Mary Beth Henning

Elementary Preservice Teachers’ and Teacher Educators’ Perceptions of Financial Literacy Education

ABSTRACT The authors conducted an online survey of elementary teacher education programs within a large midwestern state to assess preservice teachers’ and teacher educators’ beliefs about and preparedness to teach financial literacy. Very few preservice teachers had meaningful experiences with personal finance in high school, college, or personal decision making. No teacher educators reported ever teaching financial literacy in their higher education roles. Only 13% of teacher educators and 25% of preservice teachers thought that it was very important to teach financial literacy in elementary education. Most teacher education faculty and preservice teachers reported that they were not well qualified to use state economics standards or the JumpStart standards for financial literacy. Preservice teachers were more confident in meeting financial literacy standards than teacher educators. Both preservice teachers and teacher educators expressed openness to collaborating with other faculty members, members of the financial service industry, and parents to teach financial literacy. Follow-up phone interviews affirmed that elementary preservice teachers and teacher educators value social studies education (and financial literacy) less than reading and mathematics education. Qualitative results also suggest that elementary preservice teachers and teacher educators would like more easily accessible resources for teaching financial literacy.

An ethnographic person-centered study of leadership development in high school basketball team captains

ABSTRACT Using Kouzes and Posner’s (2002. The leadership challenge (3rd ed.). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass) Five Exemplary Practices of Leadership as a framework, four captains of a high school boys’ basketball team participated in a qualitative person-centered ethnography regarding their perceptions of leadership development over the course of a season. The study found that the captains each perceived improvement in their use of voice in leadership situations, and not much improvement in other self-defined specific leadership areas. The captains also perceived that their improvement was a maturation process driven by necessity and precipitated by observation, personal experience, mentoring and coaching, and increased confidence. Finally, captains described hindrances to their leadership, including personal circumstances and difficult teammates. Implications of these findings for athletic coaches are discussed, including specific ideas for providing mentoring and instruction for team captains and other team members.

Evaluating financial literacy curriculum for young adults with special needs: A review of content, universal design for learning, and culturally responsive curriculum principles

Acquiring financial literacy presents many unique challenges for young adults with disabilities. Although financial literacy can and should be taught throughout the lifespan, this review examines the curriculum accessible to students with high incidence disabilities who are 14–21 years old, when they are planning for transition from secondary school to the workforce/higher education. This review examines five examples of promising financial literacy curriculum: Financial Fitness for Life, Practical Money Skills, Finance in the Classroom, Money Talks 4 Teens, and Money Smart for Young Adults. The curricula are compared for their application of universal design and culturally responsive curriculum principles. Completed rubrics will be presented to evaluate those curricula based on standards-based financial literacy concepts particularly relevant to youth with special needs, principles of universal design, and culturally responsive curriculum.