Thursday, Virginia’s Board of Education set new graduation standards for high school students. Among these standards is a requirement for classes in economics and personal finance. Before you give the board a round of applause, read this part of the decision:
Guidelines for the course have not been developed, but teachers in history and the social sciences, mathematics, and career and technical education will be allowed to teach it.
Yikes! I’ve had some great history and social science teachers, but it’s hard to believe that they’d have taught economics nearly as well as they taught their respective subjects. Math teachers aren’t a good substitute for an economics degree either. Strong math skills can help better manage your finances, but that doesn’t mean a math teacher should instruct economics. These are separate fields demanding their own expertise. This makes no more sense than having math teachers hold chemistry classes. After all, chemistry uses math just like personal finance and economics.
If school systems are going to implement economics and personal finance programs, they should take them seriously. Personal finance skills can be acquired through life experience and can be taught by teachers who have a proven understanding of the topic. But economics classes require a degree just like any other subject. Teachers without training in the topic could actually be more harmful than beneficial to students.
One Comment
The question is whether some instruction in economics by social studies teachers is better than none at all; the likelihood that school districts will be able to hire economists, even supposing any have secondary credentials,is virtually zero. When I attended the University of California, I could graduate with a BA in history without a single course in econ; however, I did take an upper division course which was fortunate because as a student teacher I was assigned to teach econ for a 12th grade college prep course. I have rarely worked so hard in my life but the fact is, I taught a solid–and useful– course. I suggest as one possibility, students at the college level “adopt” a high school class in econ/financial affairs just as the UC Berkeley math department, one of the best in the world, requires its majors to do, to the benefit of both teachers and students.