It seems self-evident: students who felt hopeful about their future were more likely to graduate. And we’ve been working since 1992 to bring that sense of hope to kids in low-wealth communities.When the results came in on Gallup’s most recent Nationwide Student Poll, the results were surprising. The research showed that the most powerful predictor of academic success and graduation—more powerful than GPA or test scores—was a sense of hope.

But we wanted to know more: how does developing a sense of financial literacy early in life help children succeed? How does it affect their long-term well-being? Their attitudes? Their level of hope?

Operation HOPE has partnered with Gallup to answer some of these questions. We’ve embarked on an ambitious plan to track the lives of the children we teach in 50 cities throughout the country for a span of ten years—to measure the effect our programs have over the long term.  

Through the Office of Innovation, Research, and Assessment, we plan to build a financial literacy index quantifying the connection between hope, well-being, engagement, and financial literacy. Ultimately, this data will help us better understand the behavioral economics of youth—and improve our ability to meet the needs of the people we serve.

Under this partnership, HOPE and Gallup have signed an MOU with the Oakland Unified School District to provide financial literacy education through Banking on Our Future to 4th – 12th graders in Oakland Unified.

• View an overview of the MOU