Maryland Financial Literacy Standards
Research conducted by Champlain College says Maryland deserved a “B” in financial education standards as of 2015. The Champlain Center for Financial Literacy compiles a biannual Report Card grading each state, and Maryland requires personal finance to be taught in its elementary, middle, and high schools. As of 2014, seven Maryland districts required a stand-alone personal finance course to graduate, and 17 others had personal finance embedded in another class.
Champlain qualifies Maryland’s “B” grade with the caveat that the financial education guidelines may not be fully implemented, and total hours of instruction cannot be estimated. However, they anticipate their findings may improve in the Old Line State in the future. Furthermore, Maryland gets extra credit for having appointed a financial literacy education advisory council tasked to implement and monitor personal finance education throughout the state’s public school system.
The Economic Education Council (CEE) states that, in the Old Line State, no high school course in money management is mandated to be either offered by schools or taken by students to graduate. However, personal finance is included in the state’s K-12 standards and must be implemented by school districts.
National Standards for Financial Education
Financial Literacy Standards for Older Youth & Adults (High School through Adults)
Although there is no direct mandate by the California State Board of Education, it is recommended that national standards be implemented. Financial education is a unique subject; all participants have developed financial habits and relationships with money before instruction begins.
National standards are those that have been proven in empirical and theoretical research to produce the highest improvements in participant test scores.
Financial Literacy Standards for Kids (Kids PK through 8th Grade)
In collaboration with education leader Heidi Jacobs, the NFEC created these financial literacy standards to define learning goals and educational targets for optimal child financial education. Guided by strong pedagogical theory, the standards ensure that instructional targets are age- and developmentally-appropriate and that lessons can be effectively scaffolded. Standards represent five sections based on topic areas in the NFEC curriculum.
Standards for Financial Education Instructors
The NFEC teamed with the well-known Danielson Group to develop the first and only national standards for financial educators – The Framework for Teaching Personal Finance – to define optimal educator skill sets and performance levels. The framework also identifies the financial educator responsibilities empirically proven to produce highest gains in participant test scores. This framework is used in all 50 states, including California.
