The Nation’s Report Card has released its first-ever assessment on economics. The results showed that only 42 percent of high school seniors achieved proficiency in this subject area.
The report is based on the first National Assessment of Educational Progress performed on 12th graders in 2006 on the subject of economics. To achieve the level of “proficient,” students had to be able to identify and apply important economic concepts and relationships to national and international economic issues and to aspects of personal finance.
Almost eight out of 10 seniors were able to achieve at least a level of “basic,” which showed they do have some limited knowledge of key economic concepts and are able to use them in a simple way in applying the concepts to economic events and situations. About 3 percent of students tested achieved the level of “advanced.”
“While there is clear room for improvement, the results are not discouraging,” said Darvin Winick, chair of the National Assessment Governing Board. “Given the number of students who finish high school with a limited vocabulary, not reading well, and weak in math, the results may be as good as or better then we should expect.”
The report found that male 12th graders outperformed females on average and at the proficient and advanced achievement levels. There was wide variance when the data was disaggregated by demographic groups. Among Caucasian students, 87 percent reached the basic achievement level or higher, with 57 percent of African American and 64 percent of Hispanic students achieving those levels.
Some specific findings of the report found that among students tested:
• 72 percent described a benefit and a risk of leaving a full-time job to further one’s education.
• 60 percent identified factors that led to an increase in the national debt.
• 52 percent identified how commercial banks use money deposited into checking accounts.
• 40 percent determined why industries could successfully lobby for tariff protection.
• 32 percent identified how investment in education can impact economic growth.
• 11 percent analyzed how a change in the unemployment rate affects income, spending and production.
The next NAEP assessment of economics is scheduled for 2012. More information and copies of the report can be accessed at http://nationsreportcard.gov.