Economics Understanding of Albanian High School Students: Factors Related to Achievement as Measured by Test Scores on the Test of Economic Literacy

Abstract

ABSTRACT This study examined the level of economics knowledge, overall and on specific economic concepts after Albanian 11th grade and 12th grade students completed their required economics course and investigated how economics knowledge differed by student and teacher characteristics. There were 1,509 students who participated in this research from 12 high schools in Tirana, Albania during the 2008-2009 academic year. The findings showed a significant increase of students' economics knowledge after they completed the required economics course. Multiple regression analysis was used to analyze the relationship of student characteristics (gender, socioeconomic status, curriculum track, type of school), and teacher characteristics (age, gender, years teaching economics, type of training) to post-test scores on the TEL. The model accounted for 35 percent of the variance on the post-test scores of TEL, and all variables except socioeconomic status, teacher's age, and years teaching economics, were significant. It is hoped that the findings of this study will be useful to Albanian educators, and institutions related with teacher training.