Free Toolkit to Teach Personal Finance

The U.S. Department of Education has joined in a partnership with the U.S. Treasury to expand a program that was begun under the previous Administration to help more youth be competent about personal finance.  They’ve asked us to inform educators and others about the information below.

In a nutshell, this joint Department of Education/Treasury effort includes the National Financial Capability Challenge (http://challenge.treas.gov/index.htm), an awards program for teachers and high school students that is intended to encourage the teaching of personal finance.  USED is hoping that teachers across the country will sign up (http://challenge.treas.gov/educator_SignUp.aspx) by March 14th to receive a free toolkit (comes with registration), teach financial education lessons between March 15th and April 8th, encourage students to take a voluntary online exam on April 9th, and hand out awards to students who do well. 

I know that Alaska has a number of statewide assessments scheduled to take place during period between March 1st and April 19th, including the SBAs, Alternate Assessments, and the HSGQE spring exam, and that Spring is a busy month for schools anyway.  This Challenge is a completely voluntary opportunity, however, that is open to classroom teachers, after school programs, librarians, youth group leaders, and others who work with kids age 13-19.  So if you would like to participate in this National Financial Capability Challenge, please see the more detailed information below. 

If you have any questions regarding the National Financial Capability Challenge or its aim, please do not hesitate to contact the Treasury Department's Office for Legislative Affairs at 202-622-1900 or the Department of Education's Office of Legislation and Congressional Affairs at 202-401-0020.

Letter:

Dear Colleague,

n December 2009, Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner and Education Secretary Arne Duncan announced the National Financial Capability Challenge.  They said that along with getting the economy back on track and getting smarter about financial regulation, we also need to make sure all Americans – but especially our youth – get the financial education they need to help them take responsibility for their financial futures.  Treasury and Education are committed to working together on this issue.  The Challenge – an awards program for educators and high schools students that aims to encourage the teaching of personal finance – is our first step in a new partnership.

An earlier version of the Challenge was organized by Treasury under the previous administration, and this expanded effort builds on that success.

Our goal is to get one million high school students to take the Challenge, which includes a voluntary online exam, by April 9, 2010.  To make that happen, we’ll need thousands of educators from across the country to register and get their students prepared. Two thousand educators have already signed up.  It’s a good start, but we have a long way to go.
We’re writing to ask for your help.

Will you please support our effort to reach out to high school teachers and leaders – and other educators working with high school students age 13-19, such as librarians, youth group leaders, and after-school program staff – to encourage them to sign up for the Challenge at challenge.treas.gov by March 14?

We’re encouraging educators to take these steps:

  1. View the video message from Secretary Duncan
  2. Register for the Challenge by March 14th
  3. Recruit their colleagues to participate (flier available here)
  4. Prepare their students (using the free educator toolkit or their own resources)
  5. Administer the online exam one day between March 15th and April 9th
  6. Present official (printable) awards certificates to high-scoring students

All participating educators will receive personalized awards certificates, and educators in states with the highest participation rates will earn special distinction.

Please consider taking these steps as an outreach partner:

  • Send a custom message directly to educators and/or people who work with them
  • Contact influential individuals who could help recruit educators to participate
  • Include a link to the National Financial Capability Challenge website on your own site
  • Include the Challenge in your organization’s social networking (Facebook, Twitter, etc.)
  • Talk about the Challenge during speaking engagements
  • Create additional incentives to encourage educators to participate
  • Offer instructional support to educators new to this topic (e.g. linking them with local experts)

 

Thank you for your support on this important issue.

 

Sincerely,

Michelle Greene
Deputy Assistant Secretary for Financial Education and Financial Access
U.S. Department of the Treasury

Matthew Yale
Deputy Chief of Staff
U.S. Department of Education