REEP-ing the benefits of a business education

REEP-ing the benefits of a business education
Local teachers are taking care of business to improve schools

BY JESSICA STARK
Rice News staff

Education issues might have gotten lost in the shuffle of economic woes this election season, but about a dozen local K-12 teachers and school leaders are learning how to balance the two topics (and budgets, books and lesson plans), thanks to an innovative program being offered by Rice University’s Jesse H. Jones Graduate School of Management. Aspiring school leaders from the Houston Independent School District (HISD), YES Prep Public Schools and KIPP Charter Schools are part of this inaugural class.

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The Rice Education Entrepreneurship Program (REEP) combines a business school education with an intensive educational entrepreneurship curriculum so current and future school leaders will be prepared to address the complex challenges in today’s educational environment. REEP aims to educate leaders of underserved schools by equipping them with knowledge, skills and resources to run schools and districts that close achievement gaps and propel more underserved students to complete postsecondary education. 

“This dynamic program offers educators learning pathways not currently available in Houston or the nation,” said Panya Yarber, director of REEP. “It aims to provide educators with information that they can readily apply to improve academic achievement for Houston’s students.”

REEP is a unique customized program that brings together the best practitioners and thought leaders to teach content recommended by the state of Texas for future principals.

At the Jones School, REEP participants are going through much of the same training as many future CEOs, poising them to become some of the top leaders of schools nationwide. All participants are part of the Rice MBA for Professionals program or the Rice Advanced Management Program (RAMP), an executive management certificate program.

The REEP advantage

Now in their 10th week of their coursework, students of the inaugural class of MBA Pathway are already seeing the benefits of their training.

“When I first signed up for an MBA, I thought I’d be buried in foreign concepts that would have very little immediate relevance to my career,” said Melanie Singleton, REEP participant and teacher at YES Prep Public Schools-Southwest. “But already I am learning how to communicate with the team I’m currently managing.”

Currently the eighth-grade level chair and a language arts instructor, Singleton hopes to become a school director and one day open a public boarding school. She plans to use her business education to help her shape and contour education reform in a viable way and refine inner-city schools.

“Popular opinion says there are certain dreams that are off-limits to my students. They often doubt themselves to crippling levels because they lack good examples of what is possible when you try,” Singleton said. “But I am a living example of what excellent influence can do for any child, anywhere.”

An alumna of YES Prep and the great-grandchild of a sharecropper, Singleton graduated from Columbia University with awards and honors, including being named a Bill Gates Millennium Scholar. She had always dreamed of a lavish career in law or finance, but was so inspired by her grandmother — a longtime teacher in HISD — that she dedicated herself to education in an underserved community.

“I have spent the past two years motivating my students to go outside their comfort zones. A student once told me she wanted to be a hair stylist; I told her she needed to own the place. Another student told me she wanted to be a nurse; I asked her if she meant surgeon,” Singleton said. “By signing up for REEP, I am continuing to push myself the same way I have pushed my students.”

Classroom understanding

A fellow REEP participant and professional MBA student, Eldridge Gilbert has also found himself having to practice what he has preached to his students.

“I can now tell my students ‘I remember what its like to be in the classroom and not understand. I was there yesterday.’ Then I can say, ‘And here’s what I did about it,'” Gilbert said. “Though the MBA work doesn’t come easily to me, it’s nice to be challenged, especially when I know it is preparing me to be a school leader.”

Gilbert plans to continue working for an underserved school system long after he has finished his tenure in REEP. He would like to lead a school in an African-American community in Houston.

Gilbert came to Houston as an evacuee after Hurricane Katrina plowed through the school where he was teaching in Louisiana. He fell in love with the Third Ward and with permission from Teach For America, the program that had placed him in New Orleans, he worked with others to open a school for hurricane refugees.

“It was the most difficult year of my life,” Gilbert said. “But I found a home in Houston in Third Ward. There’s no distinction between me and the community I serve.”

Now dean of students at YES Prep-East End, Gilbert has been energized by working alongside business professionals in his Rice MBA classes.

“I’m able to look at education from a business perspective,” Gilbert said. “I think of it as a product I’m selling so I think about how to package it and how to sell it to my students because education is not just a means to move up, it is the only means.” 

Pathways for educational entrepreneurship

REEP comprises three pathways intended to meet the needs of all levels of school leaders. The MBA Pathway is for aspiring or current principals who are interested in pursuing an MBA. It features 100 percent tuition reimbursement for graduates who serve in leadership roles in underserved public schools in the Greater Houston area.

The Aspiring Leaders Certificate Pathway is designed for aspiring school leaders who hold a master’s degree and desire a strong foundation in management and principal certification. The Advanced Leaders Pathway is designed for principals who want to advance their leadership and management skills. Both Aspiring and Advanced Leaders take part in RAMP and earn a certificate in executive management upon completion.

All pathways take part in the Thought Leadership series, a program that invites national thought leaders in education to talk with REEP participants and explore important questions, ideas and issues in the field of education.

The launch of REEP was funded in part by a $7.2 million grant awarded by Houston Endowment Inc. REEP is also partnered with Teach for America and Houston A+ Challenge.

The next information session for people interested in the program will be held Nov. 6 at Rice University.