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21st Century Secondary Schools
New Tech Model

Making 21st Century Schools:
Creating Learner-Centered Schoolplaces/Workplaces
for a New Culture of Students at Work

by Bob Pearlman,

EDUCATIONAL TECHNOLOGY/September–October 2009

Learner-Centered, Information-Age schools have been proposed in Educational Technology and in other publications. This article reviews the experience of the New Technology Foundation, a school-development organization, working since 2001 to support 51 communities in 10 states to launch and implement 21st Century High Schools, based on the model and practices of New Technology High School (NTHS) in Napa, California. This article explores the key issues and lessons in 21st Century school development, encompassing a new learning culture.

Bob Pearlman is a 21st Century School Development consultant. He is the former Director of Strategic Planning for the New Technology Foundation and former President of the Autodesk Foundation (e-mail: bobpearlman@mindspring.com).