Old School Policies Challenged

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A new book, The Future of Educational Entrepreneurship: Possibilities for School Reform, is now laying out the future of educational entrepreneurship, including possibilities for school reform.

In the timely volume, the American Enterprise Institute’s director of education policy, Frederick Hess, and a select team of analysts and reformers examine how to create conditions favorable to K-12 education reform.

“The most intriguing reforms in K-12 education today are entrepreneurial ventures such as the New Teacher Project, New Leaders for New Schools, the KIPP Academies, and New Schools for New Orleans, which provide an alternative to traditional education models by creating innovative frameworks for schooling,” Hess said at the launch of the book.

He also said that demand for quality education does not necessarily produce high-quality supply and that familiar efforts have failed to foster the necessary climate for breakthrough advances in K-12 schooling.

The authors consider “barriers to entry” in their analysis of various obstacles to innovative and productive entrepreneurial activity in American education.

“Dramatic improvement in K-12 schooling will require the emergence of new problem-solvers, and the number, scope, and success of these will depend on the environment in which entrepreneurs are able to operate,” Hess said in highlighting the book’s key findings and insights.

And he added: “Making K-12 education a magnet for talent will demand rethinking assumptions about hiring and recruiting. While Teach for America, the Broad Residency in Urban Education, and the Academy for Urban School Leadership, for example, have made great progress in attracting teachers and administrators from nontraditional career paths, more emphasis must be placed on developing professional networks that help entrepreneurs meet and recruit talented employees, connect with mentors, and discover business opportunities.”

Other problem areas probed include the status of private investment in K-12 education, the need for quality-control measures, the increasing need for extensive research and development infrastructure and the formal and less visible barriers to K-12 education.

Michael Johnston, representing Obama for America, said greater focus is needed on recruiting, retaining and rewarding teachers as part of an overall strategy.

Lisa Graham, for McCain-Palin 2008, said schools should be more visionary and more educational choices should be created for parents.

Jesse Masai is an intern at the American Journalism Center, a training program run by Accuracy in Media and Accuracy in Academia.