This unit examines the AP Microeconomics curriculum and maps how topics taught throughout the year can be examined from an income inequality standpoint. More specifically, the unit defines income inequality and how it is measured, it examines ways of reducing inequality through taxation, tariffs, and wage floors. The primary classroom activities include blog posts and debates, which are included at the end of each of the major units. In each debate, students are expected to apply the microeconomic theory they’ve learned in class with additional research that ties the topic to the concept of income inequality. Essential questions have been included in the Strategies section that should be used while teaching specific topics to keep income inequality at the forefront of people’s minds.

This unit introduces the topic of economics and economic inequality to 8th grade students through the use of nonfiction texts, podcasts, and films, and also asks students to examine, interpret and evaluate data independently, thus acquiring one of the most important skills for critical literacy in the 21st century. The recent young adult book, Economic Inequality: The American Dream Under Siege, by Coral Celeste Frazer is the central text for this curriculum unit and each student will have a copy of the text to read in class. Students study about the American Dream, and economic mobility as well as how these factors have changed over the past 50 years in the United States. Most importantly, students discover exactly what economic inequality consists of, how it impacts our lives, and what can be done about it. In addition to reading text there are classroom debates and the interpretation of political cartoons. As a culminating project, each student chooses a proposed solution to economic inequality for his or her own topic for an argumentative essay. It is hoped that in addition to teaching valuable skills and content that the unit provides a more educated citizenship for the future of our society.

Not everyone can be great, but greatness can come from anywhere.

It's a wonderful sentiment, but becoming less and less true. We know the rich get richer and poor poorer, or at least perceive it through media, as well as in a middle class with a lot of internet access but not a lot of direction upward. In this unit we will try and prove that greatness can still come from anywhere. Where does inequality come from? What should we focus on most in order to right the ship in our lifetimes, so that our children benefit? It is important for young people to understand income inequality as a discipline, as a subject to study, as important and relevant to and in their math and English and Social Studies classes. Citing work from prominent economists like Anthony Atkinson and Raj Chetty, this unit simultaneously provides a foundational study of income inequality while arguing for increased equality of outcome for American students through their college graduation.

Designed for a large urban high school’s upperclassmen in a Journalism class, the unit’s central thematic focus is the causes and effects of economic inequality on the middle class. In this country, we believe that everyone has a chance for prosperity, or at least a comforting sense of security: being able to pay our bills, send our children to college, succeed if we try hard enough, being able to afford health care. Taken together, we call this being middle class. Put another way, we call this The American Dream. Some of us aspire to great wealth, a mansion in the Hamptons. For the vast majority of Americans, making it is a simpler aspiration: doing better than our parents, living longer than our parents, being more educated than our parents. My topic is “The Shrinking Middle Class?” Within this topic are various subtopics/questions: 1) What is an accurate definition of “Middle Class?” (Is it defined by an income range or by a state of mind?) 2) What are the effects of periodic economic downturns on ordinary Americans? (confidence, conformity, fear of failure, mental health), 3) What effects do increases in the minimum wage have on the middle class? (decreased poverty, overall confidence in the future, the effect on the overall economy?) My own students are urban and many do not consider themselves, and are not, among the middle class. The topic should resonate.

This unit aims to provide a framework for introducing economic theory as an instructional strategy supporting ELA comprehension skills. Titled The Economics of Inequality, the unit will examine the arguments germane to the study of economic inequity gleaned from the seminar titled An Introduction to Income Inequality in America: Economics, History, and Law for the 2018 Yale Teachers Institute. Enduring unit goals intend to build student capacity to become literacy-based economists by examining the relational patterns between economic inequality and mobility while reinforcing reading comprehension and writing skills through novel analysis. This approach is unique because currently there is no formalized alignment between English Language Arts standards, Standards in Economics, and economic education. As teachers explore this unit, it is hoped that strategies, especially those that support critical and extended thinking, are used as a springboard for learning. This unit considers a cross-curricular approach as it was designed with the intent for teachers to spark more ideas on how they can enrich their own pedagogy and engage in lesson development using economic literary across other core subjects. It is also hoped that students’ enduring understandings are made through text-to-self connections by reflecting on how the economy affects their own lives.

A person’s starting line for success is due to a series of circumstances that are outside their control. This unit focuses on economic status as a factor of birth that can determine the opportunities that one can access. My students will unpack their economic identity to (1) examine how their economic status affects access to opportunities and (2) determine the choices they have control over that could increase future financial success. Through a careful examination of this facet of their identity, my goal is for students to identify the limitations that are correlated to their economic status and the choices that they can make to level the playing field between themselves and their wealthier counterparts.

This intention of this unit plan is to introduce high school students to linear regression in the context of a real-world issue – income inequality. By examining various types of graphs, students will alerted to the fact that income is unevenly distributed on both a domestic and global scale. They will come up with quantitative variables that might contribute to income inequality and research the variables that interest them in depth. They will use graphing calculator technology to obtain a linear regression equation that describes the relationship between their variable of interest and the level of income inequality in a location, as measured by the Gini coefficient. Specifically, they will assess the linearity of the relationship between their variable of interest and the Gini coefficient by interpreting the correlation coefficient for the scatterplot of their data and examining a plot of residuals. Their ultimate goal will be to come up with a proposal for alleviating income inequality based on their findings.

As English teachers, we often teach novels that reflect the struggles of racism and poverty within the African American community through the twentieth century. Landmark civil rights laws in the 1960’s changed the legal landscape of freedom in our country, but equality of opportunity and economic prosperity is still hindered by political policy and racism. It is critically important to reveal these truths to students, especially students in the African American community. However, as teachers, we should also be offering solutions to economic disparity that go beyond angry rhetoric, which are based in logic and are data-driven. What are some concrete ways families and individuals can break the cycle of poverty? What kinds of services should we as a society be fighting for? How does income parity benefit all of us? What are some ways to achieve this, and achieve a society that is more meritorious and efficient? This unit uses the play, A Raisin in the Sun as a model. The dreams of the Younger family are posed to students as choices to break out of poverty. Students will research the effects of moving to a good neighborhood, home ownership, college education, and entrepreneurship as economic paths to success.