Recommended Books on 21st Century Learning

Here are the books I am currently reading and that I recommend to teachers, administrators, and education reform advocates on 21st Century Learning.

-- Bob, October 2009. Last updated: January, 2015

January, 2015: Bob Lenz, Justin Wells, and Sally Kingston, Transforming Schools Using Project-Based Learning, Performance Assessment, and Common Core Standards.
January, 2015: James A. Bellanca et al, Deeper Learning: Beyond 21st Century Skills
January, 2015: Milton Chen, Education Nation: Six Leading Edges of Innovation in our Schools
January, 2015: Grant Lichtman, #EdJourney: A Roadmap to the Future of Education

21st Century Skills: Rethinking How Students Learn By John Barell, Linda Darling-Hammond, Chris Dede, Rebecca DuFour, Richard DuFour, Douglas Fisher, Robin Fogarty, Nancy Frey, Howard Gardner, Andy Hargreaves, David W. Johnson, Roger T. Johnson, Cheryl Lemke, Jay McTighe, Alan November, Bob Pearlman, Brian M. Pete, Douglas Reeves, Will Richardson, Elliott Seif

Go to New Learning Environments to download Chapter 6: Designing New Learning Environments to Support 21st Century Skills by Bob Pearlman.

Elliot Washor and Charles Mojokowski, Leaving to Learn: How Out-of-School Learning Increases Student Engagement and Reduces Dropout Rates, Heiniman, 2013.

A website with significant 21st Century learning resources accompanies the book at http://www.leavingtolearn.org/.

The book can be purchased here.

Bob Lenz, Justin Wells, and Sally Kingston, Transforming Schools Using Project-Based Learning, Performance Assessment, and Common Core Standards, Jossey-Bass, January 2015.

In this book, the authors from Envison Learning explain how project-based learning can blend with Common Core-aligned performance assessment for deeper learning. You'll discover how many schools have successfully made the transition from traditional, teacher-centered learning to project-based, deeper learning and find many practical ideas for implementation. The Companion DVD and website include videos showing how to implement deeper learning strategies in the classroom

The book can be purchased at Amazon.

Bernie Trilling and Charles Fadel , 21st Century Skills: Learning for Life in our Times, Wiley, 2009.

A website with significant 21st Century learning resources accompanies the book.

The book can be purchased at Amazon .

Edited by James A. Bellanca, Deeper Learning: Beyond 21st Century Skills, Solution Tree, 2014. Chapters by: Suzie Boss, Stacey Caillier, Barbara Chow, David T. Conley, Arthur L. Costa, Ben Daley, Linda Darling-Hammond, Rebecca DuFour, Richard DuFour, Deborah Rosalia Esparza, Charles Fadel, Michael Fullan, Valerie Greenhill, Bena Kallick, Ken Kay, Steven Paine, James W. Pellegrino, Rob Riordan, Helen A. Soulé, Bernie Trilling, Tony Wagner, Yong Zhao, Steven Zipkes.

Education authorities from around the globe explore deeper learning, a process that promotes higher-order thinking, reasoning, and problem solving to better educate students and prepare them for college and careers. Relying on research as well as their own experience, the authors show how to use intensive curriculum, instruction, assessment, and leadership practices to meet the needs of 21st century learners

Printed Reproducibles & Resources

The book can be purchased at Amazon.

Milton Chen, Education Nation: Six Leading Edges of Innovation in our Schools, George Lucas Educational Foundation, Jossey-Bass, 2012

As a result of constant innovation, learning is no longer limited by traditional confines and we're moving beyond students tied to their chairs, desks, and textbooks-and teachers locked away in classrooms. In Education Nation author Milton Chen draws from extensive experience in media-from his work on Sesame Street in its nascent years to his role as executive director of the George Lucas Educational Foundation-to support a vision for a new world of learning.

Order at Amazon.

Grant Lichtman, #EdJourney: A Roadmap to the Future of Education, Jossey-Bass, September 2014

Over the course of a 3-month solo road trip across the United States, author Grant Lichtman discovered that there is much to be positive about in today's K-12 schools. Lichtman, one of the country's leading experts in educational innovation, interviewed over 600 teachers, administrators, students, parents, and trustees to find out what kind of innovations they're doing right—and how others can leverage their successes.

Also see: The Learning Pond Blog; Website: The Furute of K-12 Education; Twitter: @GrantLichtman; and TEDxDenverTeachers, March 2013: What 60 Schools Can Tell Us About Teaching 21st Century Skills

Order at Amazon.

Ken Kay and Valerie Greenhill, The Leader's Guide to 21st Century Education: 7 Steps for Schools and Districts, Pearson, 2012.

The book can be purchased at Amazon .

Tony Wagner, The Global Achievement Gap: Why Even Our Best Schools Don't Teach the New Survival Skills Our Children Need--and What We Can Do About It, Basic Books, 2008.

See Tony's School Change Consulting website.

Order at Amazon.

Tony Wagner, Creating Innovators: The Making of Young People Who Will Change The World, Scribner, 2012.

Order at Amazon or Barnes & Noble.


David Thornburg, From the Campfire to the Holodeck: Creating Engaging and Powerful 21st Century Learning Environments, Jossey-Bass, October 2013

Order at Amazon or Wiley.

The Atlantic interviews David Thornburg on his new book on 21C Learning Environments (November 2013).

James Bellanca, Enriched Learning Projects: A Practical Pathway to 21st Century Skills, Solution Tree Press, 2010.

See Bob Pearlman's foreword to Enriched Learning Projects. Order the book here.

Solution tree has also provided a superb reproducible resources page.

Lydotta M. Taylor and Jill M. Fratto, Transforming Learning through 21st Century Skills: The Who Took My Chalk? Model for Engaging You and Your Students, Pearson, 2012.

See Foreword by Bob Pearlman: Letter to a 21st Century Teacher.

Order at Amazon.

The Language of School Design: Design Patterns for 21st Century Schools, by Prakash Nair, Randall Fielding and Dr. Jeffery Lackney

Allan Collins and Richard Halverson, Rethinking Education in the Age of Technology: The Digital Revolution and Schooling, Teachers College Press, 2009.

Order at Amazon or Teachers College Press.

Yong Zhao, Catching Up or Leading the Way: American Education in the Age of Globalization, ASCD, 2009.

See Yong Zhao's Blog.

Order at ASCD or Amazon.

The Third Teacher: 79 Ways You Can Use Design to Transform Teaching & Learning by OWP/P Cannon Design (Author), VS Furniture (Author), Bruce Mau Design (Author)

Linda Darling-Hammond, The Flat World and Education: How America's Commitment to Equity Will Determine Our Future, Teachers College Press, January, 2010

See Books by Linda Darling-Hammond.

Order at Teachers College Press or Amazon.