A Slice with 'Dice

The first semester of college asks students to master far more than academics alone. What if giving them a little room to land could ultimately prepare them to reach even higher?Corey Alderdice, a national voice on talent and transformation, explores the University of Michigan’s decision to cover first-semester grades for students in its largest college. Drawing on two decades of working with talented learners in demanding residential environments, he considers how the pilot might support tightly wound high achievers, first-generation students, and others learning the unwritten curriculum of college. The goal should not be permission to do less, but permission not to have everything figured out from the moment students arrive.For additional thoughts from Corey, visit coreyalderdice.com.You can also follow him on Twitter/X, LinkedIn, BlueSky, YouTube, Instagram, and Threads.

Some truths about a school can only be learned through daily proximity to students. They live in the classroom, the hallway, the advising conversation, the residence hall, the practice space, and the quiet moment when an adult notices that something has changed.Corey Alderdice, a national voice in talent and transformation, continues the Seeing the Whole School series by turning toward the work closest to students within the Proximity and Purpose Continuum. This episode honors the daily labor of teachers, counselors, advisors, coaches, mentors, and student support professionals whose proximity gives them insight that no report or dashboard can fully capture. Alderdice explores how student-proximate work gives schools their moral center, keeping institutional language grounded in lived experience. At the same time, he considers the limits of proximity when immediate needs become disconnected from broader institutional purpose. The episode challenges schools to listen carefully to those closest to students while also helping that insight become part of a larger, sustainable vision for the whole institution.For additional thoughts from Corey, visit coreyalderdice.com.You can also follow him on Twitter/X, LinkedIn, BlueSky, YouTube, Instagram, and Threads.

A Facebook advertisement for a legal subscription service for college students seems like an oddly specific product—until you realize it makes perfect sense. Sometimes the newest products tell us less about the companies selling them and more about the institutions they're built around.Corey Alderdice, a national voice on talent and transformation, explores what the emergence of "college legal insurance" reveals about the changing relationship between families and higher education. As colleges have become more expensive, more regulated, and more procedurally complex, trust has increasingly given way to policies, processes, and professional advocacy. Rather than debating the merits of one legal service, Corey examines the broader forces that made such a product possible—and what it suggests about the future of higher education.For additional thoughts from Corey, visit coreyalderdice.com.You can also follow him on Twitter/X, LinkedIn, BlueSky, YouTube, Instagram, and Threads.

Every person in a school sees something real. But no one sees the whole school alone.Corey Alderdice, a national voice in talent and transformation, opens the Seeing the Whole School series by exploring how every role in a school comes with a distinct line of sight. Teachers, counselors, coaches, students, families, board members, advancement officers, civic partners, and school leaders each experience the institution from a particular vantage point. The challenge is that these views, while true, are also incomplete. In this episode, Alderdice introduces the Proximity and Purpose Continuum as a way to understand how schools must connect the work closest to students with the work that sustains the institution. At its heart, this episode invites educators and stakeholders to approach the new school year with humility, curiosity, and a renewed commitment to seeing beyond the part of the school closest to them.For additional thoughts from Corey, visit coreyalderdice.com.You can also follow him on Twitter/X, LinkedIn, BlueSky, YouTube, Instagram, and Threads.

Every summer, America seems to have the same argument about New York City's elite specialized high schools. But what if the real debate isn't about admissions at all—it's about asking one kind of school to serve two fundamentally different educational missions?Corey Alderdice, a national voice on talent and transformation, explores the decades-long controversy surrounding schools like Stuyvesant, Bronx Science, and Brooklyn Tech through a different lens. Drawing on research in gifted education and his own experience leading a selective residential STEM school, Corey argues that identifying talent and developing talent are distinct organizational competencies that often require different institutional designs. Rather than forcing every specialized school to pursue the same mission, he proposes a broader ecosystem of excellence—one that preserves legacy institutions built to accelerate highly prepared students while imagining a new generation of opportunity-focused schools designed to cultivate extraordinary potential. In the collision between excellence and opportunity, perhaps the future of specialized education isn't choosing one over the other, but building enough pathways for both.For additional thoughts from Corey, visit coreyalderdice.com.You can also follow him on Twitter/X, LinkedIn, BlueSky, YouTube, Instagram, and Threads.

Arkansas may be emerging as one of the nation’s most ambitious laboratories for early college. Through the ACCESS Act, expanded concurrent-credit funding, a statewide goal for more students to earn associate degrees in high school, stronger transfer pathways, and performance-based funding tied to completion, the state is assembling many of the policy elements national researchers now recommend.In this bonus double-sized episode, Corey Alderdice, a national voice on talent and transformation, examines how Arkansas aligns with the Community College Research Center’s five recommendations for dual enrollment policy, where the state’s approach appears especially distinctive, and which challenges remain around advising, equitable access, institutional funding, faculty capacity, and long-term outcomes. This bonus episode asks whether Arkansas can move beyond expanding college credit to become a national model for postsecondary completion.For additional thoughts from Corey, visit coreyalderdice.com.You can also follow him on Twitter/X, LinkedIn, BlueSky, YouTube, Instagram, and Threads.

Each August, schools begin again. As a new year opens, it is worth asking not only what our own work requires, but how that work connects to the responsibilities carried by others.Corey Alderdice, a national voice in talent and transformation, previews Seeing the Whole School, a four-part August series about the interplay between student-proximate work and the broader institutional responsibilities that sustain schools over time. The series explores the Proximity and Purpose Continuum, moving from the work closest to students to the external relationships, public trust, governance, resources, and strategic translation that make school missions possible. Designed for educators, school leaders, families, board members, alumni, civic partners, and anyone who cares about how schools actually work, this preview invites listeners to begin the year with a wider field of vision. Because no one sees the whole school alone, the new school year offers an opportunity to better understand how care, stewardship, proximity, and purpose connect.For additional thoughts from Corey, visit coreyalderdice.com.You can also follow him on Twitter/X, LinkedIn, BlueSky, YouTube, Instagram, and Threads.

Belonging may sound like one of the least controversial ideas imaginable. Yet in recent years, even the language of belonging has become politically charged in schools and institutions across the country. Why?Corey Alderdice, a national voice on talent and transformation, explores how belonging evolved from a relational concept centered on connection and community into a broader cultural flashpoint tied to larger debates around identity, ideology, and institutional values. But rather than abandoning the concept altogether, he argues for a more durable vision of belonging rooted not in conformity or constant affirmation, but in shared purpose, contribution, accountability, and human dignity.Through reflections on school culture, student flourishing, leadership, and the tension between excellence and connection, this episode asks a timely question: can schools create communities where students remain connected even amid disagreement, challenge, and growth? In an era where many institutions risk becoming increasingly transactional, Alderdice makes the case that belonging still matters deeply — not as institutional theater, but as intentional culture-building that helps students know they matter.For additional thoughts from Corey, visit coreyalderdice.com.You can also follow him on Twitter/X, LinkedIn, BlueSky, YouTube, Instagram, and Threads.

Curiosity isn’t disappearing from higher education—it’s being squeezed by cost, structure, and the pressure to get it right the first time. But what if the very tools designed to accelerate students could instead give that curiosity room to breathe?Corey Alderdice, a national voice on talent and transformation, explores how the argument that colleges have stopped rewarding curiosity intersects with the rise of early college experiences like Advanced Placement, dual enrollment, and concurrent credit. Rather than treating accumulated credits as a fast track to graduation, this episode reframes them as a form of academic margin—space that allows students to double major, study abroad, pursue internships, and explore disciplines without the constant pressure of efficiency. At the center of the conversation is a fundamental question: are we designing systems that push students to finish faster, or ones that allow them to experience more?Editor's Note:  This is an encore presentation of an episode released earlier this season that fits alongside the bigger discussions of early college experiences.For additional thoughts from Corey, visit coreyalderdice.com.You can also follow him on Twitter/X, LinkedIn, BlueSky, YouTube, Instagram, and Threads.

A bizarre internet meme about Cook Out and its legendary tray menu sparks a surprisingly thoughtful reflection on schools, identity, and the environments that shape young people. What begins with the question “What if a main entrée was a side dish?” becomes a deeper conversation about possibility, belonging, interdisciplinary exploration, and why some of the most transformative parts of education are often treated as secondary experiences.Corey Alderdice, a national voice on talent and transformation, explores what Cook Out’s “chaotic abundance” can teach us about the future of education, the importance of environments that grant students permission to imagine larger futures for themselves, and why the schools students remember most are often the ones that make life feel expansive rather than simply efficient.For additional thoughts from Corey, visit coreyalderdice.com.You can also follow him on Twitter/X, LinkedIn, BlueSky, YouTube, Instagram, and Threads.

As dual enrollment and concurrent credit continue expanding across the country, public conversations often focus on what students and families save through accelerated college pathways. But beneath the promise of affordability and access sits a more complicated question: who absorbs the actual cost of delivering college-level education at scale?Corey Alderdice, a national voice on talent and transformation, explores the growing financial pressures that widespread acceleration places on colleges and universities — especially community colleges increasingly carrying much of the operational burden of concurrent credit expansion. Drawing on recent research and the policy implications of Arkansas’s ACCESS Act, this episode examines why sustainable funding structures matter not only for institutional stability, but for preserving the quality, advising, support, and meaningful learning experiences that make acceleration worthwhile in the first place.For additional thoughts from Corey, visit coreyalderdice.com.You can also follow him on Twitter/X, LinkedIn, BlueSky, YouTube, Instagram, and Threads.

Parenting today can feel less like raising children and more like managing a complex, always-on operating system. Between achievement pressure, emotional labor, enrichment culture, and the invisible logistics of modern family life, many parents are beginning to ask whether childhood has become too optimized for everyone involved.Corey Alderdice, a national voice on talent and transformation, explores the rise of the “Beta Mom” conversation and what it reveals about burnout, parenting as performance, over-managed childhoods, and the growing search for balance in modern family life. Drawing connections to achievement culture, resilience, and the operational realities of parenting, this episode examines why many families are pushing back against the invisible parenting Olympics—and what young people may actually need most as they grow toward independence.For additional thoughts from Corey, visit coreyalderdice.com.You can also follow him on Twitter/X, LinkedIn, BlueSky, YouTube, Instagram, and Threads.

As dual enrollment and early college programs continue expanding across the country, educational systems often assume that academic readiness and institutional readiness are largely the same thing. But a recent WestEd report examining the “arc” of dual enrollment suggests that access alone does not guarantee students will successfully navigate the unfamiliar cultural, relational, and institutional expectations surrounding college-level learning.Corey Alderdice, a national voice on talent and transformation, explores the difference between opportunity and institutional fluency, why many students struggle even after gaining access to accelerated pathways, and how the future success of “college before college” may depend less on expanding enrollment and more on building the human infrastructure — mentorship, guidance, belonging, and institutional translation — that helps students truly thrive once they arrive.For additional thoughts from Corey, visit coreyalderdice.com.You can also follow him on Twitter/X, LinkedIn, BlueSky, YouTube, Instagram, and Threads.

For many former speech and debate students, rigorous disagreement doesn’t feel hostile. It feels energizing. Collaborative. Even connective. But what happens when the communication instincts forged in competitive forensics collide with leadership, relationships, and real-world organizational culture?Corey Alderdice, a national voice on talent and transformation, explores the hidden “shadow side” of debate and forensics culture through a deeply personal reflection on intellectual sparring, rhetorical intensity, and the challenge of recalibrating communication beyond the tournament room. Drawing on his own experiences in competitive speech and debate, Corey examines how environments built around critique, clash, and pressure-testing ideas can shape leadership habits long after the ballots are gone. From the difference between sharpening ideas and overwhelming people to the realization that not everyone experiences disagreement as collaboration, this episode explores the tension between rigor and reassurance, argument and trust, and the evolution from rhetorical skill to relational wisdom.For additional thoughts from Corey, visit coreyalderdice.com.You can also follow him on Twitter/X, LinkedIn, BlueSky, YouTube, Instagram, and Threads.

Dual enrollment and early college programs are often associated with already high-achieving students, but some of the strongest research findings suggest acceleration may have its greatest impact on students who historically have had the least access to advanced educational opportunities. As states continue expanding early college pathways, the more important question may not simply be how many students participate, but who benefits and why.Corey Alderdice, a national voice on talent and transformation, explores the relationship between acceleration and educational equity, why opportunity often changes trajectories long before it changes statistics, and how dual enrollment can either reinforce existing inequalities or become one of the most powerful talent-development tools available within public education.Learn more about how dual enrollment outcomes are increasingly being evaluated through predictive “momentum metrics” in the report Dual Enrollment Momentum Metrics: Leading Indicators for Program Improvement.For additional thoughts from Corey, visit coreyalderdice.com.You can also follow him on Twitter/X, LinkedIn, BlueSky, YouTube, Instagram, and Threads.

Americans still celebrate debate as a cornerstone of democracy, yet healthy disagreement feels increasingly rare in modern life. As algorithms reward outrage, certainty, and performance over curiosity and persuasion, the ability to thoughtfully engage opposing ideas may be becoming an endangered skill.Corey Alderdice, a national voice on talent and transformation, explores the evolving role of debate culture in education and civic life, reflecting on his own background in competitive speech and debate while examining why the habits of inquiry, evidence, emotional regulation, and intellectual resilience matter more than ever in an age shaped by social media, polarization, and AI-generated persuasion.For additional thoughts from Corey, visit coreyalderdice.com.You can also follow him on Twitter/X, LinkedIn, BlueSky, YouTube, Instagram, and Threads.

As dual enrollment expands across the country, the conversation is beginning to shift from simple access and participation toward a more complicated question: how do we determine whether acceleration is truly working? A newly released research report from Columbia University’s Community College Research Center offers an important glimpse into how policymakers and institutions are beginning to answer that question through “momentum metrics” tied to college enrollment, persistence, and completion.Corey Alderdice, a national voice on talent and transformation, explores the promise and limitations of data-driven accountability in education, the growing influence of dashboards and measurable outcomes, and the deeper tension between what educational systems can easily quantify and the far more human dimensions of learning, curiosity, growth, and meaning that often resist measurement altogether.Learn more about how dual enrollment outcomes are increasingly being evaluated through predictive “momentum metrics” in the report Dual Enrollment Momentum Metrics: Leading Indicators for Program Improvement.For additional thoughts from Corey, visit coreyalderdice.com.You can also follow him on Twitter/X, LinkedIn, BlueSky, YouTube, Instagram, and Threads.

A free pizza for finishing a book may seem simple, but it was part of a larger effort to spark reading at a time when literacy was a growing national concern. Corey Alderdice, a national voice on talent and transformation, reflects on Pizza Hut’s Book It! program, blending personal memories with a deeper look at how novelty, joy, and clear incentives can motivate students—especially in an era where attention is increasingly shaped by screens.For additional thoughts from Corey, visit coreyalderdice.com.You can also follow him on Twitter/X, LinkedIn, BlueSky, YouTube, Instagram, and Threads.

As more students complete college-level coursework during high school, the traditional boundary between secondary education and higher education is beginning to blur. And that raises a much bigger question than simply how many credits students can earn before graduation.Corey Alderdice, a national voice on talent and transformation, explores how acceleration is reshaping the purpose of college itself, why efficiency alone cannot define the educational experience, and how dual enrollment can either compress education into a transactional race or create greater freedom for students to explore, grow, and discover who they are becoming.Learn more about the current landscape of college-level learning in high school in the National Alliance of Concurrent Enrollment Partnership's report Beyond Rigor: Closing the Quality Gap in State Dual Enrollment Policy.For additional thoughts from Corey, visit coreyalderdice.com.You can also follow him on Twitter/X, LinkedIn, BlueSky, YouTube, Instagram, and Threads.

Some students begin searching for something different long before anything appears “wrong” from the outside. The grades are strong, the friendships are there, and yet a growing sense of mismatch can quietly emerge between what students need and what their current environment provides.Corey Alderdice, a national voice on talent and transformation, explores the idea of the “Satisfaction Gap” and why students sometimes seek new educational opportunities not because they are failing, but because they are growing. This episode examines how parents can better understand developmental restlessness, changing needs during adolescence, and the important difference between dissatisfaction as complaint and dissatisfaction as signal.For additional thoughts from Corey, visit coreyalderdice.com.You can also follow him on Twitter/X, LinkedIn, BlueSky, YouTube, Instagram, and Threads.

Students today are accumulating more credentials, more transcript hours, and more visible markers of achievement than ever before. But as acceleration expands, an important question sits underneath the surface: are we beginning to confuse the accumulation of credits with the deeper work of learning and personal growth?Corey Alderdice, a national voice on talent and transformation, explores the growing culture of optimization in education, the “quality lottery” surrounding dual enrollment experiences, and the difference between building a résumé and building a life of intellectual curiosity, exploration, and meaning.Learn more about the current landscape of college-level learning in high school in the National Alliance of Concurrent Enrollment Partnership's report Beyond Rigor: Closing the Quality Gap in State Dual Enrollment Policy.For additional thoughts from Corey, visit coreyalderdice.com.You can also follow him on Twitter/X, LinkedIn, BlueSky, YouTube, Instagram, and Threads.

Gifted students are often the ones adults worry about the least. They make the grades, meet expectations, stay productive, and appear remarkably capable. But beneath that competence, many are quietly learning how to manage pressure, conceal struggle, and perform the version of themselves the world rewards most.Corey Alderdice, a national voice on talent and transformation, explores the idea that gifted students are often “masters of masking” and examines the complicated line between healthy adaptation and unhealthy self-concealment. Drawing on research around giftedness, perfectionism, motivation, and identity development, this episode explores why high-achieving students can become so skilled at hiding anxiety, boredom, exhaustion, and uncertainty — and why schools sometimes mistake survival for thriving. Along the way, Corey reflects on the “former gifted kid” phenomenon, the hidden costs of performance-based identity, and what real talent development should look like if the goal is not simply producing impressive students, but helping young people become healthy, resilient, fully human adults.For additional thoughts from Corey, visit coreyalderdice.com.You can also follow him on Twitter/X, LinkedIn, BlueSky, YouTube, Instagram, and Threads.

Earning college credit in high school was once viewed as a specialized opportunity for a relatively small group of students. Today, acceleration has rapidly become mainstream, reshaping expectations for students, families, schools, and higher education itself.Corey Alderdice, a national voice on talent and transformation, explores how dual enrollment and early college programs moved from the margins into the center of American education, why policymakers and families have embraced acceleration so quickly, and what happens when getting ahead starts to feel less like an opportunity and more like an expectation.Learn more about the current landscape of college-level learning in high school in the National Alliance of Concurrent Enrollment Partnership's report Beyond Rigor: Closing the Quality Gap in State Dual Enrollment Policy.For additional thoughts from Corey, visit coreyalderdice.com.You can also follow him on Twitter/X, LinkedIn, BlueSky, YouTube, Instagram, and Threads.

A single sentence can challenge us, motivate us, or make us feel small. The difference often comes down to trust.Corey Alderdice, a national voice on talent and transformation, explores the delicate balance between candor and care in education, reflecting on how teachers can hold students to high expectations without turning challenge into shame.For additional thoughts from Corey, visit coreyalderdice.com.You can also follow him on Twitter/X, LinkedIn, BlueSky, YouTube, Instagram, and Threads.

As selective college admissions continues to shift, strong students and families need to understand not only how to build a strong application—but how colleges interpret genuine interest.In this jumbo-sized episode, Corey Alderdice explores why “demonstrated interest” may play a greater role in the upcoming admissions cycle, especially as some selective universities move away from traditional supplemental essays and as application numbers continue to rise. Building on the previous episode’s look at recent changes in selective admissions, this conversation goes deeper into the practical realities behind the process: how colleges think about yield, why some institutions want stronger signals that admitted students are likely to enroll, and how families can approach the process thoughtfully without turning it into a game.With summer underway, now is the perfect time for students and families to begin diving into the many moving pieces of college admissions. From building a balanced college list to researching which schools track demonstrated interest, attending official admissions events, using early application plans wisely, and preparing for possible deferrals or waitlists, this episode offers practical guidance for making interest visible in ways that are authentic, appropriate, and student-led.The goal is not to manufacture enthusiasm or chase every admissions tactic. It is to begin with fit, understand the technical landscape, and help students communicate clearly when a college is more than just another name on the list.For additional thoughts from Corey, visit coreyalderdice.com.You can also follow him on Twitter/X, LinkedIn, BlueSky, YouTube, Instagram, and Threads.

Why did Tulane drop its “Why Tulane?” essay—and what does that tell us about where college admissions is heading? The change may seem small, but it points to a larger shift from what students say about fit to what their application behavior reveals.Corey Alderdice, a national voice on talent and transformation, explores how colleges are increasingly reading demonstrated interest through behavioral signals like Early Action, Early Decision, campus engagement, timing, and enrollment predictability. Using Tulane as a case study, this episode considers why the old “love letter” essay may matter less in an era of application inflation, AI-assisted writing, and sophisticated yield management.For additional thoughts from Corey, visit coreyalderdice.com.You can also follow him on Twitter/X, LinkedIn, BlueSky, YouTube, Instagram, and Threads.

Dual enrollment and early college programs have rapidly shifted from specialized opportunities into a defining feature of modern American education. Students are earning college credit earlier than ever before, but the rise of acceleration is also raising deeper questions about quality, purpose, pressure, and what education is ultimately supposed to become.Corey Alderdice, a national voice on talent and transformation, previews this special Summer School series exploring how acceleration became normalized, why achievement is increasingly measured through accumulation, and how the growing overlap between high school and college may fundamentally reshape the future purpose of higher education itself.Learn more about the current landscape of college-level learning in high school in the National Alliance of Concurrent Enrollment Partnership's report Beyond Rigor: Closing the Quality Gap in State Dual Enrollment Policy.For additional thoughts from Corey, visit coreyalderdice.com.You can also follow him on Twitter/X, LinkedIn, BlueSky, YouTube, Instagram, and Threads.

Clarity doesn’t make a school easier—but it does make it more trustworthy. And in selective environments, that difference matters more than we often admit.Corey Alderdice, a national voice on talent and transformation, explores what it would mean to design schools with trust in mind from the very beginning. Building on the tension between trust and power in higher education, this episode turns to selective high schools as a proving ground—places where questions of fairness, rigor, access, and student experience aren’t theoretical, but lived in real time. The conversation moves beyond admissions mechanics to something deeper: purpose, alignment, and the responsibility institutions carry to make their intentions legible to the students and families they serve.At the center is a simple but demanding idea: nothing about a school experience should come as a surprise. Not the pace, not the expectations, not the challenges. And if it does, that’s not a failure of the student—it’s a failure of the institution to explain itself clearly. This episode offers a framework for thinking differently about selective education, not as something to defend after the fact, but as something to design with clarity, coherence, and trust at the core.For additional thoughts from Corey, visit coreyalderdice.com.You can also follow him on Twitter/X, LinkedIn, BlueSky, YouTube, Instagram, and Threads.

Higher education doesn’t have a messaging problem—it has a trust problem. And the more openly institutions acknowledge that reality, the more complicated the path forward becomes.Corey Alderdice, a national voice on talent and transformation, explores the tension at the heart of higher education’s current moment. Using the recent report from Yale University as a starting point, this episode examines what happens when elite institutions name concerns about cost, fairness, transparency, and academic rigor—not as outside criticism, but as internal reflection. The conversation moves beyond the report itself to consider a deeper question: whether colleges and universities can meaningfully rebuild trust without giving up the very mechanisms that have long defined their power and prestige.As peer institutions signal agreement but hesitate to act, a paradox emerges. The honesty required to restore credibility can also fuel external criticism and internal caution, creating a narrow path between defensiveness and reform. This episode sets the stage for a broader conversation—not just about higher education, but about any selective system navigating the balance between excellence, access, and public trust.For additional thoughts from Corey, visit coreyalderdice.com.You can also follow him on Twitter/X, LinkedIn, BlueSky, YouTube, Instagram, and Threads.

A Teacher Appreciation Week meme campaign from the U.S. Department of Education may have been designed for engagement, but its fictional teacher choices revealed something deeper about how educators are feeling right now. Beneath the nostalgia and internet humor is a surprisingly honest portrait of exhaustion, dedication, passion, and the desire to be heard.Corey Alderdice, a national voice on talent and transformation, explores how characters like Ms. Frizzle, Mrs. Puff, Elizabeth Hoover, Miss Nelson, and Ms. Fowl became more than simple appreciation graphics—and why sometimes the subtext accidentally tells the truth.For additional thoughts from Corey, visit coreyalderdice.com.You can also follow him on Twitter/X, LinkedIn, BlueSky, YouTube, Instagram, and Threads.

Curiosity isn’t disappearing from higher education—it’s being squeezed by cost, structure, and the pressure to get it right the first time. But what if the very tools designed to accelerate students could instead give that curiosity room to breathe?Corey Alderdice, a national voice on talent and transformation, explores how the argument that colleges have stopped rewarding curiosity intersects with the rise of early college experiences like Advanced Placement, dual enrollment, and concurrent credit. Rather than treating accumulated credits as a fast track to graduation, this episode reframes them as a form of academic margin—space that allows students to double major, study abroad, pursue internships, and explore disciplines without the constant pressure of efficiency. At the center of the conversation is a fundamental question: are we designing systems that push students to finish faster, or ones that allow them to experience more?For additional thoughts from Corey, visit coreyalderdice.com.You can also follow him on Twitter/X, LinkedIn, BlueSky, YouTube, Instagram, and Threads.

Some students grow up surrounded by opportunity so constantly that college feels like the next obvious step. For many small-town and rural students, though, the challenge is not a lack of talent, but the quieter difficulty of seeing ambitious futures clearly enough to believe they are truly within reach.Corey Alderdice, a national voice on talent and transformation, explores the work of the STARS College Network and why helping rural students aspire matters so much. This episode examines the idea of aspiration gaps, the powerful message students receive when institutions make clear they are wanted and valued, and the many strengths rural students already bring with them. Corey also reflects on why this work is about more than college access alone. It is about belonging, visibility, and making sure geography does not quietly determine the size of a young person’s future.For additional thoughts from Corey, visit coreyalderdice.com.You can also follow him on Twitter/X, LinkedIn, BlueSky, YouTube, Instagram, and Threads.

Belonging cannot be a boutique advantage.If mentorship, purpose, depth, and engagement truly predict long-term success, then designing for belonging isn’t a marketing strategy — it’s a moral obligation.Corey Alderdice, a national voice in talent and transformation, explores the tension between schools of choice and traditional community schools, asking whether belonging-rich environments are easier to build in smaller, mission-driven models — and what it would take to scale them more broadly.Belonging is not sentimental. It is strategic infrastructure.For additional thoughts from Corey, visit coreyalderdice.com.You can also follow him on Twitter/X, LinkedIn, BlueSky, YouTube, Instagram, and Threads.

Schedule is never just about time. Assessment is never just about grades. If belonging truly predicts thriving, then the real question is whether our systems are aligned to produce it.Corey Alderdice, a national voice in talent and transformation, explores how the S.P.A.C.E. framework from Stanford’s Challenge Success initiative (Schedule, Purpose, Assessment, Culture, and Engagement) provides a structural blueprint for designing schools where students are known, challenged deeply, and connected to purpose.Belonging is not accidental. It is operational.For additional thoughts from Corey, visit coreyalderdice.com.You can also follow him on Twitter/X, LinkedIn, BlueSky, YouTube, Instagram, and Threads.

Belonging isn’t a soft idea. It’s a structural one.What if the strongest predictors of long-term success in college — and life — have less to do with prestige and more to do with experience?Corey Alderdice, a national voice in talent and transformation, explores the 2015 Gallup–Purdue research identifying six undergraduate experiences that directly correlate with graduating on time and thriving beyond college. Rather than focusing on rankings or selectivity, the findings point to relational depth, sustained intellectual challenge, applied learning, and meaningful engagement as the true drivers of success.If success is built through belonging, then belonging isn’t accidental — it’s designed.For additional thoughts from Corey, visit coreyalderdice.com.You can also follow him on Twitter/X, LinkedIn, BlueSky, YouTube, Instagram, and Threads.

Masculinity is being optimized, marketed, and polarized in real time. But what if the real work is slower and more integrated?Corey Alderdice, a national voice in talent and transformation, explores the modern crisis among young men through the lens of fatherhood, literature, and cultural commentary. Drawing on contemporary conversations about male drift and revisiting high school texts like The Old Man and the Sea and A Farewell to Arms, this episode examines the tension between surface-level “looksmaxxing” and the mythic endurance often associated with Ernest Hemingway.Rather than romanticizing or rejecting traditional masculine codes, Corey considers what adolescent boys truly need today: courage without isolation, resilience without emotional withdrawal, and strength that connects rather than calcifies. This episode offers a thoughtful reflection for parents, educators, and anyone invested in helping young men find balance in a noisy cultural landscape.For additional thoughts from Corey, visit coreyalderdice.com.You can also follow him on Twitter/X, LinkedIn, BlueSky, YouTube, Instagram, and Threads.

A ringing phone. A Saturday school. A moment that opens up a much bigger conversation about rules, responsibility, and what schools are really trying to protect.Corey Alderdice, a national voice in talent and transformation, explores how the growing movement to restrict cell phone use in schools—both in Arkansas and across the country—reflects deeper questions about school culture, student trust, and the balance between consistency and grace. Drawing from a personal parenting moment, current legislation, and insights from The Anxious Generation, this episode examines why phone-free classrooms have gained momentum, how parents and educators are responding, and whether the consequences attached to these policies are shaping compliance—or something more meaningful.For additional thoughts from Corey, visit coreyalderdice.com.You can also follow him on Twitter/X, LinkedIn, BlueSky, YouTube, Instagram, and Threads.

What if one of the most powerful skills a teenager could develop didn’t come from textbooks or test prep, but from the ability to quietly read the room? In Korean culture, this skill is called nunchi—a subtle kind of social radar that helps people sense, adapt, and connect more deeply with others.Corey Alderdice, national voice on talent and transformation, explores how nunchi, often described as the art of timing and awareness, can be a superpower for today’s high school students. From navigating friendships to leading with empathy, nunchi offers teens a practical way to strengthen relationships, avoid drama, and build trust. Drawing inspiration from pop culture and everyday school life, this episode makes the case for why cultivating nunchi might be just as important as any grade on a transcript.For additional thoughts from Corey, visit coreyalderdice.com.You can also follow him on Twitter/X, LinkedIn, BlueSky, YouTube, Instagram, and Threads.

Creativity isn’t enrichment. It’s infrastructure. And if we misunderstand that, we misunderstand the future of our economy.Corey Alderdice, a national voice in talent and transformation, explores why arts education must be reframed as workforce education — not as a defense of the arts, but as a recognition of their economic power. In light of receiving the Governor’s Arts Award for Arts in Education, this episode pivots from personal reflection to a broader argument: arts education builds creative capital, and creative capital drives economic growth.Drawing from research on Arkansas’s creative economy and lessons from leading a public residential STEM-and-arts high school, Corey challenges narrow definitions of workforce preparation and argues that ambiguity tolerance, iteration, aesthetic judgment, collaboration, and narrative construction are not “soft skills” — they are survival skills in a volatile, innovation-driven economy.If Arkansas wants to compete in the decades ahead, it must invest not only in technical training, but in the cultivation of imagination. This episode invites educators, policymakers, and business leaders to rethink how we speak about — and fund — the arts.For additional thoughts from Corey, visit coreyalderdice.com.You can also follow him on Twitter/X, LinkedIn, BlueSky, YouTube, Instagram, and Threads.

Why does belonging matter so much for student success?In this teaser, Corey Alderdice introduces a three-part series exploring the role of belonging in education, beginning with research from Gallup and Purdue showing its connection to college completion and long-term success.The series will examine how those insights translate to high school environments, how the S.P.A.C.E. framework from Stanford’s Challenge Success initiative highlights the systems that shape belonging, and why creating schools where students feel known, connected, and engaged should be a priority across all educational models.For additional thoughts from Corey, visit coreyalderdice.com.You can also follow him on Twitter/X, LinkedIn, BlueSky, YouTube, Instagram, and Threads.

The word abundance surged into the spotlight in 2025, not because schools suddenly had more time, energy, or flexibility—but because educators sensed that something in our systems was no longer keeping pace with human potential. Now, abundance becomes less of a buzzword and more of a leadership challenge worth examining.Corey Alderdice, a national voice on talent and transformation, explores why abundance has gained traction in education, how scarcity thinking quietly shapes school culture and leadership behavior, and what it would mean to redesign schools so opportunity is cultivated rather than rationed. The episode reflects on the difference between pressure and possibility, the role of leaders as system designers rather than gatekeepers, and the shift from identifying talent to intentionally developing it—offering a thoughtful lens on how schools can make room for more learning, more growth, and more sustainable excellence in the years ahead.For additional thoughts from Corey, visit coreyalderdice.com.You can also follow him on Twitter/X, LinkedIn, BlueSky, YouTube, Instagram, and Threads.

Some books don’t just age well—they grow with us. What feels like a simple story in adolescence can become something far more layered when revisited with experience.Corey Alderdice, a national voice in talent and transformation, explores why Jonathan Livingston Seagull felt like an odd—perhaps overly ambitious—choice for an 8th grade honors entrance exam, and why he now appreciates that decision decades later. Revisiting the book after years of lived experience, Corey reflects on how the story shifts from a meditation on identity and nonconformity to something deeper: the pursuit of mastery, the loneliness of excellence, and the cost of moving to the next stage of growth.This episode considers how certain texts scale with the reader—revealing new insights as we change. What once felt aspirational now feels honest. What once centered on standing out now centers on discipline, humility, and the quiet work of becoming better.  Ultimately, Corey asks a powerful question for students, educators, and leaders alike: What are you willing to leave behind in order to grow?For additional thoughts from Corey, visit coreyalderdice.com.You can also follow him on Twitter/X, LinkedIn, BlueSky, YouTube, Instagram, and Threads.

Leadership doesn’t end when the account runs dry—it continues through the returns others generate from your investment. In this final installment of the trilogy, Corey Alderdice, a national voice on talent and transformation, explores The Leadership Dividend, the enduring impact of choices, values, and relationships that keep paying out long after a leader steps away. He reflects on how wise leaders move from spending capital to cultivating culture, from managing balance sheets to compounding trust, and how the truest measure of success lies not in control, but in continuity.For additional thoughts from Corey, visit coreyalderdice.com.You can also follow him on Twitter/X, LinkedIn, BlueSky, YouTube, Instagram, and Threads.

When students walk out of class in protest, it can look simple from the outside: young people raising their voices in a democracy. Inside a school, however, those moments are layered with legal guardrails, legislative constraints, and the obligation to treat every viewpoint the same.Corey Alderdice, a national voice in talent and transformation, explores the recent student walkouts in Pulaski, Garland, and other Arkansas counties related to ICE actions and uses them as a lens to unpack the complexity school leaders face in responding. Grounded in the Supreme Court’s decision in Tinker v. Des Moines and Arkansas’s 2025 ACCESS Act, he reflects on one of the most difficult weeks of his own leadership during the 2018 national walkouts following the shootings at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, Marshall County High School, and Heath High School — events that were deeply personal to him.This episode invites students and parents to better understand the constraints public institutions operate within, offers practical guidance for civic engagement inside school systems, and argues that while outcomes will often be misunderstood, fairness and consistent process must remain the goal.For additional thoughts from Corey, visit coreyalderdice.com.You can also follow him on Twitter/X, LinkedIn, BlueSky, YouTube, Instagram, and Threads.

Achievement often overshadows everything else in the lives of gifted and talented students. But what if their deepest need isn’t to achieve more, but to know they truly matter? Drawing on the work of Jennifer Breheny Wallace and the psychology of “mattering,” this episode explores how educators can reframe success for advanced learners. Corey Alderdice, a national voice on talent and transformation, unpacks the research behind achievement culture, explains why gifted students are especially vulnerable to it, and challenges schools to build communities where students are valued not just for what they do, but for who they are.For additional thoughts from Corey, visit coreyalderdice.com.You can also follow him on Twitter/X, LinkedIn, BlueSky, YouTube, Instagram, and Threads.

A single sharp moment can hijack an entire school day—but it doesn’t have to. What if educators got just as intentional about what lifts students up as we are about what sets them off?Corey Alderdice, a national voice on talent and transformation, explores the emerging concept of “glimmers”—small, everyday experiences that spark calm, joy, gratitude, and connection—and why they matter in classrooms that are often built to manage stress rather than cultivate well-being. This episode reframes the work from merely reducing negative triggers to actively designing conditions for positive emotional resilience. Along the way, Corey highlights practical, low-cost ways educators can seed glimmers through consistent micro-moments: greeting students by name, noticing effort, offering gentle encouragement, and creating routines that make belonging feel real. The result is a simple but powerful shift—helping students (and adults) train their brains to spot what’s good, even on hard days, and making school a place that doesn’t just endure, but affirms.For additional thoughts from Corey, visit coreyalderdice.com.You can also follow him on Twitter/X, LinkedIn, BlueSky, YouTube, Instagram, and Threads.

Leaders spend their days managing visible accounts—trust, goodwill, and influence—but the balance that truly determines their longevity is often hidden from view. Corey Alderdice, a national voice on talent and transformation, explores the idea of a Personal Capital Reserve, or what he calls the Second Balance Sheet—the reservoir of energy, identity, and relationships that sustains leaders beyond their professional role. He discusses how wise leaders protect this reserve through intentional boundaries, steady deposits of time and presence, and the discipline to separate personal worth from institutional success. Ultimately, the second balance sheet reminds us that the work endures only if the leader remains whole.For additional thoughts from Corey, visit coreyalderdice.com.You can also follow him on Twitter/X, LinkedIn, BlueSky, YouTube, Instagram, and Threads.

Some lessons never make it into the textbook—but they can make or break a student’s future. The most gifted learners often know the material, but not the system that surrounds it.Corey Alderdice, a national voice on talent and transformation, explores the concept of the “hidden curriculum” and how its unspoken rules—everything from navigating office hours to figuring out which opportunities actually matter—can be the missing link for high-ability students from low-income or rural backgrounds. This episode digs into why raw intelligence isn’t enough, how opportunity is shaped more by exposure than ability, and why “it lives in context, not content.” Through candid reflection and grounded insight, Corey challenges educators and leaders to rethink how we support gifted students who aren’t just underserved academically, but under-resourced strategically.For additional thoughts from Corey, visit coreyalderdice.com.You can also follow him on Twitter/X, LinkedIn, BlueSky, YouTube, Instagram, and Threads.

Early adulthood was supposed to feel like launch—but for many seniors, it feels more like freefall. That unsettling mix of possibility and pressure has a name, and understanding it is the first step toward feeling less alone. Corey Alderdice, a national voice on talent and transformation, explores the concept of the quarterlife crisis as a powerful framework for high school and college seniors beginning to wonder who they are, where they’re going, and why the next chapter feels so uncertain. Drawing on insights from The Atlantic, Mark Waid’s Superman: Birthright, and the novels of Nick Hornby, this episode reframes the crisis as a natural part of emerging adulthood—less a breakdown than a crossroads, where identity, meaning, and agency begin to take shape.For additional thoughts from Corey, visit coreyalderdice.com.You can also follow him on Twitter/X, LinkedIn, BlueSky, YouTube, Instagram, and Threads.

Winter break offers juniors something they rarely get during the school year: breathing room. Amid the quiet, students can take their first meaningful steps toward understanding who they are and what they want from the college journey ahead. Corey Alderdice, a national voice on talent and transformation, explores how reflection, early exploration, and intentional rest can help juniors align their interests with future opportunities. He discusses how taking stock of extracurriculars, surveying potential colleges, imagining new ways to deepen or expand involvement, reviewing academic footing, and beginning to uncover personal narrative threads can set the stage for a strong senior year. This episode offers a calm, grounded roadmap for students—and the adults who support them—who want to use winter break not as a pressure point, but as a chance to reset, rediscover clarity, and move forward with purpose.For additional thoughts from Corey, visit coreyalderdice.com.You can also follow him on Twitter/X, LinkedIn, BlueSky, YouTube, Instagram, and Threads.