FAQ - P21

Who is P21?
What does P21 focus on?
Who are your members?
What is the Framework for Learning in the 21st Century?
What is the P21 mission?
Why do students need 21st century skills?
What are 21st century skills?
How does P21 work inform other education efforts?
Is P21’s model making a difference?
What can I do to help?
What tools and resources have you developed to help advance your mission?

Who is P21?

P21 is a national nonprofit organization that advocates for 21st century readiness for every student. P21 recognizes that all learners need educational experiences in school and beyond, from cradle to career, to build knowledge and skills for success in a globally and digitally interconnected world. Representing over 5 million members of the global workforce, P21 unites business, government and education leaders from the U.S. and abroad to advance evidence-based education policy and practice and to make innovative teaching and learning a reality for all.

What does P21 focus on?

P21 does three things: P21 leads the conversation about what 21st century learning looks like, in policy, in schools and in the workplace; P21 supports states and districts as they align curricula and implementation to encourage 21st century learning; and P21 showcases success by sharing exemplars and actionable strategies and policies for implementing 21st century learning.

Our initiatives include early learning, beyond school, global learning and 21st century citizenship, state partnerships, 21st Century Learning Exemplar Program, and more.

Who are your members?

We succeed when we work together to transform education. P21's alliance of business, government and education leaders make it one of the nation's best-positioned organizations to help guide the transformation of our education system. Meet our Strategic Council, as well as the list of organizations comprising our membership.

What is the Framework for 21st Century Learning?

P21’s Framework for 21st Century Learning is based on the essential skills, knowledge and dispositions that children need to succeed as citizens and workers in today's world, as well as the necessary support systems needed to create learning environments that support that kind of learning. An overview of the Framework and P21 can be downloaded here.

Framework-copyrighted

What is the P21 mission?

To serve as a catalyst and build collaborative partnerships among education, business, community and government leaders so that all learners acquire the knowledge and skills they need to to thrive in a world where change is constant and learning never stops.

Why do students need 21st century skills?

All learners need and deserve 21st century learning opportunities to thrive as tomorrow's leaders, workers, and citizens. A profound gap exists between the knowledge and skills most students learn in school and the knowledge and skills they need for success in their communities and workplaces. To successfully face rigorous higher education coursework, career challenges and a globally competitive workforce, U.S. schools must align classroom environments with real world environments by fusing the 3Rs and 4Cs.

What are 21st century skills?

Simply put - it's what students need to succeed in today's globally and digitally interconnected world. Read more about the P21 Framework for 21st Century Learning here.

How does P21 work inform other education efforts?

P21’s work helps inform other major education conversations:

ESEA Reauthorization and the Every Child Succeeds Act
High School Reform: 21st century readiness is a vehicle for changing high schools. As America struggles to make high school education rigorous, meaningful and relevant once again, the high school reform movement should fully and strategically fuse the 3Rs and 4Cs.
STEM and STEAM Initiatives: STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) and STEAM (adding arts) Initiatives and the P21 framework are mutually supportive. A technically competent scientist in today’s world must have the ability to communicate and collaborate and be effective in all skills in order to be successful. All students, even those pursuing non-technical careers, benefit greatly from math and science. In fact, STEM are a very effective way to acquire the full gamut of knowledge and skills.

How is P21’s model making a difference?

P21’s model for 21st century learning has gained dramatic support and momentum in the United States and abroad.

P21 has defined 21st century learning with the Framework for 21st Century Learning - a research-based and business and educator-approved blueprint for teaching and learning that combines outcomes for students with the types of support systems they will need.
P21's Framework for 21st Century Learning has been implemented by thousands of educators and hundreds of schools in the U.S. and abroad.
Working with subject-area teachers, P21 connects 21st Century Skills with sample lesson ideas for different grade levels and subject areas in the 21st Century Skills Maps
P21 is leading the policy conversation, with bicameral, bipartisan legislation (the 21st Century Readiness Act, H.R. 347 in the 113th Congress) and the Congressional 21st Century Skills Caucus.
The 21st Century Learning Exemplar Program showcases examples of successful 21st century learning, where it is happening across the country, and the patterns of innovation that can make it a reality for all students.
P21 is bringing experts across the education landscape to discuss the most pressing topics in 21st century learning on the P21 Blogazine.
P21 members and partners are putting the 4C's into practice in and beyond school settings and enabling students to become effective citizens, workers, and leaders.

What can I do to help?

If you’re an educator or administrator, take action. P21 encourages educators and administrators to support 21st century learning by:

Embracing a vision of education that incorporates 21st century readiness.
Gathering the right stakeholders including key individuals from the education, business, and government, afterschool and parent communities.
Utilizing the P21 MILE Guide Self-Assessment tool to determine where you are today (available here).
Sharing your expertise and lessons learned through our P21 Blogazine.
Connecting to our community of education leaders by subscribing to our newsletter - Communicator.21!

If you are a policy-maker, work to create visionary education policies. We urge policy-makers to promote and create policies that support 21st century learning opportunities for all students:

Adopting state standards that incorporate 21st century tools and learning skills.
Embedding ICT Literacy into current standards, curricula and assessments for core subjects.
Creating state and local infrastructure that supports a 21st century education.
Providing professional development that is strategically aligned to support the goal of ensuring 21st century readiness for every student.
Encouraging the development of new assessment tools and strategies that address 21st century readiness.
Engaging educators, employers, community members, parents and policy-makers in an ongoing dialogue that provides recommendations and advice about 21st century education.

If you are a business leader or community leader, help create successful public-private partnerships. We urge business leaders to partner with local school districts to help create an education system that better prepares today’s students for tomorrow’s workplace by:

Defining the skills required for young people to be successful in work and life in the 21st century.
Providing students with authentic, hands-on learning opportunities in their local communities.
Providing teachers with professional development opportunities.
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it to connect with the leading organizations devoted to supporting 21st century learning everywhere!

What tools and resources does P21 have available?

We have a number of tools and resources available for viewing and download on our Web site. Please see our Resources page for more detailed information.