2020–21 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

OUR APPROACH TO INVESTING

GameStop. Stonks. Short squeezes. This past year there has been extensive discussion about what we should be teaching students regarding investing. Lots of opinions have been put forth, often based on an individual’s personal experience investing in the stock market, but we wanted to take time to share how investing is addressed in finEDge, a research-based, single-semester, high school financial education program, which includes a module on investing.

Advocacy

THE FINANCIAL SYSTEM

In an increasingly complicated global economy, financial education is an essential academic subject. However, quality financial education is rarely available, meaning most students leave school unequipped to make informed financial decisions. 

We invite you to watch our video that explains the current state of financial education in classrooms across the United States, what high-quality financial education looks like, and why teaching sound financial decision-making is so critical to our students. 

TEACHER TOOLKIT

We know quality financial education helps broaden participation in our financial systems, but access to these programs remains unequal. That's why we're urging all financial education teachers to reach out to local education officials about the need for quality financial education. Check out the teacher toolkit we made to help you get started.

Materials

DIGITAL GAMES

Educational digital games are uniquely effective tools for teaching financial decision-making. Research shows that well-designed educational digital games not only lead to knowledge and skill development and increased retention of key concepts, but also promote the adoption of productive behaviors and attitudes, all of which are key goals of rigorous financial education.

This year, the finEDge team developed five digital games and accompanying lesson plans to be used as part of the finEDge program. The games were field tested spring semester by 656 students and 24 teachers. We have received extensive positive feedback around the games and are thrilled to make the games available to finEDge users for the 2021-22 school year.

Talking Cents

Last fall we launched Talking Cents, conversation cards designed to break the taboo of talking about money by facilitating casual conversations between families and friends. Talking Cents empowers families and friends to consider their own financial attitudes, values, and beliefs and how they are shaped by different circumstances and previous financial experiences. With no right or wrong answers, the goal of the cards is to normalize conversations about money.

Systemic Supports

TALKING CENTS AT MONEY SMART WEEK

How do you talk to your children, aging parents, or life partner about money? It can be challenging to know where to start and what topics to bring up. The UChicago Financial Education Initiative team shared easy strategies and simple tools that anyone can use to start these important conversations during Money Smart Week.

Partnerships

CPS finEDge LEADERSHIP COHORT

During the 2020-21 school year, the Chicago Public Schools Department of Social Sciences and Civic Engagement and the UChicago Financial Education Initiative with funding from the Magnetar Capital Foundation launched a first of its kind pilot to investigate how financial education materials can best meet the needs of Chicago students and classrooms.

For the year-long pilot, a leadership cohort of 20 educators from across Chicago Public Schools used finEDge, a research-based, tested, comprehensive financial education curriculum developed by UChicago. We look forward to continuing this partnership.

finEDge SPONSORSHIP AVAILABLE FOR TEACHERS NEW TO FINANCIAL EDUCATION

We are excited to announce that this fall, Jackson Charitable Foundation is supporting the University of Chicago Financial Education Initiative to provide 100 teachers and approximately 5,000 high school students with free access to finEDge, a semester-long financial education curriculum designed by the University of Chicago in partnership with the Magnetar Capital Foundation. Targeting teachers new to teaching financial education, this sponsorship will provide students and teachers access to the high-quality curriculum along with extensive professional development and certification for participating educators.

LOOKING FORWARD

The 2021–2022 school year will be an exciting one, as we expand the number of schools using finEDge. We will also be expanding our 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.