Imagination is what the U.S. was built on and what it requires to achieve and maintain its status in the future. In this article, the author says that there is a failure of imagination in education in the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) era. Scores on tests do not translate into creativity or imagination; nor do such tests and the curriculum that prepares students to take them allow for the messy, fuzzy, risky thinking that leads to real ideas. When it comes to preparing students for the future, the author suggests that English teachers need to cultivate in students the following seven personae: (1) storyteller; (2) philosopher; (3) historian; (4) anthropologist; (5) reporter; (6) critic; and (7) designer. These seven personae are the roles that will give students the dexterity needed to work in the world they will enter in the coming years, where up to 40% of the workforce will be independent consultants (Fisher) and nearly all of the fastest-growing jobs (US Department of Labor) require a complex array of skills that can only be obtained through postsecondary education.