There is a growing interest in conceptualizing, defining, and assessing what are often called 21st century skills or deeper learning competencies. The purpose of this literature review is to explore the conceptualizations, definitions, and understandings in the research literature related to creativity. Key initial questions include: What does it mean to be creative? How is creativity related to other success skill concepts? And how do creative skills develop over time? This foundational information will then be used to examine (a) instructional approaches to promote creativity, (b) benefits of creativity on valued student outcomes such as student learning, and (c) ways teachers can collect evidence of students’ creativity using student artifacts and other appropriate measures.
