• The way people live and work has been transformed in many ways because of technology and advanced communication.
• Economic, technological, informational, demographic and political changes escalate at a rapid rate.
• The workplace is demanding more highly skilled workers, and the skills are continually being re-defined.
• Schools, just like businesses and industries and families, must adapt to these changes and “bridge the gap between how students live and how they learn.”

For the last two decades emphasis has been on improving learning skills and student achievement, but with the turn of the new century focus is on identifying and promoting the so-called 21st Century Skills. Policymakers are beginning to agree that accountability must be based on assessments that measure both academic achievement and 21st Century Skills.

(Adapted from Learning for the 21st Century.)