NORTH DAKOTA
GRADE
C
SUMMARY OF GRADE
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Significant Accomplishments: High school financial literacy instruction requirement; Financial literacy standards in most K-12 social studies standards
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Needs Improvement: Needs to require high school stand-alone personal finance course and implement grade-specific K-8 financial literacy standards
AN IN-DEPTH LOOK
North Dakota requires either one unit of Problems and Democracy or one-half unit of US Government with one-half unit of Economics for high school graduation. 2009 North Dakota Chapter 175 (House Bill 1400) requires that “each school district shall ensure that its curriculum for either economics or problems of democracy includes the exposure of students to concepts of personal finance.” A school district may “select courses other than economics or problems of democracy for purposes of exposing students to the concepts of personal finance,” provided as many or more students are being exposed to personal finance instruction through the alternate class. There are no specific standards available online for the required courses. There is a Personal Finance Curriculum Resource Guide by the North Dakota Department of Public Instruction which provides links to lessons and curriculum corresponding to the concepts of personal finance required by House Bill 1400.
North Dakota approved new social studies economic standards August 2019. The new standards do not include any personal finance standards for K-5. In the 6-12 grade band, there is only one Personal Finance standard with five benchmarks within the Economics standard. Previously, there were some personal finance standards under Economics Concepts in grades 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 9-12
In 2009, the North Dakota legislature passed House Concurrent Resolution No. 3016 which “urges school districts to offer students a course in financial literacy.”
North Dakota receives a “C” for ensuring some financial literacy instruction through the embedded instruction in the 6-12 social studies standards. North Dakota must adopt grade-specific financial literacy for grades K-12 and make the high school financial literacy requirement a stand-alone course in order to raise its financial literacy instruction grade.