Investing in the Next Generation

Step Into Business provides business education curriculum content for Intro to Business classes. Our courses are delivered through interactive online modules that teachers can incorporate into their curriculum at their own pace.

Overview

Our 7th-8th grade level business courses are delivered through fully developed, interactive online modules.

All content is developed by Mays Business School faculty, staff, and other collaborators and aligns with TEKS standards.

Step Into Business enables educators to incorporate modules into their curriculum at their own pace and request customized content delivery.

Our program staff are available to answer any questions before, during, or after course implementation.

These Are Our Goals

Expert Lessons

Provide curriculum development support for teachers

Growth

Teach valuable knowledge and skills through our course content

Degree Planning

Introduce business as a career opportunity to students

About Our Courses

Each module in a course includes instructions, activities, and assessments for business topics

Content Delivery

Modules are hosted on Articulate, a platform designed for interactive online learning.

Accessing

Access modules online through a Learning Management System via Fileshare.

Supporting Materials

We offer a PDF packet with activities and materials for students to use with their course modules.

Teacher Flexibility

Modules are also asynchronous so teachers can decide how and when to incorporate them into their curriculum.

Data Collection

Courses are free for schools and only requires an annual update on the number of students who utilized and finished the modules - no personal student data needed.

Customization

Customize quiz settings including the number of retries, revealing the correct answer after a wrong guess, passing score requirement, and data reporting.

Course Descriptions

Marketing Insights

This course is designed to give students an overview of marketing concepts. Student design their own lemonade stand business as each module guides them through the phases of developing their business marketing plan.

Sales and Communication

This course is designed to give students an overview of the sales process. Students practice scenarios selling a bike and solving a transportation problem. They practice the sales skills of communication, problem-solving, and relationship-building.

Personal Finance

This course is designed to give students an overview of personal finance concepts. Students will learn about banks, budgets, credit, and debit, loans, and investments. Students will create a budget for a working summer as a young adult and explore financial practices that will lead to success.

Clients Testimonials

"This program brings the curriculum to scholars in many forms for better comprehension and they make it easy to incorporate into your existing curriculum."

Joshua Trevino Davila Middle School, Bryan ISD

"Masterminds behind the program have the ability to fit your needs. With real-world testimony and experiences incorporated into the lessons help scholars relate."

Joshua Trevino Davila Middle School, Bryan ISD

STEPS To Getting Started

View Our Sample Module

A sample module will be sent to you so that you can preview the course.

Complete Access Request Form

Fill out some information so that our team can contact you to get started.

WHO WE ARE

Housed in Mays Business School at Texas A&M University, the Sales Leadership Institute’s offices are located in College Station, TX.

The Reynolds and Reynolds Sales Leadership Institute consists of marketing faculty members and higher education staff professionals who strive to serve students, industry, academia, and the community through a full slate of programs designed to develop ethical, well-trained sales professionals, elevate the perception of sales as a career path, and address sales and marketing challenges with research and solutions.

WHY WE DO THIS

The Sales Leadership Institute is committed to service for our students and our community. By creating the Step Into Business program, we aim to provide support for teachers in our community and help the next generation of students grow in their skills and understanding of business.

We provide educational and experiential opportunities for students to learn and practice communication problem-solving, critical thinking, and relationship-building skills, which are important skills for life.

Frequently Asked Questions

Questions About the Course:

Questions About Us:

Do I have to pay for these courses ?

No, Step Into Business provides access to courses for free as a service to our community.

What grade level are these courses for?

These courses are written at a 7th-8th grade level but can be used for any intro to business course content.

How is this course delivered to students?

We will send you files compatible with Learning Management Systems such as Schoology, which you upload and manage independently.

Do I have to administer this course on a certain schedule or timeline?

No, modules for our courses can be scheduled entirely by the teacher and completed at any pace.

How am I able to access student work?

Student work you might grade includes any worksheets in the accompanying PDF course packet plus quizzes from each online module for the course. When you upload the course to a Learning Management System (LMS), you will access and manage student work through your chosen LMS platform. Step Into Business staff will have no access to student data.

What information will I receive for each student?

After customizing your passing score percentage, you will be able to choose between the following options to view a learner’s status on a module:

Passed/Incomplete
Passed/Failed
Completed/Incomplete
Completed/Failed

You will also receive all student work from the accompanying course packet pdf.

Can I customize anything?

For online module quizzes, you will be able to customize the following metrics:

Passing Score — set percentage
Require Passing Score to Continue — on/off
Quiz Retries — Unlimited, None, 1-10
Randomize Question Order — on/off
Shuffle Answer Choices — on/off
Reveal Answers (shows the learner the correct response after each question submission) – on/off.

Could I have a conversation with someone before I request access ?

We encourage you to ask questions, and we look forward to talking with you about ways to customize the program to fit your student and classroom needs.

We are happy to talk with you via phone or Zoom call. Please use the contact page to request a conversation with program staff.

Who created these courses?

Step into Business is a community service program from Texas A&M University’s Reynolds and Reynolds Sales Leadership Institute at Mays Business School. Courses are designed by Mays Business School faculty, Sales program staff, and industry partners.

What information do you gather from users?

We will ask for the following data before providing access to our courses:

School or program name
Teacher name and contact info
Name of the class the Step Into Business course will be used for
Grade level(s) of students using program
Number of total students using the program

After the first year, we simply ask for the number of students that use and complete the modules so that we can track the utility of our program. Upon request, we are happy to provide individualized certificates for students who complete the course, in which case you would provide student names after course completion. (optional)

Can Home Schools, Private Schools, Charter Schools, or After-School/Community Programs use this program?

Yes! Step Into Business courses are not limited to public schools.

Do you provide any student incentives?

For all students that complete the course, we will provide a certificate of completion upon request.

Please speak to program staff for more details.

I am interested in sponsorship for this program. Who do I contact?

For inquiries about sponsorship, please contact Dr. Janet Parish, Director of the Reynolds and Reynolds Sales Leadership Institute at jparish@mays.tamu.edu.