Despite billions of dollars spent on educational reform since the government report, A Nation at Risk: The Imperative for Educational Reform was published in 1983, more than half of the United State’s high school seniors are not proficient in reading, and 75 percent struggle with math, according to the recently released National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP).

Clearly, the current approaches to educational reform are failing. The problem is that major aspects of our educational system were devised to meet the societal needs of a bygone era.

We need to change the paradigm. We need to move from Industrial Age “factory model schools” to accommodate and reflect Information Age needs and realities.

The Industrial Age in the United States, roughly 1830 to 1960, was shaped by machinery and mass production. Many jobs moved from farms to factories, which required workers—and therefore students—who would follow instructions and endure repetitive, boring tasks.

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