Beyond Testing: The 7 Disciplines For Strengthening Instruction

The challenge in schools today is not just to get more students to pass tests, but to create new knowledge about how to improve instruction.

By Tony Wagner

With the new requirements of the No Child Left Behind Act, and high-stakes accountability tests now in nearly every state, education leaders are under unprecedented pressure to improve student performance. The problem is, many don't know what to do that is different from what they have always done.

Politicians and media pundits tell us that America's schools are "failing" and need "reforming." The implication is that educators once knew how to educate all students to higher standards and have just gotten lazy or forgetful. But after 20 years of reform efforts that have yielded few improvements, it is becoming clear that the overwhelming majority of school and district leaders do not know how to help teachers better prepare all students for the higher learning standards now required for future learning, work, and citizenship in a "knowledge society."

And so the real challenge in schools today is not just to get more students to pass more tests, but to create new knowledge about how to improve the level of instruction for all students. More testing, alone, will not improve teaching. We must understand clearly all of the elements of a more systemic approach to strengthening...