Consumer Education and Economic Education in the Public Schools.

Overview & Synopsis

The papers in this publication will help elementary and secondary educators integrate economic concepts and tools into consumer education courses. Responses to the papers are also included. There are eight chapters. Chapter one describes the project that is the subject of this publication and that resulted in the national seminar. The goal of the project was to provide a means through which consumer education and economics education could be integrated into school curricula. Chapter two, "What is Consumer Education?" provides a definition of, describes the purposes and objectives of, and presents a classification of concepts in consumer education. Chapter three "What is Economic Education?" examines the meaning of economic understanding and discusses why economics education is important. If our schools are to acquire greater economic understanding, advances need to be made in teacher training, curriculum revision, teaching aids, and research and evaluation. Chapter four discusses a model for integrating consumer and economic content into the K-12 curriculum. Chapters five and six analyze the content of consumer education texts. In particular, the author looks at how the books treat credit, transportation, housing, and public goods and services. The topic of chapter seven is designs and instruments for evaluating economic and consumer education. The concluding chapter contains a summary of seminar presentations and reactions. (RM)