Exploring the Contextual Effects of Adolescent Financial Literacy: A PISA 2012 Case Study

• In Event: Exploring the Contextual Effects of Adolescent Financial Literacy: A PISA 2012 Case Study

Abstract

In 2012, the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) began measuring the financial literacy of 15-year-old students in 18 countries. Little in-depth analysis has been done to examine how US students scored on the personal finance section, particularly regarding social and demographic factors. Through the use of hierarchical linear modeling, we find that a school contextual effect exists—when controlling only for the average economic, social, and cultural status of students attending a school, 46% of the score variance was explained. Furthermore, this effect varied significantly by country, with the greatest effect observed in the US; disadvantaged US students were expected to have lower scores than students from a similar household in any of the other 17 countries studied.

Authors

• Aly Blakeney, University of Delaware

• Henry May, University of Delaware