![Sample our Humanities journals, sign in here to start your FREE access for 14 days]({"type":"image" , "src" : "/sda/5939/TOC-Subject-Sample-2021-Humanities.jpg"})
Abstract
Concerns about consumers’ ability to manage their finances have triggered a range of proposals, including interventions aimed at elementary school students. The goal of these approaches is to improve lifelong economic decision making, but the evidence supporting their efficacy is thin. In this article, the authors discuss the trend toward elementary financial education and propose a framework for developing evidence-based programs. They emphasize the need for understanding the underlying mechanisms that facilitate the translation of student knowledge into the ability to make sound economic decisions over the life course. The framework illustrates the importance of articulating the intended mechanisms and effects of education programs. This focus on mechanisms will not only facilitate the evaluation of individual programs, but also the synthesis of evidence across interventions.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The authors are grateful to Karen Walsh for research assistance and to Timothy St. Louis for helpful comments.
Notes
See CEE (2014) and CFED (2012).
See National Association of State Boards of Education (2006).
Iowa, Massachusetts, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania; based on listings of state bills compiled and published by the National Conference of State Legislatures at http://www.ncsl.org/issues-research/banking/financial-literacy-2010-legislation.aspx, http://www.ncsl.org/issues-research/banking/financial-literacy-2011-legislation.aspx, and http://www.ncsl.org/issues-research/banking/financial-literacy-2012-legislation.aspx.
See, for example, “Economic Education in the Schools: A Report of the National Task Force on Economic Education” (Bach et al. Citation1961).
Financial capability is described by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) Financial Education Foundation (2009) as making informed and well-reasoned decisions based on available costs and benefits in the areas of (1) making ends meet, (2) planning ahead, (3) managing financial products, and (4) using financial knowledge for decision-making.
See, for example, a review by Walstad (1992), along with more recent work by Bernheim, Garrett, and Maki (2001); Bruhn et al. (Citation2012); Cole, Paulson, and Shastry (2013); Danes, Huddleston-Casas, and Boyce (Citation1999); Grimes, Rogers, and Smith (2010); Mandell and Klein (2009); Peng et al. (Citation2007); and Walstad (2013).
In a 2009 report for CQ Researcher, Billitteri reviewed a wide array of issues related to school-based financial education, including the historical development of home economics and then traditional economics in schools over the last 100 years.
A 2002 study by the Consumer Bankers Association showed only 21 percent of bank-sponsored youth financial education programs even used pre- and post-tests (Consumer Bankers Association 2002).
Indeed, Confucius is believed to have said, “I do and I understand,” 2,500 years ago.
See, for example, FINRA Investor Education Foundation (2009) or Sledge, Tescher, and Gordon (2010).
Some might argue for individual, student-level assignment; because most education is in a group setting, it is impossible to exclude some students from a program. Online, self-study, and other individual-level programs could consider individual levels, although peer effects and interactions may still be a concern.