Minnesota State Council On Economic Education

MCEE EQUIPS MINNESOTANS WITH THE ECONOMIC AND PERSONAL FINANCIAL UNDERSTANDING NEEDED TO SUCCEED IN TODAY'S COMPLEX ECONOMY. WE FULFILL OUR MISSION BY TEACHING TEACHERS THROUGH TOP QUALITY PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT AND PROVIDING CURRICULUM MATERIALS; BY ENGAGING STUDENTS WITH CHALLENGING PROGRAMS IN ECONOMIC AND PERSONAL FINANCE EDUCATION; AND BY REACHING COMMUNITIES THROUGH OUR COMMUNITY MENTORSHIP FOR FINANCIAL CAPABILITY PROGRAM AND OTHER PUBLIC OUTREACH ACTIVITIES.

MCEE REACHES ITS GOALS BY TEACHING TEACHERS, ENGAGING STUDENTS, AND REACHING COMMUNITIES. IN FY 2021, MCEE PROVIDED 97 PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT WORKSHOPS, WITH OVER 188 UNIQUE HOURS OF CONTENT, ALONG WITH CURRICULUM AND OTHER RESOURCES FOR MORE THAN 2,000 MINNESOTA TEACHERS GIVING THEM RESEARCH-BASED KNOWLEDGE, TEACHING TECHNIQUES, AND LESSONS TO ASSURE THE 40,000 STUDENTS THEY REACH GAIN STRONG ECONOMIC AND PERSONAL FINANCIAL KNOWLEDGE FOR SUCCESS THROUGH RELEVANT AND ENGAGING REAL-WORLD LEARNING.IN FY 2021, 1,540 STUDENTS PARTICIPATED IN MCEE DIRECT-TO-STUDENT PROGRAMS - VIRTUAL COMPETITIONS, CHALLENGES, AND INSTITUTES - MOVING THEIR ECONOMIC/PERSONAL FINANCE KNOWLEDGE AND CRITICAL THINKING SKILLS TO A HIGHER LEVEL. OVERALL, THE PROGRAMS ARE DESIGNED TO REACH STUDENTS FROM TRADITIONALLY UNDERSERVED COMMUNITIES, PROMOTE CULTURALLY RESPONSIVE TEACHING, AND SUPPORT EFFECTIVE VIRTUAL TEACHING. SINCE 2006, MCEE HAS ALSO WORKED WITH NEARLY 120 COMMUNITY ORGANIZATIONS SUPPORTING EFFECTIVE PERSONAL FINANCE EDUCATION FOR OVER 3,000 LOW-INCOME MINNESOTANS THROUGH THE COMMUNITY MENTORSHIP PROGRAM (ON HOLD DURING THE PANDEMIC).WHILE THERE ARE NO INCOME QUALIFICATIONS FOR MOST MCEE PROGRAMMING AND WE SERVE TEACHERS AND STUDENTS STATEWIDE, FOR THE PAST 15 YEARS MCEE HAS INCREASINGLY DELIVERED TARGETED PROGRAMS, OR DONE SPECIAL RECRUITMENT FOR EXISTING PROGRAMS, AIMED AT COMMUNITIES OF COLOR AND UNDERSERVED STUDENT AND ADULT POPULATIONS. AMONG THESE PROGRAMS ARE THE FOLLOWING:-COMMUNITY MENTORSHIP: BUILDING FINANCIAL LITERACY IN COMMUNITIES (SINCE 2005).-MATHEMATICS AND ECONOMICS (SINCE 2010), HISTORICALLY SERVING TWIN CITIES' AREA PUBLIC SCHOOLS BY TRAINING SCHOOL STAFF AND PROVIDING CURRICULUM. -COLLEGE DOLLARS & SENSE: PERSONAL FINANCE FOR LIFE AFTER HIGH SCHOOL (SINCE 2013, FOCUSING ON YOUTH FROM GROUPS UNDERREPRESENTED IN HIGHER EDUCATION. -FOSTERING FUTURE ENTREPRENEURS (SINCE 2017), IMMERSING TEACHERS IN DESIGN THINKING AND LEAN STARTUP METHODOLOGY CONCEPTS USING A HANDS-ON CURRICULUM TO PROMOTE ENTREPRENEURSHIP WITH THEIR STUDENTS. RESEARCH SHOWS THAT ENTREPRENEURSHIP IS AN ECONOMIC "LEVELER" FOR PEOPLE OF COLOR AND IMMIGRANTS.-THE URBAN ECONOMICS CHALLENGE (SINCE 2017), A REGIONAL COMPETITION THAT FOCUSES ON INCREASING DIVERSITY IN TWIN CITIES AND STATE STUDENT COMPETITIONS.-LEARNING TOGETHER, THRIVING TOGETHER (LTTT): PERSONAL FINANCE FOR DIVERSE STUDENT POPULATIONS (SINCE 2017), NOW REFERRED TO AS CULTURALLY RESPONSIVE PERSONAL FINANCE (CRPF), AIMS TO TRAIN MINNESOTA'S TEACHERS TO DELIVER CULTURALLY RESPONSIVE ECONOMICS AND PERSONAL FINANCIAL LITERACY EDUCATION.-THE CENTER FOR DIVERSITY IN ECONOMICS (MCDE; SINCE 2018), OUR NEWEST AFFILIATED CENTER, WITH A STATEWIDE FOCUS, EXISTS TO ENSURE THAT PEOPLE OF ALL BACKGROUNDS LEAD AND INFLUENCE ECONOMIC RESEARCH AND DECISION-MAKING. MCEE COLLABORATES WITH MCDE TO PROMOTE AND SUPPORT GENDER AND RACIAL DIVERSITY IN ECONOMICS AT EVERY STAGE OF THE EDUCATIONAL AND CAREER PIPELINE.