It has been estimated that 80 percent of the jobs available in the United States within 20 years will be cerebral and only 20 percent manual, the exact opposite of the ratio in 1900. A quadriplegic with good technical and communications skills is becoming a more valuable worker than an able-bodied person without those skills. … Minds will be preferred over muscle.

—Jennifer James
Columnist for The Seattle Times

The Tahoma School District in Maple Valley, Washington, has worked aggressively to align its curriculum, instruction, and assessment with the skills students will need to live and work in the 21st century. To this end, the district adopted a profile that names six student outcomes: they will become collaborative workers, complex thinkers, quality producers, effective communicators, self-directed learners, and community contributors.