This paper addresses the following questions: (1) What skills are needed in the U.S. economy? (2) What are citizens getting from U.S. schools? and (3) How does the United States get what is needed? The paper is divided into three sections. The first section, "The Transformation of the American Economy," examines the following data sources reflecting the skill implications of economic changes: (1) skill trends in employment by occupation; and (2) industry case studies of changes in the nature and structure of work. The second section, "Are We Getting What We Need from Our Schools?" discusses the following questions: (1) What do students need to learn? (2) Who should learn? (3) When should they learn? and (4) How should crucial thinking and work-related skills be taught? This section summarizes four broad contrasts that raise important questions about educational effectiveness for nonschool activity: (1) individual cognition in school versus shared cognition outside; (2) pure mentation in school versus tool manipulation; (3) symbol manipulation in school versus reasoning in out-of-school contexts; and (4) generalized learning in school versus situation-specific competencies outside. The third section, "How Do We Get What We Need from Our Schools?" endorses an assessment system that clearly signals performance expectations and standards. A list of 17 references is appended. (AF)