Age range

Website: www.jachicago.org

Mission/Goals: JA Chicago, founded in 1940, has reached 1.5 million students in the past 60 years. The unique economic education curriculum is taught by business and community volunteers who serve as role models to children. The classes are taught during the school day and focus on life skills, personal finance and career choices. Our goal is to prepare the future workforce with the skills that they need to succeed. The programs emphasize that education is the key to success.

Source(s): www.guidestar.org

Notes: JC Penny Afterschool is partnering with Junior Achievement to do some preliminary afterschool evaluations; the pilot assessment was in St. Louis. However, the Afterschool Impacts Evaluation is not yet completed.

Type of Evaluation: Quasi-Experimental/ Longitudinal.

Objective: The study assessed the long-term effects of national Junior Achievement in-school programs on student outcomes.

Impact/Outcomes: JA programs had a statistically significant positive association with students' attitudes and aspirations regarding education and employment. JA students outperformed non-JA students on school performance indicators such as academic honors and computer skills. JA students also had a significantly better level of understanding of the free enterprise system. JA was also found positively associated with post high school outcomes in areas such as post-secondary education, employment and general life aspirations/attitudes. For example, JA students were more likely to go to college immediately following high school, they were more confident about their educational abilities, and were more likely to have a positive self-concept.