On Tuesday, 10/27/09 I spoke at the New Market School To Career Partnership — “students, educators and community interacting to discover and explore career options.” This provided an opportunity to discuss real world learning, innovation, and the importance of flexible school standards and business-school partnerships. As a member of the NH State Board of Education, there are several books on these topics which have been given to me and which I am reading simultaneously. I highly recommend all of these books if you are interested in how the U.S. can remain competitive with the rest of the world: Disrupting Class (How Disruptive Innovation Will Change the Way the World Learns) by Christensen; Time to Learn by Gabrieli and Goldstein; Personalizing the High School Experience for Each Student, by DiMartino and Clarke; Tough Choices Tough Times by the National Center on Education and The Economy; The Global Achievement Gap by Wagner. If you read one or more of these books, I’d be really interested in your feedback and comments. Thank you. Tom R.