Waunakee , Wis.-- A popular financial planning program for high school students just underwent an extensive revision. The result is the new edition of the NEFE High School Financial Planning Program® (HSFPP) from the National Endowment for Financial Education® (NEFE®) – an interactive, competency-based, classroom-tested curriculum featuring real-life learning experiences backed by content-rich Web resources. The program, developed with help from the Worldwide Instructional Design System (WIDS), is free to high schools and teachers nationwide.
‘Financial Education for a New Generation’
NEFE’s High School Financial Planning Program revised
Over 5 million students
Since 1984, the HSFPP has been delivered to more than 5 million students, which uses contemporary materials to teach the basics of personal finance to teens. The 2007 revision delivers updated content to include information on new concepts, such as identity theft and electronic banking; content in a variety of formats; a performance-based curriculum so students must demonstrate learned skills; and competencies that correlate with state standards for personal financial education at the high school level. The program’s mantra: “All Across the Nation: Financial Education for a New Generation.”
“With this edition, the program has undergone the most extensive revision in the curriculum’s history,” says John Parfrey, director of the HSFPP. “It has an attractive new look and feel, writing that is perfectly calibrated to teens and multiple Web sites for students, parents and teachers.”
Revising the curriculum: Process, content and goals
WIDS Consultant Susan Sharkey coordinated the curriculum revision with help from a 21- member task force. WIDS is a nonprofit organization offering competency-based instructional design services, including software, training and consulting.
“They were excited about helping people enjoy a better life through financial security,” says Sharkey of the group. She worked to help the taskforce identify core competencies and gaps in the current curriculum, and to lay the framework for content organization and delivery using the WIDS Model and Software. “We worked to purposely chunk content into manageable pieces,” she says. That way, the program can be used by teachers as either a stand-alone course or as a component of their own course.
The financial coursework walks learners through the process of establishing financial goals, creating a budget, using financial resources such as checking accounts and credit cards, developing an insurance plan to minimize financial loss, selecting strategies to handle credit and manage debt, and examining career choice and earning potential.
Program unit titles include:
- Your Financial Plan: Where it all Begins
- Budgeting: Making the Most of Your Money
- Investing: Making Money Work for You
- Good Debt, Bad Debt: Using Credit Wisely
- Your Money: Keeping it Safe and Secure
- Insurance: Protecting What You Have
- Your Career: Doing What Matters Most
Additionally, the curriculum incorporates principles of multiple intelligence and continuous learning, according to Sharkey. The goal is to take knowledge beyond the classroom by helping students move from classroom lessons to action in the real world.
“We want teens to connect what they learn in the classroom to concrete actions that will build sound financial habits for a lifetime,” adds Parfrey.
A flexible turnkey program for teachers
To simplify the process, teachers are provided with a flexible turnkey program that’s been classroom tested and includes lesson plans, learning activities and unit assessments. Prior to implementing the curriculum, teachers receive free training to deliver content following a four-phase learning process: inquire, gather, process and apply. The four-phase learning process, developed by Steven Dunn, is the engine that moves students toward demonstrating their learned skills and knowledge, according to Sharkey.
Web portal support
As part of the project, a new High School Program Web portal (http://hsfpp.nefe.org) was also created to deliver a steady stream of content for students, their parents and teachers, including online calculators, games, polls and real-life learning exercises. Through their specific portals, educators order classroom materials, share ideas and access financial planning resources; parents gain information to help educate their teens at home regarding personal finances; and students access games, surveys and tips encouraging them to think about their own financial planning.
NEFE is an independent, nonprofit foundation committed to educating Americans about personal finance and empowering them to make positive and sound decisions to reach financial goals. HSFPP task force members represented the Cooperative State Research, Education and Extension Service, USDA, participating Land-Grant University Cooperative Extension Services, the Junior Reserve Officers Training Corps, InCharge Institute, WIDS, the Workforce Investment Boards, the Credit Union National Association Inc., and America ’s Credit Unions. To learn more about NEFE, visit www.nefe.org. To learn more about WIDS, visit www.wids.org.