What It's About

Family and Consumer Sciences Education em-powers individuals and families across the life span to manage the challenges of living and working in a diverse global society. It offers a unique focus on families, work, and their interrelationships. Family and Consumer Sciences Education prepares students for family life, work life, and careers in Family and Consumer Sciences. It provides opportunities to develop the knowledge, skills, attitudes, and behaviors that students need to become responsible citizens and leaders in family, community, and work settings; to manage resources to meet the material needs of individuals and families; to promote optimal nutrition and wellness across the life span; and to accept responsibility for their actions and success in family and work life.

In addition to classroom/ laboratory instruction, which develops the academic and technical knowledge and skills requisite for home and family life, further education, and employment, the Family and Consumer Sciences program also includes participation in the Family Career and Community Leaders of America (FCCLA) vocational student organization. FCCLA provides an array of activities to enhance student academic and technical competencies and develop leadership and communication skills.

Why It's Important

"Successful school and business partnerships cannot be formed in just a few weeks. Groundwork, understanding of each other, communication, and applied learning in a work environment are all part of the process. The process may be slow in its formation, but the results are phenomenal."
Pam Waters, Owner-Editor
The Glennville Sentinel
Glennville, Georgia

"Companies can already see the bottom-line effects: Training and retraining costs are decreased, and entry-level employees come on board with significant skills and competencies, so they are immediately productive."
Center for Occupational Research and Development, Inc.
Waco, Texas

Curriculum Development/Articulation:

• Develop curriculum frameworks with pacing guides for Textiles and Fashion Technology, Interiors and Housing Technology, Family and Consumer Sciences Issues and Applications, Early Childhood Education, Eldercare, and Professional Foods and Management
• Develop resource guides for Orientation to Life Skills and Careers, Consumer Economics, Child Development and Parenting, Nutrition and Wellness, and Food Science
• Develop curriculum frameworks for middle school courses
• Develop a self-monitoring system to insure program quality in Family and Consumer Sciences programs with the assistance of program-related professional organizations
• Develop articulation agreements with technical and Regents' institutions in the areas of childcare/early childhood education, culinary arts/professional foods, and nutrition

Work-Based Learning:

• Implement the Pro Start program standards in Professional Foods classes
• Increase the number of Early Childhood education classes that include a work-based component by 10 percent each year
• Develop alternative work-based strategies for incorporation into Textiles, Housing, Interior Design, and Consumer Economics
• Develop training plans to insure job rotation for all areas within a work-based component

Industry Certification:

• Develop industry certification standards for Professional Foods
• Reevaluate the standards for Early Childhood Education programs
• Implement revised industry certification standards in 30 percent of the Early Childhood Education programs annually
• Revise facility specifications and equipment lists for laboratories and identify facility modifications and resource allocations needed to qualify programs for industry certification

Professional Development:

• Conduct staff development to implement new curriculum frameworks
• Develop summer internships for Family and Consumer Sciences teachers
• Provide staff development on the integration of FCCLA projects and activities as a cocurricular component of all programs
• Conduct staff development to enhance teachers' skills in working with special needs students