The NAEP economics assessment results present a broad view of what America’s students know and can do in economics. The assessment was developed and reviewed by a committee of economics educators and experts to capture the goals of the economics framework. The National Assessment Governing Board, through a comprehensive national process involving economics teachers, representatives of professional education organizations and the private sector, policymakers, and members of the general public, created the framework, which describes the goals of the assessment and what kinds of exercises it ought to feature. The NAEP Economics Committee was instrumental in the development of the assessment.

Questions were based on the following content areas: Market Economy, National Economy, and International Economy. Within these content areas, three cognitive categories were used in designing the assessment: Knowing, Applying, and Reasoning. Further information about the assessment is available in What Does the NAEP Economics Assessment Measure?.

The assessment consisted of both multiple-choice and constructed-response questions. Short constructed-response questions required students to respond in short answers that may vary from one or two words or phrases to several sentences. Extended constructed-response questions may require the application of an economics concept such as supply and demand, a detailed analysis, the synthesis or interpretation of data, and/or the projection of a trend.

Look at a more detailed distribution of questions in the assessment.