Dear Administrator:

The Council for Economic Education (CEE), in conjunction with the Texas Council on Economic Education, is undertaking a research study exploring the effectiveness of a financial literacy resource, Financial Fitness for Life (FFFL). We seek your support in carrying out this study. The study will require a pool of high school economics and career teachers who have never used Financial Fitness for Life in their classrooms nor received training in how to teach the lessons.

Briefly, the primary objective of this research proposal is to test whether students in classes led by teachers who are well trained in using Financial Fitness for Life demonstrate a level of knowledge and performance greater than that of students whose teachers did not receive training or use FFFL. The study will determine whether training in and use of FFFL changes:

1. Students’ knowledge in fundamental financial and economics concepts; 2. Teachers’ knowledge in fundamental financial and economics concepts; 3. Teachers’ instructional practices.

The study will provide a rigorous evaluation of the effectiveness of the Financial Fitness for Life high school-level curriculum, following best practice assessment standards in education project evaluation. Specifically, analysis will compare outcomes for high school students and teachers in two treatment groups—those exposed to training using the Financial Fitness for Life curriculum and those who receive the materials but do not receive training—with their counterparts in a control group after coursework has been completed.

The study will require recruitment of districts and schools for randomly assigning teachers to treatment and control groups. Be assured that CEE will maintain the confidentiality of data and will secure internal review board approval prior to commencement of the study.

We would like to request your support in helping CEE identify high school teachers of economics and CTE to participate in this study in the 2013-2014 school year. With your approval, teachers in your district will be approached for their participation, randomly assigned to one of the three teacher groups by the research team at GCFL. All teachers will be asked to pre-and post-test their students. One group will teach their class as they normally would. A second group will be asked to teach lessons from FFFL in their classroom; a third group will participate in a three-day expenses paid training during the summer of 2013 before teaching lessons from FFFL. CEE will share study results with your district.

The Council for Economic Education is the leading organization in the United States that focuses on the economic and financial education of students from kindergarten through high school. For the past 60 years, CEE’s mission has been to instill in young people the fourth “R”—a real-world understanding of economics and personal finance. It is only by acquiring economic and financial literacy that children can learn that there are better options for a life well lived, will be able to see opportunity on their horizon

line and, ultimately, can grow into successful and productive adults capable of making informed and responsible decisions.

The Texas Council for Economic Education is a statewide 501 (c)3 organization that provides K to 12 teacher staff development in economics, entrepreneurship and financial literacy. TCEE also provides several student programs: the Stock Market Game™, Economics Challenge, PFL Challenge, as well as poster and essay contests. TCEE teaches teachers who teach students who are the future of Texas. With Texas legislation that emphasizes the role of financial literacy at the high school level, the FFFL research project coordinated by CEE and TCEE will allow certain teachers to receive an intense training in financial literacy concepts and materials for teaching their students. Other teachers will be given the materials without receiving training. Thus, 2/3 of the teachers included in the study will have an advantage in providing instruction based on materials that are highly regarded.

We would be happy to answer any questions you may have about the study and how your teachers may become involved. Please feel free to reach out to me at 212-730-1109 or Laura Ewing at TCEE at 713-655-1650 if you would like to discuss this opportunity further.

We appreciate your support and look forward to conducting this important study.

Sincerely,

Laura Ewing CR

Laura EwingPresidentTexas Council on Economic Education

Christopher CaltabianoVice President, Program AdministrationCouncil for Economic Education