What is working and what needs improvement?

Once you’ve determined your students’ needs and customized your program, the third step is to identify needed improvements. This step provides information on what has changed since you started your financial education program and what adjustments would boost student achievement.

Purpose of Step 3

Develop strategies to improve your program and make it more effective. For periodic improvement, this step can be done both during and at the end of your financial education program.

See if students are engaged with the course.

You can check their understanding with these case studies from NextGen Personal Finance.

Ask yourself questions such as:

• Are my students curious about personal finance matters?
• Is the content relevant to my students’ financial situations?
• What might have changed in the financial decisions my students face since the needs assessment (Step 1)?

Test different delivery methods to define what works best and how your program can be improved.

Check out these resources for ideas on how to teach personal finance topics.

Adjust your program periodically.

The U.S. Department of Education created a guide to build evaluation into their program planning with Evaluation Matters. Check out Wisconsin’s creating assessments in financial literacy for ideas on how to incorporate assessments on a regular basis. Measuring where your students are and what has changed, will help you provide the most impactful education.

Discuss improvement strategies with the teacher community.

Check out some of these resources to grow your network.