MSU Center for Economic Education and Financial Literacy in Russia
Since the collapse of the Soviet Union in the early 1990s, Russia and her sister republics in Eastern Europe and Central Asia have experienced an economic revolution of immense proportions. These newly independent nations are transforming their economies from systems based on centralized government planning to systems based on markets and private enterprise. The transition has been difficult everywhere and not equally successful across the vast region that was once the Soviet Union.
For more than a decade, the National Council on Economic Education has provided assistance to the former Soviet republics in the form of teacher training and capacity building. If the transition to market-based economies is to be successful, citizens must understand and appreciate how markets work to satisfy both private and public demands. The need for market-based economic education in Russia and the other transitioning economies is great.
Through its EconomicsInternational programs the NCEE has trained hundreds of local educators and translated thousands of pages of instructional materials for teachers in the transition zone. Additionally, teachers and educators from the U.S., including some from Mississippi, have made exchange visits with their international counterparts to learn more about the issues of economic transition and the global economy. The cornerstone of the NCEE's outreach efforts is the "Training of Trainers" program that is designed to build a native capacity to establish and produce market-based economic education programs for elementary and secondary teachers. These activities have been funded by the U.S. Department of Education in cooperation with the U.S. Department of State.
In 2005 the MSU Center for Economic Education and Financial Literacy received a grant from the NCEE to evaluate the effectiveness of its programs in Russia. MSU CEEFL faculty are partnering with their counterparts in three Russian cities, Nizhny Novgorod, Novosibirsk, and St. Petersburg, to conduct a study of the impact that Russian trainers are making on high school students in their region through locally produced teacher training workshops. Macro International, an educational research corporation, is working with the partners to ensure that best practices of scientific research are followed. Formal planning for the project began in January 2005 with a meeting between the NCEE, MSU CEEFL, and Macro International in Washington, DC. This group then met with their international partners in Moscow, Russia, during May 2005. Teacher training workshops will be held in the three Russian cities during August and September of 2005 and student testing will conclude at the end of the academic year 2006. Final results will be available by the Fall of 2006.
For more information on the NCEE's international programs, visit http://www.ncee.net/ei/
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| Moscow Planning Meeting, May 2005 | (Left to Right) Back row: Irina Pobegaylo (St. Petersburg), Tatiana Nalepa (Novosibirsk), Svetlana Mikheeva (St. Petersburg), Barbara DeVita (NCEE EconomicsInternational Director), Yuriy Pikhteev (Nizhny Novgorod), Nina Chinakova (Novosibirsk), Meghan Millea (MSU CEEFL). Front row: Andrey Terentiev (Nizhny Novogorod), Paul Grimes (MSU CEEFL). Not pictured, Kate Goddard (Macro International). |
For information about this page, contact Paul W. Grimes
