School systems should also have a visible mechanism for training and rewarding teachers and administrators who do incorporate the skills for learning subject matter in their curriculum. Tradition is a difficult thing to change and many teachers and administrators close their eyes to the obvious by ignoring the research findings that indicate that the refinement of skills for learning promotes academic success. We have known for a long time of the positive effects of helping students refine skills for learning. Successful study skills are necessary for acquiring the other 5 competencies of reading, writing, speaking and listening, mathematical and reasoning as well as for achieving the desired outcomes. Students themselves understand the important of effective study skills.
Many students realize the importance of learning skills in learning.
School systems must take the initiative to develop a formal mechanism to help teachers acquire, refine, and teach the tools essential to learning subject matter along with that subject matter. There is a need for teacher development training that teaches learning skills and how to weave these skills into the classroom. Colleges and universities must make the teaching of the tools for learning an integral part of teacher education curricula. School administrators must realize that unless the skills essential to learning are properly applied to subject matter, poor learning will always be a major problem in our school systems. Learning skills are as essential to learning as air is to life.