COMMUNITY BREAKFAST
The Greater Seattle Chamber of Commerce, Global Washington, and the Alliance for Education are pleased to present a community breakfast on The Global Achievement Gap.
Education consultant, former teacher and principal Tony Wagner brings a considerable range of experiences to his most recent book on American education, The Global Achievement Gap: Why Even Our Best Schools Don't Teach the New Survival Skills Our Children Need - and What We Can Do about It. Wagner follows the American education system and its rapid descent into a dangerously obsolete and parochial culture that can no longer pass muster in the new global economy.
THE GLOBAL ACHIEVEMENT GAP reveals that business leaders are calling for far more analytical, innovative and collaborative thinkers in this highly competitive economy - and they are taking their business elsewhere. While students in the U.S. sit through an endless battery of multiple-choice exams, nations like Japan, India and Singapore have overhauled their instruction to encourage the kinds of thinking that today's businesses want. Wagner contends that "the future of our economy, the strength of our democracy, and the health of the planet's ecosystems depend on educating future generations in ways very different from how many of us were schooled."
The solution, argues Wagner, is a push for critical thinking skills that will serve future executives, assembly-line workers and community leaders alike. He introduces readers to some of the most innovative and exciting school programs in the country - programs that are finding tremendous success by teaching and learning models based on the Seven Survival Skills:
- Critical Thinking and Problem Solving
- Collaboration Across Networks and Leading by Influence
- Agility and Adaptability
- Initiative and Entrepreneurialism
- Effective Oral and Written Communication
- Accessing and Analyzing Information
- Curiosity and Imagination
These schools operate under the unorthodox assumption that today's students are motivated not by the prospect of perfect grades, but by a sense of social and civic purpose. Their success is proving that we can and should demand more of our students than minimal effort and more of our schools than uninspired instruction.
Wagner's THE GLOBAL ACHIEVEMENT GAP is the roadmap to get us there. Here is good news for parents, teachers, administrators, business leaders, policy makers and students who are searching for a more effective, humane and vigorous education system to keep us competitive in the 21st century.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Tony Wagner is co-director of the Change Leadership Group at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. He consults widely to schools, districts and foundations and was senior advisor to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. A former high school teacher and principal, he is the author of several books, including Change Leadership, Making the Grade, and How Schools Change. He lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Find him on the web at www.schoolchange.org.
The Greater Seattle Chamber thanks Kim Ricketts of Kim Ricketts Book Events for providing this special opportunity.
  
This Community Breakfast is open to all. For information on Chamber membership click here.
Refunds and credits are not allowed for this special program, but substitutions are welcome.
DRIVING DIRECTIONS
Washington Athletic Club
1325 Sixth Avenue, Seattle 98111
Telephone: 206.622.7900
The WAC is located in Downtown Seattle on 6th Avenue, between Union and University.
From I-5 Northbound
Take the Seneca Street Exit and turn right onto 6th Ave.
From I-5 Southbound
Take the Union Street Exit. From Union St., turn left onto 5th Ave.
Turn left onto University St. and then turn left onto 6th Ave.
Parking
Parking is available one block north of the WAC, just past Union St. on the left.
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