Assessment Preview
Unit 5 · Lesson 5.7 · Last updated June 2026
A 45-minute lesson where students are introduced to the structure and rubric of the unit summative assessment, select a meaningful long-term financial goal, and begin outlining the action steps they will take to achieve it.
Overview
Students will be presented with the structure of the unit assessment (to be completed in Lesson 5.12) and its rubric. Students will prepare for the assessment by selecting a long-term financial goal and determining two of the three action steps they will take to achieve it. This assessment assumes that students have been introduced to compound interest, investing, credit, credit scores, and earning income. Review Unit 5 Overview: Personal Finance to determine if this assessment is appropriate for your students.
Learning Objectives
- Identify requirements for the summative assessment.
- Explain how the summative assessment will be evaluated.
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Materials
- Instruction Slides (display during class period)
- Planning for Future You pp. 4–7 (1 copy per student)
Optional
- Template (1 copy for educator reference; will be distributed to students in Lesson 5.12)
- Exemplar pp. 8–10 (1 copy for educator reference)
Lesson Sequence
Slides 2–14
- Display Slide 2 and allow students approximately 1 minute to discuss the question on the slide with a peer. Call on several pairs to share their responses. (Additional educator tips and suggested answers are in the notes section throughout Instruction Slides.)
- Proceed to Slide 3. Identify 3 example actions that support the stated goal. Click to reveal the question on the slide and tell students to discuss it with a peer.
- Display Slide 4. Explain that achieving a long-term goal can be challenging due to present bias, but challenges can be mitigated. Click to reveal the "Solution" and tell students that one can prepare in advance for roadblocks by identifying what actions need to be taken, when they need to be taken, and why. One method for doing this is to write emails to oneself and schedule them to arrive at crucial moments in the future.
- Proceed to Slide 5. Use the text on the slide to explicitly connect the unit summative assessment to the marathon example email that students will see momentarily.
- Progress through Slides 6–11. Briefly identify the key components of the example email written to a person who set a goal to run a marathon in the next year.
- Advance through Slides 12–13. Use the text on the slide to emphasize that the marathon example mimics one portion of the end-of-unit summative assessment. Highlight that the assessment will focus on setting and taking action steps to achieve a long-term financial goal.
- Display Slide 14. Explain the learning objectives and tell students that this lesson will introduce them to the end-of-unit summative assessment's requirements and scoring rubric, and give them an opportunity to begin preparing for it.
Slides 15–24
- Progress through Slides 15–16. Distribute 1 copy of Planning for Future You to each student and direct students to read the front page of the assessment. Encourage students to make note of questions that come up as they read.
- Advance to Slide 17. Emphasize the prevalence of financial decision-making and note that like any other decision, one can use the principles of economic thinking to guide the process.
- Progress through Slides 18–22. Review and clarify the general overview and structure of the assessment using the no-stakes true/false "quiz."
- Display Slide 23. Remind students that the rubric is their roadmap to success. Reinforce that this rubric assesses personal finance content knowledge, including discipline-specific vocabulary, and the principles of economic thinking. Clarify student questions related to the rubric as needed. Consider using the marathon example email (Slide 24) to clarify how the rubric is applied to the example. (See the notes section of Instruction Slides for additional support.)
Slides 25–26
- Advance through Slides 25–26. Click to reveal the text on Slide 26 and tell students to use the instructions on the slide to begin outlining their assessment. Students should complete as much of the "Outline" as possible (last two pages of Planning for Future You).
Slides 27–28
- Progress through Slides 27–28. Direct students to discuss the question on the slide with a peer. Click to reveal the text on the slide and remind students that they may continue to work on the "Outline" portion of their handout outside of class to prepare for their assessment in Part 2. Encourage students to place Planning for Future You in their course notebook (or another easily accessible location) as it will be used in Part 2.
Aligned Standards
National Standards for Personal Financial Education (will vary depending on student action steps)
What Educators Are Saying
Students appreciate having an assessment preview day, and this one allowed me to stress particulars about the assignment, such as needing 3 different action areas and 3 different principles of economic thinking.
Easy breakdown, example for the students, and a straightforward process that brings in relevancy to their lives. Everything worked great.
Econiful gave me the structure and confidence to build an engaging Economics course while still allowing flexibility and creativity in my classroom.