A striking convergence of research, documentation, commentary, and policy in the past five years strongly suggests that an almost exclusive focus on academic knowledge and skills is an incomplete solution. Additional behaviors, skills, and mindsets--sometimes called metacognitive skills or 21st-century skills--are just as necessary for academic and career success and a rich civic life. A significant body of research emphasizes that a focus on these mindsets and skills contributes to improved outcomes on many academic measures while their absence contributes to inefficient learning. One of the most critical of these metacognitive skills is self-regulation. A self-regulating learner can plan, set goals, organize, self-monitor, and self-evaluate at various points during the process of building new knowledge or skills.