States legislators and education leaders make decisions to emphasize financial education but then what? Anyone experienced in education or business, for that matter, knows that success requires keen attention to detail when it comes to implementation of a new program. Debbie Pierce from Economic Literacy Colorado and Alyssa Wooten from the Colorado Dept. of Education have teamed up to both increase access and improve the personal finance instruction taught in Colorado schools. Listen as they share their plans, the lessons they have learned along the way and what makes for a successful implementation plan. Enjoy! 

Details:

• 0:00~1:20 Introduction
• 1:20~6:29 Understanding money growing up
• 6:29~10:36 Working together to improve financial education
• 10:36~14:46 New standards and how they fit in
• 14:46~18:22 Offering professional development to as many teachers as possible
• 18:22~20:06 Learning from initial professional development sessions
• 20:06~23:43 Building an online community
• 23:43~24:06 A word from NGPF
• 24:06~30:58 Availability of financial education resources
• 30:58~34:07 Conversations with other States
• 34:07~38:16 Visions for success
• 38:16~40:53 Alyssa’s upcoming podcast
• 40:53~42:05 Conclusion

Resources mentioned:

• Economic Literacy Colorado
• Personal Financial Literacy - Colorado Department of Education
• Jump$tart Colorado
• Council for Economic Education
• EconEdLink

Quotes (in order of appearance):

• “If we’re teaching our youth financial literacy topics, they’re not only learning it for themselves but they’re also helping their families learn and understand a stress-free or lower-stress life by living a healthier financial life.” (Alyssa)

• “We just want teachers to know  that every single one of them, I don’t care how rural or tiny their district is, they’re as important as any other teacher.” (Debbie)

• “There is a tsunami of resources and we need to help teachers define what’s really going to be valuable for them and their students.” (Debbie)

• “There are so many great resources that have already been created; we are looking to make these resources more accessible for the right people.” (Alyssa)

About the Authors

Ren Makino

Ren started interning at NGPF in 2014, and worked part-time through high school and college. With his knowledge growing alongside NGPF, he joined the team to work full-time after graduating from college in 2020. He is also the producer of the NGPF podcast. During his free time, he likes to try out coffees from different roasters across the world.

Tim Ranzetta

Tim's saving habits started at seven when a neighbor with a broken hip gave him a dog walking job. Her recovery, which took almost a year, resulted in Tim getting to know the bank tellers quite well (and accumulating a savings account balance of over $300!). His recent entrepreneurial adventures have included driving a shredding truck, analyzing executive compensation packages for Fortune 500 companies and helping families make better college financing decisions. After volunteering in 2010 to create and teach a personal finance program at Eastside College Prep in East Palo Alto, Tim saw firsthand the impact of an engaging and activity-based curriculum, which inspired him to start a new non-profit, Next Gen Personal Finance.