1) What is Ele:Vate?

            Ele:Vate is a multi-partner initiative to educate and excite urban youth educators (in school and after-school settings) in teaching economic fundamentals, financial literacy skills, and entrepreneurship to low-income youth in order to better their future economic prospects. We teach urban educators “Keystone Economic Principles” they can integrate across their curricular disciplines; help youth launch school-based businesses; get kids involved hands-on in personal money management through our innovative mini-economy called Economis; and train them in critical financial literacy skills including budgeting, saving, investing, and credit management. Our penultimate vision is for youth to know and practice the essential life skill of making good choices--based on cost-benefit analysis, opportunity costs, risk assessment, and discernment of short and long term consequences. Our ultimate vision is to empower youth to exit poverty by equipping them to integrate successfully into the mainstream economy.
 
2) What does “economic literacy” mean?

            “Economic literacy is the ability to identify economic problems, alternatives, costs, and benefits; analyze the incentives at work in economic situations; examine the consequences of changes in economic conditions and public policies; collect and organize economic evidence; and weigh costs against benefits,” as stated by the Minneapolis Federal Reserve Bank.
            That may sound heady. What Ele:Vate does, though, is straightforward: help young people figure out basic concepts that they need to know in order to function well in the real-world economy. Our nine Keystone Economic Principles help educators grasp the essentials and communicate them to their students—even to children as young as first grade.  The concepts come alive through our interactive lessons that show youth how to apply the principles to daily life. 
 
3) What is a “wholistic” approach to teaching economics?

            Ele:Vate’s pedagogy encompasses the academic understanding of economic literacy, the practical application of financial literacy, the experiential dynamic of Economis, and the empowerment of entrepreneurship.  Each element is essential. Together, they become a powerful tool with the potential to break the cycle of generational poverty. Our approach helps students to make sense of the larger world they live in and to be active participants in it, not passive bystanders. It empowers them to use economic literacy to address problems of alienation and hopelessness, both individually and within society. 

4) Why is Ele:Vate so important?

Ele:Vate is critical for at least three reasons.
            First and most obviously, low-income youth lack essential financial literacy skills. National research shows a distressing dearth of basic financial life skills among American youth, and few receive appropriate training in school. Moreover, these youth live in environments characterized by disadvantageous financial arrangements (e.g., rent-to-own, payday advance loan shops). They need practical training that “sticks,” which we accomplish through the hands-on personal finance management of Economis and our interactive financial literacy curriculum.
            Second, studies show enormous interest by at-risk youth in entrepreneurship. Kids otherwise not engaged in school/academics can be motivated through hands-on involvement in entrepreneurial ventures, thus enhancing their school performance and providing them practical skills they can draw on as adults, when some may decide to start their own businesses.
            Third and most important, at-risk kids’ chances for thriving in life depend in large measure on their ability to make good and healthy choices. As they learn and practice fundamental economic concepts such as cost-benefit analysis and opportunity costs, they are empowered away from passivity to active, careful, well-informed decision-making.
Armed with economic literacy, critical financial life skills, and a hopeful sense of their ability to engage positively in the marketplace, these young people will be equipped to steward their talents and resources to achieve economic progress.
 
5) Where did Ele:Vate get its start?

            Ele:Vate began with a vision to take the economic literacy curriculum designed by the Powell Center in Richmond, VA, which was being used with success at a well-heeled suburban prep school, and contextualize it for effective implementation in inner-city schools working with low-income youth. Six schools from the National Association of Street Schools (NASS) were selected as initial pilot sites, and the educational benefits and student enthusiasm for the economics education led to the decision to create full-orbed “economic literacy model schools.” Simultaneous to this work, the project funder sought also to identify other avenues through which to reach at-risk urban youth. Thus was borne our efforts to partner with after-school programs, many identified through our promotional work with the Christian Community Development Association (CCDA). Demonstrated enthusiasm for Economis among this constituency led to a new initiative to bring the software, onsite coaching, and an interactive curriculum on financial life skills to nonprofits in six cities.

6) Who is Ele:Vate serving and how does it work?

            Ele:Vate serves urban, low-income children and teens by equipping the teachers and youth workers with whom they interact. In its “in school” track, Ele:Vate is creating “model economic literacy schools” through NASS. In these schools, teachers understand how to integrate basic economic principles into their lessons across academic disciplines; youth have opportunities to participate in school-based entrepreneurial ventures; and the Economis token economy system provides students with both incentives for positive school engagement/behavior and a fun, hands-on way to learn personal finance management. In its “after-school” track, Ele:Vate is working with dozens of inner-city youth agencies to integrate Economis in their programming and teach an interactive curriculum of financial life lessons.
 
7) At the end of the day, what would my program success look like?
For after-school partners of Ele:Vate, expected results include:

• Increased youth participation and retention rates in their constructive activities (because of the attractive incentives offered through Economis);
• Increased student financial literacy (measured by standardized pre- and post-tests).

Expected results in Ele:Vate’s model economic literacy schools include:

• Demonstrated growth in students’ understanding of “the economic way of thinking,” leading to more informed/intentional decision-making as reported by students, teachers, and parents;
• Gains in student engagement, attendance, preparation, and participation that result in increases in instructional time;
• Improvements in student reading comprehension and mathematics ability.

     
8) How can my after-school or school program adopt Ele:Vate and get started?

            Faith-based after-school programs reaching low-income youth can access the Economis software, set-up manual, and downloadable curriculum for free through the Ele:Vate website. To request on-site training and coaching, nonprofits should contact Ele:Vate at 434-293-5656.
            Currently, school leaders can obtain the Keystone Economic Principles booklet and a curriculum of economic literacy lessons from the Powell website. Teachers can also attend a Regional Economic Institute—three-day seminars by Powell/NASS that offer a hands-on/high-touch means of learning how to teach basic economic concepts effectively. Soon, NASS/Powell will publish a manual on creating an economic literacy model school. Videotaped instruction in basic economics, as well as sample lessons in various content areas, are also under development and eventually will be available online.

9) What has the Ele:Vate team learned so far, and what’s next for this initiative?

            In the after-school track, we’ve learned that urban workers are hungry for accessible, engaging, culturally relevant tools to equip their youth with financial literacy skills.  Through our work with urban schools, we’ve seen that interactive, “real-world-relevant” economic literacy instruction has sparked student engagement and begun helping youth internalize an economic way of thinking that is empowering and that enhances their decision-making capacities. Consequently, we seek to expand our reach, by working with networks of after-school programs to disseminate the Economis program and creating tools that will help more urban educators replicate model economic literacy schools.