The Economics of Staying in School (ESIS) is a series of activities that help students discover the relevance of their education to decisions and options in the workplace. This program, recommended for students in the middle grades, may be used independently or with one of the other Middle Grades Programs. The self-contained program kit includes detailed activity plans for the volunteer and materials for 35 students.

ACTIVITIES & KEY LEARNING OBJECTIVES
One:Making Your Own Way The students participate in an activity that reveals the relationships among education, career options, and earnings.	Identify their personal interests Summarize how education affects career options and earnings Define success in personal terms
Two:Playing With Success The students play SUCCESS, a board game that illustrates the relationship between education and achieving personal goals.	Describe the value of an education Identify situations that cause students to drop out of school Analyze choices and opportunities available
Three:Living and Learning The students discover, through reading tables and interpreting data, the financial costs and opportunity costs of education.	Describe how taxpayers invest in education Interpret data and design charts Identify the opportunity costs of dropping out
Four:The Cost of Living The students work in small groups to prepare monthly budgets, using reference tools to determine their income and expenses.	Gather information from classified ads Calculate take-home pay Prepare a monthly budget
Five:Knowing Yourself The students discover their skills and aptitudes through a personal assessment, then match the results to their own career choices.	Analyze their personal skills and aptitudes Assess their skills in terms of career choices Evaluate how experiences at home, school, etc. help them develop necessary workplace skills
Six:Setting Goals The students write definitions of success and identify goals that would help them achieve it.	Develop personal definitions of success Discover the importance of setting goals
CONCEPTS budgeting • careers & jobs • choices • employment • goals • income & expenses • opportunity costs • skills • success • taxes • trade-offs • work	SKILLS analyzing information • building self-esteem • critical thinking • decision making • evaluating experiences • following directions • gathering & interpreting data • giving reports • goal setting • role-playing • teamwork