Picture this: your teenager comes home stressed about class rank while ChatGPT just aced the same test in three seconds.
Something’s broken here. Two education researchers think they know what it is—and their answer might make every parent rethink what “success” actually means.
The problem runs deeper than bad grades. Mental health crises are hitting one in seven teens worldwide, while the job market is about to wipe out 83 million positions and create 69 million new ones. That’s a net loss of 14 million jobs, and most schools are still preparing kids for the ones that won’t exist.
Kansas study exposes education’s blind spot
Yong Zhao and RuoJun Zhong just published research that should worry every parent paying attention to their kid’s future.
Their June 19 study in ECNU Review of Education argues that merit-based schooling is producing exactly the wrong kind of graduate. While teachers focus on individual achievement, the real world runs on team performance.
“Meritocracy turns education into a race,” they write. But races have winners and losers—and the modern economy needs people who can work together, not beat each other.
The numbers tell the story. Freelance work now supports 64 million Americans, all succeeding through collaboration and specialized skills rather than traditional credentials.
The mental health connection nobody talks about
Here’s where it gets serious. The same competitive pressure that drives academic achievement is linked to the teen mental health crisis, according to the U.S. Surgeon General.
Schools teach kids to see classmates as competition. Social media amplifies that comparison culture. The result? Anxious teenagers who can’t work effectively with others.
Meanwhile, employers are quietly dropping degree requirements. More than half of U.S. job postings in 2024 stopped asking for college credentials entirely.
Massachusetts eliminated degree requirements for most state jobs earlier this year. Minnesota did the same for 75% of its positions in 2023.
What teamwork actually looks like in practice
The researchers aren’t just complaining—they have a blueprint for change.
“Excellence in the age of interdependence is not about being better than others. It is about becoming better with others,” Zhao and Zhong explain.
They want schools to flip the script entirely. Instead of uniform curricula that treat every student identically, they propose interest-driven paths that build on individual strengths.
Think mixed-age project studios where students tackle real community problems. Teachers would coach rather than lecture, helping learners form teams around complementary skills.
Assessment would shift from “what’s your rank?” to “what value did you create for others?”
The AI factor changes everything
Large language models are already passing parts of the U.S. Medical Licensing Exam. When machines can memorize and regurgitate information better than humans, what’s the point of testing those skills?
The researchers call this “co-agency”—working with AI tools instead of competing against them. Students need to learn what humans do best: creativity, ethics, empathy, and complex problem-solving.
These aren’t soft skills anymore. They’re economic necessities.
Research shows diverse teams consistently outperform uniform groups on both creative and analytical tasks. McKinsey found companies with diverse leadership are 25% more likely to achieve above-average profits.
What parents should watch for
Schools that embrace this shift will produce graduates who see collaboration as strength, not weakness. They’ll graduate students who ask “how can I help?” instead of “how do I win?”
The ones that don’t adapt? They’ll keep churning out anxious high-achievers perfectly trained for a world that disappeared five years ago.
Policy changes are already happening. The question is whether your kid’s school will catch up before graduation.
Zhao and Zhong frame their research as preparation for a labor market where empathy pays as much as coding skills. Where psychological safety drives performance better than competition.
Sources:
Zhao, Y., & Zhong, R. (2025). Published in ECNU Review of Education. June 19, 2025.
U.S. Surgeon General data on youth mental health trends
McKinsey research on diverse leadership performance
State policy changes in Massachusetts and Minnesota
