Business Education: An Overview
Past, Present and Future
Originally developed by Dr. Marty Yopp,
edited by Dr. Allen Kitchel
Goals Of Business Education
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Promoting career awareness and exploration of
business careers
Preparing students to be competent consumers
of goods and services.
Providing a basic knowledge of economics and
the free enterprise system.
Developing skills and knowledge needed in
managing personal business affairs including
computer skills
Goals of Business Education
(cont.)
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Development of business employability skills and
dispositions.
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Business – Office occupations
Marketing – Sales and Entrepreneurship
Providing general business knowledge, skills, and
understanding needed for economic citizenship.
Inspiring respect for the value and dignity of work.
Reinforcing academic knowledge and skills through
business content.
Professional Organizations
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National Business Education Association
(NBEA)
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WBEA: Western Business Education
Association (11 western states & 3 Canadian
provinces. (WBEA)
IBEA: Idaho Business Education Assn.
Association for Career & Technical
Education (ACTE)
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http://www.acteonline.org/
Professional Organizations
(cont.)
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Career & Technical Educators of Idaho
(CTEI)
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http://www.ctei.org/
National Association For Business
Teacher Education (NABTE)
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The University of Idaho is a member of
NABTE
Professional Organizations
(cont.)
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Idaho Division of Professional-Technical
Education
Business Professionals of America (BPA)
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Student organization
DECA: Marketing Education Association
FBLA: Future Business Leaders of America
DPE: Delta Pi Epsilon
NCEE: National Council on Economic Education
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ICEE: Idaho Council on Economic Education
The Past: A Brief History
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Roman Empire: Focused on Shorthand
1484 bookkeeping: Double entry developed
Business Education in early America
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Referred to as “Commercial Education”
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Focused on penmanship, shorthand and bookkeeping
Focused on vocational goals
Typewriter (1868): Typing added to the curriculum.
Commercial Law and business correspondence also
added following the Civil War.
1824: First Business College
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Reading, penmanship, arithmetic, algebra, astronomy,
history, geography, commercial law, and political economy.
The Past: A Brief History
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(cont.)
Business Education has evolved
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Educating about business (economic citizenship)
Educating for business (employment skills)
The Past: A Brief History
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(cont.)
Smith Hughes Act of 1917
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Legislative foundation for vocational education from
1917 to present.
Promoted vocational agriculture
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Train people "who have entered upon or who are preparing
to enter upon the work of the farm," and;
Provided federal funds to support this.
Created a separation between vocational and
academic curriculum.
Required states to establish a “Board of Vocational
Education” , this led to a separation of vocational
education from the mainstream of schools operations.
The Past: A Brief History
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(cont.)
Commercial Courses
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In 1925 business courses were called “Commercial”
courses and were considered part of the general high
school curriculum.
Typewriting, Business Math, Business Law, General
Business, Accounting, and Marketing were considered
essential to a well rounded high school curriculum.
Business subjects considered “Academic”.
The Past: A Brief History
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(cont.)
The “George” Acts (1929-1946)
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Expanded upon the Smith-Hughes Act
Provided funding for
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George-Dean Acts of 1936 & 1946
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Vocational Home Economics Education
Vocational Agriculture Education
Trade and Industry Education
Distributive (Marketing) Education added and federally funded
 Business Education still not included.
Vocational Education Act of 1963 & 1968
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Identified “Business Education” as a supported field.
The Past: A Brief History
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(cont.)
In the mid-1960’s, federal legislation was
passed to make business and marketing
programs eligible for vocational dollars.
The money was designed to:
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Promote programs & recruit students
Purchase modern equipment
Provide professional development for teachers.
Pros & Cons to Vocational Funds
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Some business educators supported eligibility
for vocational funds while others did not.
Schools and programs had to apply to their
state divisions of Vocational Education to
receive funds. Not automatic.
Teachers were supposed to complete the
course work required for vocational
certification.
Many business educators wanted to retain their
academic status.
Pros & Cons to Vocational Funds
(cont.)
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There was a perception of vocational education
as attracting inferior students.
This perception prevails today.
The Big Shift
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Around 1970 when schools, in large numbers,
wanted to replace their existing typewriters
with IBM Selectric typewriters. They also
wanted data processing equipment, and
eventually microcomputers.
Spinoffs from Vocational
Status
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A group of business educators left FBLA
programs and established the Office Education
Association (now Business Professionals of
America (BPA) which was more supportive of
vocational education and vocational funding.
Business programs and classes were physically
moved into vocational wings or buildings.
Money for equipment was available.
Spinoffs from Vocational
Status (cont.)
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Programs, faculty, and students were lumped
together with other vocational programs
which were largely “blue collar” work with
your hands programs.
Fewer academic students enrolled in business,
marketing, and office oriented classes.
Some programs flourished while others
struggled.
The Present & Future
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Microcomputers and Microcomputer
Applications resulted in an elevation of the
status of business teachers and their
subject matter expertise.
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Business teachers had to retool in large
numbers.
Business teachers became viewed as the
technology leaders in their schools.
Business Ed: The Present
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(cont.)
Basic business and accounting courses were lost in
favor of computer applications and technology
courses.
Office practices, procedures, and word processing
(with skill development) were replaced by computer
courses using MS Office Applications.
Keyboarding was offered at different times in
different places. Skill development suffered. High
quality keyboarding standards were not maintained.
Students developed bad habits.
Challenges: Mixed Messages
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Primary responsibility is to somehow keep pace
with technology, faster computers, the latest
version of software, prepare students to pass
certification tests.
Primary responsibility is to align the business
curriculum with academic standards and
prepare students to transition into college.
Primary responsibility is to prepare students to
enter the workplace.
Challenges: Mixed Messages
(cont.)
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Primary responsibility is to help each student grow
and develop in accordance with their background,
experience, interests, abilities, aptitude, and culture.
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I must recognize and provide nurturing and support for
at-risk students.
I must provide challenging and relevant assignments and
projects for all my students.
I must recognize and respect diversity and individual
differences.
I must ensure that all students can pass the academic
standards assessments.
Some Suggestions
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Develop lessons, projects, and activities which begin
with fairly simple and basic assignments and then
become more complex and sophisticated at level two or
three. For example:
 Level 1: Prepare a simple spreadsheet.
 Level 2: Add additional rows and columns and
include some formulas.
 Level 3: Enhance the appearance of the spreadsheet
and make projections for the future.
Teach Students not Subjects
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Content is important but students are more
important. Be student centered. Help all
students find some level of success.
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Use plus points not minus points.
Allow students to go back and correct their mistakes
before moving on.
Do not allow inferior work to count. Emphasize
quality over quantity. Use mailability standards.
Three mistakes and it is unsatisfactory and must be
redone.
Teamwork
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In society and the workplace people are
expected to work well together. We need to
make our classrooms more representative of
what is taking place in the work environment.
Fewer and fewer people work in isolation.
They are part of a team who work together to
solve problems and get things done.
Have assignments turned in as units not just
daily assignments.
Keyboarding & Computer Applications
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If computer application students have poor
keyboarding skills, provide them with keyboarding
drills they must complete as part of their growth and
development.
At 20 to 25 wpm students can keyboard more
efficiently than they can hand write.
Don’t Ignore the Basics
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Teach basic business, accounting, and
economics in your technology classes.
Teach technology in your basic business,
accounting, and economic classes.
Give students a problem or simulation and have
them determine how they are going to use
technology to solve the problem.
Don’t rely too heavily on tutorials for computer
applications. Give them real assignments for
which there is no answer key.
Entrepreneurship, Accounting &
Business Plans
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Entrepreneurship and school based enterprise
activities are popular.
When developing a business plan teach students
to develop a chart-of-accounts for their business
and then to come up with sample transactions.
Develop an understanding of the accounting
cycle.
Journalize, post, prepare a worksheet and
financial statements for the business.
PowerPoint & Websites
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When students prepare presentations and
websites require them to use a business topic
which they research.
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Learn about business as they are learning to use
technology.
Encourage students to explore local or regional
business issues and/or contemporary economic
conditions as the basis for their work.
Use current events!
The Future of Business Education
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Serving ALL Students:
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National standards and guidelines for
business educators emphasize the need to
educate all students—not just those
majoring in business.
Business, economics, personal finance,
accounting, marketing, law, careers, critical
thinking, decision-making impact everyone.
The Future of Business Education
(cont.)
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Align standards for business education and
academics: Business courses help students
meet the academic standards on which they are
assessed (reading, writing, social studies, math).
Connect with the business community.
Demonstrated competencies over time are what
matters most.
Business & economics drive this country and the
world. We deal with REAL!
National Business Education Standards
call for
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Economically literate citizens
Interpersonal, teamwork, and leadership skills
Career Awareness & lifelong learning skills
The use of technology for personal and
business decisions
Effective communicate skills
The use of accounting for decision-making
National Business Education Standards
call for (cont.)
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An understanding of the principles of law
Value for an entrepreneurial spirit in small
business and the corporate environment.
Application of critical-thinking skills to multiple
roles as citizens, consumers, workers, managers,
and directors of our own economic future.
Teaching students the ARMA Filing Rules
Some International Business & Economics
Infuse marketing into business & business into
marketing
National Business Education Standards
call for (cont.)
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Operate your classroom more like a business
than a school room
Expect students to behave as they would in the
workplace
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Accept responsibility for the quality of their work.
Don’t reward junk. Demand quality which meets
industry standards
Utilize relevant problems or projects
Keep students engaged the entire class period
Equity: When technology or other resources are
limited, consider a rotation system for equitable
access.
The Final Word
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Business educators should facilitate learning in
a student-centered environment.
Learning is customized: Students select
projects and work independently or in teams to
use technology to solve unstructured problems.
Assignments support independence,
creativity, and collaboration. Trust & respect
are essential for growth, development, and
success.