Succeeding at learning, and at life, takes more than academic ability. Studies on the importance of qualities like "grit" grabbing headlines, help to foster a growing conviction that encouraging the right mindsets and social-emotional skills in students will lead to better school achievement and post-secondary success. Policymakers are eager to measure these skills and mindsets as educators are searching for ways to teach them. To guide that search, Foundations for Young Adult Success, a 2016 report by the University of Chicago Consortium on School Research, synthesized decades of research, theory, and practice from the fields of youth development, psychology, sociology, economics, education, and the cognitive sciences. The report describes the personal qualities that underlie a productive and fulfilling adulthood and the kind of experiences that adults can create for children, in or out of school, to lead them there. These developmental experiences have two essential characteristics: They must be active, allowing students to design, create, practice, puzzle, experiment, and do. They must also be reflective, helping young people draw meaning from their experiences. While research can provide a framework about the kinds of experiences young people need to grow into a rich and satisfying adulthood, it doesn't yet provide all the details. It's not yet clear what specific strategies educators should adopt to teach academic content in a way that also fosters personal growth. Designing such instruction will require innovation and time for developmental experiences, much like those we want for young people -- time to design, create, test out, make mistakes, reflect, and revise.