This handbook is intended to help Missouri school districts develop and implement quality family and consumer sciences programs that will prepare students of all ages to be critical, ethical thinkers and successful family, career, and community leaders. The handbook begins with a bibliography listing 27 resources. The following are among the topics discussed in the guide's five sections: (1) critical thinking in program design and implementation; (2) program design (program definition, scope, sequence, and objectives); (3) program development (developing local programs, quality indicators); (4) program implementation (integrating standards into the curriculum, crosswalk and alignment, instructional delivery methods, assessment methods, criteria for evaluating assessments); (5) program evaluation and improvement; and (6) model assessments. Appended are the following: diagram of higher-order thinking skills based on Bloom's taxonomy; strategy list detailing 35 dimensions of critical thought; process skills scoring guides; Missouri Show Me Standards; description of the main areas of the All Aspects of Industry program; list of the Secretary's Commission on Achieving Necessary Skills competencies; list of Missouri Core Employment Skills; list of competencies included in Ohio's Work and Family Life Competency Analysis Profile; national standards for family and consumer sciences education; and guide for submitting applications for expanding/developing new vocational education programs. (MN)