Beyond high school: does the high school economics curriculum make a difference?

Lopus, Jane S. ; Maxwell, Nan L.

High schools are active participants in teaching economics. In 1989 twenty-eight states required that high schools instruct students in economics, with sixteen of these states requiring at least a semester course in economics for high school graduation (Highsmith, 1989, pp. 2-3). Presumably exposure to economics in high school increases the understanding of how our economy operates. If this is the case, this understanding should translate into an increased understanding of college-level economics. Interestingly, research on the impact of high school economics on college-level economics has been inconclusive. While some studies show that students who study economics in high school have a competitive edge in college principles, other studies show that these students have no advantage.(1)

We argue that the student's ability to translate high school economics into college-level economics is determined by the curriculum of the high school course, and that, because the models employed in previous studies imply homogeneity in the curricular content of the high school course, mixed conclusions have emerged from the literature. If the high school economics course concentrates on consumer issues, economic institutions, current events, or high school-level economic history instead of microeconomic or macroeconomic concepts, neither the stock nor acquisition of college-level economics would increase. Conversely, students whose high school economics course has a more theoretical microeconomic or macroeconomic focus may find it easier to translate their knowledge into college-level subject matter.

To test the proposition that the high school economics curriculum affects knowledge of college-level economics, our study focuses on high school economics courses that have a microeconomic or macroeconomic emphasis and tests whether this focus increases initial knowledge or gain in knowledge in college-level principles classes. While we find no evidence that students who studied high school economics, regardless of the curriculum, are better equipped to study college economics than students who did not, we do find that curriculum matters for students who have taken high school economics. This suggests that we must look to the high school curriculum if we want students to enter our college classes with specific economic skills. A cursory examination of whether or not a high school economics class was taken does not tell the whole story.

The Data and Estimation Model

To examine the relationship between the high school curriculum and college-level economics, we collected data from students in thirteen microeconomics and macroeconomics principles classes at a medium-sized public university in California between 1990 and 1992.(2) To quantify college-level knowledge of economics, we used the Test of Understanding in College Economics (TUCE III), administered as a pretest on the first day of class and as a post test on the last day of class TUCE III is a standardized multiple choice test consisting of a 30 question microeconomics test and a 30 question macroeconomics test (with three optional international questions) designed to test learning in college principles classes. See Saunders (1991) for a thorough discussion of TUCE III.

We used the pretest score to measure the stock of economic knowledge that a student brings to the college-level course. Following the specification recommended in Hanushek (1986, pp. 1157n), we used the post test score, with a control for the pretest score, to measure the ability to learn economics. By using the TUCE III pretest score on the right hand side of the estimation equation and the TUCE III post test score as the dependent variable, we are able to assess the learning that occurs during the college course by controlling for initial knowledge brought into the course. To quantify the economics curriculum in high school, we administered a questionnaire to students at the time of the post test. This questionnaire included questions on whether a high school economics course was taken and, if so, if the course emphasized microeconomics or macroeconomics.(3) It also included questions on time use and previous college-level economics coursework. We expanded this data set with information from university records including the student's SAT score,(4) gender, ethnicity, grade point average (GPA), the current courseload and whether or not the student is a U.S. citizen.

Since these data were obtained for all students ever enrolled in the classes in our sample, we have information to construct Heckman's (1979) [Lambda] to test for sample selection bias from nonrandom sampling of students.(5) Testing for sample selection is necessary to ensure that our coefficient estimates are unbiased. Because students who enter our sample late or exit from our sample early may differ from students who remain in our sample, regression coefficients may be based on a nonrandom sample. That is, because students may not randomly add or drop the course and not all students take the SAT, sample selection controls ([Lambda]) prevent biased estimation if the students in our sample differ from the students ever enrolled in our courses.

Our data set allows estimation of ordinary least squares (OLS) models of pretest and post test TUCE III scores in both microeconomic and macroeconomic principles. By inserting high school curriculum variables into the model, we can assess the curricular impact on the stock of (pretest) or gain in (post test) college-level economic knowledge. Because we anticipate that high school economics only increases college-level knowledge of economics when it has a similar curricular focus, we stratify our multivariate analysis by course content. Beginning with microeconomics, we first examine the impact of high school economics, with and without a microeconomic emphasis, on the stock of knowledge of college-level principles and estimate. PRETEST = f(HSMICRO, NOHSMICRO, GPA, SAT, MALE, WHITE, CREDITECON, CLASSIZE, [Lambda]). All variables are defined in Table 1.

HSMICRO and NOHSMICRO are binary variables measuring whether the student's high school economics class emphasized microeconomics (HSMICRO = 1) or another area (NOHSMICRO = 1). The comparison category is no high school economics. We anticipate that students with a high school economics class that emphasized microeconomic concepts will have a greater initial knowledge of principles of microeconomics than those without high school economics. The other variables in our model control for ability (GPA and SAT), demographics (MALE and WHITE), prior knowledge of economics (CREDITECON), environment (CLASSIZE), and sample selection ([Lambda]).

To estimate the effects of high school economics (with a microeconomic emphasis) on knowledge gained during the principles course, we expanded this model and estimated determinants of the post test score. Additional controls include teaching quality (INSTRUCTOR), work, study hours and current courseload (TIME), and pretest score. Parallel pretest and post test models were estimated for macroeconomics. The high school variables tested in macroeconomic models were HSMACRO (= 1 if the high school course emphasized macroeconomics) TABULAR DATA OMITTED and NOHSMACRO (= 1 if the high school course emphasized another area).

To replicate the scenario that exists in states requiring high school economics for graduation, we reestimate each model with the sample restricted to students who had a high school economics course. HSMICRO and HSMACRO are now the relevant independent variables, with the comparison category students whose high school economics course did not emphasize the subject matter of the current college economics course.

Results

We first examine whether high school economics, with or without the same curricular focus, increases the student's stock of or gain in college-level economics knowledge. Results of this analysis, shown in Table 2, strongly suggest that high school economics, irrespective of the curriculum, does not enhance a student's knowledge of college-level economics. This result is fairly robust. High school economics does not affect microeconomic knowledge (columns 4 and 5), the stock of economic knowledge (columns 2 and 4) or its acquisition (columns 3 and 5). Clearly, research is warranted to uncover methods that improve the effectiveness of high school economics, especially when these classes purport to emphasize microeconomic or macroeconomic content. If a goal of high school economics is retention of economic concepts that carry over to college classes, and if TUCE III is a good measure of these concepts, our results indicate that high school economics classes do not meet this objective. Perhaps increased teacher training is necessary,(6) or perhaps the mandates for economics instruction need to be evaluated, given opportunity costs in alternative course offerings.

We next focus on the effect of the high school curriculum given state mandates requiring economics for high school graduation. When the sample is restricted to students who had high economics, differences in the high school economics curriculum affect the knowledge of college-level microeconomic and macroeconomic principles.(7) Students whose high school economics class emphasized microeconomics have a greater initial stock of microeconomic knowledge (i.e. they scored significantly higher on the microeconomic pretest) than students whose high school class did not have this emphasis. The insignificant difference on the post test suggests that, although these students did not learn more during their college microeconomic class, they did maintain this initial advantage.

We also find significant curricular effects in macroeconomics.(8) Students whose high school economics class emphasized macroeconomics realize positive and significant gains in learning college-level macroeconomics. Although students who have a high school economics course that emphasizes macroeconomic knowledge do not begin their college class with a greater stock of macroeconomic knowledge (pretest), they are better able to learn its principles. These students may be unable to recall macroeconomic concepts on the pretest, but they regain the principles once they are re-exposed to the content. The high school macroeconomic content may be less theoretical than what is tested on TUCE III, hence the insignificant difference on the pretest. But it may succeed in transmitting the vocabulary and analytical tools that assist learning the college macroeconomic course content.

Summary and Conclusion

This paper redirects research efforts that examine the effects of high school economics on knowledge of college-level economics by asking a different question. We argue that high school economics courses may not teach the course content that is presented in college-level principles classes, and investigate the effects of the high school curriculum (microeconomics or macroeconomics) on the student's knowledge of college-level economics.

Our findings are not encouraging regarding the current effectiveness of high school economics courses in transmitting knowledge of principles of economics. Students who took high school economics, irrespective of the curriculum, did not outperform students without high school economics on a pretest or a post test of college-level economics. As discouraging as these results appear, they do not suggest that mandates for economics instruction at the high school level are ineffective. Although students who take high school economics may not have increased knowledge of college-level economic principles, they may have an increased awareness of current events, consumer issues or economic history. As well, the high school economics class may address the needs of the non-college bound student. While we cannot analyze these potential effects here, we agree with Walstad (1992, pp. 2031) that further research is clearly warranted on this topic.

TABLE 2

Determinants of Economic Knowledge, Pretest and Post test (All Students)

 Microeconomics Macroeconomics
 Pretest Post test Pretest Post test

Hsmicro .12525 .39482 -- --
 (.46628) (.62965)
Nohsmicro -.66771 -.00366 -- --
 (.42384) (.56683)
Hsmacro -- -- -.29504 1.17783
 (.63392) (.72427)
Nohsmacro -- -- -.07239 -.41716
 (.53859) (.61448)
Pretest -- .27264(2) -- .52253(3)
 (.08719) (.08721)
Instr1 -- .12221 -- --
 (.99867)
Instr2 -- -.21840 -- 1.77086(3)
 (.78379) (.52707)
Instr3 -- .21812 -- --
 (.75226)
GPA .91987(1) 3.265684(3) .72832 3.46103(3)
 (.36371) (.49504) (.50248) (.61470)
SAT .00457(3) .00634(3) .00708(3) .00226
 (.00128) (.00178) (.00170) (.00207)
Units -- -.04585 -- .21649(1)
 (.10098) (.10685)
Studyhrs -- .02677 -- -.01936
 (.02702) (.03322)
Workhrs -- -.02602 -- .01357
 (.01987) (.02240)
Male .74914(1) 1.14415(1) .77719 1.60076(2)
 (.33607) (.45374) (.46005) (.53041)
White .24967 .59534 .19435 .57087
 (.36249) (.49581) (.48848) (.55677)
Creditecon .24689 .56453 .30479 -1.89577
 (.42232) (.56403) (.95119) (1.07683)
Classsize -.01203(2) -.00629 -.00001 .00200
 (.00406) (.00659) (.00503) (.00593)
[Lambda] -.30493 4.54847 -23.94990 -15.74680
 (11.04157) (17.40600) (14.00503) (17.30747)
Constant 3.76266 -3.43497 1.82088 -5.60217
[R.sup.2] .20265 .41324 .18591 .48376
F 6.55168 9.90379 4.31369 11.04412
N 242 242 180 180

Sample contains only students who graduated from high school in 1985 or later.
The omitted variable on high school economics is no high school economics.
Numbers are the OLS regression coefficients with the standard errors in
parentheses.

1 p [is less than or equal to] .05.
2 p [is less than or equal to] .01.
3 p [is less than or equal to] .001.
TABLE 3

Determinants of Economic Knowledge, Pretest and Post Test
(Students Who Have Completed High School Economics)

 Microeconomics Macroeconomics
 Pretest Post test Pretest Post test

Hsmicro .80433(1) .38938 -- --
 (.38707) (.50504)
Hsmacro -- -- -.30201 1.71710(1)
 (.52607) (.68443)
Pretest -- .26641(2) -- .52961(3)
 (.09531) (.11426)
Instr1 -- .37873 -- --
 (1.11974)
Instr2 -- -27112 -- 1.80927(3)
 (.88226) (.62649)
Instr3 -- .01177 -- --
 (.87807)
GPA .79418 3.78459(3) .24707 3.74429(3)
 (.45803) (.59704) (.52876) (.70236)
SAT .00445(2) .00580(2) .00649(3) .00144
 (.00143) (.00189) (.00180) (.00241)
Units -- -.05575 -- .17943
 (.11349) (.14189)
Studyhrs -- .02400 -- -.03863
 (.02720) (.04216)
Workhrs -- -.01983 -- .03877
 (.02243) (.02852)
Male .85225(1) 1.32558(2) 1.06222(1) 1.60464(1)
 (.38646) (.49768) (.49943) (.66191)
White .13080 .17059 .37612 .16367
 (.41560) (.55290) (.54485) (.68209)
Creditecon .19297 1.00746 .98307 -2.64141
 (.51240) (.64837) (1.08239) (1.37492)
Classsize -.00932(1) -.00652 .00175 -.00641
 (.00468) (.00711) (.00569) (.00746)
[Lambda] 2.28589 2.21566 -26.19959 -10.89326
 (13.45898) (20.47960) (17.40569) (24.43153)
Constant 3.86703 -3.64596 2.37350 -2.74704
[R.sup.2] .16927 .42784 .20240 .49152
F 4.53354 8.52444 3.74306 8.40235
N 187 187 127 127

Sample contains only students who graduated from high school in 1985 or later
and had high school economics. The omitted variable on high school economics
is a high school economics course that did not contain microeconomics (in the
microeconomic sample) or macroeconomics (in the macroeconomic sample). Numbers
are the OLS regression coefficients with the standard errors in parentheses.

1 p [is less than or equal to] .05.
2 p [is less than or equal to] .01.
3 p [is less than or equal to] .001.

Our results are more optimistic when we examine the impact of the high school economics curriculum for a sample of students who had a high school economics course, the scenario in states with mandates for high school economics instruction. We find that a high school curricular emphasis on microeconomics increases the stock of knowledge of microeconomic principles and that a high school curricular emphasis on macroeconomics increases the learning of macroeconomic principles. This suggests that the high school may play a role in disseminating principles-level economic knowledge if the curriculum is focused.

Notes

1. Studies showing a positive relationship between high school economics and college-level economic knowledge use pretests (Rothman and Scott, 1973), post tests (Saunders, 1970), and grades (Myatt and Waddell, 1990) in college coursework as outcome measures. Pretests (Palmer et. al., 1979) and grades (Reid, 1983; Palmer et. al., 1979) are also outcome measures in studies drawing the opposite conclusion.

2. Courses were taught by four instructors, all of whom hold the Ph.D. in economics. The data collection methods controlled for the time that the classes met and the textbooks used. The questions used in this study were taken from the questionnaire given to students who participated in the norming of TUCE III.

3. To ensure recall of the content of the high school course, we limited our sample to students who graduated from high school in 1985 or later. This restriction also controls for age effects and avoids multicollinearity between taking high school economics and year of high school graduation. Because many school districts in California began offering economics courses during the mid 1980's, a high correlation exists between students with high school economics and those who graduated from high school in 1985 or later.

4. We converted ACT scores to SAT scores using a formula provided by Jim Clark of Wichita State University: SAT = 430 + 2.94*ACT**1.62. Hereafter, we refer to the convened ACT score as a SAT score.

5. See Becker and Walstad (1990) for a discussion of sample selection bias in the economic education literature. In this study, we first estimate a probit model of inclusion in our sample with the student's race, citizenship, instructor, class size, current course load, and transfer status as predictors. Probit estimation permits construction of Heckman's [Lambda], which is then inserted into the estimation model to control for self selection biases associated with the nonrandom decision to add or drop a class.

6. In California, teachers with secondary "social studies" teaching credentials may be licensed to teach high school economics, whether or not they completed any formal coursework in economics.

7. Since results in Tables 2 and 3 may be driven by sample differences, we computed t-tests on all independent variables and year of high school graduation to uncover potential sample differences. The only significant difference was that students in the macroeconomic sample with high school economics graduated a third of a year later than those without high school economics.

8. The negative sign on the CREDITECON variable in the macroeconomic post test model seems counterintuitive without an institutional explanation. Because principles of microeconomics is a prerequisite for principles of macroeconomics without permission of the instructor at this university, students in macroeconomic principles without prior economics (creditecon = 0) are those the instructor feels are capable of learning the subject.

References

Becker, William E. and William B. Walstad. 1990. "Data loss from pretest to posttest as a sample selection problem." The Review of Economics and Statistics, 72(February):184-188.

Hanushek, E. 1986. "The Economics of Schooling, Journal of Economic Literature 24(September):1141-1177.

Heckman, J. 1979. "Sample Selection Bias as a Specification Error," Econometrica 47(1):153-161.

Highsmith, R. 1989. A Survey of State Mandates for Economics Instruction. New York: Joint Council on Economic Education.

Myatt, A. and C. Waddell. 1990. "An Approach to Testing the Effectiveness of the Teaching and Learning of Economics in High School," Journal of Economic Education 21(3):355-363.

Palmer, J.; G. Carliner; and T. Romer. 1979. "Does High School Economics Help?" Journal of Economic Education 10(2):58-61.

Reid, R. 1983. "A Note on the Environment as a Factor Affecting Student Performance in Principles of Economics," Journal of Economic Education 14(4):18-22.

Rothman, M. and J. Scott. 1973. "Political Opinions and the TUCE," Journal of Economic Education 2(Fall):39-55.

Saunders, P. 1991. "The Third Edition of the Test of Understanding in College Economics," American Economic Review 81(2):32-37.

Saunders, P. 1970. "Does High School Economic have a Lasting Impact? Journal of Economic Education 2(Fall):39-55.

Walstad, William B. 1992. "Economics Instruction in High Schools," Journal of Economic Literature 30(December):2019-2051.