PROFESSIONAL
Rigor, Relevance, & Relationships
Financial Literacy in the Classroom
Integrating relevant financial literacy lessons into educational curricula is more important today than ever. To successfully manage their lives after high school students must be able to face the realities of managing their money, and teachers can provide the tools to help them. We literally cannot afford to do otherwise.
Earlier this year, a Financial Literacy Survey conducted by Princeton Survey Research Associates of the National Foundation for Credit Counseling and MSN Money released some troubling findings about how prepared Americans were and are to face tough times. According to the survey, most Americans do not have a budget, have never checked their credit scores, and lack the emergency funds to withstand 3-6 months without income.
Recently, the State of Ohio passed a bill requiring the integration of economics and financial literacy in high school. In Ohio, school districts can now require students enrolled in grades 9-12, as a condition of graduating, to take a course at some point during those years that includes the fundamentals of financial literacy. In 2007, Oklahoma passed the Passport to Financial Literacy Act, created for students in grades 7-12. The law outlines a curriculum that covers real-world topics that include: earning an income; balancing a checkbook; understanding taxes, credit, loans and interest; saving and investing; and planning for retirement. (For more information on the Oklahoma law, go to www.sde.state.ok.us.)
Though such topics are often covered in Social Studies, Math, and Business classes, they are naturals for FACS teachers, whose subjects' direct connection to finance-related life skills is undeniable. This is why Glencoe has integrated Financial Literacy activities into programs such as Developing Life Skills and Applying Life Skills. The features serve as springboards for FACS teachers to discuss financial literacy topics and apply real-world skills for their students.
Applied Life Skills offers Financial Literacy features throughout its chapters, each presenting a real-world situation with a mathematics problem to solve.
Gene Siciliano, noted financial expert and author of Finance for Non-Financial Managers (McGraw-Hill, 2003) traces today's economic challenges to a lack of financial literacy in today's business professionals and managers. To avoid repeating our mistakes, he urges, we must do whatever is necessary to prepare today's students for tomorrow. "Absolutely everyone should know the basics of personal finance," says Siciliano, "and starting early is the best possible way to give kids a head start on a bright future."
