Although we know that youth are making more and more financial decisions at younger ages and will also need financial skills and knowledge to be successful as adults, available information suggests that youth financial literacy is poor.  For example, scores on the national Jump$tart Coalition’s biannual test for high school students have been consistently low since its debut in 1998, and survey questions on the 2006 test showed that students were generally apathetic towards setting and managing financial goals.

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Despite a need for additional research in this area, some consensus exists on steps that should be taken to improve in-school financial education at all grade levels. These steps include:

Provide teachers with support and training;
Consider integrating financial education with hands-on practice;
Demonstrate the importance of financial education by improving/introducing standards and improving program evaluation