Entrepreneurship Everywhere
Sample Entrepreneurship Education
Programs in the United States
DELAWARE
B-School for Beginners:
Teaching Teachers to Teach Entrepreneurship
Ronni K. Cohen, Executive Director
Delaware Money School/DFLI
3301 Green Street
Claymont, DE 19703
302-792-1200
Fax: 302-792-1050
Email: ronnicohen@delawaremoneyschool.com
Dr. Bonnie Meszaros, Assistant Director
Center for Economic Education and Entrepreneurship
103 Lerner Hall
Newark, DE 19716
302-831-1896
Fax: 302-831-6659
Focus: Elementary (grades K–6) teachers
Geographic Area: Delaware and Halifax, Nova Scotia
Products and Services: Professional Development and Follow-up mentoring for teachers
Age Level: Teachers
Key Partners: Delaware Money School?DFLI and the Center for Economic Education and Entrepreneurship at University of Delaware
Abstract: Abstract: B-School for Beginners, established in 1996, is a unique graduate course to give teachers methods, materials, and motivation to create and implement entrepreneurship programs in their elementary classrooms. The course equips teachers to help students view entrepreneurship as a viable career option.. Teachers earn two graduate credits when they complete an implementation portfolio that includes a plan for implementing a class or school-wide entrepreneurship project. A third credit can be earned when students evaluate their plan after using it with their students.
The course is unique in that the week-long academy teaches through the use of modeling the strategies used to teach entrepreneurship. Community entrepreneurs share their expertise in lunchtime seminars. An "entrepreneur tour" helps teacher see the impact of making the community an extension of the classroom. Participants receive a number of children's books and learn to use literature to teach entrepreneurship, an effective way to introduce teachers to entrepreneurship. Teachers receive and are trained to use "Inventor's Portfolio" to incorporate entrepreneurship, invention, creative problem solving, and evaluation into the curriculum. Participants take part in a market to experience being entrepreneurs and to understand the power of a market as a learning experience. Teachers better understand concepts when they use the market as a tool in learning what their elementary students will experience in student ventures.
Effective and significant are the quarterly follow-up dinner meetings that provide mentoring and support for teachers. Teachers receive a new set of lessons at each session and have time to network and share materials and resources. Participating teachers are invited to bring student entrepreneurs to the spring Youth Market, which draws children from across the county.
Brandywine School District, School/Work Experience Program
Valerie Keaton, Special Education Teacher
School/Work Experience Program
Brandywine School District
1400 Foulk Road
Wilmington DE 19803
302-762-6520
Fax: 302-479-1604
Email: V.Keaton@Brandywine.k12.de.us
Focus: Entrepreneurship for special education students in grades
10—12.
Abstract: Possibilities, Inc., is a unique new special education
program in the Brandywine School District. The students are at risk,
so we are trying to design a program to help them successfully complete
high school and maintain employment.
Claymont Elementary School—Green Street Works: Empowering Students
to Excel
Program Director
Claymont Elementary School
Brandywine School District
3401 Green Street
Claymont, DE 19703
302-798-1158
Fax: 302-798-7605
Focus: Elementary (grades 4–6) program in a public-school setting
Geographic Area: New Castle County, Delaware
Age Level: Children (grades 4–6)
Key Partners: Center for Economic Education and Entrepreneurship
at University of Delaware,
Claymont Business Owners Association, MBNA, Wilmington Trust Bank
Abstract: Hear about Green Street Works, a unique program created
for Claymont Elementary
School. The school is the first in the state to employ a specialist
in entrepreneurship/economic
education. All children enrolled in the school attend a weekly entrepreneurship/economic
class.
Higher-level thinking and creative problem-solving skills are woven
into the program. Students
apply their entrepreneurial lessons in quarterly school markets, where
the competition for the U.S.
dollar vote is fierce. Also, each school day provides additional venture
opportunities for the young
entrepreneurs.
The children earn points for positive workforce behaviors, including
good attendance, appropriate
dress, and good behavior, preparation, and effort. These points are
the only medium of exchange
in the Green Street Market, which is staffed and stocked by students.
This market serves both as
an incentive and as a learning tool for classroom studies.
A major Delaware bank has opened a branch at the school. Children learn
how to open accounts
and make deposits. Students serve as junior tellers, working with customers
and preparing the
deposits for the bank.
Claymont Elementary School is the first school to open in the community
in over 20 years. A key
to the success of the program has been the involvement of the staff
in the community and its
organizations. These associations have enabled us to form partnerships
with Claymont's small
businesses, providing donated products for our Green Street Market,
mentoring, and job
shadowing experiences.
Ronni Cohen designed Green Street Works to motivate the reluctant learner
as well as the eager
student. The program enables children to connect school to the world
of work, to explore both
"making a job" as well as "taking a job." Students
solve relevant, real-world problems while they
apply basic skills. The faculty is committed to "empowering students
to excel" through an emphasis
on basic skills and the opportunity to apply these critical skills in
relevant, hands-on, learning
experiences exploring venture awareness, exploration, and creation.
Claymont is the first model school in economics/entrepreneurship and
banking in the Center for
Economic Education and Entrepreneurship's School-to-Work program. The
school will have a
monthly visiting/debriefing day for educators interested in observing
or replicating the program.
DE Autistic Program
Teresa J. Wells
Vocational Specialist
Vocational Consulting Services
106 Red Pine Circle
Newark DE 19711
(302) -292-0333
Fax 302-292-6913
Email: wellstj@attglobal.net
Focus: Students with Disabilities, age 14 - 21
Abstract: Learn about activities that teach students with disabilities the critical skills necessary to succeed as entrepreneurs and consumers. There are few programs available which promote the concept that all students ages 14 to 21 can be successful in the world of work. Community entrepreneurs constantly tell educators to teach the 'soft" skills to the students and the businesses will teach how to perform the tasks. The program presented involves establishing three mini-businesses within the school and the functional skills incorporated into these activities.
THE SCHOOL STORE Students prepare items to sell at the 'school' store 2-3 times a week. Staff and all the students in the school are allowed to make purchases from the 'store'. Many of the students earn the money (real money not simulated or pictures) to buy the items. Parents or community merchants donate some of the items marketed. The students also bake goods, e.g. (The Original Girl Scout Cookie, circa 1922), or make items such as fire place starters and bird feeders.
THE OFFICE STORE Work forms are located in a designated area of the school. Staff members complete the forms and attach them to the clerical or assembly work they want done by the students. The work is placed on shelves that identify what work needs to get done. Students learn to perform all kinds of clerical tasks that also develop functional skills.
FRIDAY LUNCH SPECIAL Students prepare specialty lunches for building staff one day a week. At the beginning of the week all staff members are notified by e-mail regarding the lunch menu and cost. The menu and order forms are posted outside the classroom. Persons wishing to purchase lunches complete the forms and return them to a designated area before mid-week.
The work readiness skills that are being taught stress the importance of increasing the accuracy, rate, independence and duration of student performance within age appropriate activities.
Teresa J Wells has worked with students with disabilities for over twenty years as a teacher in New York, Texas and Delaware. For twelve years she was an Educational Diagnostician working with high school students having mild to moderate disabilities. Since 1990 she has worked as Vocational Specialist at the Delaware Autistic Program. She developed the Vocational Assessment for Persons with Autism and Severe Disabilities (VAPAS) and the Assessment for Work Readiness (AWR), to assist teachers and other relevant team members determine work readiness skills of students. Her most recent books are manuals for staff members and parents designed to teach critical skills to students within specific activities.
By providing meaningful vocational training experiences for students with severe and multiple disabilities 62% of these students have transitioned to adult services with employment. After five years 92% of these individuals continue to be employed. Although she retired from the Delaware Autistic Program she continues to work with teachers throughout the state and internationally.
Delaware Financial Literacy Institute/Delaware Money School
Ronni Cohen, Executive Director
Delaware Financial Literacy Institute/Delaware Money School
3301 Green Street
Claymont, DE 19703
302-792-1200
Fax: 302-792-1050
Email: ronni@delawaremoneyschool.com
Web Sites: www.delawaremoneyschool.com
www.bankatschool.com
www.pursestoportfolios.com
Focus: Leadership in promoting financial literacy
Geographic Area: Delaware
Abstract: DFLI is working to deliver financial education and information to all Delawareans through the following statewide programs: Critical partnerships have enabled the DFLI to offer a wide range of services since opening in 2002.
The Delaware Financial Literacy Institute is a nonprofit 501 (c)(3) which offers the following programs:
- The Delaware Money School, the signature program of the DFLI, provides over 400 free classes annually in all aspects of finance - from raising financially responsible children to saving and investing for college education or retirement to dealing with the financial pitfalls of divorce, raising children as a single parent and business start-ups.
Classes are taught by an all volunteer faculty at public buildings across the state.
- From Purses to Portfolios: Delaware Women Take Charge of Their Money - a comprehensive program designed to meet women's unique financial needs, including a bi- annual conference, a continuing education certificare program, community events, a website with resources, and Pocket Change ( a quarterly financial newsletter)which can be downloaded at www.pursestoportfolios.com
- Money Talks - a comprehensive program which includes professional development for teachers from pre-school through grade 12, an activity filled newsletter for parents and teachers, a summer graduate institute for teachers, and a teacher leadership cadre. Download MoneyTalks at www.bankatschool.com
- Money Smart Kids: A Conference for Children and Their Parents, is free to the public and funded by community partners.
- The Bank at School Program, which introduces savings accounts to elementary students.
Silver Lake Elementary School, "Market$$ Fest"
Shevena Cale, Teacher
Silver Lake Elementary School
4644 Summit Bridge Rd.
Middletown DE 19709
302-378-0207
Email: Shevena@worldnet.att.net
Focus: At-risk, minority, and physically challenged fourth-grade
students
Abstract: Market$$ Fest is a program for Silver Lake Elementary
School's fourth-grade students who reflect the town's diversity: the regular
and special education students include at-risk students, minority students,
and physically challenged students. This is a new program that resulted
from the B-School for Beginners Class taught by Ronni Cohen.
The entrepreneurship program will not only apply basic skills, but will
also have hands-on opportunities to master the Delaware economic standards
as students learn to create their own ventures. Students learn creative
problem-solving and decision-making techniques as they learn to look
for opportunities. Students complete business plans and apply for loans
to launch their ventures. Students learn to figure profit/loss and analyze
the costs and benefits of their decision making.
Workshops are provided for other teachers in the team so that the program
becomes part of the fourth-grade curriculum. They plan to open a school
bank as part of the state treasurer's "Bank at School" program.
This project is new to the Appoquinimink School District because entrepreneurship
has not been introduced the the system. They are using entrepreneurship
to give all of the students the hands-on experiences to master the state
standards in economics. Mrs. Cale is a member of the Delaware Elementary
Economic and Entrepreneurship Educators network.
DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
FINCA USA
Marlene Maria Leon, Assistant Director
FINCA USA
1101 14th St., NW, 11th Floor
Washington, DC 20005
202-682-0404
Fax: 202-682-1535
Email: mleon@villagebanking.org
Web site: www.villagebanking.org
Focus: The ABCs of microfinance. Community-based organization
and private-sector partnerships
Abstract: We believe that entrepreneurship educators should
recognize the importance of developing and implementing a microloan
segment into their existing programs.
While training is a key element for entrepreneurs, not having access
to initial capital to begin a business can be a hindrance to the success
of any business.
FINCA USA has successfully provided microloans to over 250 clients
in the Washington/Baltimore metropolitan area, with a 92 percent repayment rate
of loans and 250 clients. This makes FINCA USA one of the largest microloan
programs in the country.
FINCA USA has a five-loan-cycle program, with loans ranging from $500 to
$6,000. We also provide a savings program as well as technical assistance.
We also provide ways for our clients to improve their credit.
George Washington University, Center for Family Enterprise
Erik Winslow, Director
George Solomon
2115 G Street NW
Monroe Hall Room 403
Washington, DC 20052
202-994-6447
202-994-4930
Email: erikkw@gwu.edu
Email: gsolomon@gwis2.circ.gwu.edu
Web site: http://www.sbpm.gwu.edu/research/centers/cfe/
Focus: Adult business owners and families
Abstract: The Center for Family Enterprise, George Washington
University, is part of the School
of Business and Public Management (SBPM). It is hosted within the Management
Science
Department. Our location in the nation's capital, where policy making,
international transactions,
technological innovations, research breakthroughs, and intellectual
stimulation are imbedded in our
regular operations, makes us a unique and invaluable resource from which
family firms can benefit.
The George Washington University is committed to sustaining the Center
for Family Enterprise,
whose primary mission is to ensure the survival and growth of family
firms and to develop a
long-term relationship with the family business community.
Currently the center has a partnership with DECA to develop a new curriculum
appropriate for
use in the high school and middle school classroom.
Since 1990, when the U.S. Small Business Administration conducted the
last of five surveys
focusing on entrepreneurial education and training in the United States,
there has been no
systematic data collection and review of the field of entrepreneurial
education. The George
Washington University's School of Business and Public Management's Center
for Family
Enterprise has joined with the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation to present
the results of the
1997 National Survey on Entrepreneurial Education and Training.
The purpose and significance of the study was to:
- Stimulate interest in the educational community to provide new
and innovative entrepreneurial
curricula.
- To encourage educational organizations to expand their current
activities at both the secondary and post-secondary levels.
- Provide a database so that individuals can use the results of the
survey as a reference guide to entrepreneurship education programs
and to develop new curricula in small business and entrepreneurship.
SOUTHEASTERN UNIVERSITY
Center for Entrepreneurship
Teleakah Brooks
Executive Director
Center for Entrepreneurship
Southeastern University
501 I Street, SW
Washington, DC 20024
202-478-8248
Fax: 202-488-8093
Email: tbrooks@admin.seu.edu
Website: www.seu.edu
Focus:Providing and empowering elementary and secondary students, adult business owners and adults seeking continuous education with financial, entrepreneurial, and business skills through innovative programs and practical teachings.
Geographic Area: Greater Washington DC Metropolitan Area
Age Level: Elementary, High school, Post-Secondary Students and Adult Learners.
Abstract: Focusing on Southeastern University (SEU) commitment to community service, civic engagement, and economic development, SEU has launched the Center for Entrepreneurship (CfE). Designed as a model for urban renewal in the Nation's capital, the CfE represents a unique entrepreneurial approach to community economic development, self-sufficiency and personal growth for youth and adults, specifically low-income women and minority populations. This initiative utilizes a two-pronged approach to learning: (1) it equips youths and adults with the skills necessary to sustain themselves economically and (2) it uses a case study, experienced-based curriculum to imbed the concepts of entrepreneurship in the hearts and minds of youth and adult learners.
SEU's Center for Entrepreneurship was piloted in FY04 and publicly launched in October 2004. CfE has developed a program that includes a multifaceted approach to learning, including free seminars, fee-based seminars, clinics, short courses, as well as a certificate and college degree program. Each level of service deeply explores the subject matter and targeted areas of focus. In its short existence, the CfE has serviced 750+ clients, students and community members.
For youth SEU are college partners for two programs, GEAR UP, a college preparatory program for high school students, and the Foundation for Excellent Schools, a college awareness program for elementary school students. Here, SEU uses entrepreneurship and small business issues to teach math and English literacy and comprehension. In 2005 SEU's held its first summer GEAR UP program, students learned financial literacy through Junior Achievement curriculum. In the summer of 2006, the SEU's GEAR UP program will expand to include the National Foundation for Teaching Entrepreneurship's curriculum.
SEU's signature program, the Certificate in Entrepreneurship, is a deliverables- based program. Students learn the fundamentals of marketing, sales & advertising, management, HR management, financial management, accounting, business and IT planning that will help them develop their small businesses and nonprofits. Students are required, in each course, to complete a component of a business plan that is needed for their small business, with the end results being a comprehensive business plan.
|