The ABC's of Financial Literacy
July 24, 2008
Next month, schools will reopen their doors, and with PGPF's support, a number of terrific organizations are pioneering a new kind of curriculum: instruction in financial literacy. These innovative and multi-platform programs will engage students from kindergarten to college and aim to improve their knowledge of both personal and public finance.
The National Foundation for Teaching Entrepreneurship (NFTE) will develop a set of curricula for elementary and secondary school students in low-income areas to develop their own personal financial plans. Using new technology, called BizTech 3.0, NFTE will broadly disseminate content through its network of schools and community-based organizations serving over 42,000 young people.
Another one of our grantees, the America's Promise Alliance, is leveraging a network of over 200 affiliate organizations to teach financial literacy to middle and high school students across the country. In addition, the Alliance will develop an online training program for educators to coincide with the release of the forthcoming documentary I.O.U.S.A.
PGPF is also working with an extensive team of organizations that span the media gamut in creating a "big fiscal game" to be played on college campuses across the country. The simulation will educate students about the extent and causes of the country's looming fiscal crisis and will model the budget and policy trade-offs involved. Several universities will host the game for 1,500 students starting in 2009. Developers include the National Academy of Public Administration, PETlab, a joint initiative of the Parsons New School for Design, and the nonprofit Games for Change.
Also at the college level, Public Agenda has enlisted our help in expanding its "Students Face up to the Nation's Finances" initiative, designed to engage college students across the nation in learning and discussion about the nature, causes, and potential consequences of - as well as solutions to - America's fiscal challenges. The goal is for many of the 20,000 to 30,000 educators involved to continue using the learning and discussion tools for years, and for federal finances and fiscal responsibility to become an established part of more colleges' curricula.
