Curriculum lag challenges and strategies for LT principles: Lessons from closing the monetary policy curriculum gap

Abstract

The authors of this article address the challenges faced in implementing a literacy-targeted (LT) approach in economic education. Despite research demonstrating the benefits of the LT approach, there is resistance to its adoption in classrooms and the publication of supporting textbooks and materials. They identify four key input areas that serve as obstacles to moving the LT approach from academia to classroom adoption—standards and assessments, classroom materials, textbooks, and instructor knowledge—and suggest strategies for addressing each obstacle within three distinct economic education markets. Drawing from a case study on updating monetary policy instruction, the authors propose that a simultaneous, active, and systematic approach is essential to drive change and promote the adoption of the LT approach in economic education.