PatSine

There's a new book out by Tony Wagner of Harvard with the attention-grabbing title The Global Achievement Gap: Why Even Our Best Schools Don't Teach the New Survival Skills Our Children Need--And What We Can Do About It. In it, he addresses the current tension between teaching to the test and preparing for the 21st Century world of work.

He lists seven essential skills, which are certainly familiar to anyone who's been following the Partnership for 21st Century Skills. Wagner's skills are these:

1. Problem-solving and critical thinking;
2. Collaboration across networks and leading by influence;
3. Agility and adaptability;
4. Initiative and entrepreneurship;
5. Effective written and oral communication;
6. Accessing and analyzing information; and
7. Curiosity and imagination.

eSchool News recently published an interview with Wagner entitled Seven skills students desperately need. The subtitle really says it all:

Today's students could fail at life, says Harvard's Tony Wagner, because their schools are too busy teaching to the test

The article closes with a wonderful quote from Wagner.

"We are making [Adequate Yearly Progress] at the expense of failing our kids at life. Something has to change."