GRADE
D
SUMMARY OF GRADE
-
Significant Accomplishments: Some personal finance benchmarks embedded in social studies standards, financial literacy course an option as a graduation requirement
-
Needs Improvement: Needs to require high school stand-alone personal finance course and implement grade-specific K-8 financial literacy standards
AN IN-DEPTH LOOK
In 2023 the Montana Board of Education voted to add a half unit of either financial literacy or economics to its existing social studies graduation requirements starting in 2025. However, many different classes can satisfy this requirement, including ones that do not include any personal finance concepts. Montana does not appear to have state financial literacy standards, but a guidance document for the financial literacy/economics requirement provides a course content summary with suggested topics. The Montana Content Standards for Social Studies provide benchmarks for what students should know upon certain grades. Upon graduation, only one of the thirty-six benchmarks covers financial literacy. Additionally, some of the Career and Vocational Education content standards relate to personal finance.
Similar standards guide K-8 social studies learning objectives. Benchmarks for what students should know at the ends of grades 4 and 8 are provided. Similar to the high school, there are only a few personal finance benchmarks for the ends of grades 4 and 8, failing to provide robust financial literacy instruction for all students.
Montana receives a “D” in financial literacy, as it provides minimal guaranteed financial literacy instruction through a few standards. In order to raise its grade, Montana should require the stand-alone personal finance class for graduation. Montana also needs to create specific personal finance standards for grades K-12 to ensure instruction in each grade.
