Do Entry-Level Math Skills Predict Success in Principles of Economics?(Economics EDUCATION ARTICLES‪)‬

ABSTRACT Principles of economics relies on a rudimentary knowledge of mathematics, whether it is algebra or the use and understanding of graphs. The math skills that students bring into the principles course may greatly affect their eventual performance. In this paper, we show that outcomes on a math pre-test provide instructors with an early-warning signal of potential difficulty in principles of economics. Our statistical analysis indicates that, holding constant a variety of other factors, performance on the math pre-test and final grades are positively and significantly related. One implication of this result is that instructors armed with the results of the pre-test may be able to intervene, enhance at-risk students' math skills and improve student performance in principles of economics.