In his book “How Children Succeed” , Paul Tough questions whether success is the result of measurable cognitive skills. He suggests that research shows that non-cognitive skills such as grit, self control, persistence, curiosity, and self-confidence are more important in achieving success. Tough contends that character development results from facing and overcoming failure. Upper income children are often overly protected from failure but also pushed to over achieve. Lower income students face so many challenges that they give up. Neither, in many cases, develop the resilience they need to face and overcome obstacles in life.
EDUTOPIA offers some tips on how to teach the “performance values” our students need to succeed. True Grit: The Best Measure of Success and How to Teach It My guess is that overly testing cognitive skills is not the answer to providing students with the character traits they need to succeed. The administrators gave “How Children Succeed” to all of the staff members in my district. At the very least the research in this bookshould be considered as we redefine how we teach in the 21st Century.