Entrepreneurs in Kentucky: Exploring Secondary Students' Economic and Entrepreneurial Dispositions and Knowledge

Abstract

Entrepreneurship education has received increased attention at all levels of education. National content standards for entrepreneurship education have been developed that address content knowledge and attitudinal dispositions from kindergarten through university levels. In conjunction with this increased focus, one initiative that addressed the need for entrepreneurial and economic education at the secondary level was the Kentucky Council on Economic Education's Entrepreneurs in Kentucky curriculum program. This initiative aimed to develop economic and entrepreneurial knowledge and positive dispositions in secondary students. This article presents the dispositional and content knowledge results of students from 15 secondary schools, a total of 281 students, who participated in the initial Entrepreneurs in Kentucky curriculum initiative. Student responses to the project's pretest and posttest instrument were analyzed to examine if there was a significant difference between the mean pretest and posttest scores for student dispositions toward, and knowledge of, economic and entrepreneurial content. Results from the study indicated that there was a significant increase in secondary students' knowledge and attitudinal dispositions related to economic and entrepreneurial concepts as a result of their participation in the innovative curriculum program.