A Short History of the University of Arizona Office of Economic Education

In 2003 the Thomas R. Brown Foundation began funding economics education initiatives for K-12 teachers. In 2009 they funded the Office of Economic Education (OEE) at the University of Arizona. Together with colleagues at the Arizona Council on Economic Education, the three agencies continue to provide professional development programs based on the most recent Arizona History and Social Science Standards, which include economics and personal finance, across the entire K-12 spectrum. The mission of the OEE is to improve students' ability to use economic principles in their private and public decision making. The OEE pursues this mission by providing K-12 educators with free training and resources for effective and up-to-date classroom instruction in economics and financial literacy. Professional training programs are offered directly through the OEE or in partnership with individual schools, districts, or county school superintendents

Historically, the OEE has served educators in Cochise, Graham, Greenlee, Pima, Pinal, Santa Cruz, and Yuma Counties with in-person workshops. Today the OEE also offers virtual programs available to all Arizona K-12 educators. Since 2009, the OEE has offered nearly 200 professional development programs, filling more than 4,400 seats.