ABSTRACT
Most of the contributions in this book have focused on contemporary issues facing economic educators. In this chapter, we will place the role of economic education in a historical context, stressing what research tells us about teaching economics at the high school level. We review the long-standing debate among economists about teaching economics at the precollege level. Should it be taught at all? Are high school teachers and students up to the challenge? How should it be taught? We then report on a recent extensive review of the research on outcomes and effective program delivery in precollege economic education.1 We conclude by summarizing what we know and don’t know about teaching economics in high school.
