The process secondary administrators use to implement twenty-first century learning skills in secondary schools

The purpose of this study was to examine the process used to implement 21st century skills in secondary schools by secondary school administrators. The rationale of the study was to document how secondary schools implemented 21st century skills according to Tony Wagner's framework, the Seven Survival Skills, and the multilingualism component of the Partnership for 21st Century Learning's framework, in order to prepare students in the United States to compete in a global society. This study used a qualitative research approach to analyze: 1) how school administrators ranked the implementation of 21st century skills through a behavioral indicator performance task, 2) the system established by the secondary school administrators in implementing 21st century skills, 3) the evaluation process secondary administrators used to evaluate the implementation of 21st century skills, 4) the types of professional development provided to teachers in order for them to successfully implement 21st century skills inside the classroom, and 5) to provide a framework for schools aspiring to implement 21st century skills. The researcher interviewed six secondary school administrators and evaluated internal documents distributed to the school staff, students, and parent community. Data analysis for this study focused on six secondary schools with an API of 700 or greater, as measured by California's standardized assessment, that had begun to implement 21st century skills learning. The data was analyzed by comparing the interview responses with the internal documents collected from the school sites in order to determine the degree of validity and discrepancies in the research. The data was examined within the school sites and across school sites to consider similarities and differences in implementation patterns. General findings denoted that technology and project-based learning are the most frequently used methods for implementing 21st century skills in secondary schools.