Assurance of an adequate and safe supply of food at a reasonable price is consumers' primary stake in the outcome of 1995 farm bill deliberations and related food and agricultural policies. Farm programs have provided an economically stable environment wherein farmers produce an abundance of food. The declining portion of household budgets…

This composite report provides a snapshot of current thinking about the needs and challenges of consumer education in the United States. The quotations were selected from responses of a small group of educators, legislators, and consumer leaders in business, government, labor, the media, and the community who were invited to write brief statements…

Lesson plans are provided for use with different populations of pre-K through senior high school students in four different areas of consumer education. Eight units in advertising are included: A First Look at Ads (pre-K-Grade 3), Don't Judge a Book by Its Cover (Grades 1-3), Fatal Distraction (Junior High), Package Labeling (Junior High), Product…

Designed for the general public and possibly suitable also for high school economics students, this pamphlet describes the provisions of the Equal Credit Opportunity Act. The act prevents age from being used as the basis to deny or decrease credit to those who otherwise qualify. The pamphlet presents general rules for rating an applicant: (1) a…

The active learning approach promotes student achievement of higher-order skills such as independent reasoning, problem solving, and critical assessment. Active learning has been shown to foster student retention and encourage a more positive attitude toward school. The goal of the consumer decision-making class for university students and adults…

Four rationales for free enterprise economics education are discussed and information sources for economics teachers are listed. About half the states in this country have mandates requiring economics instruction. Rationales for free enterprise education, for consumer or personal economics, for economics from a global perspective, and for…

This annotated bibliography contains summaries of studies of consumer services in 39 fields, plus summaries of publications of interest to consumer advocates, published during the past 10 years. Since most service providers do business in a single locale, the evaluations are usually local in scope (for example, a comparison of major appliance…

Ten units on practical business are presented in this instructor and student guide. Each instructional unit contains objectives, suggested activities, information sheets, assignment sheets, transparency master, a test, and test answers. Unit topics are (1) before you buy (comparative shopping and wise purchasing techniques); (2) when things go…

A study examined historical changes in the content of consumer education and factors associated with these changes. Analysis was based on key writings on consumer education and an examination of fifteen high school texts published between 1938 and 1978. Only a few topics--budgeting, savings and investment, life insurance, and housing--received…

Two papers on developments toward consumerism in higher education are included. In "Alternatives to Federal Regulation of Consumer Information," by Joan S. Stark and Patrick T. Terenzini, several questions are posed for considering alternative systems to help students obtain and use information for college choice: (1) Can meaningful…

This publication describes what approximately 100 groups around the country are doing with regard to food, housing, energy, and health to beat inflation on the neighborhood level. The book is intended as a resource for citizens wishing to take the kind of consumer action that will save them and their neighbors money. Some of the programs featured…

The protection of the student and prospective student at the postsecondary level is examined. Twenty-five possible educational abuses and concerns, such as discriminatory refund policies and misrepresentation, identified by the Federal Interagency on Education are listed. Ten issues selected as the thrust of the first National Conference on…

Consumer education has traditionally addressed activities related to the purchase of goods while the human services (e.g., health, education, and social welfare) have received far less attention. This condition stems from several factors, including the "doing good" attitude of human service providers and the role of government as the provider of…

Two North Dakota home economists developed consumer education curricula based on adult performance level (APL) objectives and the perceived needs of their vocational students. They worked with local directors of adult basic and secondary education (ABSE) to incorporate the curricula into regular ABSE classes. Project objectives were to (1)…

Including the introduction, this document is a collection of seven short papers that discuss facets of consumer education (CE). The Introduction defines CE and lists five assumptions used throughout the report (e.g., CE is generally understood, but not precisely defined enough for the people implementing it to have a uniform understanding; schools…