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Showcasing the durable and transferable skills students need now that are intentionally woven into the fabric of teaching and learning

The most powerful moments in schools often happen far from a textbook or test. They happen when a student has to voice an idea clearly to an unfamiliar audience, manage a project without a script or adapt when a plan falls apart. It鈥檚 when students discover that leadership can mean listening, that failure can mean progress and that resilience isn鈥檛 built from comfort but from challenge. These moments shape not just learning but life.

These are the skills that fuel lifelong learning, the modern economy and civic life. They often are called soft skills, but in truth they are anything but soft. They are durable, transferable and foundational.

Across the country, school districts are showing how these skills can be intentionally woven into the everyday fabric of teaching and learning. In the farmlands of Pennsylvania, the open landscapes of Nevada and the agricultural heart of California, education leaders are designing school systems where communication, collaboration, creativity and adaptability are cultivated as intentionally as core academic subjects such as algebra or biology. Their stories show us not just what鈥檚 possible but what鈥檚 necessary for a future where change is the only constant.

Long Life Agency

At the National Center on Education and the Economy, where I serve as CEO, we describe the skills students need across four interconnected categories:

Core skills: rigorous academic knowledge and interdisciplinary fluency.

Contemporary skills: collaboration, communication, creativity, adaptability and decision making.

Community skills: ethical, empathetic engagement in civic and social life.

Habits of learning and well-being: resilience, reflection, purpose and joy in learning.

The most effective school districts don鈥檛 treat these as add-ons. They weave them into the very fabric of teaching and learning, ensuring that by graduation, students don鈥檛 just know, but can do, adapt and lead.

Collaboration in Action

Roughly 90 miles northwest of Philadelphia is a small, rural district serving 5,400 students where substantive changes are taking hold in classroom practices.

In Pennsylvania鈥檚 Eastern Lebanon County School District, superintendent Julia Vicente is clear about her district鈥檚 North Star: 鈥淲e want kids to be prepared for life, not just for tests.鈥�

Assistant superintendent Barbara Davis expands on this vision: 鈥淚t鈥檚 about giving students the skills to manage uncertainty and complexity. If they can collaborate, communicate and reflect on their learning, they鈥檙e ready for whatever comes next.鈥�

In classrooms, this philosophy comes alive through group projects that require more than right answers. Science students design experiments and then present their findings to peers, mirroring professional settings where accuracy is essential and the ability to explain and persuade is critical. Teachers describe moments when previously quiet students step forward, realizing their voice matters in shaping the outcome.

One teacher reflects: 鈥淚鈥檝e watched students who were hesitant at first become leaders in group discussions. They discover that the process 鈥� listening, negotiating, presenting 鈥� is just as valuable as the product.鈥�

This emphasis on teamwork and shared leadership builds contemporary skills. But it also strengthens habits of learning and well-being, as students develop persistence and confidence in spaces that simulate the collaborative workplaces they will one day join.

For Vicente and Davis, these shifts are not simply pedagogical, they are economic. Pennsylvania employers echo the need for collaboration, adaptability and problem solving. 鈥淲e know,鈥� Vicente says, 鈥渢hat if our graduates have these skills, they鈥檒l not only succeed individually, they鈥檒l strengthen our community鈥檚 workforce and civic life.鈥�

Leading in Uncertainty

Nearly 2,000 miles away, in the wide-open expanse of eastern Nevada, White Pine School District鈥檚 superintendent, Adam Young, tells a similar story with a different landscape. 鈥淲e have to prepare kids for futures we can鈥檛 fully predict,鈥� he says. 鈥淭he best thing we can do is give them the durable skills to adapt.鈥�

In 8th-grade math, teacher Keva Brandis sees these skills being developed each day. Her classroom is a laboratory for collaboration, persistence and resilience. She recalls one student who struggled academically but thrived when the task required building team morale. 鈥淗e became the group鈥檚 hype man,鈥� she says, laughing. 鈥淗e kept everyone motivated and moving forward. That鈥檚 leadership, too.鈥�

Brandis designs tasks that require students to manage projects, take initiative and problem solve without step-by-step directions. 鈥淚 tell them, 鈥楲ife isn鈥檛 multiple choice,鈥欌�� Brandis says. 鈥溾�榊ou鈥檒l have to navigate unstructured problems.鈥� And they rise to it.鈥�

Students themselves describe the difference. One shared this after a project: 鈥淲hen our first idea didn鈥檛 work, I thought we鈥檇 failed. But then we tried again, and I realized failing is how we found the better solution.鈥�

This mindset 鈥� that setbacks are part of innovation 鈥� is precisely what employers describe as essential. It reflects habits of learning, strengthens contemporary skills and models community skills, as students learn to listen, negotiate and support one another.

White Pine has even extended this work into policy. When students traveled to Carson City to testify before state leaders, they weren鈥檛 just practicing civics, they were embodying it. They spoke with clarity and confidence, demonstrating that when schools prioritize agency, students contribute not just to classrooms but to communities.

Madera鈥檚 Harvest

In California鈥檚 Central Valley, Madera South High School offers another perspective. Here, the agricultural pathway immerses students in the science and economics of farming, while also grounding them in service and responsibility.

Mornings begin in the orange groves and barns, where students irrigate, feed livestock and monitor soil chemistry. Later, they present crop plans to peers and local farmers, just as agribusiness professionals would. Some of the harvest goes directly into the school lunch program, and some is donated to food banks.

One student says, 鈥淚 used to think farming was just hard work. Now I see it鈥檚 also science and problem solving.鈥� Another adds, 鈥淲hen I see our pumpkins go to families, I know what we do matters.鈥�

The program cultivates core skills through applied science, contemporary skills through project management and communication, and community skills through civic contribution.

It also ties directly to the regional economy, where agriculture is both legacy and livelihood. By aligning school pathways with industry needs, Madera is preparing students for purposeful work connected to their community鈥檚 future.

Workforce Currency

These school district accounts echo a global truth. Employers consistently say they can train workers on specific tools, but what they need are people who can think critically, collaborate effectively and adapt to change. The World Economic Forum projects that nearly half of workplace skills will shift within the decade, with human-centered skills at the top of the list.

In a world where knowledge can quickly become outdated, these capabilities have become a new global currency: assets that hold their value no matter how the economy evolves.

Districts like Eastern Lebanon, White Pine and Madera are showing what it looks like to build that currency early. By embedding contemporary skills into daily practice, such as problem-solving in math, teamwork in project-based learning and reflection in writing, they鈥檙e helping students accumulate a kind of lifelong capital. These are skills that fuel economies, strengthen communities and give young people the confidence to shape their own futures.

The Superintendent鈥檚 Role

District leaders such as Vicente, Davis, Young and their colleagues demonstrate valuable levers available to superintendents. They suggest leaders:

Forge partnerships with higher education, businesses and nonprofits to bring authentic challenges into classrooms.

Invest in teacher learning, ensuring educators are equipped to coach collaboration, adaptability and reflection.

Create authentic platforms such as expos, showcases and testimony opportunities where students demonstrate growth in real-world contexts.

Measure what matters, capturing resilience, creativity and leadership through portfolios, peer reviews and presentations, not just standardized tests.

As Davis notes, 鈥淚f we want kids to value these skills, we have to show we value them too. That means making them visible, measurable and celebrated.鈥�

Measuring Essentials

Both Eastern Lebanon and White Pine are experimenting with new ways to assess contemporary skills. White Pine has piloted a durable skills credential, allowing students to document collaboration, communication and leadership alongside academic transcripts.

At Eastern Lebanon, public showcase events and peer feedback make growth visible. Teachers note that students reflect more deeply on their own strengths and areas for growth when the assessment isn鈥檛 just a grade but a conversation.

These innovations remind us that if contemporary skills are to be treated as essential, they must be assessed with the same seriousness as algebra or literacy 鈥� though in more authentic ways.

Full Circle

At the end of a group project in White Pine, a teacher asked her students, 鈥淲hat would you do differently next time?鈥� One 9th-grade student replied without hesitation: 鈥淲e鈥檇 test earlier and get feedback sooner.鈥�

In that simple reflection lies the essence of agency: the ability to learn, adapt and move forward. It is what Eastern Lebanon students discover when they present findings, what White Pine students practice when they testify in the capital in Carson City and what Madera students feel when they see their harvest feed neighbors.

These skills are not optional extras. They are the steel scaffolding of learning, the fuel of the workforce, and the compass of citizenship. They are the skills our students, and our world, cannot thrive without. n

VICKI PHILLIPS, a former superintendent, is CEO of the National Center on Education and the Economy in Washington, D.C.