What's New?

May 2008

K-8 teachers in 14 north central Indiana counties will have the opportunity to participate in the Classroom Business Enterprise (CBE) program next school year. After a full day of training at Purdue, teachers will help students implement a simple classroom business. A team of 3-4 students will come to Purdue on April 20 to showcase their business with all the other involved schools. Teachers/schools receive:

• A copy of the revised Indiana Department of Education curriculum - Economics and Entrepreneurship: Operating a Classroom Business in the Elementary and Middle School
• Sub pay
• Set C of KidsEcon Posters
• $300 of additional curriculum materials to support the project

If interested, pre-register now! Space is limited. Questions? Contact Harlan Day (dayhr@purdue.edu ; 765-494-8544)

[ Program details ]

[ Pre-register now! ]

April 2008 The National Council on Economic Education (NCEE) is requesting applications for the Training of Writers program scheduled to take place August 10-19, 2008. The program is funded by the U.S. Department of Education through the Cooperative Education Exchange Program and is carried out in coordination with the U.S. Department of State. NCEE is seeking outstanding U.S. economic educators, particularly classroom teachers, who have the commitment and support to develop high-quality economic education instructional materials after completing this program. Successful applicants will demonstrate a commitment to economic education and to working with their state council and/or local center for economic education. A recommendation letter from the state council and/or local center for economic education is highly recommended to show this connection. If you do not have a current relationship with your local center or state council, please do not ask center or council staff for letters of recommendation.

[ Application and more information ]

April 2008

June 9-12, 2008 at Rough River State Resort Park, Falls of Rough, Kentucky

The Right Start Institute is a 4-day Foundation for Teaching Economics (FTE) program for high school economics teachers. The Institute is designed to help teachers identify and learn basic economic content and develop lesson plans for effectively teaching the high school economics course.

The program is structured as a business conference, with emphasis on economic content appropriate to teaching high school economics. Additionally, the Institute incorporates a blend of learning activities, including hands-on classroom activities and simulations. All materials and activities have been developed specifically for this program.

[ Program website and registration informaiton ]

April 2008 Teachers can go to AP Central to get information on the summer institutes and sign up. In general these are designed to prepare teachers to teach AP economics or improve the skills of teachers presently teaching AP economics. These summer institutes provide a concentrated five day total immersion in AP economics. They also carry with them the opportunity to earn 3 graduate credits.

The programs will be held at Illinois Wesleyan June 22-27 and Northwestern July 21-25. Mr. James Chasey will be presenting at both.

James Chasey received his BA from Purdue University, his MA from the University of Illinois, and studied in the Graduate School of Business of the University of Chicago as the Christa McAuliffe Fellow for the State of Illinois. He has taught economics in high school from 1969-2002, and economics part-time in college since 1985. He has enjoyed the privilege of being a grader, and a table leader in AP Economics. Among his favorite professional activities are presenting at numerous one-day workshops and week-long summer institutes for AP Economics. He is married and has two children, one of whom is teaching AP Psychology. Mr. Chasey has written numerous works specifically for use in the teaching of AP Economics. His main interest in presenting week-long summer institutes is to specifically structure the workshop to meet the needs of the participants.

[ AP Central website ]

[ More details and registration information ]

March 2008

The newly formed President's Advisory Council on Financial Literacy has recommended that the U.S. Department of the Treasury challenge U.S. students to learn more about personal finance. Beginning April 28, 2008, high school teachers can register their classes to participate in the 2008 National Financial Literacy Challenge. The Challenge is a voluntary, 35-question test that students can take to earn recognition of their financial knowledge. It will be offered online until May 16, 2008 and there is no fee to participate.

Please refer to the information found at the links below for more information about this exciting initiative.

• Information about the National Financial Literacy Challenge Including how to Participate (pdf: 1.5MB)
• Schwab Foundation Scholarships (pdf: 74kB)

The Challenge was developed by the U.S. Department of the Treasury in consultation with economists and The Jump$tart Coalition for Personal Financial Literacy, Junior Achievement USA, the National Council on Economic Education, and the National Endowment for Financial Education.

Register today at FLC.treas.gov/teacher. For more information or if you have any questions, please contact the Treasury Department at FLC@do.treas.gov.

March 2008 The Purdue Research Park will be recognizing outstanding Math, Science and Technology students throughout the state of Indiana. Each educator is asked to nominate outstanding students in these areas to attend the Purdue Research Park Entrepreneurship Academy, July 27 – August 1, 2008.

In order to identify deserving students, they need your assistance. They ask that you nominate deserving incoming Junior and Senior-level students who have demonstrated dedication and innovation in the areas of Math, Science and Technology Education. Please note that the nomination form has several items of performance criteria should be used in considering students for this event. Please be sure to complete the nomination form.

Please return your nomination form on or before June 13, 2008.

For more on the Academy, see the PRF website.

[ PRF Academy website ]

[ PRF Academy nomination packet ]

March 2008 Each summer the Indiana Council for Economic Education (ICEE) sponsors intensive, graduate-credit workshops for K-12 teachers. These workshops cover a variety of economic topics and take place at the ICEE‘s University Centers. Teachers learn economic concepts and also develop curriculum units to use with their students. Thanks to our many generous contributors, the ICEE provides full or partial tuition support for the workshops, which over the years have become the “flagship” program of the ICEE. The workshops feature sessions in which local business, labor, and agricultural leaders serve as respondents and/or speakers.

[ Complete list ]