Financial literacy education has real-life impact

• The Great Recession left one positive legacy -- a new focus on financial literacy
• Educators are trying to do something to prepare the next generation
• Many states have adopted personal finance standards as part of curriculum

OAKLAND, Md. — The high-schoolers in Lisa Bender's Introduction to Financial Management class at Southern Garrett High School here all seem to be saving for the same thing: a car. And for a group of 25 teens ages 15 to 17, what could be a more important financial goal?

Mikhaila Missimer, a 15 year-old sophomore, is saving for a car. So is sophomore Camden Nichols, also 15. He hopes to save enough from a job at a local convenience store to buy a car next year.

The students both cite Bender's class for helping them attempt to turn their goals into a reality. Her students learn to set "SMART goals," goals that are "specific, measurable, attainable, relevant and time-bound."

Too often, teens have generic savings goals and no plan to achieve them, Bender says. The SMART goal curriculum teaches them to set realistic goals with incremental savings targets to keep themselves on track. It's an important lesson in learning to take control of one's finances, Bender says, a lesson that's catching on across the country.

While the Great Recession put many Americans through a financial wringer, it has left at least one positive legacy, hopefully with long-term consequences: a renewed focus on financial literacy education that has united teachers, school districts and businesses in a commitment to curriculum, training and resources.

Financial literacy education advocates interviewed by USA TODAY all mentioned the financial crisis as the pocket-emptying influence behind the country's increased attention on personal finance lessons in school.

"The American public felt they were a little bit in the dark and really didn't understand the decisions they were making or not making," says Nan Morrison, president of the Council for Economic Education, whose biennial Survey of the States measures financial literacy education implementation across the country. "The recession really put a fine point on that."

Educators decided to try to do something to prepare the next generation of America's earners.

"We look at things like this and translate them into education practice," says Lynne Gilli, program manager for career and technology education instruction and head of financial literacy education for the Maryland State Department of Education. "We don't want to repeat the mistakes of the past."

A rounded strategy

Bender's course curriculum — which includes SMART goal-setting and covers topics including saving and investing, fraud and identity theft, and weighing careers against earnings — is now part of a requirement for students at Garrett County's two high schools. The class of 2013 was the first to graduate under the mandate, which was implemented in 2009, when those students entered Southern Garrett and Northern Garrett high schools as freshmen.

While Maryland doesn't require a course at the state level, surveys show more states are. As CEE prepares to release the 2014 Survey of the States, preliminary findings show four states — Alabama, Florida, Texas and Arizona — have added a personal finance class as a graduation requirement since CEE released its last survey in 2011. That brings the total number of states that require a course to 17.

Many more states, including Maryland, have adopted personal finance standards as part of overall curriculum requirements — three more added personal finance to state standards of education since 2011, bringing the total to 39.

The timing of such an effort may prove crucial, as Americans continue to receive failing grades across numerous surveys and studies about financial literacy in the U.S.

The 2012 National Financial Capability Study — conducted by FINRA Investor Education Foundation and developed by several federal agencies, including the Treasury Department and the President's Advisory Council on Financial Capability — shows that when asked five questions about economics and financial concepts such as compound interest, 61% of adults are unable to answer more than three questions correctly.

In a similar assessment of high school students, the average score on a financial literacy test last year was 69%.

Despite efforts to improve these statistics, some education professionals say it's not enough to offer a sole course in high school, or only require standards. Even states that require both standards and a course may not be doing so effectively, says Mary Blanusa, vice president of government affairs for CEE and project leader for the Survey of the States. Implementation varies from state to state, she says. States can be technically counted as requiring a personal finance course by CEE's survey even if they incorporate a personal finance unit into another class.

Blanusa and Morrison point to one school system as exemplary. Chicago Public Schools is in the process of developing a financial literacy framework to help teachers implement more age-appropriate lessons and units that tie into each other as students progress from kindergarten through high school. CPS is also piloting a capstone course for high school juniors and seniors at 28 schools.

Technically, Illinois already requires personal finance standards and a high school course.

But "there's no coherence" to the way standards are currently implemented, says Marty Moe, social science manager in the district's Department of Literacy. He adds that many of the standards are outdated, "irrelevant" and taught differently in every school. The district's attention on financial literacy now aims to support teachers with professional development and give students a more seamless experience.

"They have really looked at the subject area holistically from K-12," Blanusa says. "No one else is really doing that in a very specific, planned-out way."

Costs of financial instruction

A lack of funding and resources keeps many states from adopting new curriculum. Adding course requirements at the state level usually means needing to hire additional staff and invest in textbooks or other educational tools, says Janet Wilson, Garrett County Schools superintendent.

Stepping in more recently to provide funding are banks and private businesses, pledging millions of dollars toward financial education initiatives. Discover's Pathway to Financial Success grant program will donate $10 million over five years to high schools across the country to help start or expand on financial education curriculum. PwC, the U.S. branch of global professional services firm PricewaterhouseCoopers, is another advocate, launching its Earn Your Future campaign last year with a $60 million pledge, plus $100 million worth of volunteer hours, to youth financial education.

Both companies say they're happy to provide the funding and other support many local governments lack the resources to give.

"I think we're all in a position to really see a lot of the hardship that comes from people who don't understand financial products," says Shannon Schuyler, head of corporate responsibility for PwC, of the trend toward financial institutions becoming financial literacy supporters.

Bender is one of the recipients of the Discover grant program. She applied for the grant last year on behalf of Garrett County and was given $41,000; the county largely used the funds to buy iPads that students now use in class.

Bender has been teaching business classes at Southern Garrett for 27 years and was the school's biggest advocate in pushing the county to require financial literacy education a couple of years ago. She wrote letters to school board officials and the superintendent's office, and talked to parents and other community members about the importance of financial education. Bender says she was inspired by the impact of a stock market unit she taught in her economics class each year that let students make virtual investments and track their progress.

"It was making a difference to those 20 kids but there were 800 more kids in my school," she says. "What if we could reach all of them?"

Now she does. While they may not be thinking about how to take out a mortgage or get a credit card yet, they're leaving her class with an understanding of the pertinence of their financial literacy.

"Everything in here is real-life applicable," Reichard says of the class, which he took last year as a sophomore. "At first I was like, man, another requirement. But in the end, it was definitely worth it."

Real life is the crux on which advocates of financial literacy education build their argument.

"This isn't calculus," says David Nelms, CEO of Discover. "Compared to some other subjects in school, this is one that 100% of the students are going to need to apply."