Giving Compass' Take:

· At San Francisco’s Aptos Middle School, teacher Taji Allen-Sanchez uses project-based learning and performance assessments with his students to foster the skills necessary to succeed after school. Edutopia discusses the positive results of this approach and how it encourages students to apply lessons to real life.

· How can schools everywhere better prepare students for future employment?

· Read about the learning labs advancing student engagement and personalization.

Taji Allen-Sanchez, a sixth- and seventh-grade science teacher at San Francisco’s Aptos Middle School, is one of a growing number of teachers who believe that traditional methods of teaching aren’t preparing students for life beyond school. Lectures and direct instruction can be used to convey information to students, but they don’t enhance skills like teamwork, problem solving, and curiosity that employers are increasingly looking for.

“If you just give students answers, they’re not going to understand [the science],” he explains. “Really, any kid can memorize information, but can they apply it to an actual real-world application?”

A 2013 survey of over 700 business leaders bears out Allen-Sanchez’s point: Half of the respondents reported that many job applicants who were technically proficient lacked the communication, decision-making, and problem-solving skills necessary to do the jobs they applied for. Far too many college graduates touted high grades and test scores, but lacked key skills to be successful in the workplace.

“It’s not a matter of technical skill,” explained one employer in the survey, “but of knowing how to think.”

Read the full article about boosting student engagement by Youki Terada at Edutopia.