Illinois Council on Economic Education:
Key Programs
The Stock Market Game™ Program
With The Stock Market Game program, you teach core competencies, critical thinking skills and teamwork in one fascinating program that engages your students AND meets your state's standards. Suggested for grades 4-12.
Simple, focused lesson plans provide the teacher with core concepts, enrichment activities, vocabulary and assessments that make the SMG easy to teach.
The Economics Concept Poster Contest
The Economics Concept Poster Contest stimulates student interest in grades 1 - 8, in the fundamentals of our economic system. Teachers find this program to be a great way to help students learn about the economy and have fun while learning. The competition helps all students learn and provides an opportunity for them to creatively demonstrate their understanding of the economy.
Competitions are held at both regional and state levels.
Economics Challenge
The Economics Challenge is a competition for high school students, testing their knowledge of economics and their economic reasoning abilities. Students compete in a preliminary online test, with the top teams advancing to a Chicago onsite competition. There, teams complete written tests, with a final "buzzer round" for the top teams.
Competitions are held at the state, regional and national levels.
3M Economic Educator Awards
The 3M Economic Educator Awards program acknowledges teachers of grades K-12 for excellence in teaching economics.
The Innovative Economic Educator Award recognizes teachers who create and implement innovative projects that increase economic understanding. The Economic Education Excellence Award recognizes teachers for their long-standing commitment to economic education and excellence in teaching economics.
Illinois Personal Finance Challenge
The inaugural year of Illinois Personal Finance Challenge, sponsored by ICEE, will recognize students who demonstrate high levels of comprehension and application of personal finance concepts and skills, and reward teachers for outstanding practices in teaching personal finance courses.
The competition will begin with online testing in early 2009, and culminate with the State Championship competition in Chicago in April 2009. With the initial round being online, every school in Illinois will be able to compete. Twenty top teams from the online competition will be invited to compete for the State Championship and $500 Series I U.S. Savings Bonds!
