If you’ve ever wondered why so many high school graduates seem ill-prepared for life in the real world, you aren’t alone. On this episode of Christopher Lochhead: Follow Your Different, we have a powerful conversation with education innovator Ted Dintersmith where the broken state of America’s education system is laid bare, and a refreshingly practical vision for the future is explored.

The discussion, centered on Ted’s new documentary “Multiple Choice,” makes a compelling case for reimagining high schools as launchpads for life, not just college admissions. As Ted puts it, “Imagine if the purpose of school were to prepare kids for life instead of standardized tests.” It’s a simple idea with revolutionary implications.

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Ted Dintersmith on the Cost of Standardization

In today’s high-pressure academic environment, schools have become laser-focused on standardized testing and college prep at the expense of real-world readiness. Ted Dintersmith is unflinching in his critique: “You hold people accountable to test scores. What are they going to do? They’re going to do test prep. And I think it’s damaging the futures of millions and millions of kids.” The impact is startling. Curiosity, creativity, and a sense of purpose are “crushed”, replaced by a relentless treadmill of test drills and application padding.

What’s more, society has paradoxically managed to “make people less capable at older and older ages.” Where previous generations might have been working, serving in the military, or starting their own ventures in their teens, many of today’s young adults struggle to launch. The root, according to Ted , is a model of schooling stuck in the late 19th century, one designed for a world of rote tasks, not the dynamic, creative economy of today. “We’ve gone from 99% of the jobs being ‘here’s your assignment, do it’ jobs to basically close to 0%. Now we need people to create and invent their path forward,” Ted explains. But our schools, he laments, “put that into a meat grinder” that discourages independent thought and problem-solving.

Winchester’s Innovation Center: Real-World Learning for Every Student

Perhaps the most hopeful moment in the conversation is Ted Dintersmith’s description of the Innovation Center in Winchester, Virginia: a school that’s rewriting the rules. There, every student, regardless of their academic track, participates in hands-on, career-oriented learning. From carpentry and welding to health care and artificial intelligence, the center offers a real taste of practical skills and modern technologies.

What sets Winchester apart is that this isn’t a program for a select few. “Every kid is spending healthy amounts of their high school time in there, in the Innovation Center,” Ted shares, highlighting how this all-in approach bridges the gap between vocational and academic pathways. Importantly, college-bound students benefit, developing resilient, adaptable skills alongside their career-focused peers.

“If a kid was at a school and they optionally took welding instead of AP chemistry, an elite college would turn them down… But here, because that’s what all the kids do, they say, ‘Oh, well, they kind of had to do it. I can’t really ding them for that,’”

– Ted Dintersmith

The results are telling. Students who might have once been written off as “suboptimal” are thriving. College applicants stand out with compelling stories of real achievement. And, perhaps most importantly, the community is united in supporting all students, regardless of their background or political leanings. “The school sends a message to the community that we respect all paths, and the community comes together irrespective of where they are in a very broken country, politically. Those political views don’t matter. It’s like, how can we work with a shared aspirational goal?” Ted says.

Future-Proofing a Generation

The stakes could hardly be higher. As artificial intelligence and automation transform the future of work, the old formula of “do well on tests, graduate, get a degree, and find a job” no longer guarantees success, or even employability. Ted recounts his experiences teaching at top colleges: “Every year, I ask, ‘How many of you right now are good at something that you could support yourself with financially and would enjoy doing?’ Out of one hundred, it’s generally three or four.” The rest, he points out, are left floundering after more than a decade of schooling.

So what’s the solution? Ted offers a clear model: “If we stopped making high school all about college prep and started making high school about life prep, it’s better for kids no matter what choice they make in their life going forward.” The documentary “Multiple Choice” lays out actionable steps any district can take, beginning with asking local employers what skills are needed and building those into the curriculum. He cites innovative policies in states like Indiana, which now requires 100 hours of career-based learning for every high school graduate, as well as Wyoming’s push to “turn things upside down” in favor of hands-on experience.

To hear more from Ted Dintersmith and his ideas on how to Future-Proof the next generation, download and listen to this episode.

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Website | What School Could Be | LinkedIn

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