The U.S. Department of Education will present its first Forum on Economic Education and Financial Literacy on Friday, Jan. 17 at 10 a.m., in its Barnard Auditorium, 400 Maryland Ave., S.W., Washington, D.C. The speaker will be Dara Duguay, executive director of the JumpStart Coalition for Personal Financial Literacy.

Duguay, whose coalition represents 140 organizations that work to provide economic education and personal financial skills to students and adults, will speak on "Graduating a Financially Fit Generation: Education is the Key."

Before joining JumpStart, Duguay was director of education for the Consumer Credit Counseling Service of Los Angeles, which specializes in providing free budget and debt counseling. She is the author of "Please Send Money: A Financial Survival Guide for Young Adults on Their Own (2001)" and the forthcoming "Don't Spend Your Raise: and 59 Other Money Rules You Can't Afford to Break."

The Forum on Economic Education and Financial Literacy was launched to help educate departmental employees and outside guests about new developments in the field. It is part of the administration's ongoing effort to improve financial education among school-age children.

This is an increasingly important area as the Department of Education prepares for the first National Assessment of Education Progress (NAEP) test in Economics in 2006. First established in 1969, NAEP tests measure performance in several fields for students in grades 4, 8 or 12 and are now developed by the National Assessment Governing Board.

The NAEP test in Economics, which will evaluate high-school seniors, is mandated in the landmark No Child Left Behind Act, signed by President Bush in January 2002.

JumpStart, which already does a Personal Finance Survey, will help students better understand personal finance through a recent $250,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Education to strengthen its clearinghouse of financial information.

The second speaker in the series will be Dr. Robert Duvall, president and chief executive officer of the National Council on Economic Education, a prominent nonprofit group based in New York City. Duvall's presentation will be held on Feb. 21 at 10 a.m., also in the department's Barnard Auditorium.

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