When you teach personal finance, how do you know if the lessons are really sinking in? There is an added challenge when you teach adult and nontraditional learners in that you often don’t know participants’ level of financial literacy beforehand and, unless you follow up afterwards, there’s no way of measuring whether they learned anything or — the real point — if they changed any of their financial behaviors for the better after the program.

This is where evaluation comes in.  Whether your personal finance program takes place in a traditional school, community center, library, church, military base or virtual classroom, the only way to know if the curriculum works is to evaluate.

Why Evaluate?

Research from the National Endowment for Financial Education® (NEFE®) shows that effective financial education must be relevant to the audience, covering topics that learners are facing now and arming them with useful information. A successful personal finance curriculum must continuously measure what is working and what is not to keep up with learners’ changing needs.

Evaluations are the primary tool to measure program performance, build shared understanding of goals and outcomes within your organization and prove the value of your program to funders.

What is the Financial Education Evaluation Toolkit?

  • Free tests to use in personal finance classes
  • Age-appropriate questions about money topics
  • Answer keys and automatic scoring
  • Ready-to-use test templates for NEFE’s High School Financial Planning Program (HSFPP)

The NEFE Financial Education Evaluation Toolkit (Toolkit.nefe.org) has been updated with improved functionality and an expanded Question Bank. All questions are aligned with national personal finance standards and teachers who use the High School Financial Planning Program will find ready-to-use tests corresponding to the HSFPP modules.

How to Use Toolkit

Go to Toolkit.nefe.org and create a free account. Choose an existing test template or open a blank evaluation.

  1. Choose questions from the Question Bank or write your own.
  2. Send electronic evaluations to participants or print hard copies.
  3. Automatically score evaluations.

There is never any charge to use the Toolkit, which is offered as a public service by the National Endowment for Education.

More About NEFE

The National Endowment for Financial Education® provides financial education and practical information to people at all financial stages. NEFE believes that regardless of background or income level, more financially informed individuals are better able to take control of their circumstances, improve their quality of life and ensure a more stable future for themselves and their families.

To understand and meet the changing financial education needs of Americans, NEFE joins forces with thought leaders across the country and worldwide to help move financial capability forward. We facilitate rigorous financial literacy and behavioral research, convene experts on various personal finance topics and comment and engage in national public policy efforts. NEFE has built numerous programs for consumers of all ages based on research, and all NEFE resources are available at no cost.

It is NEFE’s strong conviction that, through an increased understanding of personal financial issues, all Americans can enjoy better, more secure and more satisfying lives.

November 27, 2018

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *