Professional Documents
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ECO N O M I C S
Sample Questions
General Information About The Nation’s Report Card
NAEP is administered by the National Center for Education Statistics, within the U.S.
Department of Education’s Institute of Education Sciences. Policy for the assessment,
including its content and standards, is set by the independent, bipartisan National Assessment
Governing Board (http://www.nagb.org).
The three cognitive categories describe the primary cognitive demands assessment
items may make on students participating in the NAEP assessment. The NAEP framework
calls for students to spend approximately 33 percent of their assessment time on items
from each category. The three cognitive categories for economics items are the following:
• Knowing
• Applying
• Reasoning
The NAEP economics framework calls for economics items to be written in a variety of
contextual settings appropriate to real-world situations and to the variety of ways in which
students learn economic concepts. The following ranges of assessment time are specified
by the framework for each of the contexts:
• Individual and Household (20 to 30%)
• Business (20 to 30%)
• Public (20 to 30%)
• Other Contexts (0 to 10%)
• Context-Free (0 to 10%)
• Multiple Contexts (0 to 10%)
1. James borrows $10,000 from the bank. By the time the loan is repaid, James has paid the
bank $10,400. What does the additional $400 represent?
A Inflation rate
Interest
D Investment
vb524788
2. Luisa has decided to give up her full-time job to go back to school. Identify one potential
economic risk and one potential economic benefit that Luisa might have considered in
making her decision.
VB595053
3. Given the conditions presented in the headline above, what is likely to happen to
spending in the economy? Explain your answer.
What is likely to happen to real gross domestic product as a result of the relationship
between spending and output?
VB525204
VB595836
5. Because Country A has no domestic sources of wood, it imports all its wood from
wood-producing countries. If the price of wood in wood-producing countries rises
substantially, which of the following is most likely to occur?
A Country A will import more wood to meet rising demand.
Housing prices in Country A will increase as wood imports become more expensive.
Demand Supply
$6
$5
Price
$4
20 40 60 80 100
Quantity of Chocolate (in pounds)
vb543814
6. Suppose that the government set the price of chocolate at $6 per pound. Which of the
following statements best describes an effect of this price control?
There would be a surplus of 40 pounds of chocolate.
7. If the government removes the price control of $6, what will be the price and quantity
sold of chocolate?
Quantity Sold
Price (in pounds)
A $6 40
$5 60
C $5 100
D $4 80
STOP
In this section, please tell us about yourself and your family. The section has 13 questions.
Mark your answers in your booklet. Fill in only one oval for each question except where
instructed otherwise.
VB331330 VB331331
1. Are you Hispanic or Latino? Fill in one 2. Which of the following best describes
or more ovals. you? Fill in one or more ovals.
H3D1
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For the rest of the questions in this section, fill in only one oval for each question.
VB331334 TB001101
3. Does your family get any magazines 7. About how many pages a day do you
regularly? have to read in school and for
homework?
A Yes
A 5 or fewer
B No
B 6–10
C I don’t know.
C 11–15
VB331335 D 16–20
4. About how many books are there in
your home? E More than 20
A Few (0–10)
VB331339
B Enough to fill one shelf (11–25) 8. How often do you talk about things you
have studied in school with someone in
C Enough to fill one bookcase (26–100) your family?
B No
VB331447
9. How many days were you absent from
VB331337 school in the last month?
6. Is there an encyclopedia in your home? It
could be a set of books, or it could be on A None
the computer.
B 1 or 2 days
A Yes
C 3 or 4 days
B No
D 5 to 10 days
C I don’t know.
E More than 10 days
H3D1
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VB330870 HE002549
10. How far in school did your mother go? 13. Which of the following best describes
your high school program?
A She did not finish high school.
A General
B She graduated from high school.
B Academic or college preparatory
C She had some education after high
school. C Vocational or technical
E I don’t know.
VB330871
11. How far in school did your father go?
VB331451
12. How often do people in your home talk
to each other in a language other than
English?
A Never
B Once in a while
H3D1
Page 3 STOP
VB595239
1. Which economics-related courses have you taken from ninth grade to the present? Count
each course only once. Include courses you are currently taking as well as courses taken in
summer school. Fill in one or more ovals on each line.
VB595240
a. Economics course (general A B C D E
course other than Advanced
Placement, International
Baccalaureate, or honors
economics)
VB595241
b. Government and economics A B C D E
course (combined course)
VB595662
c. Consumer economics or A B C D E
personal finance course
VB595663
d. Advanced Placement A B C D E
Economics course
VB595664
e. International Baccalaureate A B C D E
Economics course
VB595665
f. Honors economics course A B C D E
(other than Advanced
Placement or International
Baccalaureate Economics)
VB595666
g. Business course such as A B C D E
entrepreneurship or
business principles
VB595667
h. Any other economics course A B C D E
(specify)
VB595668
i. Any other course that includes A B C D E
an extended (at least 8-week
long) unit on economics
(specify)
H3EB1
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VB595669
2. Which of the following statements best describes your overall course-taking in economics?
B I have not taken any of the courses listed in Question 1. Skip to Question 7.
VC099117
3. For the course(s) you marked “Taken/taking in Grade 12” in Question 1, which of the
following is true for you? Fill in all ovals that apply.
VB595670
4. Think about the courses in Question 1. How much do you agree or disagree with the
following statements about those courses that you took? Fill in one oval on each line.
Strongly Somewhat Somewhat Strongly
disagree disagree agree agree
VB595671
a. Taking the course(s) helped me A B C D
understand the U.S. economy.
VB595672
b. Taking the course(s) helped me A B C D
understand the international economy.
VB595673
c. Taking the course(s) helped me A B C D
understand what I hear on the news
about current events and public policy.
VB595674
d. Taking the course(s) helped me A B C D
understand how to manage my
personal finances, now and in the
future.
VB595675
e. Taking the course(s) helped me make A B C D
choices about my future education
and career.
H3EB1
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VB595676 VE464378
5. In your current or most recent course 6. In your current or most recent course
that included economics, how often are that included economics, how often do
you or were you asked to write long you or did you use the Internet to get
answers to questions or assignments? economic data or information? Include
both class work and homework.
A Never
A Never or hardly ever
B Once or twice a year
B Once every few weeks
C Once or twice a month
C About once a week
D At least once a week
D Two or three times a week
E Every day
H3EB1
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VB595679
7. Not including things you do for school, how often do you watch, read about, or listen to
information on the following topics? Fill in one oval on each line.
Never or A few Once or At least
hardly times a twice a once a
ever year month week
VB595680
a. The local economy (unemployment in A B C D
your area, job opportunities, prices of
goods and services, taxes, public
budgets, etc.)
VB595681
b. The U.S. economy (unemployment, A B C D
inflation, economic growth, national
economic policy, interest rates, the
stock market, etc.)
VB595962
c. The international economy (the state A B C D
of economies in other countries, trade
agreements and restrictions,
globalization, etc.)
VB595963
d. Personal finance (saving, investment, A B C D
taxes, credit cards, etc.)
VB595964
8. To what extent do you use the following sources to learn about economic issues? Fill in one
oval on each line.
Small Moderate Large
Not at all extent extent extent
VB595965
a. Newspapers and magazines A B C D
VB595966
b. Radio and television A B C D
VB595967
c. Internet A B C D
VB595968
d. Family and friends A B C D
VB595969
e. Personal experiences (such as having A B C D
a job or keeping a budget)
H3EB1
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VB595971
9. Since the beginning of ninth grade, have you ever participated in any of the following
economics-related activities? Fill in one or more ovals on each line.
Yes, did
Yes, did this, but
this for a not for a No, never
class class did this
VB595972
a. Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA) A B C
VB595973
b. DECA (an association of marketing students) A B C
VB595974
c. Junior Achievement A B C
VB595975
d. Club (includes such things as an economics, A B C
entrepreneurship, or investment club)
VB595976
e. Academic competition (includes such things as A B C
Fed Challenge, Economics Challenge, or
Academic Decathlon)
VB595979
f. Stock market game/simulation A B C
VB595980
g. Student-managed school store A B C
VB595981
h. Student-managed credit union or bank A B C
VB607182
i. Other (specify) A B C
H3EB1
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VB607183 VB595182
10. Last summer, how much did you work? 12. How hard was this test compared to
Include work you did for pay or for a most other tests you have taken this
family business. year in school?
D Very important
H3EB1
Page 6 STOP
Information related to the selected question is available by clicking the tabs at the top of
the question field. A description of these tabs follows.
Question: When the screen first appears, the question will be displayed, and the Question
tab will be highlighted. When you are viewing related information other than the question
itself, click on this tab to re-display the question.
Links within the question: The question and related graphics or text passages may not
fit on the screen area without scrolling. Some questions have associated content such
as reading passages or maps. To see these materials, click on the link labeled “Show
reading passage” or “additional materials.” This text varies depending on the subject.
Click on “hide” to close the passage or associated material.
(ss02)
Key/Scoring Guide: Shows information about how the question was scored.
For Multiple-Choice Questions: Shows the “key” or correct answer for the question.
(ss03)
For Constructed-Response Questions: Shows the scoring guide used to determine the
score for the student’s answer.
(ss04)
Note that the scoring criteria will vary depending on the subject and type of question.
Sample Responses: Shows sample student responses to the question for each score
level. Use the scroll bar to move between the sections of the screen. Note that student
responses are available only for constructed-response questions.
(ss05)
In some subjects, you will find Scorer Comments after the student responses. The
scorer comments give the user additional information on why the response received the
score that it did and often refers back to the scoring guide.
Note that the questions have been formatted to display on the screen and may not be
presented in the same way as they were to the student.
National Data: Shows information about how students scored on the question.
For Multiple-Choice Questions: Shows the percentage of students who answered the
question incorrectly or correctly, or who omitted the item.
(ss06)
Information about the performance of the following student groups is displayed after
clicking on the “more data” button on the bottom of the screen.
All students
Gender
Race/Ethnicity
National School Lunch Program
Type of Location
The Jurisdiction Data tab is displayed for the subjects in which state data have been
collected by state.
PARTICIPATION. States and districts that receive Title I funds are required to
participate in biennial NAEP reading and mathematics assessments at grades 4 and
8. Student participation is always voluntary. Contact your school’s NAEP coordinator
for more information.
NAEP CONTENT. The National Assessment Governing Board sets policy for NAEP
and oversees the creation of the NAEP frameworks, which describe the specific
knowledge and skills that should be assessed. For additional information on
framework development, see the Governing Board’s website at http://www.nagb.org/
publications/frameworks.htm.
SAMPLE NAEP QUESTIONS. For each assessment, some of the test questions, along
with performance data, are made available to the public to provide concrete samples
of NAEP contents and results. For every assessment, NAEP distributes to participating
schools sample questions booklets that provide more detailed information about the
assessment design and questions. Released questions and student performance
data may be viewed and downloaded from the NCES website at http://nces.ed.gov/
nationsreportcard/itmrlsx.
SECURE NAEP QUESTIONS. On written request, adults may review NAEP questions
and instruments still in use. These arrangements must be made in advance, and
persons reviewing the assessment may not remove the booklets from the room, copy
them, or take notes. Contact your school’s NAEP coordinator for more information.
NAEP REPORTS. NAEP publications can be searched and downloaded from the NAEP
website at http://nces.ed.gov/nationsreportcard.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION. For prompt field staff support on these or other
matters, call the NAEP Help Desk at 800–283–6237.
The work reported herein was supported under the National Assessment of Educational Progress
(ED–07–CO-0078, ED-07-CO-0107) as administered by the National Center for Education Statistics,
within the U.S. Department of Education.