K-12 Schools

Challenge

Engagement is linked to student success, yet student engagement drops significantly from elementary to high school. While 74% of fifth-grade students find school engaging, that number drops to 34% for 12th graders in what Gallup calls the student engagement cliff. Students who are disengaged tend to feel discouraged about their future and begin to lack hope. When students begin to lack hope, they tend to disengage impacting their academic performance.

Solution

According to Gallup, hope is a better indicator of student success than ACT, SAT, or GPA. And, hopeful students graduate at higher rates than non-hopeful students. Students who are engaged are more hopeful for the future and are more likely to perform better in school. Gallup’s Senior Scientist Dr. Shane Lopez states that hope is “the belief that the future will be better than the present, coupled with the belief that you have the power to make it so.” An entrepreneurial mindset provides a powerful framework for envisioning the future while immersing oneself in the entrepreneurial experiences that encourage ownership, self-efficacy, and optimism.

Program

Middle schools and High schools offer the Ice House Entrepreneurship Program as part of their entrepreneurship curriculum or as a general education course as well as a staff development program for their administration, teachers, and staff. Schools in the K-12 system offer the Ice House Student Success Program as a college prep or readiness course.

     

 

Outcomes

Participants will consume written and video content, discuss and apply core concepts, engage in the entrepreneurial process, and reflect individually. As a result, participants will become more empowered and engaged by:

• Developing entrepreneurial attitudes, behaviors, and skills
• Identifying social and situational factors that encourage or inhibit entrepreneurial behavior
• Identifying, evaluating, and validating opportunities in ambiguous, real-world circumstances
• Identifying and interacting with entrepreneurs who provide critical guidance and ongoing support

Process

Best practice to cultivate an entrepreneurial mindset at your school is to:

• Engage stakeholders with an ELI keynote and/or workshop;
• Assess your entrepreneurial culture to identify gaps for both employees and students;
• Establish your desired outcomes and evaluation tools to measure success;
• Select key employees to become Ice House Certified Facilitators;
• Implement the Ice House Entrepreneurship Program for your administration, teachers, and staff;
• Implement the Ice House Original Edition or Student Success Edition for targeted student groups; and
• Assess data and establish strengths and opportunities for improvement for the future.

Click here to go to our K-12 Case Studies

Next Steps

To learn more about the Ice House Entrepreneurship Program, join one of our monthly live Ice House Information Webinars. To become an Ice House Certified Facilitator, visit our Training page. To learn more about our entrepreneurial culture assessment and implementation support including the establishment of outcomes and evaluation tools as well as reporting, visit our Workshops page.