David Richardson

Host of High Performance/ TV Presenter/Entrepreneur/Investor

To all my fellow parents & guardians reading this...

Make this a week where you let your kids be bored ❤️

Executive Director, Educate NC

You can't build a 2026 Cadillac on a 1976 production line. But that is what educators try to do every school year. It is the same production line, standardized testing, but each year they 'innovate'. Rebranding policy, cooking data, adding funding, and changing metrics; but everything winds up being  band aids and gimmicks. The time of innovation and other inside the box education initiatives have long past. We need something true and absolute: we need to retool.
Back to our Cadillac and the production line, retooling replaced all previous operations. New processes, new procedures, new people with new ideas. This is what we need in education. Throw out the one size fits all education model where every student sits in class, takes a standardized test and is prepped for college. Allow students to define and grow their interests and abilities. And create successful citizens.
-We need multiple education models, from direct hire all the way to college. 
-Change funding model metrics to those that measure student success. 
-New people with new ideas, the status quo has to go.
-Replace funding silos with seamless education pathways
-Ensure that every student has a sound basic education and an employable skill.

We are starting to the see the shift to skills based learning models in education but I still get push back from education and business. Kids start asking the how, why, where questions when they are 4 and 5 years old. Kids start putting learned information and experiences together as they move in to elementary school. This is when they start interest in sports and activities. This interest continues to grow. Sports, sports teams, arts, hobbies, etc. The same interest can be developed in careers. Students in 4th and 5th grade can use their own understanding and experiences to start making connections to careers that meet their interests and abilities. This is not locking students in to jobs. It is helping students to understand the different types of jobs, what type of education is needed for certain jobs, what is needed to be successful in a job in which they are interested. So, lets start letting our students explore their future before they are pushed into society adrift. National Association of Workforce Development Professionals (NAWDP) Corporation for a Skilled Workforce (CSW) Kristy Volesky Jason Van Nus Economic Development Partnership of North Carolina (EDPNC) NC Chamber

12 years of education? This is yet another education 'standard' that needs to be evaluated. Standards are killing education. Teach a standard course of study. Teach the test. Use data to create a standard student. All the while we are expected to treat students as individuals, that have different interests and different abilities. And then we push them into society that has different cities, employers, and needs. This too needs to change. 
https://lnkd.in/eXNNTuz6

Content delivery is not teaching. Teaching is creative and develops creative students. Content delivery is packaged facts for a test and develops people that need instruction the rest of their lives. #education #educationleadership #success #teaching # SJ Barakony Kenneth Midgett Dr. Amy Jablonski Keil Dumsch

Director at SGS Foundation | Global Education Critique | Designing solutions for Global Education crisis | Rebuilding Education for Humanity

Over the last few days, I have argued three positions that are rarely held together. First, I challenged scripted teaching as cognitively misaligned with how humans learn—effective for control, weak for thinking.
Then, I defended scripted teaching as a rational response to fragile systems—useful where capacity, training, and trust are missing.
Finally, I stated my position clearly:
 scripted teaching is not the problem; treating it as a solution is.
After examining both sides seriously, this much is clear to me:
Education systems do not rely on scripts because they are evidence-based.
 They rely on scripts because building professional judgment is harder, slower, and politically riskier.
Scripts stabilize systems.
 They do not develop minds.
If we are serious about learning, we must stop debating whether to script teachers and start confronting why our systems cannot function without doing so.
That is not a pedagogical question.
 It is an institutional one.
The trilogy ends here.
 The responsibility does not.

#EducationResearch #LearningSciences #TeachingQuality #EducationSystems #BeyondCompliance #CognitionOverControl #Edumonkkuldeep

At what age should we start our youth in apprenticeships? Should we wait until they are adults or should we start them when the are old enough to learn? Association for Career and Technical Education Associated General Contractors of America Associated General Contractors of America Corporation for a Skilled Workforce (CSW) National Fund for Workforce Solutions Kristy Berkland National Association of Workforce Development Professionals (NAWDP) Peter Hostrawser Angela LeMay

A decline in successful education outcomes in our Nation has led to a decline in the share of wealth held by the middle class. The middle class can not live on the minimum wage. The middle class must be given employable skills in our high schools. Employable skills provide wages that allow North Carolinian's to have health care, buy a home, provide child care and produce stable citizens with fewer mental health issues. NC Chamber The Hunt Institute The William and Ida Friday Institute for Educational Innovation Charlotte Regional Business Alliance Economic Development Partnership of North Carolina (EDPNC) myFutureNC Derick Lee Mary Todd Earnhardt  NC Child Matthew Fogleman

Investor. Trader. Former CFO of major nonprofit organizations in California. A page dedicated to investors with a longer-term horizon and an unwavering commitment to a free market economy in which excellence thrives.

The Declining Share of Wealth Held by the Middle Class Since 2000...

Great article from Tim. We have to ditch the electronic babysitters.

Co-Owner, Saddleback Educational

"Emerging research suggests what many have long suspected: This is an inferior mode of learning. A compilation of 49 studies published last year found that paper-based learning led to higher scores on comprehension tests than for students who absorbed the material through a screen" https://lnkd.in/gT4fUn3H

You see the data but you do not recognize the results. We hear the news. We hear the school systems. We hear the state and federal educators. But what we have yet to do is look at the true outcomes of our schools. 
However, this blind 'you can trust the experts' mentality is breaking. Sit tight.

Run schools on evidence, not ego | International School Vice Principal | ISC Edruptor 2025

🎭Your school runs on perception. Not truth.

One email shapes how parents see you. One meeting shapes the board's confidence. One reference shapes your next job. One visit shapes your accreditation.

No one sees full context. Everyone sees fragments.

A parent misreads your tone on Thursday. By Monday, three families ask questions. What people 𝘣𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘷𝘦 you did matters more than what you actually did.

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𝗧𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗺𝗮𝗸𝗲𝘀 𝗿𝗲𝗽𝘂𝘁𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗯𝗿𝗶𝘁𝘁𝗹𝗲 𝗰𝗮𝗽𝗶𝘁𝗮𝗹.

One avoidable mistake costs more than ten wins pay back. A sloppy email. An inconsistent consequence. A public contradiction.

The market remembers failures longer than successes.

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𝗔𝗻𝗱 𝗺𝗼𝘀𝘁 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗸𝗲𝗵𝗼𝗹𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗮𝗿𝗲𝗻'𝘁 𝗵𝗲𝗹𝗽𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝘁𝗲𝗰𝘁 𝗶𝘁.

They pursue their own advantage. They rarely state it plainly. Parents want their child protected. Board members want clean optics. Teachers want workload relief. Owners want returns.

If you want to lead well, you learn incentives. You read motives. You control timing. You stay disciplined under emotion.

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𝗛𝗲𝗿𝗲'𝘀 𝗵𝗼𝘄 𝘁𝗼 𝗽𝗹𝗮𝘆 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗴𝗮𝗺𝗲 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗹𝗼𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿𝘀𝗲𝗹𝗳:

1 → 𝗧𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆 𝗺𝗲𝗲𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮𝘀 𝘁𝘄𝗼 𝗺𝗲𝗲𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘀.
The one that happened, and the story people told after. Design both.

2 → 𝗘𝗹𝗶𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝘂𝗻𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗰𝗲𝗱 𝗲𝗿𝗿𝗼𝗿𝘀.
Fix sloppy comms, inconsistent enforcement, and public contradictions first.

3 → 𝗨𝘀𝗲 𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗲 𝗮𝘀 𝗹𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿𝗮𝗴𝗲.
Do not rush reactive decisions. Move when the window opens, not when someone pushes you.

4 → 𝗦𝗲𝗽𝗮𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗺𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗱𝘂𝗰𝗲𝗿𝘀.
Reward deliverables, not charisma.

5 → 𝗗𝗼 𝗽𝗹𝗲𝗮𝘀𝗮𝗻𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘀 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿𝘀𝗲𝗹𝗳.
Delegate unpleasant work through process, committees, and policy. Stay the educator, not the executioner.

6 → 𝗡𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝗳𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁 𝘀𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗻𝗼𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗼 𝗹𝗼𝘀𝗲.
They escalate because they have no downside. Move disputes into documentation and due process.

7 → 𝗔𝗱𝗱 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗿𝗼𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗱 𝗯𝗼𝗹𝗱𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀.
Timid leadership invites tests. Make decisive calls on deadlines, grading, behavior, and staffing.

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Why don't schools teach this?

Because it sounds cynical.
Because "authenticity" sells better than strategy.
Because admitting the game exists feels like losing.

You can't lead on good intentions.

You have to manage perception or it manages you.

♻️ Share if you've learned this the hard way.
💬 Which maxim would change how your school operates?

André Double 安德烈   杜布勒 Clemmie Stewart Rachael Wilding Grainne O'Reilly 🔸 David Ardley 🔸Akshada Kamat

Alarming. How did we get here? #GenZ #studentlearning #educationleadership Andrew Smith, Ed.D. Derick Lee BEST NC: Business for Educational Success and Transformation in NC Public School Forum of North Carolina Matt C Barnes Keil Dumsch Jason Van Nus Kristy Volesky Brandon Holland

Educational Leadership Through a Consciousness-First Lens | K–12 Educator Rethinking Agency, Assessment & Curriculum | 18 Years in Ontario Public Education

Hello Network,

What trade curriculum's are available for high school student in construction, plumbing, HVAC, and electrical?

Thank you for your input.
Associated Builders and Contractors Associated General Contractors of America Skilled Trades Advisory Council Vendors | Contractors | Sub-Contracts- Back-to-Back | Skilled -Unskilled Trades |Explore The Trades Bring Back the Trades, Inc

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