initiative fits well with the guiding principles and nine Board motions supporting the integration of academics into career and technical education adopted at the February State Board meeting.

Accelerating technological advances, a rapidly changing knowledge base, an interconnected workforce, and an increasingly global society have all combined to make 21st century skills—global literacy, problem solving, innovation and creativity—essential for every student’s success. The Partnership for 21st Century Skills 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.

Governor Sebelius wrote in her letter to the Partnership Review Committee, “I am committed to working closely with Commissioner Posny, with the partnership and the key organizations and governors as we forge ahead to create innovative opportunities for our country, for Kansans and for all Kansas students.”

Member organizations include: Adobe Systems, Inc., American Association of School Librarians, Apple, AT&T, Blackboard, Inc., Cable in the Classroom, Cisco Systems, Corporation for Public Broadcasting, Davis Publications, Dell, Inc., Discovery Education, EF Education, Education Networks of America, Education Testing Service, Ford Motor Company Fund, KnowledgeWorks Foundation, Intel Foundation, JA Worldwide, LeapFrog SchoolHouse, McGraw-Hill Education, Microsoft Corporation, national Education Association, Oracle Education Foundation, Pearson Education, PolyVision, SAP, SAS, Texas Instruments, THINKronize, Thomson Gale, Verizon. Organizations interested in joining the Partnership may contact: info@21stcenturyskills.org

States belonging to the Partnership include: North Carolina, West Virginia, Wisconsin, South Dakota, Massachusetts, Maine, Iowa, and Kansas.

//Questions concerning the Partnership for 21st Century Skills should be directed to Melinda Stanley (mstanley@ksde.org) at (785) 296-1204.//