Education Partners


Appalachian College Association, Inc.

Florida Department of Education

Illinois State Board of Education

Indiana Department of Education

Iowa Department of Education

Kansas Department of Education—Technical Education

Michigan Department of Education

Minnesota Department of Children, Families, and Learning

Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education—Division of Vocational and Adult Education

Nebraska Department of Education

New Mexico Department of Education—Career, Technical, and Adult Services

New York State Education Department

North Carolina Department of Public Instruction

Oklahoma Department of Career and Technology Education

Pennsylvania Department of Education

Tennessee Department of Education

Texas Education Agency

Virginia Department of Education

West Virginia Department of Education

Wyoming Department of Education

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Education Partners


Appalachian College Association, Inc.

Alice W. Brown, Executive Director
210 Center Street
Berea, KY 40403
606-986-4584
aca.alice@popmail.berea.edu
http://www.acaweb.org

Focus: Faculty development and general collaboration for the support of private higher education in Appalachia.

Geographic Area: Appalachian counties in Kentucky, Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia, and North Carolina.

Products and Services: Sharing of ideas, information, programs, technology, and resources for more effective achievement of its broad goals. The Appalachian College Association (ACA) promotes cooperation and collaboration among its member institutions in the furtherance of service to the people of Appalachia and to the mutual benefit of member colleges.

Age Level: Post-secondary

Key Partners: Foundations and others interested in private higher education in the region.

Abstract: The Appalachian College Association is an organization of private, liberal-arts colleges in the Appalachian Region that share the goal of service to the people of the Region through higher education and related services. The Appalachian College Association operates independently of any one member college to better serve all of the colleges in the association.

From the inception of the Appalachian College Program in 1979, faculty at private colleges in the central Appalachian mountains have benefited from various fellowships and conferences sponsored by the program, which was originally based at the University of Kentucky. In 1990, with encouragement from the various funding agencies and the foresight of John Stephenson, president of Berea College, 32 colleges from the Appalachian Region came together to form an association that would assure the continuation of faculty development opportunities and encourage exploration of other collaborative ventures.

Starting with office space contributed by one of the North Carolina colleges and a half-time director, the newly formed Appalachian College Association received its first major grant in 1991 and hired its first full-time director. Since then, the consortium has received over $20 million in funding from federal agencies and private foundations to support the work of the faculty, students, and staff at member colleges. Presently, there are 33 member colleges in the association.

Benefits:

Florida Department of Education

Darl Walker, State Supervisor, Marketing and Diversified Education
325 West Gaines Street, Room 714
Tallahassee, FL 32399-0400
850-488-8807
Fax: 850-245-9013
Email: darl.walker@fldoe.org

Focus: Entrepreneurship education is a vehicle for providing both at-risk and mainstream students with the opportunity to learn valuable self-sustaining skills. Florida's Academy of Entrepreneurship is designed to present entrepreneurship as a viable career option, provide students with the skills needed to realistically evaluate their potential as business owners, and develop the fundamental knowledge and skills necessary to start and operate a business.

Geographic Area: Florida has 10 state universities, 28 community colleges, 43 area vocational-technical centers, and 67 public school districts.

Product and Services: The curriculum framework for the Academy of Entrepreneurship recently underwent a major revision based upon input from practitioners and instructors. The third and final course of the academy was redesigned to be a capstone experience, to provide the students with hands-on experience in entrepreneurship. We are especially proud of the program at Buchholz High School in Gainesville, whose instructor, Dianne Lauramoore, now occupies a facility specifically built for the academy.

Age Level: Entrepreneurship is included in the curriculum for primary through postsecondary students. It is covered under the Applied Technology Strands: "Demonstrates knowledge and abilities necessary as a contract employee or to initiate and maintain a service- or product-based business."

Key Partners: There is no special state funding for entrepreneurship education. However, the Florida Council on Economic Education does underwrite the Free Enterprise Bank for Students. Piloted in Miami-Dade County during the 1996–97 school year, the program requires K–12 students to develop a business plan and apply for a loan. Successful applicants receive actual money to fund their classroom business, and must pay back the loan at prime rate plus 1 percent. Deficiencies must be compensated through community work. Loan maximum is $500.

Abstract:The Division of Workforce Development for the Florida Department of Education provides consistency for secondary and postsecondary entrepreneurship education. This is achieved through the curriculum framework that is revised periodically based on feedback from business and industry. By maintaining this up-to-date interaction, the division is able to develop a cutting-edge program to provide our students with the knowledge and skills they need to compete in the marketplace.

Illinois State Board of Education

Deborah Hopper, Principal Education Consultant
100 N. 1st Street
Springfield, IL 62777
217-782-4620
Fax: 217-782-0710
Email: dhopper@isbe.net
Web site: http://www.isbe.state.il.us/secondaryed/

Focus: Entrepreneurship education should be integrated or infused into all career and technical education programs as a career option/alternative and to enhance the workplace skills necessary to be a productive employee.

Geographic Area: The state of Illinois is divided into 58 regional career and technical education delivery systems that include 34 community colleges with seamless, articulated instruction.

Products and Services: Skill standards are being developed in occupational areas showing need and earnings potential, including entrepreneurship.

Age Level: Entrepreneurship education is encouraged based on a five-stage lifelong learning model that includes early grades through adult.

Key Partners: Primary funding sources are from Perkins III and state formula funding, which also supports career and technical student organizations that participate in projects and competition.

Abstract: Illinois is very fortunate to have entrepreneurship education institutionalized through the "Illinois Institute for Entrepreneurship Education." This institute works closely with Illinois schools to provide professional development activities for all interested teachers on how to enhance instruction using entrepreneurship as an instructional theme. The Illinois Learning Standards for Social Studies, along with the National Standards for Economic Education, form the core knowledge base on which the skill of being a successful entrepreneur is being formed.

Grants from the Illinois State Board of Education are provided to local career and technical regions in the intercity and rural areas where typically work-based learning strategies were not in place because of a lack of corporate structure in those locations. An entrepreneurial spirit is being encouraged in Illinois around the following definition and purpose:

An entrepreneur is: One who sees what others have overlooked and acts on the insight.

What they do: Start new enterprises, innovate new technology, introduce a new product, reorganize an existing enterprise, or open a new market.

Indiana Department of Education

Melissa Abriani, Student Leadership Development Specialist
Business, Marketing, Entrepreneurship, and Information Technology
Indiana Department of Education
151 West Ohio Street
Indianapolis IN 46204-2798
317.232-9167
Fax: 317.232-9121
Email: mabriani@doe.state.in.us
Web site: http://www.doe.state.in.us/octe/bme

Focus: Emphasis is placed on Entrepreneurship Academies and stand alone courses that allow schools to prepare young people for skills and knowledge needed to own their own business. Entrepreneurship courses also enhance the workplace skills necessary to be a productive employee. Entrepreneurship education should be integrated into all career and technical education programs. Students in all CTE programs are encouraged to take a capstone entrepreneurship course.

Geographic Area: The state of Indiana offers K-12 education through various schools corporations. In addition Ivy Tech Community College and Vincennes University serve as the community colleges throughout Indiana. Indiana University, Purdue University, Indiana State University, and University of Southern Indiana are the state universities who provide a variety of entrepreneurship training and degrees.

Products and Services: Skill standards have been developed for high school entrepreneurship courses and also standards are included as part of the Business and Information Technology Middle School curriculum.

Age Level: Entrepreneurship education is encouraged based on a five-stage lifelong learning model that includes early grades through adult. However, the current emphasis is development of K-12 entrepreneurship education.

Key Partners: Career and Technical Student Organizations such as DECA, An Association of Marketing Students, Business Professionals of America, and FFA provide various competitive events pertaining to entrepreneurship education. The Indiana Council on Economic Education offers workshops for entrepreneurship teachers. The Hamilton County Alliance, an organization that promotes entrepreneurship education in the high schools in Hamilton County, has provided support as well.

Abstract: Indiana is very fortunate to have entrepreneurship education offered as part of the Business and Marketing courses in grades 6-12. The Indiana Department of Education, Office of Career and Technical Education, has offered a variety of workshops and professional development opportunities during the summer to promote entrepreneurship education and to prepare teachers. The Indiana Standards for Entrepreneurship offered through the Business and Marketing content areas, along with the National Standards for Entrepreneurship Education, MarkEd Resource Center Marketing Standards, and National Standards for Business Education through NBEA, form the core knowledge base for high school entrepreneurship programs.

Grants from the Indiana Department of Workforce Development have been offered to provide career and technical vocational districts opportunities to expand entrepreneurship programs as part of a current CTE program or as a stand alone course. Although other funding is limited at this time, many communities were able to promote entrepreneurship week through various activities.

Iowa Department of Education

Janet Woodruff, Consultant for Marketing Education
Grimes State Office Building
E. 14th & Grand,
Des Moines IA 50319-0146,
515-281-8488
Fax: 515-281-6544
Email: Janet.Woodruff@iowa.gov

Focus: Entrepreneurship education provides an opportunity for students to explore careers, understand the economy, and develop skills for business creation and employment.

Geographic Area: Iowa has 15 community colleges, three state universities, 375 public school districts, and 15 regional educational service centers.

Products and Services: Educational personnel are informed of the products and services available to teach entrepreneurship, but no products are developed and distributed from the state level.

Age Level: Entrepreneurship education is infused at the elementary and middle school levels and is taught as a separate content area in the high schools, community colleges, and universities.

Key Partners: There is no special funding for entrepreneurship education for K–12 districts. A private grant from a successful entrepreneur in the state provides funding for community college and university offerings. Some of these college and university offerings also provide opportunities for secondary students.

Abstract: Entrepreneurship education is required to be a part of all vocational programs offered within the state. On community college and university campuses there are small business development centers strategically placed throughout the state, and many offer separate courses in entrepreneurship. Summer workshops are available for secondary students to provide experiences that are designed to develop an understanding and knowledge of being an entrepreneur. In the secondary schools, enrollment in courses in entrepreneurship is increasing rapidly. These courses are most often taught by an instructor who holds a license in business education or marketing education. Adult coursework is offered over the state’s communications system to assist present entrepreneurs and those who are interested in starting a business.

Iowa has been a member of the Consortium for Entrepreneurship Education from the time of origination. Janet Woodruff is the state representative to the consortium. She is a consultant for entrepreneurship education and state DECA advisor.

Kansas Department of Education -
Technical Education

Kansas State Dept. of Education
Career & Technical Education
Debbie Hinrichs--Consultant
120 SE 10th Street,
Topeka, Kansas 66612
785-296-4916

Focus: The State of Kansas has 305 unified school districts for secondary education under the Kansas Department of Education; 19 community colleges and 14 area vocational technical schools and colleges are now under the Kansas Board or Regents. We have focused on secondary or high schools at the 10th, 11th, and 12th grades.

Abstract: The Kansas State Board of Education and the commissioner of education launched entrepreneurship education in Kansas public schools in 1988 by providing a statewide in-service conference for teachers, superintendents, principals, and others. Emporia State University Teacher Education jointly sponsored the conference, which 150 persons attended. This was the first effort in Kansas to expose entrepreneurship education as separate curriculum in our public schools. From that conference a five-year action plan was developed by the Technical Education staff and Teacher Education. The following are the results of that five-year action plan:

A. Be able to offer students the option in the educational curriculum that they can work for themselves instead of working for someone else.

B. Assist in furthering economic development, especially in the rural area, by offering entrepreneurship education at the secondary and post-secondary levels.

C. Increase workplace skills in the education curriculum by providing entrepreneurship education. Thus far, Kansas has established 136 secondary high school "infusion models," or first- and second-semester programs. In addition, 10 are offered in area technical schools and community colleges. A total of 146 courses or programs are being implemented during the last five years. This reflects that 45 percent of the 329 educational institutions are offering some type of curriculum in entrepreneurial education.

Michigan Department of Education

Jamie Hess
Office of Career and Technical Preparation
Michigan Department of Education
PO Box 30712, 201 N Washington
Lansing, MI 48909
517-335-0381
Email: hessj1@michigan.gov

Focus: Entrepreneurship education is perceived by the Michigan Department of Education as an economic development tool, a training program for future entrepreneurs, and a vehicle for enhancing academic and vocational skills and motivating students.

Geographic Area: State of Michigan (751 school districts)

Products and Services: Curriculum guides, conferences, annual workshops, technical assistance, and information dissemination to teachers, administrators, and state legislators.

Age Level: Entrepreneurship is taught as a formal course in secondary schools and is infused into middle and elementary school curriculums.

Key Partners: Key funding for entrepreneurship education is primarily from general education funding.

Abstract: The Michigan Department of Education has been involved in entrepreneurship education since 1987. At that time a statewide meeting of stakeholders was held and a state plan was developed.

Implementation of the plan has been the responsibility of Dr. Earl Meyer, marketing education teacher at Eastern Michigan University, in concert with the state consultants for marketing education. Dr. Meyer has also represented Michigan in the consortium since it became a member in 1990.

Key initiatives undertaken to facilitate entrepreneurship education in Michigan have been:

In 1996–97 a survey was conducted to determine the status of entrepreneurship education in Michigan. The results indicated that entrepreneurship was being taught in 223 vocational programs throughout the state. These programs provided either awareness courses or business creation courses for 10,246 students.

A project was initiated in the spring of 1999 to identify those entities and individuals involved in entrepreneurship education in Michigan outside of K–12 education. The survey includes colleges and universities, community colleges, small business development centers, economic development organizations, private training companies, corporate training and development departments, social agencies, and private groups. The findings will be used, along with an updated K–12 survey, to explore the development of an in-state entrepreneurship education consortium.

Minnesota Department of Education

Jean M Kyle, Business and Marketing Education Specialist
1500 Highway 36 West
Roseville, MN 55113-4266
651- 582-8514
Fax: 651-582-8492
Email: jean.kyle@state.mn.us

Focus: Using School-to-Work as its basis with work-based learning as a key component of the state’s comprehensive School-to-Work initiative, youth entrepreneurship is one of the work-based offerings that communities/schools may choose to implement.

Geographic Area: State of Minnesota has 347 school districts with 1,752 schools (391 high schools) and a PK–12 enrollment of 844,410.

Products and Services: Provide technical assistance to all grade levels in the form of education and conference. Provide grants for the development of student-operated businesses.

Age Level: Entrepreneurship is taught in elementary, middle, and high schools as an option.

Key Partners: Six regional Initiative Funds Foundations, Department of Trade and Economic Development, Humphrey Institute, Center for School Change, Junior Achievement.

Abstract: Our purpose is to work collaboratively with other agencies and organizations to promote and provide technical assistance/support for entrepreneurial education in the state of Minnesota.

The state can foster entrepreneurial education and experience by:

Raising awareness about entrepreneurial education and encouraging schools to shape their programs to provide high-quality entrepreneurial experiences for youths; this includes strong connections with entrepreneurs and the business community;

Creating a culture in Minnesota entrepreneurial education programs that focuses on youth decision making and avoids having youths merely execute repetitive or routine tasks.

Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education
Division of Vocational and Adult Education

Leslie Kerns
Director, Business Education
State Department of Elementary & Secondary Education
P.O. Box 480
Jefferson City, MO 65101
573-751-3926
Fax: 573-526-4261
Email: leslie.kerns@dese.mo.gov

Focus: The focus for entrepreneurship education is on courses at the secondary level specifically addressing entrepreneurship, either as a stand-alone course or as a major component of other courses. In addition, effort is being made to integrate entrepreneurial concepts into course curricula to support the "Show-Me Standards," Missouri’s State Board of Education–approved academic standards. The St. Louis Community College District offers a certificate of specialization in entrepreneurship.

Products and Services: Course outlines and core competency lists have been developed for entrepreneurship courses. Sample instructional and assessment activities are available. Professional development activities are made available to teachers to support entrepreneurship education. Leadership for DECA and DEX is provided at the state level for students to participate in the competitive events programs. Several events in each organization specifically address entrepreneurial skills and knowledge. Links to other resources to support entrepreneurship education are provided through membership in the Consortium for Entrepreneurship Education.

Abstract: The Department of Elementary and Secondary Education provides leadership, support, and service to local education agencies responsible for carrying out public education. The state of Missouri enrolls over 900,000 students in grades K#150;12 in 525 school districts. The vocational education delivery system provides a full range of programs, services, and activities for individuals attending secondary, post-secondary, and adult institutions. The system comprises 431 comprehensive high school districts, one state technical college, 12 community college districts with 17 campuses, 7 four-year higher education institutions, 57 area vocational schools, and two state agencies.

Nebraska Department of Education

Gregg Christensen
Education Specialist
Communications, Partnerships and Entrepreneurship Education
Nebraska Department of Education
301 Centennial Mall South, Box 94987
Lincoln, NE 68509-4987
402.471.4337
Fax: 402.471.4565
Email: gregg.christensen@nde.ne.gov
Web site: www.nde.state.ne.us/entreped/

Focus: The Nebraska Department of Education is specifically charged with K-12 education in the state. Career exploration, economics education, and development of skills and knowledge for future careers in the areas of marketing, management, and entrepreneurship have been the primary focal points for initiatives and technical assistance provided to local school districts in the area of entrepreneurship education.

Nebraska Career Education Model:

Nebraska Career Education (formerly Nebraska Career and Technical Education) has undergone a transformation to closely align curriculum and programs around six career fields and the sixteen career clusters. The model is shown below:

Instructional components that underpin and are integrated throughout the model include:

Geographic Area: The Nebraska Department of Education (NDE) carries out its duties on behalf of 333,790 students in over 500 public school districts and 224 private or nonpublic school systems. Technical assistance in provided cooperatively by Nebraska Department of Education Staff in cooperation with 18 Educational Service Units that assist schools on a regional basis.

Products and Services: Curriculum guides, Academic Standards Crosswalks, Curriculum Frameworks, newsletters, discipline-specific Web sites, and mailings with current curriculum ideas and programs are disseminated to teachers and other professionals throughout Nebraska. An annual professional development conference, the Nebraska Career Education Cnference, is conducted in June of each year. Sessions focused on entrepreneurship education have been included in the schedule.

Age Level: Entrepreneurship taught in elementary, middle, high school, community college, and university settings throughout the state.

Key Partners: The Carl Perkins Act provides the funding for curriculum assistance and development.

Abstract: The School Improvement Team: Curriculum and Instruction is responsible for dissemination of the State Board of Education-approved academic content standards in reading/writing, math, science, and social studies. The team develops and updates curriculum frameworks and academic standards crosswalks to other discipline areas.

Models for curriculum integration are also a major component of technical assistance. Consultants provide technical help to school districts in the form of curriculum planning and development, leadership in statewide vocational student organizations, selection of equipment and materials, and monitoring of grant programs and funds.

In elementary and middle school, entrepreneurship is primarily taught in the form of career exploration and infused throughout existing curricula. In high school, career education programs, to varying degrees, include entrepreneurship as a component of their curriculum frameworks and instruction. The career field areas in the Nebraska Career Education Model include:

Nebraska Entrepreneurship Education
Activities and Resources

New Mexico Public Education Department
Charter Schools Division

Marjorie Gillespie,
Education Administrator,
5600 Eagle Rock Avenue, Room 228
Albuquerque, NM 87113 505-222-4763
Email: Marjorie.gillespie@state.nm.us
Website: http://nmcharterschools.org

Focus: The integration of entrepreneurship competencies across the K–12 curriculum, to provide career exploration and understanding of the economy, and to develop and implement small business employment opportunities.

Geographic Area: The state of New Mexico includes 89 school districts, the majority of which are very rural and represent multicultural, multilingual, and socioeconomic challenges.

Products and Services: New Mexico is a non-curriculum state. Local autonomy, site-based management, and comprehensive self-evaluation guide the educational direction for all 89 school districts in the state. From the comprehensive self-evaluations conducted in the districts, each district has developed and is implementing a local Educational Plan for Student Success (EPSS) that focuses on local needs unique to each community and includes a comprehensive assessment system that aligns with state content standards and gives benchmarks to evaluate student achievement. Varied teacher and student training conferences have been conducted, and the Entrepreneurship Teacher Tactics manual was developed and distributed statewide in spring 1999.

Age Level: Entrepreneurship is taught in elementary, middle/junior, and high schools and in community colleges (primarily through SBDC courses) and at the University of New Mexico's R.O. Anderson School of Business in Albuquerque.

Key Partners: Key funding for entrepreneurship education in NM is provided by Carl Perkins III vocational funding via leadership project activities. Up until the 1999–2000 school year, this project was funded through and directed by the lead SBDC located at Santa Fe Community College. The current project is funded through the Marketing Education Leadership project located at ENMU and headed by Ray Gormley, DECA state advisor. Collaborative initiatives have also been funded with the NM Special Education unit, the Center for Entrepreneurship directed by Mary Henry, and the state School-to-Work office facilitated by John Krause.

Abstract: K–12 entrepreneurship education competencies were adopted by the NM State Board of Education (SBE) in 1991 and were reiterated in the newly adopted SBE Career Readiness Standards with Benchmarks. A comprehensive statewide survey to identify what types of entrepreneurship education activities are in place in NM schools was completed in spring 1999. Results indicate that marketing education and family and consumer sciences programs provide specific training at the high school level, to include school-based enterprises. Middle/junior high school exploratory career education/job shadowing and computer courses provide opportunities for these students to learn basic entrepreneurship education concepts. Elementary schools provide opportunities for students to learn from their parents and community about careers, and many classrooms operate simulated and real businesses as well as community service projects. Our survey clearly indicated that many administrators, students, and parents confuse "fundraising" with entrepreneurship. Teacher training and funded projects for students/classrooms will focus on changing these perceptions.

SBDC centers are strategically located at New Mexico’s 17 community colleges, and they offer numerous courses throughout the year to assist existing and new businesses. Students and teachers may participate in these courses to enhance classroom and/or personal business training. Additionally, SBDCs, local financial institutions, and youth programs throughout the state provide seed money for student businesses.

New Mexico has been a member of the consortium for many years and has benefited from varied regional trainings conducted by Dr. Catherine Ashmore and Scott Schickler. Perkins funding has provided varied curricula/materials/equipment for classroom training. Active participation by NM student members in DECA, BPA, FFA, and FHA-HERO provides opportunities to compete in regional/district, state, and national entrepreneurship competitive events. NM is piloting MS entrepreneurship competitions in BPA; students are responding with sound business plans and PowerPoint presentations to demonstrate their creativity.

New York State Education Department

Jon Greenwald, Associate in Business and Marketing Education
Office of Workforce Preparation and Continuing Education
89 Washington Avenue, Room 320 EB
Albany, NY 12234
518-474-5506
Fax: 518-474-4494
Email: jgreenwa@mail.nysed.gov

Focus: Instruction in entrepreneurship is provided through an integrated delivery system guided by the state’s 28 learning standards.

Geographic Area: The state of New York has approximately 3.8 million students in grades K–12, dispersed across 705 public school districts and 38 regional Boards of Cooperative Education Service agencies. New York has approximately 240,000 professional staff (e.g., teachers, counselors, administrators), 1,600 public/nonpublic high schools, and 4,300 public/nonpublic elementary and middle schools (K–6, K–8, 7–8).

Products and Services: The New York State Education Department has developed seven state learning standards publications that include the state’s 28 learning standards and accompanying performance indicators. Additionally, the state education department provides educators with state syllabi, learning standards resource guides, core curriculum guides, and a variety of other resources to help with the implementation of the state’s learning standards. The state education department has an intensive and varied state assessment system that includes a variety of rigorous state assessments at the elementary, intermediate, and commencement levels. Finally, to assist teachers and administrators with the implementation of learning standards and state assessment system, the state education department conducts a variety of professional development activities (e.g., conferences, workshops, seminars, and informational field publications/ memorandums).

Age Level: Entrepreneurship is taught at the elementary, middle, secondary, adult/continuing education, and postsecondary levels.

Key Partners: Major funding sources for entrepreneurship education in New York State include Perkins III, state, and local funding.

Abstract: New York State is a charter member of the International Consortium for Entrepreneurship Education. A basic understanding of entrepreneurship is introduced to New York State students in grades K–6 through an integrated delivery system incorporating the state’s 28 learning standards. Increased entrepreneurship education (approximately 20 instructional hours) is provided to all New York State students through the grades 7–8 Home and Career Skills program. At the secondary level, continued study in entrepreneurship is available to students as a 108-hour option in the business/information systems career major program. Entrepreneurship education is also an instructional component of several of the state’s 50 School-to-Work partnerships and the 30 Tech Prep consortia. Finally, a variety of entrepreneurship education courses/programs exist at the adult/continuing education and postsecondary levels.

North Carolina Department of Public Instruction

Trey Michael, Consultant for Marketing and Business Education
6358 Mall Service Center.
Raleigh, NC 27699-6358
919-807-3870
Fax 919-807-3899
Email: amichael@dpi.state.nc.us
Web site: http://www.dpi.state.nc.us/workforce_development/

Focus: Entrepreneurship as a vehicle for career exploration, understanding the economy, and developing skills for business creation and employment.

Geographic Area: State of North Carolina with 2,002 schools (308 are high schools), including 1,199,962 K–12 enrollees in 117 Local Education Agencies.

Products and Services: Curriculum guides, test item banks, and course blueprints are produced for all courses taught in the public schools in North Carolina, including entrepreneurship.

Age Level: Entrepreneurship is taught in elementary, middle, and high schools, and at community colleges and universities.

Key Partners: Key funding sources for entrepreneurship education include general education funding that provides most of our education emphasis. JobReady funding (North Carolina's brand name for School-to-Work) provides much of our career emphasis in the elementary schools. The Perkins III funding, as well as state funding for workforce development, provides the funding for the specific Small Business/Entrepreneurship courses.

Abstract: The public schools of North Carolina provide the structure, policies, and over 79 percent of the funding for 117 Local Education Agencies throughout the 100 counties of North Carolina to provide a free public education to the students who reside in their geographic area.

Entrepreneurship is explored in elementary school as social studies courses study our community helpers and advance into other career information emphasis. Middle schools have career exploration courses, and high schools offer integrated entrepreneurship focuses or specific Small Business/Entrepreneurship courses. Small business/entrepreneurship is included in several career pathways acceptable for high school graduation. At the community college and university level, we have small business development centers strategically placed throughout the state, as well as specific venture development courses in the university business administration curriculum.

The state of North Carolina has been a member of the Consortium for Entrepreneurship Education for 15 years and has provided leadership for the teachers in the state as well as for educators nationally. Sonya Dismuke is the state representative to the consortium. She is a consultant for marketing education and provides leadership for marketing education, NC DECA, and entrepreneurship education throughout the state of North Carolina.

In the middle grades exploration courses are taught. Through Exploring Business and Marketing Occupations, Exploring Career Decisions, and the Systems Exploration courses students are exposed to the opportunities to work for themselves.

The state has developed course blueprints, curriculum guides, and test item banks for teachers to use in teaching entrepreneurship at the high school level. Currently small business/entrepreneurship is offered in 200+ high schools. REAL Enterprises offers experiential learning in some of the high schools. When REAL teaches in the high school, the same pre- and post-assessment that is used for small business/entrepreneurship is used for accountability purposes.

Through the leadership of Workforce Development Education, 235 courses in small business/entrepreneurship are offered. These courses are offered by either business education or marketing education teachers. In Business Education, Family and Consumer Sciences, Marketing Education, and Trade and Industrial Education courses there is an emphasis to integrate entrepreneurship concepts. In the Workplace Readiness course there is an emphasis on working in businesses that are created by the individual and reaping the rewards.

Oklahoma Department of Career and Technology Education

Linnie Berkenbile, State Program Administrator
1500 West Seventh Avenue
Stillwater, OK 74074-4364
405-743-5473
Fax: 405-743-6809
Email: linnie.berkenbile@okcareertech.org
http://www.okcareertech.org/

Focus: Entrepreneurship and the entrepreneurial spirit are vital to the economic success of our state. We must let all students and adults know that entrepreneurship is a viable career option.

Geographic Area: Oklahoma has 544 school districts, and 470 of these have high schools. The K–12 student enrollment in Oklahoma public schools is 628,492.

Products and Services: Teachers may request curricula, curriculum inservice, technical assistance, and examples of successful practices of school-based enterprises. An annual one-week entrepreneurship infusion workshop is offered to all vocational teachers in the state. In addition, our area technology centers offer ongoing small business management and self-employment programs for adults.

Age Level: Entrepreneurship education is taught sporadically throughout the state at all levels—elementary through adult.

Key Partners: Key funding sources for entrepreneurship education include state vocational funds, federal Perkins III, tech-prep and School-to-Work funds, and a limited amount of general education funds.

Abstract: Public schools in Oklahoma are moving toward the site-based management system, which allows school administrators to determine the elective courses offered at their facilities. Consequently, there is no set pattern at the local school level, much less at the district or state level.

We have pockets of success throughout the state where entrepreneurship awareness is being taught. On the elementary and middle school levels, a significant number of teachers are teaching entrepreneurship awareness by infusing school-based enterprise activities into their current curriculum. However, entrepreneurship offerings are somewhat limited at the junior high and high school levels. The exception to this is in our vocational programs, where a number of our vocational teachers infuse entrepreneurship education into their curriculum. The entrepreneurship offerings at the collegiate level are limited at best.

Oklahoma is a charter member of the Consortium for Entrepreneurship Education. .

We are using a variety of approaches to educate and encourage teachers to help students explore entrepreneurship as a viable career option. These approaches include but are not limited to the following:

Pennsylvania Department of Education

Jay Cannon, Business and Marketing Education Advisor
333 Market Street, 6th Floor
Harrisburg, PA 17126-0333
717-346-4792
Fax: 717-783-6672
Email: jcannon@state.pa.us
Website: http://www.state.pa.us/

Focus: Although Pennsylvania recognizes the importance of entrepreneurship education, we do not have formal statewide initiatives in this area at the present time. Various occupational areas include basic entrepreneurship instruction regarding business creation in their programs.

Geographic Area: Our geographic area is the state of Pennsylvania with 501 school districts and 83 area vocational-technical schools; 2,122,523 K–12 enrollees (1,787,533 in public schools, 334,990 in private and nonpublic schools).

Age Level: To the best of our knowledge, most entrepreneurship instruction is occurring at the high school level. We do not collect statistics on entrepreneurship.

Abstract: Pennsylvania just recently decided to join the Consortium for Entrepreneurship Education. We are still determining how we will best be able to contribute to the consortium and how we can best share the benefits received with teachers in our state.

In the area of entrepreneurship, schools have local autonomy to decide whether or not to offer instruction. Information on entrepreneurship is not one of the data elements that we collect. However, various business education and marketing education programs offer courses on entrepreneurship. Other occupational areas also integrate entrepreneurship concepts into their programs. For example, various agriculture programs have an agribusiness component.

Tennessee Department of Education

Will Lewis,
Division of Vocational Education
Fourth Floor, Gateway Plaza
710 James Robertson Parkway
Nashville, TN 37243-0383
615-532-6248
Fax: 615-532-8226
Email: Will.Lewis@state.tn.us

Focus: Tennessee’s focus is to promote the opportunities available through entrepreneurship; the role of entrepreneurship in a free enterprise society; and to provide the education and training needed to successfully operate a business enterprise.

Geographic Area: State of Tennessee with 332 high schools, including 967,632 K–12 enrollees, 23 vocational schools, 20 adult high schools, and 15 alternative schools

Products and Services: Course standards and curriculum guides are approved for all courses including entrepreneurship. Training/inservice is provided annually for teachers of entrepreneurship. Resource materials are provided.

Age Level: High schools offer the entrepreneurship course under the marketing umbrella, and other courses incorporate entrepreneurship concepts. Some articulation plans are in place with two-year community colleges.

Key Partners: Funding is based on state BEP funds, Education Edge [(STW) (career emphasis and cluster development)], and Perkins III for improvement and innovation. Entrepreneurs are included in the state group of business leaders who serve as the "champions" for marketing education in the standards and cluster development process.

Abstract: Entrepreneurship is explored in elementary and middle schools as more emphasis is placed on earlier career planning. Tennessee has adopted seven clusters for all students. Entrepreneurship in the high schools is a sub-cluster of the Business/Marketing Cluster. Entrepreneurship is not only an independent course, but is also an integral component of other courses and clusters. Also as a sub-cluster the program of study (or four-year plan) is designed to include the related courses needed for entrepreneurial success.

Tennessee has been a member of the Consortium for Entrepreneurship Education for a number of years and has provided leadership for teachers at the state level. Teachers and schools have been provided many resource materials, including PACE materials.

Texas Education Agency

Lucy Ybarra, Marketing Education
Career and Technology Education
1701 N. Congress Avenue
Austin, TX 78701-1494
512-475-3491
Fax: 512-475-3575
Email: Lucille.Gonzalez-Ybarra@tea.state.tx.us
Web site: http://www.tea.state.tx.us

Focus: Entrepreneurship courses provide students with the opportunity to learn the knowledge and skills needed to start a business, develop a business plan, and seek venture capital.

Geographic Area: Texas has 1,042 independent school districts in 254 counties across the state. These districts serve 3.9 million students in grades K–12. These students are served in 7,053 schools by 254,558 teachers.

Products and Services: The state develops curriculum planning documents for use in several entrepreneurship and entrepreneurship-related courses. In addition, schools have the leeway to utilize instructional materials budgets to purchase textbooks, curriculum materials, and collateral materials that enhance the teaching and learning of entrepreneurship knowledge and skills.

Age Level: While some concepts and skills are introduced to students in an integrated fashion in grades K–5, most courses with an entrepreneurship focus are available in grades 6–12. Students at the middle school or junior high level may enroll in an elective called "Business Venture," while high school students (grades 9–12) may take either semester- or year-long courses in entrepreneurship, business ownership, or agricultural entrepreneurship.

Key Partners: Key funding sources include Federal Perkins III funds, state Foundation Program funds (1.37 weighted funding based on average daily attendance), some School-to-Careers funds for teacher training and preparation, and local funds. Other key partners include state department of education program directors for Agricultural Science and Natural Resources, Business and Marketing Education, and Texas REAL Enterprises.

Abstract: In April of 1997, the State Board of Education in Texas adopted the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills for courses that can be offered as junior high/middle school and high school electives as part of the enrichment curriculum. Included in the course approvals were courses entitled: Business Venture, Entrepreneurship, Business Ownership, and Agricultural Entrepreneurship. Over 3,000 students are currently enrolled in entrepreneurship courses. Many thousands of other students are receiving instruction on concepts and skills related to entrepreneurship being taught in an integrated fashion across the curriculum in social studies (economics), business (management), marketing (sales/distribution), and agriculture.

Texas REAL Enterprises has also been working to recruit, train, and prepare teachers to teach entrepreneurship at the high school and the community college level. For the past two summers, approximately 40–50 teachers have experienced the training, curriculum, and on-going technical assistance provided by Texas REAL Enterprises. These teachers are now teaching entrepreneurship courses where students not only learn the concepts and skills needed to start a business, but they also get to experience firsthand the operation of either a group-owned or a school-based enterprise.

The state of Texas has been a member of the Consortium for Entrepreneurship Education for four years. During this time and prior to it, Texas has provided on-going staff development and professional growth opportunities for teachers who teach entrepreneurship concepts and skills—whether it is done in a marketing course or in a stand-alone entrepreneurship course. In addition, the state education department has contracted for the development of curriculum materials to support the teaching for and about entrepreneurship.

Texas also has hundreds of students each year participate in DECA competitive events and activities that have an entrepreneurship focus. In DECA’s entrepreneurship events, students have the opportunity to develop a prospectus for a business they play to open, or they conduct research and develop a business plan for a new or franchise business.

In addition to materials developed through grants with the Texas Education Agency, many schools purchase instructional materials from the MarkED Resource Center in Columbus, Ohio. These materials help to enrich and enhance the teaching of entrepreneurial concepts and skills.

Virginia Department of Education

Sharon Acuff,
Office of Vocational and Adult Education Services
101 N 14th Street
P O Box 2120, James Monroe Building
Richmond, VA 23218-2120 or
804-225-2846
Fax: 804-371-2456
Email: sharon.acuff@doe.virginia.gov

Focus: Entrepreneurship is considered a pathway to certain career goals and is presented along with other pathways as an option for reaching one’s career objective. It is also recommended as a component of the "vocational program mix," involving the combination of entrepreneurship with other career routes. Entrepreneurial curriculum guides and course codes may be used with any of the vocational programs in agriculture education, business, health occupations, marketing, technology education, trade and industrial education, and work and family studies. All career development strategies are provided by the relatively new service area of Career Connections, designed to help students prepare for careers and continuing education.

Geographic Area: Commonwealth of Virginia with 1,891 schools (280 are high schools), including 1,124,022 Pre-K–12 enrollees in 134 Local Education Agencies.

Products and Services: Curriculum guides, test item banks, resource listings, a lending library, brokered supplementary materials, and staff development are provided through the Office of Adult and Vocational Education Services in cooperation with the Virginia Vocational Curriculum and Resource Center.

Age Level: Entrepreneurship is offered at the middle school, high school, community college, adult education, and university levels of instruction in Virginia.

Abstract: Entrepreneurship is offered by Business and Marketing at the middle school level in the form of a course entitled "Make It Your Business." Technology Education provides enterprising activities at the elementary, middle school, and high school levels. Work and Family Studies also emphasizes entrepreneurial careers throughout the middle and high school years.

Career Connections includes entrepreneurship as an option within Career Pathways at the middle and high school levels. This service also provides two entrepreneurship guides ("Exploring Entrepreneurship" and "Entrepreneurship Education") that may be offered at the middle or high school grades. Certain community colleges offer entrepreneurship or related courses and assist in community small business development.

Small business management also is available at certain Virginia universities. A professor of entrepreneurship who teaches at the University of Richmond and the College of William and Mary serves as a consultant to the Career Connections service and advises on curriculum and staff development.

In the past, Virginia was a member of the Consortium for Entrepreneurship Education. This affiliation was temporarily suspended as a result of state agency restructuring. This year, 1999–2000, Virginia rejoins the consortium and looks forward to sharing information, products, and services.

The Career Connections service works with the Virginia Career and Technical Education Resource Center in providing brokered materials that supplement and enhance the two entrepreneurship guides developed for teachers in the state of Virginia. These brokered materials are closely aligned with the guides and are on display at staff development functions. For information, contact the center at 804-261-5075 or access the Web site at http://vvcrc.tec.va.us.

West Virginia Department of Education

Susan T. Rice
Entrepreneurship Coordinator
West Virginia Department of Education
Building 6 Room 243
1900 Kanawha Blvd., East
Charleston, WV 25305-0330
Phone: Direct: 304-957-9833 ext. 53566
Phone: Office: 304-558-3119
Fax: 304-558-1055
E-mail: strice@access.k12.wv.us

Focus: To prosper in an increasingly competitive global economy, West Virginia has developed an educational and supportive environment for entrepreneurs through economic development and educational vehicles. All students must understand that entrepreneurship is a viable career option and all educators must be provided with an insight on the economic impact of what they teach.

Geographic Area: The state of West Virginia has 281,714 students in grades k-12. They are dispersed across 701 schools in 55 county school districts. Of these 701 schools 46 are Career Tech Centers and 119 are High Schools. Products and Services: Content standards have been developed for all courses in West Virginia. The Career and Technical programs are now in the process of developing course instructional guides, all including entrepreneurship. There is a Management and Entrepreneurship concentration in the Business and Marketing cluster. Also, the Social Studies content standards are aligned with the Entrepreneurship National Standards.

Age Level: Entrepreneurship education is embedded at the elementary and middle school levels but there are also formal classes of Micro-Society, Mini-Society, Junior Achievement and REAL. Entrepreneurship is taught as a formal course through Business and Marketing Cluster at the Secondary level.

Key Partners: Career and Technical Student Organizations such as DECA (An Association of Marketing Students), FBLA (Future Business Leaders of America), BPA (Business Professionals of America), and FFA (Future Farmers of America), provide various competitive events pertaining to entrepreneurship education. The Perkins III provides funding for entrepreneurship education. Advantage Valley Collaborative have proved to be valuable partners with the EDS grant they received from the Kellogg Foundation. Vision Shared, a nonprofit corporation, oversees the implementation of a statewide economic development plan which includes Entrepreneurship Education. Small Business Development Centers partner with high schools that participate in the state wide high school business plan competition. The West Virginia Department of Education Entrepreneurship department also partners with West Virginia REAL, Mission West Virginia, Community and Technical Colleges, ELS, West Virginia Entrepreneurship Alliance, Women's Business Center, Junior Achievement, Ohio -West Virginia YMCA, and 21st Century Community Learning Centers that provide after school programs.

Abstract: In 2005, West Virginia became the second state in the nation to join the Partnership for 21st Century Skills, which marries business interests with classroom instruction. This partnership recognizes the importance of weaving entrepreneurship literacy into core subjects.

The Office of Career and Technical Education hired an entrepreneurship coordinator to help in this endeavor. The coordinator is responsible for overseeing Dreamquest, the West Virginia High School business plan competition as well as generating the funding for this event. The coordinator also provides professional development through a variety of workshops throughout the year. This training has been offered at Social Studies teacher academies, Business and Marketing professional development, WV REL Institute for K-post secondary, and School Based Enterprise training for Career Tech Centers.

Entrepreneurship Education is part of all career and technical programs offered in the state through instructional guides. These guides are used in implementing the state content standards. Curriculum is currently being designed that will focus on the entrepreneurial opportunities of career tech students. These will be stand alone courses that will align with the Community College Entrepreneurial Certificate and are based on the National Content Standards developed by the Consortium for Entrepreneurship Education.

Wyoming Department of Education

Linda Scott, Consultant
2300 Capitol Avenue
Cheyenne, WY 82002-0050
307-777-7708
Fax: 307-777-6234
Email: lscott@Educ.State.WY.US
Web site: http://www.k12.wy.us

Focus: To encourage integration of entrepreneurial concepts into business education.

Abstract: Our role is to disseminate information and provide technical assistance to LEAs and colleges in the state of Wyoming.
Our state department is involved in providing the following for the local schools:

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