num_pages: 320
description: Despite the best efforts of educators our nations schools are dangerously obsolete. Instead of teaching students to be critical thinkers and problem-solvers we are asking them to memorize facts for multiple choice tests. This problem isnt limited to low-income school districts: even our top schools arent teaching or testing the skills that matter most in the global knowledge economy. Our teens leave school equipped to work only in the kinds of jobs that are fast disappearing from the American economy. Meanwhile young adults in India and China are competing with our students for the most sought-after careers around the world.Education expert Tony Wagner has conducted scores of interviews with business leaders and observed hundreds of classes in some of the nations most highly regarded public schools. He discovered a profound disconnect between what potential employers are looking for in young people today (critical thinking skills creativity and effective communication) and what our schools are providing (passive learning environments and uninspired lesson plans that focus on test preparation and reward memorization).He explains how every American can work to overhaul our education system and he shows us examples of dramatically different schools that teach all students new skills. In addition through interviews with college graduates and people who work with them Wagner discovers how teachers parents and employers can motivate the net generation to excellence.An education manifesto for the twenty-first century The Global Achievement Gap is provocative and inspiring. It is essential reading for parents educators business leaders policy-makers and anyone interested in seeing our young people succeed as employees and citizens.For additional information about the author and the book please go to www.schoolchange.org 
language: None
title: The Global Achievement Gap: Why Our Kids Don't Have the Skills They Need for College, Careers, and Citizenship—and What We Can Do About It
publisher: Basic Books