Frederick M. Hess first published his book "Educational Entrepreneurship" in 2006. Needless to say, it has had quite an effect with its avant garde ideas and suggestions for the future of American education.

Some thought it was too foreign a concept, some thought it was too complicated, but a small group of individuals found it inspiring. Thanks to these enterprising minds, the last decade has seen small and steady changes in the way education and its future is perceived. Entrepreneurship is now an increasingly significant part of K-12 education, offering better career and technical education and more engaging school models every day.

As we explore newer ways of learning online and even improved models of teacher preparation, we realize it is the convergence of entrepreneurship with education that has resulted in these new models and modes of delivery — tackling stubborn problems with fresh thinking and laying down stricter and perhaps more practical accountability for the results.

For a world that has rapidly and dynamically changed in the last two decades, it has become imperative for entrepreneurs and the world of K-12 schooling to stop being at loggerheads and form a cohesive partnership to improve education, use entrepreneurial creativity to help American students be on par with their global peers once more.

Some of the changes are evident in the way we have entrepreneurial enterprises like KIPP, Khan Academy, Edison Schools and the Relay Graduate School of Education changing the way kids learn today.

There were 46 KIPP charter schools in 2006, and today there are more than 160, serving more than 60,000 students. Class Dojo now has more than 35 million users for their behavior management application, encompassing parents, students and teachers. And Teach for America has grown from 5,000 corps members in 2006 to more than 10,000 corps members teaching 750,000 students today.

What these growing figures represent is an increasing awareness among the masses, that new ventures with a clear mission will deliver better results for our children than the age-old bureaucratic measures.

These are enough to put an end to all the grumbling from the naysayers. As Hess and Michael McShane put it, entrepreneurship is not about corporatizing education but about empowering individuals, our students. It is about promoting personalization in education and doing away with the bureaucratic middlemen who have long hampered education. It is about bringing educators and students closer, and in helping educators in their work.

In their new book, "Educational Entrepreneurship Today," they go on to describe entrepreneurship as the basis for creativity that will help improve teaching and learning, a tool to drive change that will help solve the real life problems faced by students and educators today.

In the past few years, we have witnessed cutting-edge entrepreneurial ventures and lesson plans introduced into classroom settings at the K-12-grade level. These developments have gone a long way to proving how entrepreneurship and education can mutually benefit each other. New tech platforms and apps have helped streamline classroom efforts and also better equipped the next generation of business leaders with the introduction of more creative curricula.

Some approaches — like Cleveland's Hawken School — go even a step further to embrace the concept of entrepreneurship like the scientific method and embed it into the very curriculum. The model requires students to test their theories through practical and real world solutions.

A variety of such approaches have come up, and the best of them are focused on creating a better working relationship between educators and entrepreneurs for a more well-rounded K-12 education for all.

A great example is set by several Utah-based tech companies who like to get right into the middle of the action. They are not just creating nonprofit organizations but also donating their time and resources to help K-12 students get better knowledge on computer science and STEM subjects.

A lot of has been said about STEM programs and how our students are lagging behind in them. Perhaps, it needs more entrepreneurs like these to plunge right into the heart of the matter and teach students what they need to know, through a hands-on and practical approach.