Jump$tart Coalition

First convened in December, 1995, the Jump$tart Coalition for Personal Financial Literacy determined that the average student who graduates from high school lacks basic skills in the management of personal financial affairs. Many are unable to balance a checkbook and most simply have no insight into the basic survival principles involved with earning, spending, saving and investing.

Many young people fail in the management of their first consumer credit experience, establish bad financial management habits, and stumble through their lives learning by trial and error. The Coalition´s direct objective is to encourage curriculum enrichment to ensure that basic personal financial management skills are attained during the K-12 educational experience. The wheels of education do not need to be reinvented, they simply require balance.

Results of the 2008 Financial Literacy Surveys of High School and College Students were released at a press conference on April 9, 2008, at the Federal Reserve Board in Washington, DC.
The Survey is generously sponsored, once again, by the Merrill Lynch Foundation.

The President's Advisory Council on Financial Literacy has recommended that the U.S. Department of the Treasury reprise the National Financial Literacy Challenge in Fall of 2008. The Challenge is a voluntary 35-question test that high school students can take to earn recognition for their financial knowledge. The Fall Challenge will run from November 3 - 26, 2008.

To learn how students did in the recently completed Spring 2008 Challenge, please click here.

Teachers: If you participated in the Spring 2008 Challenge, you will automatically be notified this Fall when teacher registration begins. If you are a high school teacher who did not participate in the Spring 2008 Challenge and would like to be placed on the teacher distribution list, please click here.

State Jump$tart Coalitions and Partners Promote
Financial Literacy across the Country!

Jump$tart Presents Federal Legislators and Odom Awards

Jump$tart's aim is to identify high-quality personal finance materials for educational use. The Clearinghouse is a database of personal finance resources available from a variety of education providers such as government, business and non-profit organizations. Once you find a material of interest, you can order it directly from the source. Many of the materials are low cost or free of charge. Teachers often use these personal finance teaching materials to support their state's standards in economics, business, math and family and consumer science.

2008 Jump$tart Coalition Annual Awards Dinner
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Jump$tart Coalition - 2008 Meeting/Events Schedule

First Quarter National Board Meeting
Board Dinner, Thursday January 24
Board Meeting, Friday, January 25
Meeting Room Courtesy of Mortgage Bankers Association

2008 Survey Results Press Conference
Wednesday, April 9

Jump$tart Special Event Fundraising Dinner
Reception 6:30 p.m., dinner 7:30 p.m., Wednesday, April 9
Renaissance Washington DC, Hotel

Second Quarter National Board, Partner, State Leader and Committee Meetings
State Leader and Committee Meetings, Wednesday, April 9
Partners Meeting, Board Meeting, and Workshop, Thursday, April 10
Renaissance Washington DC, Hotel

Financial Literacy Day on Capitol Hill
Date: Monday, April 28, 2008
Location: Hart Senate Office Building, 902
Please contact Jump$tart for additional information

Third Quarter National Board Meeting
Board Dinner, Thursday July 17
Board Meeting, Friday, July 18
Location to be determined

Fourth Quarter National Board, Partner, and Committee Meetings
Committee Meetings; Networking Reception, Thursday, October 23
Partners Meeting, Board Meeting, and Workshop, Friday, October 24
Location to be determined

All meetings will be held in the Washington, DC area. Precise locations will be announced prior to each meeting.

Partners with meeting space in the greater Washington, DC area are invited/encouraged to donate their meeting space and be recognized for their in-kind contribution.

National Council on Economic Education

What We Do:

The National Council on Economic Education (NCEE) is a leading national advocate and program service provider for economic, financial, and entrepreneurship literacy. NCEE believes that financial literacy is best achieved through the teaching of sound economic and decision-making skills.

What We Offer:

NCEE offers curriculum materials for teaching K-12 economics, personal finance, and entrepreneurship, as well as professional development for K-12 teachers.

Programs in personal finance include Financing Your Future® (http://financingyourfuture.ncee.net), a DVD-based personal finance program that is sponsored by the Citi Foundation; Virtual Economics® 3.0 (http://ve.ncee.net), an interactive CD-ROM with over 1,200 economics and personal finance lesson plans for K-12 that is sponsored by State Farm; teacher workshop guides for Hands on Banking® (http://www.ncee.net/ea/program.php?pid=35) that is sponsored by Wells Fargo; Risky Business® (http://riskybusiness.ncee.net), a DVD-based life skills program sponsored by the Allstate Foundation; Learning, Earning and Investing® (http://lei.ncee.net), an investor education program sponsored by the Moody's Foundation; and EconEdLink® (http://www.econedlink.org), which features free web-based economics and personal finance lesson plans for grades K-12 and is a part of Thinkfinity.com, sponsored by the Verizon Foundation.

NCEE's flagship personal finance program is Financial Fitness for Life® (http://fffl.ncee.net). This complete personal finance curriculum for grades K-12 is divided into five theme areas: the economic way of thinking;

earning an income; saving; spending and borrowing; and managing money. The program uses grade-specific (K-2, 3-5, 6-8 and 9-12) teacher guides that include lesson plans and visuals; student workbooks that reinforce the concepts with hands-on activities and worksheets; parent guides for adding at-home activities; assessments, a CD-ROM. Financial Fitness for Life® is available in Spanish.

Financial Fitness for Life® is sponsored by the Bank of America Charitable Foundation.

REALITY CHECK HAS MOVED! Here is the new URL: http://www.jumpstart.org/realitycheck

Unfortunately, the Jump$tart Coalition 2007 calendars are now out of stock. Thank you for your interest. We are working on the 2008 calendars and they will be available soon. Please watch this spot on the Web site to see exactly when to place your order.

Thanks.

The Jump$tart Coalition® has developed twelve personal finance principles for young people to hook into their financial futures. This year, these practical, everyday ideas are sponsored by Capital One®. If followed, these principles can help students stay connected to their financial lives—start today!

Please click HERE if you would like to see lessons plans developed around the 12 Principles.

Improving Education - CLICK HERE TO ORDER

Support for the survey provided by the Merrill Lynch Foundation.

Financial Literacy:
Improving Education

The positive turnaround in financial literacy scores that was first noted in the 2004 survey, continued-albeit slowly-in 2007. Beginning with an average score of 57.3 percent in 1997, scores fell to 51.9 percent in 2000 and 50.2 percent in 2002 before staging a rebound to 52.3 percent in 2004. In 2007, the mean score increased by a tenth of a percent to 52.4 percent. The increase is certainly not overwhelming but somewhat reassuring given that the gains of two years ago appear to be holding. On a more positive note, the proportion failing this exam (a score below 60 percent), decreased from 65.5 percent in 2004 to 62 percent in 2007.
In his preface to the 2007 edition, Senator Michael B. Enzi (R-WY) added:

A life of financial success and security begins with a strong education. Every generation of Americans is introduced to the realities of spending, saving and finance at a younger age than the last. Yet for many years, our nation's financial literacy has not kept pace. Many young people today take jobs with salaries far beyond what their parents earned. They also begin to live a lifestyle they believe fits that income, including cars, boats and luxury vacations. Many realize too late that what their parents have is the result of accumulation over years of hard work. The younger generation discovers their income cannot keep up with their spending, and they fall into debt. In the worst cases, these bad financial practices can eventually lead to broken marriages, families and futures.

CLICK HERE TO ORDER

The Coalition produces a quarterly newsletter called the "Jump$tart Update" designed to keep educators informed about personal finance education tools and concepts, sample lesson plans, upcoming events and the activities of the Coalition and member organizations.

Receive a sample copy of the newsletter by calling (202) 466-8604.

Order online by clicking here.

The Jump$tart Coalition for Personal Financial Literacy
919 18th Street, N.W. Suite 300 Washington, DC 20006
Phone: (888) 45-EDUCATE
Fax: (202) 223-0321
Email: info@jumpstartcoalition.org