A study just published by Education Next investigates the work history of entrepreneurial leaders in education to determine where the entrepreneurs are coming from. The short answer: Teach for America.

The study, by Rick Hess of AEI and Monica Higgins of Harvard, is patterned after research done in other sectors on “entrepreneurial spawning.”

“Creating a Corps of Change Agents: What explains the success of Teach for America?” will appear in the Spring 2011 issue of Education Next and is now available online.

A press release summarizing the study appears here.

In a video that accompanies the study, “Teach for America’s Entrepreneurial Alumni,” Veronica Nolan and Stephanie Saroki explain what inspired them to lead entrepreneurial education organizations after teaching with Teach for America.