WASHINGTON, Aug. 9 The U.S. Education Department says four out of 10 high school seniors earned a "Proficient" rating on a new economics assessment test given by the National Center for Education Statistics.
The first ever National Assessment of Educational Progress exam on economics was given to a nationally representative sample of about 11,500 12th-graders in 590 public and private schools, the NCES said Wednesday in a news release.
The students were asked to identify and apply key economic concepts and relationships dealing with
national and international economic issues and important aspects of personal finance. The NCES said 79 percent of 12th graders scored at or above the "Basic" achievement level.
"While there is clear room for improvement, the results are not discouraging," said Darvin M. Winick, chairman 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
than we should expect."
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