The Huffington Post – Jason Alderman
“One of the first global financial literacy tests administered to 15-year-olds identified a critical element among top performers: Students persevered and showed openness toward problem solving, and schools had the freedom to customize lessons…U.S. students earned an average score of 492 out of a possible 700, which ranks those teens between eighth and twelfth place among all 18 participating countries and economies, according to the PISA study…More than one in six U.S. students — 17.8 percent, compared with 15.3 percent across OECD countries — do not reach the “baseline level of proficiency in financial literacy”…the test seemed to show that the success of top-scoring countries/economies stems from a nationwide, mandatory personal finance curriculum…Despite midrange results for U.S. high school students in PISA’s first-ever global financial literacy test, best practices from other nations can provide a strong path for U.S. students to learn and master these skills.”(more)