What students do we serve, and what kind of financial education do we provide?

While the first step of evaluation provides information on the need for financial education in the community, the second step establishes baseline information on how the program is being implemented and who it will impact.

Purpose of Step 2

• Identify current financial education program implementation.
• Establish a baseline.
• Engage relevant stakeholders.

Financial education is implemented in various ways. For example, it might be included within a civics course or offered as an elective. This makes assessing the implementation of financial education in schools challenging. However, with clear and consistent procedures for collecting this information, a solid baseline can be established.

Collect information

Use your state’s management information system to collect general information on course offerings.

Check graduation requirements and course offerings

Review school websites and contact administrators to determine graduation requirements and course offerings that may include personal finance.

Check enrollment rates

Contact school administrations for enrollment rates in courses related to personal finance.

Identify financial education stakeholders

Identify financial education stakeholders, including parents, and get their perceptions and opinions of course offerings.

Gain a stronger understanding

Supplement data collection through surveys, testimonies, and interviews of stakeholders to gain a stronger understanding of how financial education is being delivered. The National Foundation for Credit Counseling conducted a consumer financial literacy survey in 2018. If you want to create your own survey, check out our sample. 

Conduct surveys and questionnaires of students.

• The National Financial Capability Survey has provided the financial literacy and capability questions they used in their questionnaire.
• For gauging financial literacy, we suggest asking these three simple questions about inflation, risk, and diversification.
• Jump$tart High School Survey measures what is necessary to be financially literate for students. Here is the analysis report and here is a list of questionnaires.
• For a quick assessment, use these five questions from the Programme for International Student Assessment.

Pre-assessments

Consider using pre-assessments to determine baseline levels with the National Endowment for Financial Education’s Evaluation Toolkit. The toolkit includes a question bank to measure financial literacy and capability.