Educational Entrepreneurship: Realities, Challenges, Possibilities Paperback - 2006

From the rear cover

Entrepreneurship has emerged in recent years as an unprecedented and influential force in U.S. K-12 education. Yet the topic has received surprisingly little serious or systematic attention. Educational Entrepreneurship aims to fill this gap. This timely volume addresses a number of central questions: What is educational entrepreneurship and what does it look like? Who are the educational entrepreneurs and what motivates them? What tools do entrepreneurs need to be successful? What policies or practices enable or impede entrepreneurship? What would it mean to open up the education sector to more entrepreneurial activity?

An interesting and admirable range of contributors offers clusters of articles on the nature of educational entrepreneurship; the political, policy, and legal contexts that face educational entrepreneurs; various models of entrepreneurial activity; the role of for-profit organizations in K-12 education; and possible future directions for educational entrepreneurs. The result is a lively, provocative book that introduces this burgeoning field to readers concerned with K-12 education in the United States--and with efforts to reform and improve it.

"Educational entrepreneurs are proving that the calcified delivery system of public schooling can be shaken up and retooled for the twenty-first century. Hess and his colleagues look at the phenomenon from every angle in this rich assortment of essays. Some are descriptive, others draw fascinating analogies to other industries--but all are full of useful data and provocative arguments. This is a book that provides plenty of fuel for discussions about where school reform is headed." -- Nelson Smith, President, National Alliance for Public Charter Schools

"If you believe America's schools can be changed for the better, then here's a book for you. Hess and his colleagues explore a new breed of educational revolutionaries and the difficult contexts in which they labor. There is a bit of everything between these covers, from the risk and messiness of it all to the promise." -- Chris Whittle, Founder and CEO, Edison Schools, and author of Crash Course

"Educational entrepreneurs are playing an increasingly visible role in shaping the future of education in America. This insightful book offers a window into how this movement has evolved, the hurdles it faces, and its growing impact on our nation's schools." -- Michelle Rhee, CEO and President, The New Teacher Project

Frederick M. Hess is director of education policy studies at the American Enterprise Institute and executive editor of Education Next. He is the editor of With the Best of Intentions: How Philanthropy Is Reshaping K-12 Education and Urban School Reform: Lessons from San Diego, and coeditor of A Qualified Teacher in Every Classroom, all from Harvard Education Press.