Name of Project: E-Discovery Challenge
ARC Project Number: KY-16403-C1-2010
Grant Name: University of Kentucky Research Foundation
Grant Period: October 1, 2010 to January 31, 2012
Project Director: Melony Denham
Principal Investigator: Ronald J. Hustedde, Ph.D.
ARC Grant Amount: $275,000
Report Prepared by Ronald J. Hustedde, Ph.D. Projector Evaluator & Melony
Denham, E-Discovery Challenge Project Director
Background:
This project was built on the success of an October 1, 2009 to September 30, 2010
Appalachian Regional Commission grant, Project # KY-16403, which was
administered through the University of Kentucky Research Foundation. That initial
project focused on 18 distressed Appalachian counties and the creation of an
entrepreneurial educational program, E-Discovery Challenge, in elementary and
middle schools. Fifty-five teachers were trained and they helped nearly 1,800
students to start 397 new businesses that sold products and services. Each student
team was taught to develop a business plan to include financial projections and
marketing research. Most student teams repaid their seed money and made profits.
Based on the evaluations from the teachers, students and community members this
initiative had significant impact. It far surpassed our expectations. We were
encouraged by teachers and others in the region to expand E-Discovery Challenge
into 14 additional distressed Appalachian counties in Kentucky.
The initiative was designed to increase job opportunities and per capita income and
to provide entrepreneurship training for elementary and middle school teachers to
help their students to launch new businesses. This project was designed to address
the shifting nature of economic development in Appalachian’s distressed counties
with a focus on youth. In the past, the region has emphasized industrial recruitment
or natural resource extraction such as coal or timber as core economic development
strategies. Technical efficiencies in the coal industry have minimized the need for
significant labor increases. The region is peppered with empty industrial parks
because of the intense competition for industrial recruitment across the nation and
from countries such as India and China. While this grant does not dismiss industrial
recruitment, it cannot be the only strategy for jobs and increasing income and
prosperity.
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Contemporary approaches of economic development argue that traditional
approaches toward job creation must be balanced with entrepreneurship in order to
reach parity with the nation. Today approximately 16% to 20% of the citizens in
this region have their own businesses. If current trends continue, about 25% of
adults in rural America will own a business by the year 2015. Small businesses
continue to be a major source of employment in Kentucky.
The literature about entrepreneurship suggests innovative small business can
respond more quickly than the corporate sector to changing market needs
regarding food safety and freshness, energy efficiency, new consumer trends such as
interest in agricultural tourism, and other consumer, business, and governmental
needs.
Entrepreneurship requires a shift. It’s about encouraging innovative thinking, team
work and building a culture which questions the status quo. This project was
created because of the understanding that local economic development strategies
must encourage and support youth because they are capable of making significant
and long-term contributions in their community. Educational systems need to
move away from the “get a job” mentality and working for someone else to
situations in which youth entrepreneurs and innovators are the norm rather than
the exception. Hence, it is essential that there be support programs which provide
access to entrepreneurship training for elementary, middle school and high school
students with clear expectations that they will start new businesses.
Our purpose was to provide materials and incentive for 35-50 new teachers in 32
distressed rural Appalachian counties to expand or develop entrepreneurial talent
among elementary and middle school students. The program was also designed to
build student entrepreneurial teams who would conduct market research and sell
their goods and services. We wanted them to develop financial projections in order
to repay seed money and to make a profit. We also wanted them to reflect on the
learning experience itself. Our other goal was to involve community in the process
to validate youth and to learn and be inspired by them.
Activities:
October 2010 – December 2011 – Individual meetings and phone conversations
were arranged with principals, assistant principals and teachers in the 15 original
Appalachian counties that were involved with the program during the 2009-2010
school year. In addition, schools in the other 17 counties were also contacted and
individual meetings were arranged with school administrators and teachers.
October 2010 – We trained 14 additional elementary teachers from five counties to
replace teachers that received E-Discovery training December 2010 and were
transferred to other schools at the end of the school year. Teachers were from
multiple school districts so the training was held in a central location. Teacher and
student manuals were printed and shipped to all teachers trained in 2009 and 2010.
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November 2010 – E-Discovery team attended the 28th Annual Entrepreneurship
Education Forum held in Columbus, Ohio and presented E-Discovery Challenge
during a session. The Forum was a great opportunity to network with leaders in the
field of entrepreneurship from across the country and to learn about best practices.
E-Discovery team members conducted recruitment of teachers in the 14 counties
covered by expansion of the grant. Nearly 60 teachers were recruited for training;
additional teachers are interested in taking training at a later date.
November- December 2010 – E-Discovery team members attended student sales
events in several counties. Some teachers have a new class of students each nine
weeks so they are having a sales event after each class of students completes EDiscovery. This is extra work for the teachers that chose to do it this way, but they
believe in the results of E-Discovery.
December 2010 – Three regional workshops were scheduled for teachers, but
these had to be cancelled due to dangerous winter road conditions and unexpected
school closings.
January 2011 – Five regional workshops were scheduled; two were held and three
were cancelled due to dangerous road conditions and numerous school closings
from snowfall. We worked with school administrators and teachers to determine
the best time to reschedule E-Discovery workshops. Teacher and student manuals
were printed and shipped to schools that have teachers trained and ready to
incorporate E-Discovery curriculum into the classroom.
February 2011 – Challenging weather conditions continued to cause school delays
and cancellations. E-Discovery was on hold most of the month of February.
March 2011 – Teachers began teaching E-Discovery in the classroom since school
resumed on a regular basis due to improved weather conditions. We had a request
from three elementary schools in Rockcastle County to conduct a training this
month and they assured us they would complete E-Discovery before the end of the
school year.
April 2011 – Sales events were held at many schools near the end of this month and
many of the students tied their businesses to Spring/Easter sales. Most made
profits with their team businesses and were able to repay their seed money to their
school for the sustainability of E-Discovery for the next school year.
May 2011 – E-Discovery team attended sales events at schools to support the
students and teachers. All schools completed E-Discovery by the end of the school
year. At the end of the classroom experience, teachers attended a wrap-up session
to report student progress with E-Discovery from the beginning through the sales
event. One session was held in May and the others were scheduled in June.
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June 2011 – Regional wrap-up sessions were held for teachers to share the impact
of the E-Discovery experience on their students, what the impacts were for them as
teachers and how the schools responded to the initiative. The reports from the
teachers were very glowing and many of the teachers shared responses from the
students on their exit surveys and writing prompts that were required throughout
the learning process. The positive impact on students continues to be reported:
increased self-esteem, creativity, autonomy, self-confidence and responsibility to
name just a few. Students learned to work as a team to develop their businesses and
carry out all the responsibilities throughout the E-Discovery learning process
including the sales event and all the follow-up activities.
July – August –September 2011 – Regional teacher trainings were conducted for
new teachers in the distressed ARC counties in Northeastern and South Central
Kentucky counties. They launched E-Discovery in the classroom during the 20112012 school year. Teachers trained to teach E-Discovery in the classroom in the
previous grant have been great advocates to recruit additional teachers to be part of
the initiative.
Due to teachers beginning E-Discovery instruction at various times during the
school year, some students had their businesses ready for sales events in December
while many students set up their businesses at spring sales events. E-Discovery
team members attended sales events and heard from students about their
experiences. Students completed writing reflections after the sales events outlining
what they learned about starting a business, how their team business worked and
what they would have done differently.
October 2011-December 2011 – Schools sponsored sales events for student team
products and services. The parents and other community citizens were also
involved at these events as purchasers. Melony Denham went to these events and
visited with school administrators about the impact of E-Discovery. The feedback
from teachers, staff, students and administrators was positive because the sales
events brought the entrepreneurial teaching to fruition and energized students,
teachers, administrators, parents and the community.
November 2011 – Three E-Discovery teachers presented the lessons learned from
E-Discovery at the 29th Annual Entrepreneurship Education Forum in Cincinnati,
Ohio. The presentation affirmed the importance of teachers sharing their
experiences about E-Discovery with others in the nation.
January 2012 – Teachers responded to a lengthy survey about the impact of the
program on their role as a teacher, learning needs of students and other issues
associated with E-Discovery. Students wrote exit surveys and reflections about the
initiative. Some also wrote letters to the Project Director.
Consultants: Four consultants were involved with the project: 1) Annette Walters,
a Fellow with the University of Kentucky program, the Kentucky Entrepreneurial
Coaches Institute. Mrs. Walters is a trained financial consultant. She co-designed
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and co-taught the pilot program for E-Discovery; 2) Ann DeSpain is a retired teacher
who took part in the pilot program. She contacted many of the administrators and
teachers in the region about getting involved in E-Discovery; 3) Jessica McNutt from
Maysville Community & Technical College developed visual presentations and a
Kentucky page on the Consortium for Entrepreneurship Education website; and 4)
Jonathan Tubbs, a University of Kentucky graduate student and former teacher,
wrote and categorized responses from the teachers during the E-Discovery
Challenge focus groups regarding the evaluation of the program.
PROJECT OUTPUT
PROJECT OUTCOME
Recruitment Output: Frequent one-onone meetings, phone conversations and
electronic communications were
conducted with teachers and
administrators in the 32 distressed
Appalachian counties about the
advantages of entrepreneurship
education and E-Discovery Challenge
Recruitment Outcome: Elementary
and middle school teachers indicated
they wanted to take part in the EDiscovery Challenge program. Over 80
new teachers indicated they wanted to
become involved in the program. They
were from fifteen of the counties in the
targeted area. Some counties did not
participate because administrators
believed that teachers were
overwhelmed. In many cases, weather
related issues, especially in the
mountainous areas, prevented teachers
from participating in the training.
Curriculum Output: E-Discovery
Challenge training manual was
developed for teachers in the distressed
Appalachian communities. The
materials are sensitive to statemandated core content requirements,
teacher needs for flexibility and access to
lessons plans that could be incorporated
into the classroom.
Curriculum Outcome: Based on 2011
feedback from teachers and students, EDiscovery Challenge is a respected
curriculum that is easy for elementary
and middle school teachers to adapt for
their classrooms. It engages students to
think and act creatively, to form teams,
to conduct market research and to create
new products or services and sell them
to the public.
Teacher Incentives: Teachers received
modest incentives to implement
entrepreneurial instruction into the
classroom and integrate it into the
state’s core content educational
requirements. Teachers also received a
stipend to attend a wrap-up session at
the end of the school year to discuss the
Teacher Incentives: The program is
sustainable because teachers have tools
to integrate E-Discovery Challenge
entrepreneurial instruction into the
classroom. In many cases, teachers who
moved from one district to another
encouraged other teachers to become
involved in the program to replace them.
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lessons learned from the classroom
experience.
Student Involvement: Elementary and
middle school students received the
skills and knowledge to form businesses.
They learned how to work in teams,
brainstorm ideas, conduct market
research and make financial projections
to sell their products or services
Seed Money: Student teams had access
to seed money to assist with marketing
and starting a new business. Teachers
informed the teams that they were
expected to view the seed money as an
interest-free loan and that each team
needed to generate sufficient income
from sales so that seed money would be
available for the next year’s class.
Student Reflections and Feedback: At
the conclusion of their sales events,
students were asked to complete an exit
survey about their business. They were
also asked to provide independent
written reflections about the impact of
the entire program.
Community Involvement: Community
members were invited to events in
which students would sell products and
services. Teachers discouraged parents
from donating supplies because they
wanted to give the students a full
entrepreneurial experience.
Teachers provided extensive feedback in
wrap-up retreats about the impact of the
program.
Student Involvement: Most of the
teachers divided their classrooms into
entrepreneurial teams. These teams
generated product or service ideas,
conducted marketed research and then
sold and delivered their products and
services. Two –thousand seventy-four
students participated. They launched
507 new businesses.
Seed Money: As students generated
income from their business, the seed
money was paid back to the classroom
program so that seed money would be
available for the next year’s class.
According to feedback from the teachers,
the teams were adamant about repaying
their seed money. Over 95% of the seed
money was returned. Most student
teams made a profit and some generated
significant income from their modest
investment.
Student Reflections and Feedback:
After the sales events, students
completed exit surveys about their
businesses and the E-Discovery
Challenge experience. They also wrote
essays or letters to the E-Discovery
director. Most students found the
experience of idea generation, budgeting
and teamwork to be challenging.
Overwhelmingly, they recommended
that E-Discovery Challenge should be
continued and expanded further,
including the high school level.
Community Involvement: Students
sold their products and services at
community events which had significant
attendance from parents, citizens,
teachers and other students. Most
student teams made a profit and some
sold out of their product quickly.
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Insights from Wrap-Up Sessions: Teachers that completed the program took part
in one of the four focus groups to evaluate the impact of E-Discovery Challenge
during the months of May, June and July 2011. Those teachers who did not
complete a sales event until November or December 2011 completed an open-ended
questionnaire in January 2012. There were several themes that emerged:
Impact on Teachers: Teachers were surprised how the program created a space
for them to be more flexible and to support the temporary chaos associated with
student creativity. The wrap-up sessions captured the energy and enthusiasm of the
teachers. It was a growth experience for them as they participated in one of the
most creative endeavors in their professional lives. One teacher commented that it
“was the best experience I have had in my 23 years as a teacher.” Another wrote “I
was more creative than I thought.”
Impact on Students: Two-thousand seventy-four students were involved in this
program. The teachers reported that the students were energized by the
opportunity to create a product or service and to make money. The students took
ownership of their business model and seem eager to continue.
They learned how to work in a group and became more aware of how economic
principles, communications and math applied to their businesses.
It also provided opportunities for new student leaders to emerge. There were a
significant number of students who started out the process as modestly engaged in
school. The process motivated them and teachers saw new and creative sides of
their students that they had not realized existed. Most teachers indicated that they
were surprised with student creativity.
The teachers also commented that students were more excited about learning
because of this real life experience. “My students couldn’t wait to get their binders
out and learn each day. It was very exciting and encouraging.”
The students were conscientious about repaying their seed money.
Impact on School Administrators/Parents/Community Members: The program
drew significant support from school administrators, parents and community
members because it culminated in a student-led sales event of their products and
services. Parents and community members were surprised that students were
creative and could generate their own income without getting a conventional job. It
provided a new vision and an economic alternative that seemed to energize parents
and community members. One teacher wrote “I still have parents that tell me that
E-Discovery was the best thing their child ever did in school.”
While most school administrators were supportive of the program, one school
leader decided to tell students what to produce and sell. While these products did
sell, the students indicated that they felt disempowered by this decision because
they had other creative ideas they wanted to pursue.
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Success Stories: There was a plethora of success stories from teachers. They were
surprised with student creativity and how they could find buyers for their ideas.
For example, some students used discarded tobacco sticks to create Christmas trees
that were sold out within 15 minutes. Other students created their own printing
company or developed experiences such as throwing a ball at something for a prize.
Other successes include:
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A class of special education students created their own games to market at
sales day and excelled within the E-Discovery program.
One teacher has always required that her 5th grade students learn how to
count change. The E-Discovery program put this activity into a real world
context and also gave the students the motivation to learn. This past year
this teacher had the highest success rate for the counting change content
than she has ever had.
A group of students held their sales event around Valentine’s Day, so they
decided to sell the experience of a romantic dinner out. A classroom was set
up with dim lights, candles, and a nice dinner for two.
One student got their family involved and the students and their siblings
made walking canes out of branches. At the end, the student split the profit
with their siblings.
One group of girls decided to sell gold fish for their product. They were leery
about whether or not they would be able to sell their entire product so they
only started with 15 fish. At the day of the sale, the group sold out within 5
minutes and sent someone back to get 50 more and almost completely sold
out of those as well.
Can holders (cozies) were decorated for the sales day. Before the sale,
however, one of the students suggested they put a soda in the can holder to
sell as well. The product ended up selling out very quickly.
A group of girls made tissue paper flowers to sell and in a “green” effort they
utilized aluminum soda bottles as the vases and quickly sold out but were
able to make more during their lunch period to sell more.
Another group sold a photo experience. The photo booth had different
costumes (kiddy pool with arm floaters) and the pictures were sold for a few
dollars each. The group was very unsuccessful at the beginning of the sales
day but as the other groups sold out of their products, more and more people
wanted their picture made until the photo booth was the most successful
business there.
At one school, the parent participation was overwhelming and the support
they offered made the sales day very successful and the parents enjoyed it
and were able to see what their students were doing in the classroom.
Marshmallow Shooter – PVC pipe made into a marshmallow gun for mini
marshmallows then painted, gun and ammo sold separately.
Sports Cards – Students could be photographed and have themselves put
onto a card with their name and stats.
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Popcorn – two groups were selling popcorn and one decided to sell pop with
their popcorn to draw a crowd; this competitive selling example was an
effective learning tool.
Some teachers indicated that test scores rose that year and they attributed it to EDiscovery and its culmination in a Market Day experience in which the student
teams sold their products and services. Essentially, it made economics and other
subjects became more alive and applicable for the students. Math scores may have
improved because students were required to learn how to count change which is
part of the E-Discovery curriculum.
Teachers also indicated that E-Discovery helped hidden talent to emerge from the
students that appeared to be shy, quiet or unmotivated. The experience brought out
leadership, creativity, research abilities and sales acumen.
Students from some of the teams barely covered expenses while others reaped up to
$200 per person after repaying their seed money. The reflections led some of the
least successful students to conclude that their marketing research or plan was
flawed. While this comparison may be somewhat painful, these life lessons helped
the teams to analyze their situation and to prepare for next year.
Curriculum Critiques: Teachers were asked to respond to three questions
regarding the curriculum: What should be kept? What should be added? What
should be changed or deleted? For the most part, teachers were quite satisfied with
the curriculum because of its clarity and natural progression of ideas and exercises.
Here are some ideas that emerged from those discussions:
What Should Be Kept?
o Everything included in the program
o The market research
o The reflections and reflective activity
o The shopping trip for the students to buy supplies to make their
products
o Keep the seed money/ financial aspect of the program
What Should Be Added?
o Connection to new core standards
o Curriculum for younger students
o Information on sales taxes for the purchasing field trip
o Video or resource showing the different products other schools have
sold
o Requirements for sales day for the teachers/administrators
o Interview questions for students to interview entrepreneurs in the
community
o Team building exercises
o Meetings and a contact sheet of other teachers doing the program
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o Persuasion techniques/resources for elevator pitch examples and
advertisements
What Should Be Omitted?
o Nothing, keep it all
o Let the students choose groups, not delegated by the teacher
o Counting change activity
o Less statistics at the beginning or at least putting it in student friendly
terms
What will E-Discovery look like in your classroom during the 2011- 2012
school year? The teachers seemed to be enthusiastic about continuing the
program during the next academic year. The seed money generated in the grant
was returned by most of the student groups and that will give them working capital
to fund other students in the years ahead. The following comments from one of the
focus groups reflect some of the general sentiments of the teachers regarding this
question:
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E-Discovery will look the same as the last 2 years, don’t change a good thing
Incorporate into the curriculum more
More detail in the notebook for the students
Having more seed money for the students
Groups will be smaller
E-Discovery should be started earlier in the year
Will go more in depth with the content
What was your “aha” moment in the E-Discovery process? We asked teachers
an open-ended question regarding their “aha” moment. The following responses
from one of the focus groups reflect some key themes that are reflected in other
parts of this report:
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Seeing the students have fun while learning and creating
Seeing the ownership the students had
Watching a student try to pay back seed money out of pocket
Seeing the generosity of some of the students with money and their products
for those who couldn’t afford full price
Realizing the program works best when the teacher steps back and gives up
control to the students
Administrative support and assistance is key to a successful program
The impact on the kids
When the students were excited and motivated through the process of the
program
Seeing how creative and capable the students are
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Outlook for Program Continuation and Sustainability:
Teachers take E-Discovery training and receive seed money funds from the grant
based on the number of students in their classroom. The seed money is used as
loans to the students to develop their team businesses. Students repay the seed
money to the school after the sales event is held. Each year the seed money is
available for the students to start their businesses. With each participating school
having E-Discovery seed money funds, the program is sustainable as long as they
have teachers that are trained to implement E-Discovery in the classroom.
Plans are to seek additional funding to expand E-Discovery throughout Kentucky.
Conclusions and Recommendations from the E-Discovery Project Team:
The team underestimated the amount of time it takes to recruit new teachers and to
implement the program in the 32 county area. The project has exceeded our
expectations and, in hindsight, we should have added more monies to the budget for
additional labor to recruit more teachers and to serve the needs of those involved in
the program.
Teachers who took part in the 2009-2010 E-Discovery program were our most
effective advocates in recruiting new teachers for the 2010-2011 school year.
The E-Discovery teachers and community supporters who took part in the
November 2011 Entrepreneurship Education Forum in Cincinnati, Ohio gained new
ideas and a broader network. It would be helpful if this alliance could continue.
We are grateful to the University of Kentucky Agricultural Communications
Department. They are developing a video of the E-Discovery sales events and
interviews with parents, teachers, students and administrator and the E-Discovery
team. The video will be used to promote E-Discovery and to involve more teachers
in the process.
We believe it is appropriate to have a dialogue with the Kentucky Department of
Education regarding the integration of E-Discovery into classrooms across the state.
How can this experience be helpful to others in the Appalachian region?
Other entrepreneurial educational programs do not necessarily lead to the creation
of new businesses. E-Discovery Challenge is more potent because it provides the
tools for students to actually launch new businesses. Students learn about
brainstorm and creativity. They learn how to focus their ideas and then to conduct
market research and make financial projects and how to market and sell their
product or service. They repay their seed money and learn how to make a profit.
They also write about their experiences after their sales event. In essence, it makes
education more visceral and exciting for students and the sales events inspires
parents, teachers, and administrators.
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Seed money is essential for starting a new business. That is why it is important to
set aside monies for each student with the understanding that those students will
repay those monies to replenish the fund for future classes.
Team work is part of success. The most successful entrepreneurs do not work
alone. Rather they are part of an entrepreneurial team which builds on the unique
strengths of each individual on the team.
It is quite clear that the adage about teachers being overworked and underpaid is
quite accurate. They do not need more responsibilities. We addressed these
concerns by paying a modest stipend to teachers for taking part in a one-day
training workshop to implement the program. We also paid them a modest amount
to take part in a one-day wrap-up session and to complete an open-ended
questionnaire regarding the impact of the program.
Administrators are concerned about finding monies for substitute teachers while
teachers took part in our one-day training program and orientation. We
incorporated this concern into our budget. We also provided training on Saturday
or during the summer to minimize the need to pay substitute teachers.
Overall, E-Discovery Challenge builds the skills necessary for elementary and middle
school students to start entrepreneurial ventures. It provides the imagination, hope
and economic opportunities for a distressed region. It merits expansion throughout
Appalachia.
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