As more and more states pass laws mandating financial literacy education, districts are racing to find quality resources to help their teachers provide effective instruction. Discover how Fulton County Schools successfully implemented EVERFI’s free financial literacy resources to comply with Georgia’s new mandate. Read on to see how the district improved student financial literacy with the help of EVERFI.
Meeting Georgia’s New Financial Literacy Mandate
Fulton County Schools had worked with EVERFI for more than 10 years, incorporating EVERFI health, social studies, and financial literacy learning modules into their curriculum. In 2022, Georgia Governor Brian Kemp signed into law a new financial education requirement for graduation. An important step forward for financial literacy education, the law had specific requirements including curriculum standards, grade-level specific requirements, and updated teacher certification from the Georgia Professional Standards Commission.
Selecting the Right Financial Literacy Solutions
FCS explored supplemental resources to support teachers with embedded, relevant, and engaging financial literacy content. Then, they needed the right approach to implement them, both educationally, so that the scope and sequence of lessons seamlessly aligned with standards and also, technically, so that any solution could integrate with the county’s single sign-on platform. Finally, FCS would need intensive training and implementation support, so teachers and students were comfortable with the new material.
“After the new state requirements were passed, we sought ways to get approved lessons and training…We especially wanted to offer teachers turnkey resources. If they could take a pre-made lesson that they know is vetted, engaging, and effective, they could easily personalize it for their schools with minimal additional work.” – Crystal Flowers, FCS Social Studies Director
Why Fulton County Schools Partnered with EVERFI
FCS chose to provide its teachers with EVERFI’s financial literacy lessons as supplementary resources to build more financially literate students. EVERFI works with corporate and foundation partners to help fund the lessons so that its online financial education curriculum, training, and support are completely free to K-12 educators and school systems.
Interactive & Engaging Financial Literacy Lessons
EVERFI education resources have been used by millions of students for more than 17 years. These foundational resources teach students how to make informed financial decisions that promote financial well-being over their lifetime. The fun, interactive digital lessons cover subjects such as credit and debt, budgeting, and banking basics. All modules align with Jump$tart National Standards in K–12 Personal Finance Education and translate complex financial concepts in ways that help students create a starting foundation for lifelong financial wellness.
Strategic Alignment with Georgia State Standards
FCS took a strategic approach to ensuring that their students were financially literate. Aligning the lessons within each EVERFI resource to Georgia state standards, FCS incorporated EVERFI’s personal finance courses within the social studies curriculum of all grade levels and CTE courses within the high school curriculum.
How EVERFI Supports Fulton County Schools
EVERFI provides Fulton County Schools with a range of support services to ensure that administrators and teachers have everything they need to ensure a successful implementation, leading to strong student outcomes.
Aligning Curriculum with State Standards
With EVERFI, FCS now has a robust financial literacy curriculum that aligns with state standards and requirements. FCS worked closely with EVERFI to ensure teachers were trained on the EVERFI platform to incorporate lessons that fit the curriculum scope of sequence while fully supporting Georgia Standards for Excellence.
“It was a great experience working with EVERFI…They made it seamless to align with state standards and allowed us to give teachers turnkey resources. Now, they can take pre-made courses that they know are vetted and engaging and put them in the right format for their specific schools. It’s been highly beneficial to teachers.” – Crystal Flowers, FCS Social Studies Director
Single Sign-On Integration
EVERFI also worked closely with FCS to integrate with ClassLink, the FCS single sign-on platform. Students and teachers use the same log-in process with their existing credentials, so there are no new passwords to forget or platforms that FCS has to pay for.
“We love that it’s free to access; other solutions are incredibly expensive…It’s also really accessible using single sign-on through ClassLink, it just makes things so easy.” – Sade Stanton, K-5 FCS Social Studies Specialist
Ongoing Support & Professional Development
EVERFI’s support didn’t end with the initial lesson rollouts. With completely free, intensive yearly training and ongoing, as-needed support services, FCS can ensure that all its teachers and students thrive using the new lessons. EVERFI’s free professional development includes in-person and online time with representatives to personally answer program questions and increase teaching effectiveness. FCS has even provided direct feedback on new resources being created by EVERFI.
“We really enjoy EVERFI support because of the approachability of the staff…They are so amenable to our needs. Whatever we need, they are eager to assist in person or virtually.” – Crystal Flowers, FCS Social Studies Director
EVERFI also regularly hosts events with a community of educators from around the state, so they can learn from each other’s experience in a casual setting. These include “lunch and learns” with multiple Atlanta-area districts and partners as well as afterwork events at state-wide conferences where district representatives, teacher ambassadors, and other educators can discuss their experiences and best practices.
“We love the fact that EVERFI convenes other districts so we can all talk about how we’re using the courses and how we could best use them in the future. It’s such a nice opportunity to mingle, let your hair down, and learn with colleagues.” – Sade Stanton, K-5 FCS Social Studies Specialist
Positive Student Outcomes
Student learning outcomes using EVERFI and the overall feedback from educators have been incredible. Today, with county learning gains of over 30% percent, FCS students are retaining critical knowledge in areas such as banking basics, credit and debt, and employment income.
Empowering Younger Learners with Financial Literacy
EVERFI’s financial literacy suite was so compelling that FCS has integrated FutureSmart, part of EVERFI’s middle and elementary school financial literacy resources, into existing classes.
FutureSmart focuses on critical life skills like budgeting, career planning, and healthy borrowing habits. By leveraging interactive and game-based learning, FutureSmart immerses students in real-life financial scenarios that focus on skill building and responsible decision making. The gamified courses feature an engaging storyline, diverse cast of characters, and interactions and activities to teach students fundamental financial topics in a fun and engaging way.
“One of the things we saw is that students couldn’t relate to the financial education books, but they’re so excited to use the [EVERFI] modules.” – Sade Stanton, K-5 FCS Social Studies Specialist
EVERFI’s Commitment to Every School District
The support that EVERFI provides to Fulton County Schools is not unique to one district. EVERFI provides its award-winning suite of financial literacy resources and comprehensive support services to all school districts at no cost.
This means that every district, regardless of size, can benefit from high-quality, interactive personal finance lessons without worrying about budget constraints. By partnering with EVERFI, districts can ensure their students are equipped with essential skills for a financially secure future.
Bring EVERFI to Your District
Ready to empower your schools with EVERFI? Schedule a call today to explore how their free resources and support can help meet your district’s goals of equipping students with the skills needed for lifelong financial well-being.
“We’re definitely looking to continue our partnership. EVERFI has been such a game changer for us, we’re excited to see what the future holds.” – Crystal Flowers, FCS Social Studies Director