Creativity and innovation are critical if our country is going to compete in a global economy. While 21st century skills have received much press, there are very little signs of implementation in our schools. In America’s Two-Minute Warning, 1988, Jack Grayson and Carla O’Dell provide a list of qualities a nation’s people need in order to be competitive. They include a high degree of functional literacy; basic competency in mathematics, statistics and the scientific method; ability to observe processes, analyze, interpret and take action; knowledge of the world; ability to work together in teams, take responsibility and learn continuously while adjusting to change. (p. 82) Compare this list to the Partnership for 21st Century Skills list, Phil Schlechty’s recommendations within the Working on the Work/High Schools that Work initiative and Bill Daggett’s ongoing push for 21st century skills through his International Center for Leadership in Education. They all have a common thread. Our competitive edge, against countries with increasing numbers of graduating scientists, engineers, and mathematicians, will be our students’ creativity and innovation - their ability to think critically, analyze information, solve problems and work in teams. Hanushek’s study, released in March 2008, lends further support with his findings. The cognitive skills of a nation’s students have a large impact on economic growth. Marc Tucker states, in a December 2006 Time article, “Jobs in the new economy – the ones that won’t get out-sourced or automated – put an enormous premium on creative and innovative skills, seeing patterns where other people see only chaos.” Inside the schoolhouse it is quite another story.

…With NCLB and the pressure to conform, to pass the test, to teach to the test, so many schools, administrators and teachers have no incentive to innovate, in fact, they often have a disincentive to do so. With the focus on "Research-based curriculum," many folks fall back on what has been done before because there's less risk in doing so. With so much content in the average state standard, too many teachers just try to get through all the content and think, "I'd love to do new things, maybe in the two weeks after the [Insert State Test here.]"

And that culture of fear that is slowly gripping the American educational system under the current version of NCLB will kill us. It will drive out innovation. It will drive out the brilliant, exciting teachers who want to take the lessons they've learned in their lives and bring it to the kids. To take the NCLB mandate in its most charitable inception, we have created a system where we were so concerned about raising the floor, that we have lowered the ceiling.  – Chris Lehmann, Principal, Philadelphia, 2006

How do we ensure that we are modeling and teaching students 21st century skills in schools driven by the fear of accountability – schools that are closing down communication and teacher involvement and mandating teaching and assessment practices without sufficient planning and progress measures. How do we re-engage educators in solving problems that are rooted in the system they were a part of creating? We have changed expectations in schools. Can we change attitudes?

When we ask what determines whether a challenge will or will not be met, the answer is that this depends upon the presence or absence of initiative and of creative individuals with clarity of mind and energy of will…capable of effective response to a new situation.

                    – Will Durant in America’s Two Minute Warning, p. 111

Click here for a set of links assembled with the assistance of Lani Ritter-Hall for a workshop on Web 2.0 Tools for Ohio administrators.