Why are we still running schools the same way we did fifty years ago?

This is the question students, teachers, parents, and researchers now wrestle with in the 21st century.

According to the U.S. Department of Education, over 1.2 million students drop out of high school in the United States every year. That’s a student every 26 seconds – or 7,000 a day.

Even college graduates face challenging odds. Harvard professor Tony Wagner claims half of all recent college graduates are either unemployed or underemployed, and one-third are living at home.

Fortunately, there are some solutions.

Here are five TED Talks every parent should see to understand the most current brain research, psychological studies, and tried-and-true tested methods to improve education.

The Key to Success? Grit by Angela Duckworth

Angela Duckworth is a psychologist, educator, and former management consultant. She’s dedicated much of her research to understanding which factors lead to success in school and the work place.

Duckworth says the answer is grit and “living life like it’s a marathon, not a sprint.”

The Power of Belief – Mindset and Success by Eduardo Briceño

Eduardo Briceño is co-founder and CEO of Mindset Works, an organization that helps schools and other organizations foster a growth mindset culture.

His talk refers to brain research and studies conducted by Stanford professor Carol Dweck that show the way we understand intelligence and abilities impacts our success in school, relationships, sports, the arts, and the work place.

The Myth of Average by Todd Rose

Todd Rose is a high school drop out turned Harvard professor. He’s also co-founder and president of Project Variability, an organization dedicated to supporting individualized and personal learning.

Rose points out the problem is that we’re still running schools today the way we did 50 years ago. Schools were designed for the average learner, and therefore designed for nobody. He challenges schools to “ban the average” and “design to the edges.”

Danger of the Single Story by Chimamanda Adichie

Chimamanda Adichie is a best-selling author and master storyteller, who divides her time writing and teaching in Nigeria and the United States.

Adichie ponders the problem of telling a single story about a people or culture in media and literature. Stories are incomplete without multiple perspectives, and we should reexamine the stories we share (or fail to share) with children.

Play, Passion, Purpose by Tony Wagner

Tony Wagner is the founder and co-director of the Change Leadership Group at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. He’s also a former educator and best-selling author.

Wagner challenges us to rethink education in an age where you can Google anything, and it’s not what you can Google, but what you can do with that information that matters. He suggests seven skills all students need to acquire prior to graduation in order to succeed.