Helping young people learn to think, choose, and make better
economic and financial choices in a global economy
Laura Ewing
President/CEO
1801 Allen Parkway,
Houston, TX 77019
P: 713.655.1650
F: 713.655.1655
Laura@economicstexas.org
www.economicstexas.org
WWW.smartertexas.org
The Texas Council on Economic Education (TCEE)
Teaches Teachers
Who Teach Students
Who Are the Future of Texas
--John Anderson, TCEE Board Member
Staff Development
Playful Economics
• Economics
• Entrepreneurship
• Career/Business
• Financial Literacy
Three Student Programs
Directly Reach 27,000 students annually
Stock Market Game™
Economics Challenge
Personal Financial Literacy (PFL) Challenge
Why care about economic and
financial literacy education?
Why educate students how to budget?
(The following statistics published May 21, 2011 by www.economywatch.com)
• Total U.S. consumer debt in 2010:
– nearly $2.4 trillion
– $7,800 debt per person
• 2 – 2.5 million Americans seek the help of a credit counselor each
year to avoid bankruptcy.
On average, clients seeking financial counseling were
• $43,000 in debt of which $20,000 was consumer debt
• $8,500 was revolving debt (such as credit card debt).
Why is there a need to teach personal financial literacy?
• “Student Loan Debt Exceeds Credit Card Debt in U.S.”
—September 10, 2010 USA Today article
– “The total student loan debt is approximately $850
billion.”
– Consumers owed $828 billion in revolving credit,
including credit card debt, according to July 2010
seasonally adjusted numbers given in Federal Reserve
Bank report
Why encourage young people to save?
Elliott and Beverly in the paper The Role of Savings and Wealth in Reducing
Wilt Between Expectations And College Attendance (2010) state that -
•when a savings account is set up for students,
they are 4 times more likely to go to college.
•if students have a savings account in their name,
they are 7 times more likely to go to college.
•
“I do know that kids have even fewer experiences with
money than ever before. The days of sending lunch money
and ice cream money are gone. Everything is put into an
account for the kids at school. Then all they see is their
parents using plastic even to pay for a drink at Sonic!
Children truly don’t have a sense of money and using it
wisely for their needs.”
—Valerie Johse, Retired Elementary Math Specialist in Pearland ISD
 $51 billion worth of fast food was charged to credit cards in
2006, compared to $33.2 billion the previous year.
•What if…
•Texas had had Personal Financial Literacy education for the last 30
years?
•Could a Smarter Texas have reduced the impact of the recession?
Helping young people learn to think, choose, and make better
economic and financial choices in a global economy
How Do We Build A Smarter Texas?
One Teacher
One Student
One Classroom
One School…At A Time
A FINANCIAL LITERACY PROGRAM SPONSORED BY
Helping young people learn to think, choose, and make better
economic and financial choices in a global economy
www.economicstexas.org
www.smartertexas.org
The Smarter Texas Program is made possible in part by the Council for Economic
Education through funding from the United States Department Education Office
of Innovation and Improvement.
?
So, what does Smarter Texas offer?
• PFL Staff Development for senior Economics & Career/Technical Teachers
Concern: too little/too late
• Introduction of PFL at the elementary level
• greater depth and breadth at middle school
• and then refinement at the high school level
• Support for the new requirements that:
– K to 8 mathematics educators incorporate PFL in their instruction
– Senior economics educators teach students about alternative methods of saving for
college or trade school
• Resources for lessons?
– Financial Fitness For Life
– Spiraled Curriculum
– As funding available, each teacher
receives $83.50 bundle
• Kindergarten – Grade 2
• Grades 3 – 5
• Grades 6 – 8
• Grades 9 – 12
Additional Resources for lessons
• Hands On Banking
• Financing Your Future
FLIGHT
Financial
Literacy
Ignites
Greater
Horizons for
Tomorrow
• More Intensive PFL
Content Training
• Speakers on:
Investments
Money and Banking
Investment in College
Federal Reserve Bank
Rent vs. Own Home
Credit Rating and
Building
– Insurance
–
–
–
–
–
–
TCEE and Opportunity Texas Next Goal:
Smarter Texans Save
Long Term Goal for students:
•Encourage students to save money for college, trade school, emergencies
•Work with Opportunity Texas to choose one area of Texas to provide matching
funding for student savings accounts.
•Change student behavior from just receiving financial literacy to developing
financial capability and asset building
What Other Programs Does the
Texas Council on Economic Education
Offer the Students and Teachers of Texas?
Staff Development Annually Reaches
1500 teachers and 250,000 new students who learn about:
Playful Economics
• Economics
• Entrepreneurship
• Career/Business
• Financial Literacy
Virtual Economics Training
•VE 4.0 CD/Pin Drive with 1400 +
lessons
•Training in 106 Texas districts
with at least one of lowest
performing schools in nation
(others invited)
•Training extended to other
interested districts
•Funded by State Farm and
Council for Economic Education
Economics Challenge
• Fall and Spring Online
Testing In Micro, Macro
and International
Economics
• Adam Smith Division
2nd place national
champs Bellaire HS 2010
• David Ricardo Division
3rd place national
champs Plano HS 2010
• State competition all
online this year
Personal Financial Literacy
Challenge
• Premier Challenge:
spring 2011 with campus
online testing
• “State Play-Offs” with 20
teams and 10 teachers
invited April 2011
• 2011-2012 fall and spring
online challenge will
determine state finalist
• State Competition all
online this year
Texas Regional Competitions
•
•
•
•
•
10 week simulation
Grades 4 through 12
Teams of 2 to 5
Virtual $100,000 to invest
25,000 Texas students
participate annually
• Legislative Challenge
• Research indicates
improved math scores on
standardized tests
• $10 per team
El Paso Sponsored by FirstLight
• State and national writing competition
• Must be a SMG participant
• Writing prompts require planning, critical
thinking skills and analysis of lessons learned
from the simulation
• 2009 Texas had the national winner
www.economicstexas.org
• Lesson Plans
• Books written by Texas
educators integrating
economics and
financial literacy with
math and language arts
at the
elementary, middle and
high school levels
Texas History Through
Economics
Economics For Educators, Rev. Ed.
Robert Hodgin, Ph.D.,
Economics Professor at UHCL
Helping young people learn to think, choose, and make better
economic and financial choices in a global economy
Laura Ewing
President/CEO
1801 Allen Parkway,
Houston, TX 77019
P: 713.655.1650
F: 713.655.1655
Laura@economicstexas.org
www.economicstexas.org
WWW.smartertexas.org