How financial education affects Mathematics performance? Evidence from Spain in the context of the Program School 2.0

Zusammenfassung

In this paper we evaluate the effect of participation in the Program School 2.0 on both Financial Education and Mathematics performance using data from PISA 2012. The School 2.0 Program was implemented in 2009 in some Spanish Autonomous Communities. This program promoted the use of computers, both in school and at home, among elementary and high school students. We detect that a greater benefit is obtained when the contents of Financial Education are taught in conjunction with the contents of the subject of Mathematics. Moreover, the inclusion of financial contents in Mathematics subject could help to alleviate the gender gap (school-boys vs. school-girls) and the nationality gap (native vs. immigrant students) observed in Mathematics performance. Regarding the influence of ICT on the skills for both subjects, the benefit of having a computer for personal use by students is observed, both for school and home use. However, it only has a positive effect on performance when it is used occasionally. However, we must interpret the results with certain caution, as not much time has passed since the implementation of these new teaching methodologies, so we should expect to see a "learning effect" over time.