A white, hip roof colonial house at the west end
of the campus of Rhode Island College serves as headquarters
for the College's Center for Economic Education and
the Rhode Island Council on Economic Education. From
this base, Council President Jeffrey Blais and Center
Director Peter Moore work with classroom teachers and
school administrators throughout the Ocean State in
a collaborative effort to foster economic education.
The Rhode Island Council on Economic Education and
the Rhode Island College Center for Economic Education
are affiliates of EconomicsAmerica, a nationwide network
of state economic education councils and more than
260 university-based economic education centers. The
umbrella organization for EconomicsAmerica is the
National Council on Economic Education, a nonprofit
partnership of leaders in education, business, and
labor, devoted to helping students at all grade levels
learn to think and function in a changing global economy.
No Fancy Trappings
EconomicsAmerica pursues its mission by focusing its
efforts on teacher training. Each year, the network
of state councils and economic education centers conducts
workshops, graduate-level courses, and in-service
training for more than 120,000 teachers across the
United States. The teachers, in turn, deliver more
effective economic education to over 7 million students.
This network is the largest nongovernmental teacher
training organization in the world.
The state councils and centers manage to do all this
without lavish spending, large staffs, or fancy trappings.
Rhode Island is a prime example. Jeffrey Blais and
Peter Moore team up to work with 23 of Rhode Island's
36 school districts – 80 percent of the state's
public school enrollment – as well as with many
of the parochial and independent schools. They have
no formal support staff. They answer their own phones,
do their own photocopying, pour their own coffee.
Dr. Jeffrey Blais, who is also an associate professor
of economics at Rhode Island College, has been president
of the Rhode Island Council since 1986. His involvement
in economic education is broad and deep. Before coming
to Rhode Island, he was director of the Center for
Economic Education at the University of Pittsburgh.
Under his guidance, the Rhode Council on Economic
Education has continued to thrive and remains one
of the most effective Councils in the Economics-America
network.
Dr. Peter Moore has been involved, "off and
on," with the Rhode Island College Center for
Economic Education since day one. He was co-founder
and director of the Center when it opened its doors
in 1968, and his contributions to economic education
are widely recognized in national circles. At its
1997 annual meeting in Indianapolis, the National
Council on Economic Education presented him with the
Bessie B. Moore National Service Award for providing
service to the economic education network around the
country. (Peter never mentions the award first, but
if someone else brings it up, he is quick to note
with a smile that Bessie Moore is NOT a relative.)
Serving Grades K-12
Although most people might think of economics as a
pre-college course for high school juniors or seniors,
Jeff and Peter believe that economic education is
most effective with an integrated program for grades
K through 12, combined with a capstone economics course
for high school students.
Peter notes that elementary school teachers are an
extremely receptive audience: "They come to us
and say ‘I don't know economics. Teach me everything
you can.’" In recent years, more than 150
elementary school teachers have enrolled in the Rhode
Island Center's Saturday program on YESS!/Mini-Society,
a 10-week classroom simulation in which students in
grades 4 to 6 design and develop their own society
and, in the process, experience economic concepts
ranging from supply and demand to the importance of
entrepreneurship. Conducting classes on a Saturday
might not appeal to most people, but Jeff and Peter
are excited over the prospect of helping fourth-,
fifth-, and sixth-grade teachers bolster their knowledge
of prices, costs, markets, and how the market system
works.
Indeed, enthusiasm for economic education is strong
at all grade levels, and it shows no signs of abating.
Jeff and Peter predict that the recent introduction
of Voluntary National Content Standards in Economics
will stimulate teacher demand for economic education
across the board. The Standards include benchmarks
for grades 4, 8, and 12.
Using Technology
The Rhode Island Council and the Center have been
quick to recognize that technology has the potential
to draw more teachers to economic education courses.
Peter Moore, who has been a member of the National
Association of Economic Educators' Technology Committee
since 1994, notes: "Many of the teachers have
computers at home. They know how to use them. They're
looking for ideas on using technology to teach."
In fact, they are so interested that the Rhode Island
Center had to turn teachers away from three technology
workshops held in October and November 1997. The workshops
highlighted Net Newsline, which offers online economics
lessons for grades K to 12, and CyberTeach Guide,
a guide to using existing online lessons and creating
original lessons. Teachers seemed to be most impressed,
says Peter, by the broad range of online resources
and by the Web conferencing aspects of the Internet.
And he emphasizes that the Internet is most effective
as a resource when teachers use an activity-based
approach that "gives students a reason to do
something and gives them something to find."
These and other workshops offered through the Center
are made possible through the strong support received
from many quarters, including Rhode Island companies
and individuals, national foundations, and Rhode Island
College. College President John Nazarian has been
a staunch supporter, as has the College's Department
of Economics and Finance, which houses the Center.
True Economists
Another reason that the Council and Center have continued
to flourish is that neither Jeff nor Peter has been
content to stand pat or bask in past accomplishments.
This year they undertook a major effort to recruit
more school superintendents and classroom teachers
for the Rhode Island Council's Board of Trustees.
They have also decided to put their program and their
convictions to the "market test." Each school
district served by the Rhode Island Council and Center
is being asked to pay a modest annual affiliation
fee based on the number of buildings and the size
of the district. Jeff and Peter believe the fee "will
make for an even stronger commitment on the part of
most districts and will serve as a means for allocating
Council and Center resources to those who are willing
to pay for them." Spoken like true economists.
