Giving Compass' Take:

· Results from a new Gallup survey of 4,000 parents, teachers, principals and leaders in education show that there is a consensus believing that soft skills are just as important as academics for youth development. 

· What skills are included in this category? How can schools teach soft skills? 

· Soft skills also help youths prepare for the future workforce.


The value of "soft skills" in the future job market and even everyday interactions has been solidified, leading school leaders to have an interest in bolstering and measuring them. But this is still a very new area of assessment, and the best ways to measure them, as well as how to communicate a child's progress in these areas to parents, is widely debated.

Even so, some organizations are forging ahead in developing such assessments. For instance, the non profit Project Lead the Way, which provides STEM curriculum and professional learning for teachers, will administer an assessment to high school students this fall. According to the group, the assessment will measure both "in-demand skills and subject matter knowledge."

Read the full article about soft skills by Christina Vercelletto at Education Dive.