Students in the Economics for Hawai'i Teachers course with Gerard Derecks (top row, far-right).
When HPU launched its Economics for Hawai‘i Teachers course in 2022, five teachers enrolled that first summer. Four years later, as the HPU Center for Entrepreneurship and Economic Education (CEEE) approaches its fifth anniversary next month, more than 2,000 Hawai‘i teachers have completed its programs, representing more than 10% of the state’s entire K-12 teacher workforce.
CEEE was built by HPU Director of the Center for Economic Education Gerard Dericks, Ph.D. who was born and raised in Hawai‘i, attended HPU as an undergraduate, and earned his Ph.D. from the London School of Economics. He initially designed the free course for in-person instruction and later moved it online to reach more teachers across the state.
The results have followed the growth. The average economic literacy achieved by these teachers exceeds that of students who passed an AP Economics course, and retesting shows they retain those gains more than a year later. The Center’s Economics Teacher Training course has also increased the number of teachers statewide who are highly qualified to teach high school economics by 15%.
CEEE’s signature event, the Hawai‘i State Economics Challenge, has seen student participation grow five-fold since the center’s founding, to more than 250 students.
Along the way, CEEE created the state’s first online repository of lesson plans on age-appropriate economics topics for grades PreK-12, the Hawai‘i Teachers Economics Library, along with an Economics Dictionary for both elementary and secondary students.
The center’s reach extended beyond the classroom as well. CEEE initiated HPU’s relationship with Blue Startups, leading to this summer’s HPU x Blue Startups Entrepreneurship Bootcamp, which ran for the first time last month at HPU’s Aloha Tower Marketplace Campus for one week.
“Five years ago, we set out to change how Hawai‘i’s students understand money, markets, and their own economic futures, and we knew the fastest way to reach thousands of students was through their teachers,” Dericks said. “Today, more than 2,000 educators across the state have gone through our programs, and the data tells us it’s working: with teachers and students from Hilo to Hanapepe growing in economic understanding. As CEEE marks its fifth anniversary, I’m proud of what we’ve built for Hawai‘i’s keiki, and we’re looking forward to the positive impact these initiatives will continue to have across the state for years to come.”
For more information on CEEE or its programs, click here.
