FutureSmart Financial Education Program from the MassMutual Foundation and EVERFI from Blackbaud Earns ESSA Evidence Badge

The MassMutual Foundation and EVERFI® from Blackbaud®, the leader in powering social impact through education, have announced that their FutureSmart financial education program for middle school students has been certified as meeting the evidence-based standards set forth in the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), aligning with Level III certification for “Promising Evidence.”

FutureSmart is a free digital financial literacy program for middle schoolers sponsored by the MassMutual Foundation that empowers students to effectively manage their finances, make sound decisions, and become financially responsible. Through a story-based narrative and interactive exercises, students learn to make real-life decisions about their personal finances, as well as how to achieve important goals around saving money, education and career planning, and budgeting.

“Democratizing access to financial education so that all students have a chance to understand money and how it works provides an important foundation for long-term financial health and well-being,” said Dennis Duquette, president of the MassMutual Foundation. “We knew when we set out to create this program – which has empowered more than four and a half million students to date – that we were in a unique position to make an impact on students and the trajectory of their financial future. This recognition validates that FutureSmart shows a promising impact on students and supports the MassMutual Foundation’s focus on helping to build financial resilience, leading to more opportunities for all.”

The ESSA Level III alignment was awarded after extensive review by independent education research organization LearnPlatform by Instructure, which certified EVERFI’s research, “The MassMutual Foundation Longitudinal Study of Financial Capability Among Adolescents.”  After a systematic evaluation by trained reviewers, LearnPlatform concluded that the evidence surrounding FutureSmart meets Level III “Promising Evidence” and showed a positive, statistically significant relationship with students’ improved financial knowledge, self-efficacy, and behaviors.

Schools and school districts are increasingly encouraged to use programs and tools that have proven they positively impact student outcomes through rigorously designed research studies. The ESSA Tiers of Evidence provide an easy to interpret framework for identifying what programs work.

With LearnPlatform, EVERFI has a respected third-party evidence partner that solidifies its commitment to demonstrating the impact of its programs for students. EVERFI is committed to continuing to strengthen its library of evidence and bring high-quality evidence-based programs to educators in every classroom.

“Research overwhelmingly shows that in order to combat financial illiteracy, high-quality financial education must begin early in a child’s life,” said Ray Martinez, co-founder and president, EVERFI from Blackbaud. “Middle school is a crucial time of financial socialization and the FutureSmart program with the MassMutual Foundation brings this critical education to students right when they need it. We’re proud of this validation of our program and are excited to continue making financial education accessible to more students nationwide.”

Launched in 2015, the FutureSmart program has reached more than four and a half million students and is on track to reach six million students across all 50 states and Puerto Rico by 2025. Originally focused on providing financial education to middle school students, the MassMutual Foundation has expanded the program to include a FutureSmart app and to provide families and educators access to digital personal finance education.

For more information on the FutureSmart program, visit: https://futuresmart.massmutual.com/en/