The basis for a major documentary, two leading experts sound an urgent call for the radical reimagining of American education so we can equip students for the realities of the twenty-first-century economy. We prize academic achievement, pressuring our children to get into the "right" colleges, have the highest GPAs, and pursue advanced degrees. But while students may graduate with credentials, by and large they lack the competencies needed to be thoughtful, engaged citizens and to get good jobs in our rapidly evolving economy. Alarmingly, our methods of schooling crush the creativity and initiative young people really need to thrive in the twenty-first century. Now bestselling author and education expert Tony Wagner and venture capitalist Ted Dintersmith call for a complete overhaul of American schools, sharing insights and stories from the front lines. Their powerful, urgent message identifies the growing gap between credentials and competence-and offers a framework for change. Most Likely to Succeed presents a new vision of American education, one that puts wonder, creativity, and initiative at the very heart of the learning process and prepares students for today's economy.

Contents:
Introduction: A Nation at Risk; 1. The Hull Junior-Senior High School; 2. The Academy at Cambridge Rindge and Latin; 3. The Brimmer and May School; 4. Some Lessons Learned

The first edition of How Schools Change chronicled the efforts of three very different high schools to improve teaching and learning in the early 1990's. Now, in a new second edition, Wagner concisely summarizes the decade-long history of education reform efforts and revisits the three communities at the beginning of a new century.

In this thorough and informative book, Wagner lays the groundwork for a new strategy to reinvent the public school. The prototype he introduces, the 'New Village School' is organized around 'the 4C's': competency-based curriculum, core values, collaboration and community. Wagner outlines ways that communities, government, teachers, parents, and students can begin a dialogue about how to enact meaningful school changes

Tony Wagner's groundbreaking bestseller--"a road map for parents who want to sculpt their children into innovative thinkers" ("USA TODAY") and a guide for "an employer looking to have a pipeline of creative talent" (Tim Brown, CEO of IDEO).
Harvard education expert Tony Wagner explores what parents, teachers, and employers must do to develop the capacities of young people to become innovators. In profiling compelling young American innovators such as Kirk Phelps, product manager for Apple's first iPhone, and Jodie Wu, who founded a company that builds bicycle-powered maize shellers in Tanzania, Wagner reveals how the adults in their lives nurtured their creativity and sparked their imaginations, while teaching them to learn from failures and persevere. Play, passion, and purpose: These are the forces that drive young innovators.
Wagner takes readers into the most forward-thinking schools, colleges, and workplaces in the country, where teachers and employers are developing cultures of innovation based on collaboration, interdisciplinary problem-solving, and intrinsic motivation. The result is a timely, provocative, and inspiring manifesto that offers crucial insight into creating the change makers of tomorrow.