NCEE News

NCEE Excellence in Economic Education
International Education Showcase Grant
MiniSociety
McGraw Hill Chairmans Award
Train the Writers Program

NCEE Excellence in Economic Education Grant - Take Two!

In the Spring of 2005, NCEE was once again awarded the Excellence in Economic Education Grant by the US Department of Education Office of Innovation and Improvement. In 2004, and now again in 2005, Congress authorized the Excellence in Economic Education (EEE) Act as a part of the landmark No Child Left Behind legislation, and appropriated $1.5 million for EEE. As a first step, NCEE issued Requests for Proposals to fund a variety of activities, including:

Eligible applicants included any state education agency, local education agency or state or local economic, personal finance, or entrepreneurial education organization. All applicants must identify at least one eligible partner that the applicant will work with to carry out the goals identified in the application. "Eligible partners" include: a) a private-sector entity, b) a State educational agency, c) a local educational agency, d) an institution of higher education, e) an organization promoting economic development, f) an organization promoting educational excellence, and g) an organization promoting personal finance or entrepreneurial education.

Furthermore, applicants are required to show how they will match the Federal grant with an equal amount of funds from non-Federal funding. These matching grants may be in cash or in-kind; in-kind payments may include plant, equipment, and services, and must be fairly evaluated. All funds from this grant must be used to supplement and not supplant other Federal, State, and local government funds expended to support activities appropriate for this grant.

Additional information about the EEE Grant, the Request for Proposal Process, and a Frequently Asked Questions sheet is posted on the NCEE website http://www.ncee.net and updated regularly.

Schedule for EEE Grants 2005:
Proposals for activities reaching out to student, teacher, and schools were due by September 16, 2005; Project Timeframe: December 2005-September 2006, ICEE and the GSU Center have submitted proposals for these sub grants, and will be notified by November 18, 2005. A team of highly qualified leaders (recruited by NCEE) in the fields of economics and education as well as from the business, banking, and finance communities will conduct the proposal review to evaluate and make funding recommendations for the proposals.

Research proposals are due by October 21, 2005. Each grant recipient must complete the research study by April 1, 2007. Several research proposals from Illinois are pending. Announcements regarding award recipients will be included in the next issue of E-CONnections. Stay tuned!

International Education Showcase Grant Opportunities Now Available at a Center/Council Near You!

November 14-18, 2005 has been designated as International Education Week by the U.S. Department of Education in partnership with the U.S. Department of State. With funding from the U.S. Department of Education in coordination with the U.S. Department of State, NCEE is offering support to the council and center network for activities highlighting the importance of international education, particularly during International Education Week.

This initiative will heighten visibility of NCEE's international program and for your local activities that are international in nature. This is an opportunity for the education community to call attention to the importance of preparing American teachers and students for a world that is truly global and for learning from and with international educators.

For more on International Education Week go to: http://iew.state.gov which carries updated information on the week's activities. If you have an idea for a project/ proposal that highlights education with an international focus, contact your local Center or Council today. Centers or Councils must send proposals to NCEE as soon as possible, but no later than October 21, 2005.

Proposed showcase activities for grants may be conducted throughout the year, however, activities scheduled to be conducted during International Education Week, November 14-18, 2005 will be given first priority. All activities must be completed no later than July 31, 2006.

MiniSociety

May, 2005: NCEE has been awarded $3.5 million by the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation - the largest single outright non-government grant in our 56-year history - to add to our program offerings in the Campaign for Economic and Financial Literacy. NCEE has been awarded The Youth Entrepreneurship Program, which the Foundation has developed, to further develop, sustain and grow - with the means to do it.

The Youth Entrepreneurship Program has three facets: Mini-Society; Making a Job; and EntrePrep. The grant gives us venture capital to support and deliver, with excellence and good effect, these outstanding teaching - learning programs, which have been and are being used by many in our Network, who praise them.

Kauffman invited others to apply for this competitive grant. Here's what they said about us:

"NCEE and the Foundation certainly share a common mission in recognizing that students will gain an advantage to compete and succeed in the global marketplace by achieving success in entrepreneurial knowledge and skills. There also is a consensus that the Mini-Society, Making-a-Job, and EntrePrep programs are well-tailored to meet NCEE's content standards and so be fully integrated into NCEE's core content areas. In addition, NCEE has an excellent outreach infrastructure in its affiliated state councils and university centers for economic education, through which to ensure wide dissemination. NCEE is also well positioned, through diverse revenue sources, grants and gifts from major corporations, private foundations, and government agencies, such that NCEE can sustain and grow these programs, as an integral part of its comprehensive Program, for the longer term. Obviously, there is a lot to be excited about with regard to the transitioning of these programs."

Entrepreneurship education can be, indeed, will be, going forward, the complimentary counterpart to our expanding array of standards-based and pace-setting offerings to teachers in Personal Finance, under the EconomicsAmerica Program umbrella, which is of course anchored by our K - 12 economic education programs - our core business - and also correlated with EconomicsInternational - as all are about teaching the economic way of thinking. Updates concerning MiniSociety Trainings are forthcoming and will be posted in future articles of ECONnections!

McGraw Hill Chairmans Award 

Thanks to support from The McGraw-Hill Companies, The Chairman's Award will provided up to 10 grants (maximum of one grant per state) nationwide via the NCEE Network. Illinois Council (ICEE) was the proud recipient of one of those 10 awards. The Funding was available for the NCEE network to conduct teacher training workshops specifically for high school economics teachers.

Each grant award included a rich supply of economic education materials including: Capstone: Exemplary Lessons for High School Economics, Economics in Action: 14 Greatest Hits for Teaching High School Economics, Financial Fitness for Life, and Focus: High School Economics.

ICEE held its first series on Aug 11-12, 2005 at the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago. If you are a full time 9-12 teacher interested in participating in the second series, contact the GSU Center for Economic Education TODAY. The tentative date for this workshop series is December 3, 2005. Location to be announced.

Train the Writers Program Travels to Romania FALL 2005!

Founded in 1949, NCEE conducts its mission through the EconomicsAmerica program for the nation's schools; EconomicsInternational, a program for supporting economic education delivery in emerging market economies; and EconomicsExchange, activities for life-long learning. The NCEE network of affiliated state councils and university-based centers on economic education delivers these programs nationally and internationally.

NCEE's Training of Writers Program, generally offered on an annual basis, has become an integral componenet of the EconomicsInternational program. The program is funded by the United States Department of Education in coordination with the United States Department of State.

Through each offering of the Training of Writers Program, NCEE will train up to 12 writers of economic education instructional materials from the United States and 12 writers from partner countries in a five-day workshop. This fall, the program partnered 12 US educators and 12 educators from Romania! Professor Helen Roberts, Assoc Director of our UIC Center was selected to be one of the 12 US participants that traveled to Bucharest, Romania in mid September 2005.

After the workshop abroad, participants will be required to develop an economics lesson plan that uses an active-learning approach and is appropriate for use in their respective countries. Feedback will be provided to participants for the improvement of their lesson, and the U.S. faculty will work intensively with writers on improving their lesson to a publishable form.

Each year, NCEE seeks outstanding economic educators for their Training of Writers Program, particularly classroom teachers, who have the commitment and support to continue developing high-quality economic education instructional materials after completing this program. As a participant in this program, one is required to develop lesson plans for K-12 students (age levels 6-17) that use an active learning approach, use the NCEE model for lesson development, and are appropriate for use in U.S. classrooms. Feedback is provided by the U.S. faculty and international co-faculty, with the aim of producing publication-quality lessons. Successful applicants will demonstrate a commitment to economic education and to working with their state council and/or local center for economic education. Housing (double room occupancy), meals and transportation are covered by NCEE for those teachers who are accepted. Eligible participants are also reimbursed stipends to be used for sub pay as well as training stipends upon completion of final lessons.

If you are interested in being considered for future Training of Writers Programs, please contact ICEE today! The next program is expected to be scheduled for Summer 2006; destination TBA.