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That is a tall task. I tracked Wagner down and asked him to elaborate. “Today,” he said via e-mail, “because knowledge is available on every Internet-connected device, what you know matters far less than what you can do with what you know. The capacity to innovate — the ability to solve problems creatively or bring new possibilities to life — and skills like critical thinking, communication and collaboration are far more important than academic knowledge. As one executive told me, ‘We can teach new hires the content, and we will have to because it continues to change, but we can’t teach them how to think — to ask the right questions — and to take initiative.’

Most schools, even “good” schools, are about getting our kids to “fit in” and “duplicate” what’s already been done. I look at the work my own kids bring home and see little if anything that allows them to stand out and invent. You? The bottom line is, once again, schools have little context for the world as it might become, especially when policy makers at state and national levels continue to reinforce a worldview of learning and work that is quickly being passed by.