You may have heard that NGPF's high school personal finance courses are getting some updates this summer due to feedback we received from over 800 teachers earlier this year. So, what can you expect? Continue reading to find out how we're improving the 9-Week Course, Semester Course, and Full-Year Course so that they're better than ever before! 

[Originally published on 4/27/23. This content has been updated to reflect changes since then.]

What changes are being made to the Semester Course? 

For those of you using the Semester Course, don’t worry - we’re not completely overhauling the new version of the course we just released last year! Here are the improvements you can expect: 

• A shortened Behavioral Economics unit to focus more on student engagement. We’re aiming to keep teacher-favorite activities - like the Bean Game - but shorten the unit so it’s a more manageable (and fun!) unit of three lessons. Like to teach a longer Behavioral Econ unit? No problem! Simply swap out the lessons with those from the Full-Year Course! 
• Due to popular demand, we’re adding in a brand new Career unit to the Semester Course! Your students will learn all about what it’s like to craft a career for themselves through fun activities and lessons. 
• We will also be updating the Diagnostic and Final exams accordingly to fit the adjusted content. 
• You'll also see a new course page that includes features teachers have told us they'd love to see. 

What changes are being made to the 9-Week and Full-Year Courses? 

A major change you’ll see being made to the 9-Week Course and Full-Year Course is that we’ll be aligning them with the Semester Course! What does this mean? Think of a tiered model approach… 

• The 9-Week Course is going to become the new and improved Trimester Course. It will have a select number of lessons from the Semester course plus new unit exams. Teach a 9-week (or quarter-long) personal finance class? Simply eliminate the unit exams and/or trim the number of lessons to make the course 9-weeks!
• The Semester Course will be…well…the Semester Course 
• The Full-Year Course will include all of the Semester Course plus additional lessons to dive deeper into the content.
• Both the 9-Week and Full Year courses will combine the Checking and Saving units into one cohesive Banking unit (which is how the content is set up in the Semester Course). 
• Like the Semester Course, the new Trimester Course and Full-Year Course will feature new course pages to make it easier for you to find everything you need in one place. 

With these changes, it will be easier for you to: 

• Compare the courses and choose the right one for you
• Pare down or build up on content in the lessons 
• Mix and match units from all three courses and customize course length 

When can I expect these changes?

We know having all of the updates before your next school year is of utmost priority. The NGPF curriculum team is aiming to have all Semester and 9-Week Trimester Course related changes completed by the end of July and live on the website in early August [updated August 1, 2023].

We’ll then turn our attention to the Full-Year Course in the fall. Stay tuned for when we expect to have changes to this course done!

About the Author

Sonia Dalal

Sonia has always been passionate about instruction and improving students' learning experiences. She's come a long way since her days as a first grader, when she would "teach" music and read to her very attentive stuffed animals after school. Since then, she has taught students as a K-12 tutor, worked in several EdTech startups in the Bay Area, and completed her Ed.M in Education from the Harvard Graduate School of Education. She is passionate about bringing the high quality personal finance content and instruction she wished she'd received in school to the next generation of students and educators. When she isn't crafting lesson guides or working with teachers, Sonia loves to spend her time singing, being outdoors, and adventuring with family and friends!