This U.S.-Romanian Classroom Partnership program is part of the National Council on Economic Education’s EconomicsInternational initiative. It is underwritten by a grant through the Cooperative Education Exchange Program, funded through the U.S. Department of Education in coordination with the U.S. Department of State. This U.S.-Romanian Classroom Partnership is being facilitated by the Illinois Council on Economic Education, in cooperation with NCEE.

Illinois Council on Economic Education Established in 1951, the Illinois Council on Economic Education (ICEE) is a not-for-profit, non-partisan partnership of business, education and labor providing economics and personal finance programs for K–12 schools in Illinois. Through eight university-based centers, ICEE provides outstanding professional development programs for teachers and quality student programs to enhance economic and financial literacy. These include hands-on workshops, credit courses, curriculum materials, curriculum consulting, and teacher award programs. ICEE also providesd student programs such as The Stock Market Game™ and the Economics Poster Contest.

It is the mission of the Illinois Council on Economic Education to help all children in Illinois become effective participants in the economy, enabling them to benefit themselves and society. As effective participants in the economy, all students should leave high school with the skills and knowledge that will enable them to become: productive members of the work force as employees or entrepreneurs; responsible citizens; knowledgeable consumers; prudent savers and investors; effective participants in the global economy; and, competent decision makers throughout their lives.

National Council on Economic Education The National Council on Economic Education (NCEE) is a national nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting economic literacy. Its mission is to help students develop economic ways of thinking and problem-solving that they can use in their lives as consumers, savers, investors, members of the workforce, responsible citizens, and effective participants in the global economy.

Founded in 1949, the NCEE conducts its mission through the EconomicsAmerica program for the nation’s schools; EconomicsInternational, a program for supporting economic education delivery in emerging market economies; and EconomicsExchange, activities for life-long learning. NCEE’s network of affiliated state councils and university-based centers on economic education delivers these programs nationally and internationally.

Cooperative Education Exchange Program (CEEP) The Cooperative Education Exchange Program (CEEP) supports reform in economic and civic education and is funded through the U.S. Department of Education in coordination with the U.S. Department of State. Through the CEEP, the NCEE helps international partners undergoing the transition to a market economy promote economic literacy through training, materials development and translation, conferences, study tours, and organizational development. The program brings together U.S. economic educators with counterparts from central and Eastern Europe and the former Soviet states and is beginning to explore collaborations with educators in other transition countries.