Are Non-cognitive Skills the Key to Academic, Professional & Personal Success?

 

 

What are the top skills employers demand? Communication skills, judgement and decision making, active listening to name a few. These skills are referred to as soft skills, or non-cognitive skills that are not measured by a cognitive or academic test, like IQ, for example.

In an age when our economy demands more college grads in order to fill the jobs of the future and to be globally competitive, the answer has been to make our classes harder and rank students, schools, and teachers by the scores students earn on their standardized test. Put more effort behind increasing IQ and get a better prepared workforce, right?

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Looking Back: How Have Students’ Reading Competencies Changed Over Time

When you visualize the 21st century classroom, what do you see? A smartboard on the front wall, iPads in every student’s hands, individualized learning programs on the computer, setting the pace of a lesson while a teacher stands by for questions…

Some classrooms have moved into the digital age, however, the 21st century classroom is more commonly described as overcrowded and underfunded. The student demographic is diverse with disabled, gifted, English language, impoverished, and enriched learners. Teachers are faced with having to teach to all levels of the classroom, and due to lack of time, resources, and bandwidth, they teach to the students in the middle; often leaving those who are falling behind behind and those who are gifted unchallenged.

In 1983, the National Commission on Excellence in Education released the report “A Nation at Risk: The Imperative for Educational Reform” inspired by “a rising tide of mediocrity that threatens our very future as a Nation and a people.”[i] This report, though controversial, did bring to light educational issues we are still fighting today.

The following are some noteworthy statistics from the 1983 report:

  • · Functional illiteracy among minority youth may run as high as 40 percent.
  • · The number and proportion of students demonstrating superior achievement on the SATs have dramatically declined.
  • · Many 17-year-olds do not possess the “higher order” intellectual skills we should expect from them.
  • · There was a steady decline in science achievement scores of the U.S. 17-year-olds as measured by national assessments of science in 1969, 1973, and 1977.
  • · Between 1975 and 1980, remedial mathematics courses in public 4-year colleges increased by 72 percent.
  • · Too many teachers are being drawn from the bottom quarter of graduating high school and college students.

Sound familiar? Three decades later, minorities are trending toward becoming the majority, while the achievement gap continues to grow; college students are graduating with weak critical thinking skills; students’ competency in STEM subjects aren’t keeping up with the amount of job openings in STEM fields; and teachers are now said to come from the bottom one-third of their class.[ii]


[i] “A Nation at Risk” By The National Commission on Excellence in Education

[ii] “Achievement Gap” http://www.edweek.org/ew/issues/achievement-gap/

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The Education Gender Gap: From Grade School to Grad School

Since the 1980s, more women than men have been attending college. Since 1996, more women have been attending and graduating from college.1 A study in 2008 found the male to female ratio for attending college was 43.6 and 56.4, respectively. The gender gap in education continues to widen in favor of women, but why?

The 2011 PIRLS (Progress in International Reading Literacy Study) found a consistent difference between girls’ and boys’ academic achievement in most countries.  Fourth grade girls have a much higher average reading achievement than boys, and their 2011 results continue to show this pattern. In the United States, recent research found that girls had an advantage in reading at all grades, from kindergarten through twelfth grade.  Another study conducted by PISA in 2009 showed that 15-year-old girls performed consistently better in reading than boys.3

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21st Century Writing: More Does Not Always Mean Better

 

The ability to write well is meant to evolve naturally from a few simple sentences on a first-grader’s notebook to the polished draft of a senior paper, and when it does the entire school experience tends to proceed naturally as well. In the workforce, good writing is the hallmark of a professional that can express himself clearly and display one’s company/product in an attractive way. This has only become more true in today’s world, where email, text messaging, and social media have taken over many of the communications that used to be performed by phone or in person.

In fact, the changing role of writing in the world today has many teachers wondering how they should adapt their teaching to make it more relevant to today’s writing needs, personally and professionally. Susan Lucille Davis, a writing teacher with over 30 years of experience, expresses this question in her blog, “Teaching Authentic Writing in a Socially Mediated World,” but admits that she herself doesn’t have the whole answer. She and many of her colleagues agree, however, that the answer would need to address and prove relevant towards improving writing in the following categories:
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Study: More U.S. Students Graduating from High School and College

http://www.pewsocialtrends.org/2012/11/05/record-shares-of-young-adults-have-finished-both-high-school-and-college/4/#section-3-high-school-completion-among-young-adults

More U.S. students are graduating from high school and college than ever before, according to a new Pew Research Center analysis. The increase in grads can be attributed in large to our changed economy. Since the 2007 recession, students have been drilled on the importance of having an education in order to land a job in a highly competitive job market. Adults have also returned to school to gain higher pay, change careers, or increase their level of education after a layoff.

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Success Wanted: Interpersonal Skills Required

What makes a person successful? Some attribute their success to hard work, while others attribute it to luck, mentors, brains, or social skills.

In a recent three-part series on NPR, people from all rungs of the economic ladder are interviewed on why they either are or are not financially “successful.” In the first installment, Bob Hatley, president and CEO of Paragon Commercial Bank, tells his tale of going from a childhood with limited means to a millionaire. Hatley says: “People who use their family as an excuse not to achieve, I have no patience with.”

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Michael Vladeck: The Art of Imposing Rules on Teens

 

By Michael Vladeck

We all want freedom, and children do need rules (some more than others).  When applied well, they act as guidelines that help them develop in healthy ways… lest they recreate a Lord Of The Flies reality that you have to parent to.  They have a place, yet eventually some of these rules you impose will add great stress to the relationship – so learning how to be wise with rules is critical and essential to maintain the health of your relationship.
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Participating, Collaborating and Making a Difference

With differences in politics, religion and socioeconomic statuses, America is divided.  To help overcome these differences and to create more collaboration, cooperation and understanding, NPR is collecting stories of citizens who are uniting their communities in a series called Participation Nation.  In one story, Darryl Burnette, a chef, created a community garden in Harlem, NY.  Through this he hopes to teach students about healthy eating habits and urban gardening.  This is a wonderful idea and has the chance to transform our inner city neighborhood, our housing projects and our urban schools.

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Career Readiness Evaluated by a Test? The ACT Career Series

ACT Inc. just announced they are developing new assessments aimed at students between 3rd and 10th grade to test their college and career readiness skills. Many states are pushing for more students to leave school with the skills they need to succeed in college and career and ACT believes their new series, to be launched in 2014, will be the answer.

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The “Time Wasting Divide”: Digital Literacy Opens Opportunities for Low-Income Families

As more low-income families get access to devices and the digital divide closes, an unexpected side effect is left in its wake. The outcry for equal access to technology and Broadband is being answered, however, instructions for how, when, why to use technology aren’t included. This is causing a problem in low-income families — the families who are supposed to be helped by closing the digital divide — as the younger members use their new gadgets for entertainment, not as an educational resource.
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