From campus to classroom

Maxson Sherman says that, as recently as a year ago, he often had trouble following what the economists on television news broadcasts were saying.

Today, the high school teacher from Canby, Ore., is working with a project in Namibia that will introduce new technology and provide educational programs in economic theory and entrepreneurship to residents of the southwest African nation. He credits UD's Master of Arts in Economics and Entrepreneurship for Educators (MAEEE) program with helping him develop expertise to contribute to the project.

"The goals of the MAEEE program closely tie with the goals of the Namibia project, and I am excited about the resources and support that the MAEEE staff have been able to provide," Sherman says. "It has been an outstanding opportunity for me to enhance my professional development."

Sherman was one of 29 educators who came to UD in June and July to participate in MAEEE, which operates in the Alfred Lerner College of Business and Economics' Center for Economic Education and Entrepreneurship. The program, which began in 1981, strives to strengthen the economic and entrepreneurial content of instruction from elementary school through high school by educating classroom teachers.

James O'Neill, professor of economics and director of the economic education center, says he believes the teachers who graduate from MAEEE set off a domino effect that instills a sense of economic consciousness into the minds of educators around the world.

"The idea is to recruit bright teachers from all over the globe, give them a stimulating curriculum and expect good things to happen," O'Neill says. "Our philosophy revolves around the idea that one highly motivated and skilled individual can have a positive influence on many others."

Additionally, he says, the program aims to develop meaningful economic education and entrepreneurship programs across the nation and establish a network of educators who can help instruct their colleagues in effective methods of teaching in elementary and secondary schools.

Graduates of the program say it is meeting those goals.

James Anderson, who recently earned his MAEEE and now teaches in Chicago, says a key element of the program "is that it incorporates economics into all the core academic disciplines at each grade level, so virtually any educator can benefit from it."

A 1995 MAEEE graduate, Donna Reichel, had never taken an economics course until she applied for admission to the program. Today, she works as a social studies specialist for the Harris County Department of Education in Texas and is an adjunct professor at the University of Houston. Reichel describes the UD program as "the catalyst that changed the course of my career."

Designed specifically for working educators, the program requires participants to spend six weeks each summer on the UD campus and to complete coursework and related projects during the school year from their home locations. To enroll, students must meet admission requirements of the University's Office of Graduate Studies, have completed at least three semester hours in economics and have classroom teaching experience. They also must be nominated by an organization committed to economic education and entrepreneurship.

When students first enroll, they take summer courses at UD in three areas--basic economic concepts, strategies for entrepreneurship and economic teaching strategies. During the next school year, they develop an economic/entrepreneurship education project to be implemented in a classroom and are required to take or transfer six credit hours in economics, entrepreneurship and education.

The second summer, students again take courses at UD, this time in money and banking, international trade, entrepreneurship and micro/macro applications, as well as a seminar dealing with curriculum. The next fall, they complete their implementation project and write a public policy paper.

Sherman and his MAEEE classmates began their program this past summer and will complete it in early 2005. Even though they are just in their first year, many say they already see benefits from participating.

For example, Sherman is working with a partnership between his home school district, where he teaches agriculture education, and the school system in Okahandja, Namibia. The project is funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development.

"The University of Delaware's MAEEE program has been, and will continue to be, an important resource in the implementation of my part of the [Namibia] project," Sherman says.

His fellow students also say they are enthusiastic about the program.

Diane Neylan, a Virginia teacher who received the 2003 Nasdaq National Teaching Award for Economics, calls MAEEE "a visionary program." Patrick Lombardozzi, a teacher at A. I. du Pont High School in Wilmington, Del., describes it as "a ripple in the water" for the way its participants affect students, other teachers and educational programs.

Ngahuia Lott, another current student who came to Delaware last summer from her home in New Zealand to take part, says the program has international benefits that she's seen firsthand.

"This is such a great opportunity for me," Lott says. "I get to look at what's going on in America and bring that information back to help improve conditions in my own country."

--Anthony Pierce, AS '04