High school teachers in Missouri can count on the University of Missouri-St. Louis to prepare them for a new state teaching requirement.
In October, the State Board of Education approved a standard that all Missouri high school students receive a one-semester course in personal finance. The requirement will apply to incoming freshmen (class of 2010) and is designed to impart knowledge, such as how to balance a checkbook, understand a loan agreement, research mutual funds and interpret credit card finance charges.
In response to the new requirement, the UM-St. Louis Center for Entrepreneurship and Economic Education is offering a course, Economics 5055: Personal Finance Economics, to prepare teachers to meet the new standard. Economics 5055 is a graduate-level, three-credit-hour class open to anyone certified to teach high school in Missouri.
“Our course will prepare teachers to teach the high school class. The class is aligned with state standards and we will offer content instruction, along with strategies, methods and lessons for teaching the content in the high school classroom.” Mary Suiter, director of the UM-St. Louis Center for Etrepreneurship and Economic Education said.
Enrollment is capped at 30, and the class will meet from 4 p.m. to 6:45 p.m. Wednesdays, beginning January 18 through May 3. The class location will alternate between St. Louis County branches of Royal Banks of Missouri and Pulaski Bank.
Tuition and fees total $823, but through a grant from the Missouri Council on Economic Education, 15 half-tuition scholarships are available on a first-come, first-serve basis.
For more information or to register for the class, call (314) 516-5974.