An Assessment of Economics Instruction in American High Schools

Intelligence makes people think like economists: Evidence from the General Social Survey

“…It is easy to list causal hypotheses. Education might specifically teach students about economics (Frey, Pommerehne & Gygi, 1993;Gleason & van Scyoc, 1995;Kirchgässner, 2005;Walstad, 1992;Walstad & Rebeck, 2002) or simply impart the critical thinking skills to see through popular fallacies (Terenzini, Springer, Pascarella & Nora, 1995). Alternately, education could indirectly accomplish these things through peer effects (Hanushek, Kain, Markman & Rivkin, 2003;Hoxby, 2001;Zimmerman, 2003): If you spend time with others who have Intelligence 38 (2010) 636-647 studied economics and/or critical thinking, perhaps some of it will spill over to you.…”

Self-Efficacy of US High School Teachers Teaching the Federal Budget, National Debt and Budget Deficit: A Mixed-Methods Case Study

“…However, the challenges to engaging these high school students are many: few social studies teachers have significant formal training in economics; many pre-service programs do not place an emphasis on economics; and current curriculum standards do not adequately address economic issues (Walstad, 1992;Salemi et al, 1996;VanFossen, 2000;Joshi & Marri, 2006). The pilot curriculum used in this study is designed to help high school teachers teach the federal budget, national debt and budget deficit.…”

“…These topics are not typically addressed in either civics or economics courses at the secondary level (Marri et al, 2012, forthcoming). Further, most social studies teachers are inadequately prepared to teach these topics since many pre-service programs continue to underemphasize economics and only a few social studies teachers have significant coursework in the discipline (Walstad, 1992;Salemi et al, 1996;VanFossen, 2000;Joshi & Marri, 2006;Miller & VanFossen, 2008). On average, teachers are usually exposed to no more than two resources, such as textbooks or curriculum guides, to support them in the instruction of complex economic and policy issues (Marri et al, 2011).…”

Exploring Economics Teachers Perceptions of the Training-of-Teachers Project as an Professional Development Strategy

“…Learners develop perceptions of their economic world at an early age, which, as they progress through the educational process, develop into attitudes and opinions about the subject of economics. Intended or not, teachers influence the direction of attitude development (Shiller 2010;Walstad, 1992Walstad, , 1997.…”