The 2018–2019 school year was an exciting one! 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.

Project Updates

FIELD-TESTING BY THE NUMBERS

This year, over 60 teachers and 3,000 students in 11 states field-tested and piloted our new finEDge program. 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!  

INTRODUCING finEDge

In the winter of 2019, we officially announced the release of finEDge, a one-semester, research-based financial education program for high schoolers. With robust teacher materials and cutting-edge tools for students, and its research basis in learning science and behavioral change, finEDge is a comprehensive program designed to provide students with productive financial decision-making skills, attitudes, and knowledge. 

Evidence & Results

INITIAL RESULTS

While writing and field-testing the finEDge materials, the finEDge team collected data on student and teacher knowledge and attitudes related to finance. These data were used to improve the materials during the development process. Read about the data we collected and our plan to continue to evaluate the effectiveness of the finEDge program here.

Research & Development

HOW PEOPLE LEARN TO MAKE FINANCIAL DECISIONS

A high-quality financial literacy curriculum must translate research findings into practical solutions. The finEDge team has read the research about teaching personal finance and teaching for behavioral change, and this research informed the development of the finEDge materials. This paper summarizes our team's theory of how people, in general, learn to make financial decisions.

BROOKINGS REPORTS AFFIRM RESEARCH BASIS

In October 2018, the Brookings Institution released two reports about youth financial literacy education. Their findings affirmed our own research into financial literacy education, highlighting financial decision-making, financial socialization, executive functioning skills, and more. 

Advocacy

eSCHOOL NEWS

finEDge was recently highlighted in an eSchool News article about implementing a 21st-century financial education curriculum. In the article, Niles North High School teacher Jean Attig reflects on her experience teaching finEDge and identifies three key elements that are essential to an equitable, realistic financial education program. 

I WISH I HAD KNOWN

Last fall, we launched a social media campaign to spread awareness about the need for financial education in high school. Join the movement! Share an article; tweet about why you think financial education is important; write about something in your life you would have done differently if you had been taught financial literacy in high school. Be sure to share using #ClassIWishIHad. 

Events

TEAM CHALLENGE 2019

We took the annual Team Challenge to new heights this year! Over 300 students joined us at Navy Pier to participate in a day-long stock trading simulation and financial literacy competition. The top five teams earned up to $5,000 in grants for their schools. Check out the press release for the event here.

LOOKING FORWARD

The 2019–2020 school year will be an exciting one for the team, as we officially publish our new curriculum. We will also be expanding our professional development 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.