Welcome to the Ohio Association for Teachers of Family and Consumer Sciences (OATFACS) web site. We are an organization dedicated to promoting Family and Consumer Science (FCS) within Ohio and its schools to improve the lives of our students, their families and our communities.
One purpose of OATFACS is to collaborate with Ohio Department of Education (ODE) to provide professional development opportunities for our members and all FCS teachers.
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Some Experts Argue Family And Consumer Sciences Should Be Mandatory.
The Los Angeles Times (8/27, Scattergood) reports on "the evolution of the home economics program," now called Family and Consumer Sciences, which since its inception has evolved "into classes focusing on child development, nutrition, family health, food service and hospitality." One thing that has remained constant, however, is student participation. "More than 5 million students were enrolled in secondary FCS education programs in the 2002-03 academic year," or "about 25% of all students, almost the same percentage" as in the late 1950s. Despite "this upbeat picture" however, "FCS programs are overwhelmingly electives, determined state by state, always under threat of budget cuts and frequently recalibrated to fit an individual school's needs, student demographics and teacher ideology." Because of its malleable nature, "it can also mean that basic cooking skills can get lost." FCS educators stress that the skills they teach are "used every day," and some academics are pushing for FCS to be compulsory. Read this entire article which was taken from the Los Angeles Times. Also read the May 11, 2010, Journal of the American Medical Assn. titled "Bring Back Home Economics Education,"
The NEW Ohio FCS standards are combined to create new courses. This web site presents three new Transitions and Careers courses. These courses are designed asinquiry-based units to help students successfully transition from middle to high school and from high school to post secondary education.
Family and Consumer Sciences, which since its inception has evolved "into classes focusing on child development, nutrition, family health, food service and hospitality." One thing that has remained constant, however, is student participation. "More than 5 million students were enrolled in secondary FCS education programs in the 2002-03 academic year," or "about 25% of all students, almost the same percentage" as in the late 1950s. Despite "this upbeat picture" however, "FCS programs are overwhelmingly electives, determined state by state, always under threat of budget cuts and frequently recalibrated to fit an individual school's needs, student demographics and teacher ideology." Because of its malleable nature, "it can also mean that basic cooking skills can get lost." FCS educators stress that the skills they teach are "used every day," and some academics are pushing for FCS to be compulsory.