1. Transforming Teaching and Learning:

Creating meaningful learning experiences that enable students to apply academic knowledge to real-world challenges

Learning Pillars—the essential knowledge and skills for college- and career-readiness

Description:
The Ford PAS Learning Pillars articulate essential knowledge and skills that have been identified by employers and college faculty as necessary for young people to be fully prepared for success in both college and career.

Features:

Application of academic knowledge and skills:
Students acquire essential academic knowledge and skills and develop flexibility in drawing on appropriate disciplinary knowledge and skills to address real-world challenges.

Problem-solving:
Students work with open-ended problems and issues that require them to clarify and analyze situations, explore solutions, and evaluate their results.

Critical thinking:
Students analyze, synthesize, and evaluate information. They learn how to make reasoned judgments based on observation, experience, reflection, reasoning, and discussion.

Teamwork:
Students work in teams to conduct investigations, synthesize data, and communicate results. They learn to give and receive feedback, negotiate agreements, facilitate meetings, and take on a variety of leadership roles. Students also work independently and are assessed on the individual contributions they make to team products.

Communication:
Students learn strategies for evaluating complex oral, written, and multimedia communications, and create oral, written, and multimedia material for a wide variety of purposes and audiences. They also learn the value and appropriate uses of social networking communication tools.

Creativity and innovation:
Students learn to think creatively in response to a wide variety of challenges. They invent, try out, and revise designs and solutions, and are encouraged to take risks, learn from both failures and successes, and value diverse perspectives.

Global awareness:
Students tackle issues that cross borders, and consider the perspectives of people and communities around the world. They explore potential solutions tailored to particular cultures, and learn to work and communicate effectively with those who have diverse views.

Teaching Pillars – teaching principles that develop knowledge and skills for college and career readiness

Description:
The Teaching Pillars describe the instructional principles—based on rigorous research and professional experience—that are essential for facilitating learning of the essential knowledge and skills that students need. These principles help students meet and exceed state-established benchmarks for academic performance, and meet expectations for college-level work and future employment.

Features:

Academically rigorous:
Teachers facilitate learning of essential academic knowledge, skills, and ways of thinking particular to the core academic disciplines, meeting state and national academic standards and college-readiness expectations.

Integration of academic and career-related knowledge and skills:
Teachers help students develop career-related knowledge and skills in the context of academic courses, and help them learn and apply academic knowledge and skills in the context of career-related courses.

Inquiry-based:
Teachers organize learning around investigation of significant issues and problems. They structure these investigations, often through hands-on learning experiences, so that students acquire knowledge, skills, and understanding.

Project-based:
Teachers guide students in carrying out in-depth, long-term projects that culminate in products or presentations of students’ investigations and results.

Real-world:
Teachers use real-world situations—such as business and engineering challenges—to build academic knowledge and develop problem-solving, teamwork, and communication skills. Students have opportunities to interact with professionals in careers of interest to them and to venture into businesses, college campuses, and the community as part of their learning.

Performance-based:
As students apply the knowledge, skills, and understandings they acquire through the curriculum’s learning experiences, teachers use a variety of tools to assess students’ progress toward meeting learning goals correlated with academic and (where appropriate) career technical education (CTE) standards.

Technology-rich:
Teachers engage students in using technology to conduct research, organize and analyze data, simulate complex systems, and communicate ideas. Students master a variety of technology tools and make good choices about their use.

Career-relevant:
Teachers and school staff structure learning so that students understand a broad range of career paths, become aware of the knowledge and skills required to succeed in a variety of careers, and recognize what education and training are required for both entry-level and more advanced positions.