In Educational Entrepreneurship Today, edited by Frederick M. Hess and Michael Q. McShane, a gaggle of authors examines how entrepreneurship can fuel the engine of educational innovation. The authors paint a complex portrait of risk, reward, and regulation.
The book defines educational entrepreneurship as “risk-taking behavior intended to boost school productivity or offer new services in a manner that makes a lasting difference for students.” The authors remind us that the very premise of entrepreneurship is novel within education. Typical initiatives in this realm are-risk averse because failure may harm children. Yet recent years have provided plenty of examples of entrepreneurial effort.
One theme throughout the book is that the structure of organizations and initiatives matter, although the authors differ on what structure is best. Some favor small, precisely targeted programs like the Tiny School Project, which focuses on testing educational ideas on a micro level. Others focus on scaling successful initiatives, such as the KIPP charter network’s growth from a single classroom to over two hundred schools across the country.
Entrepreneurial ventures like Teach For America, TNTP, the Broad Residency, and New Leaders for New Schools have both grown and become pipelines for educational talent to undertake yet more initiatives. The book notes a 2011 study showing that 15 percent of entrepreneurial organizations in education are led by TFA alumni.
Politics and policy understandably loom large in these pages. Governmental efforts such as No Child Left Behind, Race to The Top, the Common Core State Standards, and the Every Student Succeeds Act have all triggered the launch of firms and leaders that seek to meet needs in areas such as curriculum, testing, and teacher evaluation.
Money matters as well. Philanthropy and venture capital have given entrepreneurs and schools alternative sources of funding beyond what government supplies. In 2014, for example, educational technology companies raised $1.36 billion—a 212 percent jump from 2009. The authors argue that this influx of capital has fostered innovation and creativity within the education industry.
The authors are optimistic about the role and future of entrepreneurship in education, confident that when it is supplied with talent, investments, and drive, the free market has the capacity to improve American education and create a brighter tomorrow for students.
SOURCE: Frederick M. Hess and Michael Q. McShane, eds., Educational Entrepreneurship Today (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Education Press, 2016).
