Faculty and staff at the Clinton School of Public Service, led by Assistant Dean of Impact Dr. Nichola Driver, have partnered with Tempus Realty Partners to evaluate the effectiveness of an innovative, new, comprehensive child savings program that is making an impact for students and their families in Jacksonville, Arkansas.
Through the Clinton School Impact Center, the team is conducting a three-year study on the Generational Resources & Opportunities for Well-Being (GROW) initiative. This research examines how early investments in financial literacy and asset-building can equip families with tools to support long-term success, creating stronger pathways toward educational opportunities and economic mobility.
The GROW Model: Building Future Assets
The GROW initiative represents an innovative approach to child savings accounts. Tempus Realty Partners has funded the establishment of a 529 college savings account for every student at Murrell Taylor Elementary School in Jacksonville, which currently includes more than 400 students. Any student who enrolls at the school during the 2026-27 and 2027-28 school years will also be added to the program, and teachers can also receive 529 accounts.
Clay Ramey, partner and vice president of Capital Markets at Tempus Realty Partners, describes GROW as more than just a savings program. While students are seeded with an initial investment of $600, they can earn additional deposits of up to $300 annually by reaching goals like maintaining good attendance, hitting reading benchmarks, and contributing to positive classroom behaviors.
“Evaluation isn’t just about measuring success. It’s about deepening our understanding of what works for Arkansas students and teachers,” Ramey said. “Through the partnership with the Clinton School of Public Service, GROW is turning data into direction and ensuring this model for savings, education, and empowerment continues to evolve and strengthen every child’s path toward generational wealth.”
Providing Rigorous, Long-Term Evaluation
The Clinton School Impact Center was created in 2024 to fill a critical need in the public service sector for external, multi-year evaluation and research that often exceeds the scope of standard student field service projects. Driver, who also serves as the Impact Center’s executive director, noted the importance of this external, objective perspective.
“We really value evidence-based program design at the Clinton School. It’s what we teach and what we do,” Driver said. “This is such a great project because Tempus Realty and their partners are designing a program that is rooted in best practices and are taking all the right steps to collect and analyze the data to see if it produces the impact.”
The Impact Center team includes Dr. Songkhun “Sunny” Nillasithanukroh, an assistant professor who is leading the analysis, Katie George, research and evaluation manager, and Evanna Ojeda, research associate. The team is measuring the program’s implementation success, educational outcomes, and shifts in parents’ financial literacy.
Crucially, the research will calculate the social return on investment to better inform organizations about the comprehensive, long-term value of such programs. Specifically, the research team is looking into whether the program will lead to positive educational results, such as an increase in student attendance, positive behavior, and meeting reading milestones.
“We are talking to parents and teachers about whether the program is increasing their financial literacy and their aspirations for their children to attend post-secondary education,” Driver said. “We anticipate that students will be more financially prepared to attend post-secondary education and everything that follows. The funds can be used for training, housing, or even rolled into a Roth IRA for retirement. We also anticipate that this program will change the mindset of the community to be more forward thinking about saving and building wealth for the future.”
Ojeda, a 2025 graduate of the Clinton School, sees the project as the school’s mission in action.
“The reason I like the GROW project in the first place is that it feels like it’s the Clinton School curriculum in action,” Ojeda said. “It’s the idea that we can use data holistically in a way that promotes public good. What’s most interesting about this project to me is seeing how an elementary school student has the opportunity to build wealth and learn about financial literacy. That is the definition of building generational wealth. The fact that we get to be a part of this dynamic change is very exciting to me.”
The three-year evaluation is expected to conclude in the fall of 2028, with the goal of providing actionable, evidence-based data that can be used to expand the GROW program model to other schools and communities across Arkansas and beyond. Murrell Taylor students who begin the program in kindergarten this fall and continue to meet annual goals could graduate with more than $10,000 in their 529 accounts and the financial knowledge to use it wisely.
You can find out more about the Clinton School Impact Center by visiting this website.