The Effectiveness of Financial Literacy Instruction: The Role of Individual Development Accounts Participation and the Intensity of Instruction

Abstract

We examine improvements in financial knowledge for 8th-grade participants in our financial fitness camp, part of our multifaceted financial literacy program. Eighty-three students enrolled in the camp, and 59 had individual development accounts (IDA). We address several issues raised in the literature by focusing on low-income, predominantly Hispanic students, varying the treatment intensity, comparing outcomes for students in our IDA program with those who are not, addressing the potential endogeneity of IDA participation, and testing for selection bias. Financial knowledge increased by approximately 12 percentage points from camp participation. Standardized Language Arts scores, rather than treatment intensity or IDA participation, most affected gains in financial knowledge. There was no evidence of selection bias. Parents with high “present bias” were less likely to enroll their students in the camp, implying that integrating financial literacy education in the regular school curriculum will better serve students in such families.

The role of teacher professional development in financial literacy education: A systematic literature review

“…Furthermore, teaching methods that support creativity and initiative are thought to generate enthusiasm about the subject matter (Belás, Nguyen, Smrčka, Kolembus, & Cipovová, 2016;Haynes & Chinadle, 2007). The literature search revealed that previously developed financial education programmes allowed students to gain practical experience by using active, hands-on methods such as simulations (Brancewicz et al, 2014;Carlin & Robinson, 2012a;Gill & Bhattacharya, 2015;St.Pierre, Simpson, Moffat, & Cothren, 2011), case studies (Belás et al, 2016;Bruhn et al, 2016), games (Migheli & Moscarola, 2017;Varcoe, Martin, Devitto, & Go, 2005), saving clubs (Berry, Karlan, & Pradhan, 2015;Sherraden, Johnson, Guo, & Elliott III, 2010), and financial fitness camps (Bhattacharya, Gill, & Stanley, 2016). Carlin and Robinson (2012b) demonstrated that the learning processes of students who attended in-class financial literacy training before visiting Finance Park -an experiential learning centre -were more favourable than those of students who did not receive this training before their visit.…”

The effects of parental involvement in homework: two randomised controlled trials in financial education

“…The compulsory education setting in high schools was used to avoid selection issues, which have been shown to matter in financial education. For example, parents with a higher present bias are less likely to enrol their children in voluntary financial education (Bhattacharya, Gill, & Stanley, 2016). Further, merely providing youth with ICT tools for financial education without any classroom intervention has been proven to be insufficient (Angel, 2018).…”

Financial Elements in Teaching and Learning of Mathematics: A Systematic Review

“…Besides that, financial education has become a cognitive approach to facilitate the students' learning process and provide more practical experience in supporting influential learning theories (Berková & Krpálek, 2017). The financial literacy program may promote positive changes to the students in terms of financial literacy, economic behavior, and financial competency (Kalwij et al, 2019;Amagir, Groot, Maassen van den Brink, & Wilschut, 2018;Amagir et al, 2019;Zakaria, Sabri, & Rahim, 2017;Bhattacharya et al, 2016;Supanantaroek et al, 2017). However, the studies measure mainly short-term effects.…”