Kids and Money: Take the Financial Capability Challenge
The National Financial Capability Challenge, which measures the money know-how of high school students, kicked off this week around the country. It's not too late to get your school involved, although it will take an unusually receptive principal and a willing teacher or two to get going right away.
Odds are your school doesn't know much about the challenge. When I called the public high school in my town they were only vaguely aware of it. There was no way to get this ball rolling on short notice.
Happily, I was able to put the challenge on the school principal's radar; I believe he'll give it a close look next year and see if he can enlist a teacher to take it on. That's my goal, anyway, and I encourage all parents to follow through in a similar fashion in their respective districts.
Just contact your school's principal and give him or her this link. Increasing participation in this annual challenge is one way we can start to reach kids before they head off to college with insufficient money skills. The challenge also provides researchers with important insights into what kids know about money and what educators should be trying to teach them.
The challenge runs through April 8. It's free and takes about 30 minutes for students to complete. The top two scorers at each school, plus all students scoring in the top 20%, get formally recognized. All participating educators receive an official certificate as well.
Last year:
- 76,892 students took part
- 2,515 teachers took part
- 1,535 schools took part
- 524 students got perfect scores
- States with the highest scores were Idaho, South Dakota, Wyoming, Oregon and Utah.
- States with the highest participation rates were Virginia, Iowa, Wisconsin, New Hampshire and Pennsylvania.
More on MoneyWatch:
· 3 Reasons 21 Nations Teach Kids About money
· 3 Steps to Teach School Kids About Money
· Financial Education: How We Got Here
· Financial Education: How We're Missing the Boat
· Financial Education at School: Is It a Pipe Dream?
· Taking Financial Education to the Next Level
Dan Kadlec
Daniel J. Kadlec is an author and journalist whose work appears regularly in Time and Money magazines. He is the former editor of Time’s Generations section, which was written and edited for boomers. Kadlec came to Time from USA Today, where he was the creator and author of the daily column Street Talk, which anchored the newspaper's business coverage. He has co-written three books, including, most recently, With Purpose: Going from Success to Significance in Work and Life. He has won a New York Press Club award and a National Headliner Award for columns on the economy and investing.
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