Three Year Program Overview

Economics is fundamentally about good decision-making: assessing the range of choices, prioritizing them, and understanding all the costs and the consequences of each potential choice. Instilling into students the habits of careful consideration and evaluation of costs and benefits is not a quick or easy task. To make any progress in internalizing the process, it must be continually reinforced – year after year, teacher after teacher, class after class, interaction after interaction.  Teaching a separate, one-time economics class does little to change the existing equation.  We believe, however, that by infusing or integrating an economic mindset into every part of school life – academics, discipline, social interactions, etc. – students will learn to analyze their external circumstances and internal choices and begin to make informed, intentional, and better choices.

It is critical to note the following:

  • Infusionomics is people-driven. Administrators, teachers, and staff are trained in basic economics and prepared to incorporate an economic way of thinking into the school environment.
  • All members of a school family, not just teachers and administrators, should be trained and involved in the infusion process wherever possible.
  • The model itself expresses the economic realities of costs and benefits. It will require time, planning, training, and ongoing effort (costs) by all involved to maximize the short-and long-term benefits.
  • It is meant to inform approaches to school and classroom discipline by providing a way for students to
  • consider the choices they make
  • understand the cost of those choices to themselves and others
  • look at long- and short-term consequences of their actions
  • take responsibility for their actions
  • analyze and problem solve so they can also take responsibility for solutions to their problems
  • This is not a curriculum but a pedagogical approach and logical framework designed to work with existing curriculum.

The general outline for implementation of Infusionomics is as follows:

I.                   Year One Infusing Keystone Economic Principles

This year provides the school with the opportunity to fully prepare for the infusion of economics into the school culture. All administration, faculty, and staff are trained in basic economics and are provided with self-contained monthly teaching themes that will allow the application and practice of the principles and content being learned.

II.                Year TwoFinancial Literacy

This year’s goals are three: 1) full infusion of economic literacy concepts into the school curriculum in all content areas; 2) establishment of a student economy called Economis that allows students to experience economics in real world, personal finance applications while teaching and reinforcing basic financial literacy concepts and 3) instruction in Financial Literacy Mini-Lessons to improve students’ financial life skills. (In addition, some schools may choose to employ Economis for the purpose of improving school discipline and classroom management through the student economy’s use of incentives.

III.             Year ThreeEntrepreneurship

This year continues to develop and deepen the full infusion model and provide new experiences for real world application with the beginning of an entrepreneurship program that includes sustainable student-run businesses and the use of financial literacy tools to apply sound economic thinking to budgeting, banking, saving, investing, and many other aspects of a student’s financial life.