Project: National Student Survey:
Regional Economic Review-Build an economic index for the rest of us…

The Project
Often statistics compiled and maintained by various authorities fail to match the experience of individuals. This is particularly true when it comes to economic data. Broad measures of the economy, by their very nature, often lose meaning as they fail to accurately reflect local, regional or even national outcomes. We frequently ask, “What reality is the authority measuring?” Further, input into broad economic measures seldom take into account the perspective of students—this is their chance to have a “say.”

Who should participate?
The following survey is provided to offer students a voice. It is intended to be completed by students in grades 9-12. The curriculum focus is certainly economics, but participation by other disciplines in the social sciences and business are welcome to use it.

What is involved?
Students are asked to complete the survey based on their knowledge and analysis of their local economy. As the data is compiled, a snapshot of the economy will be consolidated that can be used by the class to:

• compare their local economy with other student’s input,
• compare and analyze the survey’s results with those economic forecasts developed by institutions such as the Federal Reserve Banks, Bureau of Labor Statistics and so on.
• predict future economic outcomes based on the indicators created and compiled.

This is an attempt to create a new metric measuring the economic health within a specific geographic location. Students have the opportunity to become the content expert for the economy within their sphere of experience.
How you use the information as it is compiled is up to you! Analyzing the data to "see" differences and similarities is a good challenge. Get your students involved in all of these aspects in order to define “what do we ask of the data?”