In Oshkosh, Wis., second and third graders build houses out of milk crates, the teacher simulates a flood, and they talk about how home insurance works. In Chicago, high-school social studies classes take field trips to places like the Chicago Board of Trade and the Federal Reserve, to learn about markets and banking.

School districts across the country have been taking a harder look at what they're teaching students about financial literacy in the wake of the financial crisis of the past few years, caused in part by excessive credit card and mortgage debt. While economics courses have been common for many years, particularly at the high school level, districts want to take the concepts to a more personal level.

Author Chad Foster, whose book Financial Literacy for Teens attempts to make dry-sounding topics like taxes and budgeting relevant and engaging for high-school and college students, says it's not a moment too soon. "There's no question that it's become a hot topic across the country," Foster says. "This global financial crisis was a wake-up call for everybody to say, 'My goodness, what if we had been teaching all this stuff 20 years ago?' I also contend that this could very well happen again if we don't break this cycle of financial illiteracy."

Kathy Christie, chief of staff at the Education Commission on the States, says that, for the most part, teachers try to work the subject into their course materials, typically social studies or math, wherever they can. "There's a growing demand," she says. "It's going to pick up steam. People are realizing that students aren't well-educated on credit card usage, and what debt looks like, and how you calculate a mortgage, and that sort of thing."

How Big Is the Interest?

A 2009 survey from the Council for Economic Education showed that 15 states require that a course in financial literacy be offered, up from nine in 2007; 13 require that students take the course, up from seven in 2007; and nine require a standardized test, a number that hasn't changed in the past two years.

A survey released in April from The Learning Key found that 80 percent of the 626 teachers and other education professionals who responded said that students receive some type of financial education. More than half, 52 percent, said they felt "very qualified" to teach financial literacy, but fewer than 20 percent feel their students are financially literate at graduation. "Is this due to lack of retention, the curriculum itself, small numbers attending, or perhaps even delivery of the materials?" the report asks. "The data doesn't indicate the reasons why."

Most respondents were members of Business Professionals of America, a program in 23 states that helps students develop career goals and skills; others were members of the New Jersey Coalition for Financial Education, a nonprofit that includes many teachers and other education professionals, and the Pennsylvania Parent Teacher Association.

Vince Shorb, CEO of the National Financial Educators Council, finds that individual teachers, rather than districts, tend to contact his organization in search of materials that help them integrate the topic into existing courses. "That's one of the biggest challenges we face—the time to squeeze financial literacy in with these other courses," he says. "Another key thing is how to deliver it in a way [students] can relate to. We work on shifting the language and putting ourselves in the students' shoes. What would have motivated you to save money?"

The Programs

The educators' council partnered with Mesa County Valley School District 51 in Grand Junction, Colo., to stage an event called "Money Month" in April. More than 150 volunteers went into classrooms to deliver practical financial skills as well as more philosophical discussions about values that Shorb says are essential. "We don't want them striving for the nice purse and the nice pants," he says. Rather, the goal is to lead them to ask questions like: "What truly makes you happy? What role does money play in your life? What tradeoffs are you willing to make? Do you want to work an 80-hour [per week] job so you can have a ton of money? It's about lifestyle design."

District 51 requires a semester course in economics or finance that can be fulfilled within the personal finance or independent living classes, according to Bill Larsen, the district's executive director of high schools. The courses are aimed primarily at juniors and seniors, and the district has mostly implemented them within the social studies department.