Is a high school course with personal finance concepts required to be taken as a graduation requirement? No, personal finance is not included in the graduation requirements, either as a stand-alone course or embedded in another course. Beginning with the Graduation Class of 2019, students are required to take a minimum of 24 credits to graduate, including 3 credits in social studies and 3 credits in a career pathway.
No policy change is pending that would change Delaware's grade.
The state social studies standards include economic concepts but do not include substantive personal finance concepts. In May of 2015, the legislature issued a joint resolution creating a statewide financial literacy task force. The Task Force presented its recommendation to the State Board of Education in 2016. A modest level of financial literacy content standards were adopted in response to these recommendations. The new financial literacy content standards became effective in the 2018–2019 academic year. Delaware regulations require that instructional programs offered in the public schools be in alignment with the appropriate content standards documents, including financial literacy content standards documents. All school districts are required to provide evidence (and certify annually) to the Department of Education (DOE) that their school district curricula are aligned with the State Content Standards, including financial literacy content standards.
The DOE indicates that, in support of these new standards, it will work with the University of Delaware's Center for Economic Education & Entrepreneurship to develop training for teachers, curriculum resources, and models of implementation.
Under state law, the DOE determines the minimum courses of study for all public high schools. The DOE does not require high schools to offer or students to take financial literacy training. The January 2018 presentation to the State Board of Education makes it clear that these standards are voluntary not mandatory and that only 19 high schools, at that time, were offering this content in a 10th grade course that appears to also include economic concepts. The web page with the standards indicates that the "DOE will consult with and solicit feedback from district and school leaders." And that "A timeline for implementation of these standards will be forthcoming once feedback from districts/school have been collected." This website has not been updated since February 2018. It is not clear how Delaware measures student achievement in financial literacy or how the state monitors local school district implementation of the financial literacy education requirement.
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