The course is a one-semester grade 12 economics course covering every California standard for Principles of Economics, 12.1 through 12.6. The build fails if any substandard is not cited in at least one lesson, and the alignment matrix shows where each is taught. The analysis skills standards and the CCSS literacy standards for grades 11-12 are embedded in the lessons and assessed through the performance tasks.

The four units. Unit 1 covers scarcity, marginal thinking, supply and demand, price controls and Adam Smith, closing with a California Market Analysis Report. Unit 2 covers competition, firms, location, unions and labor markets, closing with a Labor Market Report and Briefing on an occupation the student might pursue. Unit 3 covers the role of government, the measurement of the economy, fiscal policy and the Federal Reserve, closing with an Economic Policy Briefing to a real policymaker. Unit 4 covers trade, exchange rates, tariffs and global flows of capital and labor, closing with a Trade Policy Position Paper and Address.

A-G area G. The course is designed as a social science elective under area G. UC expects such courses to be academically rigorous and to develop analytical thinking, writing and research. Every performance task requires students to find and interpret official data, apply an economic model, and write an evidence-based analysis that goes through planning, peer review and revision.

The five-part unit. Each unit follows the same shape as the charter curriculum’s government course: an inquiry launch with sources, a concepts-and-skills lab, a deliberation lab, a writing workshop and a performance task. Students who take both courses in the same year learn the rhythm quickly.

The economics graduation requirement. California requires one semester of economics. Students who complete the stand-alone Personal Finance course may elect an exemption from economics. For college-bound students, taking both is still the stronger path; the courses do different work. Economics explains how markets and economies behave; personal finance equips a person to act within them. Where they overlap — interest rates, inflation, labor markets — each course points to the other.

Sources. Anchor texts are public domain or openly licensed: Adam Smith, David Ricardo, Alexander Hamilton, federal statutes, official data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the Bureau of Economic Analysis, the Federal Reserve, the Congressional Budget Office and the Legislative Analyst’s Office, and OpenStax Principles of Economics under CC BY 4.0.

Where the standards are taught

Standard	Topic	Primary unit
12.1	Common economic terms and concepts	Unit 1
12.2	Elements of America’s market economy	Units 1-2
12.3	Government’s role in the economy	Unit 3
12.4	Elements of the U.S. labor market	Unit 2
12.5	Aggregate economic behavior	Unit 3
12.6	International trade	Unit 4