Washington Financial Literacy Standards
It appears that, unfortunately, the Evergreen State needs to make important headway toward improving its standards for financial education in schools. According to the Center for Financial Literacy, Washington got an “F” for those guidelines in the 2015 issue of the National Report Card Champlain College compiles biannually. Washington has no requirement that students complete personal finance instruction in order to receive a high school diploma.
While Washington has economics criteria embedded in its 12th-grade social studies standards, no personal finance concepts are included. The Washington state legislature recently amended a law that requires the Superintendent of Education to integrate financial education, skills, and content knowledge into state learning benchmarks. Although the law has yet to be implemented, when it goes into effect it may improve Washington’s grade.
The state of Washington includes financial instruction in its K-12 standards mandated to be implemented at the district level, says the Economic Education Council. However, no high school course in personal finance must be offered or taken.
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.
