I was so happy to see this post. Harold, I think you are right on. I just blogged about this exact idea - that education should focus on the skills we're after and not content mastery - last week. breeberman.com/2013/04/26/the-new-basics/ if you're interested.

Teachers intuitively understand this, but still change is slow to come. When students ask math teachers why they need to know the Law of Sines (a formula they'll likely use 0 times in their adult lives unless they become high school math teachers), most teachers will respond that it's not really that they need to know the formula, but that math class is for training them to be problem solvers and critical thinkers. Which of course begs the question, can students learn to be problem solvers and critical thinkers with content that is of particular interest to them instead of curriculum-prescribed topics?

Will and Harold, thanks for posting book recommendations. Will, I wanted to introduce myself. I work at Flint Hill and heard lots of great things from Shannan about your Skype with our board. Thanks for helping us in our r/evolution.