Skills for Today: What We Know about Teaching and Assessing Collaboration - Full Report

Oct 20, 2026

A joint Pearson and P21 series paper explaining current knowledge about teaching and assessing collaboration skills. It introduces the series’ focus on the Four Cs and describes definitions, models, and instructional approaches. The report outlines activity features tied to collaborative work and discusses assessment considerations, followed by conclusions and recommendations. It also provides author background, series context, and proper Creative Commons licensing information for permitted noncommercial reuse with attribution and no derivatives.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages32

Reading Time1 h 21 min

AccessFree to download

Introduction

Definitions and Models

Teaching Collaboration Skills

Activity Features

Assessment

Conclusions and Recommendations

References

Skills for Today: What We Know about Teaching and Assessing Collaboration Written by Emily Lai Kristen DiCerbo Peter Foltz About the Authors About Pearson Dr. Emily Lai is Director of Formative Assessment and Feedback and part of the Education Research team at Pearson. In that capacity, she leads a research agenda around assessment for learning and principles of effective feedback, particularly within digital environments. Her interests include principled assessment design approaches, such as Evidence Centered Design, performance assessment, and assessment of twenty-first-century [competencies. Emily holds a Ph. D. in](competencies. Emily holds a Ph. D. in) educational measurement and statistics from the University of Iowa, a master’s degree in library and information science from the University of Iowa, anda master’s degree in political science from Emory University. Dr. Kristen DiCerbo is Vice President of Education Research at Pearson. She leads a team of researchers focused on conducting and translating research about learners and learning in order to influence the development of curricula and digital tools. Her personal research program centers on interactive technologies, particularly the use of evidence from learner activity in games and simulations, to understand what learners know and can do. Prior to joining Pearson, Kristen provided research support to the networking academies at Cisco and was a school psychologist in a local school district in Arizona. Kristen received her master’s degree and Ph. D. in educational psychology at Arizona State University. Dr. Peter Foltz is Vice President for Research in Pearson’s Advanced Computing and Data Sciences Laboratory and Professor Adjoint atthe University of Colorado’s Institute of Cognitive Science. His work covers discourse processing, reading comprehension and writing skills, twenty-first-century skills learning, large-scale data analytics, artificial intelligence and uses of machine learning and natural language processing for educational and clinical assessments. Peter has served as the content lead for the framework development for several OECD PISA assessments, includingthe 2018 Reading Literacy assessment, the 2015 assessment of Collaborative Problem Solving, and a new assessment of reading literacy for developing countries. Dr. Foltz holds doctorate and master’s degrees in cognitive psychology from the University of Colorado, and a bachelor’s degree from Lehigh University. Pearson is the world’s leading learning company. Our education business combines 150 years of experience in publishing with the latest learning technology and online support. We serve learners of all ages around the globe, employing 45,000 people in more than seventy countries, helping people to learn whatever, whenever and however they choose. Whether it’s designing qualifications in the UK, supporting colleges in the United States, training school leaders in the Middle East or helping students in China learn English, we aim to help people make progress in their lives through learning. About P21 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 is a catalyst organization uniting business, government and education leaders from the United States and abroad to advance evidence-based education policy and practice and to make innovative teaching and learning a reality for all. Introduction to the Series This paper is the first in a series to be jointly released by Pearson and P21 entitled,“Skills for Today.” Each paper summarizes what is currently known about teaching and assessing oneof the Four Cs: collaboration, critical thinking, creativity, and communication. Our partnership on this series signifies a commitment to helping educators, policy-makers, and empl

FAQs

What is the purpose of this “Skills for Today” paper?

It summarizes what is currently known about teaching and assessing collaboration, supporting educators, policy-makers, and employers in developing relevant student skills.

Which learning areas does the series cover?

The series focuses on one of the Four Cs per paper: collaboration, critical thinking, creativity, and communication.

How is the collaboration topic organized in the report?

The paper moves from definitions and models to teaching collaboration skills, then activity features and assessment, ending with conclusions and recommendations.

Oct 20, 2026

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