As employers across the country continue to struggle to find workers with the skills to meet their talent needs, an important question keeps surfacing: should educators prioritize academic knowledge or durable skills?

In recent years, the pendulum has swung decidedly toward durable skills, after decades of academic and technical knowledge being viewed as the hallmark of rigor and prerequisites for success after high school. Today, more than half the nation’s states have proposed a vision for commencement level success that is inclusive of the traditional diploma, and expands beyond it to represent skills that reflect the growing demand from parents, educators, community members, and workforce for high school graduates to be skilled in competencies like communication, problem-solving, and teamwork. Conversely, critics suggest that the focus on skills is misguided, ignoring the value and importance of developing academic skills and knowledge.

When we frame the skills vs knowledge debate as a simple binary – an either/or – we lose sight of the real point. The dichotomy is false. In reality, academic knowledge and durable skills are deeply intertwined. Essential skills are developed through rigorous, experiential academic pursuits. Consider a high school student learning to master persuasive writing. This is an academic exercise, and serves as a real-world lesson in effective communication. Likewise, a STEM project that requires students to collaborate, analyze data, and present findings is both an academic pursuit and an exercise in building problem-solving and teamwork skills. 

Clearly, the demand for these skills in the workforce is real. Employers want to hire people who can demonstrate durable skills in complex and evolving contexts. This requires a more sophisticated understanding of durable skills, not as standalone traits, nor qualities built in isolation, but as essential competencies that develop alongside deep academic engagement.

Research on human development reinforces this idea. Learning doesn’t happen in silos. The cognitive and social-emotional aspects of learning are fundamentally linked, shaping how students absorb information, apply knowledge, and navigate complex challenges. In K-12 schools, for example, student development unfolds within the social context of a classroom through relationships between teachers, peers, and other adults who shape their learning experiences. 

Skills such as problem solving, effective communication and curiosity are not ancillary to learning; they are driving forces. When students set goals, grapple with tough questions and ambiguity, and build understanding in collaborative efforts with peers, they are experiencing education grounded in learning science. When students iterate based on feedback or reflect on their own progress, they are simultaneously deepening both their academic knowledge and their capacity to navigate and deliver on complex tasks. This is exactly the kind of preparation required to succeed in both college and career. 

When educators design learning experiences where students can safely grapple with complexity, navigate ambiguity, and process failure as a learning opportunity, we are preparing those students with the skills that the workforce is demanding. 

Some states and schools are beginning to embrace this interconnected model. Take Indiana’s new high school diploma, which balances workforce skills with college preparedness, rather than treating them as competing priorities. Or the “Portrait of a Graduate” framework, now adopted by half of our states, which integrates academic rigor with skills-based learning to prepare students for both higher education and career pathways. 

Similarly, the Carnegie Foundation’s new research and development agenda for high school transformation calls for reimagining the secondary school experience to better integrate academic learning with the development of durable skills. This agenda is being activated within our Future of High School Network—a group of two dozen pioneering school systems serving nearly 90,000 students—where communities are already testing bold ideas, learning in real time, and showing what it takes to build schools that prepare all students for the future. 

While there is still much to be learned about how to measure and validate durable skills, these approaches recognize that success, whether in college or the workforce, requires both a strong academic foundation and the ability to apply that knowledge in dynamic, real-world contexts.

If we want to prepare students to thrive in college, career, and beyond, we will need to move past outdated discussions that force a choice between academic knowledge and practical skills. Instead, we should embrace an integrated approach that reflects how learning actually happens—through the seamless combination of knowledge, skill development, and real-world application. 

By rethinking how we frame this debate—or better yet, recognizing it needn’t be a debate at all—we can build a system of education that equips all students to thrive in their lives after graduation.