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.

Marking Financial Literacy Month 2009

On March 31, 2009, U.S. Senator Daniel K. Akaka (D-HI) introduced S. Res. 94, a resolution designating April 2009 as "Financial Literacy Month." The resolution was passed the same day by unanimous consent. The Jump$tart Coalition thanks and applauds Senator Akaka and the 21 co-sponsors of this resolution. The full resolution can be found in the downloads section of this website.

On April 29, 2009, Representatives Rubén Hinojosa (D-TX) and Judy Biggert (R-IL) introduced House Resolution #357, "supporting the goals and ideals of Financial Literacy Month." It passed with a mere three dissenting votes. Click here to see the complete version of the resolution.

In addition, for the first time, President Obama issued a statement saying he is "pleased to join all those who are observing Financial Literacy Month." His statement can be seen by clicking here.

Financial Literacy Month Celebrations for 2009

Wisconsin State Jump$tart Coalition

Wisconsin First Lady Jessica Doyle and Wisconsin Department of Financial Institutions Cabinet Secretary, Lorrie Keating Heinemann, Honorary Chair and Chair, respectively, of Governor Doyle's Council on Financial Literacy, presented 2009 Governor's Financial Literacy Awards to six individuals and 10 organizations during a ceremony at Wisconsin's Executive Residence.

Wisconsin Governor Jim Doyle issued a proclamation kicking off Money Smart Week Wisconsin (MSWW) 2009. The statewide financial literacy campaign will be held October 10-17 and be run in collaboration with the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago. Plans again call for hundreds of free educational events across the state. They again include lighting the state Capitol building in Madison green for the week. Last year more than 15,000 took part in MSWW activities.

Menominee Indian High School in Keshena and the Business and Economics Academy of Milwaukee hosted The Money Conference^TM, a one-day event aimed at moderate- and low-income families. Five other communities will hold the event this year.

Jump$tart Honors Financial Literacy Leaders

U.S. Representative Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-30-TX) was named Jump$tart's 2009 Federal Legislator of the Year at Jump$tart's Annual Awards Dinner, held April 1 at the Renaissance Washington, DC Hotel. The Jump$tart Coalition also recognized financial advisor and media personality Ric Edelman, who has emceed nearly every Jump$tart awards dinner in the organization's history and named the Tennessee Jump$tart Coalition its State Coalition of the Year. Dr. Barbara O'Neill, Rutgers Cooperative Extension, was presented with the William E. Odom Visionary Leadership Award. Her remarks can be found in the downloads section of this website.

Jump$tart's national partner organization, the National Foundation for Credit Counseling, presented an award to the national winner of its 2009 financial literacy poster contest to Leah Ellyson, an 11th grade student at North Marion High School in Farmington, West Virginia. Leah's award-winning art can be found in the downloads section of this website.

The Jump$tart Coalition thanks its event underwriter Capital One; its benefactors, Bank of America, HSBC-North America, Visa Inc., and Wells Fargo; and the many individuals and organizations that generously supported the evening.

"Counting on Financial Literacy"
Jump$tart's 2009 Annual Awards Dinner, Washington, DC.

"Counting on Financial Literacy!"

That's the theme of the Jump$tart Coalition annual report for 2008. In these dire times, it is imperative that our nation's students have the knowledge and skills they need to manage their personal finances. They need to count on themselves and their financial literacy to make their way in a complicated world.

Click here to see the accomplishments and activities in 2008 of not only the Jump$tart Coalition itself but also the Jump$tart national partners and the many state coalitions. .

President's Advisory Council on Financial Literacy
2008 Annual Report to the President

"On January 22, 2008, President George W. Bush signed an executive order creating, for the first time, a President's Advisory Council on Financial Literacy. The charge was simple, yet daunting: improve financial literacy among all Americans. After an exciting year of work toward this goal, I believe we have made tremendous progress at laying the groundwork for a comprehensive effort to achieve this goal. I am pleased, on behalf of the Council, to present the first annual report to the President, which details the progress we made this year and outlines a series of recommendations for future initiatives that will help the country achieve the level of financial literacy that is imperative in today's global economy…"

Charles R. Schwab
Chairman, President's Advisory Council on Financial Literacy
Founder, Chairman and CEO, the Charles Schwab Corporation

Please click here to view the full report.

The National Financial Literacy Challenge is a voluntary 35-question test that high school students can take to earn recognition for their financial knowledge. The National Financial Literacy Challenge is offered by the U.S. Department of the Treasury at the recommendation of the President's Advisory Council on Financial Literacy.

There is no plan to conduct the Challenge in spring 2009. For future updates and additional information about the challenge, please click here.

Teachers: If you have participated in the Challenge previously, you will automatically be notified when the next teacher registration begins. If you are a high school teacher who has not previously participated in the Challenge and would like to be placed on the teacher distribution list, please click here.

		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.

Jump$tart Coalition - 2009 Meeting/Events Schedule

Third Quarter Board Meeting

Federal Trade Commission, Washington, DC. National Board Members only, please.

Fourth Quarter Board, Partner, and Committee Meetings

Capital Hilton, Washington, DC

First Annual Jump$tart Coalition National Educator Conference

The NEFE High School
Financial Planning Program^®

In less than two years, the NEFE High School Financial Planning Program has reached well over a million students in over fifty-thousand classrooms in every state in the country. The program has won two national awards for excellence and has received much praise from students and teachers alike.

This seven-unit money management curriculum was created by sixty-five educators and financial professionals working with an educational developer noted for creating active-learning curricula. In the NEFE HSFPP, students will

Create their personal financial plan
Create their personal budget
Propose a personal saving and investing plan
Select strategies to use in handling credit and managing debt
Demonstrate how to use various financial services
Create a personal insurance plan that will minimize loss
Examine how career choice and lifestyle will affect their financial plan.

These seven core competencies are underpinned and supported by dozens of additional learning objectives and outcomes.

The student-centered focus of the program provides learners with many opportunities to actually practice and perform the skills they are learning in a way that leads to positive behavior change.

All of the materials of this program are provided to schools and organizations FREE of charge. These materials include instructor manuals for every teacher, student guides for every student, data CDs containing PowerPoint visuals and much more, access to separate Web sites for students, parents and educators, free teacher training in many states, and much more.

All materials FREE of charge (NEFE even pays for shipping)
Completely non-commercial
A methodology that has been shown in two national studies to create positive behavior change.
Materials available in Spanish
Eight online games
Teacher's guides with directions for the teacher, scoring rubrics, suggested class formats, supplementary materials, classroom activities, assessments, exercises, and more.

Also, take advantage of NEFE's alliance with Junior Achievement in "JA Presents the NEFE High School Financial Planning Program" where a JA Volunteer can team with classroom instructors in presenting the program complete with additional value-added sessions created by the educational developers of JA.

Over 6,500,000 copies of the NEFE High School Financial Planning Program have been sent to schools and organizations since the program's beginning in 1984. In addition to the rewards and recognition this program has received, authorized versions of the HSFPP have been created for use in Australia, New Zealand and Canada.

Visit the NEFE High School Financial Planning Program Portal: http://hsfpp.nefe.org/

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

The 12 Principles Calendars for 2009 are now Out of Stock! Unfortunately, an overwhelming response to this offer has depleted the Jump$tart Coalition supply of 12 Principles calendars for this year. We're so glad you liked them! Remember, however, the calendar is still available as a PDF download. Please click on the link below to see a printable version of the calendar in a PDF format. Once again, thanks to Capital One for its support! It is appreciated. The Jump$tart Coalition® has developed twelve personal finance principles for young people to connect to 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! If you would like to download a PDF version of the calendar, please click here. Please click HERE if you would like to see lessons plans developed around the 12 Principles.

THE FINANCIAL LITERACY OF YOUNG AMERICAN ADULTS - CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD

Support for the survey provided by the Merrill Lynch Foundation.

THE FINANCIAL LITERACY
OF YOUNG AMERICAN ADULTS
Results of the 2008 National Jump$tart Coalition
Survey of High School Seniors and College Students

By
Lewis Mandell, Ph.D.
University of Washington and the Aspen Institute
For the Jump$tart Coalition® for Personal Financial Literacy

The 2008 national Jump$tart survey of high school seniors was the sixth such biennial survey and completed the first ten years of measuring financial literacy in the United States. In 2008, the Jump$tart Coalition also conducted its first national survey designed to measure the financial literacy of college students. The two surveys present contrasting results. The financial literacy of high school students has fallen to its lowest level ever, with a score of just 48.3 percent. The average score for college students on the same 31 question exam, however, was 62.2 percent, nearly 15 percentage points above that of high school seniors. In fact, if measured on the high school senior base of 48.3 percent, college students actually did nearly 29 percent better. In addition, scores improved for every year of college with seniors averaging 64.8 percent. The good news is that American college graduates are close to being financially literate and probably will be so with more life experience. The bad news is that just 25 percent of our young adults are graduating from college and this number appears to have stabilized. This means that 75 percent of young American adults are likely to lack the skills needed to make beneficial financial decisions.

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD

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