2019–20 YEAR IN REVIEW

Thank you to all our partners and supporters for another successful year.

We are excited to share with you the many milestones our program achieved, as well as our plans for the upcoming school year.

Research

BEHAVIOR CHANGE: THE MISSING PIECE IN FINANCIAL EDUCATION

Behaviors are shaped by what students bring to a financial education course and the deeply personal lens through which they approach financial literacy. Good financial education builds on these personal experiences and dispositions, rather than ignoring them in favor of teaching “objective” facts that, in truth, apply differently to different people.

RESEARCH PROVEN RESULTS

The UChicago team engaged an external evaluator, Logos Consulting Group, to conduct an independent evaluation of finEDge. The evaluation was completed during the second semester of the 2018–19 school year and involved over 600 students in 25 high schools. We have great news to report! The preliminary study noted the following benefits: 

• finEDge students improved their financial literacy knowledge,

• finEDge students experienced positive changes in their attitudes about personal finance, and

• finEDge students experienced statistically significant positive changes in their self-reported personal financial behaviors.

Advocacy

IMPACTING STUDENTS

Teachers and students share how school-based financial education is helping students understand the consequences of borrowing for college and influencing how they plan and make decisions about college and beyond.  

Materials

NEW PARTNERSHIP

We are pleased to announce that finEDge is now available through Kendall Hunt Publishing Company. Learn more about this exciting, new partnership.

STANDARDS ALIGNMENTS ARE HERE!

We are delighted to share the first round of standards alignments with you! Learn how the finEDge program matches up with national and state standards in financial literacy.

Systemic Supports

IMPROVING TEACHER FINANCIAL CONTENT KNOWLEDGE

finEDge teachers have had access to an online professional learning course (PLC) that focuses on improving financial content knowledge. The course has now been completely redesigned and rewritten to align with the new finEDge curriculum materials. Learners complete game-like activities and work through scenarios to learn and apply financial content in multiple domains.

Partnerships

BY THE NUMBERS

This year, over 50 teachers and 3,000 students in 7 states implemented finEDge program at their schools. All along the way, we collected feedback and data to improve the materials during the development process. This included testing our digital tools via the teacher and student portals. We are so thankful to our teacher and student partners who contributed to making our program better!  

FINANCIAL LITERACY TODAY FOR CAREER SUCCESS TOMORROW

Students today face a financial marketplace that is increasingly sophisticated, digital, and dynamic. Preparing students for what awaits them after graduation requires more than teaching discrete skills, such as how to write a check. We are proud to partner with educators who are willing to examine current approaches and work to improve them to ensure their students receive effective, high-quality, equitable financial literacy.

LOOKING FORWARD

The 2020–2021 school year will be an exciting one, as we expand the number of schools using finEDge. We will also be expanding our alumni and family offerings, sharing our learnings at financial literacy conferences, and more. If you are interested in learning more about our work, please email financialeducation@uchicago.edu.