JA Finance Park’s Impact
Posted in: JA Impact
New Research Shows JA Finance Park® Increases Students’ Financial Capability.
JA Finance Park first provides 14 in-class lessons to middle and high school students where they learn about balancing a family budget, interest rates, how education affects their earning potential, and how saving today can affect their future.
Then, students come to our 7,000-square-foot learning facility to put their new knowledge into action. During this half-day experience, students assume randomly-assigned family and income scenarios and visit businesses to gather information for their personal financial decision-making. They utilize banking services, purchase housing, transportation, insurance, furnishings, health care, and other expenses, as well as make investment decisions.
Research conducted by the independent RMC Research Corporation and the JA Education Group shows that the combination of JA Finance Park’s financial literacy curriculum and experiential learning program increases the financial capability of middle school students who participate.
Some of the findings of the evaluation include:
- Students who participated in JA Finance Park demonstrated more financial literacy knowledge than comparison students.
- The average Effect Size for financial literacy knowledge gain was “moderate-to-large,” indicating a meaningful gain in knowledge by participating students.
- Students who participated in JA Finance Park demonstrated positive attitude changes across all dimensions of interest.
- Students, teachers, volunteers, and JA staff all affirmed the value of JA Finance Park.