Middle school students participating in a stock
investing program that teaches them strategies
for earning, saving and investing money outperformed other
students in several key academic areas,
according to researchers at the
Center for Social
Organization of Schools at Johns Hopkins.
The seventh-graders who took part in the Stocks in the
Future program scored 31 percent
higher in reading, vocabulary and math than did students in
a control group, and sixth-grade
participants' scores were 18 percent higher in reading
comprehension and math.
These results reflect the positive impact of the
supplemental program, which was offered to
400 students in Baltimore and Washington, D.C., who were
identified as needing incentives to improve
school performance.
The scripted Stocks in the Future curriculum was
developed at the Center for Social
Organization of Schools. Under the terms of the program,
students who attend school regularly and
improve their grades earn "SIF Dollars" that enable them to
buy real publicly traded stocks, which
they receive when they graduate from high school and turn
18.
"The positive impact of the Stocks in the Future
program is substantial," said Anne Swain of
CSOS, who is also executive director of the program, a
501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. "Stocks in
the Future helps students improve their school performance
in core academic areas of reading and
math, while the incentive provides a needed 'excuse' to
attend school."
Proven effective during a multiyear pilot, Stocks in
the Future is ready to launch its program
throughout the region, Swain said.
The initiative has received long-standing support from
the Abell Foundation, Bernstein Family
Foundation, Eddie C. and C. Sylvia Brown Family Foundation,
Eastern Savings Bank, Legg Mason, M&T
Bank, Praxis Engineering, Provident Bank, Sun Trust Bank
and the U.S. Educational Fund.
For more on the program, including study results, go
to
www.stocksinthefuture.org/live/index.htm.