THE PERCEPTIONS OF SECONDARY ECONOMICS INSTRUCTORS TOWARD THE SECONDARY ECONOMICS COURSE AS MANDATED IN TENNESSEE

The purpose of this study was to investigate perceptions, attitudes, and characteristics of public secondary economics instructors throughout the state of Tennessee, and thereby determine the status of economic education taught in Tennessee public secondary schools, as mandated by the 1974 Tennessee State Legislature.;The major focus of economics instruction in most Tennessee public secondary schools is both practical and theoretical; economics teachers were in almost total agreement that teaching students to make sound economic decisions was a major goal of their economic instruction.;Sixty one percent of economics instructors believed that their undergraduate teacher preparation had adequately prepared them to teach economics at the secondary level. Despite this fact, there appeared to be a definite need in the area of how to teach economics--how to utilize various instructional materials and teaching strategies--as well as gain easier access to supplemental resource materials. A number of economics teachers were also concerned about the limited amount of time they have to cover the substantial amount of instructional material presented in the curriculum guide to students of diverse ability levels.;As the means to meet these needs, the majority of teachers preferred in-service activities to college-level or summer courses. The high percentage of participation in previous economics related in-service programs as well as high evaluation ratings given to these programs suggested them to be very helpful.;Data analysis of survey results indicated that the overall level among Tennessee's economics educators has improved considerably: A majority of Tennessee's secondary economics teachers have master's degrees, and 91 percent are certified by the state of Tennessee to teach economics--a definite increase over the 70 percent found in a 1979 study.;Based on the findings of this study, it is recommended that undergraduate programs and in-service programs be offered on both the subject matter of economics and in how to teach economics to assist with teacher preparation and methods of instruction. In addition, resource materials and student evaluations must be developed/adapted to assist with instruction and meet current economics teacher demands.