Even our "best" schools are failing to prepare students for 21st-century careers and citizenship.

© Copyright Tony Wagner, 2008 (first published in Educational Leadership, October, 2008)

In the new global economy, with many jobs being either automated or "off-shored," what skills will students need to build successful careers? What skills will they need to be good citizens? Are these two education goals in conflict?

To examine these questions, I conducted research beginning with conversations with several hundred business, nonprofit, philanthropic, and education leaders. With a clearer picture of the skills young people need, I then set out to learn whether U.S. schools are teaching and testing the skills that matter most. I observed classrooms in some of the nation's most highly regarded suburban schools to find out whether our "best" was, in fact, good enough for our children's future. What I discovered on this journey may surprise you.

Five 'Habits of Mind' That Count

© Copyright Tony Wagner, 2008 (first Published in Education Week, August 14, 2007)

There are many things we do right as educators—most notably, working hard to make a difference in the lives of children, despite ever-escalating challenges. I’m beginning to see, however, that we educators are handicapped when it comes to leading efforts to improve teaching and learning. People in a host of other professions—business, law, medicine, engineering, architecture—have been trained to analyze and solve problems as a matter of everyday practice. We have not.

© Copyright Tony Wagner, 2006 (first Published in Education Week, January 11, 2006)

Rigor, it seems, is the new reform de jour. As a nation, we appear to have come to a consensus that all children deserve a “challenging and rigorous” education.  The problem is: we have no common agreement about what is “rigor.”  Is it rigorous to require all students to take a “college prep” curriculum, including advanced math?  Are high school Advanced Placement courses the new standard for rigor, as many are now suggesting?

Transforming Education Through 'Communities of Practice'

© Copyright Tony Wagner, 2004 (first published in Education Week, October 27, 2004)

Imagine, for a moment, that you wanted to learn how to play a sport or a musical instrument, but you had never seen the sport or heard the instrument played well, and there were no coaches available. You could only practice in a room all by yourself, day in and day out. How good would you be?