Measuring the Right Thing
The clearest proof I have that crisis-informed financial literacy is a genuinely different subject, not just a softer version of the same one, came from our own evaluation data.
When we measured our curriculum with standard, generic financial literacy assessments, we saw almost no pre-post change, even though residents told us directly the content was valuable. Once we built our own assessments, measuring knowledge of emergency assistance programs, eviction defense, tenant rights, and rental application strategy, we documented substantial learning gains.
That’s the definition in practice. Crisis-informed financial literacy isn’t generic financial literacy taught more gently. It’s a different set of competencies entirely, which means it requires different tools to even see whether it’s working. You cannot use a thermometer to measure whether someone is thirsty. Different problem, different instrument.
One month into this series, that’s the single idea I’d want to leave you with if you remember nothing else: crisis-informed financial literacy isn’t a lesser version of the real thing. It’s the version that’s actually accurate for the population it’s built for.
This month’s episodes go into all three of these threads in more depth, if you want to hear the fuller versions.
What would you want measured, in your own field, if the standard metric wasn’t capturing what actually mattered?
Author: Sandra Roussel
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