Tony Wagner > Quotes

“The world doesn’t care what you know. What the world cares about is what you do with what you know.”
― Tony Wagner

“An overarching goal of education should be to immerse students in the beauty and inspiration of their surrounding world.”
― Tony Wagner, Most Likely to Succeed: Preparing Our Kids for the Innovation Era

“If college admissions officers are going to encourage kids to take the same AP math class, why not statistics? Almost every career (whether in business, nonprofits, academics, law, or medicine benefits from proficiency in statistics. Being an informed, responsible citizen requires a sound knowledge of statistics, as politicians, reporters, and bloggers all rely on "data" to justify positions. [p.98]”
― Tony Wagner, Most Likely to Succeed: Preparing Our Kids for the Innovation Era

“With well-designed pedagogy, we can empower kids with critical skills and help them turn passions into decisive life advantages. The role of education is no longer to teach content, but to help our children learn—in a world that rewards the innovative and punishes the formulaic.”
― Tony Wagner, Most Likely to Succeed: Preparing Our Kids for the Innovation Era

“Now, adults need to be able to ask great questions, critically analyze information, form independent opinions, collaborate, and communicate effectively. These are the skills essential for both career and citizenship.”
― Tony Wagner, Most Likely to Succeed: Preparing Our Kids for the Innovation Era

“most policy makers—and many school administrators—have absolutely no idea what kind of instruction is required to produce students who can think critically and creatively, communicate effectively, and collaborate versus merely score well on a test.”
― Tony Wagner, Creating Innovators: The Making of Young People Who Will Change the World

“To have good prospects in life—to be most likely to succeed—young adults now need to be creative and innovative problem-solvers.”
― Tony Wagner, Most Likely to Succeed: Preparing Our Kids for the Innovation Era

“We asked him, if he could give advice to his younger self, what his formula for success would look like. He said that he no longer believes there is a set formula that will allow someone to succeed. He would simply recommend a “balance of hard work and socializing, with a little more emphasis on socializing. Knowing thyself.” Instead”
― Tony Wagner, Most Likely to Succeed: Preparing Our Kids for the Innovation Era

“And so our schools are not failing.Rather they are obsolete”
― Tony Wagner, The Global Achievement Gap: Why Our Kids Don't Have the Skills They Need for College, Careers, and Citizenship -- and What We Can Do About It

“education needs to help our youth discover their passions and purpose in life, develop the critical skills needed to be successful in pursuing their goals, be inspired on a daily basis to do their very best, and be active and informed citizens.”
― Tony Wagner, Most Likely to Succeed: Preparing Our Kids for the Innovation Era

“While nearly 80 percent of fifth graders report being engaged at school, that number drops to only 40 percent by the start of high school. And according to Brandon Busteed, executive director of education at Gallup, “Teachers are dead last among all professions Gallup studied in saying their ‘opinions count’ at work and their ‘supervisors create an open and trusting environment.’ ”
― Tony Wagner, Most Likely to Succeed: Preparing Our Kids for the Innovation Era

“Students spend their school hours bored, covering irrelevant material, doing mindless tasks, taking far too many standardized tests, and having the creativity and innovation schooled out of them. Our focus shouldn't be to give all kids equal access to the same bad education. We need to reinvent education and give all kids a fighting chance in life. page 58”
― Tony Wagner, Most Likely to Succeed: Preparing Our Kids for the Innovation Era

“Most lecture-based courses contribute nothing to real learning. Consequential and retained learning comes from applying knowledge to new situations or problems, research on questions and issues that students consider important, peer interaction, activities, and projects. Experiences, rather than short-term memorization, help students develop the skills and motivation that transforms lives." [p. 7-8]”
― Tony Wagner, Most Likely to Succeed: Preparing Our Kids for the Innovation Era

“Once again, the education model revolves around what makes life easy for test designers, not what’s best for kids.”
― Tony Wagner, Most Likely to Succeed: Preparing Our Kids for the Innovation Era

“Now, adults need to be able to ask great questions, critically analyze information, form independent opinions, collaborate, and communicate effectively.”
― Tony Wagner, Most Likely to Succeed: Preparing Our Kids for the Innovation Era

“Four years ago, about 4,900 ninth grades began their high school career in the Boston Public schools. Today there are about 3,400 twelth graders. Nearly one third -- 1500 students -- have dropped out of the class in three and a half years. Almost half of the group that hopes to graduate (1,648) in six months' time has not passed the required standardized test (MCAS).”
― Tony Wagner, Making the Grade: Reinventing America's Schools

“A recent report by the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation concluded that “The United States has made the least progress of the 40 nations/regions [studied] in improvement in international competitiveness and innovation capacity over the last decade.”
― Tony Wagner, Creating Innovators: The Making of Young People Who Will Change the World

“another obstacle to educating innovators in universities is the lack of respect for interdisciplinary inquiry, practical knowledge, and applied learning. Discipline-based, in-depth knowledge is important, and basic research makes significant contributions to innovation. It is essential to our future that we continue to support this kind of inquiry, but this cannot—and must not—be the only kind of knowledge that is valued by our universities and our society.”
― Tony Wagner, Creating Innovators: The Making of Young People Who Will Change the World

“Students who only know how to perform well in today’s education system—get good grades and test scores, and earn degrees—will no longer be those who are most likely to succeed. Thriving in the twenty-first century will require real competencies, far more than academic credentials.”
― Tony Wagner, Most Likely to Succeed: Preparing Our Kids for the Innovation Era

“While at Harvard University Graduate School of Education, Tony found himself to be a complete outlier. He was almost constantly at odds with the mainstream of education. He is the first to admit that a doctorate from Harvard is important largely because everyone thinks it’s important.
Page 3”
― Tony Wagner, Most Likely to Succeed: Preparing Our Kids for the Innovation Era

“What would a final exam look like in a course organized around a complex problem that must be considered in the light of several disciplines? Students would be asked to write an extended take-home essay about "what it means to be an American."-- and they would know from the first day of class that this was the final exam question.
The second part of the final exam would require students to present and defend their papers in a public exhibition where parents would observe and ask questions. The Students’ oral and written work would be assessed on their ability to display a range of evidence to make their points. They would have to meet a performance standard to get a Merit Badge in American Studies.” -- this is the essence of the digital portfolio. (page 139)”
― Tony Wagner, Most Likely to Succeed: Preparing Our Kids for the Innovation Era

“A 2013 study by the National Center on Education and the Economy found that “the mathematics that most enables students to be successful in college courses is not high school mathematics, but middle school mathematics, especially arithmetic, ratio, proportion, expressions and simple equations.”
― Tony Wagner, Most Likely to Succeed: Preparing Our Kids for the Innovation Era

“U.S. education is failing, in large part, because of the misguided belief that it’s imperative to test on a massive scale.”
― Tony Wagner, Most Likely to Succeed: Preparing Our Kids for the Innovation Era

“21st-Century Model Language Arts Skills Needed to Succeed Use sound vocabulary Read a wide variety of written materials (novels, poems, plays, essays, news) critically Communicate clearly across multiple media forms, with a range of styles Form and justify independent bold perspectives Ask thoughtful questions Engage in constructive debate”
― Tony Wagner, Most Likely to Succeed: Preparing Our Kids for the Innovation Era

“And so our schools are not failing. Rather they are obsolete.”
― Tony Wagner, The Global Achievement Gap: Why Our Kids Don't Have the Skills They Need for College, Careers, and Citizenship -- and What We Can Do About It

“The mind of an engaged kid is a sponge; a mind that is lectured to is a leaky sieve.”
― Tony Wagner, Most Likely to Succeed: Preparing Our Kids for the Innovation Era

“In today’s world, if you can’t invent and reinvent your own job and distinctive skills, you risk chronic underemployment. Individuals need to change professions several times in their lifetime. Page 63”
― Tony Wagner, Most Likely to Succeed: Preparing Our Kids for the Innovation Era

“Students were asked only factual recall questions and then given a writing assignment that was, in my opinion, more suited to an elementary school class. They were not asked for their interpretations of the story. They were not asked to discuss a real moral dilemma in their lives and compare it to the one in the story. And they were not asked to write an essay where they would have to analyze a theme of an idea using supporting evidence. In other words, there was no intellectual rigor. Chapter 1”
― Tony Wagner

“Let’s talk about goal presentations in high school classes. We will be brief because there aren't any. Many students get through high school without ever having to practice and perform a single speech before a real audience." page 112.”
― Tony Wagner, Most Likely to Succeed: Preparing Our Kids for the Innovation Era

“Hawaii commissioned a study to find out how much of a teacher’s time would be required to teach all of the state academic content standards in 5th grade. The answer: 3,000 percent of the allotted time.”
― Tony Wagner, The Global Achievement Gap: Why Our Kids Don't Have the Skills They Need for College, Careers, and Citizenship -- and What We Can Do About It