Economic Education

Recently, I came across a great not-for-profit organization (NFP), the North Carolina Council for Economic Education (NCCEE), which is an affiliate of the Council for Economic Education.  Both of these NFPs are doing exactly what I have been advocating regarding financial and economic education in this country.  A little more on the Council:

Vision

The Council for Economic Education envisions a world in which people are empowered through economic and financial literacy to make informed and responsible choices throughout their lives as consumers, savers, investors, workers, citizens, and participants in our global economy.

Mission

The mission of the Council for Economic Education is two-fold: To advocate for better and greater school-based economic and personal finance education at the K-12 level; and to educate young people in the United States and around the world, primarily through well-prepared teachers, so they may become empowered with economic and financial literacy.

Description

The Council for Economic Education offers comprehensive, best-in-class K-12 economic and personal finance education programs, including the basics of entrepreneurship, consisting of teaching resources across the curriculum, professional development for teachers, and nationally-normed assessment instruments. Each year, the Council’s programs reach more than 150,000 K-12 teachers and over 15 million students in the United States and in more than 30 other countries.  These programs are delivered through a diversified system: directly from the Council, through a network of affiliated state Councils and university-based Centers for Economic Education, and through other partner organizations.

Upon speaking with the Managing Director of NCCEE, one of the most interesting things that the council has students involved in, is the Stock Market Game.  The Stock Market Game™ (SMG) gives students the chance to invest a hypothetical $100,000 in an on-line portfolio. They think they’re playing a game. You know they’re learning economic and financial concepts they’ll use for the rest of their lives.  This is awesome!  Can you imagine being a 5th grade student and learning how the stock market works, and actually managing a simulated $100K portfolio?  I would’ve killed to have had that chance when I was younger.  I believe the SMG is broken down into age categories and the winners from each school, region, state, and nationally win some sort of prize and are recognized for their accomplishments.

As you can see, I am trying to learn more about the state of financial education in my geographic region and ultimately throughout the country.  There are many resources out there, but are they interwined at all?  Is there a succinct effort to promote financial education in the most streamlined fashion?  I’m not sure, but I do know there is an organization in North Carolina, NC Jump$tart, which sets out to: raise awareness about the importance of financial literacy, improve financial education for the youth of North Carolina, and increase support for the North Carolina Jump$tart Coalition.  Apparently, they are part of a national coalition.

Little by little, I am going to try to get involved with each and every organization in North Carolina that is trying to promote financial literacy, to see where I can help.  This is difficult with my current job, but I am very passionate about financial and economic education, so I will make it work!

MF