TABLE OF CONTENTS

Page

I. INTRODUCTION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

II. CHALLENGING OUR SCHOOLS TO CHANGE WHAT

THEY TEACH, HOW THEY TEACH, AND WHO THEY TEACH . . . . . 2

Workplaces Changes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Changes in the Workplace Have Altered What Workers
Do, How They Do It, and With Whom They Work . 3
Implications for Schooling . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
Cognitive Science and Learning . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Mistakes in Education and Training . . . . . . . . 5
Implications for Schools . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

III. GETTING SCHOOLS TO CHANGE:

THE COMMISSION'S OPPORTUNITY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

IV. DEVELOPING A NEW LANGUAGE FOR SKILLS . . . . . . . . . . 9

Functional Skills . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Enabling Skills . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Workplace Scenarios . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

V. FORMULATING THE COMMISSION'S APPROACH . . . . . . . . . . 14

Commissioner Comments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
Visits to Corporate Training Centers . . . . . . . . . . 14
Review of Research . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
Comments from Experts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
Criteria for Functional Skills and
an Initial List . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
The Meeting of Experts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

VI. DEFINING WORKPLACE SKILLS: NEXT STEPS . . . . . . . . . 18

Task Force Investigation and Testimony

by Industry Experts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
Development and Verification of Workplace Scenarios . . 19
Review of the Literature, Industry Studies, and
Other Data Sets on Skills Requirements . . . . . . 20

REFERENCES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

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APPENDIX A WORKPLACE SCENARIOS . . . . . . . . . . . . A-1

APPENDIX B EXPERT MEETING PARTICIPANTS . . . . . . . . B-1

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