A Critique of "21st Century Skills"

The recent Madison School Board Strategic Planning Process included materials from the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction on "21st Century Skills".

Sandra Stotsky offers a critique.

Wagner's book is engaging and sometimes points to real defects in American schools. Yet it fails to use research objectively to ascertain what is truly happening in America's 90,000 public schools. Moreover, like all too many education "reformers" Wagner is simply hostile to academic content. Wagner does not seem to care if students can read and write grammatically, do math or know something about science and history - real subjects that schools can teach and policy-makers can measure.

Unfortunately, Wagner dismisses measurable academic content while embracing buzzwords like "adaptability" and "curiosity," which no one could possibly be against, but also which no one could possibly measure. Do we really care if our students are curious and adaptable if they cannot read and write their own names?

Posted by Jim Zellmer at February 10, 2009 1:44 AM
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