Ted Dintersmith

Featured Keynote Programs

During the 2016 school year, Ted Dintersmith took an unprecedented education road trip that spanned some 1,000 meetings, and covered all fifty states. He observed remarkable examples of learning at its best -- teachers in ordinary circumstances doing extraordinary things. In this talk, Dintersmith describes the four key characteristics of PEAK learning experiences (purpose, essential skillsets and mindsets, agency, and deep knowledge), as well as policies that enable schools to develop these principles at scale.

Former venture capitalist and entrepreneur Ted Dintersmith knows innovation, and what skillsets and mindsets will be needed for the jobs of the future. In this talk, he connects the dots between workforce readiness and an education system that, in theory, prepares students for career but, in practice, impairs their life prospects. Any businessperson -- whether their focus is on workforce readiness, their own children or grandchildren, or the stability of our democracy -- will find this talk of immense interest.

Parents face hard choices when it comes to school and their children. Do we push our kids to excel in the current system, or encourage them to find their own path forward? They are generally at odds, and the choices parents make have lifetime consequences for their child. Innovation expert (and parent of two) Ted Dintersmith has immersed himself in schools. In this talk, he shares insights into learning environments, parental priorities, and a child’s life prospects.

The Urgency and the Possibility

Without profound change in traditional education, most of our current students will be at risk in a world defined by innovation. It doesn’t have to be this way. Dintersmith draws on his trip to all fifty states during the 2015/2016 school year to highlight conditions that lead to exceptional student learning. He goes onto identify change models that enable a school, district, or even a state to effectively transform classrooms at scale.

Workshop Option: The speaker takes the audience through several exercises that bring insight into the purpose of school, and ways to effect change through agile, low-risk “hacks” (small innovations).

Many schools have been forced to eliminate art from the student experience; others still offer art, but as a stand-alone class. In this talk and workshop, Dintersmith shows the essential importance of

Art and creativity in developing science and math proficiency,
STEM skills in pursuing the arts, and
The role of hands-on learning (or CTE) for every student.

Workshop Option: The speaker takes the audience through several exercises that highlight the power of integrating these disciplines, and the missed opportunity when they are isolated or ignored.

This talk, designed for student groups, will change the lives of any young adult who takes the talk seriously. Dintersmith provides compelling examples of what young adults can accomplish if they retain a sense of audacity and “bold” in pursuing their goals.

Workshop Option: The speaker works with students to help them clarify important goals in their lives, and brainstorm about how “bold” can help them achieve these objectives.