$5.3 million grant from Houston Endowment to Rice supports executive training of principals and teachers

A $5.3 million grant from Houston Endowment will enable Rice University’s Education Entrepreneurship Program (REEP) to provide executive training to 379 teachers and principals. Rice’s Jones Graduate School of Business manages the program.

Rice University is the first and only institution in the country to permit aspiring principals to receive state certification through a business school. REEP allows full-time teachers and administrators to pursue either a two-year MBA or a one-year fellowship through the Jones School’s Executive Education training program. This current grant from Houston Endowment will support four additional REEP cohorts of 50-60 participants each. To date, Houston Endowment has invested $15.9 million in REEP, and the program has educated 90 principals from the Houston area.

“Each school represents a multimillion-dollar-per-year investment in future generations,” said Andrea Hodge, executive director of REEP. “Entrepreneurial and networked campus leaders can tailor the learning environments of their schools to meet the needs of their students and communities. REEP’s focus on building capacity at the school leadership level highlights the importance of this role.”

“The evidence is overwhelming that quality teaching is the most effective lever to improve student achievement,” said George Grainger, senior grant officer at Houston Endowment. “However, great teaching over a sequential period of time is almost impossible to achieve without a great school leader. The principal creates the conditions that need to be in place within a complex organization for there to be success in the classroom.”

Founded in 2008, REEP is a highly selective program that combines an elite business school education with a K-12 leadership and entrepreneurship practicum to equip educators with leadership principles and management tools. REEP complements a number of other Rice programs geared toward improving the quality of education in the Houston community, Texas and the country.

For more information on REEP, visit http://business.rice.edu/reep.aspx.