How to Choose a Financial Education Curriculum

This resource offers guidelines to help teachers choose a financial literacy curriculum for their classroom.

Author(s)
Assets for Independence Resource Center
Author(s) Organizational Affiliation
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families
Publication Year
2017
Resource Type
Informational Material
Abstract

This resource provides a clear process for evaluating financial education curricula. There are suggestions and examples for setting goals and thinking about the characteristics and prior knowledge of students. Readers are advised to give consideration to intended audience of the curriculum, topics covered, and outcomes or competencies that students will achieve through the curriculum. There is also a section that explains each category of the Financial Education Curriculum Evaluation Worksheet which can be used to compare various financial literacy curricula. 

Benefits and Uses

This resource was written for Assets for Independence (AFI) projects, but adult education classroom teachers will find the information and suggestions useful for selecting a financial literacy curriculum to meet their students’ needs.

How to Choose a Financial Education Curriculum is organized into two parts.

Part 1: “Start with Your Participants” helps staff assess and understand the particular needs of their students by taking a look at their commonalities and differences. Part 1 also has staff consider what outcomes they would like to achieve with a financial literacy curriculum.

Part 2: “Steps to Evaluating a Financial Education Curriculum“ provides guidelines and helpful hints for evaluating the strengths and weaknesses of the financial education curricula under consideration. It includes a Financial Education Curriculum Evaluation Worksheet with sections to review key aspects of the curricula's materials, content, approach, and organization. There are questions to consider for each section to help guide teachers in their decision on a financial literacy curriculum.

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