Business Bytes By Barb
A Newsletter for Business & Marketing Educators	May 1998

The Future Of Business Education

Recently I had the opportunity to attend the National Business Education Association Convention in San Antonio, Texas. Much of the discussion was on the future of business education. As I sat in a session listening to other state supervisors discuss business education in their states, I once again began to wonder about the future of business education in Indiana. Where are we going? Will business education be a part of the high school curriculum within the next ten years? What will be the effect of the new Indiana Professional Standards Board teacher certification on business education? Will we continue to ignore the "meaty" courses in business education and continue to rely on keyboarding and computer applications courses as our future? What will our business education curriculum be in 2005? Will we continue to ignore the importance of joining professional organizations and keeping current by attending professional development conferences and workshops for business educators? Why does enrollment continue to drop and how can we change that cycle?

The future of business education is hanging in the balance. We have the power to change business education to be a competitive, worthwhile, and necessary discipline for students. In order to make those changes, however, we as business educators must change. I challenge you to consider the following as we move into textbook adoption and course titles changes for business education by the year 2000.

• Join your professional organizations such as NBEA and IBEA. Less than 15% of our secondary teachers are members of these organizations.
• Attend professional development workshops and conferences. Less than 20% of our teachers attend our BE/ME November Conference and only 12% of our vocational teachers attend the IVA Summer Conference.
• Get involved in curriculum writing and development at the state level. Less than 5% of secondary teachers work on curriculum development at the state level.
• Involve your students in a student organization such as Business Professionals and DECA An Association of Marketing Students. Enrollment in these organizations has continued to drop during the past five years or more and fewer schools have these organizations available to their business and marketing students.
• Be passionate about business education. We all have other responsibilities including family, civic and religious organizations, etc. However, the future of business education depends on your passion and commitment to our cause.
• Become a Legislative Advocate for Business Education. Talk to your administrators, parents, community leaders, legislators, business and industry partners about the value of business education for all students.

Let's leave no stone unturned. Let us all realize that the future of business education in Indiana depends on you and me. Without our commitment, there may not be a business education discipline in the near future. Don't let that happen. You can make a difference! Just do it!

Course Titles Approved with Amendments

New course titles and descriptions for Business and Marketing Education were approved by the Indiana State Board of Education on Thursday, April 9, with amendments. Based on oral and written testimony from the three public hearings and written response from teachers, the following amendments were made.

Retain the following courses:

• Business Math/Personal Finance. This course would focus on mathematical processes commonly used in businesses and would include related mathematics skills needed for personal money management (i.e. credit, investments, budgeting, taxes).
• Shorthand/Notehand. Some employers located in or near major metropolitan areas (including the Chicago area) continue to look for potential employees with these skills. Additionally, some schools have offered this course for college bound students as a means of preparing them to take study notes in rigorous, lecture-type classes.
• Computerized Accounting Services. Recent meetings with business representatives on vocational advisory committees have provided input that skills learned in computerized accounting cannot be collapsed into a course that also covers business management techniques as well as business finance issues. Furthermore, Indiana employment data through the year 2005 projects an undersupply of workers needed in the area of accounting services.

For a list of proposed course titles, visit our web site.
 

Making Math Relevant

Researchers from the Institute for Operations Research and the Management Science (INFORMS) and Wayne State University developed a math syllabus to spur student interest in business and government, areas where they say math acumen is needed.

The syllabus includes case studies from such companies as United Airlines, Nabisco and McDonald's. "The Teacher Instructional Modules Project" serves as self-contained supplements to both traditional math coursework and curriculum based on new guidelines from the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics

The modules, six in all, are designed for basic algebra, as well as more advanced levels. The initial modules provide material on linear programming, a mathematical method used in operations research and management science.

You may access the modules on the Internet at http://mie.eng.wayne.edu/faculty/chelst/informs.

Robbing the Cradle

A California government agency starved for technical talent decided to reach out to the community. It couldn't pay very well, and it couldn't outsource overseas. So what did it do? It started hiring and training high school students as programmers and network administrators. The agency's CIO says the kids are all right. Honest.

IT wages are higher than they've ever been and still rising. Hiring middle-aged software jockeys isn't cheap. So why not go with youth? Why not look for GenX-ers who've grown up with PCs to come in as "interns" and "part-timers" to gain "valuable experience" working for agencies, small businesses and frugal Fortune 1,000 firms that so desperately need Web sites maintained and LANs administered?

Some of these youngsters will be writing code. Others will answer the help desk phones. Or do tech support. Or administer LANs. Maybe they'll be doing it for academic credit. Maybe they'll be doing it for money. In many parts of the country, there are teenagers who make more than $60 per hour writing Java Scripts for hire.

Today, hundreds of companies are trying to cut deals with the local university to get first crack at the systems administrators and Unix hackers. Do you think that sooner or later those same companies will reach out to the high schools? When they do, business education better have students prepared to step into these jobs.

Professional Development Opportunities

There are a number of professional development workshops scheduled during the next few months for Business and Marketing Educators. A brief description of the various workshops is provided in this newsletter. If you would like to register, please fill out the registration form enclosed in this mailing.

Microsoft Office Training

Glencoe/McGraw-Hill is sponsoring a two-day Microsoft Office 97 Workshop on Wednesday & Thursday, June 10-11. Sharon Fisher-Larson and Kathleen Stewart, authors for Glencoe, will be presenting. Each participant will receive a copy of one of the Microsoft Office Professional Approach books written by the presenters. There is no registration fee; however, workshops are limited to 50 participants. Registration will be accepted on a first-come basis. The attached registration form provides more specific information on what will be covered in the workshop.

1998 Glencoe Methods Conference

When: June 21-26, 1998

Where: St. Louis, Missouri

A variety of lectures, small-group discussion, software seminars, and panel discussions have been planned. The focus of the sessions is on basic concerns of business educators, including the subjects that comprise the core business education curriculum, standards, and fundamental teaching methodology. Session topics include: distance education, employment trends, stress management/adjusting to change, entrepreneurship, communications, MS certification, accounting, keyboarding/document processing, and much more. Academic credit is available through University of Missouri-Columbia. For more information, contact Glencoe at 1 800 257-5785.

Minibasket/In-Basket Workshops

Plans have been made to conduct a four-day workshop July 13-16 in Indianapolis. The purpose of the workshop will be to prepare project-based activities for your classroom based on examples and real world problems from business and industry. You will work in teams of two or three, and all work should be completed during the workshop. All projects completed this summer will be printed, so you will receive all of the projects for use in your classes. A small stipend, travel, and lodging will be paid. Registration is limited to 20 individuals. See the enclosed registration form for more information.

Internet Users' Guide

On July 7-10, we will conduct a workshop to develop Internet activities for your classes. Teachers will work in groups of two to develop activities and projects for use in classes such as law, marketing, business foundations, international business, computer applications, career planning and success skills, etc. This workshop is limited to 10 individuals. Knowledge of Internet is required. See enclosed registration form.

IVA Summer Conference

The Indiana Vocational Association Conference will be held July 27-29, 1998 at the Radisson Hotel Keystone at the Crossing. You should be receiving conference program information soon. If you would like more information, contact Barb Beadle.

Curriculum Development

We will continue to develop curriculum for our new course titles and descriptions during the summer and fall. We would like to have 4-6 individuals on each development team and 4-6 individuals on the review teams. Please consider this excellent opportunity to be a part of curriculum development for the state. See the enclosed interest form and return it to Barb Beadle ASAP.

Business & Marketing Conference

The Business and Marketing Education Fall Conference will be held November 13-14, at the Adam's Mark Hotel in Indianapolis. Please mark these dates on your calendar. You will receive registration information the latter part of September.

Web Site

For current happenings and the latest updates in business and marketing education, visit our web site at: http://www.doe.state.in.us/ocvs.

Jump$tart Coalition

The Jump$tart Coalition for Personal Financial Literacy, a non-partisan partnership of 25 diverse organizations, has come together to increase personal financial literacy among young adults. The goal of this coalition is: by the year 2007, all students will have the skills to be financially competent by the time they graduate from high school. They will be taught how to manage a household budget, how to plan for retirement, and how a mortgage works. They will be able to establish a good credit history, cover their insurance needs, and balance a checkbook. In short, our youth will be prepared for the everyday financial realities that face all consumers.

Clearly, many adults lack the skills and knowledge to make sound financial decisions. Based upon the coalition's survey results, children are headed in the same direction unless this cycle stops repeating itself. Members of the coalition plan to increase public awareness that personal finance management, like reading or math, is a fundamental life skill which should be taught to the nation's 50 million students in grades K-12

The coalition has created guidelines to teach personal finance concepts in schools nationwide. The Jump$tart Coalition is a non-profit organization based in Washington DC. Their web site address is www.jumpstartcoalition.org. This is an excellent opportunity for business educators to create a Personal Finance course that teaches students these skills!
 

Entrepreneurship Bonus Activity

A bonus activity, Business Plan Basics, is enclosed for your use in your business classes. Entrepreneurship education is being promoted as a basic skill. George Gendron, editor of INC magazine said that "the traditional admonition of one generation to the next 'Get a Job', has been replaced with the more complex and bewildering mandate, 'Go out and create a job for yourself.'" Business Education has an opportunity to promote entrepreneurship in our curriculum. If we don't do it, someone else will. Use this bonus activity in a variety of your business classes.

Plan Your Week in 30 Minutes

Experts say that you need only 30 minutes to plan your entire week. How to do it? Follow the OATS formula.

O: Objectives. What results do you want to see by the end of the week? Write them down and rank them.

A: Activities. What do you have to do to achieve your goals? List the necessary activities, and put them in sequence.

T: Time. How much time will each activity require? To plan realistically, allow yourself more time than you think you will actually need. This gives you flexibility if unexpected problems develop.

S: Schedule. Look at your calendar and decide when you can do each activity. Most people underestimate the power of a schedule, but you won't get anything accomplished if you don't schedule time to do it.
 

'Don't call us, we'll call you...'

Job interviews sometimes draw the strangest candidates. Here are true tales of the world's most bizarre encounters, as collected by recruiting expert Robert Half (Human Resources Management, Wonderlic Personnel Test, Inc., Northfield, Illinois):

"Said if he was hired, he'd teach me ballroom dancing at no charge, and started demonstrating."

"Left his dry-cleaner tag on his jacket and said he wanted to show he was a clean individual."

"After a difficult question, she wanted to leave the room momentarily to meditate."

"Applicant walked in and inquired why was he here."

"Said if I hired him, I'd soon learn to regret it."

"Arrived with a snake around her neck. Said she took her pet everywhere."

"Woman brought in a large shopping bag of canceled checks and thumbed through them during the interview."

"When asked about his loyalty, showed a tattoo of his girlfriend's name."

"Applicant indicated that if he wasn't hired, the future of the company would be jeopardized for confidential reasons."

"Took three cellular phone calls. Said she has a similar business on the side."

For information in this newsletter, contact

Barbara K. Beadle, Business and Marketing Specialist

Room 229 State House

Indianapolis IN 46204-2798

317 232-9179-office

317 232-9121-fax

bbeadle@doe.state.in.us