A conversation with Greg Blough | Sr. Principal, K-12 Marketing, EVERFI
So tell us, what’s new at EVERFI?
We are proud to announce that in June 2023, EVERFI’s Financial Literacy lessons (along with our entire suite of K-12 products) earned the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) Seal! The Seal recognizes high-quality product design for solutions that enable and guide high quality learning.
EVERFI’s High School Financial Education Suite offers educators the platform to create a comprehensive, customized digital learning experience, deepening student knowledge around a range of personal finance topics. For those familiar with EVERFI’s foundational high school program, EVERFI: Financial Literacy, we’re thrilled to have added four extension programs in the past year to round-out your curriculum.
- Accounting Careers: Limitless Opportunities is a digital course that shows learners how an accounting background can help them achieve their career goals. This course covers the extensive benefits accounting skills can provide in business or in daily life, including contexts like entrepreneurship, investing, and personal finance.
- Minding Your Money: Skills for Life is a digital course that teaches students about different financial stages in life, how money and mental health are intertwined, and how money can affect interpersonal relationships. The interactive course empowers students to develop their own personal finance values, goals, and habits.
- Crypto Foundations is a digital program that teaches high school students what cryptocurrency is, how it’s created on the blockchain, and the risks and benefits of holding cryptocurrencies as an investment. This 101-course provides a reliable source of foundational knowledge as it introduces students to the blockchain world.
- Sustainable Investing Essentials is a digital program that teaches high school students about what sustainable investing is with a focus on responsible decision-making that aligns to personal values and how to leave a lasting impact. Sustainable investing refers to a range of practices in which investors aim to achieve financial returns while promoting long-term environmental or social value.
Along with one new program we’ve added to our middle school curriculum.
- Smart Economics: Economics for Middle School, a MassMutual Foundation program, is a digital course that empowers students to analyze the economy and identify factors that impact the price of consumer goods. Through a story-based narrative and interactive exercises, students learn to make real-life decisions that require the understanding of key economic concepts.
What’s the impact this has had/or you hope it will have on moving financial literacy forward?
For the past two years, EVERFI has been conducting a longitudinal research study on the development of financial capability among adolescents funded by The MassMutual Foundation. In this unprecedented study, we are incorporating six of EVERFI’s financial capability courses into the curriculum for teens to determine the unique and combined effects multiple financial educational programs on students’ financial knowledge, attitudes and behaviors (KABs). The intent was to evaluate a digital learning experience that spans from middle school through high school and determine its impact on several student outcomes including financial capability, engagement, retention, performance, academic outcomes, college/career readiness, and parental communication. Our study enlisted the participation of nearly 350 families across the U.S. who have taken combinations of four financial capability courses (including a control group with no courses) and the first two years have unearthed several intriguing findings.
Year 1 of our study found unique and additive effects of the first two general financial literacy courses on students’ KABs, but no increase in financial conversations with parents. Full results can be found here. Year 2 of our study found that while the effects of one course on students’ KABs generally dissipated after a few months, this impact was maintained if students took multiple courses. We also found that courses about specific fiscal topics and behaviors are effective in increasing financial conversations in the home. Full results from Year 2 of this study will be released for sharing in September on the EVERFI Research website: https://everfi.com/research/
Further, for the second year in a row, EVERFI used the backdrop of April’s Financial Literacy Month to release research results that once again showed the low level of financial preparedness high school juniors and seniors face as they prepare to leave high school. The report highlights the critical need for financial literacy education as the data indicates that most high school students still do not feel prepared to make major financial decisions as it relates to managing budgets, banking, and higher education. Read the full report here.
How do we learn more?
Visit our website: everfi.com/k-12 or reach out to our K12 team at: k12team@everfi.com. In addition, we are attending several conferences in the upcoming months, including the Jump$tart National Educator Conference, ACTE CareerTech Vision, AMLE Annual Conference, FETC and ISTE. Please stop by our booth and say hello!
What else are you working on?
EVERFI’s 4th annual LearnOn Conference will be held this year on Monday, October 9 from 11am – 3pm ET. This free conference for K-12 educators will include several informative personal finance related sessions, f you’re unable to attend live, sessions will also be available to those who register on-demand. Register to attend LearnOn here.
Tell us more about your organization
For more than 15 years, EVERFI has offered a digital financial literacy curriculum for elementary, middle, and high school students, all at no cost to schools and districts. Millions of students and their teachers have used EVERFI’s digital lessons to develop youth financial literacy. Resources include:
- Access to EVERFI’s ever-growing library of digital curriculum with lessons that can all be delivered remotely
- Real time reporting to see students’ baseline knowledge and growth
- Lesson plans and discussion questions
- Student scholarship opportunities
- Personalized support from a local School Implementation Manager
Connect with us
Jumpstart Clearinghouse: https://jumpstartclearinghouse.org/provider/everfi/
Follow EVERFI K-12 on Facebook, Twitter, TikTok, Instagram, and Pinterest
Subscribe to EVERFI K-12 on YouTube
Contact info:
Learn more about all of EVERFI’s K-12 financial literacy resources.
Create your free teacher account at everfi.com/newteacher
General contact info:
For partnership inquiries: jnakamura@everfi.com
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