Does High School Economics Turn Off Too Many Students?

Abstract

Few, if any, published studies have considered the possibility that students exposed to high school economics may actually leave a course knowing less about economics than when they entered.

This article reviews the most widely used database in economic education, the Test of Economic Literacy. Our findings suggest that average measurable gains from economics instruction are limited and unlikely to be obtained in many instructional situations.

Perhaps the most surprising finding is that 42% of the students who took the Test of Economic Literacy scored no better or lower on the posttest than on the pretest. Furthermore, teacher and school investment in human capital of economic education appears, in many cases, to be inversely related to student improvement.

Economic education in high school classes does seem to make some difference. However, the average gain of 2 or 3 questions on the Test of Economic Literacy is accounted for by significant gains among a very small percentage of the student population, some very small gains among one third of the population, and losses by what, in many cases, is a simple majority of the student population.

For large percentages of students to complete a class knowing less and feeling less favorably about the subject than when they entered it is indeed a cost. Greater understanding of the causes of the declines in economic literacy might contribute more to future success than further analysis of small average gains.