NOT BAD

Se em Portugal fossem realizados testes a alunos finalistas do ensino secundário acerca da sua literacia económica e financeira que resultados se obteriam? Nos EUA os resultados de um tal teste foram animadores. Considerando que, tal como cá, nos EUA os alunos que terminam o secundário apresentam grandes fragilidades no vocabulário, na leitura, em matemática, a relativa boa performance em conhecimentos nas áreas da economia e finanças parece confirmar o interesse que o sentido prático dedica a matérias que afectam materialmente os indivíduos. Dito de outro modo, se o ensino da matemática fosse mais dirigido para as aplicações

em cada área não seriam melhores os resultados? Nuno Crato, na sua coluna habitual do Expresso, último número, conclui que "Uma boa preparação em matemática facilita o estudo em cada uma das (...) outras disciplinas estudadas. Os números, a prática do raciocínio rigoroso e o treino da abstracção valem a pena". Pois valem. Mas, como dizia Pessoa, a propósito da beleza do binómio de Newton, há pouca gente a dar por isso.

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Test Finds 42% of Seniors Proficient in Economics

'Results Are Not Discouraging,' Says Official
By Michael Alison ChandlerWashington Post Staff WriterWednesday, August 8, 2007;

One out of 10 high school seniors who took a new national test could analyze the impact of the unemployment rate on the economy. Two out of five knew enough about tariffs to determine why domestic industries would push for them. And three out of five could identify factors that drive up the national debt.

Those were some of the key results released this morning from the first National Assessment of Educational Progress to measure economics literacy among high school students. NAEP for decades has measured proficiency in reading, math and other subjects through periodic examinations given to a sampling of students.

Known as the nation's report card, the federally funded test turned to economics because of a rise in the past 20 years of high school economics courses, officials said. Officials also pointed to the rising importance of fluency in the language of markets, finance, labor and related topics in an increasingly global economy.

"While there is clear room for improvement, the results are not discouraging," said Darvin M. Winick, chairman of the National Assessment Governing Board, which oversees policy for the NAEP tests, in a statement before a news conference in Washington this morning. "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."

Slightly more than four out of 10 12th-graders tested, or 42 percent, demonstrated proficiency in economics, the data showed. That meant they were able to identify and apply important economic concepts in national and international arenas, according to a news release, as well as work with key terms in personal finance.

About 11,500 students were included in the nationally representative sample from 590 public and private schools.
Economics courses are required for graduation in only about a third of the states, the study found, but 87 percent of seniors reported some exposure to economics in high school. The study found achievement gaps among demographic groups similar to the historic trends in reading and math. Fifty-one percent of white students scored at or above proficient on the test, compared with 16 percent of black students and 21 percent of Hispanic students.

In other findings:
**72 percent of test takers described a benefit and a risk of leaving a full-time job to further one's education;
**60 percent identified factors that lead to an increase in the national debt;
**52 percent identified how commercial banks use money deposited into checking accounts;
** 40 percent determined why industries can successfully lobby for tariff protection;
** 32 percent identified how investment in education can impact economic growth; and
** 11% analyzed how a change in the unemployment rate affects income, spending, and production.