The Historical Development of the Content of Consumer Education: An Examination of Selected High School Texts, 1938–1978

This study was designed to determine which topics historically have been most frequently considered to be a part of consumer education and to identify changes over time in the coverage of particular topics. Fifteen selected high school consumer education texts published over a 40-year period were examined and their contents classified into 50 topic categories. Overall, it was found that there was substantial variation among the texts in the topics included and in the length of coverage given to them. While a small group of topics was covered in all of the books, only limited evidence was found for a developing consensus about many other areas. It also appears that the content of consumer education textbooks was relatively unresponsive to economic and social changes over the 40-year period.