The National Science Board has been holding a series of discussions on how schools might produce more students with the ability to create, innovate, and invent. "Our economy has changed," said Camilla P. Benbow, a science-board participant from Tennessee's Vanderbilt University. "It's a highly technological, knowledge-based economy," she said, that tends to reward "an educated workforce and the individuals who can create innovations."

Panelist Robert Root-Bernstein of Michigan State University suggests that teachers can use scientific unknowns--or even student questions--to generate student excitement and curiosity. "You shouldn't be a teacher if you can't say, 'I don't know,' " Mr. Root-Bernstein said, adding that it should be followed by, "Let's find out."

One panelist, 18-year-old Louis Wasserman, remembers the excitement he felt as a student while inventing something he was sure was original. "Students get excited about creating new things--it doesn't matter if it's actually new." Said Wasserman, the "joy of creating something is extraordinary."

Committee members have heard from speakers that U.S. science and math classes don't stress the kind of skills that could nurture innovation. Without understanding how to quantify that talent, it will be hard for the U.S. educational system to design a program to develop innovative skills.

We hear a lot about 21st-century skills that place an emphasis on critical and creative thinking. The work of the National Science Board further advances that discussion as well as the examination of the skills students need now and in the future. As we look to overhaul standards, these discussions will be more important. I'm curious about your position on this discussion. Do we need more emphasis on creative thinking in the classroom, even beyond science and math?