The federal government's effort to avoid an economic meltdown on Wall Street has sparked renewed interest not just in economics, but in the teaching of economics here in Georgia.

The present economic crisis shows how important economics and financial literacy are in the dayto day lives of Americans. That's not going to change, making the teaching of economics and financial literacy to tomorrow's citizens so important.

To bring the latest in economics and financial literacy to Washington- Wilkes Comprehensive High School, Donny Swinson, the Social Studies Department chairman, attended last week's EconomicsAmerica Conference at the Brasstown Valley Resort. Hosted by the Georgia Council on Economic Education (GCEE), the conference was intended to "train the trainers" with instructional blocks for school district administrators on teaching teachers economics lessons for K-12 students. Attendees were introduced to new programs on topics like international trade and the Georgia economy.

The 39 EconomicsAmerica coordinators attending the September 22-23 conference received instruction in content and grade-appropriate materials for helping teachers improve their instructional skills in economics and personal finance, subjects many teachers are not always familiar with when they leave college.

"This is exactly what we need to be able to deliver content knowledge to the teachers," commented one EconomicsAmerica coordinator from Rockdale County who attended the conference.

EconomicsAmerica is a nationwide network in schools around Georgia and across the country that delivers instructional resources in economics to teachers. In Georgia, there are 113 public school systems and 31 independent schools participating in the EconomicsAmerica network. GCEE administers the EconomicsAmerica network in Georgia.

GCEE specializes in providing training for Georgia teachers through workshops and instructional materials. A 2007 study of 166,000 test scores from Georgia high school students in more than 4,000 classes between 2004 and 2006 indicate that students in classes taught by teachers who had attended GCEE workshops score significantly higher statistically than other students.

The study, funded in part by the National Council on Economic Education and the U.S. Department of Education, found that the average scores of students whose teachers have attended just one GCEE workshop are 2.9 percent higher than those of students whose teachers have never attended a GCEE workshop. Test scores improved with each additional workshop up to 13 workshops.

Many GCEE workshops are offered at no charge, something cashstrapped school systems can take advantage of to help their teachers improve their instructional skills in economics. High school test scores in economics have gone up in Georgia and are now higher than all but one of the eight subjects tested in the state-mandated End of Course Tests.