Ken Rebeck

Teacher and Student Economic Understanding in Transition Economies

Abstract This study describes a new data set and uses it for an exploratory investigation of whether seminars for teachers conducted by the National Council on Economic Education through its International Education Exchange Program (IEEP) had a beneficial effect on the economic understanding of the high school students of these teachers. The data were collected using a non-equivalent control group design that sorted teachers into two groups based on whether or not they participated in an IEEP seminar. Pre- and posttests of economics were administered to the students of these teachers in Lithuania, Ukraine, Kyrgyzstan, and Poland. The exploratory results showed a larger increase in the economic understanding of students of teachers who participated in the IEEP seminars compared with students of teachers who did not. The results also showed that knowledge of economics among IEEP teachers was a factor for improving student achievement in economics. The findings should be viewed with caution because of data limitations.

The Status of Economics in the High School Curriculum

The data used in this study came from the 1994 High School Transcript Study (HSTS) (National Center for Education Statistics, 1998). The HSTS contains an analysis of the transcripts of approximately 25,000 students who graduated from high school in 1994, the most recent year the data were collected. The transcripts were obtained from a nationally representative sample of 340 schools and were weighted to show the course enrollments nationwide. For comparative purposes, the HSTS also provides estimates of courses taken in 1982, 1987, and 1990.

Economics Course Enrollments in U.S. High Schools

High school transcript data were used in this study to estimate the percentage of high school graduates who complete an economics course, and to examine course-taking trends in economics from 1982 to 2009. In 2009, 58 percent of high school graduates took an economics course, up from about 45 percent from 1990 to 2005. The increases in economics enrollments over the years included in this study are consistent with the trends in the number of states mandating an economics course to be taken for graduation. Estimated percentages are reported across the demographics of high school students. Enrollments in economics are compared to enrollments in other high school social studies courses.

The Effects of Acuity and Utilization on Nursing Home Costs

Recent proposals aim to relocate relatively healthy residents from nursing homes to lower-cost assisted care facilities. Such a move would have impacts on nursing home costs for two main reasons. It would decrease utilization rates and increase patient care needs, or acuity. A translog cost model is used to examine the impact that acuity and utilization have on nursing home costs. Results indicate that decreasing utilization will reduce total costs for nursing homes. However, increasing acuity will increase total costs. The total effect on nursing home costs of the change in policy is to decrease nursing home total costs but increase nursing home average costs per patient day.

Grades, Coursework, and Student Characteristics in High School Economics

The authors use U.S. public and private high school transcripts to analyze grade distribution patterns in economics courses across student and school characteristics, and compare these grades to those earned in other selected high school courses. Results are reported for the 53 percent of 2009 high school graduates who took a basic economics course and the additional 5 percent who took a college-level course in high school. Basic economics grades were relatively high but within range compared to grades earned in other social studies courses, and higher than the grades in mathematics and science courses. College-level economics grades were lower on average than those earned in college-level social studies courses, comparable to grades in college-level mathematics courses, and lower than grades in college-level science courses.