• Which students should be encouraged to take RLFM?

Alan Greenspan, retired Federal Reserve chairman, encouraged educational institutions and parents to require financial education. He stated, “The number one problem in today’s generation and in the economy is the lack of financial literacy.” Therefore every student should take a quality personal financial education course unless there is a good reason why they will not be able to use this information.

• Which teachers should be encouraged to teach RLFM?

Unlike other high school courses where the instructor has deep knowledge of the subject matter, in personal finance, no one is an expert. What D&A looks desires in a teacher is a person who is a student of personal finance and is willing to learn from the publisher, from friends and from students. The instructor should want to be increasingly more comfortable with a Socratic method of teaching – loves to ask relevant questions and have the students derive the answers and will not lecture. Finally, we want a teacher who believes this course can teach all students how to think and change their future.

• Why select RLFM for Personal Finance? 7 Reasons

1. RLFM is written by award-winning financial professionals with forty years of experience in financial education.
2. RLFM is updated annually. This saves teachers hundreds of hours of additional work trying to identify objective, updated reference material, changing assignments and videos.
3. With CTE funding, paying for this course is easier than funding a regular math course.
4. It is the only financial math course approved by the TEA.
5. In addition to acquiring a deep-level of understanding of the subject matter, they are also challenged to think, problem-solve, work in teams, make presentations and communicate with adults.
6. Students develop a plan for their future and make changes now to secure postsecondary education and a financially secure future. This translates into outcomes for the district with more students graduating career and college ready, more attending PSE and more graduating from PSE.
7. Students master Canvas Learning Management Systems. This LMS is frequently licensed by colleges and universities. Using it now is an excellent foundation for online learning.

If your district plans on developing your own course, please recognize the time, energy, professional knowledge needed. If a teacher or department head truly had the knowledge, passion, and understanding to write this course, a career change should be recommended. The average income ao a financial planner is about $150,000 a year.  D&A developed this course because we are social impact entity with a mission – for students to achieve their goals and be financially secure.

• How is RLFM offered?

The course provides a blended online structure which is “flipped” with students working independently to acquire information and then teachers leading discussions and asking questions. We have named this the Thinking Instructional Methodology.

Alternatively, RLFM serves as an excellent reference source for complying with the 102 break-out TEKS. If there is a specific content question, professors are encouraged to contact D&A by email or phone.

• Does RLFM cover 100% of the TEKS and ELPS?

YES. When the course was reviewed by the TEA, a miscommunication resulted in the committee only evaluating 70.59% of the TEKS. They stopped when they reached the percentage of TEKS we were said definitely met the TEKS. (As planners, we were cautious in our projections.) They never reviewed the 30% balance of the material. Had we stated that RLFM met 100%, the evaluators would have reviewed the entire course. We believe the course would have officially met 100% of the TEKS with 102 breakouts.

If your district is intent on developing its own financial math course, it too must meet 100% of the TEKS with 102 Breakouts, 00% of the Teacher ELPS, 100% of the student ELPS and be accessible by hearing, sight and color-blind impaired students..

• How do I license RLFM?

View the Pricing link. Then contact Ken Decker, President of Decker & Associates, Inc., the publisher.  You may complete the Contact Us form on this website or call 713-927-9300.