The KOOL Cause of the Month

Teacher Training in Economics and
Personal Financial Literacy

The CCEE Mission
CCEE is the leading Colorado non-profit organization dedicated to promoting a better understanding of economics and personal financial literacy among Colorado K-12 students through teacher training.
 
For more than forty years, CCEE has accomplished this mission by developing and providing a variety of graduate-level economics and personal financial literacy classes and classroom resources to teachers and by offering a stock market program to students.
 
We envision an America where each school-age child will learn the basic decision-making skills necessary to realize his or her full potential. In a society with an economic system based on free markets, the key to unlocking the power of each individual can be found in the logic of economic reasoning.
 
 

“The networking and materials I received were outstanding. I especially appreciate the class sets. I think the set of free books will persuade my administrator to buy into the teaching of economics. A presently non-tested area.” - Danielle Farley, Roosevelt-Edison School, Colorado Springs

 

 
The CCEE stock market program is offered for classroom teachers by the Colorado Council for Economic Education.  This program is an online, highly engaging, real-world investment simulation for students in grades 3-12.

CCEE stock market program winners

  
 
The CCEE stock market program provides teams of 3 to 5 students with a unique, hands-on opportunity to learn about investing as well as how our market economy works by managing a virtual $100,000 portfolio over a semester.  Under the supervision of a trained classroom teacher, student teams research, and then buy and sell stocks, mutual funds, bonds and other types of investments while learning the fundamentals of long-term saving and investing.  Teachers consistently report that this type of interactive, educational investment simulation has a positive impact on student engagement and learning in math, social studies, business and economics.
 
What CCEE Needs
 

1. CCEE invites you to become a contributing member at any one of our various membership levels which can be viewed at www.ccee.net. 

 
To make a donation to CCEE please click here     
 
Here’s How Far your Contribution to CCEE Will Go…
We generally charge class tuition to the teachers who utilize our education services. However, these fees cover only part of the cost of providing our classes. The difference is made up by generous individual and business contributors along with foundation grants. Here are some examples of the full costs to CCEE:  

• $40 is the cost for CCEE to purchase and prepare class materials for one teacher
• $75 buys one new set of videos or two books for CCEE’s free teacher lending library
• $100 buys an economics textbook for teacher in a CCEE/UCCS certificate program class
• $150 is CCEE’s cost for a teacher to attend a one-day graduate-level economics class

 

2. Please speak to your local school teachers and principals about their plans for implementing the new economics and personal financial literacy standards in their schools and let them know that CCEE has many teacher professional development classes as well as classroom resources to assist them. 

 

3. Please join us in letting your local school teachers and principals know that for the 2013-14 school year CCEE will be offering a new, state-of-the-art stock market portfolio simulation that is perfect for teaching many of the new Personal Financial Literacy and Economics academic standards.  This new stock market program will be free of charge to teachers for their students in grades 3-12.
    

Making a Difference for Colorado Kids
CCEE was instrumental in promoting the addition of economics and personal financial literacy (PFL) to the mandatory Colorado K-12 academic standards.  CCEE also played a key role in the State Board of Education’s decision to add the four social studies content areas of economics, history, geography and civics to the new statewide student assessment, given once in each of the following: elementary, middle and high school.  Most K-12 teachers took little or no economics in college.  All of this means that CCEE’s teacher training programs in both economics and personal finance are more essential and relevant than ever, and deserve your support.
 

2010 Spring stock market program winners, Kemper Elementary School, Cortez
 

“The CCEE stock market program is an exceptional way for students to learn about the world of economics, and to experience the stock market hands-on.” - Student team of Donna Ecks, Doherty High School, Colorado Springs

 
CCEE’s Teacher Programs Meet Colorado’s Economic Standards
 
What is Economics All About?
 
Standard 3. Economics: “Economics teaches a student how society manages its scarce resources, how people make decisions, how people interact in the domestic and international markets, and how forces and trends affect the economy as a whole.”
 
Prepared graduates in economics:

1. “Understand the allocation of scarce resources in societies through analysis of individual choice, market interaction, and public policy.”

 
What is Personal Financial Literacy All About?
 
Standard 3. Economics: “Personal financial literacy applies the economic way of thinking to help individuals understand how to manage their own scarce resources using a logical decision making process of prioritization based on analysis of the costs and benefits of every choice.”
 
Prepared graduates in economics:

2. “Acquire the knowledge and economic reasoning skills to make sound financial decisions.”

 

“I have attended four CCEE classes over two years and they have been the best professional development I have ever experienced.  The information presented is interesting and for every topic, there is a hands-on lesson provided that I can take back to my classroom and teach to my 6th graders.  My time is never wasted and I like the challenge and rigor of the classes.”  - Carla Rainone, Century Middle School, Adams 12 School District, 2010

 
 
Promoting Economic Opportunity
 
The following is a response to an article about personal financial literacy that appeared in New Yorker magazine.  It was submitted by Nan Morrison, President and CEO of the New York City-based Council for Economic Education (CEE) and printed in the July 2010 issue of the New Yorker.  The Colorado Council for Economic Education (CCEE) and its five university-based centers for economic education are affiliated with CEE.
 
America is about economic opportunity – our kids need to be financially fit and economically literate to grasp that opportunity. As consumers, investors, entrepreneurs and voters we all make decisions that involve finance and economics every day. If every parent, school and state made economic and financial education a priority in schools from K-12, perhaps more Americans would be able to ensure their financial well-being in a changing and complex world. Improving our collective economic and financial literacy is vital to our economic growth, job creation, and prosperity. Many in government, education, and financial services across our nation support those goals as they are good business and good citizenship as well as essential ingredients in a stable financial system.
 
 

“CCEE always does an amazing job at providing resources to students K-12. It also gives an opportunity for individuals to build their own personal knowledge of economics.” - Yau-Jua Ku, Meadow Community School, Mapleton School District

 
CCEE Board of Directors


 

 
Learn more about CCEE’s programs, visit www.ccee.net

Please make a tax-deductible donation to the Colorado Council
for Economic Education today!
Donations are made through the GivingFirst.org website