Fredrick M. Hess describes roles business does with and should add to K12 schooling. Tableteers seeking grant support from businesses for one-on-one learning will find this article useful for drafting a case statement.

What's the best way for businesses to help fix education? Stop backing a system that doesn't work, smash the regulations, and support the entrepreneurs who will shake things up. ... a few business leaders do more than whine about the failures of K–12 education. They dig in, get specific, and court controversy. ... Still, eager to be good corporate citizens, business leaders typically get their companies involved in schooling by partnering with well-intentioned education officials, ... Businesses contribute about $2.5 billion in resources a year to K–12 schooling. ... Business leaders, however, should know better. They appreciate the risks in making organizations work and the bracing discipline of accountability and competition. This knowledge should not be left on the shelf when business tackles education.

He suggests five additional contributions business should make to K12 schooling:

1. Expertise in performance evaluation, human resources, information technology, and data systems. (These are do or die areas for businesses, and likely for schooling.)

2. Shift the vast majority of funds to school systems from per-pupil to strong support for new ventures in order to secure expertise and talent and give them the opportunity to grow.

3. Get out in front of contentious education reform issues when education innovators cannot.

4. Get tough with school boards, superintendents, and state officials vs. avoiding conflict that can spark bad feelings or negative publicity. Fixing dysfunctional organizations is always messy.

5. Use experience and credibility with accountability, compensation, and management to serve as the voice of reason about ill-conceived notions of schooling.

Rick argues that business leaders have too often given money, muscle, and support without demanding substantial reform in exchange. ... The price of support should be serious movement on fronts such as merit pay, deregulation, expansion of school choice, and transparency. ... Timid approaches aren’t enough.

I know as many business people who think as Rick describes as I know teachers who object strongly to business involvement beyond as a source of funding. Still, good teachers, those seen in the business world as quality teachers, will find support among businesses for changes in schooling they seek.

Thanks, Brett Pawlowski, for pointing to this article. I appreciate your site.

Tablet PC Education Blog