Economic Education in U.S. High Schools

Abstract

The teaching of economics at the high school level is vital for increasing basic economic literacy. This assessment of high school economics in the United States covers seven topics: enrollments in courses; course content; the testing of students; achievement in economics courses; economics instruction in related courses; teacher preparation for economics instruction; and the contributions from organizations and economists. Significant improvements are found in the teaching, content, and testing of high school economics over the past two decades, but more work is needed because a formal course in economics is taken by less than half of high school graduates.