Registration for this event is now closed. Walk-in registrations for this event may be accepted.

The notion of entrepreneurship remains little understood in K-12 education, even as an unprecedented wave of entrepreneurs works to refashion schooling. Developments like charter schooling, alternative teacher licensure, supplemental education services, and distance learning have created new opportunities and controversy. Entering the breach, entrepreneurs have launched nationally influential programs like the KIPP schools, Teach For America, New Leaders for New Schools, Aspire Public Schools, the New Teacher Project, and Edison Schools.

This conference will examine the nature, landscape, successes, and limitations of educational entrepreneurship. The research will raise important questions and provide practical guidance for entrepreneurs, educators, and policymakers. Researchers and respondents will examine what it means to be an entrepreneur in the education sector; how educational policy, law, and practice shape entrepreneurial efforts; the prevalence and nature of the for-profit presence in education; the promise and perils of entrepreneurial ventures; and what lessons experience may teach for harnessing entrepreneurial energy.