Toward a More Entrepreneurial Idaho Education System
Notes from August 28 Listening Session with Karen McGee
(executive director, Idaho State Board of Education)
Planning to have more - Very productive - notes appended below. Will keep you posted re future meetings.
Two key takeaways from Tuesday are:
a) need to start rounding up volunteers to be role models — speakers at Idaho high schools & junior highs. (hint, hint…)
b) more youth entrepreneurship, starting with a long look at Junior Achievement. (If any of you have any experience, again we’re all ears.)
NK (more after the jump…)
The Crew: Karen McGee, Chas Bonner, Karen Cruson, Dave Hawk, Krissa Wrigley (later Dan Bobinski dropped by) and Norris Krueger
Good conversation about educational philosophy and general approaches that are needed. Glad to see everyone chipping in. Dan B came as we were departing, but had some terrific ideas that you’ll see below! Let me say that I’m jazzed to be in such company. Where else could I learn about “Wireless Generation” (hot new stuff for K-3 reading & math) and what DARPA is doing to measure cognitive change in training??
Some interesting discussion about the state’s experience with increased funding for early childhood that failed to pay off. One likely conclusion, argued best by Chas B, was the need to instead encourage greater parental involvement. How might we do that.
Dave again raised the issue that a huge fraction of Boise 3rd graders are in a different school (maybe even a different school district) than in 1st grade. Nobody seems to recognize the significance of that transience, namely this is the real driver for No Child Left Behind (as imperfect as it is). Dave also noted that students in Boise schools speak over 50 native languages, but that’s a potential resource for Idaho to tap.
Role Models & Speakers
Dave H talked of the program he’s involved in to bring science/tech role models to female junior high students (broadening the audience each year). Some great discussion about the impact of increasing female participation, e.g., in Arab countries (Karen C. has worked there). Role Models = Good. So….
Chas & Dave said let’s just get started on a “speakers bureau” of role models in STEM*, entrepreneurship or both, so schools can invite them. We, of course, “volunteered” Karen’s office. [Seriously, if any of you want to speak to kids about science or entrepreneurship, just holler!] Dan B even volunteered his St. Luke’s med-tech wife.
* STEM = Science, Technology, Engineering & Math
“Summit” for Educators
Dave’s other idea [nice to have a past pres of ISBA, eh?] was to put together a meeting for teachers (maybe students and maybe administrators) to learn about entrepreneurship and how to get training and experience to students. There are plenty of potential vehicles and mechanisms that we could showcase like Junior Achievement, plus resources from ICEE, IBCEE, etc. Maybe identfying age-appropriate entrep curricula? [See JA below.] Maybe an “entrepreneurial boot camp” format?
JA
Everyone was intrigued by how to take advantage of Junior Achievement. Its model is highly effective and very cost-effective. Dan B tells me that key players for JA in Alabama are the mom and sister of… IBR’s publisher, Rick Carpenter. (Already pinged; already very interested in joining our merry little band.) We may just go pay a call on the lead person for Idaho’s JA state program.
Database of Lesson Plans for STEM Education
I would have thought “Of course, this already exists.” But it doesn’t, at least not in Idaho. [Google couldn't find one either.] Such DBs exist in certain education areas, but nothing as broad as this. We could seek funding to create a [national?] data bank of best practice lesson plans that would be peer-reviewed, etc. A chance to get local software firms involved? Presumably there’s a piece for colleges of education. Might work well via a social networking model?
Social Networking?
Speaking of that… Dan B made a great point as we were both heading out. We have no clue how much students today use social networking, let alone how they use it. However, if we want to ramp up STEM education in Idaho’s students (and entrepreneurship) - we should think seriously about going “Web 2.0″. It’s not like we don’t have terrific experts (Brian Critchfield, Tac, Chris Blanchard, et al.)
Looking forward to the next one - we may try to make this a weekly event (just not on Tuesdays).
And, again, thanks everybody! NK
p.s. some notes from the first meeting- for only 3 people, it was pretty productive! (Thanks especially to Dave H & Tac!)
College Level:
* Build private-public partnerships around existing Idaho strengths - start with water, expertise like CGISS, etc.
K-12:
* Hold a summit for STEM teachers re entrepreneurship!
* Speaker series - model on the existing partnership between Boise School District and U of I that brings in role models for the top female science & math students in grades 7-9.
Why not entrepreneurs as speakers?
Why not technology/innovator speakers?
Use TechBoise group via Tac Anderson (and Kickstand) to provide speakers?
* Career Fairs for HS Juniors -
Have an “entrepreneurship booth” to share the message
Have Idaho tech companies and other entrepreneurs represented
Again, could use TechBoise plus Kickstand as source of speakers?
* Re-visit encouraging Junior Achievement in Idaho schools; need to critically assess this and other curricular elements like ICEE’s work and external vendors - identify what program elements work best in what Idaho settings. Touch base with IBCEE.
* There are model NCLB standards for youth entrepreneurship (e.g., in senior economics classes)
* We need to survey K-12 students about what they know and feel about entrepreneurship. (Even this polling could be done as class projects.)
General:
* How can Idaho take advantage of the remarkable linguistic diversity of high school students (over 50 languauges in Boise schools alone)??
* Entrepreneurship USA Week is Feb 23-Mar 3, 2008. We really should do something!!
Norris: I am sorry that I missed these so far, but one of the things that needs to happen is that entrepreneurship needs to be integrated into curriculum. So, you can’t just have a JA week once a year, you need to have math texts that have excercises that are geared towards business. You need history lessons to get away from the “great man” stuff, and talk about entrepreneurial activities, etc.
I see this as the same as when everyone got on the kick to go “international.” And we have done that. Now, global consciousness is embedded into every bit of curriculum. When it started of course, it was stuff like “international week” where everybody ate different kinds of food, and that was supposed to make you more culturally aware. That didnt work; current practices are better.
I like Jaycees, and JA, and Business Week, but those are no substitute for truly integrating entrepreneurial thinking into curriculum from K-20.
“Never let perfect be the enemy of good.”
Sure, Chris, but we need to start somewhere. We need to nurture an entrepreneurial culture throughout the community & education is no different, indeed it’s the key leverage point.
Ultimately, yes, a supportive entrepreneurial culture that fosters expert entrepreneurial thinking (not just optimism, but an informed optimism) needs to be pervasive. To get from a novice to expert mindset in any field takes thousands of hours of deliberate practice** — even then, you need the help of those who already have that mindset. Only if it becomes pervasive, can we nurture it and sustain it. But… why am I tickled by what this group has started with?
Where do we have ready access to those expert entrepreneurial mindsets? Where do we have ready access to learning situations that maximize students’ chances of moving toward expert thinking? Isn’t that where we start?
Credible role models catalyze the process; true action learning grows it. It sure seems like we’ve found vehicles for both. Only a start? Sure. But it looks like a good start.
** I’ve bookmarked a link re expert mindsets (see the far right side of the page)