About Ted

I have an unusual vantage point on innovation, education, and the future of civil society.  My professional career was immersed in the world of technology-driven education, giving me a ringside seat to the blistering advnaces of integrated circuits, software, robotics, and Artificial Intelligence. For the past fifteen years, I've focused on the world of education.  Recognizing that our true education experts are our classroom teachers, I do my best to learn from them, respect them, and celebrate them. But I have insights into the world our children will live in as adults, and how education priorities can foster — or impair — the skills and mindsets kids will need as adults. And I know that our data-driven education bureaucrats have made a total mess of it, placing ever-higher stakes on an ever-more-obsolete model. I fight every day to foster the innovations needed to align education priorities with the needs of modern society. Make no mistake, the challenges are serious.  As are the opportunities.

I describe how my education journey got started in this [TEDx Talk][9]. [9]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rvhb9aoyeZs

My first serious effort was organizing and funding Most Likely to Succeed, a feature-length documentary on education that was directed by the remarkable multiple-Emmy-Award-winning Greg Whiteley. The film has been an official selection of thirty major film festivals, including Sundance.  To date, more than 10,000 communities in some 35 countries around the globe have screened the film, using it as a powerful resource to spark discussion and inspire change.  It’s online here, free, and every bit as relevant today as when it premiered at Sundance.  The first fifteen minutes foretold in 2015 exactly what we’re seeing today with Artificial Intelligence.

As the film neared completion, thought leader and friend Tony Wagner and I co-authored the book Most Likely to Succeed: Preparing Our Kids for the Innovation Era.  Check out this Chicago Tribune review and order a copy.

During the 2015-2016 school year, I went to all fifty states, visiting some 200 schools. I was stunned by the innovative classrooms and schools I found across the country. My book What School Could Be: Insights and Inspiration from Teachers Across America brings these stories to readers.  I highlight the common elements of the powerful learning experiences I observed, and the conditions needed to let teachers and students thrive. You can order the book here.  And if you have a big event and a limited budget, I’m likely to donate copies to help you out.

In 2018, I formed an education non-profit with Sir Ken Robinson.  Tragically, Sir Ken passed away in August, 2020.  But our efforts have carried forward, and have blossomed into the remarkable What School Could Be community, and its powerful Innovation Playlist change model.  If you are a change agent seeking to elevate life and learning outcomes for the children in your world, this community offers unparalleled support, with compelling resources, like-minded and supportive educators, and an authentic sense of what is possible.  All free to you, your school, and your district.

For years, something about math has vexed me. Math bubbles with powerful, fascinating, life-changing ideas. Yet few adults understand these ideas, or even know about them. Our collective math ignorance isn’t for lack of effort. We spend years on math in school, churning away on rote mechanics that few adults use, and smartphones handle flawlessly. The aftermath? America’s math confusion is jeopardizing the futures of millions, undermining civil society. So I decided to do something about this -- write the book Aftermath: The Math of Power, Deceit, Life, and Death. It lays out an entire body of modern-era math -- fascinating, relevant, and life-changing. And it lays bare the dire ramifications of misguided priorities, set by math-confused policymakers, written about by math-confused journalists, producing math-confused citizens. Math, it turns out, is the poster child for what is sowing the seeds for America's collapse.

A few years ago, I decided I'd never fund another documentary. They're expensive, the indie film landscape has gotten very challenging. Then, I visited a district in Winchester, Virginia. And I just knew their story needs to be told. So we're producing the film Multiple Choice about the power of career-based learning. Instead of training kids to perform on multiple-choice exams, this school prepares kids for life, giving them multiple informed and compelling options upon graduation. In a high-poverty district, nearly all students graduate, do fine on Virginia’s dreary and obsolete standardized tests, and gain lifelong benefits from immersive experiences at their Innovation Center. They've explored multiple career paths while developing essential competencies -- collaboration, creative problem-solving, agency, responsibility, and leadership. As a follow-up to my book What School Could Be, this film brings audiences to a district that exemplifies What School Should Be.

A few bio highlights include spending many years in school, graduating from the College of William and Mary with High Honors in English and Physics and then getting a PhD in Engineering from Stanford, where I also taught. In 2012, I was appointed by President Obama to represent the U.S. at the United Nations General Assembly, where I focused on education and youth entrepreneurship. I’m on LinkedIn here, and occasionally post about education and workforce development issues.

I’m on a mission to help catalyze and accelerate progress in our schools.  We need to equip our children with skills and mindsets that are essential in a world defined by rapidly-advancing innovation. I can’t overstate how fast machine intelligence is accelerating.  No school can be complacent.  My travels have convinced me that our best path forward is to let our teachers do what they entered the profession to do — engage and inspire our kids — and draw on their insights into how best to transform our schools.