Partnership for 21st Century Skills (P21), is supporting the release of a new publication by Ken Kay and Valeries Greenhill; ‘The Leader’s Guide to 21st Century Education: 7 Steps for Schools and Districts’.

“Ken Kay and Valerie Greenhill have taken on a most valuable challenge — to help schools and districts create concrete steps to a 21st century education system,” said Linda Darling Hammond, Charles Ducommun Professor of Education; Co-Director School Redesign Network (SRN), Stanford University.

The new resource provides education leaders with a 7 step guide to moving their schools and districts forwards in the preparation of students for the challenges of the 21st century. The ‘Leader’s Guide to 21st Century Education’ espouses the teaching and learning of the 4Cs: critical thinking; communication; collaboration; and creativity, and focuses on presenting an implementation-oriented resource for education leaders at all stages from early adoption through advanced. The book describes a blueprint of what to do once a school or district adopts the 4Cs.

Hammond continues:

“[Kay and Greenhill] accentuate the need to build support from the community and the key education stake holders. They underscore the critical importance of supporting teachers in this work. Their book is a ‘must read’ for any education leader that is working to assure that their school or district is really preparing their students for the challenges of 21st century citizenship and the 21st century workforce.”

Valerie Greenhill is the chief learning officer for EdLeader21, leading the capacity building work. Her current focus is on supporting district leaders in efforts to integrate critical thinking, communication, collaboration and creativity into assessment and curricula systems.

Ken Kay is the chief executive officer of EdLeader21. He co-founded the Partnership for 21st Century Skills in 2002 and served as its president until 2010. He was executive director of the CEO Forum on Education and Technology and in that role led the development of the STaR Chart (School Technology and Readiness Guide), used by schools across the country to make better use of technology in K–12 classrooms.

“Ken and Valerie have spent much of the last decade traveling the country on behalf of 21st century skills,” adds Tim Magner, executive director of P21. “This book recalls many of the ideas and examples they have encountered and collects them, for the first time, in a form that is both accessible and inspirational for schools and districts eager to begin the challenging work of school transformation.”

Partnership for 21st Century Skills is the nation’s leading advocate for 21st century readiness in all students. Its member include: EdLeader21, Adobe Systems, Inc., Apple Inc., Cisco Systems, Inc., The College Board’s Advanced Placement Program (AP), Dell Inc., National Education Association, The Walt Disney Company, and Hewett Packard, among others.