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Financial Education and Program Evaluation

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Handbook of Consumer Finance Research

Abstract

This chapter provides an overview of the wide range of financial education programs aimed at improving Americans’ financial literacy as well as a review of the current program evaluation evidence demonstrating the impact of financial education programs. We advocate for the adoption of a comprehensive framework for evaluation to assist those currently delivering, and planning to deliver, financial education while highlighting some of the key challenges. Jacobs’s (Evaluating family programs, pp. 37–68, 1988) five-tier approach to program evaluation is described and outlined to provide a general framework to guide financial education evaluation.

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Fox, J.J., Bartholomae, S. (2008). Financial Education and Program Evaluation. In: Xiao, J.J. (eds) Handbook of Consumer Finance Research. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-75734-6_4

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