Join us for a keynote lecture and lunch, featuring Dr. Andrew T. Hill, economic education advisor at the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia. National Thrift Week is a public education campaign from January 17–23 that seeks to bring together educators and a broad coalition of citizen leaders who share an appreciation of thrift as the wise use of resources and a conviction that thrift is the friend of sustainable prosperity, broad economic opportunity, beautiful neighborhoods, and a healthy planet. This luncheon and lecture is sponsored by the Institute for American Values.

Over the past decade, there has been increased attention on the need to include personal finance in the K-12 curriculum. This perceived need has been fueled by articles from the popular press, statistics on the impact of poor financial decisions made by young adults, and articles from the academic community. In addition, the call for financial education has been reinforced by former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan and current Chairman Ben Bernanke. While there has been a growing interest in offering personal finance education in the K-12 classroom, there is limited evidence that personal finance instruction increases student personal finance achievement. 

Dr. Hill's keynote, titled "Personal Financial Education: What Research Tells Us," will examine, in a broad way, the existing research into the effectiveness of personal financial education, particularly at the high school level. He will also talk about some of the characteristics of high quality measurement of personal finance programs.

Dr. Hill is the economic education advisor at the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia and adjunct professor of economics at Temple University. Since 2002, he has led the Philadelphia Fed’s economic education programs, which reach hundreds of teachers each year. Andrew is the 2012 recipient of the Bessie B. Moore Service Award from the National Association of Economic Educators, a 2012 recipient of the University of Delaware Presidential Citation Award for Outstanding Achievement, and a 2001 recipient of the University of Delaware Excellence in Teaching award. Dr. Hill has published articles in the Journal of Consumer Education, Social Education, and Social Studies and the Young Learner and written numerous lessons on economics and personal finance for use in the K-12 classroom. Dr. Hill currently serves as chair of the Research Committee of the National Association of Economic Educators, and earned his B.S., M.A., and Ph.D. in economics from the University of Delaware.