Ten rival teams from top business schools nationwide will develop strategies for a charter school organization seeking to expand its innovative approach to teaching as part of the 2013 Education Leadership Case Competition at Haas Feb. 15-16.
Now in its seventh year, the student-run competition is the country’s oldest MBA case challenge that focuses on education management. Past competitions have tackled problems faced by public school districts in such cities as New Orleans, Washington D.C., and San Francisco.
This year, the case centers on High Tech High, a San Diego-based organization that runs a network of charter schools and a unique graduate school of education that is fully integrated with its K-12 schools. The graduate school is seeking guidance on how to inspire new school leaders to bring its practices—which include project-based learning, building connections to the world outside school, and personalized learning for all students—to new schools and communities.
Teams competing this year hail from Stanford, the University of Chicago’s Booth School of Business, Columbia Business School, George Washington University School of Business, Vanderbilt Owen Graduate School of Management, and a joint team from Haas and the Goldman School of Public Policy. Judges will come from High Tech High and competition sponsors.
The competition will end with a public forum, open to Haas students, alumni, and community members interested in the role MBAs can play in public education. The forum will be held from 4:30 p.m. to 7 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 16, in the Wells Fargo Room at Haas. It will feature a keynote address by High Tech High leaders as well as time for networking. The event is free to students and $5 for alumni and community members. To register, visit eventbrite.com/event/5390190204#.
The competition is organized by the Haas Education Club to get MBA students interested in careers in education leadership. It also attracts other graduate students interested in education equity issues and nonprofit strategy.
“Education needs high quality management like any other industry, but with its non-profit nature it often struggles with attracting top-class management talent,” said Nikita Kiselev, MBA 13, the club's co-president. “With our competition, we help real education organizations solve real problems, and at the same time show business school students that education management is challenging and interesting enough for their smart and ambitious minds."
For more information, visit edcase.org.