Robert Hopkins, regional executive at the Little Rock branch of the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, minced no words in a May 9 guest column on the Democrat-Gazette's Voices page:
"Our state ranks low in terms of personal finance education in high schools, and in financial literacy and related behavior of the general population," he said. "Indeed, the Employee Benefit Research Institute ranked Arkansas No. 48 among the states in financial behavior of its residents and No. 49 in financial literacy, both in 2011, the latest year for which the ranking is available.
"In an economy that is still in recovery mode -- with college graduates facing a difficult and changing employment landscape, rising student debt and a generation of baby boomers to help support in the years to come -- it is crucial that young Americans learn to manage their personal finances."
Hopkins and the Fed's St. Louis district office have put their money where their "mouth" is: There's a flock of free online resources on economics and personal finance for consumers, teachers and students at all levels, from kindergarten through college, at the office's website, stlouisfed.org/education.
For example, the elementary-level "Economic Lowdown Video Series," a set of seven podcasts produced by the St. Louis Fed's Economic Education department, covers topics in economics, banking and monetary policy, including supply, demand, the labor market and gross domestic product.
Also for elementary-school-age youngsters, there's a set of "Econ Lowdown Glossary Flash Cards," focusing on economics and personal-finance terms and a series of "Exploring Economics" videos. The Piggy Bank Primer, a budget-and-saving e-book for ages 7-9, uses a story, activities and puzzles to introduce basic economic concepts such as saving, spending,
costs, benefits, goods, services and "opportunity cost."
HANDS-ON LESSON
Among the resources for their teachers is the lesson "Abraham Lincoln and the Five-Dollar Note," which employs hands-on demonstrations involving a rock or a brick, packets of sugar or salt, bags of Brussels sprouts, a lidded container filled with dirt and a deck of cards to illustrate what qualities make a good form of currency. Criteria include that the item be easy to carry around, generally acceptable, uniform, relatively scarce, durable, portable, and that it maintain value and acceptability when broken or divided into pieces.
(The answers, if we gave you a quick quiz: The sugar and the cards would be uniform and easy to carry around to make purchases, but the brick or rock, Brussels sprouts and container of dirt would not. None of the items would be relatively scarce, generally acceptable or maintain their value when broken or divided into pieces. The rock/brick, the deck of cards and maybe the container of dirt are durable, but not the Brussels sprouts or sugar packets.)
Hopkins credits Mary Suiter, assistant vice president and economic officer for the Federal Reserve of St. Louis, with creating the vast majority of the material over the past 10 years.
"How useful any of this is depends on the age of the student," says Suiter, who professes to be a fan of Brussels sprouts. "Teachers can sort by grade level."
For example, high school teachers can find lesson plans to teach about paychecks, cars, cards and the value of money.
At the high-school level, the 13-video "Economic Lowdown Podcast Series" focuses on more advanced topics, including market equilibrium, factors of production, functions of money, the labor market, inflation and price signals.
Kris Bertelsen, economic education specialist at the St. Louis Fed's Little Rock office, stars in a set of four short, partly animated videos titled "No-Frills Money Skills" aimed at students in middle school through college. These cover -- in what Suiter calls "a clever way" -- the topics of compound interest, stocks and bonds and the difference between 401(k) and Roth 401(k) accounts.
"My students dig the 'No-Frills Money Skills' videos because they interject humor and keep it real," says financial adviser Mary Ann Campbell, who teaches personal and family finance at the University of Central Arkansas in Conway. "They actually think they're cool and enjoy learning where humor is interjected. Kris Bertelsen does a great job acting as a farmer and in other roles."
'THOROUGH' SITE
Sam X. Renick is a children's author, songwriter and financial educator, founder of the "It's a Habit!" Co. and co-creator of the character Sammy Rabbit, which he uses to teach financial literacy to youngsters. Renick has plenty of praise for the Fed's financial education resources.
"The new site is thorough," he says, noting that it adds resources "to the excellent selection of tools available to educators and families" through a variety of other sources, including:
• The websites of other Federal Reserve Board banks (The sum total of all the Fed's education programs is available at federalreserveeducation.org, Hopkins notes.)
• The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., via its Money Smart program (At the site fdic.gov, look under "Consumer Protection" for "Financial Education & Literacy" and click on "Money Smart -- A Financial Education Program.")
• The federal government, via MyMoney.gov
• Councils for Economic Education, via EconEdLink.org
• Financial Fitness for Life (fffl.ncee.net/book-introduction.php)
• Financial Foundations (ff4kids.com).
The Fed also offers professional development events at schools and school districts for teachers seeking a one-hour or full-day "professional development experience."
Campbell has attended Fed seminars on personal finance for educators and uses their materials in class.
"Everything they do is first class," she says. "Many of their videos and handouts can be ordered online for free. The Fed is one of my favorite resources. I recommend teachers get on their mailing list, attend their seminars. They actually do offer a free lunch."
Hopkins says he hopes the resources will be useful to adults as well as youngsters; one such example, under the "Consumers" heading, is titled "Budgeting 101," which Hopkins says is particularly useful for parents sending their offspring to college for the first time.
The website describes budgeting as "the most basic and most important tool in anyone's financial toolbox." This tool, the site notes, provides a hands-on opportunity to create budgets for a fictional sophomore in nursing school, and, later, as a recent graduate with an apartment and a new car.
Suiter says the recent financial crisis has spurred a considerable effort to require financial literacy standards in public schools, and Hopkins notes the Arkansas Board of Education now requires all high school students to take an economics course before graduating, making Arkansas the 21st state to add such a requirement.
"State education guidelines now require a semester on financial literacy along with social studies," he says.
The Fed has been working with the nonprofit Economics Arkansas in developing curricula for schools and holding joint workshops with school districts as well as offering online tools for teaching personal finance.
"Our mission is to ensure the maximum growth of the economy," Hopkins explains in defining the Fed's role. "Part of that is making sure the population is well educated when it comes to financial matters."
Family on 09/03/2014