A Note on the Teaching of Economics Through American History

In the 1980-81 school year a Developmental Economic Education Program (DEEP) was initiated in the New York City public school system. Economics had been taught (and required) at the twelfth grade level for many years, but now an effort would be made to infuse economics into the curriculum at every grade level. During the first year of DEEP, a pilot project was developed to put some economics into the fourth grade curriculum and into the eleventh grade American History course. In January of 1981 a two-day workshop was held for the participating teachers. In ten hours of classroom contact, the teachers received instruction in basic economics and in method of teaching economic concepts at their grade levels. Plans were made to test the effectiveness of the pilot program in eleventh grade American History classes. The high school teachers received copies of the manuals Teaching Economics in American History and Strategies for Teaching Economics: United States History (Secondary), published by the Joint Council on Economic Education. Arrangements were made to administer the Test of Economic Literacy to experimental and control classes in four high schools. One school was dropped from the experiment because the teacher of the experimental classes was promoted to an administrative position and his replacement did not feel qualified to carry out the plans to incorporate economics into the American History course. In the three remaining schools two or three control classes were to be compared with the two experimental classes. An experienced high school teacher served as proctor and test administrator. The students in both the control and experimental classes took Form A of the TEL during their first class session of the spring 1981 term. The same form was administered as a post-test at the end of the spring semester. Although the students in the experimental and control classes seemed to reflect the variety of racial, ethnic, national, religious, and socio-economic backgrounds found in New York City schools, they were not randomly selected. Intact classes had to be used, and the participating students can best be categorized as a convenience sample. It is not claimed, therefore, that the participants adequately represent the total population of eleventh graders in New York City public high schools. Two control classes were dropped from the experiment because the proctor reported serious discipline problems during the administration of the