Pollinate, the Teacher Financial Literacy Project, is an organization dedicated to both improving teachers' own understanding of personal finance issues, and the teaching of finacial literacy. The ultimate goal of Pollinate is the creation of a self-sustaining organization that collaboratively spreads financial literacy from teachers to students. This goal will be met primarily through multi-day Workshops; the organization will also have a strong online presence through this website.

Idea behind the Teacher Financial Literacy Project

As part of his doctoral work, Dan Otter participated in the National Writing Project (NWP), one of the longest running, most successful, peer-to-peer professional development institutes in the country. The experience was transformational as he saw first hand the value of allowing educators extended time to engage in deep, collaborative work focused on improving classroom practice, in this case writing instruction. This experience led him to consider how this model could be applied to learning and teaching financial literacy.

Additionally, since 2000 Dan has been operating the nationally recognized 403(b) education and advocacy website 403(b)wise. Dan has also addressed teacher groups across the country on the financial concepts from his website and acclaimed book Teach and Retire Rich, which Vanguard founder John Bogle has praised.

Read more about Dan's research.

Next Steps

The Pollinate project is seeking funding for a pilot workshop to be held summer 2011. We are looking to host between 12 and 24 teachers interested in improving their own financially literacy, and collaborating with colleagues on financial literacy curriculum design and implementation. Our goal is to cover teacher travel expenses, workshop materials, and to offer a stipend for participation. We would eventually like to offer professional development credit and college credit. All of this, of course, is dependent on finding a network of partners. We are looking for support from individuals, educational institutions, and companies and organizations interested in supporting such an effort. For more information, see Get Involved.