Since 2002, the Partnership for 21st Century Skills has been the leading advocacy organization in the United States focused on infusing 21st century skills into education. Its "Framework for 21st Century Learning," the result of a consensus among hundreds of stakeholders, describes the skills, knowledge, and expertise students need to…

Like today's educators, Japanese haiku poets were caught between standards (like courtly love) and everyday realities. From this tension, they created a remarkable poetic form. Three examples from teachers' professional development work apply simple-and-deep principles to listening tasks, an assessment "deal," and curricular-standards…