Tech Directions - March 2009 - (Page 7) direct from washington Anne C. Lewis anneclewis@earthlink.net Entrepreneurship Education Proposing federal investments in a new high school reform initiative is iffy at this point. Struggles to maintain what already is there could be challenging enough. On the other hand, if something fits with the Obama Administration’s themes of change and preparing for the future, perhaps there is a chance to be heard. That’s why a call for greater attention to youth entrepreneurship seems possible in a troubled economy. The Aspen Youth Entrepreneurship Strategy Group (YES Group) argues that the skills young people need and the incentives to complete high school can be met by giving all students, particularly those in lowincome communities, access to good entrepreneurial education programs. In a recent report, YES points out that 15 years of focused attention to school reform has not stemmed the dropout rate among students of color or resulted in them being better prepared for college, on the average. Moreover, employers criticize the poor communication, teamwork, and creative skills of young job applicants and new hires. Evaluations of high-school-level curricula in entrepreneurship indicate the students increase their occupational aspirations, interest in college, reading, and leadership behavior after participating in a program. The critical outcome, according to the report, is that the students acquired a sense of “ownership” over their lives. It was four times higher for those who had been in the program than for those who did not take the courses. Value of an Occupational Certificate Earning an occupational certificate has a larger payoff in terms of income than achieving an associate degree from a community college, according to a surprising research study conducted by CNA and the Hudson Institute. As reported in Inside Higher Ed, the study used a rich source of student data from Florida’s longitudinal records system on 225,000 students who were in public high schools in 1996, following them through the state’s public colleges and beyond for 10 years. The study focused on outcomes for low-income students in higher education. As might be expected, ac- For the rest of this item, visit www.techdirections.com/w031.html. Anne Lewis, one of the country’s most respected writers on education policy, works in the Washington, DC, area. www.techdirections.com WASHINGTON 7 http://www.johndeere.com/publications http://www.techdirections.com/w031.html http://www.johndeere.com/publications http://www.techdirections.com
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