U-T Tyler Gets Educational Training Grant

TYLER — The University of Texas at Tyler has received a substantial materials grant to provide educational training for K-12 teachers. With the $80,000 award – the largest of its kind in Texas – the UT Tyler Center for Economic Education and Financial Literacy will equip area teachers with the knowledge and tools they need to incorporate economics and personal finance into the K-12 curriculum.

“This grant, awarded by the Council for Economic Education in New York and funded by State Farm Insurance, has the potential to positively impact the lives of 50,000 young people in Northeast Texas,” said Susan Doty, UT Tyler center director. “We are able to offer this level of outreach to elementary, middle and high school teachers because of the generous support of our local sponsors – Texas Bank and Trust, Austin Bank and Southside Bank – whose collective financial support was key to us receiving this grant.”

“This is not a drop in program; it is not a one-time, independent unit,” Doty added. “Rather, it is an approach that helps teachers integrate real-world math and the economic way of thinking into the courses they teach as part of the state curriculum. The effects of this grant are even more impressive over time.”

Materials from Virtual Economics 4.5 will be distributed to K-12 math, social studies, business and gifted teachers in Regions VII and VIII through a series of 25 full-day professional development teacher-training workshops. By the year’s end, the center will train 500 area teachers on the ways to integrate economics and personal finance into their curriculum.