-  •  P4TE  DUE 

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SEP  J 

6  1973 

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GAYLORD 

FRINTED  IN  U.S.A. 

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of  Education 


The  Annual  Report  of  the  Federal  Security  Agency 
contain^»the  Administrator’s  report  and  the  re¬ 
ports  of  all  the  Agency’s  constituent  organizations. 
In  addition,  the  following  reports  are  issued  as 
separate  reprints: 

The  Administrator’s  Report 

Social  Security  Administration 

Public  Health  Service 

Office  of  Education 

Food  and  Drug  Administration 

Office  of  Vocational  Rehabilitation 

Saint  Elizabeths  Hospital 

Both  the  consolidated  volume  and  the  separate 
reports  are  available  at  nominal  cost  from  the 
Superintendent  of  Documents,  U.  S.  Government 
Printing  Office,  Washington  25,  D.  G. 


united  states 

GOVERNMENT  PRINTING  OFFICE 
WASHINGTON  :  1952 


For  Bale  by  the  Superintendent  of  Documents,  U.  S.  Government  Printing 
Office,  Washington  25,  D.  C.  Price  20  cents 


LIBRARY 

may  1 4  1959 

*»«»nr«aw 

—  Dt)C.  COLLECTION 


FEDERAL  SECURITY  AGENCY 

Oscar  R.  Ewing,  Administrator 


OFFICE  OF  EDUCATION 
Earl  James  McGrath,  Commissioner 

Deputy  Commissioner  of  Education,  Rall  I.  Grigsby. 

Assistant  Commissioner  for  Program  Development  and  Coordination, 
Buell  G.  Gallagher. 

Assistant  Commissioner  for  Vocational  Education,  Raymond  W. 
Gregory. 

Assistant  Commissioner  for  Defense  Activities  and  Director  of  the 
Scientific  Register,  James  C.  O’Brien. 

Assistant  Commissioner  for  State  and  Local  School  Systems,  Wayne 
0.  Reed. 

Assistant  Commissioner  for  Higher  Education,  John  Dale  Russell. 


ii 


Letter  of  Transmittal 


Federal  Security  Agency, 

Office  of  Education, 
Washington ,  D.  C .,  October  30, 1951 


The  Honorable  Oscar  R.  Ewing, 

Federal  Security  Administrator. 


Dear  Mr.  Ewing  :  I  herewith  submit  the  annual  report  embracin 
the  activities  of  the  Office  of  Education  for  the  fiscal  year  endin 
June  30, 1951. 

Respectfully, 


Earl  James  McGrath, 
Commissioner  of  Education. 


iii 


976328—62 - 1 


crq  orq 


FEDERAL  SECURITY  AGENCY 


IV 


Contents 


i* 


Page 

INTRODUCTION _  1 

Education  and  Mobilization  for  Defense.  2 

Defense  Information  Bulletins, _  _  _ .  3 

Claimant  Agency  Function  Under  the  NPA  ......  3 

College  Students  Under  Selective  Service.  6 

Defense  Training  Programs _  8 

Assistance  in  Federally  Affected  Areas _  ...  10 

National  Scientific  Register _  11 

Civil  Defense _  12 

Reorganization  of  the  Office  of  Education  12 

Focal  Points  for  Action _  15 

.  The  Schoolhouse  Shortage _  15 

The  Teacher  in  America  _  19 

Vocational  Training..  23 

Adult  Education _  24 

Life  Adjustment  Education.  24 

The  Chance  To  Go  to  College.  26 

Education  for  International  Understanding _  28 

The  Challenge  of  Television  30 

Education  and  the  Nation’s  Strength _  32 

Work  in  Progress _  35 

State  and  Local  School  Systems.  36 

Vocational  Training _  37 

Higher  Education _  38 

Research  and  Statistics  Standards _  39 

Program  Development  and  Management  Improvement  40 


Publications  Issued  by  the  Office 


41 


Office  of  Education 


Introduction 

Fiscal  1951  was  a  year  of  armed  conflict  in  Korea.  It  began  a 
week  or  so  after  the  invasion  of  South  Korea ;  it  ended  a  week  or  so 
after  the  United  Nations  broadcast  by  the  Soviet  delegate,  Jacob 
Malik,  which  set  in  motion  the  truce  negotiations  between  the  United 
Nations  command  and  that  of  Communist  China  and  North  Korea. 

The  impact  of  the  Korean  conflict  on  the  American  people  was  far- 
reaching,  as  the  Nation  moved  to  mobilize  its  resources  for  defense. 
Selective  Service  was  reorganized  to  provide  for  an  army,  navy,  and 
air  force  of  3.5  million,  2 y3  times  the  previous  strength  of  our  regular 
armed  forces.  The  wheels  of  industry  started  turning  for  the  pro¬ 
duction  of  vast  quantities  of  planes,  guns,  tanks,  and  other  war  ma¬ 
teriel.  Shortages  of  raw  materials — especially  steel,  copper,  and 
aluminum — imposed  sharp  limitations  on  nondefense  construction  and 
industrial  activity,  and  the  sudden  shift  to  a  defense  economy  set  off 
a  spiral  of  inflation.  Prices  of  consumer  goods  rose  rapidly,  and 
before  any  form  of  controls  could  be  made  effective  the  cost  of  living 
had  increased  by  9  percent. 

Education  quickly  felt  the  effect  of  the  accelerating  program  for 
defense  mobilization.  The  diversion  to  defense  industries  of  large 
quantities  of  basic  materials  in  short  supply  posed  a  major  threat  to 
the  vitally  important  school-building  construction  program  which  had 
been  gathering  momentum  since  the  end  of  World  War  II.  With  class¬ 
room  facilities  still  wholly  inadequate  to  take  care  of  the  rapidly  in¬ 
creasing  school  population,  this  was,  in  most  communities,  a  matter  of 
grave  concern.  The  program  was  further  threatened  during  the 
year  by  the  inflationary  rise  in  construction  costs. 


l 


2 


Annual  Report ,  Federal  Security  Agency ,  1951 


The  influx  of  workers  and  their  families  into  areas  where  defense 
production  activities  were  to  a  large  extent  concentrated  created 
another  and  exceedingly  trying  problem.  In  nearly  1,000  communi¬ 
ties  local  school  authorities  were  faced  with  the  task  of  providing 
adequate  classroom  facilities  for  a  suddenly  expanded  school 
population. 

Rising  prices  also  brought  to  the  fore  again,  in  sharp  focus,  the  whole 
problem  of  teachers’  salaries.  New  cost-of-living  adjustments  came 
up  for  discussion  before  hundreds  of  school  boards.  Again,  as  in 
World  War  II,  teachers  began  to  leave  the  profession  in  increasing 
numbers  to  take  better  paid  jobs  elsewhere. 

Among  colleges  and  universities,  the  anticipation  of  a  sharp  drop 
in  enrollments  for  the  succeeding  academic  year  presented  equally 
grave  problems.  With  tens  of  thousands  of  young  men  of  college  age 
going  into  uniform,  fears  arose  that  it  would  be  necessary,  in  many 
cases,  to  make  deep  slashes  in  the  teaching  staffs.  Colleges  were  con¬ 
cerned  with  the  extent  to  which  specially  qualified  students  would  be 
permitted  to  postpone  their  military  service  until  they  had  completed 
their  college  education. 

Beyond  all  this,  the  tensions  engendered  by  the  international  crisis 
were  reflected  in  many  ways  in  the  classroom.  And  the  sense  that 
the  crisis  might  last  for  an  indeterminate  number  of  years  hung  heavy 
over  the  entire  educational  world. 

In  the  meantime,  the  main  business  of  education  went  forward. 
Elementary  and  secondary  school  enrollments,  public  and  private, 
set  a  new  record  of  29,828,000.  College  and  university  enrollments, 
however,  declined  slightly  from  the  previous  year  to  a  level  of  about 
2,500,000,  chiefly  because  of  the  smaller  number  of  students  entering 
colleges  under  the  GI  scholarships. 

The  acute  shortage  of  teachers,  particularly  in  the  elementary 
schools,  continued  to  threaten  the  proper  functioning  of  our  public 
school  system.  And  the  sclioolhouse  shortage  became  increasingly 
critical  as  the  rate  of  new  schoolhouse  construction  failed  to  provide 
adequately  for  the  tidal-wave  of  children  bearing  down  on  our  schools. 

Education  and  Mobilization  for  Defense 

In  meeting  the  impact  of  the  problems,  created  by  the  international 
emergency  throughout  the  fiscal  year  1951,  the  Office  of  Education 
played  an  important  part.  The  responsibility  resting  on  the  Office’s 
leadership  in  the  field  of  education  was  clearly  recognized  by  the 
National  Security  Resources  Board  in  a  statement  designating  it  as 
the  agency  for  all  educational  planning  related  to  the  defense  effort. 

“In  the  field  of  education,”  the  statement  read,  “the  National  Se¬ 
curity  Resources  Board  and  the  President  are  looking  to  the  Federal 


Office  of  Education 


3 


Security  Agency  and  its  Office  of  Education  as  the  focal  point  within 
the  F ederal  Government  where  information  regarding  the  educational 
and  training  needs  will  be  gathered  and  distributed  to  the  schools  and 
institutions  of  higher  education  so  that  they  may  make  their  maximum 
contribution  to  the  defense  effort.” 

This  was  interpreted  by  the  Office  as  involving  two  levels  of  related 
activity:  the  responsibility  (a)  to  explore  the  total  educational  re¬ 
sources  of  the  Nation  and  to  help  channel  them,  wherever  possible, 
into  the  immediate  defense  effort;  and  (b)  to  work  toward  safeguard¬ 
ing  and  improving  present  educational  standards  to  the  end  that 
education  may  continue  to  make  its  basic  contribution  to  the  strength 
and  well-being  of  the  Nation  during  the  critical  years  which  lie  ahead. 

In  following  through  on  these  responsibilities  the  Office  laid  down 
4  broad  programs  with  some  27  separate  staff  assignments  for  ex¬ 
ploratory  study  and  recommendation.  The  general  headings  under 
which  these  programs  were  set  in  motion  were:  (1)  Manpower,  with 
special  reference  to  Selective  Service  policies  and  the  training  of  de¬ 
fense  workers;  (2)  School  construction  and  the  allocation  of  mate¬ 
rials  in  short  supply;  (3)  Educational  facilities  in  federally  affected 
areas  and  the  administering  of  Federal  aid;  and  (4)  a  Defense  In¬ 
formation  Service  to  school  authorities  and  educational  institutions. 

DEFENSE  INFORMATION  BULLETINS 

In  December  1950  the  Office  began  a  series  of  bulletins  designed  to 
provide  information  and  interpret  developments  in  the  over-all  de¬ 
fense  mobilization  programs  as  they  related  to  education.  By  June 
30  these  bulletins,  published  as  need  arose,  had  reached  a  total 
of  47.  The  majority  were  concerned  with  the  regulations  issued  by 
the  Office  of  Defense  Mobilization  concerning  the  allocations  of  mate¬ 
rials  in  short  supply  and  those  issued  by  Selective  Service  on  the 
drafting  of  college  students.  These  bulletins  were  mailed  to  more 
than  2,600  school  and  college  officials  throughout  the  country.  The 
response  was  uniformly  good,  and  the  Office  received  wide  commenda¬ 
tion  for  the  performance  of  an  essential  service  to  education  in  a  time 
of  national  crisis.  In  addition,  the  regular  publications  of  the  Office, 
School  Life  and  Higher  Education,  carried  definitive  articles  on 
these  matters. 

CLAIMANT  AGENCY  FUNCTION  UNDER  THE  NATIONAL 
PRODUCTION  AUTHORITY 

Early  in  the  fiscal  year  it  was  apparent  that,  under  the  pressures 
of  the  defense  production  program,  a  tightening  market  would  develop 
in  basic  materials.  There  were  widespread  fears  among  educators 
that  the  requirements  of  the  defense  industries  would  be  so  over-riding 

976358 — 52 - 2 


4 


Annual  Report ,  Federal  Security  Agency ,  1951 


that  those  of  new  schoolhouse  construction  and  maintenance  would 
be  virtually  disregarded. 

These  fears  were  based  on  the  Nation’s  experience  in  World  War 
II.  During  that  period  all  priorities  and  allocations  of  basic  ma¬ 
terials  had  been  handled  by  the  War  Production  Board.  As  defense 
production  rose  to  higher  and  higher  levels,  civilian  operations  not 
directly  related  to  the  war  effort  found  themselves  reduced  to  a  frac¬ 
tion  of  what  they  required.  This  was  particularly  true  in  the  field 
of  education.  As  a  result,  there  was  an  almost  complete  cessation 
during  the  war  years  of  new  school  construction  and  a  sharp  drop 
in  ordinary  school  maintenance  and  repair. 

In  justification  it  may  be  said  that  a  nation  engaged  in  all-out  war — 
where  victory  is  conceived  of  as  possible  within  a  limited  time — can 
perhaps  afford  to  make  sacrifices  of  this  nature.  The  situation  in 
1950,  however,  was  vastly  different.  Here  we  were  concerned  not 
merely  with  resisting  aggression  in  Korea,  but  with  mobilizing  our 
defense  resources  for  a  crisis  that  might  easily  last  for  10,  15,  or  even 
25  years.  Under  the  circumstances,  it  was  of  vital  importance  not 
only  to  plan  for  the  amount  of  defense  production  necessary  to  build 
our  armed  forces  to  the  necessary  levels,  but  it  was  also  important  to 
maintain  our  civilian  economy  at  the  highest  level  possible  and  to  make 
no  needless  sacrifices  that  would  weaken  the  Nation’s  essential 
strength. 

This  thinking  was  given  official  sanction  as  the  defense  program 
swung  into  action.  Under  the  Defense  Production  Act  of  1950,  the 
President  was  authorized  uto  allocate  material  and  facilities  in  such 
manner,  upon  such  conditions,  and  to  such  extent  as  he  shall  deem 
necessary  and  appropriate  to  promote  the  national  defense.”  A  sub¬ 
stantial  part  of  this  authority  was  delegated  to  the  Secretary  of  Com¬ 
merce,  who  in  turn  established  a  National  Production  Authority 
within  his  department. 

To  carry  on  its  functions,  the  NPA  designated  certain  departments, 
commissions,  and  agencies  of  the  Government  as  claimant  agencies. 
The  primary  task  of  these  agencies  was  to  represent  the  public  interest 
in  matters  which  came  under  their  special  jurisdiction.  It  was  their 
responsibility  to  provide  information  on  the  civilian  needs  of  the 
country  which  would  be  submitted  to  the  Defense  Production  Admin¬ 
istration,  the  planning  agency  of  the  Office  of  Defense  Mobilization. 
On  the  basis  of  this  information  the  DPA  would  make  broad  alloca¬ 
tions  of  scarce  materials  as  between  the  military  and  civilian  parts 
of  the  economy  and  as  between  major  segments  of  the  civilian 
economy.  (Later  the  NPA  was  made  the  operating  arm  of  the  DPA 
and  the  two  authorities  came  under  a  single  executive  head.) 

As  part  of  this  arrangement,  the  Federal  Security  Administrator 
was  designated  (Department  Order  127,  Department  of  Commerce) 


Office  of  Education 


5 


as  the  official  claimant  before  the  NPA  in  respect  to  “school  and  hospi¬ 
tal  construction  other  than  veterans’  hospitals ;  and  the  domestic  dis¬ 
tribution  of  supplies  and  equipment  needed  in  the  fields  of  health, 
education,  welfare,  recreation,  and  related  activities.”  Those  func¬ 
tions  relating  to  the  field  of  education  were,  in  turn,  delegated  by  the 
Administrator  to  the  Commissioner  of  Education. 

A  working  staff  was  immediately  organized  by  the  Commissioner 
to  carry  out  this  assignment.  This  staff  was  drawn  chiefly  from  per¬ 
sonnel  already  employed  within  the  Office  since  only  limited  funds 
were  available  for  the  operation. 

Under  Regulation  1,  dated  September  18, 1950,  the  National  Produc¬ 
tion  Authority  established  controls  over  some  100  materials  in  short 
supply  to  prevent  the  excessive  accumulation  of  inventories.  The  im¬ 
mediate  focus,  however,  was  on  the  shortages  in  copper,  steel,  and 
aluminum.  At  the  request  of  the  NPA,  the  Office  prepared  a  full-scale 
survey  of  all  educational  needs  of  the  country — elementary  and  high 
schools,  colleges,  and  libraries — in  respect  to  these  basic  materials  over 
the  1951  and  1952  calendar  years.  The  survey,  submitted  March  1, 
covered  278  items  of  supplies  and  equipment  in  the  field  of  new  school 
construction  and  maintenance,  and  constituted  the  basis  on  which  the 
DPA  made  its  later  determinations  of  the  amount  of  materials  in  short 
supply  to  be  set  aside  for  education. 

In  the  meantime,  a  great  number  of  school  authorities  were  having 
difficulty  in  procuring  materials  and  equipment  needed  for  the  con¬ 
struction  projects  already  begun.  Many  of  them  turned  to  the  Office 
of  Education  for  help,  and  in  consequence  a  program  of  emergency 
assistance  for  hardship  cases  was  inaugurated.  From  February 
through  June  some  8,500  requests  for  assistance  were  received,  and 
in  the  great  majority  of  instances  the  Office,  working  with  the  NPA, 
was  able  to  secure  the  needed  materials.  At  the  suggestion  of  the 
Office,  a  special  “set  aside”  in  steel,  for  the  month  of  June,  was  made 
by  the  NPA  to  meet  hardship  cases  in  the  field  of  education. 

The  principal  beneficiaries  under  this  program  were  school  author¬ 
ities  in  small  towns  and  the  smaller  colleges.  The  Office  did,  howTever, 
aid  many  of  the  larger  colleges  and  universities  in  securing  liard-to-get 
items  of  equipment,  such  as  scientific  and  technical  instruments  and 
multiple  switch  gears.  In  much  of  this  activity  the  Office  was  able  to 
utilize  to  advantage  the  services  of  the  field  organization  of  the  Federal 
Security  Agency. 

So  far,  the  Federal  Security  Agency  and  the  Office  of  Education 
were  acting  primarily  in  an  advisory  capacity  to  the  Defense  Produc¬ 
tion  Administration  and  the  NPA.  But  with  the  announcement  by  the 
DPA  of  a  Controlled  Materials  Plan  to  go  into  effect  July  1, 1951,  this 
relationship  was  substantially  altered.  Under  NPA  Delegation  14, 
the  FSA  was  given  definite  authority :  (1)  to  issue  permits  authorizing 


6 


Annual  Report,  Federal  Security  Agency,  1951 


the  commencement  of  all  construction  in  the  field  of  its  jurisdiction; 
and  (2)  to  establish  construction  schedules  and  allot  critical  material. 
In  the  field  of  education  this  authority  was  exercised  by  the  Office  of 
Education. 

During  the  period  when  the  CMP  was  in  the  process  of  being  drawn 
up,  members  of  the  staff  of  the  Federal  Security  Administration  and 
of  the  Office  of  Education,  together  with  representatives  of  nongovern¬ 
mental  education  associations,  maintained  a  close  contact  with  the 
Defense  Production  Administration  executives.  The  importance  of 
continuing  schoolhouse  construction,  at  least  at  its  current  rate,  was 
forcefully  argued.  F nil  data  were  presented  covering  the  tremendous 
increase  in  school  population  expected  over  the  next  10  years  and  the 
critical  shortage  in  classrooms  following  the  failure  to  maintain 
adequate  construction  schedules  during  the  depression  and  war  years. 

Largely  as  a  result  of  these  efforts,  there  was  reason  to  believe  that 
education  would  be  given  a  top  priority  in  the  allocation  of  basic 
materials  with  a  rating  equal  to  that  of  the  various  defense  establish¬ 
ments,  the  Atomic  Energy  Commission,  and  certain  other  important 
fields  of  defense  operation.  Amounts  approved  for  delivery,  during 
the  quarter  beginning  July  1,  included  100,000  tons  of  carbon  steel  and 
substantial  amounts  of  brass  mill  products  and  aluminum.  Compared 
with  education’s  position  in  World  War  II  this  was  a  distinct  improve¬ 
ment.  With  a  certain  amount  of  steel  still  available  in  the  free 
market,  these  allotments  were  sufficient  to  take  care  of  most  of  the 
immediate  needs  of  school  construction  already  under  way,  but  they 
made  little  provision  for  projects  scheduled  to  begin  construction 
during  the  quarter.  It  was  evident  that  allotments  for  succeeding 
quarters  would  have  to  be  greatly  increased  if  the  full  requirements 
of  education  were  to  be  met. 

COLLEGE  STUDENTS  UNDER  SELECTIVE  SERVICE 

Under  the  Selective  Service  Act  of  1948,  college  and  university 
students  ordered  to  report  for  induction,  were  permitted  to  finish  their 
academic  year  if  their  work  continued  to  be  satisfactory.  With  a  high 
level  of  voluntary  enlistment  for  the  comparatively  small  pre-Korean 
armed  forces,  relatively  few  were  affected  by  the  draft. 

The  Korean  crisis,  however,  opened  up  the  whole  question  of  defer¬ 
ment,  or  postponement  of  service,  for  college  students  under  the  act. 
The  nub  of  the  question  was  the  extent  to  which  specially  qualified 
students  were  to  be  permitted  to  finish  their  full  college  courses  be¬ 
fore  going  into  the  armed  services,  and  on  what  basis  the  selection 
was  to  be  made. 

In  educational  circles  there  were  profound  differences  of  opinion 
on  the  matter.  Some  felt  that  in  a  democracy  no  preference  of  any 
sort  should  be  accorded  college  students;  that  all  young  men  reach- 


Office  of  Education 


7 


injr  draft  a<ze  should  be  dealt  with  on  the  same  basis.  These  views 
did  not  coincide  with  those  held  by  the  majority  of  educators,  as 
evidenced  by  a  poll  conducted  by  the  National  Education  Associa¬ 
tion  of  a  cross  section  of  college  presidents  throughout  the  country. 
Nor  did  they  coincide  with  those  of  Administration  officials.  Charles 
E.  Wilson,  head  of  the  Office  of  Defense  Mobilization,  put  the  matter 
clearly  when  he  stated  that  it  was  important  for  the  armed  services 
to  “have  the  benefit  of  men  trained  to  serve  more  effectively  than  they 
otherwise  would.” 

“Our  potential  enemies,”  Mr.  Wilson  went  on  to  say,  “can  mar¬ 
shal  enormous  manpower  resources  against  us.  There  is  no  foresee¬ 
able  chance  that  we  can  match  their  manpower  in  terms  of  sheer 
numbers.  The  factors  potentially  in  our  favor  are  our  military  com¬ 
petence,  our  technological  advantage,  and  our  vast  industrial  capacity. 

“The  effectiveness  of  these  three  factors  depends  almost  entirely 
upon  the  technical,  scientific,  managerial,  and  industrial  skills  of  our 
population  which  are  already  in  short  supply.  Success  or  failure  in 
meeting  the  forces  arrayed  against  us  will  depend  in  large  measure 
upon  the  intelligence  with  which  we  husband  these  skills  and  use  them 
to  their  fullest  advantage.” 

Several  proposals,  widely  differing  in  content,  were  set  forth  by 
various  individuals  and  educational  institutions,  and  the  matter  was 
thoroughly  explored  at  committee  hearings  of  the  House  and  Senate. 
The  law  enacted  retained  the  presidential  authority  to  defer  college 
students.  Under  this  authority  the  new  Selective  Service  regulations 
permit  the  postponement  of  induction  into  the  armed  services,  over 
the  succeeding  school  year  (1951-52)  for  students  in  the  following 
categories : 

(a)  students  or  those  accepted  for  admission  in  certain  professional 
schools  (medicine,  dentistry,  veterinary  medicine,  osteopathy,  and 
optometry)  who  are  certified  by  their  schools  as  doing  satisfactory 
work ; 

(b)  full-time  graduate  students  seeking  a  graduate  degree  and 
similarly  certified; 

(c)  students  accepted  for  admission  to  graduate  schools  who  have 
satisfactory  scholastic  standing  or  can  meet  certain  prescribed  tests; 

(d)  undergraduates  accepted  for  admission  to  their  next  year  of 
study  who  have  a  comparatively  high  scholastic  standing  or  who  can 
meet  certain  qualification  tests. 

The  bill  also  incorporated  the  principle  of  Universal  Military  Train¬ 
ing,  with  a  commission  to  be  appointed  to  draw  up  a  specific  program. 

College  authorities,  of  course,  were  concerned  with  the  determina¬ 
tion  of  the  draft  age — whether  it  should  be  placed  at  18  or  19 — since 
this  would  affect  the  number  of  students  eligible  for  induction.  On 
the  compromise  finally  agreed  upon,  age  18 y2,  studies  made  by  the 


8 


Annual  Report ,  Federal  Security  Agency ,  1951 


Office  of  Education  showed  that  approximately  one-third  of  all  cur¬ 
rently  enrolled  college  undergraduates  would  thus  be  affected — some 
370,000  out  of  a  total  male  enrollment  of  1,059,000.  This  relatively 
low  proportion  was  caused  by  the  fact  that  about  423,000  students 
were  World  War  II  veterans  and  therefore  not  subject  to  the  draft 
and  201,000  were  ROTC  students.  The  remainder  of  the  male  stu¬ 
dents  were  for  the  most  part,  4F’s  or  under  draft  age. 

During  May  and  June,  Selective  Service  tests,  administered  by  the 
Educational  Testing  Service  of  Princeton,  N.  J.,  were  given  at  ap¬ 
proximately  1,000  examination  centers  throughout  the  United  States 
and  its  Territories.  As  of  June  30,  the  results  of  these  tests  had  not 
been  made  known. 

DEFENSE  TRAINING  PROGRAMS 

During  World  War  II,  the  schools  and  colleges  of  the  Nation  played 
a  vital  role  in  the  training  of  workers  for  jobs  in  defense  industry. 
Under  various  national  defense  programs,  administered  by  the  Office 
of  Education,  more  than  13  million  persons  were  given  such  training. 
This  tremendous  effort  was  credited,  in  no  small  Way,  with  breaking 
the  bottle-neck  in  production  of  war  materials  and  gave  industry 
the  skilled  workers  it  required  to  build  the  necessary  ships,  planes, 
tanks,  and  guns.  It  was  carried  under  three  general  headings: 

1.  The  Vocational  Training  Program  for  War  Production  Workers 
was  operated  mainly  in  the  public  secondary  schools  under  the  State 
Boards  for  Vocational  Education.  During  the  5  years  from  1940  to 
1945,  this  program  enrolled  nearly  7%  million  persons.  Nearly  5 
million  were  workers  employed  by  war  industries  who  received  train¬ 
ing  supplemental  to  their  war  employment.  The  other  2 y2  million 
received  specialized  training  prior  to  their  employment  in  war  indus¬ 
tries.  Of  these  7%  million,  about  1%  million  were  women  with  no 
previous  industrial  experience. 

2.  The  Rural  War  Production  Training  Program  was  also  oper¬ 
ated  in  the  secondary  schools  under  the  State  Boards  for  Vocational 
Education.  This  program  had  a  total  enrollment  of  more  than  4 
million.  About  1%  million  of  these  received  training  in  the  opera¬ 
tion  and  maintenance  of  farm  machinery  and  another  iy2  million 
in  food  processing  and  conservation.  Something  like  three- fourths 
of  a  million  were  trained  for  employment  in  war  industries. 

3.  The  Engineering  Science  and  Management  War  Training  Pro¬ 
gram  was  operated  in  some  240  colleges,  universities,  and  technical 
schools  under  plans  approved  by  the  Office  of  Education.  The  job 
here  was  to  assist  in  meeting  the  shortage  of  engineers,  chemists, 
physicists,  and  production  supervisors  in  fields  essential  to  national 
defense.  Total  enrollments  were  nearly  1,800,000,  and  10  types  of 


Office  of  Education 


9 


courses  were  offered,  with  chief  emphasis  on  electrical  engineering, 
engineering  drawing,  and  industrial  engineering. 

On  September  9,  1950,  following  the  outbreak  of  the  Korean  con¬ 
flict,  the  President  approved  a  memorandum  of  the  Director  of  the 
Bureau  of  the  Budget  bearing  on  the  training  of  defense  workers 
under  the  general  defense  mobilization  program.  This  memorandum 
laid  down  the  principle  that  the  Department  of  Labor  would  iden¬ 
tify  all  training  needs  for  defense  activities  and  that  the  Federal 
Security  Agency,  through  the  Office  of  Education,  would  “develop 
plans  and  programs  for  the  education  and  training,  in  groups  or 
classes  under  organized  auspices,  of  personnel  needed  for  work  in 
occupations  essential  to  the  national  defense.” 

In  December  1950,  at  the  request  of  the  National  Security  Resources 
Board,  the  Office  undertook  a  survey  of  the  plant  research  and  in¬ 
structional  facilities  of  some  1,900  colleges  and  universities.  The 
task  was  to  assemble,  analyze,  and  classify  all  pertinent  information, 
and  make  it  available  to  the  Department  of  Defense  and  other  Fed¬ 
eral  agencies  requesting  it.  By  June  30,  1951,  more  than  1,100  com¬ 
pleted  reports  had  been  received.  This  was  the  first  time  that  such 
comprehensive  information  had  been  assembled  covering  college  and 
university  facilities.  The  program  was  designed  to  operate  on  a 
current  basis  and,  by  the  end  of  the  year,  was  already  proving  useful 
to  the  defense  efforts  of  21  different  units  of  the  Federal  Government. 

Along  with  these  activities,  a  Nation-wide  program  for  the  training 
of  defense  workers  was  drawn  up  covering  two  types  of  training  to 
meet  defense  production  requirements : 

1.  Training  for  immediate  production  needs — Introductory  train¬ 
ing  on  the  job  for  new  workers,  refresher  training  for  those  returning 
to  the  labor  market,  and  instruction  required  as  the  result  of  shifts 
from  nondefense  industries  or  upgrading  of  workers  in  the  plant. 

2.  Training  for  longer  range  needs — For  the  skilled  trades  and  for 
scientific,  technical,  and  defense  pursuits. 

Defense  training  of  less-than-college  grade  was  to  be  carried  on, 
under  the  direction  of  the  Office  of  Education,  by  State  Boards  for 
Vocational  Education  and  State  and  local  vocational  schools.  De¬ 
fense  training  of  college  grade  was  to  be  carried  on,  under  the  direction 
of  the  Office,  by  institutions  of  higher  education. 

As  of  June  30,  no  specific  funds  were  available  for  these  programs. 
Many  high  schools  undertook  as  much  defense  training  of  workers 
as  they  could  with  the  money  at  their  command,  but  the  effort  touched 
only  the  edges  of  the  problem. 

Without  question  the  need  for  training  is  imperative.  Defense 
Mobilizer  Charles  E.  Wilson  has  said  that  in  order  to  meet  our  defense 
production  goals  the  part  of  the  labor  force  engaged  directly  or  in- 


10 


Annual  Report,  Federal  Security  Agency ,  1951 


directly  in  defense  production  will  have  to  be  increased  in  1951  by  3 
to  4  million  workers.  In  this  connection,  it  should  be  pointed  out 
that  the  employment  situation  is  radically  different  from  what  it  was 
in  1940.  At  that  time  there  was  a  large  mass  of  unemployed  workers 
eager  to  undergo  specific  training  that  would  enable  them  to  get  de¬ 
fense  jobs.  Today,  we  have  nearly  full  employment.  Most  of  our 
workers  are  earning  comparatively  good  wages  in  comparatively  stable 
jobs.  There  is  practically  no  surplus  of  young  people  on  our  farms. 
Any  sharp  increase  in  the  labor  force  to  meet  our  defense  needs  will 
probably  require  the  training  of  a  larger  number  of  women  than  in 
World  War  II.  It  will  be  necessary  to  put  greater  emphasis  on  the 
training  of  the  physically  handicapped  and  the  4F’s.  And  we  shall 
have  to  draw  heavily  on  the  services  of  the  older  and  retired  workers. 

Over  the  next  several  years,  at  least,  our  schools  and  colleges  can 
look  forward  to  shouldering  a  heavy  load  in  this  important  area  of 
the  Nation’s  defense  program. 

ASSISTANCE  IN  FEDERALLY  AFFECTED  AREAS 

The  rapid  stepping-up  of  defense  activities  brought  heavy  pressure 
on  the  educational  facilities  in  communities  located  near  military  in¬ 
stallations  and  defense  production  projects.  Military  camps  and 
bases  were  being  reactivated  or  expanded  to  train  an  increasingly  large 
number  of  men  inducted  into  the  Armed  Forces.  Shipyards  were 
reopening  in  a  number  of  areas  and  expanding  production  in  others. 
Airplane  production  went  into  high  gear,  and  factories  producing  all 
manner  of  war  materiel  were  also  expanding  their  rate  of  production. 
These  pressures  were  felt  even  more  heavily  in  connection  with  the 
Paducah  (Ky.),  and  Savannah  Eiver  (Ga.)  projects  established  by 
the  Atomic  Energy  Commission. 

As  a  result  of  all  this,  workers  by  the  tens  of  thousands  with  their 
families  had  moved  into  these  communities  to  take  defense  jobs,  and 
i  t  was  evident  that  the  pattern  of  congested  areas,  so  familiar  during 
World  War  II,  was  being  repeated.  This  was  especially  true  of  school 
facilities  for  workers’  children.  All  the  worst  aspects  of  the  Nation¬ 
wide  sclioolhouse  shortage  were  intensified — overcrowded  classrooms ; 
use  of  fire-hazardous  buildings,  basements,  and  empty  stores,  together 
with  recourse  to  half-day  sessions. 

Beyond  that,  the  heavy  influx  of  military  personnel  into  military 
installations  and  bases — civilian  workers  as  well  as  men  in  uniform — 
created  even  more  imperative  problems,  since  in  most  instances  there 
were  few  school  facilities  for  the  children  of  families  moving  into 
these  areas.  Many  of  these  children  were  sent  to  schools  in  the  sur¬ 
rounding  communities,  thus  swamping  their  already  overcrowded 
classrooms. 


Office  of  Education 


11 


Iii  September  1950,  legislation  was  enacted  by  the  Congress  (title 
II  of  Public  Law  815)  providing  for  various  forms  of  Federal  aid 
for  new  schoolhouse  construction  in  communities  struggling  with  these 
problems.  About  the  same  time,  additional  legislation  was  enacted 
(Public  Law  874)  to  provide  Federal  assistance  to  these  communities 
for  current  operating  expense.  In  the  fiscal  year  1951,  the  sum  of 
$96.5  million  was  appropriated  or  authorized  for  Public  Law  815 
and  $23  million  was  appropriated  for  Public  Law  874.1  In  both 
instances,  the  amount  of  Federal  payments  was  determined  primarily 
on  the  basis  of  the  Federal  impact  in  terms  of  federally  affected  chil¬ 
dren  involved  and  property  exempt  from  taxation. 

By  the  end  of  the  fiscal  year,  865  applications  for  new  school  con¬ 
struction  under  Public  Law  815  had  been  received,  involving  an 
estimated  540,000  children.  The  full  amount  to  which  the  commu¬ 
nities  were  entitled  came  to  some  $340  million.  Since  this  was  far  in 
excess  of  the  amount  appropriated  by  the  Congress,  the  Commissioner 
of  Education  was  forced  to  determine  the  relative  urgency  of  need 
for  school  facilities.  The  $96.5  million  available  was  apportioned 
among  those  applicants  whose  claims  were  adjudged  to  be  the  most 
pressing.  Preliminary  allocations,  as  of  June  30,  showed  that  $88 
million  had  been  reserved  for  290  specific  projects  in  241  school  dis¬ 
tricts.  Of  these  projects,  228  involving  a  little  more  than  $74,000,000 
served  specific  defense  activities;  8  requiring  $899,000  were  for  non- 
defense  activities  such  as  reclamation  and  flood-control  activities  and 
Indian  reservations;  and  a  little  more  than  $13,000,000  was  reserved 
for  54  projects  in  areas  still  suffering  from  the  impact  caused  during 
World  War  II.  Many  of  the  last  group  still  had  children  living  in 
federally  owned  nontaxable  housing  projects  built  in  wartime. 

Under  Public  Law  874,  applications  for  Federal  aid  to  meet  current 
school  expenses  were  received  from  1,210  qualified  applicants  with 
certified  entitlement  totaling  approximately  $29  million. 

NATIONAL  SCIENTIFIC  REGISTER 

In  the  summer  of  1950,  as  part  of  the  over-all  manpower  program, 
the  National  Scientific  Register  was  established  in  the  Office  of  Edu¬ 
cation  as  a  special  project  of  the  National  Security  Resources  Board. 
Its  primary  responsibility  is  to  develop  a  selective,  analytical  inven¬ 
tory  of  the  Nation’s  specially  trained  scientists  and  technologists  in 
the  physical,  natural,  and  engineering  sciences.  It  also  develops 
studies  relating  to  various  phases  of  the  Nation’s  scientific  manpower 


1  A  supplemental  appropriation  in  the  amount  of  $5.7  million  was  made  available  after 
the  close  of  Fiscal  ’51  to  cover  requirements  of  Public  Law  874  during  the  fiscal  year  1951. 

976328—52 - 3 


12 


Annual  Report ,  Federal  Security  Agency,  1951 


resources  and  provides  the  machinery  necessary  for  the  full  utiliza¬ 
tion  of  scientific  skills  in  the  event  of  total  mobilization.  These  data, 
along  with  the  studies  and  reports  based  on  them,  will  be  used  by 
Government  agencies  and  other  institutions  concerned  with  mobiliza¬ 
tion  planning,  training,  military  deferment,  scholarship,  and  research 
programs. 

CIVIL  DEFENSE 

During  the  year,  through  its  Division  of  Vocational  Education,  the 
Office  worked  with  the  Civil  Defense  Administration  in  developing 
training  plans  needed  to  prepare  people  for  duty  in  various  aspects 
of  civil  defense.  It  also  maintained  continuing  liaison  with  the  CDA 
in  its  general  educational  work.  In  addition,  the  Office  cooperated 
with  the  Red  Cross  in  preparing  suggestions  for  the  establishment  of 
courses  for  the  training  of  teachers  in  home  nursing. 

The  foregoing  are  the  chief  activities  of  the  Office  of  Education 
growing  out  of  the  international  emergency.  But  in  a  variety  of  other 
ways  the  day-by-day  work  of  the  Office  felt  the  impact  of  the  crisis 
as  the  Nation  mobilized  for  defense. 

Reorganization  of  the  Office  of  Education 

In  February,  the  administrative  structure  of  the  Office  of  Education 
was  reorganized.  Among  other  measures  taken,  the  number  of  oper¬ 
ating  divisions  was  reduced  from  eight  to  three,  and  certain  specific 
responsibilities,  previously  more-or-less  scattered  throughout  the  vari¬ 
ous  divisions,  were  brought  together  at  the  staff  level  to  permit  more 
effective  coordination. 

This  “streamlining”  process  had  as  its  objective  more  than  just  an 
increased  efficiency  of  operation  as  such.  Its  chief  purpose  was  to 
enable  the  Office  to  move  more  directly  and  more  boldly  toward  carry¬ 
ing  out  its  primary  responsibilities  in  the  field  of  American  education. 

At  the  time  it  was  first  established  in  1867,  the  functions  of  the 
Office  had  been  broadly  laid  down  as  involving  “research  into  educa¬ 
tional  matters,  the  dissemination  of  information,  and  the  promotion  of 
education.”  From  time  to  time,  however,  various  administrative 
functions  had  been  delegated  to  it.  The  Office,  for  instance,  was  given 
charge  of  the  allotment  of  Federal  funds  to  the  States  for  the  land- 
grant  colleges.  It  organized  and  administered  for  more  than  40 
years,  the  famous  “Reindeer  Service”  to  provide  education  for  the 
native  population  of  Alaska.  From  1932  to  1943  it  administered  the 
Federal-State  program  of  vocational  rehabilitation.  In  1933,  it  was 
given  responsibility  for  administering  the  Nation-wide  system  of  voca¬ 
tional  training  in  the  public  schools.  And  during  World  War  II,  as 


Office  of  Education 


13 


previously  stated,  it  directed  a  vitally  important  program  for  the 
training  of  war  workers  and  also  of  engineers  and  scientists  needed 
for  the  war  effort. 

As  an  arm  of  the  Government,  administering  the  Federal  interest 
in  various  aspects  of  education,  it  was  acknowledged  that  the  Office 
had  been  highly  successful  and  had  served  an  exceedingly  useful  pur¬ 
pose.  But  in  terms  of  its  fundamental  purposes  as  originally  outlined, 
its  record,  according  to  many  of  its  critics,  had  been  less  impressive. 
Basic  research  in  education  had  not  been  actively  advanced;  it  had 
tended  to  be  limited  to  the  compilation  of  statistical  data.  The  dis¬ 
semination  of  information,  for  this  reason,  had  also  tended  to  be 
limited  in  scope.  And  promotion  of  education — in  other  words,  the 
function  of  leadership  in  the  field — had  been  caught  in  the  shallows 
of  advisory  and  consultative  services. 

With  these  ideas  in  mind,  during  April  of  the  previous  fiscal  year, 
the  Office  had  engaged  the  Public  Administration  Service  of  Chicago 
to  make  a  thorough-going  survey  of  its  administrative  functions  and 
activities.  The  intent  was  to  secure  an  objective  study  of  the  degree 
to  which  the  Office  was  meeting  its  primary  responsibilities  and  of 
measures  that  could  be  taken  to  strengthen  its  operation. 

The  survey  was  financed  through  money  obtained  from  the  Presi¬ 
dent’s  fund  on  management  improvement.  The  survey  itself  was 
directed  by  Francis  S.  Chase,  professor  of  educational  administration 
at  the  University  of  Chicago,  and  the  report  was  completed  in  Oc¬ 
tober  of  the  year  under  review. 

In  evaluating  the  work  of  the  Office,  the  report  sharply  scored  its 
failure,  over  the  past  years,  to  focus  attention  on  the  most  pressing 
educational  problems.  To  a  large  extent,  it  found,  the  energies  of  the 
Office  were  dissipated  in  scatter-gun  projects.  There  was  “a  prodi¬ 
gious  amount  of  activity,  and  the  production  of  a  large  number  of 
studies  of  interest  to  segments  of  the  educational  clientele  of  the  Office, 
but  of  limited  value  in  terms  of  major  problems  confronting  American 
education.” 

This  scatter-gun  approach  was  largely,  the  report  stated,  the  result 
of  the  Office’s  organization  and  staffing  pattern.  The  operating  divi¬ 
sions  were  for  the  most  part  manned  by  specialists  primarily  con¬ 
cerned  with  their  own  field  of  interest  who,  for  all  practical  purposes, 
made  their  own  selection  of  projects  to  be  initiated.  In  addition,  a 
considerable  number  of  more-or-less  unrelated  studies  were  under¬ 
taken  at  the  request  of  educational  groups  outside  the  Office.  As  a 
result,  according  to  the  report,  what  was  obviously  a  heavy  year’s  work 
showed  little  evidence  of  basic  planning  or  direction. 

Furthermore,  the  report  stated,  a  large  part  of  the  time  and  energy 
of  staff  personnel  was  absorbed  in  correspondence  and  in  providing 


14 


Annual  Report ,  Federal  Security  Agency ,  1951 


consultative  services  to  school  authorities  on  their  own  specialized  sub¬ 
jects.  These  functions,  important  as  they  were,  tended  further  to 
fragmentize  the  activities  of  the  Office.  What  was  needed,  the  report 
insisted,  was  an  organization  through  which  the  Office  could  effectively 
make  use  of  its  full  resources  to  deal  with  the  over-all  problems  of 
education  and  to  swim  vigorously  in  its  main  current.  There  was  in¬ 
creasing  need  for  high-level  research — either  within  the  Office  or  under 
its  direct  sponsorship — which  should  concentrate  on  matters  affecting 
the  structure  and  quality  of  American  education  as  a  whole.  The 
chief  effort  of  the  Office  should  be  directed  toward  a  better  anticipation 
and  speedier  identification  of  major  educational  problems  and  the  de¬ 
velopment  of  means  to  meet  and  resolve  these  problems. 

As  a  necessary  step  toward  the  achievement  of  these  objectives,  the 
report  recommended  that  the  activities  of  the  Office  should  follow  the 
natural  pattern  of  American  educational  needs  and  be  directed 
through  three  main  channels :  a  Division  of  State  and  Local  School 
Systems,  a  Division  of  Vocational  Education,  and  a  Division  of 
Higher  Education.  These  recommendations,  together  with  other  sug¬ 
gestions  looking  toward  better  administration,  were  largely  incor¬ 
porated  in  the  reorganization  plan  which  was  put  into  effect  during 
February. 

Under  the  new  plan  each  division,  headed  by  an  assistant  commis¬ 
sioner,  in  close  collaboration  with  the  other  divisions  and  with  the 
newly  established  Program  Development  and  Coordination  Branch 
in  the  Commissioner’s  Office,  undertakes  all  programing  and  opera¬ 
tion  within  the  area  of  its  responsibility.  It  is  thus  able  to  concen¬ 
trate  on  those  matters,  from  the  earliest  possible  stage  of  their  develop¬ 
ment,  which  contribute  most  vitally  to  the  continued  progress  of 
American  education.  Moreover,  a  tighter  organization  makes  it  easier 
to  establish  task  forces  on  certain  program  assignments  drawn  from 
the  staff  resources  of  the  entire  Office.  And  top-level  review  in  the 
Commissioner’s  Office  of  all  divisional  programing  and  operation 
serves  to  coordinate  the  efforts  of  the  entire  Office. 

The  Office  believes  that  its  administrative  reorganization  will  clear 
the  way  for  a  closer  realization  of  its  basic  objectives.  What  is  im¬ 
perative  at  the  present  time  is  effective  leadership  by  the  Federal  Gov¬ 
ernment  in  the  general  field  of  education.  Such  leadership  in  no  sense 
implies  Federal  control  or  anything  even  remotely  pointing  in  that 
direction ;  the  operation  and  control  of  our  public  schools  should,  and 
must,  continue  to  be  the  responsibility  of  State  and  local  governments. 
It  does,  however,  imply  a  Federal  agency  actively  concerned  with 
major  trends  in  education  and  their  relation  to  social  and  economic 
developments  both  at  home  and  abroad.  The  Office  should  be  capable 
of  originating  broad  policies  within  the  framework  of  the  national 


Office  of  Education 


15 


interest,  and  of  interpreting  these  policies  to  the  States  and  local  com¬ 
munities  at  the  operating  level. 

Moreover,  there  is  every  evidence  that  truly  dynamic  leadership  of 
this  nature  will  be  welcomed  by  our  schools  and  colleges.  A  large 
number  of  the  problems  which  State  and  local  authorities  must  cope 
with  cut  across  geographical  lines  and  must  be  dealt  with  in  national 
terms.  These  authorities  are  looking  more  and  more  to  unified  leader¬ 
ship  for  help  in  keeping  their  own  State  and  local  programs  in  proper 
focus.  This  is  especially  true  as  the  Nation  enters  what  may  prove 
to  be  the  most  critical  period  of  its  entire  existence.  Such  leadership 
would  also  provide  a  central  rallying  point  for  the  various  organiza¬ 
tions — both  lay  and  professional — which  are  making  many  sound  and 
substantive  contributions  to  the  advancement  of  education  throughout 
the  country. 

Focal  Points  for  Action 

The  long-run  challenge  to  the  Nation  which  the  international  crisis 
presents  is  dealt  with  below.  The  immediate  crisis,  however,  has 
brought  to  the  stage  of  even  greater  importance  some  of  the  most 
pressing  problems  which  educators  were  grappling  with  before  the 
outbreak  of  the  Korean  conflict.  More  than  ever,  if  we  are  to  come 
safely  through  the  long  period  of  stress  that  lies  ahead,  we  must  face 
squarely  the  need  for  action — and  action  now — looking  toward  the  ef¬ 
fective  solution  of  these  problems. 

THE  SCHOOLHOUSE  SHORTAGE 

Among  the  most  insistent  of  these  problems  is  the  appalling  lack  of 
adequate  classroom  facilities  to  house  our  rapidly  increasing  school 
population.  Public  Law  815,  passed  by  the  Congress  in  September 
1950  to  provide  for  new  schoolhouse  construction  in  federally  affected 
areas  (see  p.  11),  also  took  cognizance  of  this  over-all  construction 
problem.  Under  title  I,  $3  million  was  appropriated  to  finance  a  State- 
by-State  Nation-wide  survey  of  school  facilities.  This  sum  was  al¬ 
lotted  among  the  States  on  the  basis  of  each  State’s  proportionate 
school-age  population,  with  a  State  contribution  to  match  the  Federal 
payment.  The  project  will  enable  the  States  to  “inventory  existing 
facilities,  to  survey  the  need  of  additional  facilities  in  relation  to  the 
distribution  of  school  population,  to  develop  State  plans  for  school 
construction  programs,  and  to  study  the  adequacy  of  State  and  local 
resources  available  to  meet  school  facilities  requirements.” 

Under  the  law,  the  Commissioner  of  Education  serves  as  coordinator 
of  the  survey  with  authority  to  approve  applications  from  legally  des¬ 
ignated  State  educational  agencies  and  to  prescribe  the  form  of  the 


16 


Annual  Report ,  Federal  Security  Agency ,  1951 


reports.  The  Office  also  provides  consultative  services  to  these 
agencies. 

As  of  June  30, 1951,  surveys  had  been  initiated  in  39  of  the  53  States 
and  Territories,  three  of  them  without  use  of  Federal  funds.  The 
inventory  phase  of  the  reports  is  scheduled  to  be  completed  by  Decem¬ 
ber  1,  1951;  the  target  date  for  the  development  of  10-year  school 
plant  construction  programs  is  set  for  June  30.  1953. 

Such  a  definitive  survey  is,  of  course,  long  overdue.  It  should  pro¬ 
vide  a  working  blueprint  of  the  Nation’s  need  and,  it  is  to  be  hoped, 
a  further  spur  toward  meeting  those  needs.  Studies  conducted  by  the 
Office  of  Education  and  by  other  nongovernmental  organizations  have 
repeatedly  emphasized  the  critical  situation  in  which  the  Nation  finds 
itself  in  respect  to  its  school  plant. 

Over  the  past  20  years  there  has  been  a  tremendous  lag  in  the  con¬ 
struction  of  new  elementary  and  secondary  public  schools.  During 
the  depression,  construction  was  drastically  curtailed.  In  1934,  for 
instance,  the  average  amount  spent  per  child  enrolled,  per  year,  was 
only  $2.24  compared  with  the  1922-28  average  of  $15.21 ;  and  by  1939 
the  average  was  still  less  than  $10.  During  the  war  years,  owing  to 
the  acute  shortage  in  building  materials,  the  situation  took  an  even 
sharper  turn  for  the  worse  and  all  new  construction  came  virtually 
to  a  halt.  And  for  the  immediate  postwar  years,  the  continued  short¬ 
ages  plus  inflated  prices  of  materials  and  manpower  greatly  hindered 
most  communities  from  entering  upon  any  important  school-building 
program.  The  result  of  all  these  factors  is  a  tremendous  backlog  of 
accumulated  construction  needs. 

Furthermore,  estimates  indicate  that  one  out  of  five  schoolhouses 
now  in  use  throughout  the  country  should  be  abandoned  or  extensively 
remodeled.  Many  are  fire  hazards.  Others  are  health  risks  lacking 
normal  sanitary  conveniences.  Thousands  are  essentially  obsolete — 
unsuited  to  modern  educational  needs  or  demands  of  administrative 
efficiency.  And  the  shifting  of  population  during  World  War  II  has 
left  many  others  too  remote  from  the  population  centers  they  once 
served  to  be  utilized  economically. 

In  the  meantime,  the  unprecedented  birth  rate  of  the  war  and  post¬ 
war  years  has  added  enormously  to  the  pressures.  These  pressures 
are  now  being  felt  particularly  in  our  elementary  schools  as  evidenced 
by  the  overcrowded  classrooms  and  makeshift  methods  of  housing  in 
virtually  every  community.  They  will  shortly  be  felt  in  our  secondary 
schools.  By  1957-58,  it  is  estimated  that  the  total  enrollment,  kinder¬ 
garten  through  secondary  schools,  will  reach  more  than  32  million, 
an  increase  of  6  million  over  the  public-school  enrollment  of  1950-51. 

Merely  to  take  care  of  this  increase  it  will  be  necessary  to  provide  at 
least  222,000  more  classrooms  in  the  next  7  years.  And  to  supply  the 


Office  of  Education 


17 


backlog  of  needs  for  replacements  in  plant  structure  and  the  reorgani¬ 
zation  of  school  districts  for  more  effective  administration  something 
like  252,000  more  will  be  needed.  It  will  further  require  about  18,000 
classrooms  a  year  to  care  for  normal  replacements,  or  126,000  rooms 
over  7  years.  This  brings  the  grand  total  up  to  about  600,000, 
which  is  approximately  50  percent  more  usable  classrooms  than  the 
Nation  now  has. 

At  1950  prices,  the  estimated  basic  cost  of-  a  classroom,  including 
related  facilities,  was  $27,000.  The  total  cost  for  the  600,000  class¬ 
rooms  needed  over  the  next  7  years  is  therefore  something  like  $16 
billion,  or  an  annual  investment  of  more  than  $2  billion.  Moreover, 
the  general  price  rise  following  the  outbreak  of  the  Korean  conflict 
has  already  added  about  12  percent  to  the  1950  costs.  A  ny  calculation 
of  costs  over  the  next  decade  must  remain  highly  speculative. 

Before  restrictions  were  placed  on  critical  materials  the  yearly  rate 
of  new  construction  for  public  elementary  and  secondary  schools  was 
running  to  about  $1.3  billion.  Even  if  it  were  possible  to  continue  at 
this  rate — which  the  developing  shortages  in  steel  and  other  critical 
materials  make  highly  unlikely — less  than  60  percent  of  the  Nation’s 
7-year  school  construction  needs  would  be  met.  Moreover,  the  imme¬ 
diate  needs  of  elementary  schools  are  so  pressing  that  even  a  100- 
percent  fulfillment  of  the  annual  construction  schedule  would  fall  far 
short  of  providing  the  number  of  classrooms  required  to  take  care  of 
the  children  already  going  to  school.  It  will  be  seen,  therefore,  that 
the  situation  is  rapidly  approaching  a  major  national  catastrophe. 

The  Office  of  Education  is  acutely  aware  of  the  difficulties  faeed  by 
State  and  local  authorities.  It  is  increasingly  evident  that  local  com¬ 
munities  can  finance  only  a  diminishing  part  of  needed  new  school- 
house  construction  from  local  bond  issues  supported  by  general  prop¬ 
erty  taxes.  Throughout  the  country,  there  is  a  clear  trend  toward 
State  aid  for  new  school  construction  and,  by  1950-51,  23  States  had 
established  such  a  policy. 

Along  with  this  policy,  there  is  a  staunch  effort  by  some  of  these 
States  to  attack  the  problem  of  redistricting  in  order  to  distribute  the 
tax  burden  equitably  and  to  make  the  most  effective  use  of  the  money 
spent  for  new  school  facilities.  In  Illinois,  for  instance,  from  1944  to 
1950,  the  number  of  school  districts  was  reduced  from  11,955  to  fewer 
than  4,600 ;  in  Arkansas,  from  2,179  to  421 ;  and  in  Idaho  from  1,114  to 
299.  At  least  9  other  States  have  made  genuine  progress  in  this  direc¬ 
tion. 

Staff  members  from  the  Office  are  also  working  with  State  authori¬ 
ties  to  see  that  new  school  planning  and  construction  are  blueprinted  to 
meet  the  changing  needs  of  modern  education  and  to  secure  the  maxi¬ 
mum  degree  of  efficient  and  economical  administration. 


18 


Annual  Report ,  Federal  Security  Agency,  1951 


The  essential  detailed  facts  for  dealing  with  the  schoolhouse  short¬ 
age,  however,  are  still  to  be  gathered,.  The  Nation-wide  survey  of 
school  construction  needs,  now  in  progress,  should  help  to  pin  down 
these  facts  in  incontrovertible  form.  Among  other  things,  it  should 
throw  a  better  spotlight  upon  the  variations  in  the  amount  and  quality 
of  school  facilities  that  exist  among  the  individual  States,  and  the  ex¬ 
tent  to  which  the  resources  of  each  State  can  be  applied  to  meet  these 
needs  without  some  measure  of  outside  help. 

The  facts  already  known,  however,  urgently  pose  the  question 
whether  the  individual  States  and  communities  can  furnish  a  really 
effective  solution  for  the  problem  as  a  whole.  New  York  and  New 
Jersey,  for  instance,  according  to  1949  figures  can  support  a  school 
budget  for  current  expenditures  which  averages  $284  and  $273,  respec¬ 
tively,  per  pupil  per  year.  But  Arkansas  and  Mississippi  spend  a 
larger  proportion  of  their  incomes  to  support  a  school  budget  that 
averages  $99  and  $77,  respectively. 

Our  most  immediate  hurdle,  however,  is  the  alarming  shortage  in 
steel,  copper,  and  aluminum  that  has  developed  under  the  program  for 
defense  mobilization.  Officially,  the  needs  of  education  are  recog¬ 
nized  as  on  a  par  with  our  defense  needs,  and  the  requirements  for  new 
school  construction  are  to  be  given  top  priority.  But  as  previously 
indicated,  allocations  for  this  purpose  are  already  being  limited  to 
emergency  needs,  and  there  is  every  likelihood  that  over  the  next  2  years 
the  pre-Korean  rate  of  new  construction  will  be  sharply  curtailed. 
This  slash  will  only  intensify  the  struggle  to  meet  the  crisis  which  20 
years  of  neglect  have  brought  to  a  head. 

The  same  pressures  that  are  being  felt  in  public  schools  are  also 
being  felt  in  our  colleges  and  universities.  In  the  decade  that  has 
elapsed  since  1940,  the  last  year  of  normal  college  attendance  prior 
to  World  War  II,  college  enrollment  has  increased  nearly  80  percent, 
but  the  physical  facilities  for  instruction  and  residential  housing 
have  increased  slightly  less  than  20  percent.  Moreover,  the  facilities 
available  in  1940  were,  in  general,  inadequate  to  accommodate  the 
number  of  students  then  enrolled. 

The  greatest  increase  in  physical  facilities  for  colleges  that  have 
been  provided  during  the  decade  came  from  the  Federal  Government 
through  the  re-use  of  buildings  initially  constructed  for  military 
purposes  incident  to  World  War  II.  During  the  war,  neither  con¬ 
struction  materials  nor  funds  were  available  for  extensive  educational 
or  other  civilian  construction  projects. 

Since  the  close  of  the  war,  according  to  a  survey  made  by  the  Di¬ 
vision  of  Higher  Education  in  March  1951,  915  of  the  1,858  colleges 
in  the  United  States  have  undertaken  the  construction  of  one  or  more 
permanent  buildings.  In  the  aggregate  these  buildings  total  2,640, 


Office  of  Education 


19 


at  a  cost  of  more  than  a  billion  dollars.  As  the  year  ends,  it  is 
evident  that  the  shortages  of  critical  materials  will  make  it  impractical 
for  colleges  and  universities  to  construct  all  of  the  buildings  they 
have  on  the  drawing  board. 

THE  TEACHER  IN  AMERICA 

During  the  1950-51  school  year,  spiraling  consumer  prices  cut 
sharply  into  the  real  wages  of  salaried  persons — and  all  teachers  work 
on  salary.  By  January  1951,  when  the  general  price  and  wage  con¬ 
trols  were  put  into  effect,  the  cost  of  living  had  risen  9  percent  over 
pre-Korean  levels — a  9  percent  salary  cut  for  every  teacher. 

Under  a  ruling  by  the  Wage  Stabilization  Board,  school  authorities 
were  given  the  right  to  raise  teachers’  salaries  at  their  own  discretion, 
providing  the  increase  did  not  exceed  the  10  percent  over  January 
1950  levels  permitted  to  industrial  workers  and  other  segments  of  the 
Nation’s  labor  force.  Many  communities  made  an  earnest  effort  to 
adjust  salaries,  in  some  degree,  to  these  rising  costs.  A  full  analysis 
of  these  increases  had  not  been  completed  by  the  end  of  the  fiscal 
year,  but  there  was  every  likelihood  that  the  buying  power  of  the 
1950-51  salary  level  for  the  entire  country  would  show  a  sharp  drop 
over  that  of  the  previous  year. 

Meanwhile,  estimates  for  1950-51  show  that  the  average  teacher’s 
salary  in  the  United  States  during  that  year  was  $2,980 — a  3.3  percent 
increase  over  the  preceding  12-month  period.  The  average  high- 
school  salary  was  $3,375;  the  elementary  school,  $2,765.  Geographi¬ 
cally,  however,  there  was  a  wide  variation.  In  the  10  States  with  the 
highest  per  capita  income,  the  estimated  average  higli-school  salary 
was  $4,100;  in  the  10  with  the  lowest  per  capita  income  the  average 
was  $2,460.  Elementary  school  salaries  showed  the  same  variations. 

In  the  elementary  schools  the  teacher  shortage  continued  unabated. 
In  fact,  it  was  further  heightened,  as  already  noted,  by  the  tendency 
on  the  part  of  many  teachers  to  abandon  their  profession  in  favor 
of  better-paid  defense  jobs.  The  same  trend  was  even  more  evident 
among  high-school  teachers,  though  here  the  result  was  less  immedi¬ 
ately  disastrous.  Over  the  past  5  years,  a  disproportionate  number 
of  young  people  entering  the  teaching  profession  had  trained  for  the 
secondary  school  (and  higher  salaried)  appointments.  In  conse¬ 
quence,  there  was  an  actual  surplus  of  high-scliool  teachers  except 
in  certain  fields. 

In  many  States,  an  attempt  was  made  to  provide  re-training  courses 
for  accredited  high-school  teachers  to  enable  them  to  take  on  ele¬ 
mentary  school  assignments.  By  the  end  of  the  fiscal  year,  no  real 
evaluation  of  this  experiment  had  been  made,  though  it  showed  distinct 
possibilities. 


20 


Annual  Report ,  Federal  Security  Agency ,  1951 


There  is  no  doubt  that  the  teacher  shortage  remains  one  of  the  most 
critical  problems  facing  American  education.  To  provide  sufficient 
teachers  to  take  care  of  the  tremendously  increased  elementary  and 
high-school  enrollment  over  the  next  10  years — and  to  cover  ordinary 
losses  through  death,  resignation,  and  retirement — it  is  estimated  that 
we  shall  have  to  train  annually  a  minimum  of  some  130,000  young 
men  and  women. 

The  current  year  saw  a  top  record  of  123,600  normal  school  or 
college  graduates  prepared  for  elementary  or  secondary  school  teach¬ 
ing,  but  this  was  still  well  below  the  number  needed.  Moreover,  the 
average  for  the  years  1946-47  to  1950-51  was  only  93,380,  or  less  than 
72  percent  of  the  minimum  number  needed  on  the  10-year  schedule 
of  requirements.  For  elementary  schools,  the  situation  was  even 
worse,  since  the  ratio  here  was  only  one  to  three  of  the  number  needed. 
There  is  grave  danger  that  these  ratios  will  be  further  reduced  under 
the  pressures  of  defense  mobilization  and  the  entry  into  our  armed 
services  of  a  large  number  of  our  potential  teachers. 

As  matters  stand  now,  probably  one  out  of  eight  of  all  our  elemen¬ 
tary  classrooms  are  in  the  charge  of  teachers  holding  only  emergency 
certificates.  Though  this  proportion  has  declined  slightly  over  the 
past  5  years,  we  are  still  entrusting  the  education  of  too  many  of  our 
children  to  teachers  who  cannot  qualify  for  even  the  lowest  certificates 
issued  in  our  public-school  system.  Moreover,  the  preponderance  of 
these  certificates  are  issued  to  teachers  in  our  rural  schools.  This 
represents,  in  a  particularly  objectionable  form,  the  sort  of  social  and 
economic  discrimination  which  persists  throughout  the  entire  struc¬ 
ture  of  our  public-school  system.  Because  of  our  failure  to  provide  a 
sufficient  number  of  qualified  teachers,  hundreds  of  thousands  of  our 
youngsters  are  getting  markedly  inferior  classroom  instruction,  and 
those  tend  to  be  the  children  in  the  less-advantaged  areas. 

Fundamental  to  this  whole  problem  of  the  teacher  shortage,  of 
course,  is  the  question  of  salary  levels.  A  study  made  within  the 
Office,  during  1950-51,  shows  the  fluctuations  of  teacher  salaries  over 
the  last  40  years  in  terms  of  dollars  and  real  wages.  The  latter  have 
shown  an  almost  steady  comparitive  decline.  Compared  with  the 
increase  of  real  wages  in,  say,  the  medical  and  legal  professions,  as 
well  as  for  industrial  workers,  they  are  distinctly  subnormal. 

Without  question,  teaching,  like  the  clergy,  attracts  many  young 
people  of  idealistic  temperament  who  choose  the  profession  as  a  form 
of  service.  For  all,  however,  it  must  offer  a  means  of  livelihood.  But 
if  the  living  offered  is  increasingly  scaled  downward,  fewer  will  choose 
this  means;  and  more,  under  economic  pressures — especially  young 
men  trying  to  raise  families — will  abandon  their  profession  in  favor 
of  something  better  calculated  to  pay  grocery  bills. 


Office  of  Education 


21 


Probably  the  difficulty  lies  in  the  fact  that,  originally,  salary  levels 
were  set  at  the  time  when,  for  most  young  women  and  some  men  of  a 
scholastic  bent,  there  were  offered  few  opportunities  other  than  teach¬ 
ing.  Today,  that  is  certainly  not  true.  There  are  a  large  number  of 
fields  which  young  women  with  a  college  education  (to  concentrate  on 
only  one  sex)  can  enter  and  make  a  genuine  career.  Those  who  enter 
business  with  an  A.  B.  and  reasonable  ability  can  hope  to  climb  the 
ladder  into  some  of  the  better-paying  executive  or  specialist  jobs. 
Only  recently,  Gimbel’s  Department  Store  in  New  York  announced 
its  preference  for  Ph.  D.’s  as  beginning  copy  writers  in  its  advertising 
division ! 

Meanwhile,  teachers’  salaries  have  remained  tied  to  their  original 
base.  Such  necessary  increases  as  from  time  to  time  were  granted 
had,  for  the  most  part,  to  be  painfully  extracted  from  the  local  tax 
funds.  Only  rarely  have  the  adjustments  been  sufficient  to  meet  even 
the  rise  in  current  living  costs;  on  a  competitive  basis  with  other 
opportunities  offered  to  young  people  they  have  become  notoriously 
inadequate. 

There  are  other  factors,  of  course,  besides  the  economic.  Many 
teachers  are  overworked  to  the  point  where  they  “can  no  longer  take 
it.”  Others  resent  the  limitations  on  their  personal  freedom  imposed 
by  the  mores  of  the  community.  Still  others  find  that  the  adminis¬ 
trative  methods  of  some  public-school  systems  act  to  curb  their  natural 
enthusiasm  and  zeal  for  “doing  a  good  job.” 

A  really  thoroughgoing  piece  of  research  into  all  phases  of  the 
teacher  shortage  is  an  imperative.  Such  a  survey  should  explore  all 
phases  of  the  matter — economic,  social,  and  psychological — and  at¬ 
tempt  to  uncover  the  root  causes.  It  should  also  be  prepared  to  make 
concrete  recommendations  that  would  serve  to  break  the  continuing 
“logjam.” 

Among  other  things,  the  survey  should  inquire  into  the  declining 
ratio  of  men  teachers  in  elementary  classrooms  and  the  extent  to 
which  the  decline  is  affecting  the  quality  of  our  elementary  education. 
Preliminary  studies  in  the  Office  of  Education  show  that,  during  and 
after  each  war,  this  ratio  declined  sharply  and  never  regained  its 
former  level.  After  World  War  I,  it  dropped  from  the  1913-14 
level  of  more  than  17  percent  to  slightly  less  than  11  percent.  From 
1920  to  1940,  it  remained  approximatey  at  this  level  up  to  World  War 
II  when  it  was  cut  almost  in  half.  The  present  level  is  about  7  per¬ 
cent.  It  is  a  distinctly  unhealthy  situation  for  American  education 
to  find  itself  in. 

Another  field  of  inquiry  in  which  the  Office  has  already  made  some 
exploratory  studies  is  the  excessive  cost  to  the  educational  economy 
of  training  teacher  replacements.  Industry  has  long  been  acutely 


22 


Annual  Report ,  Federal  Security  Agency ,  1951 


aware  that  a  high  rate  of  turnover  constitutes  a  heavy  charge  against 
labor  costs;  on  any  strict  accounting  basis  the  cost  of  “breaking  in  a 
new  man”  adds  up  to  a  considerable  sum.  Similarly,  in  education 
we  have  a  situation  where  the  States  are  spending  hundreds  of  thou¬ 
sands  of  dollars  annually  to  train  teachers  who  may  remain  in  the 
profession  only  a  comparatively  few  years  before  leaving  to  take  other 
jobs.  Anything  which  can  reduce  this  turnover  would  reduce  the  cost 
of  training  replacements.  It  might  also  release  State  funds  to  be 
applied  to  raising  the  general  level  of  salaries. 

As  in  the  matter  of  providing  proper  school  facilities,  especially 
in  the  lower-income  States,  the  question  of  Federal  aid  to  the  States 
is  paramount.  It  is  doubtful  if  anything  like  an  adequate  minimum 
level  of  teachers’  salaries  throughout  the  Nation  can  be  established 
without  this  aid.  Both  the  teacher  shortage  and  the  schoolhouse 
shortage  expose  the  primary  weakness  of  our  public-school  system — 
the  State  by  State  differentials  in  providing  equal  educational  op¬ 
portunity  for  all  the  children  of  the  Nation.  In  far  too  many  States, 
the  lack  of  adequate  tax  resources  is  the  root  cause  of  the  failure  to 
build  enough  good  schools  and  to  pay  decent  salaries  to  teachers.  As 
a  result,  there  are  literally  millions  of  our  young  people  who,  judged 
by  “normal”  standards,  are  receiving  an  almost  negligible  amount  of 
education. 

Broadly  speaking,  these  are  youngsters  who  come  from  the  lowest 
income  families  and  for  lack  of  adequate  opportunity  are  fated  to 
live  out  their  lives  in  the  same  round  of  poorly  paid  jobs  that  is  the 
lot  of  their  parents.  This  contention  is  implicit  in  the  findings  of 
the  Sub-Committee  on  Low-Income  Families  of  the  Joint  Committee 
on  the  Economic  Report  under  the  chairmanship  of  Senator  John  J. 
Sparkman  of  Alabama.  These  findings  show,  among  other  things, 
the  close  relationship  between  low  income  and  sickness  and  disease, 
low  income  and  lack  of  educational  opportunity,  low  income  and  lack 
of  any  basic  sense  of  security.  Obviously,  no  flat  statement  of  cause 
and  effect  can  be  made.  Poverty  breeds  ignorance  and  disease.  But 
ignorance  and  disease  also  breed  poverty.  Essentially  it  is  a  vicious 
circle — one  in  which  not  only  individuals  and  families  are  caught, 
but  large  and  important  sections  of  our  population.  Those  States 
which  have  the  poorest  schools,  the  fewest  hospitals,  doctors,  and  pub¬ 
lic  health  services,  have  also  the  lowest  per  capita  income. 

If  this  circle  could  once  be  broken,  these  families  would  be  released 
to  build  toward  the  standard  of  living  that  is  enjoyed  in  other  parts 
of  the  Nation.  Certainly,  education  offers  one  of  the  most  direct 
means  to  break  this  circle.  And  in  presenting  the  arguments  for 
Federal  aid  to  education  these  factors  should  not  be  overlooked.  For 
the  arguments  are  not  grounded  merely  on  the  right  of  every  Ameri- 


Office  of  Education 


23 


can  child  to  secure  as  much  education  as  he  is  capable  of  acquiring, 
important  as  these  rights  are,  but  are  also  based  on  the  social  and 
economic  necessity  of  the  Nation  as  a  whole. 

VOCATIONAL  TRAINING 

No  segment  of  secondary  school  curriculums  provides  education  in 
more  “practical”  terms  than  does  our  program  for  vocational  train¬ 
ing.  In  its  growth  and  development,  the  Office  of  Education  has  been 
a  highly  constructive  force.  Since  1933,  when  it  was  first  authorized 
to  administer  funds  appropriated  by  the  Congress  for  a  Federal-State 
program,  the  Office  has  worked  in  close  association  with  State  Boards 
of  Vocational  Education  throughout  the  country. 

For  tens  of  thousands  of  youngsters,  these  courses  provide  essential 
training  that  enables  them  to  qualify  for  specific  jobs  at  better  wages 
than  probably  they  could  otherwise  obtain  if  they  were  obliged  to 
start  without  the  benefits  of  any  such  training.  For  boys  and  girls 
living  on  farms,  it  provides  not  only  a  working  knowledge  of  the 
various  skills  and  abilities  that  are  important  in  the  operation  of  a 
modern  farm  and  farm  home,  but  also  a  grounding  in  modern  agri¬ 
cultural  methods,  chemistry,  and  marketing  methods  that  will  enable 
them,  after  graduation,  to  deal  effectively  with  their  own  individual 
problems.  For  boys  entering  industry,  it  helps  develop  a  high  degree 
of  mechanical  dexterity  along  with  an  understanding  of  the  scientific 
principles  of  a  given  craft,  both  of  which  are  essential  to  the  skilled 
worker.  And  for  a  large  number  of  girls  it  provides  sound  training 
in  home  economics  and  in  practical  nursing. 

The  tremendous  contribution  which  our  vocational  training  schools 
made  to  the  training  of  war  workers  during  World  War  II  has  been 
mentioned  above.  Without  question,  they  will  be  called  upon  to  make 
a  further  contribution  as  our  defense  production  mobilization  swings 
into  higher  gear.  These  “emergency”  responsibilities  emphasize  the 
basic  importance  of  the  concept  of  “training  for  production”  which 
underlies  our  whole  vocational  training  system.  America’s  industrial 
strength  (which  is  also  the  basis  of  its  military  strength)  rests  largely 
on  the  skill  of  its  workers  and  their  ability  to  attain  a  high  level  of 
productive  capacity.  As  productive  capacity  increases  and  machines 
become  more  complex,  a  larger  and  larger  number  of  jobs  must  be 
filled  with  workers  possessing  special  skills.  For  the  most  part,  the 
technical  requirements  of  these  jobs  demand  men  and  women  with  at 
least  the  fundamentals  of  a  high-school  education.  If,  in  addition, 
the  job  applicant  has  the  specific  training  which  enables  him  to  bypass 
or  shorten  the  apprentice  stage,  his  value  to  industry  is  greater. 

Moreover,  it  is  the  combination  of  sound  academic  and  vocational 
education  which  often  puts  the  worker  most  readily  in  line  for  pro- 


24 


Annual  Report ,  Federal  Security  Agency ,  1951 


motion  within  the  plant.  The  world-famous  American  “know-how,” 
in  a  sense,  rests  not  merely  on  top-level  engineering  ability  but  on  the 
adaptability  of  the  average  workman  and  his  capacity  to  grasp  quickly 
the  essentials  of  an  intricate  technical  process. 

All  this  is  education  in  its  most  practical  down-to-earth  aspects. 
Certainly,  vocational  training  must  become  increasingly  an  area  to 
which  our  best  educational  thinking  is  directed,  and  one  which  must 
be  strengthened  and  developed  until  it  is  given  the  widest  possible 
application. 

ADULT  EDUCATION 

Adult  education  is  another  field  to  which  increasing  attention  must 
be  paid.  Many  schools  provide  courses  for  the  older  men  and  women 
in  the  community  who  seek  to  make  up  the  deficiencies  of  their  earlier 
education  or  to  enlarge  the  scope  of  their  present  knowledge.  Voca¬ 
tional  training  classes  are  open  to  older  industrial  workers  who  desire 
special  training  to  fit  them  for  specific  jobs. 

But,  as  yet,  we  have  scarcely  begun  to  explore  the  full  potentiality 
of  this  area.  Adult  education  should  do  more  than  provide  for  occu¬ 
pational  competencies  or  make  up  for  earlier  deficiencies.  In  many 
communities,  it  has  shown  that  it  can  become  a  genuine  force  in  help¬ 
ing  adults  to  understand,  and  to  take  an  active  part  in  the  various 
aspects  of  the  civic  and  social  life  of  the  community.  Moreover,  the 
Conference  on  Aging,  held  in  August  1950  under  the  sponsorship  of 
the  Federal  Security  Agency,  laid  great  stress  on  the  importance  of 
adult  education.  Our  vocational  training  system,  it  urged,  should  be 
expanded  to  aid  workers  nearing  retirement  age  to  retrain  for  jobs 
more  nearly  suited  to  their  individual  physical  and  mental  capacities. 
And  adult  education,  in  general,  should  be  directed  toward  enabling 
older  people  to  develop  new  interests  or  hobbies  that  will  help  them 
keep  mentally  alert  during  their  declining  years. 

LIFE  ADJUSTMENT  EDUCATION 

Another  area  where  effective  leadership  can  be,  and  should  be, 
applied  is  in  the  matter  of  curricular  reorganization  in  the  secondary 
schools.  Most  alert  school  authorities  are  conscious  that  some  of  the 
subjects  taught,  and  in  the  way  they  are  taught,  offer  little  of  real  value 
in  helping  prepare  a  youngster  to  meet  his  own  individual  problems 
of  living  in  the  second  half  of  the  twentieth  century. 

A  recent  study  shows  that  out  of  every  100  children  entering  the 
fifth  grade  together,  fewer  than  half  graduate  from  high  school.  The 
highest  record  set  was  in  1948  with  a  percentage  of  48.1.  Further¬ 
more,  there  is  a  sharp  drop  in  high-school  enrollment,  from  about  98 
percent  in  the  14-15  age  group  to  approximately  66  percent  in  the 
16-17  age  group. 


Office  of  Education 


25 


Without  question,  economic  pressures  are  a  large  factor  in  these 
adi*op -outs.”  In  many  homes,  as  soon  as  a  youngster  can  secure  his 
working  papers,  he  is  expected  to  leave  school  and  contribute  to  the 
family  income.  However,  in  a  great  number  of  instances  these  eco¬ 
nomic  pressures  do  not  obtain,  or  at  least  do  not  obtain  to  the  same 
degree.  Youngsters,  passing  the  legal  age  limit  for  compulsory  school 
attendance  drop  out  either  because  they  are  bored  and  feel  “they  are 
not  getting  anywhere  in  school,”  or  they  are  convinced  that  school 
can  offer  them  no  further  specific  help  toward  earning  a  living  and 
they  might  as  well  start  “drawing  down  a  pay  envelope.” 

During  the  past  4  years,  Nation-wide  interest  in  this  problem  has 
been  stimulated  by  the  Office  of  Education.  For  the  year  under  re¬ 
view,  in  cooperation  with  the  Office,  the  public-school  systems  in 
cities  of  more  than  200,000  population  are  examining  the  curriculums 
to  discover  in  what  respect  they  can  be  altered  to  hold  the  interest  of 
the  potential  “drop-outs.”  The  results,  when  tabulated  and  eval¬ 
uated,  should  do  much  to  uncover  some  of  the  present  weaknesses  in 
our  approach  to  secondary  education. 

These  efforts  are  part  of  the  movement  sponsored  by  the  Office  of 
Education  along  with  12  national  education  associations  to  develop 
the  theme  of  education  for  life  adjustment.  The  movement  was  of¬ 
ficially  launched  in  1947  at  a  national  conference  on  the  subject,  which 
attracted  wide  attention  throughout  the  country. 

The  aim  of  this  movement  is  to  adapt  secondary  education  more 
closely  to  the  needs  of  the  60  percent  or  so  of  youngsters  entering  high 
school  who  neither  go  to  college  nor  enroll  in  vocational  courses. 
The  traditional  view  of  secondary  school  as  preparation  for  college 
entrance  still  restricts  the  horizons  of  much  of  our  public-school  sys¬ 
tem.  Vocational  training  is  only  a  part  of  the  answer.  What  is 
needed  is  an  attitude  of  mind  which  attempts  to  deal  with  each  pupil 
in  terms  of  his  individual  capacities  and  to  help  him  explore  his  own 
potentialities. 

An  important  objective  is  to  overcome  the  feeling  of  inferiority 
which  the  “nonintellectual”  student  feels  in  grappling  with  some  of 
his  courses.  No  youngster,  for  instance,  should  be  required  to  take  a 
course  in  a  subject-matter  field  for  which  he  lacks  the  necessary  abil¬ 
ity,  and  then  be  marked  as  a  failure,  if  he  has  done  the  best  work  of 
which  he  is  capable.  He  may  have  other  fields  of  competence.  A 
combination  of  a  part-time  job,  tied  in  with  class- work  design  to  inter¬ 
pret  realistically  the  world  he  must  live  in,  would  not  only  sustain 
his  interest  but  give  him  a  genuine  confidence  in  himself  and  his  native 
abilities. 

Beyond  that,  to  teach  a  boy  or  girl  to  be  a  good  citizen  and  member 
of  society — to  exercise  practical  judgment  and  sound  common  sense 
in  relation  to  the  many  and  sometimes  difficult  problems  which,  as 


26 


Annual  Report ,  Federal  Security  Agency ,  1951 


adults,  they  will  be  faced  with — is  education  in  its  truest  and  most  pro¬ 
ductive  sense.  And  this  is  what  education  for  life  adjustment  aims 
to  accomplish.  Such  a  goal  cannot  be  achieved  by  rote  or  by  the  erec¬ 
tion  of  intellectual  standards  which  have  little  or  no  relation  to  every¬ 
day  living.  But  it  can  be  achieved  by  hard  work,  patience,  and,  above 
all,  imagination  on  the  part  of  the  teacher  and  school  authorities. 

A  program  like  this  does  not  lend  itself  to  any  hard  and  fast  pro¬ 
posals  concerning  the  curriculum.  Each  school  must  work  out  its 
own  problems  in  terms  of  the  social,  economic,  and  geographical 
factors  involved.  During  the  fiscal  year,  1951,  the  second  National 
Conference  on  Life  Adjustment  Education  was  held  with  delegates 
from  many  parts  of  the  country  in  enthusiastic  attendance.  These 
delegates  formally  approved  the  activities  carried  on  to  date  and  re¬ 
quested  an  extension  of  them.  Currently,  some  20  State  committees 
are  engaged  in  stimulating  interest  in  the  program  and  many  have 
reported  real  progress. 

Within  the  Office  of  Education  it  is  felt  that  Life  Adjustment  Edu¬ 
cation  has  a  tremendous  potentiality  for  good.  There  is  a  further 
conviction  that  the  basic  ideas  as  applied  to  high-school  problems  have 
implications  for  elementary  schools  and  for  colleges  and  universities. 

THE  CHANCE  TO  GO  TO  COLLEGE 

Undoubtedly,  one  of  the  major  matters  which  education  must  deal 
with  during  the  coming  years  is  the  lack  of  opportunity  afforded  the 
qualified  student  to  secure  a  college  education.  With  1,858  institu¬ 
tions  of  higher  learning  and  an  enrollment  of  some  2,500,000  young 
men  and  women,  it  would  seem  that  we  were  making  definite  progress. 
In  a  very  real  sense,  of  course,  we  are.  Statistics  indicate  that  38 
out  of  every  100  high-school  graduates  are  currently  entering  college. 
And  though  this  ratio  of  college  freshmen  to  high-school  seniors  is 
slightly  lower  than  that  of  the  30’s,  the  figures  show  that  twice  as 
many  youngsters  are  now  graduating  from  high  school  as  during  the 
depression. 

Nevertheless,  for  every  young  man  or  woman  who  enters  college 
it  is  estimated  that  there  is  another — equally  qualified  and  probably 
equally  anxious  to  secure  a  college  education — who  is  denied  the  oppor¬ 
tunity.  For  the  most  part,  the  economic  factor  is  crucial  since  the 
great  majority  of  the  young  people,  denied  their  chance,  come  from 
families  in  the  lower-income  brackets  which  cannot  finance  the  steadily 
mounting  costs  of  a  college  education. 

Racial  factors  also  play  a  part.  In  the  17  States  where  segregation 
is  required,  there  are  only  108  Negro  colleges  or  institutions  of  higher 
learning  with  a  total  enrollment  of  76,500.  (This  enrollment  figure, 
however,  represents  a  2,800  percent  increase  since  1900. )  Beyond  this, 


Office  of  Education 


27 


the  factor  of  economic  discrimination  operates  more  heavily  against 
the  Negro  youngster  than  the  white  youngster,  since  approximately  80 
percent  of  all  Negro  families  (non white)  in  the  South,  according  to 
the  1950  census,  have  an  annual  income  of  less  than  $2,000,  as  compared 
with  about  50  percent  of  all  families  in  the  same  area. 

Geographic  discrimination  also  has  a  large  bearing  on  the  matter. 
Young  people  from  the  lower-income  family  who  live  in,  or  near,  the 
communities  where  the  State  universities  are  located  have  a  better 
chance  than  those  living  at  a  greater  distance.  They,  at  least,  can  live 
at  home  or  commute  to  classes,  thus  saving  the  considerable  cost  which 
college  residence  entails  in  board  and  lodging. 

These  forms  of  discrimination  are,  of  course,  palpably  unfair  in  a 
democracy  which  professes  the  ideal  of  equal  educational  opportunity 
for  all.  But  in  broad  terms  of  the  national  interest,  they  are  even 
more  to  be  deplored.  By  refusing  full  educational  opportunity  to  a 
group  equal  in  number  and  ability  to  those  who  do  go  to  college,  we 
are  cutting  in  half  the  Nation’s  supply  of  potential  doctors,  engineers, 
teachers,  and  all  the  other  scientific  and  professional  people  who  per¬ 
form  great  and  useful  service  to  our  economy.  With  a  constantly 
expanding  industry  there  is  an  increasing  demand  for  technicians 
with  top-level  training.  Research  in  all  its  branches — medical,  scien¬ 
tific,  sociological — is  stymied  for  lack  of  a  sufficient  number  of  trained 
research  workers.  A  wide  variety  of  important  social  services  are 
also  in  need  of  college-trained  personnel.  And  how  many  first-rate 
teachers  and  doctors  are  lost  to  our  communities  because  they  cannot 
finance  their  education  beyond  high  school ! 

Not  every  college  graduate  by  any  means,  of  course,  enters  one  of 
these  professions  or  looks  for  technical  training  in  the  industrial 
field.  In  these  days,  however,  college  training  is  increasingly  re¬ 
garded  as  essential  for  any  young  man  or  woman  entering  business 
who  hopes  to  make  his  way  up  the  ladder  of  success.  There  are  still 
plenty  of  opportunities  for  the  smart  youngster  to  “crash  the  gate” 
and  win  through  to  a  substantial  income  and  place  in  life.  But  these 
opportunities  are  becoming  fewer  and  fewer,  as  the  large  corpora¬ 
tions  and  business  enterprises  depend  more  and  more  on  college- 
trained  personnel  for  all  responsible  jobs. 

The  Office  of  Education  has  urged  the  provision,  by  State  and 
Federal  grants,  of  financial  aid  to  able  and  needy  students  in  higher 
education.  In  part,  this  aid  might  take  the  form  of  self-liquidating 
loans,  guaranteed  by  the  Federal  Government.  A  legislative  pro¬ 
posal  entitled  “The  Student  Aid  Act  of  1950”  was  introduced  with 
the  President’s  approval  in  both  houses  of  the  Eighty-first  Congress, 
but  no  action  was  taken,  due  to  the  outbreak  of  the  Korean  conflict. 
The  proposal  is  now  being  revised  in  the  light  of  the  new  situation. 


28 


Annual  Report ,  Federal  Security  Agency ,  1951 


The  long-term  problems  in  education  arising  out  of  the  international 
crisis  only  emphasize  this  need  for  scholarships.  The  provision  of 
scholarships  for  qualified  students  was  one  of  the  important  elements 
in  the  recommendations — made  by  the  Office  and  concurred  in  by 
the  Department  of  Defense — with  respect  to  the  deferment  of  college 
students  under  the  Selective  Service  regulations.  These  recommenda¬ 
tions  were  not  finally  incorporated  in  the  revisions  of  the  Selective 
Service  Act. 

From  another  angle,  the  Office  has  been  attacking  the  problem  of 
lack  of  opportunity  to  enter  college  by  urging  the  establishment  of 
community  or  junior  colleges  in  every  community  of  any  size  through¬ 
out  the  country.  Such  a  program  would  cut  down  the  geographical 
as  well  as  the  other  discriminations  that  now  obtain  and,  generally 
speaking,  provide  the  same  ease  of  access  to  higher  education  that 
now  exists  for  secondary  education.  In  addition,  these  community 
colleges  would  be  designed  to  meet  the  continuing  educational  needs 
of  younger  and  older  adults — needs  not  normally  met  by  the  estab¬ 
lished  colleges  and  universities. 

There  are  now  some  250  public  junior  colleges  (grades  13  and  14) 
with  a  total  enrollment  of  around  190,000,  and  perhaps  an  equal  num¬ 
ber  of  private  junior  colleges  with  probably  double  this  enrollment. 
But,  inevitably,  most  of  these  colleges  have  been  established  in  the 
wealthier  communities  where  need  for  easy  access  to  education  is  less 
pressing.  Obviously,  we  have  a  long  way  to  go  before  the  geographi¬ 
cal  barrier  to  a  college  education  is  overcome. 

Aside  from  all  the  factors  already  analyzed,  there  still  remains  the 
thesis  that  the  Nation  needs  as  broad  a  base  of  an  educated  and  in¬ 
formed  citizenry  as  it  can  possibly  acquire.  Surely,  one  of  the  best 
ways  to  demonstrate  democracy  in  action  is  to  make  certain  that  no 
American  youth — whatever  his  economic,  racial,  or  geographical 
status — is  denied  the  opportunity  to  develop  his  talents  to  his  own 
highest  possible  level. 

EDUCATION  FOR  INTERNATIONAL  UNDERSTANDING 

The  Korean  crisis  makes  all  the  more  urgent  the  need  for  our 
youth  to  have  a  better  understanding  of  the  world  they  live  in.  The 
ability  to  relate  newspaper  headlines  to  the  undercurrents  of  inter¬ 
national  relationships  should  be  one  of  the  important  objectives  of 
elementary,  secondary,  and  higher  education.  An  understanding  of 
conditions  m  other  countries — how  people  live,  what  social  and  eco¬ 
nomic  problems  they  face  is  also  an  essential.  Moreover,  it  is  only 
as  children  begin  to  get  a  sense  of  all  these  things  that  they  can 
understand  the  basic  conflict  which  exists  between  democratic  and 
totalitarian  ideologies,  and  the  real  significance  of  America’s  leader¬ 
ship  among  the  free  nations  of  the  world. 


Office  of  Education 


29 


Instruction  in  international  understanding,  based  on  the  concept 
of  the  United  Nations,  is  increasingly  becoming  a  part  of  modern 
high-school  curriculums.  Over  the  past  several  years,  the  Office  of 
Education  has  worked  closely  with  State  boards  in  developing  teach¬ 
ing  methods  and  materials  for  this  instruction.  In  particular,  stu¬ 
dents  are  learning  about  the  United  Nations  Educational,  Scientific 
and  Cultural  Organization  (UNESCO)  :  what  this  organization  is 
trying  to  accomplish  5  what  it  is  accomplishing  5  and  how  its  basic 
objectives  are  related  to  their  future  and  the  welfare  of  the  people 
of  all  nations. 

From  the  time  UNESCO  was  first  organized,  the  Office  of  Education 
has  maintained  a  vital  interest  in  its  work.  In  November  1951,  the 
Commissioner  of  Education  served  as  head  of  a  delegation  to  Monte¬ 
video,  sponsored  by  UNESCO  and  the  Organization  of  American 
States,  to  consider  means  for  extending  compulsory  free  schooling 
and  fundamental  education  programs  for  adults  in  the  American 
Republics.  An  Office  expert  on  literacy  was  in  India  on  a  UNESCO 
mission  in  1951,  after  having  undertaken  a  similar  mission  in  1950 
in  Haiti.  The  Treatment  of  International  Agencies  in  School  History 
Textbooks  in  the  United  States ,  published  in  1950,  was  the  result 
of  a  study  made  by  another  staff  member  of  the  Office  of  Education, 
under  the  sponsorship  of  the  Office,  UNESCO,  and  the  American 
Council  on  Education.  Also,  at  the  request  of  UNESCO,  the  Office 
sponsored  a  project  on  literacy  education  and  compiled  a  set  of  in¬ 
structional  materials  for  persons  of  low  literacy  levels.  This  mate¬ 
rial,  published  after  2  years  of  use  and  testing  in  classes  for  illiterates 
in  this  country,  should  prove  highly  valuable  in  combating  illiteracy 
in  other  quarters  of  the  globe. 

As  part  of  the  effort  to  promote  international  understanding,  the 
Office  of  Education  administers  a  Teacher-Exchange  program  fi¬ 
nanced  with  funds  transferred  from  the  Department  of  State  under 
Public  Laws  402  (80th  Cong.),  and  584  (79th  Cong.).  During  the 
past  year,  127  teachers  from  Great  Britain  and  other  foreign  coun¬ 
tries  taught  in  American  schools,  while  an  equal  number  of  American 
teachers  taught  in  schools  of  foreign  countries.  In  addition,  27  Amer¬ 
icans  were  sent  abroad  for  nonexchange  positions  under  Public  Law 
584. 

Under  the  Cultural  Exchange  Program  for  Occupied  Areas  spon¬ 
sored  by  the  Departments  of  State  and  of  the  Army,  the  Office  planned 
and  supervised  the  visits  of  257  teachers  and  educational  leaders  from 
Germany,  Austria,  Japan,  and  the  Ryukyu  Islands.  It  also  received 
and  planned  itineraries  for  some  100  other  foreign  visitors  who  came 
to  this  country  to  observe  American  educational  methods  and  in¬ 
stitutions.  And  on  behalf  of  American  colleges  and  universities, 


30 


Annual  Report ,  Federal  Security  Agency ,  1951 


the  Office  evaluated  the  credentials  and  background  of  some  4,000 
foreign  students  coming  to  study  in  this  country. 

Fellowships  under  the  Buenos  Aires  Convention  were  awarded 
to  32  students  from  Latin  America  and  another  85  received  travel  and 
maintenance  grants  to  study  in  this  country.  F ourteen  students  from 
the  United  States  received  fellowships  to  study  in  various  educa¬ 
tional  institutions  of  the  American  Republics. 

The  year  1950-51  saw  an  expansion  of  the  Teacher-Training  Pro¬ 
gram  to  include  teachers  in  countries  other  than  Latin  America,  and 
grants  were  made  to  201  teachers  from  42  countries  to  study  and  ob¬ 
serve  educational  methods  in  the  United  States.  Nine  other  grants 
were  made  under  the  Point  IV  program  of  the  State  Department. 

The  Office  also  undertook  to  help  plan  and  recruit  personnel  for 
various  educational  projects  under  the  Point  IV  and  Economic 
Cooperation  Administration  programs  of  technical  assistance,  and  13 
men  and  women  were  assigned  as  educational  experts  in  missions 
established  in  Iran,  Burma,  Indonesia,  and  Thailand. 

The  value  of  these  various  exchange  programs  to  increased  inter¬ 
national  understanding  cannot  be  too  highly  rated.  The  hundreds 
of  men  and  women  who  are  enabled  each  year,  through  this  means,  to 
come  to  the  United  States  from  foreign  countries  receive  an  inesti¬ 
mable  opportunity  to  study  American  democracy  in  action — to  learn 
our  ways  of  life,  our  habits  of  thought,  our  methods  of  going  about 
things.  In  turn,  we  discover  to  what  extent  their  ideas  and  customs 
differ  from  ours,  and  to  what  extent  they  are  fundamentally  the  same. 
All  this  helps  to  dispel  prejudice,  broaden  the  understanding,  and 
through  the  powerful  medium  of  the  classroom,  establish  a  genuine 
bridge  between  our  people  and  the  peoples  of  other  countries. 

THE  CHALLENGE  OF  TELEVISION 

No  invention  of  recent  years  offers  a  greater  potentiality  than  tele¬ 
vision  for  the  development  of  new  and  effective  methods  of  teaching. 
It  is  of  vital  importance  that  our  schools  and  colleges  recognize  now 
this  potentiality  and  take  steps  to  see  that  television  broadcasting  is 
fully  utilized  for  educational  purposes. 

It  is  only  within  the  past  year  that  any  official  determination  has 
been  made  as  to  the  allocation  of  TV  frequencies  for  educational  use. 
From  November  15  to  March  1951,  public  hearings  were  held  before 
the  Federal  Communications  Commission  on  the  matter.  The  Com¬ 
missioner  of  Education,  together  with  a  number  of  representatives  of 
the  educational  organizations  and  public-spirited  citizens,  was  asked 
to  testify  at  these  hearings.  He  urged  strongly  that,  wherever  all 
available  channels  in  the  present  very  high  frequency  band  have  not 
already  been  assigned,  one  should  be  reserved  in  each  broadcast  area 
for  exclusive  assignment  to  educational  station  applicants;  and  that 


Office  of  Education 


31 


for  channels  in  the  ultra  high  frequency  band  (none  of  which  had 
then  been  assigned)  similar  protection  should  be  afforded. 

The  FCC’s  rulings  on  these  points  have  been  encouraging.  Of  the 
2,000  TV  stations — VHF  and  UHF — which  the  Commission  proposes 
to  authorize,  209  have  been  tentatively  reserved  for  educational  use. 
However,  commercial  television  whenever  affected  is  strongly  opposed 
to  these  set-asides,  and  unless  education  indicates  clearly  its  intention 
to  make  use  of  these  facilities,  there  will  be  heavy  pressures  on  the 
Commission  to  rescind  these  assignments. 

This  is  reminiscent  of  what  happened  during  the  early  days  of  radio 
in  the  20’s.  At  that  time,  certain  of  the  limited  number  of  wave- 
lengths  were  assigned  to  schools  and  colleges.  Many  institutions 
which  had  taken  up  those  licensed  solely  for  public  relations  purposes 
soon  discovered  they  had  accomplished  their  original  purpose  and 
relinquished  them  for  commercial  operation.  Only  30  such  pioneers 
are  active  today.  It  was  not  until  the  advent  of  frequency  modula¬ 
tion,  with  its  wide  range  of  wavelengths,  that  educational  institu¬ 
tions  were  given  the  chance  to  recover  part,  at  least,  of  their  lost 
opportunities. 

This  same  sort  of  pressure  will  inevitably  be  felt  also  in  television. 
Unfortunately,  education  cannot  move  so  swiftly  as  business  and  in¬ 
dustry  to  take  advantage  of  new  developments  in  the  field  of  communi¬ 
cation.  With  most  schools  and  colleges,  cost  will  be  a  crucial  factor. 
In  the  case  of  publicly  supported  institutions,  in  order  to  float  a  suc¬ 
cessful  bond  issue  for  the  purpose  it  will  probably  be  necessary,  in 
many  communities,  to  persuade  the  taxpayers  that  the  project  is  an 
essential  in  the  development  of  modern  educational  methods  and  not 
merely  a  “fancy  trimming.”  But  the  dollars  and  cents  value  can 
usually  be  demonstrated  without  much  difficulty. 

An  alternate  suggestion  is  for  schools  or  colleges  to  operate  the  pro¬ 
posed  stations  on  a  semicommercial  basis.  Under  this  plan,  adver¬ 
tising  revenue  from  strictly  commercial  programs  would  be  limited  to 
the  amount  necessary  to  cover  operational  costs,  and  the  station  would 
retain  full  freedom  to  allocate  whatever  time  was  left  for  its  educa¬ 
tional  program  responsibilities.  Iowa  State  College  is  already  operat¬ 
ing  such  a  station  with  a  regular  commercial  license,  the  only  kind 
available  when  it  applied  in  1948.  There  is  question  whether  the  FCC 
will  permit  educational  stations  to  broadcast  commercial  programs. 

On  the  basis  of  past  experience  with  commercial  radio  stations  and 
networks,  however,  any  idea  that  the  educational  needs  of  a  school  or 
college  can  be  met  satisfactorily  by  commercial  television  on  a  “public 
service”  basis  must  be  flatly  discouraged.  Unless  they  can  secure  ac¬ 
tual  revenue  from  each  program,  neither  a  network  nor  a  local  station 


32 


Annual  Report ,  Federal  Security  Agency,  1951 


can  offer  continuing  guarantees  as  to  time  or  coverage.  As  in  radio, 
sustaining  programs  of  an  educational  nature  are  likely  to  be  shifted 
from  hour  to  hour  of  the  schedule  or  perhaps  abandoned  entirely,  ac¬ 
cording  to  opportunities  afforded  to  sell  the  time  for  a  commercial 
program.  An  established  schedule  of  fixed  hours,  at  the  times  best 
calculated  to  reach  the  classroom  or  the  home  audience,  is  essential  to 
educational  programing.  Experience  shows  that  only  a  station  which 
can  control  its  own  programing  for  this  purpose  can  possibly  do  an 
effective  job. 

In  the  meantime,  the  importance  of  laying  plans  now  and  of  apply¬ 
ing  for  a  license  to  operate  a  station  on  one  of  the  “reserved”  channels 
cannot  be  too  strongly  emphasized.  New  York  has  already  moved  to 
ask  the  FCC  for  11  educational  channels  within  the  State  and  is  pre¬ 
pared  to  pay  something  like  $3.5  million  for  the  building  of  transmit¬ 
ters.  In  all,  28  school  systems,  2  teachers  colleges,  and  1  university 
are  now  using  television  as  an  instructional  aid  in  the  classroom. 
However,  more  than  40  other  institutions  of  learning  are  providing 
programs  for  general  adult  educational  purposes  over  present  stations. 
Beyond  this,  360  institutions  of  learning  have  signified  their  intention 
of  using,  either  singly  or  cooperatively,  the  frequencies  available  to 
them  for  educational  purposes. 

It  is  to  be  hoped  that  some  of  the  privately  endowed  foundations, 
such  as  the  newly  established  Ford  Foundation,  will  undertake  to 
make  much-needed  research  studies  into  the  most  effective  use  of  TV 
for  educational  purposes,  and  to  help  develop  suitable  programs. 
Without  question,  television  offers  a  far  greater  advantage  in  the  field 
of  education  than  radio  could  ever  hope  to  offer.  It  provides  the  essen¬ 
tial  visual  element  which,  in  the  development  of  visual  aids  in  teaching 
and  the  utilization  of  educational  films,  is  recognized  today  as  one  of 
the  most  effective  factors  in  successful  teaching.  It  also  possesses  the 
advantage  of  seeing  and  hearing  at  the  time  an  event,  a  lesson,  or  a 
demonstration  is  happening.  The  amount  of  money  required  to 
establish  and  operate  a  TY  station  for  educational  purposes  should 
be  regarded  as  an  investment  for  necessary  plant  equipment.  It  is 
an  investment  that  will  be  repaid  many  times  over  in  the  increased 
efficiency  of  school  or  college  operation,  and  in  the  greater  impact  on 
the  minds  of  the  pupil  which  this  method  of  teaching  provides. 

EDUCATION  AND  THE  NATION’S  STRENGTH 

United  States  participation  in  World  War  I  lasted  19  months.  We 
were  in  World  War  II  a  little  over  3 y2  years,  with  a  preceding  defense 
economy  covering  a  period  of  another  year  and  a  half.  In  both 
instances,  the  entire  resources  of  the  Nation  were,  to  a  large  degree, 
concentrated  on  one  objective — victory,  with  the  expectation  that 
after  the  victory,  we  could  go  back  to  “normal.” 


Office  of  Education 


33 


The  present  international  crisis  creates  a  radically  different  problem. 
Short  of  all-out  war,  the  crisis  may  continue  over  a  long  span  of  time 
without  being  resolved  in  any  clear-cut  fashion.  Periods  of  tension 
may  give  way  to  periods  of  merely  “watchful  waiting,”  to  be  followed 
by  even  more  acute  tensions.  At  no  moment  shall  we  be  able  to  relax 
our  guard. 

We  may,  of  course,  be  closer  to  a  third  world  war  than  we  are  willing 
to  admit,  and  the  speed  of  our  defense  mobilization  must  be  geared 
to  that  contingency.  But  even  if — as  we  hope — we  are  able  to  avert 
the  final  catastrophe,  wre  must  prepare,  together  with  the  other  free 
nations,  to  concentrate  our  strength  and  our  resources  to  resist  aggres¬ 
sion  wherever  it  may  occur,  in  whatever  quarter  of  the  globe. 

But  in  accepting  this  long-term  responsibility  of  military  prepara¬ 
tion  and  all  that  goes  with  it,  we  also  accept  another  responsibility — 
to  preserve  the  great  social  advances  we  have  made  in  recent  decades. 
Above  all,  we  must  make  sure  that,  for  the  critical  years  ahead,  the 
education  of  our  young  people  is  given  the  highest  possible  priority 
in  our  national  economy.  Otherwise,  we  cannot  rally  our  full  strength 
to  meet  the  developing  threat  to  our  fundamental  liberties. 

For  its  material  needs  the  Nation’s  military  and  productive  strength 
rests  on  the  flow  of  young  men  and  women  who  have  a  solid  educational 
background  into  both  our  labor  market  and  our  armed  services. 
Modern  warfare,  no  less  than  modern  industry,  demands  a  high  degree 
of  mechanical  knowledge  and  adaptability  for  which  only  our  high 
schools  can  provide  the  basic  training.  Broadly  speaking,  a  GI  with¬ 
out  such  training  is  under  a  substantial  handicap  in  acquiring  the 
specialized  skills  needed  to  make  him  a  top-rate  soldier.  And  the  same 
holds  true  for  a  worker  in  a  defense  plant. 

Furthermore,  we  are  wholly  dependent  upon  our  colleges  and  uni¬ 
versities  to  give  us  the  men  trained  in  engineering,  electronics,  and 
the  other  sciences  vital  to  the  conduct  both  of  a  war  and  of  defense 
production.  This  applies  also  to  the  doctors,  dentists,  and  other  pro¬ 
fessionals  needed  to  keep  our  servicemen  and  workers  physically  in 
shape. 

Failure  to  maintain  the  educational  facilities  of  the  Nation  at  their 
present  level  of  effectiveness,  or  to  expand  and  develop  those  facilities 
in  every  way  possible,  is  to  undermine  our  essential  military  and 
industrial  strength.  New  school  construction  is  but  one  index  of  the 
Nation’s  educational  health,  but  it  is  a  vitally  important  one.  As  part 
of  our  mobilization  for  defense  we  must  face  this  problem  squarely  and 
set  the  same  definite  goals  for  its  solution  that  we  have  set  for  the 
creation  of  a  necessary  army,  navy,  and  air  force.  We  must  be  pre¬ 
pared  to  state — and  to  act  on  the  assumption — that  the  construction 
of  a  new  schoolhouse  is  no  less  imperative,  as  a  defense  measure ,  than 
the  construction  of  a  new  bombing  plane;  and  that  during  the  long 


34 


Annual  Report,  Federal  Security  Agency,  1951 


period  of  continuing  crisis  that  lies  ahead  our  educational  plant  is 
every  whit  as  important  as  our  military  plant. 

By  the  same  token,  we  must  be  prepared  to  state — and  to  act  on  the 
assumption — that  the  recruitment  and  training  of  an  adequate  teach¬ 
ing  staff  for  our  public  schools  is  no  less  imperative,  as  a  defense 
measure,  than  the  recruitment  and  training  of  young  men  for  our 
armed  forces.  Other  factors,  of  primary  importance  in  the  strength¬ 
ening  of  our  educational  system,  press  for  attention.  All  of  them 
represent  areas  which  demand  study  and  research  no  less  intensive 
than  that  applied  to  the  production  of  new  weapons,  and  action  no  less 
decisive  than  the  creation  of  the  atom  bomb.  The  investment  required 
to  accomplish  these  objectives  would  still  be  only  a  small  fraction  of 
the  billions  we  are  spending  for  strictly  military  materiel.  And  every 
dollar  spent  for  this  purpose  can  be  easily  justified  in  terms  of  the 
long-range  aspects  of  our  national  defense. 

But  the  importance  of  education  in  our  military  and  economic  j 
defense  program  is  matched  by  its  importance  in  the  war  of  ideologies. 
Our  citizens  must  be  educated  to  think  clearly  about  the  issues  of  the 
present  conflict.  In  the  war  of  ideas,  we  cannot  permit  our  enemies 
so  to  confuse  us  that  we  alter  or  destroy  our  own  free  institutions. 
This  war  of  ideologies  must  be  fought  strictly  with  the  weapons  of 
democracy ;  any  other  weapons  we  may  elect  to  use  will,  in  the  long 
run,  backfire  on  us. 

Certainly,  the  higher  the  level  of  education  which  the  United  States 
can  achieve,  the  better  are  the  chances  for  an  informed  and  considered 
public  opinion.  For  it  is  on  such  public  opinion  that  we  must  ulti¬ 
mately  rely  in  making  the  vital  decisions  of  national  policy  we  shall 
be  faced  with  during  the  coming  crucial  years.  To  the  extent  that 
these  decisions  are  the  result  of  ignorance  and  prejudice  they  may 
endanger  the  very  life  of  the  Kepublic.  Statesmanship  of  the  most 
far-reaching  sort  cannot  succeed  unless  it  has  the  solid  and  intelligent 
support  of  the  voters.  And  the  effectiveness  of  our  future  leaders, 
whether  in  Congress  or  the  county  courthouse — will  largely  depend  on 
the  intelligence  exercised  by  the  electorate  in  their  selection. 

For  this  reason,  the  American  people  must  grasp  the  danger  of  those 
forces  at  work  in  our  society  which  are  attempting  to  undermine  its 
educational  foundations.  Recent  events  in  several  American  com¬ 
munities,  relating  to  the  administration  of  the  public  schools  in  those 
communities,  emphasize  this  necessity.  Some  taxpayers  in  these 
communities  have  made  an  issue  of  “modern  education”  and  have 
rebelled  at  spending  money  for  what  they  consider  the  “frills”  in 
school  administration  and  instruction.  These  budgetary  consider¬ 
ations  have  been  seized  upon  by  some  of  the  more  reactionary  forces 
in  the  community  in  an  attempt  to  curb  the  development  of  education 
for  genuinely  democratic  ends. 


Office  of  Education 


35 


The  appeal  to  ignorance  and  prejudice,  in  all  their  ugliest 
manifestations,  has  been  used  to  discredit  this  “new-fangled  non¬ 
sense,”  together  with  the  sort  of  “smear  campaign”  that  is  increas¬ 
ingly  being  directed,  within  our  body  politic,  against  almost  any 
form  of  liberal  opinion. 

The  immediate  danger  is  that  school  officials  in  other  communities 
who  are  sincerely  convinced  of  the  usefulness  of  these  modern  methods 
will  hesitate  to  risk  an  open  assault  on  their  judgments.  Fear  of  ex¬ 
pressing  an  outright  opinion  on  a  controversial  subject  will  cause 
them  to  cling  to  their  safe  and  old-fashioned  methods.  Education 
itself — whose  very  purpose  is  to  dispel  ignorance  and  prejudice — will 
be  the  victim  of  what,  in  essence,  is  an  attempt  to  undermine  our 
democracy  by  those  forces  of  reaction  which  thrive  on  prejudice  and 
ignorance. 

Today,  the  United  States  and  the  other  free  nations  of  the  world 
are  facing  a  greater  threat  to  their  existence  than  in  any  other  time  in 
recent  history.  The  basic  conflict  of  the  century  is  the  struggle  be¬ 
tween  the  concept  of  democracy  and  that  of  the  totalitarian  state. 
Against  the  armed  might  of  Soviet  Kussia  we  can  match — and  more 
than  match — our  own  armed  might.  The  sinister  thrust  of  totali¬ 
tarian  ideas  can  be  met  only  bv  free  men  whose  convictions  are  deeply 
rooted  in  the  democratic  philosophy. 

Education  serves  the  cause  of  freedom  and  democracy  more  directly 
and  more  effectively  than  any  other  aspect  of  modern  civilization. 
And  few  things  contribute  more  to  the  dignity  and  essential  worth  of 
the  individual.  The  opportunity  offered  our  young  people  to  obtain 
as  much  true  education  as  they  are  capable  of  profiting  from  is,  in  a 
very  real  sense,  the  measure  of  our  democratic  strength.  For  the 
years  ahead,  education  must  stand  as  our  chief  weapon  against  the 
forces  of  darkness  that  inflict  the  age. 

Work  in  Progress 

Note  :  A  detailed  summary  of  the  activities  of  each  of  the  Divisions  of 
the  Office  was  in  preparation  at  the  end  of  the  fiscal  year,  copies  of  which 
may  be  secured  by  writing  to  the  Office  of  Education,  Federal  Security 
Agency,  Washington  25,  D.  C.,  and  specifying  the  particular  summary  or 
summaries  desired.  The  brief  resume  which  follows  suggests  the  range  of 
these  activities  and  highlights  some  of  the  more  concrete  accomplishments. 

Much  of  the  pressure  on  the  comparatively  small  Office  of  Education 
staff  comes  from  the  requests  for  advisory  and  consultative  services 
which  the  Office  renders  in  a  wide  variety  of  educational  fields.  Staff 
members  have  a  heavy  correspondence  schedule.  Inquiries  of  all  sorts 
are  addressed  to  the  Office,  many  of  a  highly  technical  nature  demand- 


36 


Annual  Report,  Federal  Security  Agency,  1951 


ing  a  considerable  amount  of  research  to  formulate  the  answers. 
School  authorities  and  officials  of  educational  organizations  come  to 
Washington  to  “talk  over  their  problems.”  And  staff  members  receive 
a  large  number  of  invitations  to  address  conferences  or  to  take  part  in 
work-shop  panels  which  often  involve  a  great  deal  of  time-consuming 
preparation  and  travel. 

During  1950-51,  the  normal  pressure  was  greatly  increased  as  a 
result  of  the  many  school  and  college  problems  arising  out  of  the 
Korean  crisis  and  defense  mobilization.  Moreover,  it  was  necessary 
to  assign  a  considerable  portion  of  the  staff  personnel  to  the  new  de¬ 
fense  programs  initiated  within  the  Office — such  as,  for  instance,  those 
connected  with  the  claimant  agency  responsibilities — and  in  conse¬ 
quence  much  of  the  regular  Office  schedule  was  sharply  disrupted. 

In  the  preceding  pages  reference  has  been  made  to  a  number  of 
studies  and  projects  undertaken  during  the  current  year  and  also  to  the 
range  of  international  activities.  In  addition,  a  large  body  of  work 
was  accomplished  dealing  with  a  variety  of  problems,  all  of  it  closely 
related  to  the  continuing  problems  of  American  education. 

STATE  AND  LOCAL  SCHOOL  SYSTEMS 

The  Office  continued  its  work  on  basic  problems  connected  with  the 
administration  of  State  and  local  school  systems.  Another  in  the 
series  of  studies  on  State  departments  of  education,  entitled  The 
Financing  of  State  Departments  of  Education ,  was  completed.  The 
first  Nation-wide  survey  by  the  Office  on  the  nature  and  extent  of 
school  transportation  in  cities  was  completed  and  published. 

Two  studies  on  the  financing  of  schools  were  completed.  One  was 
the  biennial  study  of  Federal  Government  funds  for  education  for  the 
years  1948-50.  The  second  was  concerned  with  State  provisions  for 
financing  public-school  capital  outlay  programs.  Work  was  also  be¬ 
gun  on  the  school  expenditures  survey,  last  made  in  1939-40. 

In  the  field  of  elementary  education,  the  Office  continued  to  focus 
on  improving  teaching  practices  and  techniques.  Staff  members  vis¬ 
ited  35  school  systems  for  research  material.  Several  studies  designed 
to  aid  teachers  in  various  aspects  of  their  work  were  published ;  2  were 
issued  for  the  benefit  of  parents ;  and  at  least  21  magazine  articles  or 
chapters  for  professional  yearbooks  were  prepared. 

A  very  substantial  publication,  entitled  Vitalizing  Secondary  Edu¬ 
cation,  was  issued.  This  was  a  report  of  the  first  commission  on  Life 
Adjustment  Education  for  the  3-year  term  for  which  it  was  appointed. 
Staff  members  developed  the  questionnaires  sent  to  38  school  systems  I 
in  connection  with  the  “drop-out”  problem. 

Three  other  major  publications  were  issued,  Learning  To  Supervise 
Schools ,  Education  of  Visually  Handicapped  Children ,  and  Key¬ 
stones  to  Good  Staff  Relationships.  An  intensive  study  of  the  work 


Office  of  Education 


37 


methods  of  school  principals  was  made,  and  also  a  study  of  the  profes¬ 
sional  training  given  librarians.  In  addition,  a  large  number  of  sta¬ 
tistical  studies  were  published  in  connection  with  the  Biennial  Swrvey 
of  Education.  And  a  catalog  was  issued  listing  nearly  400  films  pro¬ 
duced  by,  or  for,  various  Government  agencies  which  have  been  cleared 
for  television  rights. 

One  highly  important  project  was  a  study  of  the  total  enrollment 
of  pupils  in  all  subjects  in  secondary  schools  for  the  second  semester  of 
the  year  1948^9.  The  last  investigation  of  this  type  was  made  in 
1933-34.  The  survey  shows  concretely  the  changes  that  have  taken 
place  during  the  last  decade  and  a  half  and  demonstrates  that  these 
changes  are  definitely  in  the  direction  of  more  functional  education 
and  represent  an  effort  to  meet  the  life  needs  of  increasingly  diverse 
groups  of  pupils. 

Major  conferences  at  which  staff  members  concerned  with  State  and 
local  school  systems  played  an  active  part  included  the  National 
Conference  for  the  Mobilization  of  Education,  the  Fifth  World  Con¬ 
gress  of  the  International  Society  for  the  Welfare  of  Cripples,  the 
Midcentury  White  House  Conference  for  Children  and  Youth  and 
the  Conference  on  Aging,  the  last  two  of  which  were  sponsored  by 
the  Federal  Security  Agency. 

VOCATIONAL  TRAINING 

During  1950-51  the  Office  of  Education  was  active  in  administering 
the  Smith-Hughes  and  George-Barden  Acts  under  which  approxi¬ 
mately  $26,000,000  of  Federal  funds  were  allotted  to  the  States  for 
the  promotion  and  further  development  of  vocational  education  and 
for  which  an  additional  amount  of  approximately  $100,000,000  of 
State  and  local  funds  were  used  for  vocational  education  in  approxi¬ 
mately  14,000  public  secondary  schools. 

In  determining  the  policies  and  procedures  for  the  administration 
of  vocational  education,  the  Division  of  Vocational  Education  had 
the  services  of  two  groups  of  State  personnel :  The  National  Policy 
Advisory  Committee  for  Vocational  Education,  composed  of  four 
Chief  State  School  Officers  who  are  Executive  Officers  of  State  Boards 
for  Vocational  Education  and  four  State  Directors  of  Vocational 
Education;  as  well  as  the  Working  Advisory  Council  consisting  of 
eight  State  Directors  of  Vocational  Education. 

In  cooperation  with  farm  equipment  manufacturers  and  oil  com¬ 
panies,  the  Division  developed  18  manuals  on  the  care  and  mainte¬ 
nance  of  modern  farm  machinery  for  the  use  of  vocational  agriculture 
teachers  and  students.  It  also  had  the  satisfaction  of  seeing  The 
Future  Farmers  of  America  reach  a  record  membership  of  340,090. 
This  national  organization  of  farm  boys  enrolled  in  agricultural  voca¬ 
tional  classes  has  been  sponsored  by  the  Office  since  1928. 


38 


Annual  Report,  Federal  Security  Agency,  1951 


The  Home  Economics  Education  Service  organized  and  conducted 
two  major  national  conferences  during  the  year — one  for  teacher 
training  in  this  field  and  the  other  for  State  and  city  supervisors. 
It  also  conducted  an  inter-regional  conference  for  heads  of  Home 
Economics  Education  from  17  States,  and  cooperated  with  the  Future 
and  New  Homemakers  of  America  in  conducting  three  leadership 
training  conferences  for  their  members.  In  addition,  the  Office  spon¬ 
sored  a  national  conference  of  guidance  supervisors  and  counselors  at 
which  30  States  were  represented,  and  a  variety  of  technical  publica¬ 
tions  in  this  field  were  issued. 

Special  attention  was  given  to  assisting  the  various  States  in  the 
planning,  organization,  and  operation  of  training  courses  for  prac¬ 
tical  nurses.  A  publication  dealing  with  curriculum  for  the  training 
of  practical  nurses  was  prepared  in  cooperation  with  the  medical  pro¬ 
fession,  professional  nursing  organizations,  and  vocational  educa¬ 
tors.  Other  activities  included  the  development  of  instructional 
material  dealing  with  training  in  food  preparation  in  cooperation 
with  the  National  Council  on  Hotel  and  Restaurant  Education.  Also, 
two  of  four  projected  studies  of  trade  and  industrial  education  were 
made  on  a  cooperative  basis  by  the  Division,  National  and  State  repre¬ 
sentatives  of  the  American  Federation  of  Labor,  and  State  vocational 
education  staffs  in  Alabama  and  California. 

Still  another  important  activity  has  been  in  the  field  of  adult  dis¬ 
tributive  education.  The  Office  is  working  closely  with  the  various 
States  in  developing  a  training  program  in  this  field  which  will  be 
published  shortly.  Continuing  a  project  started  a  number  of  years 
ago,  a  series  of  vocational  business  tests  were  revised  under  the  joint 
auspices  of  the  United  Business  Association  and  the  National  Office 
Management  Association.  These  are  for  use  in  both  secondary 
schools  and  colleges  and  also  by  business  firms,  Government  agencies, 
and  other  organizations. 

HIGHER  EDUCATION 

In  the  field  of  higher  education,  the  Office  is  increasingly  concen¬ 
trating  its  efforts  upon  basic  problems  which  usually  involve  the  coop¬ 
erative  work  of  several  staff  members.  During  1950-51,  a  major 
survey,  begun  in  the  previous  year,  was  completed  and  the  findings 
published  under  the  title,  Study  of  the  Structures  of  the  Tax-Sup¬ 
ported  System  of  Higher  Education  in  Illinois. 

The  improvement  of  the  quality  of  instruction  in  colleges  and  uni¬ 
versities  is  another  area  of  research.  In  December  1950,  a  confer¬ 
ence  of  100  college  teachers  and  administrators  on  The  Improvement 
of  College  Faculties  was  cosponsored  by  the  Office  and  the  Ameri¬ 
can  Council  on  Education,  and  the  report  of  the  proceedings,  prepared 


Office  of  Education 


39 


by  the  Office,  was  published  by  the  Council.  Several  studies  were 
made  in  specialized  fields,  such  as  the  teaching  of  dentistry,  phar¬ 
macy,  and  engineering.  A  staff  member  collaborated  with  the  Amer¬ 
ican  Political  Science  Associates  in  writing  a  fairly  exhaustive  report 
on  the  Advancement  of  Political  Science  Teaching.  And  a  pamphlet 
was  prepared  relating  to  the  organization  and  teaching  of  college 
introductory  courses  in  United  States  history. 

The  Office  also,  during  the  spring  of  1951,  assembled  information 
as  to  the  number  of  college  teachers  who  were  likely  to  lose  their 
appointments  because  of  the  expected  decrease  in  college  enroll¬ 
ments  resulting  from  Selective  Service  inductions.  This  informa¬ 
tion  proved  immensely  valuable  to  the  Ford  Foundation  and  other 
agencies  which  set  in  motion  various  projects  designed  to  help  these 
displaced  teachers  make  the  necessary  readjustments. 

A  number  of  other  fact-gathering  assignments  were  also  under¬ 
taken.  Among  the  more  important  were:  A  survey  of  the  need  for 
personnel  workers  in  the  armed  forces;  a  manual  of  certification 
requirements  for  school  personnel;  the  annual  Directory  of  Higher 
Education  containing  the  names  of  all  principal  administrative  offi¬ 
cers  in  the  1,857  colleges  and  universities  in  the  United  States,  to¬ 
gether  with  other  important  material ;  data  on  available  scholarships 
and  fellowships;  a  study  of  engineering  enrollment;  and  a  survey 
of  undergraduate  economics  classes. 

As  part  of  its  statutory  responsibilities,  the  Office  assembled  and 
examined  the  annual  reports  of  the  69  land-grant  colleges  and  uni¬ 
versities  and  certified  their  respective  shares  of  the  Federal  appro¬ 
priation.  It  also  made  its  annual  inspection  report  to  the  Federal 
Security  Administrator  on  Howard  University,  as  required  by  law. 

RESEARCH  AND  STATISTICS  STANDARDS 

Activities  of  the  Office  included  the  preparation  of  the  Biennial 
Survey  of  Education  in  the  United  States — a  continuous  statistical 
program  of  the  Office  begun  in  1870.  The  1948-50  survey  will  include 
the  four  regular  chapters  covering  the  Statistical  Summary  of  all 
education,  State  (elementary  and  secondary)  School  Systems,  City 
School  Systems,  and  Institutions  of  Higher  Education.  It  will  also 
include  a  National  Summary  of  Offerings  and  Enrollments  in  High- 
School  Subjects  for  1948-49,  covering  enrollments  in  274  subjects 
(noted  above) ;  and  Statistics  of  Public  Libraries.  In  this  connec¬ 
tion,  all  States  were  visited  by  staff  members  to  promote  more  uni¬ 
form  records  and  accounts  and  obtain  complete  coverage  for  the 
biennial  studies. 

In  addition,  the  annual  statistical  reports  were  made  for  Land- 
Grant  Colleges  and  Universities;  for  the  Fall  Enrollment  and  De- 


40 


Annual  Report ,  Federal  Security  Agency ,  1951 


grees  Granted  in  Higher  Education;  for  Enrollments  and  Degrees 
in  Schools  of  Engineering;  and  for  Expenditures  Per  Pupil  in  City 
School  Systems.  Work  was  begun  on  an  annual  study  of  Finances 
of  State  Colleges  and  Universities  in  cooperation  with  the  Bureau 
of  the  Census,  U.  S.  Department  of  Labor.  And  a  pilot  study  on 
the  Economic  Status  of  Teachers  was  made  in  cooperation  with  the 
Department  of  Labor. 

Materials  were  also  prepared  for  the  White  House  Conference  on 
Children  and  Youth  at  the  Midcentury;  for  the  congressional  study 
of  Low-Income  Families  and  Economic  Stability ;  for  the  hearings  on 
the  Universal  Military  Training  and  Service  Act  of  1951,  in  relation 
to  the  effect  that  various  proposed  sections  would  have  on  the  supply 
of  college-trained  men ;  for  the  Council  of  Economic  Advisers  through 
the  Program  Office  of  the  FSA ;  for  the  Commission  for  Public  Schools 
in  New  York;  and  for  the  statistical  organization  of  the  United 
Nations. 

Field  consulting  service  on  more  uniform  records  and  accounts  was 
continued  with  the  directors  of  school  finance  of  the  17  Southern 
States  in  Atlanta,  Ga.,  and  with  the  National  Association  of  School 
Business,  Officials  in  Chicago,  the  Alabama  Association  of  School 
Administrators  at  Auburn,  Ala.,  and  the  Association  of  College  Reg¬ 
istrars  and  Administration  Officers  at  Houston,  Tex.  Work  with  the 
State  Departments  of  Education  in  Minnesota  and  Michigan  and  the 
City  Department  of  Education  in  Boston  resulted  in  2  new  State 
Manuals  of  School  Accounting  and  a  greatly  simplified  revised 
school  budget  for  Boston. 

PROGRAM  DEVELOPMENT  AND  MANAGEMENT  IMPROVEMENT 

On  the  Program  Development  and  Coordination  Branch,  estab¬ 
lished  under  the  reorganization  plan  of  February  1951,  rested  the  re¬ 
sponsibility  for  coordinating  the  plans  to  be  projected  in  fiscal  1953, 
as  well  as  review  of  the  plans  for  fiscal  1952.  The  lapse  of  15  months 
between  the  completion  of  plans  for  budget  purposes  and  the  passing 
of  appropriation  acts  to  carry  out  the  plans  makes  necessary  a  con¬ 
tinuous  review  and  reconsideration  of  program,  as  a  dynamic  situation 
presents  new  problems. 

In  addition,  a  number  of  specific  accomplishments  in  the  field 
of  management  improvement  can  be  recorded.  These  include:  The 
centralization  of  control  of  conference  funds ;  improvement  in  editorial 
services ;  more  effective  utilization  of  mailing  lists ;  the  initiation  of  a 
readership  survey  of  School  Life  to  determine  its  editorial  effective¬ 
ness  in  relation  to  other  school  and  educational  publications;  and  an 
evaluation  of  the  foreign  student  credential  service  to  colleges  with  a 
view  to  lightening  an  increasingly  heavy  work-load. 


Office  of  Education 


41 


Publications  Issued  by  the  Office 

Bulletins,  Pamphlets ,  Etc. 

Federal  Government  Funds  for  Education,  1948-49  and  1949-50.  Bulletin  1950, 
No.  3. 

Frustration  in  Adolescent  Youth.  Bulletin  1951,  No.  1. 

Culloden  Improves  Its  Curriculum.  Bulletin  1951,  No.  2. 

Vitalizing  Secondary  Education.  Bulletin  1951,  No.  3. 

Statistics  of  Land-Grant  Colleges  and  Universities,  year  ended  June  30,  1950. 
Bulletin  1951,  No.  4. 

Education  Unlimited  a  Community  High  School  in  Action.  Bulletin  1951,  No.  5. 
How  Children  Use  Arithmetic.  Bulletin  1951,  No.  7. 

Teachers  Contribute  to  Child  Health.  Bulletin  1951,  No.  8. 

How  Children  Learn  about  Human  Rights.  Bulletin  1951,  No.  9. 

How  Children  Learn  To  Think.  Bulletin  1951,  No.  10. 

A  Directory  of  2002  16mm  Film  Libraries.  Bulletin  1951,  No.  11. 

School  Fire  Safety.  Bulletin  1951,  No.  13. 

School  Lunch  and  Nutrition  Education.  Bulletin  1951,  No.  14. 

Land-Grant  Colleges  and  Universities — What  They  Are  and  the  Relation  of  the 
Federal  Government  to  Them.  Bulletin  1951,  No.  15. 

Scholarships  and  Fellowships.  Bulletin  1951,  No.  16. 

School  Housing  for  Physically  Handicapped  Children.  Bulletin  1951,  No.  17. 
Modern  Ways  in  One-  and  Two-Teacher  Schools.  Bulletin  1951,  No.  18. 

The  Activity  Period  in  Public  High  Schools.  Bulletin  1951,  No.  19. 

Education  of  Visually  Handicapped  Children.  Bulletin  1951,  No.  20. 

3434  U.  S.  Government  Films.  Bulletin  1951,  No.  21. 

Life  Adjustment  for  Every  Youth.  Bulletin  1951,  No.  22. 

Health  Instruction  in  the  Secondary  Schools.  Pamphlet  No.  110. 

Pupil  Transportation  in  Cities.  Pamphlet  No.  111. 

The  Advisory  Council  for  a  Department  of  Vocational  Agriculture,  Vocational 
Division  Bulletin  No.  243. 

Home  Economics  in  Colleges  and  Universities  of  the  United  States.  Vocational 
Division  Bulletin  No.  244. 

Boys  and  Girls  Study  Homemaking  and  Family  Living.  Vocational  Division 
Bulletin  No.  245. 

Summaries  of  Studies  of  Agricultural  Education.  Supplement  No.  4.  Vocational 
Division  Bulletin  No.  246. 

Occupations.  Vocational  Division  Bulletin  No.  247. 

Keystones  of  Effective  Staff  Relationships.  Misc.  No.  13. 

Residence  and  Migration  of  College  Students,  1949-50.  Misc.  No.  14. 

Faculty  Salaries  in  Land-Grant  Colleges  and  Universities,  1949-50.  Circular 
No.  283. 

Learning  To  Supervise  Schools.  An  Appraisal  of  the  Georgia  Program.  Circular 
No.  289. 

A  Manual  on  Certification  Requirements  for  School  Personnel  in  the  United 
States.  Circular  No.  290. 

Improving  School  Holding  Power.  Circular  No.  291. 

Expenditure  Per  Pupil  in  City  School  Systems.  Circular  No.  292. 

Holding  Power  and  Size  of  High  Schools.  Circular  No.  322. 

Pupil  Personnel  Services  in  Elementary  and  Secondary  Schools.  Circular  No.  325. 
Identifying  Educational  Needs  of  Adults.  Circular  No.  330. 


42 


Annual  Report ,  Federal  Security  Agency ,  1951 


Biennial  Survey  of  Education  in  the  United  States ,  1946-48 

Statistical  Summary  of  Education,  1947-48.  Chapter  1. 

Statistics  of  City  School  Systems,  1947-48.  Chapter  3. 

Statistics  of  Higher  Education,  1947^8.  Chapter  4. 

Statistics  of  Nonpublic  Schools,  1947-48.  Chapter  7. 

Statistics  of  Public  School  Libraries,  1947-48.  Chapter  8. 

Biennial  Survey  of  Education  in  the  United  States,  1948—50 
Offerings  and  Enrollments  in  High  School  Subjects,  1948-49.  Chapter  5. 

Education  Directory 

Federal  Government  and  States,  1950-51.  Part  1. 

Counties  and  Cities,  1950-51.  Part  2. 

Higher  Education,  1950-51.  Part  3. 

Education  Associations,  1950-51.  Part  4. 

Miscellaneous 

Annual  Report  of  the  Federal  Security  Agency,  Office  of  Education,  1950. 

Digest  of  Annual  Reports  of  State  Boards  for  Vocational  Education,  Fiscal  Year 
ended  June  30,  1950. 

Citizens  Look  at  Our  Schoolhouses. 

Index,  School  Life,  Vol.  XXXII,  October  1949-June  1950. 

Some  Questions  on  the  Education  of  Physically  Handicapped  Children  and  Youth. 
Periodicals 

School  Life  (9  issues — October  1950-June  1951,  inclusive). 

Higher  Education  (19  issues  September  1,  1950-June  1,  1951,  inclusive). 


o 


4952 


I  LIBRARY 

j  fV;AR  11  ;  53 

FEDERAL  SECURITY  AGENCY 

EDUC.  COLLECTION 


Office  of  Education 

ADVANCE  COPY 

HOLD  FOR  RELEASE 
IN  SUNDAY  NE AS PAPERS 
MARCH  15,  195 j. 


The  Annual  Report  of  the  Federal  Security  Agency 
contains  the  Administrator’s  report  and  the  re¬ 
ports  of  all  the  Agency’s  constituent  organizations. 
In  addition,  the  following  reports  are  issued  as 
separate  reprints: 

The  Administrator’s  Report 

Social  Security  Administration 

Public  Health  Service 

Office  of  Education 

Food  and  Drug  Administration 

Office  of  Vocational  Rehabilitation 

Saint  Elizabeths  Hospital 

Both  the  consolidated  volume  and  the  separate 
reports  are  available  at  nominal  cost  from  the 
Superintendent  of  Documents,  U.  S.  Government 
Printing  Office,  Washington  25,  D.  C. 


UNITED  STATES 

government  printing  office 

WASHINGTON  :  1953 


For  Bale  by  the  Superintendent  of  Documents,  U.  S.  Government  Printing 
Office,  Washington  25,  D.  C.  -  Price  15  cents 


9^ri/nua// 


FEDERAL 

SECURITY 

AGENCY 


Office  of  Education 


LIBRARY 

MAR  11  1£53 


federal  security  agency 

EDUC.  COLLECTION 


FEDERAL  SECURITY  AGENCY 

Oscar  R.  Ewing,  Administrator 


OFFICE  OF  EDUCATION 
Earl  James  McGrath,  Commissioner 

Deputy  Commissioner  of  Education,  Rall  I.  Grigsby. 

Assistant  Commissioner  for  Program  Development  and  Coordination, 
Ward  Stewart. 

Assistant  Commissioner  for  Vocational  Education,  Joseph  R. 
Strobel. 

Assistant  Commissioner  for  Veterans’  Educational  Services  and 
Director  of  the  Scientific  Register,  James  C.  O’Brien. 

Assistant  Commissioner  for  State  and  Local  School  Systems,  Wayne 
O.  Reed. 

Assistant  Commissioner  for  Higher  Education,  W.  Earl  Armstrong, 
Acting. 

Assistant  Commissioner  for  International  Education,  Oliver  J. 
Caldwell. 

Executive  Officer,  Donald  W.  McKone. 


Letter  of  Transmittal 


Federal  Security  Agency, 

Office  of  Education, 
Washington,  D.  C.,  October  30,  1952 


The  Honorable  Oscar  R.  Ewing, 

Federal  Security  Administrator. 

Dear  Mr.  Ewing:  I  herewith  submit  the  annual  report  embracing 
the  activities  of  the  Office  of  Education  for  the  fiscal  year  ending 
June  30,  1952. 

Respectfully, 

Earl  James  McGrath, 
Commissioner  of  Education. 

Hi 


FEDERAL  SECURITY  AGENCY 


Contents 


Page 

The  Strength  of  the  Nation  Is  In  the  Quality  of  Its  Citizens.  1 

The  Long  History  of  Federal  Support  of  Education _  2 

Local  Control  of  Education  Has  Brought  Rewards _  _  3 

The  National  Interest  in  Specific  Types  of  Education.  4 

Safeguarding  Local  Control  in  Federal  Participation  .  6 

The  need  for  school  housing _  7 

The  need  for  more  teachers.  .9 

The  three  R’s  and  more _  12 

Life  adjustment  education _  14 

Children  of  migratory  workers  need  education _  16 

Exceptional  children  deserve  equal  opportunity _  18 

Educational  television _  _  ___  21 

The  Role  of  the  Office  of  Education  in  Meeting  These  Problems  25 

The  Future  of  the  Office...  _ .......  28 

Local  Control  of  Education  Must  Be  Preserved _  .  28 

Publications  Issued  by  the  Office  of  Education,  Fiscal  Year  1952.  29 


v 


Office  of  Education 


IN  RECENT  YEARS  the  reports  of  the  Commissioner  of  Educa¬ 
tion  have  gone  beyond  the  activities  of  the  Office  of  Education  to  deal 
with  Nation-wide  educational  trends  and  problems.  These  more  ex¬ 
tensive  reviews  have  sprung  from  a  desire  to  comply  more  closely  with 
the  directive  of  the  Congress  to  the  Commissioner  of  Education  to  sub¬ 
mit  at  the  end  of  each  fiscal  year  a  report  of  his  investigations  in  the 
field  of  education  and  to  place  before  the  American  people  a  statement 
from  a  national  source  about  those  features  of  our  educational  system 
which  deserve  their  consideration. 

The  report  for  the  fiscal  year  1952  conforms  to  this  pattern.  Though 
many  activities  of  the  Office  of  Education  are  described,  they  are  placed 
within  the  broader  context  of  more  comprehensive  reviews  of  major 
educational  problems.  It  is  hoped  that  this  type  of  presentation  will 
provide  the  Congress  with  an  over-all  view  of  the  most  important 
operations  of  the  Office  of  Education  as  well  as  of  the  total  American 
educational  enterprise.  Emphasis  will  be  upon  the  condition  of  the 
educational  system,  upon  American  schools  and  the  millions  of  Ameri¬ 
can  children  and  youth  attending  them,  upon  the  problems  of  school 
personnel  and  plant  as  they  affect  our  educational  progress,  and  upon 
new  educational  opportunities  and  practices. 

The  Strength  of  the  Nation  Is  In  the 
Quality  of  Its  Citizens 

From  the  viewpoint  of  history,  the  fiscal  year  1952  will  probably  be 
noted  as  a  time  when  Americans  began  to  settle  firmly  into  their  role 
of  world  leadership  and  commit  themselves,  at  home  and  abroad,  to 
the  task  of  guarding  the  far-flung  frontiers  of  democracy.  Concern 
for  the  future  of  the  free  world  dominates  our  national  life.  If  we 
are  to  acquit  ourselves  well,  the  years  ahead  will  call  for  an  even  more 
concentrated  national  effort,  for  the  expansion  of  our  productive  ca¬ 
pacity,  for  more  rapid  technological  progress,  and,  above  all,  for  the 
more  intensive  cultivation  of  the  intelligence,  the  aptitudes,  and  the 
character  of  the  individual  citizen.  The  strength  of  this  Nation  is 


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Annual  Report ,  Federal  Security  Agency ,  1952 


composed  of  many  ingredients,  but  the  most  important  is  the  quality 
of  its  citizenry.  Recognizing  this  fact,  we  become  increasingly  con¬ 
scious  of  the  decisive  role  of  the  school  in  shaping  our  Nation’s  future. 
The  school  is  the  reservoir  from  which  must  flow  not  only  the  technical 
skills  but  also  the  intelligence  and  the  love  of  freedom  needed  to  keep 
us  strong  in  a  world  of  conflict. 

The  critical  world  situation,  however,  is  only  one  of  the  circum¬ 
stances  which  compel  us  to  deal  with  some  of  our  educational  prob¬ 
lems  on  a  national  level.  Domestic  factors,  too,  are  responsible.  The 
growing  integration  of  our  society,  the  high  mobility  of  our  popula¬ 
tion,  the  virtual  elimination  of  distance  as  a  factor  in  communication, 
all  of  these  have  brought  Americans  more  closely  together.  Hence, 
regional  inequalities  appear  in  sharper  focus.  Differences  in  educa¬ 
tional  opportunity  between  States  or  communities  are  more  keenly 
felt.  We  become  more  clearly  conscious  that  it  is  contrary  to  the 
national  interest  to  fail  to  provide  adequately  for  the  children  whose 
educational  opportunities  are  severely  limited,  and  we  have  many 
such  children  in  the  United  States.  Proper  schooling  would  not  only 
help  many  of  them  to  grow  up  as  self-reliant,  productive  citizens,  it 
would  also  develop  a  source  for  the  additional  manpower  which  our 
Nation  so  badly  needs.  The  educational  agency  of  the  Federal  Gov¬ 
ernment  has  a  responsibility  to  make  our  people  as  a  whole  conscious 
of  our  present  educational  problems. 

The  Long  History  of  Federal  Support  of  Education 

In  terms  of  the  life  span  of  our  relatively  young  country,  Federal 
participation  in  education  has  a  long  history.  In  recent  years,  how¬ 
ever,  the  areas  of  cooperation  between  Federal  agencies  and  local 
educational  authorities  have  increased  considerably.  A  pattern  for 
such  cooperation  is  beginning  to  emerge  and  is  likely,  in  the  future, 
to  affect  our  approach  to  many  of  the  educational  problems  facing  our 
people.  It  will  be  useful  in  this  report  to  analyze  the  nature  of  this 
cooperation,  discuss  some  of  the  programs  that  have  been  developed, 
review  the  educational  tasks  with  which  Americans  must  cope,  and 
to  restate  some  age-old  principles. 

The  most  important  of  these  principles,  and  one  which  public 
opinion  has  never  challenged,  is  that  education  in  the  United  States  is 
the  responsibility  of  the  States  and  local  communities.  This  tradi¬ 
tion  is  as  old  as  the  Republic  itself  and  the  years  have  proved  its 
wisdom.  Whether  it  reflected  their  recent  unfortunate  experience 
with  a  remote  government  or  a  deeper  insight  into  the  relationship 
between  education  and  a  free  society,  the  founding  fathers  were,  ac¬ 
cording  to  J ames  Madison’s  notes  of  the  Constitutional  Convention  of 
1787,  consciously  agreed  that  the  education  of  youth  should  properly 


Office  of  Education 


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be  left  to  local  authority.  The  men  whose  ideals  shaped  the  future 
destiny  of  the  Nation  were  determined  to  keep  our  social  and  political 
institutions  close  to  the  people.  They  were  fearful  of  any  policy  which 
would  make  it  possible  for  a  central  government  to  dominate  the 
thinking  of  the  people,  and  thus  undermine  their  individual  freedom 
of  thought  and  action. 

Local  Control  of  Education  Has  Brought  Rewards 

This  fundamental  policy  with  regard  to  education  has  been  richly 
rewarding.  Local  control  has  stimulated  popular  interest  in  our 
schools.  Americans  have  taken  pride  in  the  efforts  made  locally  to 
educate  their  sons  and  daughters.  They  have  considered  it  a  right 
to  have  a  voice  in  deciding  what  the  schooling  of  their  children  should 
be.  Generally  they  have  proved  willing  to  provide  the  means  of 
maintaining  their  educational  institutions.  There  have  been  excep¬ 
tions.  Some  citizens  and  some  communities  have  been,  and  still  are, 
remiss  in  providing  the  necessary  minimum  of  education  for  their 
youth.  But  in  this  respect  they  certainly  do  not  represent  the  general 
American  attitude. 

Local  responsibility  has  made  education  a  vital  force  in  American 
life.  More  than  anywhere  else  in  the  world  local  efforts  to  make  the 
educative  process  effective  have  brought  a  wide  variety  of  teaching 
materials  and  methods  into  our  schools.  Out  of  these  local  variations 
in  practice  has  come  a  body  of  teaching  experience  which  has  even¬ 
tually  proved  useful  throughout  the  Nation.  True,  not  all  communi¬ 
ties  have  kept  pace  with  educational  progress.  Some  communities 
have  clung  to  outworn  educational  ideas  and  methods.  But  the  net 
effect  of  our  national  policy  of  local  control  has  been  the  development 
of  a  vital,  serviceable,  and  democratic  school  system.  Contrasted  with 
conditions  in  other  lands  where  education  is  placed  in  a  single  gov¬ 
ernmental  educational  authority,  the  advantages  of  our  decentralized 
system  of  control  of  education  are  easily  apparent. 

To  summarize,  local  control  keeps  the  schools  close  to  the  lives  of 
the  people ;  it  stimulates  and  maintains  their  interest ;  it  makes  possible 
the  expansion  and  growth  of  our  school  system  along  lines  related  to 
the  needs  of  the  local  community ;  it  keeps  American  schools  steadily 
upon  the  road  of  progress;  it  preserves  the  freedom  and  democratic 
spirit  of  American  education ;  it  safeguards  the  liberty  of  our  people. 
Surely  there  is  no  need  to  reemphasize  here  the  soundness  of  the  basic 
principle  of  State  and  community  responsibility  for  education. 

The  question  must  then  be  raised:  What  responsibility  does  the 
Federal  Government  have  for  education  in  the  United  States?  And 
if  it  does  have  any  responsibility  how  can  this  be  met  without  under¬ 
mining  the  principle  of  local  control  of  education  ?  Abstract  discus- 
231032—53 - 2 


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Annual  Report ,  Federal  Security  Agency ,  1952 


sions  of  the  problem  are  not  likely  to  be  fruitful.  The  situation  must 
be  considered  in  terms  of  the  facts  that  exist  today,  the  economic  and 
social  conditions  which  impinge  upon  education  in  the  United  States. 

The  record  of  Federal  activity  in  education  up  to  now  will  be  in¬ 
structive.  In  approaching  this  topic  two  questions  may  well  be  asked : 
How  extensive  has  been  the  interest  of  the  Federal  Government  in 
education  ?  Has  this  interest  proved  detrimental  to  the  preservation 
of  local  control  or  to  the  general  well-being  of  education  in  this 
country  ? 

The  National  Interest  in  Specific  Types  of  Education 

In  answering  the  first  question  it  should  be  pointed  out  that  when 
the  national  interest  appeared  to  be  involved  the  Congress  of  the 
United  States  has  on  a  number  of  occasions  taken  an  active  part  in 
educational  matters.  The  record  will  also  show  that  F ederal  activity 
in  the  field  of  education  has  slowly  but  steadily  increased  over  the 
years.  When  the  Nation  was  young  the  National  Government  came 
into  possession  of  extensive  lands  west  of  the  Appalachian  Mountains. 
Eventually  when  arrangements  were  made  for  the  sale  of  these  lands, 
provision  was  made  whereby  the  sixteenth  section  of  every  township 
was  reserved  from  sale  and  used  for  the  support  of  public  schools. 
As  new  States  were  formed  from  the  public  domain,  the  section  grants 
for  schools  were  confirmed  to  them.  The  Federal  Government  in 
those  early  days  was  interested  in  the  general  education  needed  by  all 
youth  if  they  were  to  grow  up  as  intelligent  and  productive  citizens. 

Decades  later,  however,  the  educational  activities  of  the  Federal 
Government  were  related  to  more  specific  needs  of  the  American 
people.  In  the  middle  of  the  nineteenth  century  Senator  Justin 
Smith  Morrill  of  Vermont  became  convinced  that  a  new  type  of  higher 
education  was  needed  in  this  country,  especially  by  the  sons  and 
daughters  of  the  working  classes,  which  would  lead  to  employment  in 
the  agricultural  and  mechanical  arts.  Recognizing  that  the  stimula¬ 
tion  of  such  instruction  was  a  national  responsibility,  the  Congress 
passed,  and  President  Lincoln  signed,  the  Morrill  Act  in  1862.  Sub¬ 
sequent  legislation,  over  a  period  of  years,  has  increased  Federal  sup¬ 
port  to  the  land-grant  colleges  and  the  agricultural  experiment 
stations  in  the  several  States.  The  institutions  benefited  by  these  laws 
will  testify  that  all  this  was  achieved  without  imposing  F ederal  control 
or  interference. 

More  than  half  a  century  later  another  important  Federal  venture 
into  the  field  of  education  occurred.  Leaders  in  business,  industry, 
and  labor  became  aware  that  the  United  States  was  behind  other 
countries  in  providing  vocational  training  for  its  working  people. 


Office  of  Education 


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They  joined  with  educational  groups  to  urge  the  extension  of  oppor¬ 
tunities  for  this  type  of  education  in  the  high  schools  of  the  Nation. 

The  Congress,  recognizing  that  this  was  a  national  problem,  en¬ 
acted  the  Smith-Hughes  Act  of  1917.  This  act  was  followed  in  later 
years  by  several  supplementary  laws,  the  latest  of  which  is  the  Voca¬ 
tional  Education  Act  of  1946  commonly  known  as  the  George-Barden 
Act.  This  legislation  has  made  millions  of  dollars  available  to  the 
States  on  a  matching  basis,  and  it  has  also  provided  excellent  con¬ 
sultative  services.  Without  Federal  aid,  vocational  education  in  the 
United  States  would  certainly  not  have  developed  as  fully  as  it  has 
in  the  past  35  years.  As  in  the  case  of  earlier  grants,  F ederal  aid  for 
vocational  education  has  involved  no  attempt  at  Federal  domination 
or  interference. 

The  most  recent  Federal  legislation,  providing  financial  aid  for 
education  in  certain  localities,  has  been  in  effect  for  only  2  years. 
Public  Laws  815  and  874  of  the  Eighty-first  Congress,  signed  by  the 
President  on  September  23, 1950,  and  September  30, 1950,  respectively, 
were  designed  to  discharge  the  financial  responsibility  of  the  Federal 
Government  to  communities  affected  by  Federal  activities  and  to 
provide  funds  for  a  survey  of  school  plant  needs  throughout  the 
Nation. 

The  story  of  this  development  goes  back  to  World  War  I.  But 
the  problem  really  became  acute  during  World  War  II  when  various 
branches  of  the  Government,  especially  the  Army,  the  Navy,  and  the 
Air  Corps,  rapidly  acquired  large  parcels  of  local  property  for  Gov¬ 
ernment  use  which  then  became  tax-exempt.  In  many  localities  large 
numbers  of  scliool-age  children  suddenly  were  brought  into  schools 
near  military  bases,  compelling  communities  to  make  provision  for 
two  or  three  times  their  normal  school  population.  The  problem 
created  by  the  Federal  activities  was  clear.  The  first  action  to  relieve 
the  situation  was  the  passage  in  1940  of  the  Lanliam  Act  which  pro¬ 
vided  for  aid  to  defense-connected  areas  in  order  that  the  war  effort 
would  not  be  impeded.  Under  the  Lanham  Act  loans  and  grants  were 
made  available  only  where  it  was  impossible  for  the  school  district 
otherwise  to  provide  facilities  and  where  the  shortage  of  school 
facilities  would  clearly  impede  the  war  effort. 

Federal  aid  for  school  construction  under  the  Lanham  Act  ended 
shortly  after  the  surrender  of  Japan.  But  large  numbers  of  children 
were  still  found  in  the  schools  within  war-affected  areas  and  the 
problem  of  educating  them  remained  critical.  A  temporary  program 
providing  Federal  financial  assistance  for  operating  expenses  of  these 
schools  was  continued  year  by  year.  A  number  of  Federal  depart¬ 
ments  and  agencies  besides  the  Army,  Navy,  and  Air  Corps  also  gave 
such  assistance  to  school  districts.  The  variety  of  agencies  and  the 


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Annual  Report ,  Federal  Security  Agency ,  1952 


lack  of  a  single  Government  plan  for  dealing  with  the  problem  on  a 
Nation-wide  basis  caused  the  widest  variation  in  regulations  and  in 
the  amounts  of  the  payments  made  to  school  districts. 

The  Eighty-first  Congress  took  steps  to  bring  order  out  of  this 
chaos.  The  House  Committee  on  Education  and  Labor,  faced  with 
the  necessity  of  deciding  how  to  meet  the  Federal  obligation  to  these 
areas,  concluded  that  a  study  should  be  made  to  determine  the  extent 
and  degree  of  continuing  Government  impact.  The  Federal  Works 
Agency  and  the  Office  of  Education  supplied  a  staff  to  assist  a  sub-  : 
committee  which  held  hearings  in  federally  affected  areas  throughout 
the  country.  Shortly  after  this  inestigation  was  completed  Public  j 
Laws  815,  covering  schoolhouse  construction,  and  874,  covering  costs  3 
of  the  maintenance  of  schools  in  the  federally  affected  areas,  were  j 
passed.  Experience  has  shown  that,  while  these  laws  could  be  im-  j 
proved  by  minor  amendments,  they  are  essentially  sound.  Through 
the  provisions  of  these  laws  the  United  States  Office  of  Education, 
which  is  responsible  for  administering  them,  has  been  able  to  provide 
financial  assistance  to  many  school  districts  which  otherwise  would 
have  been  unable  to  provide  adequate  education  for  local  children. 

Safeguarding  Local  Control  in  Federal  Participation 

This,  in  broad  outline,  is  the  record  of  Federal  activity  in  the  field 
of  education  within  the  Office  of  Education.  As  the  Federal  Govern¬ 
ment  has  dealt  with  educational  problems  of  national  scope,  a  de¬ 
sirable  pattern  of  relationships  between  the  Government  of  the  United 
States  and  the  States  and  local  communities  has  developed.  The 
policies  and  practices  developed  under  the  existing  laws  show  clearly 
that  crucial  national  educational  needs  can  be  met  with  the  assistance 
of  the  Federal  Government  without  jeopardizing  the  principle  of 
State  and  local  control  of  education. 

The  record  justifies  the  conviction  that  other  educational  problems, 
national  in  scope,  can  be  dealt  with  through  cooperative  study  and 
effort  on  the  part  of  the  educational  agency  of  the  Government  and 
the  State  and  local  authorities.  Certain  problems  of  that  type  now 
exist.  Some  are  already  receiving  attention;  others  are  not.  An 
examination  of  the  present  American  educational  scene  and  a  look  into 
the  future  will  show  that  we  have  now  entered  a  period  in  our  national 
history  when  the  Office  of  Education  must  take  the  initiative  in  organ¬ 
izing  cooperative  attacks  on  these  problems.  Indeed,  the  best  interests 
of  the  school  system  of  the  Nation  and  of  our  people  as  a  whole  will 
not  be  well  served  if  such  leadership  is  not  assumed  in  the  days  imme¬ 
diately  ahead. 

It  is  important  that  the  Congress  and  citizens  generally  recognize 
the  need  for  action  on  educational  problems  on  a  national  scale.  The 


Office  of  Education 


seven  topics  chosen  for  review  are  intended  to  be  illustrative,  not 
exhaustive.  There  are  others  which  might  have  been  chosen  with 
equal  propriety,  but  these  will  serve  at  once  to  show  the  need  for 
national  service  by  the  Office  of  Education  and,  at  the  same  time,  they 
will  set  forth  some  of  the  principal  activities  of  the  Office  of  Educa¬ 
tion  for  fiscal  year  1952.  These  illustrative  problems  are: 

( 1 )  The  need  for  school  housing. 

(2)  The  need  for  more  teachers. 

(3)  The  three  It’s. 

(4)  Life  adjustment  education. 

(5)  The  education  of  children  of  migratory  workers. 

(G)  The  education  of  exceptional  children. 

(7)  Educational  television. 

THE  NEED  FOR  SCHOOL  HOUSING 

One  of  the  most  serious  situations  existing  in  the  Nation  today  is 
the  shortage  of  schools.  States  and  municipalities  vary  widely  in 
their  capacity  to  build  new  schools  in  replacement  of  those  which  have 
become  obsolete,  or  to  add  to  their  existing  facilities  to  take  care  of 
the  many  additional  children  who  are  appearing  at  schoolhouse  doors 
because  of  the  recent  rapid  increase  in  the  number  of  births  in  the 
United  States.  Related  to  the  major  prolem  of  a  shortage  of  school 
buildings  are  others  of  transportation  of  pupils,  of  reorganization  of 
school  districts,  and  of  school  finance. 

It  has,  of  course,  been  generally  known  that  thousands  of  commu¬ 
nities,  in  addition  to  the  federally  affected  areas,  suffer  from  a  lack 
of  school  facilities  and  are  therefore  seriously  handicapped  in  provid¬ 
ing  even  the  basic  education  required  for  citizenship.  But  no  authori¬ 
tative  and  comprehensive  factual  information  of  the  total  require¬ 
ments  on  a  Nation-wide  basis  has  been  established.  The  Eighty-first 
Congress  wisely  provided  for  a  national  survey  of  the  need  for  new 
schoolhouse  facilities  in  Title  I  of  Public  Law  815.  Through  this 
legislation  the  Office  of  Education,  authorized  to  conduct  such  a 
national  study  in  cooperation  with  the  several  States,  launched  this 
project  in  fiscal  1951. 

The  first  phase  of  the  survey  of  schoolhouse  facilities  was  com¬ 
pleted  in  fiscal  1952,  and  the  facts  established  were  sufficiently  com¬ 
prehensive  and  impressive  to  justify  the  Commissioner  in  reporting 
them  to  the  Congress  in  April  1952.  At  that  time  the  information 
gathered  from  25  States  made  it  possible  to  estimate  the  situation 
on  a  national  scale  with  reasonable  accuracy. 

The  facts  revealed  in  the  survey  by  the  spring  of  1952  are  startling, 
if  not  alarming.  To  provide  adequate  classroom  and  auxiliary  facili¬ 
ties  such  as  gymnasiums  and  auditoriums  for  all  the  children  expected 
to  be  enrolled  in  the  public  schools  in  the  fall  of  1952  would  require 


Annual  Report ,  Federal  Security  Agency,  1952 


a,n  expenditure  of  over  10  billion  dollars.  Moreover,  many  of  the 
school  plants  now  actually  in  use  do  not  meet  acceptable  standards 
of  fire  safety;  40  percent  of  the  school  buildings  are  more  than  30 
years  old  and  16  percent  are  more  than  50  years  old. 

That  this  is  a  national  problem  is  clear  from  the  fact  that  even  the 
States  with  the  most  satisfactory  facilities  are  in  serious  difficulties. 
In  those  States,  too,  the  building  shortage  is  severe  and  will  grow 
worse  in  the  years  ahead  as  a  result  of  the  continuing  rise  in  the 
number  of  births. 

If  it  were  possible  to  provide  adequate  school  housing  for  all  the 
Nation’s  children  this  year  10  billion  dollars  would  be  needed.  Yet 
a  conservative  estimate  by  those  reporting  for  the  States  surveyed 
indicates  that  only  about  half  of  the  necessary  funds  could  now  be 
provided  by  States  and  local  communities  through  the  maximum  utili¬ 
zation  of  bonding  capacities.  Some  form  of  Federal  assistance  is 
imperative  if  the  children  of  the  Nation,  regardless  of  where  they  live, 
are  to  have  the  advantages  even  of  the  basic  education  which  Ameri¬ 
cans  have  traditionally  considered  their  birthright. 

It  will  be  of  interest  to  the  Congress  that  the  first  phase  of  the  study 
it  has  authorized  is  now  substantially  complete.  The  composite  of 
State  surveys  drawn  together  by  the  United  States  Office  of  Educa¬ 
tion  provides  a  comprehensive  over-all  picture  of  the  current  need  for 
schoolhouse  construction  throughout  the  Nation. 

The  second  phase  of  the  survey  will  continue  through  fiscal  1954, 
and  will  consist  of  a  State-by-State  development  of  long-range  master 
plans  for  school  construction.  This  second  phase  will  take  into  con¬ 
sideration  future  enrollment  increases  and  population  shifts  and  will 
determine  the  location,  size,  type,  and  timing  of  school  construction 
projects  needed  by  1960. 

Meanwhile,  many  State  and  local  school  authorities  have  been 
making  an  effort  to  construct  the  buildings  necessary  to  meet  the 
present  and  coming  critical  needs  for  new  schools.  During  the  fiscal 
year  1952  the  Office  of  Education,  under  the  Controlled  Materials 
Plan  of  the  Defense  Production  Act,  issued  permits  and  allocated 
controlled  materials  supporting  educational  construction  valued  at 
$1,878,000,000. 

This  construction  rate  was  possible  during  a  period  of  material 
shortages  because  those  persons  in  the  Defense  Production  Adminis¬ 
tration  responsible  for  policy  decisions  recognized  the  essentiality  of 
education  to  the  national  defense  and  assigned  to  school  construction 
a  position  second  only  to  the  direct  defense  agencies  in  the  allocation 
of  critical  materials. 

In  fulfilling  its  responsibilities  as  the  claimant  agency  for  education 
under  the  controlled  materials  plan,  the  Office  of  Education  has  been 
able  to  approve  all  applications  for  construction  designed  to  relieve 


Office  of  Education 


9 


overcrowding,  with  postponement  only  of  less  essential  types  of  con¬ 
struction,  such  as  gymnasiums,  auditoriums,  and  similar  facilities.  An 
estimated  total  of  49,500  elementary  and  secondary  school  classrooms 
were  completed  during  the  year.  This  number  is  short  by  6,500  class¬ 
rooms  of  the  number  needed  merely  to  care  for  the  1,691,000  pupil 
enrollment  increase  between  September  1, 1951,  and  September  1, 1952. 
During  the  fiscal  year  applications  were  approved  for  the  construction 
of  college  and  library  facilities  valued  at  $327,000,000. 

THE  NEED  FOR  MORE  TEACHERS 

Inadequate  school  housing  is  obviously  detrimental  to  a  sound  educa¬ 
tional  system.  But  there  is  another  national  problem  of  equally  seri¬ 
ous  significance.  It  is  the  present  inadequate  supply  of  properly  edu¬ 
cated  teachers.  To  get  a  true  picture  of  the  teacher  shortage  we  must 
again  look  at  the  Nation  as  a  whole.  For,  it  could  be  shown  that  in 
certain  favored  communities,  especially  in  urban  areas,  many  children 
are  attending  classes  with  no  more  than  25  or  30  students,  that  the 
teachers  in  these  classrooms  have  had  a  full  teacher  education  program 
of  studies,  that  they  hold  first-class  certificates  from  State  authorities, 
that  school  sessions  run  throughout  the  day,  and  that  the  curriculum 
is  complete  with  such  specialized  or  supplementary  instruction  as  is 
needed.  But  for  the  Nation  as  a  whole,  such  a  picture  would  be  false 
and  it  is  just  such  a  distorted  view  which  may  block  progress.  Only 
a  complete  survey  of  every  hamlet  and  county  of  the  Nation  as  well  as 
of  the  big  cities  can  reveal  to  the  citizens  of  this  country  the  seriousness 
of  the  present  teacher  shortage.  More  important,  it  will  show  how 
inevitably  the  present  situation  must  become  worse  in  the  immediate 
years  ahead. 

Even  with  the  incomplete  information  available  at  present,  however, 
the  picture  is  disturbing.  To  bring  this  problem  into  sharper  focus,  let 
us  look  at  two  sets  of  facts  placed  in  juxtaposition :  the  birth  rate  of 
the  Nation,  and  the  annual  number  of  graduates  of  our  teacher-training 
institutions. 

In  the  early  forties,  the  sharp  upward  curve  of  the  national  birth 
rate  was  generally  regarded  as  a  war  phenomenon  from  which  a 
return  to  normal  was  expected  at  the  war’s  end.  However,  all  of  the 
years  since  the  end  of  hostilities  in  1945  have  shown  a  consistently 
high  birth  rate.  The  result  will  be  felt  acutely  in  September  1952, 
when  the  elementary  schools  will  be  called  upon  to  enroll  1,691,000 
more  children  than  a  year  earlier.  From  now  on,  until  at  least  1957 
or  1958,  each  autumn  will  find  hundreds  of  thousands  of  additional 
children  waiting  before  the  school  doors  of  the  United  States.  These 
figures  take  into  account  only  the  children  already  born,  and  no  seri¬ 
ous  student  of  population  problems  envisages  a  sudden  decrease  in 
the  number  of  births  in  the  immediate  future.  Thus,  with  the  lower 


10 


Annual  Report ,  Federal  Security  Agency,  1952 


grades  already  crowded  to  the  bursting  point,  the  continued  high  birth 
rate  will  engulf  an  additional  higher  grade  each  year. 

As  a  parallel  to  the  steadily  increasing  annual  enrollments  in  our 
schools,  the  attention  of  the  Congress  is  directed  to  the  situation  in 
the  colleges  and  universities  where  teachers  are  trained.  It  is  esti¬ 
mated  that  the  need  for  additional  teachers  in  our  schools  for  the  year 
1952-53  will  be  at  least  160,000.  This  is  the  number  required  to  fill 
the  places  left  vacant  by  those  who  will  have  retired,  died,  left  the 
profession  because  of  marriage  or  to  seek  more  attractive  employment, 
and  to  provide  for  the  increased  enrollment.  To  meet  this  need  our 
teacher-training  institutions  have  this  year  graduated  only  106,000 
teachers,  96,000  at  the  A.  B.  degree  level,  and  10,000  below  degree  level 
yet  meeting  certification  requirements  in  some  of  the  States.  An 
estimate  of  the  student  enrollment  in  institutions  preparing  teachers 
indicates  that  the  number  of  graduates  will  not  increase  in  the  years 
immediately  ahead.  In  a  few  years,  the  teacher  shortage  now  so  acute 
in  the  elementary  schools  will  extend  to  our  high  schools.  The  present 
apparent  oversupply  of  teachers  in  some  fields  in  the  high  schools  is 
distinctly  a  temporary  phenomenon  which  will  quickly  change  to  a 
shortage  as  the  present  large  population  in  the  lower  age  groups 
advances  upward  in  the  school  system. 

The  American  people  must  face  the  stern  reality  that  this  dismal 
situation  cannot,  with  the  best  will  in  the  world,  be  changed  much  in 
the  next  3  or  4  years.  Teacher  education,  like  other  education,  can¬ 
not  be  a  makeshift  affair.  It  involves  a  process  of  maturing  for  which 
there  is  no  adequate  substitute. 

Yet  for  the  next  few  years  emergency  steps  must  be  taken  to  relieve 
the  present  situation  as  much  as  possible.  Already  a  dozen  States 
have  established  programs  to  retrain  and  bring  into  elementary 
schools,  teachers  who  had  prepared  to  teach  in  high  school,  or  who  wTere 
graduated  from  a  liberal  arts  college  without  special  preparation  for 
teaching.  Several  other  States  have  set  up  programs  for  teacher 
reserves,  designed  for  qualified  persons  who  may  have  taught  school 
earlier  in  life  but  allowed  their  certificates  to  expire,  or  for  others 
who  have  met  most  but  not  all  of  the  qualifications  for  teaching. 
Some  colleges  and  universities  have  established  special  programs  to 
bring  these  people  up  to  the  minimum  standards  before  placing  them 
in  the  classroom.  These  and  other  makeshifts,  of  necessity,  can  be 
used  temporarily  but  they  are  no  final  or  proper  solution. 

We  must  now  plan  ahead  5,  6,  or  more  years  for  a  permanent  and 
satisfactory  solution  to  the  teacher-shortage  problem.  We  must  begin 
now  by  securing  answers  to  certain  fundamental  questions :  What  is 
behind  the  lack  of  interest  of  American  youth  in  teaching  as  a  pro- 


Office  of  Education 


11 


fession?  How  can  we  increase  enrollment  in  teacher- training  insti¬ 
tutions?  How  can  we  keep  trained  teachers  in  the  schools? 

Many  of  the  facts  which  account  for  the  lack  of  interest  of  Ameri¬ 
can  youth  in  the  teaching  profession  are  known.  There  is,  for  example, 
the  matter  of  inadequate  compensation.  Salaries  of  teachers  have 
always  been  low  compared  to  other  occupations  requiring  education 
beyond  the  high  school.  In  recent  years,  however,  while  the  educa¬ 
tional  requirements  for  teaching  have  risen,  the  salaries  of  teachers 
as  compared  with  those  in  most  other  professions  and  vocations  with 
less  exacting  requirements  have  declined  even  further.  In  many  States 
and  communities  salaries  compare  unfavorably  with  incomes  in  occu¬ 
pations  requiring  little  or  no  formal  education  beyond  the  elementary 
grades. 

There  are  other  factors  which  are  probably  influential  in  making 
the  life  of  a  teacher  unappealing  to  many  young  people.  In  some 
communities,  especially  in  rural  areas,  the  personal  and  social  lives  of 
teachers  are  placed  under  restrictions  which  do  not  apply  to  other 
citizens.  And  some  forms  of  these  restraints  seem  to  be  expanding. 
Infringements  on  freedom  of  expression  and  of  teaching,  for  example, 
exist  to  a  degree  which  alert  young  professional  workers  find  difficult 
to  accept.  The  notion  that  members  of  one  profession — teaching — 
must  be  singled  out  to  make  an  official  declaration  of  their  loyalty  to 
the  United  States  seems  to  many  to  imply  an  atmosphere  of  suspicion 
and  surveillance  which  Americans  of  independent  minds  and  freedom- 
loving  spirits  will  not  tolerate.  There  is  no  more  loyal  group  of  citi¬ 
zens  in  this  country  than  the  educators.  In  short,  many  young  people, 
who  would  have  found  in  teaching  an  opportunity  for  service,  are 
discouraged  from  entering  a  profession  in  which  the  reward  is  too 
often  likely  to  be  public  criticism  and  suspicion,  personal  frustration 
and  annoyance,  little  security,  and  low  pay. 

The  facts  related  so  far  are  easily  visible  from  the  surface.  Actually, 
however,  the  forces  at  work  in  creating  the  present  teacher  shortage 
are  most  intricate  and  require  deep  analysis. 

A  Nation-wide  study  is  urgently  needed:  To  determine  State  by 
State  such  things  as  the  extent  of  the  shortage,  the  rates  at  which 
teachers  leave  the  profession  for  various  reasons,  where  teachers  come 
from,  what  their  salaries  are  in  various  types  of  communities  and 
teaching  positions,  and  why  more  young  people  are  not  entering  the 
profession.  Complete  and  reliable  information  of  this  sort  will  be 
required  before  the  present  disturbing  situation  can  be  corrected. 

A  survey  of  the  teacher  shortage  and  related  matters,  like  that  for 
school  facilities  under  Title  I  of  Public  Law  815,  Eighty-first  Con¬ 
gress,  is  needed  before  effective  action  can  be  taken  on  a  Nation-wide 
basis  to  recruit  and  keep  in  the  profession  the  numbers  and  the  types 
231032—53 - 3 


12 


Annual  Report ,  Federal  Security  Agency ,  1952 


of  young  people  needed  to  provide  a  satisfactory  education  for  all 
American  children  regardless  of  where  they  live. 

This  study  should  be  a  cooperative  enterprise,  involving  the  Office 
of  Education,  the  State  departments  of  education,  educational  asso¬ 
ciations,  and  colleges  and  universities.  If  the  survey  of  school  facili¬ 
ties  may  be  used  as  a  basis  of  judgment,  there  is  reason  to  believe  that 
a  similar  survey  of  the  teacher  shortage  would  provide  the  informa¬ 
tion  needed  to  deal  with  this  problem  which  is  of  such  determinative 
significance  in  the  life  of  our  Nation. 

The  need  for  speedy  action  cannot  be  overstressed.  Ever  greater 
numbers  of  new  students  will  take  their  places  in  our  schools  each 
fall  far  into  the  future.  Unless  action  is  taken  soon  to  change  present 
trends  the  ratio  of  qualified  teachers  to  the  number  of  pupils  will 
decline  still  further.  Emergency  measures  which  in  the  long  run  will 
bring  about  a  further  deterioration  in  the  quality  of  teaching  will  of 
necessity  be  introduced.  Each  year  in  many  communities  classes  will 
become  larger  and  larger,  the  number  of  half-day  sessions  will  in¬ 
crease,  more  emergency  certificates  will  necessarily  be  issued,  more 
short  courses  will  be  offered  to  those  who  have  had  little  earlier  prep¬ 
aration.  The  combined  effect  of  these  expedients  must  inevitably 
be  a  lowering  of  educational  standards  for  a  large  percentage  of  our 
children — the  citizens  who  tomorrow  will  determine  the  destiny  of 
our  Nation.  The  duty  of  patriotic  Americans  in  this  situation  is 
clear:  For  the  security  of  our  Nation,  for  the  welfare  of  our  people, 
we  must  intensify  our  efforts  to  increase  the  number  and  maintain  the 
high  quality  of  the  young  people  entering  the  teaching  profession. 

THE  THREE  R’s  AND  MORE 

From  teachers  to  curriculum  is  but  a  short  step.  Some  members  of 
the  American  public  are  raising  questions  about  certain  aspects  of  the 
teaching  in  the  schools,  questions  concerned  with  the  curriculum — 
with  the  basic  disciplines  generally  referred  to  as  the  “Three  R’s.” 
The  recent  criticisms  of  the  curriculum  have  often  taken  a  dramatic 
form.  Severe  attacks  have  been  launched  in  several  cities  with  echoes 
reverberating  throughout  the  Nation’s  press.  Such  attacks,  no  matter 
how  baseless,  can  have  a  seriously  unsettling  influence  upon  the  public 
mind.  Americans  feel  a  close  kinship  with  their  schools  which,  they 
realize,  play  an  important  role  in  the  lives  of  their  children.  Not 
even  the  slightest  doubt  cast  upon  the  school’s  effectiveness,  therefore, 
can  be  safely  disregarded. 

We  are  in  the  fortunate  position  of  being  able  to  prevent  a  crisis 
in  American  education  growing  out  of  such  misunderstandings.  The 
vast  majority  of  Americans  have  confidence  in  their  schools.  The 
keen  interest  exhibited  by  hundreds  of  thousands  of  citizens  in  the 
activities  of  local  groups  organized  in  connection  with  the  National 


Office  of  Education 


13 


Citizens  Commission  for  the  Public  Schools  and  the  National  Con¬ 
gress  of  Parents  and  Teachers  proves  that  our  people  have  faith  that 
whatever  inadequacies  exist  in  the  schools  can  be  corrected  through 
the  cooperation  of  educators  and  citizens  generally. 

The  problem  of  the  teaching  of  the  basic  subjects  needs  definition. 
What  is  the  basis  for  some  of  the  dissatisfaction  expressed  about  the 
quality  of  instruction?  To  some  degree,  at  least,  this  stems  from  the 
very  nature  of  the  educational  process.  American  education  has 
made  great  strides  in  recent  decades.  Increasingly,  our  schools  are 
becoming  child-centered  and  community-centered ;  our  teaching,  less  a 
matter  of  drill  and  more  of  personal  experience.  Emphasis  is  upon 
the  development  of  the  ability  to  think,  upon  the  growth  of  person¬ 
ality,  upon  the  acquisition  of  skills.  There  are,  quite  naturally,  dif¬ 
ferences  of  opinion  among  educators  on  educational  theory  and  prac¬ 
tice.  There  is  complete  agreement,  however,  that  children  of  today, 
living  in  an  atomic  age,  cannot  be  taught  the  same  subject  matter  and 
with  the  same  methods  and  materials  which  served  the  needs  of  earlier 
generations.  In  an  age  of  progress,  education,  too,  must  keep  pace  or 
decline  in  usefulness. 

Educational  progress,  however,  is  a  long  and  complicated  process, 
in  which  the  citizens,  parents,  and  others  must  participate  step  by 
step.  Their  interest  must  be  enlisted,  and  the  changes  must  meet  with 
their  approval.  This  places  a  heavy  burden  on  the  busy  layman  and  an 
even  greater  one  upon  the  school,  but  the  lines  of  communication  must 
be  kept  open  if  our  citizens  are  to  understand  the  school  program 
and  support  it.  Lack  of  understanding  of  changes  in  teaching  ma¬ 
terials  and  methods  is  at  the  basis  of  most  of  the  present  criticisms  of 
the  teaching  of  the  subjects  called  the  “Three  R’s.” 

To  speak  of  the  modern  curriculum  solely  in  terms  of  the  “Three 
R's”  is  an  anachronism.  It  is  an  emotional  rather  than  a  scientific 
approach.  Its  use  is  designed  to  appeal  to  nostalgia,  rather  than  to 
the  practical  sense  of  the  American  citizen.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  how¬ 
ever,  most  professional  students  of  the  elementary  schools  believe  that 
today  we  teach  the  traditional  elementary  subjects — reading,  writing, 
spelling,  arithmetic — as  well  as,  if  not  better  than,  these  subjects  were 
taught  in  our  grandfather’s  day.  And  the  schools  teach  many  other 
things  besides.  They  give  instruction  and  experience  in  fields  of 
knowledge  and  areas  of  living  totally  untouched  by  the  schools  of  an 
earlier  day. 

The  difficulty  is  that  the  evidence  to  support  the  claim  that  schools 
do  a  better  job  today  than  they  did  some  years  ago  is  scattered  and 
not  easily  accessible.  To  shed  light  on  the  present  controversy  a  body 
of  authoritative  information,  scientific  data,  gathered  by  competent 
professional  workers  is,  therefore,  urgently  needed.  Opinions  of 
prominent  educators,  however  valuable,  will  not  serve  for  this  purpose. 


14 


Annual  Report ,  Federal  Security  Agency,  1952 


A  national  enterprise  should  be  undertaken,  enlisting  the  efforts  of 
schoolmen,  scholars,  and  laymen,  to  bring  together  research  informa¬ 
tion  on  the  teaching  of  the  basic  disciplines  and  other  subjects  such  as 
physical  education,  social  studies,  the  sciences,  music,  and  what  these 
contribute  to  the  lives  of  our  young  people. 

The  advantages  of  such  a  project  would  be  many.  One :  The  facts 
about  the  curriculum  of  the  modern  school  could  be  made  available  to 
the  public  in  suitable  form  thus  providing  a  basis  for  an  intelligent 
evaluation  of  present  practices.  Two :  Information  on  current  cur¬ 
riculum  changes  and  improvements  would  be  more  easily  channeled 
to  members  of  the  profession  in  all  parts  of  the  country.  Three :  Fur¬ 
ther  changes  and  improvements  on  a  Nation-wide  basis  would  thus 
be  encouraged  through  constructive  suggestions  and  interchange  of 
experience  rather  than  adversely  critical  attack. 

This  project  should  thus  be  concerned  not  only  with  the  gathering 
of  reliable  information,  but  also  with  its  distribution  among  the  people. 
A  nationally  representative  body  of  educators  and  laymen,  working 
with  diligence  and  devotion,  gathering  and  disseminating  information 
on  the  effectiveness  of  instruction  and  of  the  total  school  program, 
would  remove  the  doubts  of  many  of  those  who  now  question  whether 
our  schools  are  adequately  preparing  the  children  of  this  generation 
to  live  full  lives  as  human  beings  and  as  effective  citizens. 

LIFE  ADJUSTMENT  EDUCATION 

In  the  field  of  secondary  education  there  are  a  number  of  problems 
which,  though  less  dramatic,  nevertheless  call  for  long-range  plan¬ 
ning  if  they  are  to  be  successfully  dealt  with. 

One  of  the  most  significant  features  of  American  society  is  the 
growth  in  the  high-school  population.  Since  1890  it  has  doubled  every 
10  years  until  the  high  point  was  reached  in  1940  with  an  enrollment 
of  more  than  7,000,000.  The  drop  in  the  last  decade  may  largely  be 
attributed  to  the  decline  in  the  birth  rate  during  the  thirties.  Soon, 
however,  there  will  be  another  increase  and  by  1960  it  is  estimated 
that  high-school  enrollment  will  exceed  8,000,000.  Thus  while  in  1890 
only  7  percent  of  the  eligible  youth  were  enrolled  in  high  school,  in 
1950  the  percentage  had  risen  to  77  percent  and  there  will  be  further 
increases  in  the  years  ahead. 

All  the  more  reason,  therefore,  why  it  is  our  obligation  at  this  time 
to  give  a  realistic  accounting  of  the  achievements  of  secondary  edu¬ 
cation  in  the  United  States.  Though  secondary  education  is  serving 
the  needs  of  many  young  people  of  high-school  age  the  complete 
picture  is  not  so  satisfactory  as  the  enrollment  statistics  would  make 
it  appear.  Studies  reveal  that  despite  great  increases  in  the  percentage 
of  youth  of  high-school  age  who  are  in  school,  we  still  fall  short  of  the 


Office  of  Education 


15 


goal  of  providing  equal  educational  opportunity  for  all,  for  1  youth  in 
5  still  does  not  enter  high  school.  And  fewer  than  63  percent  of  those 
who  do  enter  remain  to  graduate. 

The  Office  of  Education  began  some  years  ago  to  help  the  high 
schools  serve  more  completely  the  needs  of  American  youth  through 
the  work  of  the  Commission  on  Life  Adjustment  Education.  This 
Commission,  established  by  the  Office  following  a  national  conference 
held  in  Chicago  in  1947,  took  steps  to  develop  a  program  of  life 
adjustment  education  “designed  to  equip  all  American  youth  to  live 
democratically  with  satisfaction  to  themselves  and  profit  to  society 
as  home  members,  workers  and  citizens.”  1  The  work  of  the  first 
Commission  on  Life  Adjustment  Education  which  completed  its  term 
in  1951  is  going  forward  under  a  second  Commission  appointed  in  that 
year. 

The  crucial  problem  with  which  these  Commissions  have  been  con¬ 
cerned  is  how  to  provide  adequately  for  pupils  of  all  intellectual  levels. 
Before  the  great  influx  of  recent  decades  the  problem  was  relatively 
simple.  In  1890,  for  example,  nearly  all  liigh-school  students  in¬ 
tended  to  go  to  college  and  the  instruction  they  received  was  designed 
to  prepare  them  for  advanced  education.  Today  only  one  in  five  goes 
to  college.  Vocational  training  is  pursued  by  another  20  percent  of 
high-scliool  students.  The  middle  group  of  60  percent  embraces  the 
young  people  which  life  adj  ustment  education  is  attempting  especially 
to  serve. 

In  behalf  of  this  group  of  American  youth  we  must  come  to  grips 
with  the  educational  goals  of  our  modern  society.  If  not  a  college 
education,  then  what?  How  are  these  young  people  to  be  encouraged 
to  remain  in  school  beyond  the  legal  age  limit  ?  How  are  they  to  be 
helped  best  to  utilize  the  time  they  do  spend  in  school  in  preparation 
to  face  the  problems  of  life? 

For  these  young  Americans  secondary  education  must  have  new 
objectives  designed  to  meet  their  particular  needs.  Young  people 
vary  greatly  in  their  abilities  and  in  their  capacities  to  learn.  All  of 
them,  however,  are  capable  of  development  as  valuable  members  of 
society.  A  narrow  academic  education,  far  from  helping  all  youth  to 
mature  properly,  often  causes  social  maladjustment,  thwarts  the  de¬ 
sire  to  learn,  and  creates  attitudes  of  failure  and  resignation  detri¬ 
mental  both  to  youth  and  to  society  as  a  whole.  The  large  number  of 
young  people  who  leave  high  school  before  graduation  is  an  indication 
that  for  them  we  have  failed  to  establish  a  suitable  education. 

The  life  adjustment  education  program  is  fashioning  a  revised  cur¬ 
riculum  which  stresses  the  basic  objectives  of  good  health,  command 


1  Vitalizing  Secondary  Education.  U.  S.  Office  of  Education.  1951. 


16 


Annual  Report ,  Federal  Security  Agency ,  1952 


of  fundamental  processes,  worthy  home  membership,  civic  competence, 
good  use  of  leisure  time,  and  the  development  of  ethical  character. 
There  is  a  growing  recognition  that  in  our  modern  society  the  develop¬ 
ment  of  social  attitudes,  of  occupational  efficiency,  of  an  understanding 
of  the  relationship  between  employer  and  employee,  can  no  longer  be 
left  to  chance.  These  objectives  are  basic  in  the  life  adjustment 
program. 

The  Commission  on  Life  Adjustment  Education  is  a  cooperative 
project  on  a  .Nation-wide  scale  designed  to  hnd  suitable  types  of  high- 
scliool  education  for  these  youth.  The  success  of  this  project  centered 
in  the  United  States  Office  of  Education  is  indicated  by  the  fact  that 
22  States  have  established  some  type  of  formal  body  to  take  the  initia¬ 
tive  in  the  development  of  life  adjustment  education  programs.  The 
work  is  gradually  being  extended  to  all  States.  Before  the  benefits  of 
these  efforts  to  revise  the  high-school  curriculum  in  such  a  way  as  to 
serve  the  needs  of  all  American  youth  can  be  fully  successful,  greater 
resources  are  needed  in  the  Office  of  Education.  The  cost  in  compari¬ 
son  to  the  total  national  expenditure  on  secondary  education  would 
be  insignificant.  Yet  it  can  bring  about  a  vitalization  of  this  entire 
unit  of  American  education  with  tremendous  benefit  to  the  whole 
Nation. 

Thus  far,  this  report  has  dealt  with  Nation-wide  problems  affecting 
American  children  generally.  The  attention  of  the  Congress  is  now 
drawn  to  several  problems,  equally  urgent,  prevailing  in  specific  edu¬ 
cational  areas  or  in  certain  regions  of  the  country. 

CHILDREN  OF  MIGRATORY  WORKERS  NEED  EDUCATION 

One  challenging  problem  grows  out  of  a  basic  economic  and  social 
situation  involving  the  children  of  migratory  workers.  The  Congress 
has  already  given  serious  attention  to  certain  matters  related  to  mi¬ 
grant  workers.  The  Subcommittee  on  Labor  and  Labor-Management 
Kelations  of  the  Senate  Committee  on  Labor  and  Public  Welfare  held 
a  number  of  hearings  during  the  second  session  of  the  Eighty-second 
Congress  on  the  conditions  of  life  among  the  several  million  migratory 
agricultural  workers  in  the  United  States.  The  basic  facts  concerning 
these  children,  insofar  as  we  have  facts,  are  recapitulated  here  to 
indicate  the  seriousness  and  the  scope  of  the  problem.  How  many 
children  are  involved  ?  What  geographical  course  do  their  migrations 
follow  ?  What  is  their  educational  status  ? 

The  number  of  migrant  agricultural  workers’  children  now  living 
in  the  several  States  cannot  be  accurately  estimated.  Those  who  have 
studied  the  matter  most  carefully,  however,  believe  that  between  a 
quarter  and  a  half  million  children  are  involved.  Most  of  them  travel 
with  their  parents  in  four  identifiable  streams:  (1)  from  lower  Cali¬ 
fornia,  moving  northwest  through  the  State  and  ending  in  Oregon 


Office  of  Education 


17 


or  Washington  or  Idaho;  (2)  from  Arizona  or  New  Mexico,  moving 
np  through  the  Mountain  States  to  the  Canadian  border;  (3)  from 
Texas  or  New  Mexico,  moving  northward  along  the  Mississippi  River 
and  the  adjacent  States  to  Michigan  and  Minnesota;  and  (4)  from 
Florida,  moving  through  the  Southeastern  and  Middle  Atlantic  States 
to  New  England,  often  as  far  as  the  potato  fields  of  Maine.  They 
remain  in  a  given  community  long  enough  to  plant  or  harvest  a  crop  of 
fruits  or  vegetables.  Then  after  a  few  days  or  a  few  weeks,  they  move 
on  to  another  location.  Generally,  these  workers  and  their  children, 
though  welcomed  with  open  arms  to  perform  the  casual  labor  without 
which  the  community  would  fail  economically,  are  rejected  socially 
as  soon  as  their  special  job  is  done.  Usually,  their  living  conditions 
are  poor,  and  the  social  services  available  to  the  rest  of  the  commu¬ 
nity — medical  care,  education,  sanitation,  fire  and  police  protection — 
are  meagerly  provided  or  entirely  missing.  Children  of  from  8  to  14 
years  of  age,  who  should  be  in  school,  work  in  the  field  often  with  the 
encouragement  of  parents  and  employers.  Neither  school  attendance 
officers  nor  representatives  of  the  Department  of  Labor  are  able  to 
make  local  school  attendance  laws  effective  among  these  nomads.  In 
some  communities  there  is  little  inclination  on  the  part  of  the  authori¬ 
ties  to  do  so.  Consequently  the  educational  achievements  of  these 
children  range  from  zero  to  4,  5,  or  6  years  of  schooling,  usually  with 
accomplishment  below  that  of  other  children  who  have  had  the  same 
number  of  years  of  schooling.  Studies  in  some  regions  reveal  that 
children  of  migrant  workers  actually  show  a  lower  average  educational 
achievement  than  their  parents.  Clearly,  we  are  losing  ground. 

The  United  States  Office  of  Education,  encouraged  by  the  Depart¬ 
ment  of  Labor,  by  State  educational  officials,  faculty  members  of  col¬ 
leges  and  universities,  private  philanthropic  organizations,  ns  well  as 
by  Members  of  Congress,  has  launched  a  small-scale  study  of  the 
education  of  these  children  of  migratory  workers.  With  the  limited 
resources  available,  only  the  merest  beginning  could  be  made  in  meet¬ 
ing  this  sorely  aggravated  and  highly  volatile  situation.  Nevertheless, 
with  the  help  of  educators  in  many  sections  of  the  country,  we  have 
succeeded  at  least  in  determining  the  scope  of  the  problem  and  outlin¬ 
ing  tho  activities  which  should  he  carried  forward  to  provide  a  work¬ 
able  program  for  the  education  of  the  children  of  migratory  workers. 

A  larger  Federal  interest  in  the  plight  of  these  children  and  more  ef¬ 
fective  activity  in  their  behalf  are  imperative  National  responsibility 
is  appropriate  because  these  under-age  migrants,  tomorrow’s  citizens, 
reside  in  several  different  States  during  the  course  of  each  year.  The 
children  whose  education  is  being  neglected  may  move  annually  from 
Texas  to  Oklahoma,  Missouri,  Iowa,  and  Michigan,  only  to  repeat  the 
cycle  during  the  next  crop  season.  Ten  years  hence  they  may  be  living 


18 


Annual  Report ,  Federal  Security  Agency ,  1952 


as  adults  in  St.  Louis,  Chicago,  Detroit,  or  New  York.  Their  produc¬ 
tive  capacity  will  be  limited  by  their  lack  of  early  education;  their 
earnings  will  probably  be  low.  They  are  far  more  likely  to  become 
a  community  responsibility  than  other  more  adequately  trained  citi¬ 
zens.  Since  no  one  State  or  community  can  rightfully  be  charged 
with  their  education,  Federal  initiative  is  necessary  to  establish  a 
joint  responsibility. 

Ours  is  a  Nation  which  subscribes  to  the  principle  that  each  indi¬ 
vidual  is  entitled  to  the  full  educational  opportunities  generally 
available.  To  deprive  these  migrant  children  of  such  opportunities 
because  of  the  economic  and  occupational  circumstances  of  their  par¬ 
ents  is  inconsistent  with  this  principle.  From  the  point  of  view  of 
national  interest,  we  need  manpower — well-trained  manpower,  and 
there  can  be  no  justification  for  this  waste  of  our  human  resources. 
The  Office  of  Education,  as  a  Federal  agency,  should  be  charged  with 
the  responsibility  of  organizing  a  comprehensive  and  thorough  study 
of  the  present  educational  opportunities,  or  the  lack  of  them,  for  chil¬ 
dren  of  migrant  workers.  It  should  do  so  in  cooperation  with  the 
educational  authorities  of  the  several  States.  This  study  ought  to 
lead  to  the  development  of  a  plan  by  which  the  present  situation  can 
be  remedied. 

Does  this  mean  that  the  Government  is  to  take  sole  responsibility 
for  the  education  of  these  migrant  children  ?  The  answer  obviously  is 
in  the  negative.  The  principle  of  local  control  applies  here  as  to  all 
other  areas  of  education.  But  the  United  States  Office  of  Education 
is  in  the  unique  position  of  being  able  to  muster  the  resources  available 
in  State  offices  of  education,  local  school  systems,  colleges  and  uni¬ 
versities,  departments  of  Government,  and  private  agencies  for  a 
vigorous  attack  upon  this  problem.  The  limited  effort  which  has  been 
possible  with  the  resources  available  has  brought  a  quick,  sympathetic, 
and  earnest  response  from  many  citizens  in  all  sections  of  the  country. 
They  urge  the  energetic  continuance  of  present  efforts  on  an  enlarged 
scale. 

EXCEPTIONAL  CHILDREN  DESERVE  EQUAL  OPPORTUNITY 

The  migratory  child  is  a  problem  created  by  the  twentieth  century 
mobility  of  our  people  plus  economic  and  social  maladjustments.  He 
and  his  fellow  migrants  belong  to  the  Nation’s  educationally  under¬ 
privileged,  but  they  constitute  only  a  minority  within  that  group. 
They  are  outnumbered  by  at  least  ten  to  one  by  5,000,000  other  children 
who  for  educational  purposes  are  designated  as  “exceptional.”  Though 
the  problem  of  “exceptional”  children  is  as  old  as  history,  special  edu¬ 
cational  efforts  to  meet  it  are  of  but  recent  origin.  Today  these  chil¬ 
dren  still  constitute  a  challenge  to  our  democratic  community. 


Office  of  Education 


19 


Who  are  the  “exceptional”  children?  The  term  covers  a  wide 
range  of  physical  handicaps,  mental  defects,  social  maladjustment, 
emotional  disturbance,  and,  on  the  other  side  of  the  scale,  exceptional 
talents  and  extraordinary  mental  gifts.  In  the  United  States  it  is 
estimated  that  more  than  2,000,000  boys  and  girls  have  physical  handi¬ 
caps  of  varying  severity;  700,000  are  slow  learning.  The  rest  of  the 
5,000,000  can  be  classified  within  the  many  categories  of  the  mentally 
defective,  the  maladjusted,  and  the  specially  gifted. 

The  partially  handicapped  present  the  more  difficult  problem.  Tra¬ 
ditionally,  Americans  with  their  keen  sense  of  responsibility  toward 
those  whom  nature  has  rendered  helpless  were  primarily  concerned 
with  the  problem  of  the  totally  disabled.  For  example,  some  blind 
children  were  cared  for  in  residential  institutions  as  far  back  as  a 
century  ago.  Not  until  1911,  however,  were  the  first  day-classes  for 
partially  seeing  children  opened.  Since  then,  progress  has  been  made 
in  providing  State  and  local  programs  for  the  education  of  all  types 
of  exceptional  children.  But  considered  in  terms  of  the  full  needs,  it 
is  not  much  more  than  a  beginning. 

According  to  the  most  recent  reports  only  about  15  percent  of  the 
exceptional  children  who  need  special  help  by  the  schools  are  cur¬ 
rently  receiving  it.  The  same  factors  which  have  contributed  to  the 
growth  of  other  serious  problems  in  American  education  have  doubt¬ 
less  been  responsible  also  for  our  lethargy  in  developing  appropriate 
education  for  the  exceptional  child.  We  have  suffered  from  a  scatter¬ 
ing  of  effort,  from  the  absence  of  a  national  viewpoint,  the  lack  of  a 
central  organization  which  could  identify  the  problem  as  being 
Nation-wide  in  scope  and  which  could  stimulate  a  pooling  of  expe¬ 
rience  on  a  Nation-wide  basis.  Now,  however,  Americans  have  awak¬ 
ened  to  their  responsibility  and  they  are  demanding  action  in  behalf 
of  these  children.  Educational  authorities  throughout  the  country 
are  convinced  that  within  a  few  years  public  opinion  will  demand 
that  practically  all  such  children  be  admitted  to  the  public  schools. 

But  will  the  schools  be  ready  for  them  ?  Will  they  have  properly 
trained  teachers?  Proper  housing?  Will  they  be  able  to  provide  the 
kind  of  education  which  will  serve  the  special  needs  of  these  children  ? 
At  present  some  of  these  questions  must  be  answered  in  the  negative. 
A  number  of  factors  retard  the  expansion  of  programs  for  exceptional 
children.  Among  them  are  the  shortage  of  qualified  teachers,  the 
high  cost  of  special  education,  inadequate  school  housing  and  facilities. 

Of  all  the  factors  holding  back  the  service  none  is  so  crucial  as  the 
lack  of  qualified  personnel.  The  difficulty  in  recruiting  teachers, 
however,  is  not  the  whole  problem.  A  more  basic  matter  is  the  neces¬ 
sity  to  determine  what  specific  qualifications  should  be  possessed  by 
those  concerned  with  the  education  of  exceptional  children.  If  these 


20 


Annual  Report ,  Federal  Security  Agency ,  1952 


qualifications  could  be  more  adequately  identified  it  would  then  be 
much  easier  to  seek  out  the  kind  of  people  who  have  suitable  char¬ 
acteristics  and  to  plan  curricula  for  their  professional  preparation. 
Many  groups  and  individuals  have  recognized  the  need  for  this  type 
of  information  on  a  Nation-wide  scale.  Many  have  named  the  Office 
of  Education  as  the  logical  agency  to  initiate  and  carry  out  such  a 
study. 

The  main  deterrent  to  the  launching  of  this  important  national  proj¬ 
ect  was  the  lack  of  funds  available  from  governmental  sources.  This 
situation  was  fortunately  remedied  in  the  late  fall  of  1951,  when  a 
grant  of  $25,500  was  made  by  a  private  agency  enabling  the  Office  of 
Education  to  initiate  such  a  study,  which  is  now  known  as  Qualifica¬ 
tions  and  Preparation  of  Teachers  of  Exceptional  Children.  This 
project,  directed  by  an  Office  specialist,  has  the  advice  and  assistance 
of  two  committees,  one  a  National  Committee  of  Leaders  in  Special 
Education,  and  the  other  an  Office  Policy  Committee. 

This  enterprise  is  another  excellent  example  of  the  type  of  coopera¬ 
tive  action  which  can  be  so  effective  in  dealing  with  a  national  educa¬ 
tion  problem.  It  involves  the  Office  of  Education,  over  20  organiza¬ 
tions  devoted  to  the  problems  of  exceptional  children,  national  educa¬ 
tional  agencies,  and  the  education  departments  of  the  several  States. 
The  principal  purpose  of  the  project  is  to  study  the  qualifications  and 
preparation  of  teachers  of  exceptional  children.  When  completed, 
the  study  will  make  available  a  fund  of  information  which  will :  (1) 

assist  State  departments  of  education  and  local  school  systems  in 
developing  and  revising  standards  for  teachers  of  exceptional  chil¬ 
dren;  (2)  assist  colleges  and  universities  in  developing  and  revising 
curricula  for  teachers  of  exceptional  children;  (3)  form  a  basis  for 
improving  educational  programs  for  exceptional  children;  (4)  con¬ 
tribute  to  a  better  understanding  of  the  needs  of  exceptional  children 
by  the  general  public;  (5)  assist  prospective  teachers  in  deciding 
whether  or  not  they  wish  to  become  teachers  of  exceptional  children, 
and  in  planning  their  professional  preparation;  (6)  assist  in  the 
clarification  of  controversial  issues  concerning  the  qualifications 
needed  by  special  education  teachers,  and  thus  help  to  form  a  basis 
for  better  cooperation  among  professional  personnel;  (7)  serve  to 
identify  problems  for  further  study  by  both  public  and  private  agen¬ 
cies  as  well  as  by  individuals.  The  findings  in  this  study  will  reflect 
the  opinions,  the  experiences,  and  the  achievements  of  hundreds  of 
specialists  throughout  the  country,  and  will  serve  as  the  basis  for  the 
development  of  educational  programs  for  the  preparation  of  teachers 
in  all  branches  of  special  education.  This  first  step  in  the  study  will 
be  followed  by  an  intensive  informational  program  beamed  to  the 
educational  profession  and  the  public  as  well. 


Office  of  Education 


21 


This  study  represents  a  great  step  forward  in  American  education. 
Though  progress  will  necessarily  be  slower  than  the  urgency  of  the 
situation  demands,  the  establishment  of  certain  basic  principles  will 
save  years  of  groping,  of  trial  and  error,  in  the  effort  to  remove  the 
greatest  obstacle  to  the  education  of  exceptional  children,  the  lack  of 
qualified  teachers. 

Exceptional  children,  millions  in  number,  constitute  a  large  reser¬ 
voir  of  potentially  useful  manpower.  Their  potential  usefulness, 
however,  can  be  realized  only  if  proper  educational  services  are  pro¬ 
vided  in  the  home  and  the  community  while  these  citizens  are  still 
children.  Their  welfare  demands  that  the  community  provide  teach¬ 
ers  who  are  equipped  by  specialized  knowledge,  skills,  and  understand¬ 
ings  to  help  these  boys  and  girls  who,  otherwise,  will  not  develop  their 
possibilities  to  the  fullest.  To  carry  on  with  the  present  project  and 
to  initiate  additional  studies  will  require  more  resources  than  are  at 
present  available.  And  though  full  advantage  should  be  taken  of  all 
available  grants  from  private  agencies,  the  Office  should  have  its  own 
resources  to  initiate  necessary  additional  studies,  and  to  follow  up  on 
the  findings  in  the  present  study. 

EDUCATIONAL  TELEVISION 

The  seventh  and  final  item  on  our  agenda  of  educational  matters  of 
national  concern  is  the  task  of  realizing  the  full  potentiality  of  tele¬ 
vision  as  a  medium  of  instruction  and  communication.  Television 
probably  holds  greater  promise  for  education  than  any  other  single 
development  since  the  invention  of  the  printing  press. 

The  profession  of  education  generally  approaches  new  developments 
with  caution.  The  widespread  enthusiasm  for  television  is  therefore 
significant  especially  since  it  is  based  on  long  experience  with  related 
media  and  on  scientific  research  on  the  learning  capacities  of  students. 
Television  has  added  another  important  dimension  to  time-tested  and 
proven  audio-visual  techniques.  The  old-time  lantern  slides,  the  film 
strip,  the  silent  and  then  the  sound  motion  picture,  the  AM  radio,  and 
lastly  the  FM  radio  have  been  the  proving  ground  for  educational 
methods  which  with  further  experimentation  can  be  brought  to  a  high 
state  of  effectiveness  in  television  broadcasting. 

The  scientific  research  which  produced  television  was  virtually 
completed  by  the  beginning  of  World  War  II,  but  its  practical  develop¬ 
ment  had  to  wait.  The  very  fact  of  delay  in  an  already  technologically 
perfected  medium,  together  with  its  tremendous  commercial  possi¬ 
bilities,  has  greatly  speeded  up  the  development  of  television  broad¬ 
casting  since  the  close  of  the  war.  Since  then  television  has  thrust 
its  coaxial  cables  and  relay  towers  over  much  of  the  country.  The 
pace  at  which  television  developed  commercially  complicated  the  prob¬ 
lem  of  its  utilization  in  education.  Experience  in  the  experimental 


22 


Annual  Report ,  Federal  Security  Agency ,  1952 


stages  had  convinced  educators  of  its  instructional  value.  It  became 
immediately  apparent,  however,  that  educational  use  of  the  new  medi¬ 
um  was  not  compatible  with  successful  commercial  operation.  Time 
was  simply  too  valuable  in  an  operation  which  measured  an  hour  in 
terms  of  thousands  of  dollars.  Education  became  convinced  that, 
as  in  the  case  of  FM  radio,  a  portion  of  the  spectrum  must  be  reserved 
from  the  public  domain  for  the  use  of  educational  television  broad¬ 
casting.  The  force  of  this  view,  together  with  engineering  and  tech¬ 
nical  problems  resulting  from  rapid  commercial  development,  caused 
the  Federal  Communications  Commission  to  issue  a  “freeze  order” 
under  date  of  September  30,  1948,  withholding  the  further  granting 
of  television  broadcasting  licenses  pending  hearings  to  consider  edu¬ 
cational  and  other  needs. 

In  the  autumn  of  1950  the  United  States  Office  of  Education  joined 
with  the  National  Association  of  Educational  Broadcasters  and  the 
Association  for  Education  by  Radio  in  calling  a  national  meeting  for 
the  purpose  of  planning  representation  at  the  hearings  scheduled  to 
be  held  by  the  Federal  Communications  Commission  in  November  of 
that  year.  An  outcome  of  this  meeting  was  the  establishment  of  the 
Joint  Committee  on  Educational  Television.  Under  the  auspices  of 
the  Office  and  of  the  joint  committee,  87  representatives  of  principal 
educational  organizations  in  the  United  States  appeared  before  the 
Federal  Communications  Commission.  In  addition,  a  number  of 
Members  of  both  the  Senate  and  the  House  of  Representatives  ap¬ 
peared  in  support  of  the  request  for  setting  aside  channels  for  educa¬ 
tional  use.  In  his  testimony  before  the  Commission,  the  Commis¬ 
sioner  of  Education  recommended  that  an  adequate  number  of  both 
very-high-frequency  and  ultra-high-frequency  channels  be  set  aside 
for  educational  television  broadcasting  and  that  these  channels  be 
reserved  for  a  sufficient  length  of  time  to  enable  educational  institu¬ 
tions  to  develop  plans  for  their  use. 

The  case  for  education  in  television  was  effectively  presented.  The 
“Sixth  Report  and  Order”  of  the  FCC,  dated  April  14,  1952,  assigned 
242  television  channels  for  educational  purposes,  about  12  percent  of 
the  total  2,000  channels  available.  These  reservations  are  subject  to 
review  after  June  2, 1953. 

Evidence  is  at  hand  that  educational  institutions  are  moving  rapidly 
to  take  advantage  of  these  reserved  channels.  Within  60  days  after 
the  issuance  of  the  order  14  applications  were  filed  with  the  FCC  and 
8  channels  actually  assigned.  Reports  received  by  the  Office  of  Edu¬ 
cation  indicate  that  more  than  four  hundred  school  systems  and 
educational  institutions  are  in  various  stages  of  planning  for  the 
utilization  of  television. 


Office  of  Education 


23 


Even  the  current  gratifying  response  to  the  ruling  of  the  FCC  will 
fall  short  of  full  realization  of  expectations  and  requirements  unless 
additional  support  can  be  given  to  the  schools,  institutions,  and  State 
and  local  educational  organizations.  Relatively  large  sums  of  money 
are  involved  in  establishing  and  operating  television  broadcasting 
stations.  School  boards,  boards  of  trustees,  State  legislatures,  and 
private  endowing  sources  require  time  to  consider  such  enterprises, 
especially  where  public  financing,  hedged  about  as  it  is  legally,  is  in¬ 
volved.  Moreover,  a  great  deal  of  experience  and  guidance  must  be 
made  available  to  educational  broadcasters  both  before  and  after  such 
a  station  is  established. 

A  beginning  has  been  made  toward  the  provision  of  Nation-wide 
research  and  advisory  services  in  the  area  of  educational  television 
broadcasting.  The  Joint  Committee  on  Educational  Television,  oper¬ 
ating  under  a  grant  from  the  Fund  for  Adult  Education  of  the  Ford 
Foundation,  is  advising  educational  institutions  on  legal,  engineering, 
and  programing  problems.  The  United  States  Navy  has  developed 
effective  training  programs  through  the  use  of  television  and  these 
programs  are  open  to  observation  and  research.  The  United  States 
Office  of  Education,  though  severely  limited  in  staff  and  funds  for 
services,  has  outlined  a  program  of  research  and  advisory  assistance. 
The  Office  has  also  published  a  monograph,  “Television  in  Our 
Schools”  (Bulletin  1952,  No.  16,  Federal  Security  Agency,  Office  of 
Education),  which  contains  much  information  about  the  development 
and  use  of  educational  television.  The  services  currently  available, 
both  public  and  private,  are,  however,  wholly  inadequate.  State  edu¬ 
cational  agencies,  local  school  systems,  and  colleges  and  universities 
require  much  more  help  in  developing  their  television  facilities  if 
this  potentially  great  new  medium  of  instruction  is  to  make  its  maxi¬ 
mum  contribution  to  the  formal  educational  programs  of  the  schools, 
colleges,  and  universities,  and  to  the  education  of  adults  through  dis¬ 
cussions,  lectures,  demonstrations,  and  the  vicarious  experiences  of 
travel  and  historical  review. 

I  should  like  to  outline  here  some  of  the  services  which  will  be  needed 
by  educational  agencies  in  television  broadcasting.  These  are  only  the 
pressing  current  needs  which  unquestionably  will  grow  and  change 
from  time  to  time.  Though  these  services  are  described  with  special 
reference  to  the  Office  of  Education,  they  are  sufficiently  comprehen¬ 
sive  to  include  the  activities  of  other  agencies  as  well. 

(1)  Since  not  enough  wave  lengths  are  available  to  enable  each 
school  system  to  have  its  own  broadcasting  station,  a  pattern  for  the 
cooperative  establishment  of  educational  television  stations  must  be 
developed.  In  most  communities  all  institutions  with  responsibilities 
for  education,  both  public  and  private,  will  need  to  form  a  partner- 


24 


Annual  Report ,  Federal  Security  Agency ,  1952 


ship.  In  some  cases  State-wide  networks  may  be  practicable.  In  every 
case  educational  statesmanship  and  good  will  among  participants  will 
be  required  to  insure  that  all  groups  have  their  rightful  access  to  broad¬ 
casting  facilities.  The  decentralization  of  educational  responsibilities 
results  in  large  and  varied  local  practices.  But  these  desirable  varia¬ 
tions  create  the  need  for  advice  as  to  proper  organizational  patterns 
to  serve  given  situations. 

(2)  Administrative  principles  suitable  for  cooperative  local  opera¬ 
tion  must  be  devised.  These  principles  must  be  capable  of  application 
to  widely  varied  situations,  and  they  must  solve  problems  of  budget¬ 
ing,  time  allocation,  and  administrative  organization  and  operation. 

(3)  A  programing  service  is  urgently  needed.  One  of  the  most 
difficult  problems  in  educational  television  is  the  maintenance  of  pro¬ 
grams  of  continuously  high  standard.  Among  other  things,  such  a 
service  should  include  a  circulating  library  of  complete  programs  and 
it  should  develop  related  teaching  guides  and  supplementary  mate¬ 
rials.  Research  and  experimentation  must  produce  new  types  of  pro¬ 
grams  based  on  educational  rather  than  commercial  consideration, 
which  will  create  new  audience  interests.  Much  such  research  can  be 
carried  on  in  cooperation  with  colleges  and  universities  where  it  is  the 
practice  to  conduct  special  institutes  and  seminars. 

(4)  Since  much  yet  remains  to  be  learned  about  the  effectiveness  of 
specific  types  of  educational  television  programs,  evaluative  research 
needs  to  be  fostered  through  the  closest  cooperation  of  educational 
institutions  as  well  as  government  agencies. 

(5)  Colleges  and  universities  must  be  encouraged  and  helped  to 
develop  education  programs  for  the  professional  training  of  persons 
who  are  to  work  in  the  television  field,  both  educational  and  com¬ 
mercial. 

(6)  Engineering  and  technical  advisory  services  are  needed.  These 
services,  supplemented  by  the  results  of  research,  should  lower  both 
capital  outlay  and  operating  costs  through  the  more  efficient  use  of 
equipment  and  facilities. 

It  is  imperative  that  the  opportunities  offered  by  the  “Sixth  Report 
and  Order”  of  the  Federal  Communications  Commission  not  be  al¬ 
lowed  to  lapse.  Even  though  the  launching  of  such  a  vast  enterprise 
on  a  Nation-wide  basis  is  a  gigantic  task,  speedy  action  is  required  on 
the  part  of  American  education.  A  backward  look  over  the  last  quar¬ 
ter  of  a  century  shows  that  though  the  educational  significance  of 
radio  has  come  to  be  enormous,  the  delay  in  its  development  was  inex¬ 
cusable.  Neither  the  profession  nor  the  lay  public  generally  can  afford 
a  repetition  of  this  costly  time  lag  in  the  full  use  of  television  for 
educational  purposes. 

American  education  is  now  teetering  on  a  tight-rope  in  relation  to 
television.  It  can  topple  over  into  failure  or  it  can  achieve  great  sue- 


Office  of  Education 


25 


cess.  Television  represents  a  large  financial  investment  in  terms  of 
original  capital  investment  and  to  a  degree  in  the  cost  of  current 
operations.  In  terms  of  the  cost  per  student  or  general  observer,  how¬ 
ever,  the  cost  will  be  far  below  that  of  many  other  types  of  education. 
And  the  cost  must  be  equated  to  the  educational  benefits  to  our  people 
as  a  whole  and  to  the  strengthening  of  our  democratic  institutions. 
It  is  in  my  judgment  not  money  alone  which  will  discourage  educa¬ 
tional  institutions  from  undertaking  the  establishment  of  television 
stations.  More  likely  it  will  be  the  sense  of  uncertainty  about  how  and 
where  to  get  help  in  exploring  the  costs,  the  procedures,  the  resources, 
and  the  cooperative  relationships  involved  in  the  establishment  of  an 
educational  television  station  while  channels  are  still  available. 

The  United  States  Office  of  Education  has  a  rare  opportunity  of 
establishing  a  service  not  for  remedial  purposes — to  deal  with  a  prob¬ 
lem  after  it  has  been  allowed  to  grow — but  of  creating  a  climate  in 
which  a  new  educational  medium  can  flourish. 

The  present  resources  of  the  United  States  Office  of  Education  are 
not  adequate  to  do  the  job  expected  of  it  and  for  which  it  can  right¬ 
fully  be  held  accountable.  We  need  to  add  personnel  of  high  caliber 
in  this  highly  dynamic  field,  and  we  need  further  to  be  enabled  to 
establish  cooperative  research  programs  with  colleges  and  universities, 
and  with  State  and  local  school  systems  as  the  basis  for  the  further 
development  of  television  for  educational  purposes.  Together  with 
schools  and  colleges  and  other  educational  organizations  and  agen¬ 
cies  the  Office  of  Education  must  share  its  load  if  all  that  needs  to  be 
done  in  behalf  of  educational  television  broadcasting  is  to  be 
accomplished. 

The  Role  of  the  Office  of  Education  in  Meeting  These 
Problems 

The  problems  described  in  the  preceding  sections  of  this  report  are 
some  of  the  most  urgent  and  critical  problems  presently  facing  the 
American  educational  system.  As  such  they  are  of  great  and  increas¬ 
ing  concern  not  only  to  the  men  and  women  who  staff  our  schools,  but 
to  millions  of  American  citizens  everywhere  who  are  interested  in  a 
brighter  future  for  their  children. 

It  is  not,  however,  the  urgent  and  critical  character  of  these  prob¬ 
lems  as  such  which  warrants  their  discussion  in  this  report.  The  an¬ 
nals  of  State  and  local  school  systems  are  replete  with  instances  in 
which  comparable  crises  within  a  particular  State  or  local  jurisdiction 
have  been  surmounted  and  overcome  by  an  aroused  citizenry. 

The  distinguishing  characteristic  of  the  problems  discussed  here — 
and  the  reason  for  their  inclusion  in  this  report — is  that  they  are 


26 


Annual  Report ,  Federal  Security  Agency ,  1952 


national  problems.  They  are  national  problems  in  that  they  extend 
beyond  the  borders  of  any  one  State,  or  any  group  of  States.  They 
are  national  problems  in  that  they  are  beyond  the  resources  of  any 
one  State,  or  group  of  States.  They  are  national  problems  in  that  ;; 
they  require  national  solutions. 

Now  the  recognition  of  these  problems  as  national  problems  requir¬ 
ing  national  solutions  by  no  means  implies  that  the  Federal  Govern-  ! 
ment  should  assume  the  sole  responsibility — or  even  the  primary  re-  ! 
sponsibility — in  developing  ways  of  meeting  them.  It  is  the  peculiar  i 
genius  of  our  American  form  of  government  that  every  public  ques-  i 
tion  is  traditionally  resolved  as  close  to  its  point  of  origin  as  pos-  , 
sible.  In  this  respect  the  American  educational  system  is  a  shining 
example  in  which  the  States  have  traditionally  acted  only  with  re¬ 
spect  to  problems  which  are  beyond  the  resources  of  individual  local  ; 
school  districts,  and  the  Federal  Government  has  likewise  acted  only  j 
on  those  problems  which  are  beyond  the  resources  of  local  and  State  ] 
jurisdictions  combined.  Other  countries  have  different  patterns,  but 
in  education  in  the  United  States  this  is  the  American  way. 

But  the  American  way  does  not  require  the  American  people  to  stand 
by  helpless  merely  because  a  problem  in  American  education  is  national 
in  scope  and  calls  for  a  national  solution.  Here  again  the  American 
genius  for  practicality  in  public  affairs  has  evolved  a  pattern  in  solv¬ 
ing  national  problems  which  calls  upon,  first,  the  local  school  districts, 
then  the  State  or  States  concerned,  to  enlist  and  combine  their  efforts 
in  reaching  a  solution.  It  is  only  after  the  problem  has  been  deter¬ 
mined  to  be  beyond  local  and  State  boundaries  and  resources  that 
assistance  from  the  Nation  as  a  whole  has  been  sought.  And  it  is  the 
glory  of  the  American  educational  system — and  the  pride  of  most  of 
the  American  States — that  such  calls  for  help  have  been  sounded  only 
in  dire  straits;  and  further,  that  when  sounded  the  calls  have  been 
not  so  much  for  Federal  funds  as  for  Federal  leadership,  the  kind  of 
leadership  which  can  give  unity  and  a  sense  of  direction  to  a  joint 
local-State-Federal  assault  upon  the  educational  problem  at  hand. 
This,  again,  is  the  American  way  of  doing  things. 

In  seeking  this  kind  of  leadership,  the  local  and  State  jurisdictions 
have,  as  indicated  previously,  been  turning  with  increasing  frequency 
during  recent  years  to  the  United  States  Office  of  Education.  The 
reason  is  not  hard  to  find.  The  Office  of  Education  is  the  central 
point  of  contact  between  the  Federal  Government  and  all  of  the  diverse 
and  far-flung  branches  of  the  American  educational  system.  It  is 
in  constant  touch  with  each  State  department  of  education  and, 
through  them,  with  the  vast  metropolitan  school  systems,  the  great 
consolidated  rural  schools,  and  each  lonely  one-room  sclioolhouse,  no 
matter  how  isolated  it  may  be.  As  the  principal  focal  point  for  the 


Office  of  Education 


27 


recommendations  of  such  national  organizations  as  the  National  Edu¬ 
cation  Association,  the  American  Council  on  Education,  the  National 
Congress  of  Parents  and  Teachers,  and  the  National  Citizens’  Com¬ 
mission  for  the  Public  Schools,  the  Office  is  increasingly  being  recog¬ 
nized  as  the  appropriate  channel  for  the  presentation  of  the  points 
of  view  of  these  organizations  to  the  Executive  Branch  and  to  the 
Congress.  In  the  international  field,  the  United  States  Commissioner 
of  Education  is  being  called  upon  with  increasing  frequency  to  serve 
as  the  spokesman  for  American  education  abroad. 

In  accepting  this  call  to  service  the  Office  of  Education  recognizes 
a  profound  obligation — an  obligation  not  only  to  the  American  educa¬ 
tional  system  as  a  whole,  in  which  the  Office  staff  deeply  believes — 
but  an  obligation  to  all  of  the  American  people.  Actually  it  is  a  double 
obligation  which  places  upon  the  Office  a  double  responsibility, 
neither  aspect  of  which  can  be  ignored  except  at  the  Nation’s  peril. 

Simply  stated,  it  is  this : 

In  developing  solutions  to  national  educational  problems  of  the 
sort  described  earlier  in  this  report,  the  Office  of  Education  must: 

(a)  evolve  plans  for  the  application  of  Federal  leadership  and  re¬ 
sources  where  and  as  necessary  to  meet  these  national  problems. 

At  the  same  time  the  Office  must : 

(b)  safeguard  assiduously  the  values  and  benefits  traditionally 
associated  with  State  and  local  control  of  education. 

Meeting  these  two  requirements  of  successful  local-State-Federal 
relationships  in  solving  national  educational  problems  requires  educa¬ 
tional  statesmanship  of  the  highest  order.  It  is  too  much  to  expect 
that  the  Office  will  always  be  100  percent  successful  in  this  task.  But 
the  problems  are  there  and  growing.  The  national  interest  cries  out 
for  solutions.  Strong  leadership  from  the  Office  of  Education  is 
essential. 

The  nature  of  the  solution  will  depend  in  any  particular  case  upon 
the  severity  and  urgency  of  the  problem  itself  and  the  degree  of 
effectiveness  achieved  by  other  agencies  in  meeting  it.  Only  when 
the  efforts  of  all  other  groups — local,  State,  and  national,  public  and 
private — are  found  to  be  inadequate  to  meet  the  problem,  should  the 
Office  of  Education  undertake  direct  expenditure  of  Federal  funds 
for  that  purpose,  and  then  only  on  the  basis  of  specific  statutory 
authorization.  By  conducting  its  operations  in  this  manner,  the 
Office  of  Education  assures  the  American  educational  system,  and 
the  American  people  as  a  whole,  that  the  traditional  values  and  bene¬ 
fits  of  State  and  local  control  of  education  will  be  permanently  safe¬ 
guarded,  while  at  the  same  time  giving  leadership  to  the  development 
of  local-State-national  solutions  to  major  national  educational  prob¬ 
lems  where  the  national  interest  requires. 


28 


Annual  Report ,  Federal  Security  Agency ,  1952 


The  Future  of  the  Office 

In  this  connection  it  is  important  to  point  out  that  the  preponderant 
majority  of  the  educational  activities  of  the  Federal  Government  are 
conducted  separately  and  apart  from  the  Office  of  Education.  The 
most  recent  official  survey  2  reveals  that  the  Federal  Government  is 
spending  some  $3,617,000,000  annually  in  training  and  educational 
activities  in  the  various  executive  departments.  Of  this  total  only 
about  one  percent  is  spent  through  the  Office  of  Education.  Through 
the  years,  the  Office  of  Education  has  had  considerable  experience  in 
maintaining  the  traditional  relationships  between  the  Federal  Govern¬ 
ment  and  State  and  local  educational  authorities,  preserving  and 
strengthening  the  American  tradition  of  non-interference  by  the  Fed¬ 
eral  Government  in  local  educational  activities.  As  new  programs 
touching  education  are  established  by  the  Congress,  this  hard-won 
experience  could  be  incorporated  in  such  programs  in  support  of  the 
principle  of  local  control  of  education. 

The  present  staff  and  resources  of  the  Office  of  Education  are 
patently  inadequate  to  provide  the  type  of  national  educational  serv¬ 
ices  made  necessary  by  our  development  as  a  Nation.  The  critical  need 
for  these  services  requires  that  the  Office  of  Education  be  expanded  in 
staff  and  resources  with  the  addition  of  expert  personnel  in  the  various 
branches  of  education.  Qualified  experts  are  needed  who  will  con¬ 
tinuously  investigate  emerging  problems  in  elementary  education, 
secondary  education,  vocational  education,  higher  education,  school 
administration,  education  of  exceptional  children,  teaching  of  special 
subjects,  educational  television,  testing,  guidance,  international  educa¬ 
tion,  adult  education,  and  many  other  areas.  As  these  professional 
workers  become  available  the  Office  will  be  able  to  discharge  its  full 
responsibilities  to  American  education.  If  this  is  done,  the  Congress, 
the  educational  profession,  and  citizens  generally  will  be  able  to  turn 
to  the  Office  for  assistance  and  be  assured  of  efficient  service. 

Local  Control  of  Education  Must  Be  Preserved 

In  proposing  that  the  Office  of  Education  should  be  expanded  in 
the  scope  and  the  character  of  its  activities  there  is  no  suggestion  that 
local  educational  autonomy  should  be  invaded.  The  purpose  of  the 
proposal  is  rather  to  guarantee  that  there  will  be  an  effective  staff  and 
adequate  resources  in  the  Office  of  Education  to  deal  with  the  national 
educational  problems  which  this  report  has  described.  The  proposal 

2  “Federal  Educational  Activities  and  Educational  Issues  Before  Congress,”  a  report 
prepared  in  the  Legislative  Reference  Service  of  the  Library  of  Congress  by  Charles  A. 
Quattlebaum,  House  Document  No.  423,  82d  Congress,  2d  Session,  July  1951,  v.  2,  part  3, 

p.  181. 


Office  of  Education 


29 


also  rests  on  the  assumption  that  through  the  years  ahead  there  will 
be  other  problems  of  national  scope  and  national  importance  which 
will  require  and  warrant  the  close  attention  of  a  competent  national 
agency. 

The  future  of  the  United  States  will  be  determined  in  large  measure 
by  the  education  our  children  receive  today.  Deficiencies  in  this  educa¬ 
tion  will  inevitably  be  reflected  in  the  lives  of  our  citizens  of  tomorrow 
in  reduced  personal  and  social  effectiveness.  Throughout  the  history 
of  our  great  Nation  the  people  have  turned  again  and  again  to  the 
schools  to  help  them  in  dealing  with  their  own  individual  problems 
and  in  sustaining  and  strengthening  our  democratic  society.  Our 
people  will  continue  to  turn  to  these  institutions.  It  is  in  the  national 
interest  to  maintain  in  the  F ederal  Government  a  unit  devoted  to  the 
study  and  analysis  of  educational  problems  and  issues,  and  capable 
of  rendering  efficient  service  to  the  school  systems  and  institutions  of 
higher  education  as  they  attempt  to  serve  our  youth  and  our  people 
generally.  In  this  report  I  have  tried  to  show  how  this  could  be  done 
within  the  traditional  American  framework  of  State  and  local  control 
of  education. 

Publications  Issued  by  the  Office  of  Education ,  Fiscal 
Year  1952 

Bulletins ,  Pamphlets ,  and  Other  Publications 

Know  Your  School  Law.  Bulletin  1952,  No.  1. 

Statistics  of  Land-Grant  Colleges  and  Universities,  Year  Ended  June  30,  1951. 
Bulletin  1952,  No.  2. 

Accredited  Higher  Institutions  1952.  Bulletin  1952,  No.  3. 

State  Provisions  for  School  Lunch  Programs — Laws  and  Personnel.  Bulletin 
1952,  No.  4. 

Core  Curriculum  Development :  Problems  and  Practices.  Bulletin  1952,  No.  5. 
Higher  Education  in  France,  Bulletin  1952,  No.  6. 

How  Children  Learn  To  Read.  Bulletin  1952,  No.  7. 

Financing  Adult  Education  in  Selected  Schools  and  Colleges.  Bulletin  1952,  No.  8. 
The  Teaching  of  General  Biology  in  the  Public  High  Schools  of  the  United  States, 
Bulletin  1952,  No.  9. 

Education  in  Turkey.  Bulletin  1952,  No.  10. 

The  Forward  Look :  The  Severely  Retarded  Child  Goes  to  School.  Bulletin 
1952,  No.  11. 

Federal  Funds  for  Education  1950-51  and  1951-52.  Bulletin  1952,  No.  12. 

Schools  at  Work  in  48  States.  Bulletin  1952,  No.  13. 

How  Children  and  Teacher  Work  Together.  Bulletin  1952,  No.  14. 

Television  in  Our  Schools.  Bulletin  1952,  No.  16. 

Education  in  Sweden.  Bulletin  1952,  No.  17. 

Radio  and  Television  Bibliography.  Bulletin  1952,  No.  18. 

Recordings  for  Teaching  Literature  and  Language  in  the  High  School.  Bulletin 
1952,  No.  19. 


30 


Annual  Report ,  Federal  Security  Agency ,  1952 


Health  Services  in  City  Schools.  Bulletin  1952,  No.  20. 

Land-Grant  Colleges  and  Universities — A  Federal-State  Partnership.  Bulletin 
1952,  No.  21. 

Some  Problems  in  the  Education  of  Handicapped  Children.  Pamphlet  No.  112. 
Summaries  of  Studies  in  Agricultural  Education,  Supplement  No.  5.  Vocational 
Division  Bulletin  No.  248. 

With  Focus  on  Family  Living.  Vocational  Division  Bulletin  No.  249. 

The  Financing  of  State  Departments  of  Education,  Misc.  No.  15. 

The  Personnel  of  State  Departments  of  Education.  Misc.  No.  16. 

Science  Facilities  for  Secondary  Schools.  Misc.  No.  17. 

Financial  Accounting  for  Public  Schools,  Rev.  1948.  Circular  No.  204. 

Education  in  Rural  and  City  School  Systems.  Circular  No.  829. 

Earned  Degrees  Conferred  by  Higher  Educational  Institutions,  1950-51.  Cir¬ 
cular  No.  333. 

Life  Adjustment  Education  in  American  Culture.  Circular  No.  335. 

Expenditure  Per  Pupil  in  City  School  Systems  1950-51.  Circular  No.  337. 

State  Provisions  for  Financing  Public  School  Capital  Outlay  Programs.  Bulletin 
1951,  No.  6. 

The  UN  Declaration  of  Human  Rights  in  Secondary  Schools.  Bulletin  1951, 
No.  12. 

Biennial  Survey  of  Education  in  the  United  States ,  1948-50 

Statistics  of  State  School  Systems,  1949-50.  Chapter  2. 

Statistics  of  Higher  Education :  Faculty,  Students,  and  Degrees,  1949-50.  Chap¬ 
ter  4,  section  I. 

Statistics  of  Higher  Education :  Receipts,  Expenditures,  and  Property,  1949-50. 
Chapter  4,  section  II. 

Education  Directory ,  1951—52 

Federal  Government  and  States.  Part  1. 

Counties  and  Cities.  Part  2. 

Higher  Education.  Part  3. 

Education  Associations.  Part  4. 

Miscellaneous 

Administration  of  Public  Laws  874  and  815. 

Annual  Report  of  the  Office  of  Education — Fiscal  Year  1951. 

Digest  of  Annual  Reports  of  State  Boards  for  Vocational  Education — Fiscal  Year 
Ended  June  30,  1951. 

Fellowships  for  Study  in  Latin  America.  ( folder ) 

First  Progress  Report — School  Facilities  Survey. 

Supervised  Practice  in  Counselor  Preparation.  (Misc.  3314-G) 

The  6  R’s. 

They  Can’t  Wait ! 

Training  To  Meet  the  Shortage  of  Stenographers  and  Typists. 

Periodicals 

School  Life  (9  issues — October  1951-June  1952,  inclusive). 

Higher  Education  (18  issues — September  1, 1951-May  15, 1952,  inclusive). 


Office  of  Education 


31 


National  Scientific  Register 

Research  and  Development  Personnel  in  Industrial  Laboratories  1950.  Scientific 
Manpower  Series  No.  1. 

The  Composition  of  the  Sanitary  Engineering  Profession.  Scientific  Manpower 
Series  No.  2. 

Manpower  Resources  in  Physics  1951.  Scientific  Manpower  Series  No.  3. 

Indexes 

School  Life,  Vol.  33,  October  1950-June  1951. 

School  Life,  Vol.  34,  October  1951-June  1952. 

Biennial  Survey  of  Education  in  the  United  States,  194G-48. 

o 


REPRINT 

From  the  Annual  Report  of  the 

U.  S.  DEPARTMENT  OF  HEALTH,  EDUCATION,  AND  WELFARE 

1953 


Office  of  Education 


I.  Introduction 

THE  YEAR  1953  was  in  many  respects  a  landmark  year  for  the 
Office  of  Education  and  for  American  education  generally.  With  the 
creation  on  April  11,  1953,  of  the  U.  S.  Department  of  Health,  Edu¬ 
cation,  and  Welfare,  the  word  “education”  has  come  to  appear  for 
the  first  time  in  American  history  as  a  part  of  the  title  of  a  cabinet- 
level  department  of  the  Federal  Government.  A  new  cabinet  Depart¬ 
ment  and  a  new  Secretary  have  entered  the  American  scene:  the 
Department — and  the  first  Secretary — of  Health,  Education,  and 
Welfare. 

The  true  long-range  significance  of  this  development — significance 
for  the  American  people  and  for  the  strengthening  and  improvement 
of  their  schools  and  colleges — is  something  which  must  unfold  with 
the  years.  It  is  much  too  early  to  attempt  any  definitive  evaluation. 
At  the  minimum,  however,  a  voice  for  education  at  the  cabinet  level 
has  been  achieved,  and  the  problems — and  opportunities — of  Ameri¬ 
can  education  are  assured  of  sympathetic  consideration  in  the  highest 
councils  of  the  Executive  Branch. 

The  year  1953  was  significant  also  as  a  period  of  re-examination 
and  re-evaluation.  It  was  a  time  for  stocktaking,  and  the  charting 
of  new  directions — in  education  as  in  many  other  areas  of  human 
activity.  What  are  the  strengths  and  weaknesses  of  America’s  schools 
and  colleges?  How  can  they  be  strengthened  and  improved  to  meet 
the  ever-increasing  needs  of  mid-twentieth  century  America?  Are 
the  educational  facilities  and  practices  of  earlier  years  adequate  to 
the  demands  of  the  new  technology  of  jet  propulsion'  and  nuclear 
fission?  Are  we  training  enough  scientific,  professional,  and  tech¬ 
nical  manpower — and  womanpower — to  meet  the  challenge  of  a 

313673—54 - 1  159 

Complete  report  of  the  Department  for  sale  by  the  Superintendent  of  Documents, 

U.  S.  Government  Printing  Office,  Washington  *25,  D.  C.  —  Price  $1. 


160 


Department  of  Health ,  Education ,  and  Welfare ,  1953 


divided  world?  How  can  the  resources  of  the  Federal  Government 
best  be  applied  toward  the  development  of  solutions  to  major  national 
educational  problems,  while  at  the  same  time  the  values  and  benefits 
traditionally  associated  with  State  and  local  control  of  education  are 
safeguarded  ?  These  are  the  sorts  of  questions  with  which  the  Office  ! 
of  Education  and  the  Department  of  Health,  Education,  and  Welfare 
were  concerned  during  the  fiscal  year  1953 — questions  which  must  be 
of  concern  to  all  Americans  alike  in  1954  and  beyond. 

EDUCATION  AND  THE  BUILDING  OF  AMERICA 

If  it  be  true,  as  has  been  said,  that  America  is  built  upon  faith, 
then  one  important  element  of  that  faith  is  the  faith  of  the  American 
people  in  education.  Among  the  early  English  colonists  the  first  com¬ 
munity  undertaking  in  each  settlement — with  the  possible  exception 
of  the  church — was  the  colonial  school.  This  was  no  accident.  The 
colonists  believed  firmly,  as  succeeding  generations  of  Americans  have 
believed  after  them,  that  the  political  freedom  which  they  sought 
could  be  made  secure  only  through  widespread  popular  education. 
Said  Thomas  Jefferson,  “If  a  nation  expects  to  be  ignorant  and 
free  ...  it  expects  what  never  was  and  never  will  be.” 

This  basic  idea — that  only  the  educated  man  can  be  truly  free,  and 
that  self-government  is  possible  only  with  an  educated  citizenry — per¬ 
vades  all  early  American  history  and  underlay  all  of  the  deliberations 
of  the  Constitutional  Convention.  It  is  not  surprising,  then,  that  one 
of  the  first  acts  of  the  young  Eepublic  was  the  reservation  and  dedi¬ 
cation  of  the  sixteenth  section  of  every  township  of  land  in  the  newly 
opened  Northwest  Territory  to  educational  purposes.  As  a  part  of 
the  Northwest  Ordinance  of  1787  the  Congress  made  the  clear  decla¬ 
ration  of  policy  that — 

.  .  .  religion,  morality,  and  knowledge  being  necessary  to  good  government  ) 
and  the  happiness  of  mankind,  schools  and  the  means  of  education  shall  |l 
forever  be  encouraged. 

Implicit  in  the  Northwest  Ordinance  and  subsequent  similar  legis¬ 
lation  is  the  recognition  of  a  valid  national  interest  in  the  promotion 
and  encouragement  of  education,  a  national  interest  which  may  at 
times  transcend  the  more  limited  interests  of  the  individual  States. 
At  the  same  time  it  is  equally  clear  that  the  framers  of  the  Constitu¬ 
tion  intended  to  leave  strictly  to  the  States  and  the  local  communities 
the  control  of  their  own  educational  institutions,  since  there  is  no  ref¬ 
erence  to  “education”  in  the  delegation  of  powers  under  the  Constitu- 
tion,  and  the  Tenth  Amendment  provides  that  the  “powers  not 
delegated  to  the  United  States  .  .  .  are  reserved  to  the  States  respec-  ■ 
tively,  or  to  the  people.” 

On  these  two  foundation  stones — State  and  local  control,  with  Fed¬ 
eral  assistance  and  support  where  the  national  interest  requires — has 


Office  of  Education 


161 


been  built  an  educational  system — or  systems — which  is  unique  in  the 
truest  sense  of  the  word.  Avoiding  on  the  one  hand  the  extreme 
centralization  found  in  many  ministries  of  education  abroad,  where 
education  is  literally  “handed  down  from  above” — and  on  the  other, 
the  evils  that  would  be  inherent  in  a  “do-nothing”  Federal  policy 
concerning  national  educational  problems — there  has  evolved  a  coop¬ 
erative  local- State- Federal  partnership  in  education,  the  key  to  which 
is  found  not  in  competition  among  jurisdictions,  but  in  collaboration 
among  equals  in  the  larger  interest  of  the  Nation  as  a  whole. 

For  the  past  86  years,  the  principal  arm  of  the  Federal  Govern¬ 
ment  concerned  with  the  well-being  of  the  American  educational  sys¬ 
tem  as  a  whole  has  been  the  United  States  Office  of  Education,  now  an 
integral  part  of  the  new  Department  of  Health,  Education,  and  Wel¬ 
fare.  As  the  central  educational  agency  of  the  Federal  Government,, 
the  Office  was  established  originally  in  1867  for  the  purpose  of 

.  .  .  collecting  such  statistics  and  facts  as  shall  show  the  condition  and 
progress  of  education  in  the  several  States  and  Territories,  and  of  diffusing 
such  information  respecting  the  organization  and  management  of  schools 
and  school  systems,  and  methods  of  teaching,  as  shall  aid  the  people  of 
the  United  States  in  the  establishment  and  maintenance  of  eliicient  school 
systems,  and  otherwise  promote  the  cause  of  education  throughout  the 
country.1 

From  time  to  time  during  the  intervening  years,  the  Congress  has 
responded  to  recognized  national  needs  by  authorizing  further  pro¬ 
grams  of  Federal  assistance  and  support  in  certain  specialized  areas 
of  education  where  the  national  interest  has  required.  Thus,  when  it 
became  clear  in  the  latter  1800?s  that  the  national  interest  required  a 
kind  of  college  or  university  less  bound  by  the  classical  academic  cur¬ 
riculum,  the  Congress  passed  the  two  Morrill  Acts  (1862  and  1890) 
through  which  each  State  was  led  to  establish  at  least  one  college  to 
provide  instruction  in  agriculture  and  the  mechanic  arts. 

Similarly,  during  the  early  1900’s  it  became  clear  that  the  typical 
liigh-school  program  was  too  exclusively  academic  and  college- 
preparatory  in  character,  and  that  modification  of  the  program  in  the 
direction  of  better  vocational  education  would  be  in  the  best  interest 
of  the  Nation.  In  response  to  this  recognized  need,  Congress  passed 
the  Smitli-IIughes  (1917)  and  related  acts,  providing  Federal  funds 
on  a  matching  basis  to  the  States  in  support  of  improved  vocational 
education. 

More  recently  the  Congress  has  acted  to  provide  Federal  assistance 
to  local  communities  in  meeting  another  educational  need  which  would 
otherwise  have  been  beyond  the  resources  of  these  communities.  This 
is  the  program  of  assistance  to  school  districts  in  areas  where  Federal 
activities  have  resulted  in  an  increase  in  school  enrollments  and  a  de- 


» 14  Stat.  434. 


162 


Department  of  Health ,  Education ,  and  Welfare ,  1953 


crease  in  the  local  tax  base  through  Federal  property  acquisition.  As¬ 
sistance  in  school  construction  in  such  areas  has  been  provided  under 
Public  Law  815  and  assistance  in  school  operation  and  maintenance 
under  Public  Law  874  (81st  Congress,  Second  Session) .  Further  dis¬ 
cussion  of  this  program,  as  well  as  others  in  which  Congress  has 
authorized  F ederal  assistance  in  response  to  recognized  national  needs, 
is  found  in  succeeding  sections  of  this  report. 


LEGISLATION  AFFECTING  EDUCATION  DURING  FISCAL  ’53 


Legislative  developments  affecting  education  during  the  period  July 
1,  1952,  to  June  30,  1953,  may  be  grouped  conveniently  into  two  cate¬ 
gories;  namely,  those  associated  with  the  latter  portion  of  the  82d 
Congress,  on  the  one  hand,  and  those  associated  with  the  incoming 
Eisenhower  administration  and  the  first  session  of  the  83d  Congress 
on  the  other. 

The  principal  piece  of  legislation  affecting  education  which  was 
passed  in  the  latter  days  of  the  82d  Congress  was  the  “Veterans’  Read¬ 
justment  Assistance  Act  of  1952”  (P.  L.  550,  82d  Congress,  Second 
Session,  approved  July  16,  1952)  which  has  become  better  known  as 
the  “Korean  GI  Bill.”  Under  this  Act  the  Commissioner  of  Educa¬ 
tion  was  assigned  three  new  statutory  responsibilities:  (1)  the  pub¬ 
lication  of  a  list  of  nationally  recognized  accrediting  agencies  or  as¬ 
sociations  for  the  guidance  of  State-approving  agencies  in  approving 
or  disapproving  training  courses  under  the  veterans  educational  pro¬ 
gram  ;  (2)  advice  to  the  Administrator  of  Veterans  Affairs  concerning 
the  system  to  be  used  in  approving  veterans  training  courses;  and 
(3)  service  ex  officio  as  a  member  of  the  statutory  Advisory  Committee 
to  the  Veterans  Administrator  on  educational  and  vocational  assistance 
under  the  Act.  The  functions  being  performed  in  carrying  out  these 
responsibilities  are  described  elsewhere  in  this  report. 

With  the  inauguration  of  President  Dwight  D.  Eisenhower  on  Jan¬ 
uary  20,  1953,  the  new  administration  began  at  once  to  turn  its  atten¬ 
tion  to  some  of  the  major  problems  confronting  American  education. 
In  his  State  of  the  Union  Message  on  February  2,  President  Eisen¬ 
hower  touched  upon  some  of  these  problems  in  the  following  lan¬ 


guage  : 

Our  school  system  demands  some  prompt,  effective  help.  During  each 
of  the  last  2  years,  more  than  l1^  million  children  have  swelled  the  ele¬ 
mentary  and  secondary  school  population  of  the  country.  Generally,  the 
school  population  is  proportionately  higher  in  States  with  low  per  capita 
income.  This  whole  situation  calls  for  careful  congressional  study  and 
action.  T  am  sure  you  share  my  conviction  that  the  firm  conditions  of 
Federal  aid  must  be  proved  need  and  proved  lack  of  local  income. 

One  phase  of  the  school  problem  demands  special  attention.  The  school 
population  of  many  districts  has  been  greatly  increased  by  the  swift  growth 


Office  of  Education 


163 


of  defense  activities.  These  activities  have  added  little  or  nothing  to  the 
tax  resources  of  the  communities  affected.  Legislation  aiding  construc¬ 
tion  of  schools  in  these  districts  expires  on  June  30.  This  law  should  be 
renewed;  and,  likewise,  the  partial  payments  for  current  operating  ex¬ 
penses  for  these  particular  school  districts  should  he  made,  including  the 
deficiency  requirement  of  the  current  fiscal  year. 

In  addition,  President  Eisenhower  indicated  that  he  expected  to 
send  to  the  Congress  shortly  a  reorganization  plan  defining  new  ad¬ 
ministrative  status  for  all  Federal  activities  in  health,  education,  and 
social  security,  as  well  as  recommendations  for  establishing  a  commis¬ 
sion  to  study  the  proper  relationships  among  Federal,  State,  and  local 
programs. 

On  March  12,  1953,  the  President  transmitted  to  the  Congress  Reor¬ 
ganization  Plan  No.  1  of  1953,  proposing  the  creation  of  a  Depart¬ 
ment  of  Health,  Education,  and  Welfare  as  one  of  the  executive  de¬ 
partments  of  the  Federal  Government,  to  wThich  would  be  transferred 
the  various  components  of  the  then  Federal  Security  Agency,  includ¬ 
ing  the  Office  of  Education.  The  plan  reserved  to  the  Office  of  Educa¬ 
tion,  or  to  the  Commissioner,  the  professional  and  substantive  re¬ 
sponsibilities  vested  in  them  by  law,  and  also  specifically  provided 
that  the  Commissioner  of  Education  (as  well  as  the  heads  of  the  other 
major  constituent  organizations)  should  have  direct  access  to  the  Sec¬ 
retary  of  the  new  Department. 

The  President  also  included  in  his  message  transmitting  the  plan 
to  the  Congress,  although  not  as  a  part  of  the  plan  itself,  a  recommen¬ 
dation  for  the  establishment,  by  statute,  of  a  special  advisory  body  to 
the  Secretary  on  problems  of  education.  Said  the  President : 

There  should  be  in  the  Department  an  Advisory  Committee  on  Educa¬ 
tion,  made  up  of  persons  chosen  by  the  Secretary  from  outside  the  Federal 
Government,  which  would  advise  the  Secretary  with  respect  to  the  educa¬ 
tional  programs  of  the  Department.  I  recommend  the  enactment  of  legis¬ 
lation  authorizing  the  defrayal  of  the  expenses  of  this  Committee.  The 
creation  of  such  a  Committee  as  an  advisory  body  to  the  Secretary  will 
help  insure  the  maintenance  of  responsibility  for  the  public  educational 
system  in  State  and  local  governments  while  preserving  the  national  inter¬ 
est  in  education  through  appropriate  Federal  action. 

Following  approval  by  both  Houses  of  the  Congress,  Reorganiza¬ 
tion  Plan  No.  1  was  signed  by  the  President  as  P.  L.  13  on  April  1, 
1953,  and  the  new  Department  came  into  being  10  days  later,  as  pro¬ 
vided  by  the  law,  on  April  11,  1953.  Plans  for  the  Advisory  Com¬ 
mittee  on  Education  proposed  by  the  President  are  being  developed 
currently. 

Legislation  to  carry  out  the  President’s  State  of  the  Union  Mes¬ 
sage  recommendation  for  a  commission  on  Federal- State-local  govern- 


164 


Department  of  Health ,  Education ,  and  Welfare ,  1953 


mental  relations  was  introduced  by  Senator  Taft  on  April  1,  1953,  as 
S.  1514,  a  bill  to  establish  a  commission  on  governmental  functions  and 
fiscal  resources.  With  certain  modifications,  this  bill  was  enacted  as 
Public  Law  109  2  providing  for  the  establishment  of  a  25-member 
Commission  on  Intergovernmental  Relations.  This  Commission  is 
responsible  for  studying  the  proper  role  of  the  Federal  Government 
in  relation  to  the  States  and  their  political  subdivisions  in  all  fields 
involving  intergovernmental  relations,  including  the  field  of  educa¬ 
tion,  and  the  Commission  is  required  to  submit  a  report  and  recom¬ 
mendations  to  the  President  and  the  Congress  concerning  the  alloca¬ 
tion  of  governmental  functions  to  their  proper  jurisdiction  and  the 
adjustment  of  intergovernmental  fiscal  relations  among  the  various 
levels  of  government.  The  act  specifies  that  the  report  and  recom¬ 
mendations  of  the  Commission  shall  be  submitted  not  later  than 
March  1, 1954. 

A  related  measure  is  the  act  providing  for  the  establishment  of  the 
“new  Hoover  Commission,”  known  officially  as  the  Commission  on 
Organization  of  the  Executive  Branch  of  the  Government.3  This  12- 
member  Commission  is  charged  with  the  responsibility  of  studying 
and  investigating  the  organization  and  methods  of  all  Government 
instrumentalities,  including  those  operating  in  the  field  of  education, 
for  the  purpose  of  proposing  to  the  Congress  such  changes  as  may  be 
necessary  in  the  interest  of  economy,  efficiency,  and  improved  service 
in  the  transaction  of  the  public  business.  The  Commission  is  to  submit 
a  comprehensive  report  of  its  activities  and  the  result  of  its  studies  to 
the  Congress  on  or  before  December  31, 1954. 

The  principal  substantive  legislation  of  the  First  Session  of  the 
83d  Congress  specifically  relating  to  the  field  of  education  was  the 
extension  for  2  years  of  the  program  of  school  assistance  in  federally 
affected  areas,  as  recommended  by  President  Eisenhower  in  his  State 
of  the  Union  Message  and  elsewhere.  Developments  pertaining  to  this 
program  are  discussed  in  section  II  of  this  report.4  Other  items  of 
educational  interest  from  the  First  Session  included  Public  Law  226, 5 
which  granted  the  consent  of  the  Congress  to  certain  Western  States, 
Alaska,  and  Hawaii  to  enter  into  a  compact  relating  to  higher  educa¬ 
tion  in  the  Western  States  and  establishing  the  Western  Interstate 
Commission  for  Higher  Education;  and  Public  Law  141, 6  which 
authorized  “book  rate”  postage  for  the  transmittal  through  the  mails 
of  educational  films  and  related  educational  materials. 


3  Approved  July  10,  1053. 

*  Public  Law  108,  83d  Congress,  approved  July  10,  1953. 

4  See  also  Third  Annual  Report. 

5  Approved  August  8,  1953. 

*  Approved  July  20,  1953. 


Office  of  Education 


165 


PROGRESS  AND  PROBLEMS 

The  American  people  are  today  doing  more  than  they  have  ever  done 
before  for  the  education  of  their  children.  Individually,  and  through 
such  organizations  as  parent-teacher  associations  and  lay  citizens 
groups,  they  are  working  ever  more  actively  for  better  schools  and  im¬ 
proved  educational  programs.  PTA’s  throughout  the  country  now 
have  nearly  8  million  members — nearly  double  their  membership  in 
1946.  Furthermore,  during  the  fiscal  year  1953,  American  citizens 
taxed  themselves  approximately  $500  million  more  to  provide  for  their 
schools  than  during  fiscal  1952.  They  spent  about  $7.8  billion  in 
fiscal  1953  alone  to  operate  public  elementary  and  secondary  schools 
and  to  put  up  new  buildings. 

Major  credit  for  these  gains  rests  with  the  thousands  of  local  com¬ 
munities  and  the  millions  of  interested  citizens  who,  in  accordance 
with  the  long-established  tradition  of  State  and  local  control  of  educa¬ 
tion,  are  carrying  the  principal  responsibility  for  the  management  of 
their  local  schools.  The  vigor  and  vitality  of  this  tradition  is  a  source 
of  continuing  strength  to  mid-twentieth  century  America. 

Encouraging  as  this  record  of  progress  may  be,  however,  it  is  clear 
that  the  year  1953  is  no  time  for  complacency.  Many  States  and  local 
communities  are  struggling  with  educational  problems  which  extend 
far  beyond  their  boundaries  or  beyond  their  available  resources,  but 
which  still  require  prompt  and  workable  solutions.  And  experience 
indicates  that  educational  problems  which  are  unsolved  or  imperfectly 
solved  in  the  States  and  local  communities  have  a  way  of  becoming 
national  problems  as  the  national  interest  itself  becomes  imperiled. 

Among  the  major  educational  problems  being  faced  in  varying 
degree  across  the  Nation  at  the  present  time,  the  following  are  perhaps 
the  most  widespread  and  the  most  urgently  in  need  of  solution.  The 
best  collaborative  efforts  of  all  our  citizens — individually  and  in 
groups — and  all  our  organizations — public  and  private,  local,  State, 
and  national — will  be  needed  if  American  education  is  to  meet  the 
challenge,  and  rise  to  the  opportunities,  which  these  problems  present. 

The  need  for  more  and  better  schools. — School  construction  is  not 
keeping  pace  with  classroom  needs.  The  United  States  is  short  right 
now  more  than  340,000  public  elementary  and  secondary  school  class¬ 
rooms.  Furthermore,  increased  enrollments  (see  chart  1),  building 
deterioration  and  obsolescence  will  create  the  need  for  more  than 
400,000  classrooms  by  1960.  Three  classrooms  out  of  every  five  are 
overcrowded.  One  out  of  every  five  pupils  across  the  country  is  going 
to  school  in  a  schoolhouse  which  does  not  meet  minimum  fire  safety 
conditions. 


166 


Department  of  Health ,  Education ,  and  Welfare,  1953 


Chart  1.— ENROLLMENT  IN  PUBLIC  ELEMENTARY  AND  SECONDARY  DAY  SCHOOLS,  1920-60 
(DATA  FOR  1952  AND  LATER  ARE  ESTIMATES  BASED  ON  NUMBER  OF  ACTUAL  BIRTHS 
THROUGH  MARCH  1953) 


ENROLLMENT  (MILLIONS) 


SCHOOL  YEAR 

The  need  for  more  and  better  teachers. — The  number  of  persons 
being  prepared  for  and  entering  the  teaching  profession  is  inadequate 
to  meet  teacher  needs.  This  shortage  is  particularly  acute  in  the  ele¬ 
mentary  schools.  For  the  fall  of  1953,  a  minimum  of  118,000  new  public 
elementary  teachers  was  needed — 53,000  to  take  care  of  increased  en¬ 
rollment  (1.6  million),  and  63,000  to  replace  teachers  leaving  the  pro¬ 
fession.  Since  only  some  45,700  qualified  graduates  for  elementary 
teaching  came  out  of  the  colleges,  there  was  a  net  teacher  shortage  for 
the  fall  of  1953  of  over  72,000. 

The  uneducated ;  what  to  do  about  illiteracy. — There  are  10  million 
adults  in  the  United  States  who  are  functionally  illiterate,  i.  e.,  who 
have  completed  fewer  than  5  years  of  schooling.  During  World  War 
II  over  600,000  men  were  rejected  for  military  service  because  of 
functional  illiteracy.  Three  hundred  thousand  were  rejected  for  the 
same  cause  during  the  first  year  of  the  Korean  conflict.  With  one  out 
of  every  12  American  adults  functionally  illiterate,  the  drain  upon 
the  Nation’s  strength  and  productive  capacity  is  incalculable. 

The  financing  of  education. — Rising  operating  costs  have  placed  new 
pressures  upon  all  educational  institutions,  public  and  private,  ele¬ 
mentary,  secondary,  and  higher.  Among  the  Nation’s  1,900  higher 
educational  institutions,  the  private  liberal  arts  colleges  have  been 
particularly  hard-pressed  to  stretch  their  income  from  endowment 


Office  of  Education 


167 


and  tuition  to  meet  increased  operating  expenses.  At  the  same  time 
I  steadily  rising  tuition  and  living  costs  are  making  it  increasingly  dif¬ 
ficult  for  children  of  low-income  families  to  obtain  the  benefits  of  a 
college  education. 

Educational  television. — The  full  potentiality  of  television  as  a 
medium  of  instruction  and  communication — and  thus  of  education — 
is  perhaps  still  difficult  to  comprehend.  There  has  been  enough 
research,  experimentation,  and  operating  experience  to  date,  however, 
to  make  it  clear  that  an  important  new  dimension  has  been  added 
to  proven  educational  techniques.  The  creation  of  a  climate  in  which 
this  new  educational  medium  can  flourish — without  being  over¬ 
shadowed  or  thwarted  by  the  rapid  and  vigorous  growth  of  its  com¬ 
mercial  counterpart — presents  many  issues  of  public  policy  of  the 
broadest  import. 

The  “ drop-out ”  'problem;  curriculum  adjustments. — Less  dramatic 
than  educational  television,  though  perhaps  equally  significant  in  its 
long-range  implications,  is  the  problem  of  curriculum  adjustments  at 
the  secondary  school  level,  more  specifically  curriculum  adjustments 
designed  to  meet  the  needs  of  those  children  who  otherwise  tend  to 
drop  out  of  school  when  past  the  age  of  compulsory  school  attendance. 
Since  1890,  high-school  attendance  in  the  United  States  has  risen  from 
only  7  percent  of  the  eligible  youth  to  nearly  80  percent.  Under  these 
circumstances  the  problem  of  shaping  the  high-school  curriculum  and 
keeping  it  sufficiently  flexible  to  meet  the  needs  of  pupils  of  widely 
varying  intellectual  levels  and  capacities  is  a  continuing  one. 

Educational  benefits  of  returning  veterans. — Under  the  Service¬ 
men’s  Readjustment  Act  of  1944  (the  so-called  “GI  Bill  of  Rights”) 
more  than  five  million  young  men  and  women  in  all  returned  to  school 
or  college.  Under  the  Veterans  Readjustment  Assistance  Act  of  1952 
(known  as  the  “Korean  GI  Bill”)  some  50,000  veterans  were  enrolled 
in  colleges  and  universities  in  January  1953,  and  there  are  many  more 
to  come.  The  Nation  as  a  whole  has  a  real  stake  in  seeing  that  these 
veterans  receive  the  full  value  of  their  educational  benefits  on  return¬ 
ing  to  civilian  life. 

The  role  of  education  in  technical  assistance  abroad. — With  increas¬ 
ing  frequency,  American  educators  and  educational  institutions  are 
being  called  upon  to  help  in  the  program  of  technical  and  economic 
assistance  throughout  the  world.  The  implications  of  these  relation¬ 
ships  for  improved  international  understanding  and  for  the  strength¬ 
ening  of  the  Free  World  are  very  great.  Much  pioneering  remains 
to  be  done  if  the  potentialities  of  international  education  as  a  part 
of  an  enlightened  foreign  policy  are  to  be  fully  realized. 

Citizen  understanding  and  support  of  the  schools. — LTnderlying  all 
other  problems,  and  perhaps  the  most  basic  of  all,  is  the  problem  of 
broadening  and  strengthening  public  understanding  and  support  of 

313673—54 - 2 


168 


Department  of  Health ,  Education ,  and  Welfare ,  1953 


the  educational  institutions  of  America.  As  guardians  of  the  finest 
traditions  of  the  past,  as  bulwark  against  the  totalitarian  assaults 
of  the  present,  and  as  symbols  and  guarantors  of  our  highest  hopes 
for  the  future,  the  Nation’s  schools  and  colleges  are  pre-eminent  among 
the  free  institutions  on  which  our  way  of  life  depends.  They  deserve 
the  full  and  undivided  support  and  allegiance  of  all  Americans  inter¬ 
ested  in  a  brighter  future  for  their  children. 

II.  Assistance  to  Schools  in  Federally  Affected  Areas 

In  reviewing  educational  problems  and  issues  in  his  State  of  the 
Union  Message  on  February  2,  President  Eisenhower  singled  out  one 
particular  program  for  special  attention  and  specific  recommendation 
to  the  83d  Congress.  This  was  the  program  of  assistance  to  schools 
in  federally  affected  areas,  for  which  the  President  specifically  re¬ 
quested  renewal.  Congressional  hearings  on  the  subject  began  shortly 
thereafter.7 

Although  the  problem  of  local  school  districts  being  overburdened 
by  adjacent  Federal  activities  dates  back  at  least  to  World  War  I, 
it  was  not  until  after  World  War  II  that  the  Congress  gave  systematic 
attention  to  the  matter.  Following  expiration  of  the  program  for 
World  War  II  emergency  aid  for  school  construction  under  the  Lan- 
ham  Act,  the  81st  Congress  conducted  extensive  hearings  on  the  sub¬ 
ject  and  shortly  thereafter  passed  Public  Laws  815  and  874,  the  first 
comprehensive  legislation  providing  for  Federal  assistance  to  schools 
in  federally  affected  areas.8  It  was  this  legislation  which  President 
Eisenhower  recommended  be  extended — Public  Law  815  through  June 
1954  and  Public  Law  874  through  June  1956.  These  terminal  dates 
were  selected  in  order  to  provide  the  new  Commission  on  Inter-govern¬ 
mental  Relations  an  opportunity  to  consider  these  programs  in  rela¬ 
tion  to  other  grant-in-aid  programs  of  the  Federal  Government. 

In  Public  Law  874,  Congress  had  declared  it  to  be  the  policy  of  the 
U.  S.  Government  to  provide  financial  assistance  (for  the  operation 
and  maintenance  of  schools)  to  local  educational  agencies  upon  which 
the  United  States  has  placed  financial  burdens  where  (a)  the  revenues 
available  from  local  sources  are  reduced  because  the  Federal  Govern¬ 
ment  acquired  real  property  in  the  district;  (b)  the  school  districts 
provide  education  for  children  living  on  Federal  property  or  whose 
parents  are  working  on  Federal  property;  or  ( c )  there  has  been  a 
sudden  and  substantial  increase  in  school  attendance  as  the  result  of 
Federal  activities.  The  law  established  eligibility  requirements  for 
assistance,  defined  the  categories  in  which  federally  connected  children 


7  Public  Laws  246  and  248,  83d  Congress,  First  Session  ;  both  approved  August  8,  1953. 

8  Public  Law  815,  81st  Congress,  Second  Session,  approved  September  23,  1950;  and 
Public  Law  874,  81st  Congress,  Second  Session,  approved  September  30,  1950. 


Office  of  Education 


169 


should  be  grouped,  and  fixed  the  formula  basis  for  calculating  the 
amount  of  the  Federal  payment. 

Public  Law  815  in  Title  II 9  declared  it  to  be  the  policy  of  the 
United  States  Government  that  it  would  bear  the  cost  of  constructing 
\  needed  school  facilities  in  areas  in  which  Federal  activities  have  been 
or  are  being  carried  on,  in  the  manner  and  to  the  extent  provided  under 
the  terms  of  the  Act.  Payments  were  authorized  to  be  made  to  local 
I  educational  agencies  as  specified  in  the  Act  where  children  live  on 
:  Federal  property,  their  parents  are  employed  on  Federal  property,  or 
the  increased  attendance  results  from  activities  of  the  United  States 
I  carried  on  either  directly  or  through  a  contractor. 

Responsibility  for  the  administration  of  both  laws  was  placed  by 
I  statute  in  the  Commissioner  of  Education.  Each  Act  also  required 
the  Commissioner  to  submit  a  report  to  Congress  annually  concerning 
the  administration  of  the  program.10 

Experience  has  shown  that  the  laws  as  originally  enacted  were 
basically  sound.  Without  financial  assistance  of  this  character,  many 
of  the  local  school  districts  would  have  been  unable  to  provide  ele¬ 
mentary  and  secondary  education  for  the  children  whose  families  had 
moved  into  the  federally  affected  areas.  With  the  changes  to  be 
brought  about  by  Public  Laws  246  and  248  it  is  expected  that  further 
progress  will  be  made  in  the  direction  of  simplifying  and  facilitating 
the  entire  school  assistance  program. 

III.  Services  to  State  and  Local  School  Systems 

One  of  the  major  and  traditional  functions  of  the  Office  of  Educa¬ 
tion  is  to  provide  information,  consultation,  and  advisory  service 
concerning  the  operation  of  State  and  local  school  systems  through¬ 
out  the  Nation.  This  function  has  its  origin  in  the  basic  Act  of 
1867,  which  specifies  that  one  of  the  purposes  for  which  the  Office 
was  established  was  that  of 

.  .  .  diffusing  such  information  respecting  the  organization  and  manage¬ 
ment  of  schools  and  school  systems,  and  methods  of  teaching,  as  shall  aid 
the  people  of  the  United  States  in  the  establishment  and  maintenance  of 
efficient  school  systems  .  .  . 

One  of  the  major  organizational  units  in  the  Office  which  are  respon¬ 
sible  for  the  carrying  out  of  this  responsibility  is  the  Division  of  State 
and  Local  School  Systems. 

In  providing  these  statutory  services,  both  the  vastness  of  the  Amer¬ 
ican  educational  enterprise  (25  million  elementary  school  children  in 
135,000  schools  and  7  million  secondary  school  children  in  27,000 

9  Activities  under  Title  I  of  Public  Law  815  are  treated  in  Section  III  of  this  report. 

19  For  a  detailed  discussion  of  the  operations  of  this  program  under  Public  Laws  815  and 
874  (81st  Congress)  as  amended  and  extended  by  Public  Laws  246  and  248  (83d  Congress, 
First  Session),  see  pages  171-173. 


170 


Department  of  Health ,  Education ,  and  Welfare ,  1953 


schools  in  1952-53)  and  the  long  tradition  of  State  and  local  control 
of  education  have  led  the  Office  to  rely  very  heavily  upon  the  depart¬ 
ments  of  education  in  the  various  States  as  an  intermediate  point  of 
contact.  Thus,  during  recent  years  much  of  the  work  of  the  Office 
has  been  carried  on  in  close  collaboration  with  the  State  departments, 
including  many  joint  conferences  and  parallel  activities  on  educa¬ 
tional  problems  of  mutual  interest  and  concern.  The  work  of  the  ; 
National  Council  of  Chief  State  School  Officers  has  been  particularly  , 
significant  and  useful  in  facilitating  the  development  of  these  cooper¬ 
ative  Federal- State  relationships  in  education. 

The  services  provided  by  the  Office  to  State  and  local  school  systems  j 
are  widely  diverse  and  varied  in  character.  Yet  they  are  all  directed  i 
at  the  common  statutory  objective  of  “aiding  the  people  of  the  United 
States  in  the  establishment  and  maintenance  of  efficient  school 
systems.” 

SCHOOL  ADMINISTRATION 

During  the  year  a  considerable  amount  of  attention  was  given  to  a 
study  of  State  legislative  provisions  designed  to  promote  statewide 
school  district  reorganization  which  would  result  in  the  establishment 
of  more  effective  local  school  districts.  This  study  involves  an  anal¬ 
ysis  of  the  principal  legislative  features  in  the  respective  States  which  : 
embody  statewide  plans  for  school  district  reorganization.  From  a 
study  of  such  laws  and  their  respective  results,  it  is  hoped  that  an 
evaluation  may  be  made  which  will  indicate  the  type  of  legislation 
likely  to  produce  the  best  results  in  other  States  which  seek  to  improve  j 
local  school  district  organization. 

In  the  area  of  local  school  administration  a  study  relating  to  reor¬ 
ganized  school  districts  established  in  recent  years  was  completed. 
Information  obtained  from  this  study  is  now  available  in  two  new  | 
bulletins.  One  of  these  bulletins  gives  an  analysis  of  various  size 
and  sociological  features  of  552  reorganized  local  administrative  units  : 
in  eight  States.  The  other  sets  forth  some  of  the  major  changes  made 
by  these  districts  in  improving  their  educational  programs. 

A  related  study  was  initiated  which  involves  an  intensive  investi¬ 
gation  of  the  redistricting  programs  in  16  States  to  identify  and  eval-  i 
uate  factors  which  influence  local  communities  to  take  favorable 
action  in  establishing  more  effective  school  districts.  A  considerable  j 
amount  of  information  was  collected  on  factors  relating  to  reorgan¬ 
ization  legislation,  school  finance  provisions  influencing  reorganiza-  1 
tion,  the  State  leadership  and  services  provided,  and  the  local 
community  procedures  involved. 

A  major  activity  in  the  area  of  State  school  administration  during 
the  year  was  related  to  improving  basic  statistical  information  for 
American  education.  Educators  and  others  have  long  recognized  the 


Office  of  Education 


171 


need  for  nationwide  comparability  of  educational  information. 
During  1953,  American  education  moved  a  long  way  forward  toward 
its  goal  of  establishing  comparability  of  educational  information. 
One  of  the  results  of  the  year’s  undertaking  was  the  completion  of 
Handbook  /,  The  Common  Core  of  State  Educational  Information , 
which  contains  the  basic  items  of  educational  information,  with  defi¬ 
nitions,  that  every  State  should  have  available  annually. 

The  National  Council  of  Chief  State  School  Officers  has  officially 
accepted  the  Handbook  as  the  fundamental  guide  for  State  educational 
record  and  reporting  systems  and  has  urged  all  of  the  States  to  incor¬ 
porate  the  Handbook  information  into  their  State  systems.  Hand¬ 
book  I  is  the  first  of  four  handbooks  planned  in  the  Office  of  Education 
series  to  establish  comparability  of  educational  information.  Similar 
handbooks  are  planned  in  financial,  personnel,  and  property 
accounting. 

Closely  associated  with  the  project  for  improving  basic  statistical 
information  throughout  the  Nation  was  the  study  of  the  annual  and 
biennial  reporting  practices  of  State  boards  of  education  and  chief 
State  school  officers,  completed  in  1953.  This  study  was  a  joint  enter¬ 
prise  conducted  with  the  Study  Commission  of  the  National  Council 
of  Chief  State  School  Officers  which  culminated  in  the  publication, 
The  State  Department  of  Education  Report. 

In  the  area  of  school  finance,  the  study,  Expenditures  for  Education 
at  the  Midcentury ,  was  completed  and  the  printed  bulletin  will  be  avail¬ 
able  shortly.  In  this  study,  data  were  included  for  63,402  school 
administrative  units  which  operate  schools  in  all  the  States  and  out¬ 
lying  areas.  The  report  discusses  variations  in  levels  of  expenditures 
per  classroom  unit,  showing  ranges  both  within  and  among  the  States 
and  other  areas.  Charts,  tables,  and  discussions  also  pertain  to 
financing  basic  State  programs  of  education,  evaluation  of  educational 
equalization,  ability  and  effort  to  support  public  schools,  and  progress 
in  financing  education  during  the  past  10  years. 

Work  on  another  report  supplementary  to  the  expenditure  study 
was  also  started  near  the  end  of  the  fiscal  year.  This  supplementary 
report  will  include  data  for  the  12  States  which  reported  separate 
data  for  white  and  Negro  children.  The  report  will  present  expendi¬ 
ture  levels  for  classrooms  of  Negro  children  so  they  may  be  compared 
with  State  averages  and  with  corresponding  levels  for  white  children 
in  these  12  States.  Comparisons  will  be  presented  showing  the  situ¬ 
ation  for  the  1949-50  school  year  in  contract  with  that  for  1939-40. 

SCHOOL  FACILITIES 

During  fiscal  1953,  leadership  and  consultative  services  were  pro¬ 
vided  to  State  and  local  school  systems  relative  to  the  Nation’s  largest 
annual  school  building  program  in  history. 


172 


Department  of  Health ,  Education ,  and  Welfare;,  1953 


The  status  phase  of  the  School  Facilities  Survey  (Title  1,  Public 
Law  815,  81st  Congress)  was  completed  in  43  States,  and,  at  year’s  end, 
this  phase  of  the  study  was  still  in  progress  in  other  States.  Progress 
reports  have  revealed  some  alarming  shortages  and  unsatisfactory 
conditions  in  the  public-school  plants  of  the  Nation  (see  charts  2 
and  3). 


Chart  2. — PERCENT  OF  PUBLIC  ELEMENTARY  AND  SECONDARY  SCHOOL  PUPILS  HOUSED  IN 
BUILDINGS  RATED  BY  THE  STATES  IN  1951  ACCORDING  TO  DEGREE  OF  FIRE  SAFETY 
(DATA  FROM  42  STATES  ENROLLING  19,002,362  PUPILS  IN  1949-50) 


PERCENT 


0  20  40  60  80  100 


ELEMENTARY 


SECONDARY 


COMBINED: 

ELEMENTARY, 

SECONDARY 


ALL  SCHOOLS 


ACCEPTABLE 
AS  TO  FIRE  SAFETY 


frTvTvJ  possibly  acceptable 
as  to  fire  safety 


I  NOT  MEETING  FIRE 
I  SAFETY  CONDITIONS 


Chart  3.— PERCENT  OF  PUBLIC  ELEMENTARY  AND  SECONDARY  SCHOOL  PUPILS  HOUSED  IN 


SCHOOL  PLANTS  RATED  BY  THE  STATES  IN  1951  AS  SATISFACTORY,  FAIR,  AND  UNSATIS¬ 
FACTORY  (DATA  FROM  43  STATES  ENROLLING  20,156,045  PUPILS  IN  1949-50) 


Office  of  Education 


173 


The  forthcoming  Report  on  the  Status  Phase  of  the  School  Facilities 
Survey  will  give  the  first  nationwide  comprehensive  picture  of  the 
schoolhousing  situation  and  the  funds  required  to  provide  adequate 
schoolhousing.  During  fiscal  1953,  many  of  the  States  started  the  long- 
range  planning  phase  of  the  survey  w  liich  will  be  substantially  com¬ 
pleted  during  fiscal  1954. 

Assistance  to  school  officials  and  architects  on  layout  patterns  was 
continued  by  a  cooperative  study  of  the  space  and  facilities  of  elemen¬ 
tary  classrooms,  resulting  in  the  first  of  a  series  of  brochures  on  the 
functional  layouts  of  specific  areas  of  the  school  plant.  Continued 
studies  of  functional  patterns  of  school  furniture  and  equipment  in¬ 
cluded  a  study  of  the  body  measurements  of  school-age  children,  thus 
providing  basic  data  for  the  design  of  school  furniture  and  equip¬ 
ment. 

Specific  services  were  provided  to  State  and  local  school  systems 
relative  to  school  plant  management  problems  including  preservation 
of  school  property,  plant  operation  and  maintenance  programs,  safety, 
and  community  and  summer  use  of  school  plants.  Attention  was  given 
to  school  plant  services  in  the  State  departments  of  education,  especially 
in  connection  with  the  development  of  codes  and  regulations,  school 
building  surveys,  and  functional-planning  service  to  local  districts. 
The  Office  also  developed  construction  estimates,  school  building  cost 
analyses,  and  technical  data,  and  made  this  information  available 
through  school  plant  planners  and  architects,  professional  magazines, 
and  the  daily  press. 

SERVICES  TO  ELEMENTARY  EDUCATION 

During  the  year  two  members  of  the  Elementary  Education  staff 
worked  as  members  of  the  Mid-Century  Committee  on  Outcomes  for 
Elementary  Education.  Many  others  assisted  as  the  work  of  the  Com¬ 
mittee  progressed.  The  published  report  is  now  in  print. 

Emphasis  is  being  continued  on  helping  school  people  improve  their 
ways  of  helping  children  learn  to  read,  write,  think,  and  develop 
creativity.  This  is  being  accomplished  through  publications,  consult¬ 
ing  with  leaders  of  more  than  60  lay  and  professional  organizations, 
conferences,  speeches,  and  advising  teacher  groups  who  seek  help  in 
these  phases  of  their  school  program. 

The  staff  is  continuing  to  give  leadership  to  lay  and  professional 
organizations  directed  to  a  better  articulation  of  effort,  closer  collab¬ 
oration  on  programs,  and  an  evaluation  of  gaps  in  educational  services 
to  children.  As  an  example,  staff  members  assisted  the  Girl  Scouts  in 
working  out  a  comprehensive  program  of  Scouting  for  girls  of 
migrant  families.  Several  organizations  were  drawn  in  to  articulate 
their  programs  along  with  that  of  Scouting.  This  pilot  effort  was 
begun  in  the  State  of  California  in  J une  of  1953. 

313G73 — 54 - 3 


174 


Department  of  Health ,  Education,  and  Welfare ,  1953 


Staff  members  worked  with  the  Department- of  Labor  on  materials 
to  emphasize  the  importance  of  children  returning  to  school  in  the 
fall.  The  Elementary  Section  and  the  Children’s  Bureau  also  worked 
together  during  the  year  on  two  projects  of  long-range  significance: 
programs  for  State  Training  Schools  and  ways  to  improve  extended 
school  services  for  children  of  working  mothers. 

A  considerable  amount  of  staff  time  during  the  year  was  spent  in 
helping  to  orient,  advise  with,  and  develop  visitation  programs  for 
foreign  educators.  Individual  and  group  conferences  were  held  and 
visits  to  public  schools  were  arranged. 

A  number  of  American  educators,  going  to  missions  abroad,  were 
also  assisted.  They  were  advised  on  ways  of  working,  appropriate 
professional  books  were  recommended,  and  lists  of  suitable  instruc¬ 
tional  materials  for  developing  educational  programs  in  underdevel¬ 
oped  countries  were  prepared.  Reports  of  educational  projects  were 
studied,  activities  evaluated,  and  recommendations  for  certain 
improvements  were  proposed. 

Five  members  of  the  staff  continued  to  serve  a  clearinghouse  func¬ 
tion  of  sending  helpful  information  and  descriptions  of  good  practices 
to  local  school  people  faced  with  the  migrant  farm  family  problem. 
Cooperative  relationships  were  strengthened  with  other  Federal  agen¬ 
cies  and  lay  organizations.  Leadership  and  assistance  were  given  to 
the  personnel  of  about  23  State  departments  of  education  helping  them 
to  render  better  service  to  local  communities  in  regard  to  the  educa¬ 
tional  problems  of  migrants.  A  major  part  of  a  seminar  report  on 
the  problems  of  migrants  was  written  and  published.  Well  over  three 
hundred  requests  for  materials  were  filled. 

SERVICES  TO  SECONDARY  EDUCATION 

A  study,  Statistics  of  Public  Secondary  Day  Schools ,  1951-5 #,  was 
completed  during  this  fiscal  year.  Some  of  the  significant  highlights 
of  this  study  were  “The  number  of  high  schools  with  extremely  large 
enrollments  is  decreasing  as  is  also  the  number  of  high  schools  with 
extremely  small  enrollments.  .  .  .  The  trend  toward  reorganized  high 
schools  has  been  accelerated  since  1946.  In  1952  reorganized  high 
schools  constituted  about  three-fifths  of  the  entire  number  of  high 
schools  in  the  Nation  and  enrolled  about  three-fourths  of  all  public 
high  school  pupils.  .  .  .  In  1952  men  constituted  48  percent  of  the 
total  professional  staff  .  .  .  the  highest  proportion  reached  during 
the  last  30  years.” 

A  pressing  and  continuing  problem  in  the  high  schools  involves 
the  difficulty  in  teaching  pupils  with  widely  varying  interests  and 
abilities  in  the  same  school  and  often  in  the  same  class.  A  question¬ 
naire  study  has  been  launched  to  find  out  the  practices  actually  used 
in  dealing  with  fast  and  slow  learners  in  eight  different  aspects  of 


Office  of  Education 


175 


school  work.  From  a  sample  of  1,200  high  schools,  850  questionnaires 
were  completed  and  returned.  These  replies  are  currently  being  tab¬ 
ulated  and  analyzed.  The  purposes  of  the  study  are  (1)  to  determine 
present  practices  and  (2)  to  identify  schools  unusually  effective  in 
this  regard  so  that  they  may  be  studied  more  carefully. 

“Pupil  Appraisal  Practices  in  Secondary  Schools”  was  the  theme 
of  the  fifth  national  conference  sponsored  by  the  Office  of  Education 
and  the  Commission  on  Life  Adjustment  Education  for  Youth.  In 
attendance  were  approximately  200  participants  who  were  nominated 
by  chief  State  school  officers,  State  directors  of  secondary  education, 
and  members  of  the  Commission. 

Consultative  services  were  provided  for  many  educational  pro¬ 
grams  which  are  operated  by  other  Government  agencies.  For  exam¬ 
ple,  2  specialists  spent  2  weeks  each  helping  the  Army  to  improve 
its  literacy  education  program  (reading,  writing,  and  arithmetic) 
for  draftees.  One  specialist  spent  3  months,  at  the  request  of  the  State 
Department,  advising  the  Ministry  of  Education  in  Turkey.  For  the 
foreign  teachers,  trainees,  and  leaders  interested  in  secondary  educa¬ 
tion  who  were  routed  through  the  Office,  the  entire  staff  was  involved 
in  group  orientation  conferences,  individual  counseling,  and  coopera¬ 
tion  with  State  and  local  educators  in  planning  study  activities. 

Staff  members  also  cooperated  with  numerous  professional  associa¬ 
tions  by  serving  on  committees,  speaking  at  meetings,  and  writing  for 
yearbooks  and  magazines.  The  Office  and  the  American  Association 
for  the  Advancement  of  Science  jointly  planned,  conducted,  and 
reported  (in  an  Office  publication)  a  conference  on  identifying  and 
teaching  pupils  who  are  talented  in  science  and  mathematics. 

EXCEPTIONAL  CHILDREN  AND  YOUTH 

A  major  project  during  the  year  was  the  continuation  of  the  study, 
Qualifications  and  Preparation  of  T eachers  of  Exceptional  Children. 
The  project  will  continue  during  1954  and  from  it  much  information 
should  be  obtained  which  will  be  useful  in  reevaluating  the  college 
programs  for  the  training  of  teachers  and  in  establishing  realistic 
qualifications  for  teachers  in  the  various  fields. 

Collaborative  efforts  with  the  Children’s  Bureau  continued  on  the 
production  of  materials  for  public-school  personnel  concerning  the 
control  and  prevention  of  juvenile  delinquency.  A  new  bulletin  in 
this  field  is  ready  for  publication  and  eventual  distribution  to  the 
State  and  local  schools. 

A  complete  review  and  summarization  of  legislation  adopted  by  the 
various  States  concerning  the  education  of  exceptional  children  was 
made  and  the  results  published  in  School  Life.  This  review  brought 
up  to  date  the  original  publication  of  1949  and  indicated  a  rapidly 

313673—54 - 3 


176 


Department  of  Health ,  Education ,  and  Welfare ,  1953 


developing  legislative  program  in  which  46  of  the  48  States  partici¬ 
pate. 

In  cooperation  with  the  Research  and  Statistics  Section,  statistics 
of  public-school  special  education  facilities  were  collected  during  the 
year.  These  data  will  form  the  basis  for  the  first  such  report  that 
has  been  made  available  since  the  statistics  for  1947-48  were  published. 
They  will  appear  in  bulletin  form  as  a  part  of  the  Biennial  Survey 
of  Education  early  in  fiscal  ’54. 

VISUAL  EDUCATION  SERVICE 

The  Visual  Education  Service  continued  during  the  year  its  sys¬ 
tematic  cataloging  of  information  about  motion  pictures  and  film¬ 
strips  of  all  Government  agencies  which  are  available  for  public  educa¬ 
tional  use  in  the  United  States.  Descriptive  copy  on  1,070  such  films 
was  prepared  for  the  Library  of  Congress  to  use  in  printing  and  issu¬ 
ing  its  catalog  cards.  A  special  catalog  of  528  Government  films 
cleared  for  television  use  has  also  been  prepared.  Cooperation  with 
the  Library  of  Congress  continued  in  the  formulation  of  definitive 
rules  for  cataloging  films  leading  to  the  issuance,  in  March  1953,  of 
a  revised  edition  of  such  rules.  The  Chief  of  the  Visual  Education 
Service  served  as  manager,  then  as  observer  of  a  UNESCO  conference 
on  international  standards  for  film  cataloging  held  in  Washington 
during  May  1953. 

The  Visual  Education  Service  also  continued  to  serve  as  the  pri¬ 
mary  point  for  the  release  of  Government  films  for  educational  use 
and  to  administer  the  GSA  contract  covering  the  sale  of  copies  of  such 
films.  During  the  year,  166  films  were  released  for  sale,  while  7  were 
withdrawn  from  sale.  At  the  end  of  the  year,  2,750  motion  pictures 
and  film-strips  of  22  different  agencies  were  being  sold  under  the  GSA 
contract. 

The  1951  directory  of  2002  film  libraries  was  revised  and  sent  to 
the  Government  Printing  Office  as  a  1953  directory  of  2,660  film  li¬ 
braries.  This  State  and  city  directory  of  16mm  loan  and  rental  sources 
was  prepared,  as  were  previous  editions,  with  the  cooperation  of  the 
American  Library  Association,  Association  of  Chief  State  School 
Audio-Visual  Officers,  Educational  Film  Library  Association,  Nation¬ 
al  Audio-Visual  Association,  and  the  National  Education  Association. 

SERVICES  TO  LIBRARIES 

About  100  years  ago,  the  first  public  library,  as  we  know  the  term 
today,  was  founded  in  the  United  States.  A  survey  just  completed 
by  the  Office  of  Education  shows,  among  other  things,  that  7,477  public 
libraries  are  now  operating  in  the  United  States ;  and  that  these  insti¬ 
tutions  own  some  149  million  volumes,  circulate  about  413  million  vol¬ 
umes  annually,  and  spend  $109  million  yearly.  The  data  also  show 


Office  of  Education 


177 


that  60  percent  of  the  Nation’s  public  libraries  have  annual  budgets 
of  less  than  $4,000  per  year  and  that  some  30  million  people  are  still 
without  any  local  public  library  service. 

Standards  for  school  libraries  are  important  instruments  for  check¬ 
ing  upon  the  effectiveness  of  the  library  in  the  total  school  program. 
With  this  in  mind,  an  analysis  was  made  during  the  year  of  the  stand¬ 
ards  formulated  by  State  departments  of  education  and  four  regional 
accrediting  associations.  The  findings  show :  an  almost  universal 
adoption  by  State  departments  of  education  of  library  standards  or 
recommendations  for  secondary  schools ;  a  widespread  extension  of 
library  standards  or  recommendations  to  the  elementary  school ;  and 
greater  emphasis  on  the  functions  and  services  of  the  library  than  on 
purely  quantitative  library  requirements  as  was  formerly  the  case. 
The  results  of  this  study  appeared  in  the  Bulletin  of  the  School  Library 
Association  of  California  for  May  1953  and  in  School  Libraries ,  official 
publication  of  the  American  Association  of  School  Librarians,  for 
July  1953. 

The  current  widespread  shortage  of  trained,  competent  librarians 
renders  acute  the  problem  of  adequate  opportunities  for  library  educa¬ 
tion.  To  provide  college  and  university  executives,  school  adminis¬ 
trators,  public  librarians,  and  prospective  students  with  an  impartial 
and  timely  review  of  the  current  pattern  of  professional  education  for 
librarianship,  research  has  been  undertaken  to  ascertain  the  number 
of  course  offerings,  curriculum  changes,  and  admission  and  degree  re¬ 
quirements.  It  was  found  that  more  than  500  institutions  of  higher 
education  now  offer  courses  in  librarianship  in  an  effort  to  meet  cur¬ 
rent  library  needs. 

Rises  in  operating  costs  and  generally  static  incomes  in  the  last  5 
years  have  caused  university  and  college  executives  and  librarians  to 
view  critically  the  adequacy  and  efficiency  of  library  resources,  use, 
expenditures,  and  personnel  required  in  higher  educational  institu¬ 
tions.  To  provide  objective  data  on  these  points  a  nationwide  statis¬ 
tical  survey  was  undertaken  covering  the  fiscal  year  1951-52,  and  is 
now  nearing  completion. 

RADIO  AND  TELEVISION  SERVICES 

The  fiscal  year  just  ended  was  one  of  transition,  in  several  respects, 
for  the  Radio  and  Television  Services  Section. 

Up  to  late  spring  of  this  year,  educational  institutions  in  each  of 
the  242  local  areas  where  the  Federal  Communications  Commission 
had  tentatively  designated  a  TV-channel  for  educational  station  as¬ 
signment  had  been  concerned  primarily  with  the  legal,  technical,  and 
fiscal  aspects  of  building  stations.  However,  by  the  year’s  end,  3 
educational  TV  stations  had  been  built  and  2.  of  them  were  in  opera¬ 
tion.  Furthermore,  construction  permits  for  17  others  had  been 


178 


Department  of  Health ,  Education ,  aruf  Welfare ,  1953 


granted  and  47  applications  were  on  file  with  the  Federal  Communica¬ 
tions  Commission  awaiting  processing.  Satisfied  with  this  showing, 
the  Federal  Communications  Commission  announced  that  the  242 
channel  reservations  for  education  would  be  continued  indefinitely. 
Relieved  of  pressure  for  immediate  station  construction,  educational 
station  planners  are  now  including  all  aspects  of  programing  and 
station  operation  in  their  planning  activities. 

In  the  meantime  the  Radio-Recordings  Program  which  was  started 
15  years  ago  to  give  teachers  an  opportunity  to  explore  the  educa¬ 
tional  potentialities  of  recorded  instructional  materials,  was  judged 
to  have  performed  its  pioneering  function  and  was  accordingly  dis¬ 
continued.  This  library  of  educational  program  recordings  is  now 
in  process  of  being  distributed  among  the  various  State,  regional,  and 
city  schools,  as  well  as  among  the  instructional  materials  distribution 
centers  that  have  grown  up  in  this  field  in  recent  years.  A  small  new 
Reference  Resource  Materials  Library  has  been  established  in  the 
Office  in  recognition  of  the  desirability  of  retaining  a  representative 
sample  of  instructionally  useful  material  in  the  broadcast  media  field 
for  study  by  instructional  materials  specialists  and  educational  pro¬ 
gram  producers. 

The  principal  focus  of  the  work-study  program  of  the  Joint  Com¬ 
mittee  of  the  Office  of  Education  and  the  Radio-Electronic-Television 
Manufacturers  Association  on  the  use  of  communications  equipment 
in  education  has  shifted  during  the  year  from  equipment  to  teaching. 
The  three  earlier  studies  of  the  Committee  each  dealt  with  a  single 
class  of  communications  equipment  and  undertook  to  discover  and  de¬ 
scribe  all  the  instructionally  useful  things  schools  were  doing  with  it. 
However,  its  fourth  study  started  with  actual  instructional  jobs  the 
schools  must  perform  and  undertook  to  discover  how  their  accom¬ 
plishment  might  be  facilitated  through  the  imaginative  use  of  various 
types  of  communications  equipment.  Thus,  the  Committee’s  latest 
information  booklet,  Teaching  with  Radio ,  Audio ,  Recording ,  and 
Television  Equipment ,  identifies  a  number  of  instructional  and  activ¬ 
ity  objectives,  and  explains  various  combinations  of  equipment  and 
instructional  procedures  by  which  each  can  be  accomplished. 

IV.  Services  to  Vocational  Education 

The  responsibility  for  vocational  education  as  a  function  of  the 
Office  of  Education  has  its  origin  in  the  Smith-Hughes  Act,  which 
provides  Federal  funds  to  assist  the  States  in  the  promotion  of  voca¬ 
tional  education.  This  act  and  subsequent  Federal  vocational  educa¬ 
tion  statutes  recognize  that  the  welfare  and  economy  of  the  Nation  are 
based  on  the  productive  capacity  of  its  workers.  The  program  of  voca¬ 
tional  education  is  a  Federal- State  cooperative  educational  endeavor. 


Office  of  Education 


179 


States  and  local  schools  have  the  responsibility  for  planning  and  oper¬ 
ating  the  programs.  The  Office  of  Education  through  its  Division  of 
Vocational  Education  has  the  responsibility  for  (1)  administering  the 
Federal  Vocational  Education  Acts,  and  (2)  assisting  States  in  the 
promotion  and  further  development  of  their  programs. 

The  chief  purpose  of  vocational  education  is  to  fit  youth  for  useful 
employment.  It  develops  not  only  job  skills  but  also  the  abilities, 
understandings,  attitudes,  work  habits,  and  appreciations  which  are 
necessary  for  a  productive  and  satisfying  life. 

Federal  funds  appropriated  for  vocational  education  programs 
in  the  several  States  and  Territories  in  fiscal  1953  amounted  to 
$25,811,590.90.  Allotments  of  these  funds  to  States  were  for  the  pur¬ 
pose  of  assisting  them  in  providing  vocational  education  in  agricul¬ 
ture,  home  economics,  trades  and  industry,  distributive  occupations, 
and  the  training  of  vocational  teachers  in  these  occupational  fields. 

The  scope  of  the  program  in  1953  may  be  measured  by  the  fact  that 
more  than  two-thirds  of  the  high  schools  of  the  Nation  provided 
vocational  training  in  one  or  more  fields,  i.  e.,  agriculture,  distributive 
occupations,  homemaking,  and  trades  and  industries.  Over  3.1  million 
youth  and  adults  were  enrolled  in  these  vocational  classes. 

Much  of  the  time  of  the  Division  staff  was  devoted  to  activities  re¬ 
quired  in  the  administration  of  the  Federal  appropriation  of  $25.8 
million,  which  was  allotted  to  the  States  and  matched  by  State  and 
local  expenditures  of  more  than  $120  million.  Other  activities  of  the 
Division  during  1953,  directed  toward  the  further  development  and 
improvement  of  the  program,  included  work  such  as  that  described 
below. 

REAPPRAISAL  OF  PROGRAMS  OF  VOCATIONAL  EDUCATION 

Because  each  State  board  for  vocational  education  has  final  respon¬ 
sibility  for  the  vocational  education  program  in  its  respective  jurisdic¬ 
tion,  the  work  of  the  Division  of  Vocational  Education  in  the  Office 
of  Education  is  largely  with  the  professional  staffs  of  the  State  boards. 
During  1953  the  Division  gave  special  attention  to  assisting  States 
in  developing  their  leadership  with  the  idea  that  States  should  assume 
more  responsibility  for  maintaining  standards  and  for  extending  and 
improving  the  program.  This  emphasis  was  exemplified  by  the  work 
of  the  Division  with  a  committee  consisting  of  four  chief  State  school 
officers  and  four  State  directors  of  vocational  education,  and  known 
as  The  Commissioner’s  Advisory  Committee  for  the  Further  Develop¬ 
ment  and  Improvement  of  Vocational  Education.  The  purpose  of 
this  Committee  is  to  study  the  entire  field  of  vocational  education  of 
less  than  college  grade  and  to  make  suggestions  and  recommendations 
which  would,  in  the  opinion  of  the  Committee,  result  in  the  further 
development  and  improvement  of  this  phase  of  education. 


180 


Department  of  Health ,  Education,  and  Welfare,  1953 


The  staff  of  the  Division  also  gave  a  great  deal  of  attention  to  analyz¬ 
ing  its  own  activities  in  relation  to  objectives  and  purposes  which  the 
staff  believes  should  be  achieved  in  the  next  5  or  10  years  in  the  field 
of  vocational  education.  This  involved  defining  the  unique  respon¬ 
sibilities  of  various  members  of  the  staff  for  coordination,  for  leader¬ 
ship  in  program  development,  for  administration,  and  for  analysis  of 
the  special  needs  for  vocational  education  in  the  United  States.  State¬ 
ments  of  philosophy,  procedures,  and  activities  were  developed  for  use 
both  within  the  Division  and  in  work  with  States.  Special  emphasis 
was  put  on  techniques  for  finding  out  what  problems  in  each  State 
should  be  given  special  attention  in  subsequent  field  work  of  the  staff. 
Division  policies,  procedures,  and  objectives  in  holding  conferences 
of  State  personnel  were  reexamined  with  the  objective  of  achieving 
greater  effectiveness  in  the  development  of  State  leadership  through 
such  conferences. 

SERVICES  IN  EVALUATION  AND  SUPERVISION 

Special  emphasis  was  given  to  assisting  States  in  their  evaluation 
of  vocational  education  programs.  Staff  members  of  the  Division  pro¬ 
vided  leadership  for  State  personnel  in  developing  and  using  criteria 
for  use  in  evaluating  training,  in  evaluating  programs  for  the  train¬ 
ing  of  vocational  teachers,  and  in  reexamining  and  reorganizing  the 
administrative  operations  at  State  and  local  levels. 

Consultative  service  was  provided  also  to  States  in  developing  pro¬ 
cedures  for  improving  their  programs  of  supervision.  Specifically, 
assistance  was  given  to  a  committee  representing  several  States  in 
developing  a  guide  for  evaluating  and  supervising,  and  in  consider¬ 
ing  ways  to  improve  State  supervisory  programs.  In  another  in¬ 
stance,  staff  members  worked  with  professional  personnel  from  8 
States  to  study  ways  of  improving  supervision,  and  to  consider  such 
problems  as  (1)  setting  up  research  programs  to  determine  effective¬ 
ness  of  supervision  in  the  State,  and  (2)  finding  ways  of  evaluating 
different  procedures  and  devices  used  in  the  supervisory  programs. 
In  still  another  instance,  the  staff  of  the  Division  assisted  in  develop¬ 
ing  a  manual  and  guide  for  the  use  of  State  and  local  supervisors  in 
reviewing  and  evaluating  local  programs.  Several  States  are  now 
using  adaptations  of  this  manual  with  a  high  degree  of  success. 

A  bulletin,  The  Operation  of  a  Local  Program  of  Trade  and  Indus¬ 
trial  Education  with  Emphasis  on  Improving  Instruction  through 
Supervision  (Vocational  Division  Bulletin  No.  250),  was  published 
and  has  had  extensive  use  in  improving  supervision. 

These  and  other  efforts  of  the  Office  grew  out  of  the  States’  interest 
in  developing  improved  supervisory  procedures  to  provide  maximum 
aid  to  local  schools  with  the  ultimate  idea  of  developing  criteria 
against  which  a  local  community  could  measure  its  own  program. 


Office  of  Education 


181 


SERVICES  TO  YOUTH  ORGANIZATIONS 

With  the  increased  necessity  for  young  people  to  develop  the  ability 
i  to  carry  specific  responsibilities,  the  Division  assisted  State  staffs  in 
further  strengthening  leadership  training  programs  for  youth  organ¬ 
izations  whose  members  are  enrolled  in  vocational  classes  in  agricul¬ 
ture  and  homemaking — Future  Farmers  of  America,  New  Farmers 
of  America,  Future  Homemakers  of  America,  and  New  Homemakers 
of  America.  These  organizations  have  a  combined  membership  of 
approximately  815,000. 

SERVICES  IN  TEACHER  EDUCATION 

Because  of  the  shortage  of  teachers  and  other  leaders  for  vocational 
programs,  particularly  in  the  field  of  home  economics,  the  Division 
worked  with  the  National  Association  of  State  Directors  of  Voca¬ 
tional  Education  in  developing  criteria  to  guide  State  boards  and 
colleges  and  universities  which  train  home  economics  teachers  to 
reexamine  their  programs  for  the  selection  and  training  of  such 
teachers  to  the  end  that  more  and  better  teachers  may  be  available. 

SERVICES  IN  INTERNATIONAL  EDUCATION 

Although  the  Division  does  not  have  direct  responsibility  for  bring¬ 
ing  groups  of  educators  from  other  countries  to  study  our  vocational 
education  program,  or  for  assigning  vocational  educators  to  assist 
other  nations  in  developing  vocational  education,  much  time  and 
effort  was  spent  in  this  work.  Activities  consisted  of  recommending 
standards  for  selecting  persons  to  be  sent  on  foreign  assignments  in 
vocational  education,  in  securing  lists  of  persons  who  were  interested 
in  such  assignments,  in  briefing  such  persons  before  their  departure, 
and  in  interviewing  them  upon  their  return.  Even  more  time  and 
effort  was  devoted  to  working  with  foreign  visitors;  specifically  in 
making  arrangements  with  State  and  local  schools  for  their  visits, 
planning  and  conducting  programs  of  orientation  for  visiting  groups, 
interviewing  individuals  preliminary  to  their  observation  of  voca¬ 
tional  education  in  States  and  local  communities,  and  again  inter¬ 
viewing  them  before  their  return  to  their  own  countries. 

SERVICES  IN  PRACTICAL  NURSING 

In  cooperation  with  the  Public  Health  Service,  the  Office  of  Edu¬ 
cation  gave  special  assistance  during  the  year  in  the  development  of 
courses  for  training  practical  nurses.  The  growth  of  this  program 
is  indicated  by  the  fact  that  in  fiscal  year  1952  there  were  approxi¬ 
mately  160  communities  providing  such  training  under  public-school 
supervision,  whereas  in  fiscal  year  1953  the  number  had  increased  to 
approximately  185  communities.  Part  of  this  increase  was  due  to  the 


182 


Department  of  Health ,  Education,  and  Welfare ,  1953 


participation  and  support  of  nursing,  medical,  and  hospital  organ¬ 
izations  and  part  to  the  need  for  more  help  of  a  semiprofessional 
nature  in  hospitals.  Schools  of  all  types  are  now  graduating  about 
3,000  practical  nurses  a  year,  most  of  whom  are  graduates  of  the 
courses  conducted  under  the  vocational  education  program. 

SERVICES  IN  RESEARCH  AND  NEW  AREAS  OF  WORK 

Supplementing  the  assistance  given  to  States  through  conferences 
and  visits  to  the  States  by  staff  members,  the  Office  of  Education  stim¬ 
ulated  research  on  emerging  problems  during  the  year  by  publishing 
the  following  printed  bulletins  relating  to  vocational  education : 

With  Focus  on  Family  Living •:  The  Story  of  Four  Experiments  In  Com¬ 
munity  Organization  for  Family  Life  Education.  Vocational  Division 
Bulletin  No.  249. 

Summaries  of  Studies  in  Agricultural  Education.  Vocational  Education 
Bulletin  No.  251. 

Home ,  School,  and  Community  Experiences  in  the  Homemaking  Program. 
Vocational  Division  Bulletin  No.  252. 


V.  Services  to  Higher  Education 

During  the  fiscal  year  1953  the  Division  of  Higher  Education  used 
its  resources : 

1.  To  assist  in  an  orderly  expansion  of  facilities  and  programs 
in  higher  education 

2.  To  provide  information  on  program  costs  and  student  ex¬ 
penditures 

3.  To  clarify  policies  and  procedures  relating  to  college  accredi¬ 
tation  and  licensure  in  the  professions 

4.  To  administer  Federal  grants  for  resident  instruction  in  the 
land-grant  colleges,  and  otherwise  to  serve  these  institutions, 
and 

5.  To  further  international  understanding. 

Some  of  these  functions  were  the  responsibility  primarily  of  one  of  the 
Division’s  three  Branches:  College  and  University  Administration, 
General  and  Liberal  Education,  or  Professional  Education;  others 
involved  two  or  all  three  Branches. 

EXPANSION  OF  FACILITIES  AND  PROGRAMS  IN  HIGHER  EDUCATION 

Facilities. — The  present  enrollment  in  colleges  is  approximately  the 
same  as  the  enrollment  in  secondary  schools  was  in  1920.  There  are 
now  approximately  8,500,000  persons  18  to  21 ;  by  1970  there  will  be 
about  14,250,000  persons  in  this  age  group,  an  increase  of  67  percent. 
Fewer  than  half  the  States  have  any  systematic  means  of  determining 


Office  of  Education 


183 


what  facilities  are  needed  for  higher  education  and  where  they  should 
be  located. 

During  preceding  fiscal  years  the  Division  had  undertaken  a  com¬ 
prehensive  study  of  existing  space  and  of  needed  additional  facilities 
at  the  college  level.  This  study  was  reported  in  the  bulletin,  College 
Building  Needs.  The  data  in  this  report  have  been  kept  current 
through  the  program  of  rationing  controlled  materials  which  the  Office 
of  Education  conducted  as  the  agent  of  the  National  Production 
Authority.  The  data  have  been  expanded  through  the  continuous 
inventory  of  the  physical  facilities  and  staff  resources  of  this  country’s 
colleges  and  universities.  The  purpose  of  this  inventory  is  to  determine 
the  facilities  and  resources  possessed  by  each  institution  of  higher 
learning  that  might  be  used  to  train  technical,  professional,  and  other 
specialized  personnel  required  to  meet  the  Nation’s  obligations  at  home 
and  abroad.  The  inventory  has  been  widely  used  by  Federal  and  State 
agencies  and  by  voluntary  organizations  having  a  stake  in  the  plan¬ 
ning  and  the  development  of  programs  of  higher  education. 

College  housing  loan  fro  gram. — An  agreement  between  the  Admin¬ 
istrator  of  the  Housing  and  Home  Finance  Agency  and  the  U.  S.  Com¬ 
missioner  of  Education  enables  the  Division  of  Higher  Education  to 
provide  an  educational  advisory  service  on  the  College  Housing  Loan 
Program  under  the  provisions  of  Title  IV  of  the  Plousing  Act  of  1950 
(P.  L.  475).  In  carrying  out  this  advisory  function  liaison  is  main¬ 
tained  with  such  organizations  as  the  American  Council  on  Education, 
the  Land-Grant  College  Association,  and  the  National  Education  As¬ 
sociation.  Staff  members  meet  with  groups  of  educators  in  National, 
regional,  and  State  conferences  to  consider  ways  of  providing  urgently 
needed  housing. 

During  the  past  fiscal  year  116  applications  for  college  housing  loans 
were  reviewed.  The  total  value  of  loans  requested  was  $69,362,887. 
Of  this  amount  $63,124,745  was  recommended  for  approval.  Most  of 
these  applications  were  from  institutions  in  which  a  backlog  of  hous¬ 
ing  need  had  existed  for  10  years  or  more.  In  each  instance  the  institu¬ 
tion  was  required  to  justify  the  proposed  housing  project  on  the 
grounds  that  it  was  defense-related  or  made  necessary  by  the  college’s 
location  in  a  defense  area  characterized  by  a  critical  shortage  of 
housing. 

At  the  end  of  fiscal  year  1953  the  sum  of  $86.5  million  of  the  total 
amount  of  $300  million  authorized  by  Congress  for  loan  purposes,  had 
been  committed.  Facilities  completed  or  under  construction  will  ac¬ 
commodate  some  600  student  and  faculty  families  and  25,661  single 
students. 

Education  for  the  professions. — The  professions  render  highly 
specialized  services  to  society  which  can  be  provided  only  by  persons 
who  have  had  prolonged  training  at  a  high  intellectual  level.  They 


184 


Department  of  Health ,  Education ,  and  Welfare ,  1953 


include  about  6  percent  of  the  working  force  of  this  country — upward 
of  4  million  persons.  The  day-to-day  functioning  of  the  Nation  de¬ 
pends  heavily  upon  professional  people. 

The  Division  of  Higher  Education  has  begun  a  long-term  study  of 
professional  education  in  the  United  States.  During  the  past  fiscal 
year  a  series  of  articles  on  professional  education  has  been  appearing 
in  the  periodical,  Higher  Education.  Among  the  fields  covered  were 
engineering,  forestry,  journalism,  law,  librarianship,  medicine, 
nursing,  optometry,  pharmacy,  theology,  veterinary  medicine,  public 
health,  business  administration,  home  economics,  and  hospital  admin¬ 
istration.  These  articles,  in  revised  form,  together  with  additional 
material,  are  being  prepared  for  publication  in  an  Office  of  Education 
bulletin,  Professional  Education  in  the  United  States.  There  is  a 
great  need  for  a  publication  which  brings  together  the  principal  facts 
about  professional  education. 

Health  professions. — In  recent  years  several  groups  of  professional 
schools  have  shown  collective  interest  in  improving  the  quality  of 
teaching.  Among  these  have  been  the  schools  of  dentistry  and  the 
colleges  of  pharmacy.  The  staff  of  the  Division  has  assisted  both  of 
these  groups  in  the  conducting  of  conferences  and  seminars  designed 
to  improve  instruction  in  these  two  fields. 

Engineering . — The  annual  study  of  Engineering  Enrollments  and 
Graduates,  made  jointly  with  the  American  Society  for  Engineering 
Education,  was  published  during  the  year  as  Office  of  Education  Cir¬ 
cular  No.  364.  Data  were  also  gathered  to  make  possible  a  revision 
of  tables  in  Bulletin  1949,  No.  15,  A  Survey  of  Cooperative  Engineer¬ 
ing  Education.  The  up-to-date  information  is  included  in  Office  of 
Education  Circular  No.  368.  An  article  on  “Engineering  As  a  Career,” 
was  also  prepared  for  the  January  1953  issue  of  School  Life.  This 
article  contains  the  kind  of  information  about  the  profession  and  the 
qualifications  and  abilities  needed  by  prospective  students  of  engineer¬ 
ing  that  should  be  brought  to  the  attention  of  interested  high-school 
students. 

T eacher  education. — During  the  past  year  the  most  significant  devel¬ 
opment  in  the  field  of  teacher  education  has  been  the  organization  of 
the  National  Council  for  Accreditation  of  Teacher  Education.  The 
organization  of  this  Council  constitutes  the  first  effort  to  bring  to 
bear  the  major  forces  in  teacher  education  on  the  problem  of  accredi¬ 
tation.  Only  274  of  the  1,217  institutions  that  prepare  teachers  are 
accredited  by  an  agency  national  in  scope.  It  is  hoped  that  the  Council 
can  increase  that  number  and  also  keep  standards  high.  This  new 
Council  is  made  up  of  21  members  representing  State  departments  of 
education,  colleges  and  universities  that  prepare  teachers,  classroom 
teachers  and  administrators,  and  boards  of  education.  The  Division 


Office  of  Education 


185 


of  Higher  Education  has  assisted  in  organizing  this  Council  and  is 
represented  on  its  panel  of  consultants. 

As  a  part  of  the  movement  to  raise  standards  in  teacher  educa¬ 
tion,  the  Division  cooperates  with  the  National  Education  Association 
in  the  biennial  publication  of  a  description  and  an  analysis  of  the 
teacher  certification  requirements  in  each  of  the  48  States  and  the 
Territories.  During  the  fiscal  year  a  revision  of  this  publication  was 
issued,  entitled  A  Manual  on  Certification  Requirements  for  School 
Personnel  in  the  United  States. 

Specific  help  was  given  to  three  States  during  the  year  on  their 
problems  relating  to  teacher  education.  Consultant  help  has  been 
provided  to  the  public-supported  colleges  in  Virginia  on  their  cur¬ 
riculum  for  the  education  of  teachers.  Similar  assistance  has  been 
provided  to  institutions  in  Arkansas,  where  a  special  experiment  under 
Ford  Foundation  sponsorship  is  in  progress.  Consultant  service  on 
the  problem  of  teacher  supply  and  demand  for  the  next  10  years  in 
the  State  of  Maryland  has  also  been  provided.  This  project  has 
resulted  in  a  redistribution  of  the  functions  of  teacher  education 
among  the  public  and  private  institutions  in  that  State. 

Shortage  of  teachers. — In  the  fall  of  1952,  data  were  collected  from 
State  departments  of  education  showing  the  number  of  qualified 
teachers  needed  to  staff  the  schools  in  each  State  and  the  number  of 
teachers  not  fully  qualified  to  whom  temporary  or  emergency  certifi¬ 
cates  had  been  issued.  Comments  were  also  invited  from  State  depart¬ 
ments  of  education  as  to  the  outlook  for  an  adequate  supply  of 
teachers. 

General  education. — General  education  seeks  to  prepare  young  peo¬ 
ple  to  become  good  citizens  and  to  deal  effectively  with  contemporary 
problems.  It  is  concerned  with  the  needs  students  have  in  common 
rather  than  with  their  specialized  cultural  or  professional  needs.  The 
increasing  compartmentalization  of  American  higher  education  and 
the  increasing  number  of  students  seeking  a  college  education  help  to 
explain  why  the  development  and  administration  of  adequate  pro¬ 
grams  of  general  education  present  many  difficulties.  The  impor¬ 
tance  and  difficulty  of  building  adequate  programs  of  this  kind  also 
are  reasons  why  the  Division  of  Higher  Education  has  concerned  it¬ 
self  with  the  problems  of  general  education. 

During  the  fiscal  year  1953  visits  to  eight  representative  institu¬ 
tions  of  higher  learning  (Colgate,  Colorado,  Columbia,  Denver,  Okla¬ 
homa  A  and  M,  Princeton,  Rochester,  Syracuse)  afforded  first-hand 
impressions  of  their  programs  of  general  education  as  well  as  of  pro¬ 
grams  for  the  preparation  of  teachers  for  the  broad  field  of  general 
education.  Conferences  with  individual  staff  members  and  with  faculty 
committees  gave  an  insight  into  problems  of  curriculum  develop- 


186 


Department  of  Health ,  Education,  and  Welfare,  1953 


ment  and  instruction,  and  into  types  of  services  which  are  needed  by 
institutions  experimenting  with  programs  of  general  education. 

The  need  for  a  clearinghouse  for  information  about  the  availability 
of  curriculum  materials  and  of  reports  of  experimentation  in  general 
education  was  clearly  established.  So  also  was  the  need  for  a  list  of 
leaders  who  could  be  consulted  about  programs  in  their  own  institu¬ 
tions  and  the  development  of  new  programs  elsewhere.  The  Division 
of  Higher  Education,  therefore,  has  proceeded  to  collect  information 
of  this  kind  from  institutions  having  substantial  programs  of  gen¬ 
eral  education.  Data  have  been  received  so  far  from  about  20  institu¬ 
tions,  and  the  cooperation  of  other  colleges  will  be  sought  in  the  fall. 
The  information  already  received  has  been  published  in  a  loose-leaf 
circular  and  has  been  distributed  to  institutions  of  higher  learning 
and  interested  professional  organizations.  Provisions  are  being  made 
for  periodic  follow-up  to  keep  this  information  service  up  to  date. 

Continuing  education . — The  Ford  Fund  for  Adult  Education  has 
made  possible  a  study  of  certain  phases  of  continuing  education.  This 
project  is  reported  in  A  Study  of  Urban  Public  Adult  Education  Pro¬ 
grams  of  the  United  States ,  National  Education  Association,  1952. 
The  Office  of  Education  cooperated  in  this  study,  and  the  section  on 
“Continuing  Education  for  Adults  in  the  Public  Junior  College”  was 
prepared  by  a  staff  member  of  the  Division  of  Higher  Education. 
Data  on  meeting  the  cost  of  adult  education  programs  were  gathered 
by  staff  members  of  this  and  another  Division,  and  published  in  the 
Office  of  Education  Bulletin  1952,  No.  8,  Financing  Education  in 
Selected  Schools  and  Community  Colleges. 

Equality  of  educational  opportunity. — A  study  has  been  completed 
by  a  member  of  the  staff  of  this  Division  which  bears  on  the  problem 
of  equality  of  educational  opportunity  for  white  and  non- white  youth 
in  the  District  of  Columbia  and  the  IT  States  maintaining  segregated 
school  systems.  Data  have  been  compiled  on  the  number  of  youth  in 
each  group  enrolled  in  high  school,  graduating  from  high  school,  en¬ 
rolled  in  college,  and  graduating  from  college.  Information  from  the 
1950  Census  on  the  number  of  white  and  non- white  youth  of  school¬ 
going  age  in  these  States  makes  possible  comparisons  that  reveal  the 
extent  of  present  disparities. 

A  study  has  been  begun  to  discover  trends  in  the  provision  for 
higher  education  of  Negroes.  When  completed  it  will  provide  up-to- 
date  information  on  one  phase  of  the  educational  status  of  a  group 
which  constitutes  an  important  reserve  of  manpower.  Of  particular 
importance  is  information  about  the  total  number  of  Negro  college 
students  and  the  courses  they  are  taking,  the  increased  number  of 
Negroes  enrolled  in  Southern  institutions  of  higher  learning  formerly 
closed  to  them,  and  the  removal  of  racial  restrictions  in  the  employ¬ 
ment  of  teachers  and  other  professional  personnel. 


Office  of  Education 


187 


A  staff  member  has  cooperated  with  13  private  colleges  for  Negroes 
in  the  development  of  a  cooperative  testing  program  to  facilitate  the 
admission  of  qualified  students,  the  awarding  of  scholarships,  etc. 
More  than  2,800  students  were  tested  the  first  year. 

INFORMATION  ON  PROGRAM  COSTS  AND  STUDENT  EXPENDITURES 

Cost  of  Going  to  College. — There  is  a  growing  concern  about  the 
continuing  rise  in  the  cost  of  higher  education.  Such  concern  is 
expressed  by  college  administrators,  professors,  boards  of  trustees, 
professional  organizations,  members  of  State  legislatures,  State  and 
Federal  governmental  agencies  concerned  with  education,  as  well  as 
by  the  students  themselves  and  their  parents.  There  is  a  well-founded 
fear  that  rising  costs  are  making  it  difficult  if  not  impossible  for 
children  of  low-income  families  to  go  to  college,  thus  depriving  the 
Nation  of  the  leadership  potential  of  a  substantial  segment  of  its 
youth.  A  proposal  frequently  made  for  bridging  the  gap  between 
costs  and  the  ability  of  students  to  pay  is  to  provide  increased  aid 
through  a  statewide  or  nationwide  plan  of  scholarships.  At  the  pres¬ 
ent  time,  however,  information  is  not  available  which  would  enable 
legislators  or  philanthropists  to  decide  what  is  the  best  way  to  aid 
needy  college  students. 

For  the  reasons  given,  the  Division  of  Higher  Education  has  under¬ 
taken  to  collect  information  on  a  nationwide  scale  about  the  costs  stu¬ 
dents  incur  in  college,  how  these  costs  are  met,  and  the  relationships 
which  exist  among  the  various  cost  factors,  the  sources  of  funds,  and 
the  size  of  family  income.  A  questionnaire  has  been  devised  to  obtain 
this  information,  and  data  are  being  obtained  from  about  30,000  full¬ 
time  undergraduate  students  enrolled  in  100  institutions  of  higher 
learning.  In  the  published  findings,  names  of  students  will  not  be 
disclosed,  but  institutions  will  be  identified.  It  is  planned  to  provide 
tabulations  that  take  into  account  geographic  location,  age,  sex,  vet¬ 
eran-status,  number  of  siblings,  college  class,  program  of  study,  and 
type  of  housing  and  boarding  accommodations. 

Student  withdrawals. — During  fiscal  year  1953  the  Division  of 
Higher  Education  began  a  study  of  the  effectiveness  of  colleges  in 
retaining  students  admitted  to  various  programs  of  study  until  these 
programs  are  completed.  Some  20,000  students  in  about  175  colleges 
are  included  in  this  investigation.  Field  work  on  this  project  will  not 
be  completed  until  the  class  of  1954  graduates  in  June  of  next  year. 

In  a  period  when  there  is  a  dearth  of  trained  manpower  the  Nation 
can  scarcely  afford  to  have  colleges  retain  to  graduation  fewer  than 
half  of  the  students  they  admit.  The  current  investigation  should  de¬ 
termine  some  of  the  primary  factors  responsible  for  excessive  with¬ 
drawals  and  provide  a  basis  for  initiating  remedial  measures.  This 
project  is  the  first  of  a  series  of  studies  dealing  with  student  popula- 


188 


Department  of  Health ,  Education ,  and  Welfare ,  1953 


tion.  Other  studies  will  deal  with  the  selection  and  admission  of 
students,  and  the  effectiveness  with  which  college  graduates  are 
absorbed  into  the  Nation’s  working  force. 

POLICIES  AND  PROCEDURES  RELATING  TO  COLLEGE  ACCREDITATION 
AND  LICENSURE  IN  THE  PROFESSIONS 

Nationally  recognized  accrediting  agencies  and  associations. — Dur¬ 
ing  the  last  quarter  of  fiscal  year  1953  the  function  of  the  U.  S.  Com¬ 
missioner  of  Education  under  Section  253  (a)  of  the  Veterans  Read¬ 
justment  Assistance  Act  of  1952  (P.  L.  550 — 82d  Congress)  was 
assumed  by  the  Division  of  Higher  Education.  This  portion  of  the 
Act  requires  the  Commissioner  of  Education  to  publish  a  list  of 
“nationally  recognized  accrediting  agencies  and  associations  which 
he  determines  to  be  reliable  authority  as  to  the  quality  of  training 
offered  by  an  educational  institution.” 

Under  this  authority  the  Commissioner  had  issued  in  August  1952 
the  first  provisional  list  of  such  accrediting  agencies  which  included 
the  6  regional  accrediting  associations  and  22  national  professional 
accrediting  associations.  On  October  4,  1952,  the  Federal  Register 
published  the  criteria  in  terms  of  which  applications  of  all  accredit¬ 
ing  agencies  and  associations  seeking  inclusion  on  the  Commissioner’s 
list  should  be  evaluated. 

During  the  past  fiscal  year  the  staff  members  assigned  to  this  work 
have  processed  the  applications  of  16  agencies  and  associations.  They 
have  recommended  the  addition  of  but  one  of  these  agencies  to  the 
Commissioner’s  list  of  nationally  recognized  accrediting  agencies. 

State  boards  of  dental  examiners. — The  American  Association  of 
Dental  Examiners,  in  connection  with  its  annual  meeting,  holds  a 
seminar  on  dental  examinations.  The  staff  of  the  Division  has  been 
active  in  these  seminars  from  their  beginning  in  1949.  They  have 
resulted  in  a  marked  improvement  in  the  practices  of  State  boards  of 
dental  examiners.  They  are  also  producing  a  better  understanding 
between  the  boards  and  the  schools  of  dentistry. 

ADMINISTERING  FEDERAL  GRANTS  AND  SERVING  LAND-GRANT 
COLLEGES 

The  staff  of  the  Division  has  carried  on  activities  related  to  the 
administration  of  Federal  grants  for  resident  instruction  in  the  land- 
grant  colleges  and  universities  in  accordance  with  the  Morrill-Nelson 
and  Bankhead- Jones  legislation.  Consultative  services  concerning  the 
appropriations,  the  institutions,  and  legislation  have  been  provided. 

FURTHER  INTERNATIONAL  UNDERSTANDING 

During  1951  and  1952  staff  members  at  nearly  500  institutions  coop¬ 
erated  with  the  Office  of  Education  in  a  study  of  “Methods  Used  by 


Office  of  Education 


189 


College  Social  Science  Departments  To  Improve  Students’  Under¬ 
standing  of  Post- World  War  II  International  Tensions.”  During 
fiscal  year  1953  a  publication  with  the  same  title  (Circular  No.  362) 
and  based  on  the  data  thus  obtained  was  written  and  distributed  to 
respondents,  deans  of  colleges  of  liberal  arts,  and  to  departments  of 
social  science  not  included  in  the  sample. 

In  1950-51  UNESCO  held  three  international  educational  seminars 
dealing  with  the  improvement  of  instructional  materials  and  the  teach¬ 
ing  of  history  and  geography.  The  findings  of  these  seminars  and 
problems  raised  by  the  participants  have  continued  to  be  of  interest 
to  American  teachers  and  to  educators  responsible  for  the  preparation 
of  teachers.  A  member  of  the  Office  staff  took  part  in  two  of  these 
UNESCO  seminars  and  has  served  on  a  Panel  on  the  Improvement 
of  Instructional  Materials  of  the  U.  S.  National  Commission  for 
UNESCO.  During  the  past  fiscal  year  the  staff  cooperated  with  the 
Department  of  State  by  providing  consulting  services  at  regional 
conferences  concerned  with  the  problems  discussed  at  the  interna¬ 
tional  seminars.  These  were  held  on  the  campuses  of  the  University 
of  Denver,  the  University  of  Florida,  and  George  Peabody  College. 
The  staff  has  also  provided  consultant  services  to  the  UNESCO  Inter¬ 
national  Conference  on  Museum  Education,  held  in  Brooklyn  last 
September. 

During  the  year,  two  staff  members  helped  to  rewrite  The  Story  of 
the  Declaration  of  Independence ,  a  pamphlet  published  and  sold  by 
the  Government  Printing  Office.  Complete  responsibility  was  assumed 
for  the  section  on  historical  background  and  the  biographical  sketches, 
and  major  responsibility  for  the  preparation  of  teaching  aids. 

A  member  of  the  staff  served  as  a  member  of  the  American  delega¬ 
tion  to  the  International  Study  Conference  on  the  Atlantic  Com¬ 
munity,  held  at  Queens  College,  Oxford  University,  England, 
September  6-13,  1952.  He  was  named  Chairman  of  the  Interim 
Committee  for  the  development  of  a  program  in  this  country  in 
support  of  the  North  Atlantic  Treaty  Organization.  More  recently 
a  permanent  organization,  the  American  Council  on  NATO,  has  been 
established  with  a  representative  of  the  Office  as  Vice  Chairman. 

VI.  International  Educational  Activities 

Education  is  an  essential  key  to  international  understanding  and 
peace.  The  Office  of  Education  has  been  engaged  in  international 
educational  activities  since  its  establishment  in  1867.  The  first  report 
of  the  first  U.  S.  Commissioner  of  Education — Henry  Barnard  in 
1868 — included  a  section  on  educational  developments  abroad,  and  an 
Act  of  1896  11  reaffirmed  this  function  as  a  specific  statutory  respon- 


11  29  Stat.  140. 


190 


Department  of  Health ,  Education,  and  Welfare,  1953 


sibility  of  the  Office.  More  recently,  the  work  of  the  Office  in  the 
international  field  has  taken  on  new  significance  as  the  services  of 
American  education  have  been  enlisted  in  support  of  the  foreign  policy 
of  the  United  States. 

The  Office  of  Education  has  been  called  upon  to  play  a  leading  role 
in  these  developments  through  its  Division  of  International  Education. 

Its  varied  program  includes  research;  the  preparation  and  exchange 
of  school  materials;  the  exchange  of  experts,  specialists,  professors, 
teachers ;  programs  for  visiting  trainees ;  the  coordination  and  devel¬ 
opment  of  educational  programs  for  underdeveloped  areas;  the  re¬ 
cruitment  of  educational  specialists  to  serve  in  education  missions 
overseas. 

The  functions  of  the  Office  in  internal  education  may  be  summarized 
as  follows:  (1)  services  to  American  education;  (2)  services  to  other 
Federal  agencies,  and  national  and  international  organizations;  (3) 
services  to  education  in  foreign  countries  in  accordance  with  interna-  1 
tional  agreements;  (4)  services  for  the  mutual  benefit  of  education  in 
the  United  States  and  in  foreign  countries.  The  first  function  has 
been  the  responsibility  of  the  Office  since  its  beginning  and  has  always 
been  financed  through  direct  appropriation  to  the  Office.  The  second 
function  is  an  expanding  one  because  of  the  current  interest  in  interna¬ 
tional  affairs,  and  it  also  is  one  for  which  the  Office  must  make  direct 
budgetary  provision.  The  third  and  fourth  functions,  relating  to  the 
implementation  of  our  foreign  policy,  are  delegated  to  the  Office  by 
the  Department  of  State  and  the  Foreign  Operations  Administration, 
and  are  financed  by  transfers  of  funds  originally  appropriated  to  those 
agencies. 

COMPARATIVE  EDUCATION 

In  carrying  out  one  of  its  basic  responsibilities  as  a  service  to  Amer¬ 
ican  education,  studies  were  published  in  comparative  education  dur¬ 
ing  the  year — Education  in  Sweden  and  Education  in  Turkey.  The 
manuscript  of  another  study,  Education  in  Pakistan ,  was  completed, 
and  a  study  of  Norway’s  education  system  is  in  preparation.  In  addi¬ 
tion  to  these  studies,  C omparative  Education  News  Notes ,  a  mimeo¬ 
graphed  circular  issued  at  irregular  intervals,  helps  keep  the  Office 
staff  and  comparative  education  specialists  throughout  the  country 
abreast  of  recent  developments  in  this  field. 

The  Division  supplied  an  advisory  service  to  American  educational 
institutions  in  interpreting  the  prior  educational  experience  of  some 
2,600  students  who  came  to  the  United  States  during  the  year  from 
101  countries.  This  involved  the  use  of  some  29  foreign  languages. 
Services  to  American  schools  and  colleges  were  expanded  during  the 
year  by  the  inauguration  of  a  series  of  Teaching  Aids  for  Developing 
International  Understanding.  Analyses  of  the  educational  programs 


191 


Office  of  Education 

of  some  600  faculties  and  schools  abroad  were  also  made  in  order  to 
advise  the  Veterans  Administration  concerning  the  status  of  certain 
courses  in  foreign  institutions  in  which  American  veterans  proposed 

to  enroll. 

Cooperation  with  international  agencies  concerned  with  educational 
problems  gave  rise  to  a  considerable  volume  of  activity  during  the  year. 
Typical  functions  in  this  area  included  the  review  of  various  reports 
and  documents  submitted  by  international  organizations  and  the  prep¬ 
aration  of  official  “position  papers”  for  international  conferences. 
Officers  of  the  staff,  at  the  invitation  of  the  Department  of  State, 
participated  in  several  of  these  conferences  as  members  of  the  Amer¬ 
ican  delegation  and  advisers  on  educational  affairs. 

Considerable  attention  w7as  given  during  the  year  to  the  role  of 
foreign  languages  in  the  American  schools.  A  2-day  national  con¬ 
ference  on  this  subject  was  held  in  January  1953,  in  response  to  wide¬ 
spread  interest  in  the  expansion  and  improvement  of  foreign  language 
teaching.  More  than  350  educators  and  lay  leaders  from  31  States 
attended. 

With  the  cooperation  of  the  American  Textbook  Publishers  Insti¬ 
tute,  an  Educational  Materials  Laboratory  was  established  during  the 
year,  bringing  together  in  one  spot  reference  copies  of  most  of  the 
school  textbooks  presently  available  through  regular  publishing  chan¬ 
nels.  Through  this  Laboratory  the  Office  is  able  to  provide  an  unusual 
and  valuable  reference  service  to  foreign  visitors  and  to  United  States 
personnel  working  in  technical  assistance  programs  abroad,  as  well  as 
to  educators  in  this  country  who  wish  to  examine  the  latest  educational 
materials  and  texts. 

TECHNICAL  ASSISTANCE  IN  EDUCATION 

In  providing  professional  advice  and  assistance  to  the  Technical 
Cooperation  Administration  (now  a  part  of  the  Foreign  Operations 
Administration),  the  Division  proposed  and  gained  acceptance  for 
the  development  of  technical  assistance  programs  in  education  based 
essentially  on  three  types  of  education:  community  education — basi¬ 
cally  functional  education,  concerned  with  improving  all  aspects  of 
living  in  the  community;  fundamental  education — basically  commu¬ 
nity  education  where  there  is  no  formal  school  system  or  the  formal 
school  is  wholly  inadequate ;  and  technical  education — concerned  with 
helping  the  individual  to  acquire  the  knowledge,  skills,  and  attitudes 
necessary  for  increased  productivity.  Members  of  the  staff  visited  a 
number  of  the  underdeveloped  areas  to  advise  the  TCA  and  foreign 
Ministries  of  Education  in  the  application  of  modern  ideas  and  tech¬ 
niques  to  the  solution  of  urgent  educational  problems. 

Additional  services  rendered  to  what  is  now  the  Foreign  Opera¬ 
tions  Administration  included  recruitment  of  education  specialists  to 


192 


Department  of  Health ,  Education ,  and  Welfare ,  1953 


fill  positions  in  technical  assistance  missions  overseas.  For  the  tech¬ 
nical  assistance  program,  the  Office  employed  43  educators  and  as¬ 
signed  them  to  12  countries  in  the  Near  East,  Africa,  and  South  Asia. 
The  Office  also  recommended  qualified  personnel  for  employment  by 
the  Mutual  Security  Agency  to  fill  18  educational  positions  in  Amer¬ 
ican  missions  in  Southeast  Asia. 

Professional  advice  or  technical  evaluation  has  been  supplied  on 
request  from  the  education  personnel  in  the  field  concerning  education 
programs,  equipment,  and  materials.  This  service  has  included  re¬ 
view  of  lists  of  vocational  school  shop  equipment  and  textbooks  pre¬ 
pared  in  the  field,  examination  of  lists  of  instructional  materials  and 
supplies  proposed  for  use  in  elementary  and  secondary  schools,  prep¬ 
aration  of  bibliographies  designed  to  meet  particular  needs,  and  re¬ 
view  of  project  agreements  proposed  to  be  signed  as  a  basis  for  estab¬ 
lishment  of  education  programs  in  several  of  the  participating  coun¬ 
tries. 

TEACHER  AND  LEADER  PROGRAMS 

During  the  past  year,  the  Division  planned  and  arranged  programs 
of  instruction,  study,  and  travel  for  almost  800  foreign  education  lead¬ 
ers,  teachers,  and  trainees.  Individual  programs  were  planned  for  142 
trainees.  They  came  from  22  countries  and  were  brought  to  the  United 
States  for  technical  training  in  diverse  fields.  Also,  programs  were 
planned  for  312  teacher  education  grantees  under  the  Fulbright  and 
Smith-Mundt  Acts.  The  teacher  grantees  were  assigned  for  the  first 
3  months  to  1  of  12  participating  colleges  and  universities  where  spe¬ 
cial  coordinators  devoted  their  full  time  to  arranging  a  balanced  edu¬ 
cational  and  cultural  program.  These  teachers  were  then  sent  in 
smaller  groups  to  work  for  a  week  with  a  State  department  of  educa¬ 
tion,  and  then  for  4  weeks  in  the  schools  of  a  single  community  in  1  of 
19  States.  In  addition,  the  German  Teacher  Education  Program 
brought  111  teachers  from  West  Germany  this  past  year. 

Under  the  leader  and  specialist  program,  plans  were  made  for  195 
leaders.  This  program,  which  has  been  the  responsibility  of  the  Office 
since  early  in  1952,  provides  for  visits  of  key  people  in  education  from 
many  countries.  Visitors  represent  all  fields  of  education  and  include 
representatives  of  Ministries  of  Education ;  college  presidents ;  superin¬ 
tendents  of  schools;  directors  of  rural  education;  and  a  variety  of 
others,  many  of  whom  are  in  policy-making  positions  in  their  own 
countries. 

A  number  of  specialists  were  recruited  for  a  “Workshop  on  Modern 
Psychologies  and  Education,”  which  was  held  in  Frankfurt,  Germany. 

Another  program  administered  by  the  Division  arranges  for 
the  exchange  of  teaching  positions  between  American  and  foreign 
teachers,  and  recruiting  teachers  to  serve  abroad.  During  the  past 


Office  of  Education 


193 


year,  244  teachers  were  placed — 141  in  interchanges  and  103  in  one-way 
appointments. 

McCARRAN  ACT 

Under  the  provisions  of  the  Immigration  and  Nationality  Act  of  1952 
(Public  Law  414,  the  so-called  McCarran  Act),  the  Attorney  General 
of  the  United  States  was  directed  to  consult  with  the  Office  in  carrying 
out  his  responsibility  for  the  approval  of  schools  for  study  for  non¬ 
immigrant  aliens  coming  to  this  country  under  student  visas.  During 
the  year,  the  Office  consulted  with  representatives  of  the  Office  of  the 
Attorney  General  relative  to  the  approving  of  523  “Petitions  of  Ap¬ 
proval  of  Schools  for  Students.”  The  Office  also  cooperated  in  the 
development  of  statements  of  policy,  operating  instructions,  and  sets 
of  criteria  for  the  orderly  processing  of  these  petitions. 

INTER-AMERICAN  SEMINAR  ON  VOCATIONAL  EDUCATION 

In  cooperation  with  the  Pan  American  Union,  the  Institute  of  Inter- 
American  Affairs,  the  International  Labour  Office,  and  the  University 
of  Maryland,  the  Office  functioned  in  August  and  September  1952,  as  a 
co-sponsor  of  an  Inter- American  Seminar  on  Vocational  Education, 
which  was  held  at  the  University  of  Maryland.  The  seminar  group 
was  composed  of  official  representatives,  specialists,  and  observers 
from  19  of  the  21  countries  comprising  the  Organization  of  American 
States.  A  total  of  141  official  representatives,  specialists,  and  observers 
were  registered  in  the  seminar  from  these  countries.  Principles  and 
practical  procedures  for  the  sound  development  of  vocational  educa¬ 
tion  in  the  Pan  American  countries  were  discussed  and  agreed  upon. 
These  principles  now  constitute  an  important  contribution  to  the  fur¬ 
ther  development  of  vocational  education  in  the  Americas.  Follow-up 
and  liaison  techniques  and  procedures  are  being  developed  by  the 
sponsoring  agencies  to  support  continuing  growth  in  vocational  educa¬ 
tion  throughout  the  membership  of  the  Organization  of  American 
States.  The  success  of  these  international  programs  was  due  in  large 
measure  to  the  willingness  on  the  part  of  educational  institutions  and 
organizations  throughout  the  country  to  cooperate  with  the  Office  in 
making  local  arrangements  for  the  visitors. 

SUMMARY 

During  the  first  year  of  the  existence  of  the  Division  of  International 
Education  a  number  of  problems  in  administration  and  professional 
relationships  began  to  be  resolved.  A  management  survey  resulted  in 
the  establishment  of  a  new  divisional  structure.  Competent  specialists 
were  recruited  to  staff  the  Division.  Important  evaluative  studies 
were  made.  Procedures  have  been  reviewed  and  refined.  An  out- 


194 


Department  of  Health ,  Education ,  and  Welfare,  1953 


standing  achievement  was  the  establishment  and  maintenance  of 
cordial  and  effective  working  relationships  with  Federal  agencies, 
with  State  and  local  school  systems,  and  with  private  educational  insti¬ 
tutions  and  organizations  throughout  the  country.  One  evidence  of 
achievement  is  the  following  resolution  adopted  in  June  1953,  by  the 
National  Council  of  Chief  State  School  Officers : 

A  basic  need  in  the  defense  of  the  free  world  and  in  the  ultimate  attain¬ 
ment  of  a  just  and  lasting  peace  throughout  the  world  is  the  development 
of  international  understanding.  We  commend  the  U.  S.  Office  of  Educa¬ 
tion  for  its  effective  administration  of  the  several  programs  which  con¬ 
tribute  to  this  end  and  for  its  establishment  within  the  Office  of  an  inter¬ 
national  branch,  which  doubtless  facilitates  the  discharge  of  its  many 
responsibilities  in  this  area. 


VII.  Research  and  Statistical  Services 

Research  and  the  systematic  collection  and  interpretation  of  the 
pertinent  facts  are  by  general  consent  the  basis  for  solving  many  of 
our  educational  problems.  The  Research  and  Statistical  Standards 
Section  is  the  principal  unit  through  which  the  Office  of  Education 
collects,  assembles,  and  prepares  statistical  data. 

This  Section  provides  research  and  statistical  services  to  the  various 
specialized  divisions  of  the  Office  and  serves  in  an  advisory  capacity 
in  determining  the  feasibility  of  proposed  research  projects  and  the 
manner  in  which  such  projects  can  best  be  carried  out.  It  also  pro¬ 
vides  information,  advice,  and  assistance  requested  by  State  and  local 
educational  agencies  and  by  individual  schools  and  institutions  of 
higher  learning. 

State  departments  of  education,  city  school  systems,  school  princi¬ 
pals,  college  officials,  and  others  are  the  principal  sources  of  statistical 
information.  The  Office  relies  upon  their  voluntary  cooperation  in 
the  gathering  of  data.  These  sources  of  information  are  at  the  same 
time  recipients  of  the  benefits  of  research  to  which  they  have  contri¬ 
buted.  Thus  the  Office  acts  as  a  clearinghouse  for  the  gathering, 
analysis,  and  dissemination  of  the  facts  that  school  officials  and  educa¬ 
tional  institutions  want  and  need  in  their  efforts  to  cope  with  the  Na¬ 
tion’s  educational  problems. 

The  Research  and  Statistical  Standards  Section  prepares  special 
surveys  which  are  of  great  importance  to  the  areas  they  serve.  Some  of 
these  surveys  are  produced  in  collaboration  with  other  divisions  of  the 
Office  and  other  agencies  of  the  Government.  Such  projects  present 
valuable  compilations  of  basic  data  for  educational  statesmanship. 

The  usefulness  of  this  information-gathering  function  has  been  es¬ 
pecially  well  illustrated  during  fiscal  1953.  Periodic  data  from  the 
Biennial  Survey  of  Education ,  the  Survey  of  Fall  Enrollment ,  and 
a  special  survey  of  Korean  Veterans  in  College  in  the  Fall  of  1952 


Office  of  Education 


195 


were  used  to  provide  tables  for  House  hearings  on  Public  Law  550 
(Veterans  Readjustment  Assistance  Act  of  1952) .  The  periodic  data 
were  also  basic  in  making  two  important  forecasts:  (1)  a  projection 
to  1960  of  enrollment  in  elementary  and  secondary  schools,  by  grade, 
for  the  third  report  of  the  School  Facilities  Survey ;  and  (2)  a  projec¬ 
tion  to  1964  of  the  production  of  scientists  by  colleges  and  universities 
in  the  United  States. 

Extensive  liaison  and  staff  services  were  rendered  on  such  subjects 
as :  child-care  needs  in  the  city  of  Wichita,  Kans.,  a  cooperative  study 
by  the  Children’s  Bureau,  Women’s  Bureau,  and  the  Office  of  Educa¬ 
tion  ;  qualifications  and  training  of  teachers  of  exceptional  children ; 
costs  incurred  by  students  attending  college;  special  provisions  for 
rapid  and  slow  learners ;  retention  and  withdrawal  of  college  students ; 
the  common  core  of  State  educational  information. 

Among  the  major  statistical  publications  of  the  year  was  included 
the  Directory  of  Secondary  Day  Schools ,  1951-52.  Some  25,000  public 
and  non-public  schools  are  listed  in  this  study,  with  statistical  and  ac¬ 
creditation  data  for  each  school.  (The  data  on  accreditation  in  this 
publication  are  based  exclusively  on  reports  from  recognized  accredit- 
ing  agencies;  the  Office  does  not  itself  accredit  any  schools.)  This 
Directory  has  a  unique  value  because  of  the  extent  of  its  coverage, 
its  completeness,  its  uniformity,  and  its  convenient  size  and  format. 
With  improved  methods  of  compiling  data  and  technological  changes 
in  printing,  the  volume  was  produced  much  faster  than  previous 
editions,  with  a  substantial  reduction  in  the  cost  of  printing  and 
publication. 

A  noteworthy  response-rate  of  over  99  percent  was  achieved  in 
compiling  data  for  the  study  on  Statistics  of  Special  Education  for 
Exceptional  Children.  Since  sampling  was  neither  desirable  nor 
feasible  in  this  type  of  specialized  survey,  the  data  were  gathered 
by  direct  mail  inquiry.  The  survey  included,  for  the  first  time,  all 
types  of  public-school  systems.  (Previous  studies  were  restricted  to 
city  school  systems.)  The  all-inclusive  direct  coverage  of  this  survey 
is  a  landmark  among  statistical  studies  of  the  Office. 

In  order  to  expedite  the  publication  of  data  relating  to  small-  and 
medium-sized  cities,  plans  were  made  to  divide  the  annual  report  on 
Current  Expenditures  Per  Pupil  in  City  School  Systems  into  two 
parts.  This  procedure  was  employed  also  to  hasten  the  publication 
of  Statistics  of  Higher  Education. 

Because  of  the  increase  in  the  number  of  cities  between  the  1940 
and  1950  Censuses,  a  partial  sample  technique  has  been  used  to  reduce 
by  40  percent  the  number  of  cities  handled  for  Statistics  of  City  School 
Systems.  Only  2,335  of  the  3,786  cities  are  to  be  used  in  the  study. 
However,  in  order  to  provide  for  a  reasonably  adequate  number  of 
comparisons  among  cities  within  each  State,  sampling  has  been 


196 


Department  of  Health ,  Education,  and  Welfare,  1953 


restricted  to  certain  States,  and  to  cities  within  certain  size  categories. 

Each  year  the  Office  faces  the  problem  of  slow  reports  from  some 
of  the  State  departments  of  education.  This  delay  has  frequently 
led  to  late  publication  of  the  report  on  Statistics  of  State  School 
Systems.  In  an  attempt  to  meet  this  problem  in  fiscal  year  1953,  a 
reasonably  prompt  estimate  of  United  States  totals  for  the  48  States 
was*  published  (Circular  No.  352)  on  the  basis  of  data  received  from 
the  first  24  States  reporting. 

VIII.  Reports  and  Technical  Services 

The  Keports  and  Technical  Service  Section  is  an  Office- wide  serv¬ 
ice  authorized  “to  promote  the  cause  of  education  throughout  the 
country”  through  publications,  the  press,  radio,  television,  and  other 
media  which  reach  the  educational  profession  and  the  public  in  gen¬ 
eral.  This  Section  performs  a  wide  variety  of  regular  and  special 
services  for  the  various  Divisions  of  the  Office,  other  agencies  of 
Government,  and  organizations  concerned  with  problems  of  education. 

Publications  mirror  all  of  the  diverse  activities  of  the  Office  and 
serve  to  illustrate  the  program  of  the  Office  as  a  whole  to  the  educa¬ 
tional  world  and  to  the  general  public.  They  are  the  chief  means  for 
the  dissemination  of  Office  research  findings  and  other  significant 
data.  They  represent  the  most  important  avenues  of  service  to  school 
systems,  educators,  and  all  others  interested  in  the  problems  and 
progress  of  education. 

As  part  of  the  statutory  function  to  diffuse  information  concern¬ 
ing  education,  two  official  periodicals — School  Life  and  Higher 
Education — are  published  monthly  and  semimonthly,  respectively, 
during  the  school  year.  Higher  Education — which  is  produced  in 
collaboration  with  the  Division  of  Higher  Education — provides  infor¬ 
mation  on  Federal  activities  and  policies  related  to  college  and  uni¬ 
versity  education,  reports  studies  of  higher  education  made  by  the 
Office,  includes  materials  from  institutions  of  higher  learning  and 
from  educational  organizations  on  their  policies  and  activities,  and 
lists  new  Government  publications  on  education  and  non-government 
publications  on  higher  education.  School  Life  keeps  its  readers 
informed  of  important  trends  in  American  education.  It  summarizes 
research  projects  of  the  Office,  presents  pertinent  statistics,  reports  on 
Federal  activities  in  education,  and  offers  much  additional  informa¬ 
tion  useful  to  educators  and  the  public.  All  new  publications  of  the 
Office  of  Education  are  announced  in  School  Life  each  month. 

As  an  economy  measure,  the  free  list  of  School  Life  was  reduced 
during  fiscal  1953  from  10,000  to  2,000  copies.  There  are  approx¬ 
imately  6,300  paid  subscriptions.  It  is  expected  that  this  figure  will 
increase  during  the  coming  year. 


Office  of  Education 


197 


In  addition  to  40  major  publications,  125  processed  materials  were 
issued  during  the  year,  including  bibliographies,  a  special  series  of 
bulletins  for  the  elementary  and  secondary  schools,  etc. 

Approximately  36,000  pieces  of  correspondence  were  handled  dur¬ 
ing  the  year.  Of  these,  some  4,700  were  letters  on  educational  matters 
addressed  to  the  White  House  and  referred  to  the  Office  for  reply. 

Major  cooperative  projects  undertaken  during  the  fiscal  year 
included : 

1.  Cooperation  with  the  Atomic  Energy  Commission  and  the  Fed¬ 
eral  Civil  Defense  Administration  in  preparing  a  special  issue  of 
School  Life  on  the  theme  “Citizenship  for  the  Atomic  Age.”  This 
was  issued  as  a  supplement  to  volume  35,  September  1953.  Sixty 
thousand  copies  were  printed  and  distributed. 

2.  Planning  of  arrangements  for  the  selection  of  the  1954  Teacher 
of  the  Year  in  cooperation  with  the  National  Council  of  Chief  State 
School  Officers,  McCalVs  Magazine,  and  the  National  School  Public 
Relations  Association. 

3.  Direction  of  the  Joint  Workshop  of  the  Educational  Press  Asso¬ 
ciation  of  America  and  the  Department  of  Classroom  Teachers  of  the 
National  Education  Association  on  improving  the  effectiveness  of 
educational  publications. 

4.  Planning  with  the  National  Education  Association,  the  National 
Congress  of  Parents  and  Teachers,  and  the  American  Legion  for  the 
1953  observance  of  American  Education  Week. 

5.  Planning  and  arranging  for  the  1953-54  Better  Schools  Cam¬ 
paign  in  cooperation  with  the  Advertising  Council  and  the  National 
Citizens  Commission  for  the  Public  Schools. 

6.  Cooperation  with  the  National  Association  of  Radio-Television 
Broadcasters,  the  J unior  Chamber  of  Commerce  of  the  United  States, 
and  the  Radio  Manufacturers  Association  in  the  annual  Voice  of 
Democracy  contest. 

IX.  Termination  of  Civilian  Education 
Requirements  Program 

With  the  close  of  fiscal  year  1953,  the  functions  of  the  Office  of  Edu¬ 
cation  as  the  claimant  agency  for  education  under  the  Defense  Pro¬ 
duction  Act  of  1950  came  to  an  end. 

These  functions,  undertaken  first  under  Executive  Order  10161  of 
September  9,  1950,  and  Department  of  Commerce  Order  No.  127  of 
November  20,  1950;  and  subsequently  expanded  under  Executive 
Order  10200  of  January  3,  1951,  and  appropriate  delegations  from  the 
Defense  Production  Administration  and  the  National  Production 
Authority,  ultimately  included  full  responsibility  for  the  operation 


198 


Department  of  Health ,  Education,  and  Welfare,  1953 


of  the  claimant  agency  program  with  respect  to  schools,  libraries, 
museums,  and  higher  educational  institutions. 

A  special  Division  of  Civilian  Education  Requirements  was  estab¬ 
lished  in  September  1951  to  carry  out  these  responsibilities  and  func¬ 
tioned  in  this  capacity  until  June  30,  1953.  The  operations  of  this 
program  were  a  major  factor  in  maintaining  essential  educational 
services  throughout  the  country  during  a  period  of  critical  shortages 
of  construction  materials,  equipment,  and  supplies  for  school  construc¬ 
tion,  operation,  and  maintenance. 


U.  S.  GOVERNMENT  PRINTING  OFFICEl  !#I4 


'Ml 

3  REPRINT 

From  the  Annual  Report  of  the 

U.  S.  DEPARTMENT  OF  HEALTH,  EDUCATION,  AND  WELFARE 

1954 

Aw*l 


Office  of  Edi 

DEC  13  1955 

LIBRARY 

Education  Collection 

I.  Introduction 


The  Basic  functions  of  the  Office  were  defined  by  Congress  in  1867, 
when  the  Office  was  established.  These  functions  are : 

1.  To  “collect  such  statistics  and  facts  as  shall  show  the  condition  and 
progress  of  education.” 

2.  To  diffuse  “such  information  [on  education]  as  shall  aid  the  people 
of  the  United  States  in  the  establishment  and  maintenance  of  efficient 
school  systems,”  and 

3.  “Otherwise  [to]  promote  the  cause  of  education.” 

These  responsibilities  are  fulfilled  in  many  ways,  but  basically  by 
studies  and  research  on  many  aspects,  both  quantitative  and  qualita¬ 
tive,  of  education  in  America,  and,  to  some  small  degree,  on  education 
abroad.  Findings  are  made  available  by  or  through  dozens  of  major 
publications,  by  means  of  conferences  and  workshops  in  Washington 
and  over  the  country  with  both  professional  and  citizen  groups,  by 
means  of  answers  to  more  than  half  a  million  inquiries  annually,  and 
through  two  periodicals — School  Life  and  Higher  Education. 

The  second  aspect  of  the  work  is  that  of  administering  a  variety  of 
programs  for  which  the  Office  of  Education  has  become  responsible 
through  the  years.  For  example,  the  Office  budget  in  1954  amounted 
to  $2,911,402  for  its  basic  services  ($1,411,042  of  which  was  for  ad¬ 
ministration  of  grants)  and  $228,213,092  in  grants  administered.  It 
administered  $197,350,000  in  payments  to  school  districts  for  the  con¬ 
struction  and  operation  of  schools  in  what  have  come  to  be  known  as 
“federally  affected”  areas.  Likewise,  it  administered  $25,811,591  for 
vocational  education  in  local  communities  and  disbursed  $5,051,500 
for  colleges  of  agriculture  and  mechanic  arts. 


171 

Complete  report  of  the  Department  for  sale  by  the  Superintendent  of  Documents, 

U.  S.  Government  Printing  Office,  Washington  25,  D.  C.  -  Price  75  cents 

365613—55 - 1 


172 


Department  of  Health ,  Education ,  and  Welfare ,  1954 


In  addition,  it  spent  $469,360  administering  programs  for  the 
Foreign  Operations  Administration  and  the  State  Department  | 
amounting  to  $1,929,184. 

The  Office  of  Education  is  guided  by  the  following  principles : 

First,  that  the  schools  are  the  people's  schools.  And  by  “the  people” 
is  meant  all  the  people:  parents,  nonparents,  teachers,  and  children. 
All  have  a  stake  in  education  and  all  share  in  the  responsibility  for  j 
making  the  schools  the  best  possible. 

Moreover,  the  Office  of  Education  holds  that  the  schools  must  be  j 
accessible.  Sound  practice,  responsiveness  to  the  citizenry,  and 
democracy  require  this.  Schools  should  not  be  controlled  to  perpetuate  i 
any  political  party,  nor  any  organized  group  in  society — including  the 
teaching  profession — nor  any  special  interest.  In  effect,  the  schools 
must  serve  all  the  people,  and  they  must  be  responsible  to  all  the  people. 

In  calling  the  schools  “the  people’s  schools,”  it  is  clear  that  varying 
local,  State,  and  national  interests  in  educational  policies,  in  pro¬ 
cedures,  and  in  organizational  methods  must  recognize  and  provide 
for  relating  their  diverse  interests  effectively. 

For  its  part,  the  Office  of  Education  respects  the  pattern  of  48 
independent  State  school  systems  which  delegate  much  responsibility 
and  give  freedom  in  operation  to  local  school  units.  It  accepts  the  ; 
role  of  the  F ederal  Government  as  that  of  assisting  and  strengthening 
the  48  State  systems  and  their  local  school  units  with  a  view  to  helping 
them  to  carry  on  their  responsibilities  without  Federal  domination, 
control,  or  interference. 

A  second  cardinal  principle  which  guides  the  Office  of  Education 
is  that  it  should  demonstrate  belief  in  democratic  process  and  in  educa¬ 
tion  as  it  carries  out  its  responsibilities  of  national  leadership. 

It  tries  to  do  so  by  getting  the  facts  and  interpreting  their  signifi¬ 
cance  objectively  so  that  they  can  be  understood  and  put  to  use  by  those  ; 
responsible  for  the  schools — the  American  citizenry. 

The  Office  seeks  to  discharge  its  national  responsibilities  also  by 
administering  efficiently  the  programs  for  which  it  is  responsible. 

It  seeks  also  to  present  to  the  people’s  representatives — the  admin¬ 
istration  and  the  Congress — all  the  pertinent  facts  regarding  educa¬ 
tion,  as  well  as  proposals  for  strengthening  it  that  are  consistent  with 
the  principles  which  guide  it.  In  a  real  sense  its  responsibility  is 
a  teaching  one — to  study,  to  interpret,  and  to  ask  and  to  answer 
questions. 

To  strengthen  its  services  to  education,  the  Office,  during  1954, 
requested,  as  a  part  of  the  administration’s  legislative  program,  and 
was  granted  by  Congress,  with  approval  by  the  President,  on  July 
26, 1954,  the  following : 

A.  Funds  and  authority  for  educational  conferences  in  each  State 
and  for  a  White  House  Conference  on  Education,  to  stimulate  in- 


Office  of  Education 


173 


creased  State  and  local  action  to  meet  present  and  impending 
educational  needs. 

B.  Authority  to  increase  educational  research.  Authority  was 
granted  the  Office  of  Education  to  engage  in  cooperative  research 
with  colleges,  universities,  and  State  departments  of  education.  Also 
an  Advisory  Committee  on  Education  was  authorized  to  identify 
major  problems  in  education  needing  commission-type  studies  and 
to  recommend  appropriate  action  to  implement  findings  of  such 
studies. 

The  Office  of  Education  program  is  shaped  in  part  by  congressional 
action  and  at  times  by  decisions  of  the  Supreme  Court.  It  is  there¬ 
fore  perhaps  appropriate  to  note  briefly  congressional  acts  and  a 
Supreme  Court  decision  in  1954  of  special  consequence  to  the  Office 
of  Education  and  to  education  in  the  United  States. 

Public  Law  731,  approved  August  31, 1954,  an  amendment  to  Public 
Law  815,  81st  Congress,  provided  for  a  2-year  extension  of  the  pro¬ 
gram  of  assistance  to  school  construction  in  federally  affected  areas 
under  title  III  of  that  act. 

Public  Law  732,  approved  August  31,  1954 — an  amendment  to  Pub¬ 
lic  Law  874,  81st  Congress — postporied  the  effective  date  of  the 
3-percent  “absorption”  requirement  for  1  year. 

Other  items  of  educational  interest  include  the  following:  Public 
Lam  325,  approved  April  1,  1954,  provided  for  the  establishment 
of  the  United  States  Air  Force  Academy;  Public  Law  610 ,  approved 
August  20,  1954,  extended  the  period  during  which  certain  veterans 
educational  and  training  benefits  may  be  offered;  Public  Lam  733 , 
approved  August  31,  1954,  authorized  the  Commander  of  the  Air 
University,  under  certain  conditions,  to  confer  advanced  degrees  upon 
students  in  the  Resident  College  of  the  U.  S.  Air  Force  Institute 
of  Technology;  Section  37  of  Public  Laic  591 ,  approved  August  16, 
1954  (Internal  Revenue  Code  of  1954),  liberalized  taxes  on  retire¬ 
ment  income  so  as  to  give  most  retired  teachers  tax  credit  of  $240 
on  that  income;  and  Public  Lam  719 ,  approved  August  30,  1954, 
granted  the  consent  of  Congress  to  certain  New  England  States  to 
enter  into  a  compact  relating  to  higher  education  and  establishing 
the  New  England  Board  of  Higher  Education. 

The  year  1954  was  made  notable  also  by  action  in  another  area 
which  has  far-reaching  implications  for  America’s  schools  and  col¬ 
leges  ;  namely  the  decision  of  the  United  States  Supreme  Court  in  the 
school  segregation  cases.  These  cases  had  been  argued  before  the 
Court  in  the  1952  session,  but  no  decision  was  handed  down.  They 
were,  however,  restored  to  the  docket  for  reargument,  which  took 
place  in  December  1953. 

On  May  17,  1954,  the  Court  handed  down  a  decision  that  racial 
segregation  in  the  public  schools  is  unconstitutional,  on  the  ground 


174 


Department  of  Health ,  Education ,  and  Welfare,  1954 


that  it  deprives  the  children  of  a  minority  group  of  equal  educational 
opportunities.2  Later  the  cases  were  again  restored  to  the  docket  and 
the  parties  were  requested  to  present  further  argument  concerning  the 
implementation  of  the  Court’s  decision  by  specific  decrees.  Argument 
for  this  purpose  was  scheduled  by  the  Court  for  December  1954. 

During  fiscal  year  1954,  three  persons  served  as  Commissioner  of 
Education.  The  first  was  Dr.  Lee  M.  Thurston,  who  became  the  12th 
U.  S.  Commissioner  on  July  2, 1953.  He  brought  to  this  office  experi¬ 
ence  as  public  school  teacher,  school  superintendent,  college  professor 
and  head  of  the  State  Department  of  Public  Instruction  of  Michigan. 
He  conducted  the  Office  program,  in  the  new  Department  of  Health, 
Education,  and  Welfare,  with  such  vigor  and  understanding  that,  after 
a  span  of  only  2  months,  he  had  won  the  confidence  and  support  of 
colleagues  and  the  profession.  A  heart  attack  brought  about  his  un¬ 
timely  death  on  September  4,  1953. 

The  responsibility  of  acting  commissioner  was  assigned  to  Dr.  Rail 

I.  Grigsby,  Deputy  Commissioner,  who  served  until  Dr.  Samuel  Miller 
Brownell  took  the  oath  of  office  as  the  13th  U.  S.  Commissioner  of 
Education  on  November  16,  1953.  Dr.  Brownell  came  to  the  position 
from  a  professorship  of  educational  administration  in  the  Yale 
University  Graduate  School  and  from  the  presidency  of  New 
Haven  (Conn.)  State  Teachers  College.  He  also  brought  earlier 
experience  as  a  public  school  teacher,  high  school  principal,  and  school 
superintendent. 

II.  Major  Educational  Problems  Confronting  the 

United  States  in  1954 

All  Americans  are  aware  of  the  importance  of  education  to  the 
strength  and  vitality  of  our  Nation.  The  security  of  this  country  and 
the  hopes  of  the  free  world  depend  in  great  measure  upon  the  char¬ 
acter,  the  ideas,  the  ingenuity,  and  the  competence  of  each  successive 
generation  of  young  people.  The  complexities  of  today’s  world  call 
for  broader  knowledge,  greater  skill,  and  deeper  understanding. 
Hence,  education,  whether  at  home,  at  church,  or  in  our  schools,  is 
more  important  than  ever  before  to  the  continued  well-being  of  the 
Nation. 

Our  national  security  and  well-being  depend  in  large  measure  on 
the  education  of  Americans  to  fulfill  their  responsibilities  in  a  free 
society.  President  Washington  recognized  this  need  when  he  wrote: 

The  mass  of  citizens  in  these  United  States  mean  well,  and  I  firmly 
believe  that  they  will  always  act  well  whenever  they  can  obtain  a  right 
understanding  of  matters ;  but  *  *  *  it  is  not  easy  to  accomplish  this 


M  Brown  v.  Board  of  Education,  74  Sup.  Ct.  686  (1954). 


Office  of  Education 


175 


*  *  *  when  the  inventors  and  abettors  of  pernicious  measures  are  in¬ 
finitely  more  industrious  in  disseminating  their  poison  than  the  well- 
disposed  part  of  the  community  to  furnish  the  antidote. 

These  comments  are  especially  fitting  under  today’s  world  con¬ 
ditions.  They  highlight  the  need  to  provide  the  best  possible  educa¬ 
tion  for  each  and  every  American. 

President  Eisenhower  referred  to  our  present  needs  in  his  State  of 
the  Union  Message  when  he  said :  “Youth — our  greatest  resource — is 
being  seriously  neglected  in  a  vital  respect.  The  Nation  as  a  whole 
is  not  preparing  teachers  or  building  schools  fast  enough  to  keep  up 
with  the  increase  in  our  population.” 

Vigorous  efforts  are  being  made  by  many  States  and  local  com¬ 
munities  to  provide  better  educational  opportunities,  but  the  statistics 
on  present  enrollment,  on  projected  enrollment,  on  our  classroom 
shortage,  on  teacher  shortage,  on  school  dropouts,  and  on  inadequate 
education  make  clear  the  needs  for  prompt  and  constructive  action. 

In  facing  these  problems,  State  by  State,  it  would  seem  appropriate 
to  have  evidence  gathered  and  presented  which  would  demonstrate  to 
what  extent  and  in  what  ways  it  is  possible  to  meet  the  needs  by  com¬ 
bined  use  of  State  and  local  resources  as  presently  constituted  or  as 
modifications  might  be  made. 

ENROLLMENT  GROWTH  IS  AND  WILL  BE  GREATLY  INCREASED 

One  of  the  specific  challenges  facing  America  is  the  need  to  educate 
new  millions  of  students.  We  have  approximately  11  million  young 
people  in  the  15-  to  19-year-old  age  group ;  approximately  16  million 
children  in  the  5-  to  9-year-old  age  group ;  and  about  17  million  young¬ 
sters  in  the  group  under  5  years.  These  rising  waves  in  the  school-age 
population  are  clear  calls  to  action. 

The  impact  on  elementary  schools,  high  schools,  and  colleges  is  obvi¬ 
ous.  In  the  academic  year  1954-55  we  shall  have  approximately  38 
million  students  in  school  and  college.  Looking  ahead  to  1960  we 
can  forecast  at  least  46  million  enrolled  at  all  levels  of  the  educational 
system,  provided  that  housing  and  staff  facilities  are  available.  More¬ 
over,  this  estimate  of  future  enrollment  is  a  conservative  one.  If  the 
trend  for  a  larger  percentage  of  5-,  6-,  and  7-year-olds  to  be  in  school 
and  for  a  larger  percentage  of  16-,  17-,  and  18-year-olds  to  stay  in 
school  continues,  then  the  estimate  of  46  million  in  1960  will  have  to 
be  revised  upward.  A  rise  in  enrollment  after  1960  is  also  to  be 
expected  in  view  of  the  larger  number  of  family  units  which  will 
develop  in  the  1960’s. 

If  we  are  to  meet  the  individual  and  collective  challenge  that  these 
millions  of  young  people  constitute,  wTe  must  provide  the  kind  of  edu¬ 
cation  which  develops  in  each  youth  the  skills  and  insights  to  make  him 
a  productive  citizen  in  a  free  republic. 


176 


Department  of  Health ,  Education ,  and  Welfare ,  1954 


Chart  1 . — INCREASED  SCHOOL  ENROLLMENT,  1930-54,  AND  PROJECTED  ENROLLMENT, 

1954-60 


MILLIONS  OF  STUDENTS 

50  - - - 


COLLEGE 


^Elementary-Kindergarten  through  grade  8. 


THE  NEED  FOR  MORE  PREPARED  TEACHERS  AND  MORE  BUILDINGS 
IS  ACCENTED  BY  A  BACKLOG  OF  DEFICIENCIES 

Past  inaction  complicates  the  task  of  providing  necessary  school 
buildings  and  equipment.  Today  we  do  not  start  “at  scratch.”  We 
have  instead  a  deficit  problem  on  our  hands. 

The  Office  of  Education’s  Report  of  the  Status  Phase  of  the  School 
Facilities  Survey  reveals  that  in  September  1952,  the  Nation  was  short 
312,000  public  elementary  and  secondary  classrooms  and  related  facil¬ 
ities.  It  is  estimated,  that  for  the  school  year  1954-55,  the  classroom 
deficit  will  be  approximately  300,000.  The  construction  rate  in  1953- 
54  of  approximately  55,000  classrooms  a  year  will  have  to  be  signifi¬ 
cantly  increased  if  we  are  to  provide  adequate  and  satisfactory  school 
housing  for  American  boys  and  girls. 

Maintaining  an  adequate  supply  of  well-prepared  teachers  is  one 
of  our  most  pressing  responsibilities.  Unfortunately,  we  cannot  buy 
able  and  devoted  teachers,  as  we  can  buy  classrooms. 

We  shall  begin  the  school  year  1954-55  with  a  shortage  of  about 
120,000  prepared  teachers  for  grade  and  high  schools.  A  large  pro¬ 
portion  of  that  number  are  needed  to  eliminate  one-half  day  sessions ; 
the  others  are  needed  to  replace  those  teachers  having  less  than  stand¬ 
ard  certification — which  in  one  State  is  only  high  school  graduation 
including  some  special  “normal  training.” 


Office  of  Education 


177 


Chart  2.— PUBLIC  SCHOOL  CLASSROOM  SHORTAGE,  1930-60 

Assuming  1954-55  rate  of  construction  and  1952-60  estimates  of  need  based  on  preliminary  results  of 

State  school  facilities  survey 


800 


400 


SCHOOL  o 
YR.  ENDING 


1935  1940  1945  I960  1955  I960 


Chart  3. — ELEMENTARY  TEACHER  SHORTAGE,  1954-60 


j!200 


292,000 


NEW  QUALIFIED 


.'EXPERIENCED 
QUALIFIED 

SCHOOL  YRS.  ENDING 


SHORTAGE 

FILLED  BY: 
FURTHER  OVER¬ 
CROWDING 
ADDITIONAL  SUB¬ 
STANDARD 
TEACHERS 
RE-ENTERING  OLD 
TEACHERS 
OR: 

TRAIN  MORE 
TEACHERS 
USE  TEACHERS 
MORE 

EFFECTIVELY 

ETC. 


We  must  recruit  more  teachers,  and  we  must  take  steps  to  see  that 
every  teacher  is  used  as  effectively  as  possible  by  such  means  as  elim¬ 
inating  one-room  schools  with  few  pupils  or  very  small  high  schools ; 
and  keeping  teachers  in  the  profession  for  a  longer  period  of  time. 

In  the  years  immediately  ahead,  we  face  increasing  teaching  needs 
at  the  high  school  and  college  levels.  Unless  we  take  steps  now  to 


178 


Department  of  Health ,  Education,  and  Welfare,  1954 


develop  our  teacher  resources  we  run  the  risk  of  shortchanging  a  whole 
generation  of  students  and  the  future  of  our  Nation. 

SHORTAGES  OF  TEACHERS,  SCIENTISTS,  NURSES,  AND  OTHER  TRAINED 
PERSONNEL  IS  AGGRAVATED  BY  THE  LOSS  OF  POTENTIAL 
RESOURCES 

If  education  had  been  adequately  financed  in  the  past,  we  should 
not  now  be  facing  the  tragic  wastes  of  manpower  which  arise  from 
illiteracy  and  dropouts  from  school. 

We  have  a  shortage  of  trained  manpower  in  many  fields ;  we  need 
more  scientists,  we  need  more  doctors  and  dentists,  we  need  more 
teachers.  At  the  same  time,  we  need  educated  citizens  who  can 
contribute  fruitfully  to  the  complex  demands  a  free  society  imposes 
on  men  of  good  will  to  act  wisely  for  the  common  good. 


Chart  4.— INADEQUATE  EDUCATION:  1950 


PERCENT  OF  STATE  POPULATION  PERCENT  OF  STATE  POPULATION5 
25-34  YEARS  OF  AGE 

r— - — — - — r  30  - . 


REJECTED  BY 
SELECTIVE  SERVICE 
FOR  FAILURE  TO 
PASS  ARMED  FORCES 


LESS  THAN 
FIVE  YEARS 
OF  SCHOOLING 


QUALIFICATION 

TEST 


19%  NAT.  AY. 


5% NAT.  AY. 
UNDER  4% 


♦Includes  the  District  of  Columbia. 


And  yet  in  5  States,  from  12  to  18  percent  of  the  population  between 
the  ages  of  25  and  34  years  have  fewer  than  5  years  of  schooling. 
These  people  are  what  we  call  functionally  illiterate.  In  11  other 
States,  the  percentage  is  from  4  to  11  percent  in  the  same  age  group. 
Our  concern  nationally  about  this  situation  is  highlighted  when  we 
note  that,  in  5  States,  Korean  war  draft  rejections  caused  by  failure 
on  the  Armed  Forces  Qualifications  Test  run  43,  45,  47,  48,  and  58 
percent  against  an  overall  national  average  of  19.2  percent.  This 


Office  of  Education 


179 


constitutes  an  appalling  national  waste.  It  confronts  all  States  with 
greater  demands  on  their  manpower. 

Significant  progress  has  been  made  in  fundamental  and  literacy 
education,  particularly  in  the  education  of  Negroes.  Since  1940  the 
number  of  functional  illiterates  25  years  old  and  over  has  been  reduced 
by  650,000.  However,  when  we  face  the  fact  that  there  are, 
according  to  the  1950  census,  9.5  million  functional  illiterates  25  years 
old  and  over,  we  can  understand  the  seriousness  of  this  problem  in 
terms  of  our  need  for  trained  manpower. 

The  extent  to  which  potential  trained  manpower  in  the  Nation  has 
been  lost  is  also  revealed  by  the  school  retention  record  of  the  children 
entering  public  school  5th  grade  in  1943.  By  the  end  of  the  8th  grade 
nearly  200  of  every  1,000  in  this  class  had  left  school ;  by  the  end  of 


Chart  5. — SCHOOL  DROP-OUTS:  HISTORY  OF  ONE  CLASS 

Rate  of  drop-outs  per  1,000  children  entering  grade  5  in  1943 

1943 

|  5  TH  (AGE  10  YRS.  APPROX.) 

Tp 

1944 

|  6  TH 

Iks  i 

tp  ! 

1945 

[  7  TH 

§m 

tb 

3 !  i 

1946  1  8  TH 

. bn 

I  ; 

- 

i  > 

*  i 

1947 

f  9  TH 

*  * 

!  i 

i 

1948 

|  *  10  TH 

!  i 

; 

1949 

11  TH 

jgp  | 

i  ! 

I960  j 

|  12  TH 

by 

|  i 

Lil  j 

*  ♦ 

* 

*  < 

GRADUATES  505 

. * 

_ 1 

DROP¬ 

OUTS 


the  10th  grade,  200  more.  About  100  dropped  out  in  the  11th  and 
12th  grades.  In  other  words,  just  about  500  of  the  1,000  children 
who  were  fifth-graders  in  1943  finished  high  school. 

Although  there  is  a  close  relationship  between  dropouts  and  func¬ 
tional  illiteracy,  delinquency,  social  and  economic  competence,  and 
military  service,  figures  show  that  those  who  drop  out  of  school  are 
not  necessarily  the  least  able  ones.  We  lose  each  year  hundreds  of 
thousands  of  able  youngsters.  This  loss  is  a  serious  national  handi¬ 
cap.  National  and  State  groups  are  cooperating  to  correct  the  “drop¬ 
out”  situation ;  progress  is  being  made,  as  is  indicated  by  more  than  a 
25-percent  increase  in  the  holding  power  through  high  school  gradu¬ 
ation  since  1946.  This  is,  however,  a  continuing  problem  which 
requires  continuing  attention. 

365613—55 - 2 


180 


Department  of  Health ,  Education,  and  Welfare,  1954 


Our  national  needs  for  citizens  trained  to  fulfill  their  civic  and 
technological  responsibilities  indicate  that  we  must  take  positive  steps 
to  enlarge  our  educational  opportunities  and  to  provide  each  Ameri¬ 
can  youth  with  the  best  education  possible. 

The  responsibility  of  facing  and  meeting  these  problems  is  that 
of  our  Nation  as  a  whole.  No  agency,  no  group,  no  individual,  nor 
any  fragmentary  collection  of  these  can  successfully  meet  the  chal¬ 
lenges  outlined.  They  call  for  devoted  and  energetic  action  by  an 
informed  and  enlightened  citizenry.  The  Office  of  Education  seeks 
to  strengthen  such  efforts.  It  does  so  in  many  ways.  Some  of  these 
are  outlined  in  later  pages  of  this  report.  Others  have  been  mentioned 
briefly  in  terms  of  the  contributions  the  State  and  White  House  Con¬ 
ferences  can  be  expected  to  make  to  education,  and  those  that  legisla¬ 
tion  strengthening  the  research  functions  of  the  Office  can  effect. 

Under  Public  Law  530,  a  series  of  State  and  Territorial  confer¬ 
ences  on  education  were  authorized,  to  be  followed  by  a  White  House 
Conference  on  Education  late  in  1955.  The  preliminary  conferences 
are  to  enable  educators  and  interested  citizens  in  each  State  to  discuss 
the  educational  problems  of  their  State  and  make  recommendations 
for  appropriate  action  at  local,  State,  and  Federal  levels.  An  appro¬ 
priation  of  $700,000  for  the  State  conferences  is  to  be  allotted  among 
the  States  on  the  basis  of  their  respective  populations,  but  with  no 
State  receiving  less  than  $5,000.  In  accepting  its  allotment,  each 
State  agrees  to  report  the  findings  and  recommendations  of  its  State 
conference  for  the  use  of  the  White  House  Conference. 

The  White  House  Conference  on  Education,  scheduled  to  be  held 
in  Washington,  D.  C.,  November  28-December  1,  1955,  will  be  a  con¬ 
ference  broadly  representative  of  educators  and  other  interested  citi¬ 
zens  from  all  parts  of  the  Nation.  It  will  consider  and  report  to  the 
President  on  significant  and  pressing  problems  in  the  field  of  educa¬ 
tion.  An  appropriation  of  $200,000  for  fiscal  1955  was  made  available 
for  this  Conference.  The  Commissioner  of  Education  is  authorized  to 
accept  and  use  funds,  equipment,  and  facilities  donated  for  the  pur¬ 
poses  of  the  Conference. 

The  White  House  Conference  will  be  planned  and  managed  by  a 
committee  of  citizens  and  educators  appointed  by  the  President  as 
representative  of  varying  political,  religious,  racial,  educational,  and 
nonschool  interests.  The  committee  operates  as  an  independent  agency 
directly  responsible  to  the  President.  It  is  not  a  part  of  the  Office 
of  Education,  although  it  is  assisted  by  the  resources  of  that  Office. 
The  committee  will  determine  the  agenda  for  the  Conference,  its 
plan  of  organization,  and  participation  in  Conference  matters  by  rep¬ 
resentatives  from  the  States.  The  committee  will  also  be  responsible 
for  followup  reports  to  the  Nation  at  the  conclusion  of  the  Conference. 

In  a  letter  to  the  State  Governors,  President  Eisenhower  indicated 


Office  of  Education 


181 


that  he  viewed  the  Conference  as  an  opportunity  to  determine  what 
steps  Americans  can  take  at  local,  State,  and  national  levels  to  insure 
the  best  possible  education  for  American  youth. 

A  bill  enacted  as  Public  Law  531,  approved  July  26,  1954,  author¬ 
ized  the  Commissioner  of  Education  to  enter  into  contracts  or  jointly 
financed  cooperative  arrangements  with  universities  and  colleges  and 
State  educational  agencies  for  the  conduct  of  research,  surveys,  and 
demonstrations  in  the  field  of  education. 

Public  Law  532,  approved  July  26,  1954,  provided  for  the  establish¬ 
ment  within  the  Department  of  Health,  Education,  and  Welfare  of 
a  National  Advisory  Committee  on  Education,  to  supply  the  “advice 
of  a  group  of  representative  citizens  on  the  initiation  and  conduct  of 
studies  of  problems  of  national  concern  in  the  field  of  education  and 
on  appropriate  action  as  a  result  thereof.  *  *  *”  The  Committee  is 
to  be  composed  of  nine  members,  a  majority  of  whom  shall  be  other 
than  professional  educators.  The  Commissioner  of  Education  is  to 
be,  ex  officio,  a  nonvoting  member  of  the  Committee.  An  appropria¬ 
tion  of  $25,000  was  made  available  for  the  expenses  of  the  Committee 
during  the  fiscal  year  1955.  The  Committee  is  to  meet  not  less  often 
than  three  times  each  calendar  year. 

III.  Services  to  Education  in  the  United  States 

One  of  the  major  and  traditional  functions  of  the  Office  of  Edu¬ 
cation  is  to  provide  information,  consultation,  and  advisory  service 
concerning  the  operation  of  State  and  local  school  systems  through¬ 
out  the  Nation. 

The  major  organizational  units  in  the  Office  share  in  carrying  out 
this  responsibility.  Highlights  of  these  services  in  1954  are  in  the 
sections  which  follow. 

A  summary  which  attempts  to  highlight  activities  of  an  organi¬ 
zation  tends  to  catalog  observable  achievements  such  as  publications 
issued,  money  disbursed,  conferences  held,  and  the  like.  This  sum¬ 
mary  is  typical  in  that  respect.  However,  the  listings  that  follow 
can  only  suggest  the  services  rendered.  The  significance  of  these 
services  lies  in  less  tangible  elements.  If  these  publications,  if  this 
money,  if  the  conferences  and  other  activities  caused  citizens  and 
educators  to  provide  children  with  more  effective,  more  efficient  edu¬ 
cational  experiences  they  were  wise  activities,  and  publications,  and 
conferences.  This  summary  does  not  attempt  to  produce  evidence  of 
the  value  of  Office  activities.  It  points  out,  however,  an  awareness 
that  activities  are  means  to  an  end,  not  ends  in  themselves.  It  com¬ 
ments  that  the  Office  is  concerned  with  the  significance  of  its  services 
rather  than  with  compiling  a  record  of  documents  and  activities. 


182 


Department  of  Health ,  Education ,  and  Welfare ,  1954 


STATE  AND  LOCAL  SCHOOL  SYSTEMS 

The  vastness  of  the  American  educational  enterprise  (26  million 
elementary  school  children  in  134,000  schools  and  7  million  secondary 
school  children  in  27,000  schools  in  1953-54)  and  the  long  tradition 
of  State  and  local  control  of  education  have  led  the  Office  to  rely  very 
heavily  upon  the  departments  of  education  in  the  various  States  as 
intermediate  points  of  contact.  During  recent  years  much  of  the 
work  of  the  Office  has  been  carried  on  in  close  collaboration  with  the 
State  departments,  including  many  joint  conferences  and  parallel 
activities  on  educational  problems  of  common  interest  and  concern. 

The  services  provided  by  the  Office  to  State  and  local  school  sys¬ 
tems  are  widely  diverse  and  varied.  Yet  they  are  all  directed  at  the 
common  statutory  objective  of  aiding  “the  people  of  the  United 
States  in  the  establishment  and  maintenance  of  efficient  school 
systems.” 

State  School  Administration 

The  research  program  in  State  school  administration  during  fiscal 
1954  was  focused  on  two  major  areas:  (1)  State  educational  organ¬ 
ization,  and  (2)  State  educational  records  and  reports.  A  series  of 
studies  was  initiated  on  The  State  and  Education,  Part  I  of  which 
it  is  entitled  The  Structure  and  Control  of  Public  Education  at  the 
State  Level.  This  study  was  designed  to  provide  information  for 
States  which  will  embark  on  the  task  of  reorganizing  and  revitalizing 
their  State  educational  administration  machinery  in  the  immediate 
years  ahead.  This  study  will  be  printed  in  fiscal  1955. 

Continued  progress  was  made  in  implementing  The  Common  Core 
of  State  Educational  Information ,  Handbook  /,  of  the  State  Educa¬ 
tional  Records  and  Reports  Series.  A  companion  pamphlet  was 
completed  in  cooperation  with  State  department  of  education  repre¬ 
sentatives  entitled,  Suggested  Program  for  Putting  Into  Practice 
Handbook  /,  The  Common  Core  of  State  E ducational  Information . 
In  addition,  the  data-collection  program  of  the  Office  of  Education 
was  revised  to  correspond  with  Handbook  I  beginning  with  the 
Biennial  Survey  for  the  school  year  ending  in  June  1954.  Work  was 
initiated  on  Handbook  //,  Financing  Accounting  for  Local  and  State 
School  Systems.  Considerable  basic  research  was  conducted  as  a  neces- 
sary  prerequisite  to  this  second  phase  of  the  nationwide  financial 
accounting  project. 

Local  School  Administration 

Information  was  collected  from  16  States  as  part  of  a  study  in¬ 
volving  intensive  investigation  of  the  reorganization  programs  in  16 
States  where  redistricting  activity,  involving  participation  by  local 


Office  of  Education 


183 


people,  is  currently,  or  lias  been  recently,  underway.  Work  on  the 
study  has  involved  identification  and  evaluation  of  a  wide  variety  of 
factors  influencing  local  people  in  establishing  more  effective  school 
districts.  These  factors  include:  (1)  the  reorganization  legislation, 
(2)  State  leadership  and  services,  (-3)  local  techniques  and  procedures, 
and  (4)  school  finance  provisions. 

Descriptions  of  the  redistricting  programs  were  prepared  for  six 
of  the  States  participating  in  the  project  and  were  checked  for  com¬ 
pleteness  and  accuracy  with  State  department  of  education  personnel. 
Analyses  of  the  State-by-State  descriptions  are  being  prepared  for 
each  of  the  four  areas  noted  above.  These  analyses  will  be  used  as  the 
basis  for  developing  statements  of  policies  and  procedural  steps  which 
should  characterize  a  sound  redistricting  program. 

School  Finances 

Expenditures  for  Education  at  the  Midcentury  was  distributed  near 
the  end  of  December  1953.  In  this  study  the  average  expenditure 
per  classroom  unit  was  determined  for  63,402  separate  school  districts 
in  the  48  States  and  the  outlying  parts  of  the  Nation.  The  median 
for  the  Nation  was  $4,391,  and  the  medians  for  the  low  and  high  States 
were  $1,451  for  Mississippi  and  $7,627  for  New  York,  respectively. 
The  report  provides  information  designed  to  be  useful  to  legislators 
and  educators  in  planning  the  improvement  of  State  and  local  systems 
for  financing  the  public  schools. 

A  supplement  to  Expenditures  for  Education  at  the  Midcentury 
was  published  and  distributed  in  March  1954.  Twelve  States  were 
included  in  this  supplementary  study  because  they  had  separate  data 
for  white  and  Negro  children. 

A  study  of  Federal  funds  for  education  was  completed  during  fiscal 
1954.  In  preparing  this  report  on  Federal  funds,  the  Office  analyzed 
data  and  provided  descriptions  of  56  different  programs.  Amounts 
expended  and  allocation  procedures  are  given  along  with  public  law 
citations  authorizing  the  F ederal  expenditures.  The  report  was  pub¬ 
lished  as  Office  of  Education  Bulletin  1954,  No.  14,  and  entitled, 
Federal  Funds  for  Education ,  1952-53  and  1953-54. 

Another  report  entitled,  Public  School  Finance  Programs  of  the 
United  States ,  was  issued  as  1954,  Misc.  No.  22.  It  gives  estimates  of 
revenue  for  the  1953-54  school  year,  describes  the  various  State  funds 
allocated  to  local  school  districts,  and  indicates  procedures  by  which 
boards  of  education  obtain  local  taxes  for  public  education. 

School  Legislation 

At  the  request  of  the  Study  Commission  of  the  National  Council  of 
Chief  State  School  Officers,  a  comprehensive  summary  on  The  Legal 


184 


Department  of  Health ,  Education ,  and  Welfare ,  1954 


Status  of  State  Supervision  Over  Nonpublic  Schools  was  prepared. 
This  was  used  as  basic  data  by  the  Commission  in  its  workshop  con¬ 
ference  on  that  subject  at  the  December  meeting  in  Chicago. 


School  Facilities 


During  fiscal  1954  the  Office  published  the  Report  of  the  Status 
Phase  of  the  School  Facilities  Survey.  Work  was  continued  on  the 
long-range  planning  phase  of  the  Survey,  and  a  report  will  be  pub¬ 
lished  in  fiscal  1955  on  the  projected  plans  for  school  facilities  to 
replace  unsatisfactory  facilities,  to  relieve  overcrowding,  and  to 
accommodate  enrollment  forecasts  up  to  1960. 

A  brochure  was  published  on  Good  and  Bad  School  Plants  showing 
contrasting  school  facilities  in  use  throughout  the  country,  and  a 
manuscript  was  completed  on  Planning  and  Designing  the  Multipur¬ 
pose  Room  in  Elementary  Schools.  A  study  was  started  relative  to 
functional  facilities  for  the  changing  programs  of  secondary 
education. 

The  Office  continued  throughout  the  year  to  prepare  and  release  data 
on  school  building  costs  and  estimates  of  school  construction  and  to 
maintain  liaison  with  and  serve  as  a  clearinghouse  among  govern¬ 
mental  and  nongovernmental  technical  agencies,  school  architects,  and 
the  educational  profession. 

The  study  of  the  Functional  Body  Measurements  of  School-Age 
Children  was  continued  in  cooperation  with  the  University  of  Michi¬ 
gan.  A  series  of  55  measurements  was  made  on  a  representative 
sample  of  3,300  public-school  children,  from  kindergarten  through 
grade  12,  in  the  Detroit  area.  From  these  basic  measurements  a  total 
of  120  different  functional  measurements  will  be  derived,  which  are 
needed  for  designing  school  furniture  and  equipment  and  for  planning 
school  buildings  and  facilities.  The  results  of  this  study  will  be 
published  in  1955. 


Elementary  Education 

The  Eighth  Annual  Conference  on  Elementary  Education  brought 
together  leaders  of  approximately  60  lay  and  professional  organiza¬ 
tions  to  discuss  action  programs  for  meeting  the  problems  of  children 
of  elementary  school  age.  Completed  during  this  year  was  the  study 
Educating  Children  in  Grades  Seven  and  Eight ,  which  describes  good 
practices  based  on  research  findings  concerning  children  of  these  ages. 
Begun  was  a  study  of  good  practices  in  conservation  education  to  be 
initiated  by  personal  visits  to  selected  States  and  communities. 

This  year  marked  the  first  conference  held  for  elementary  super¬ 
visors  in  large  city  schools.  The  conference  discussion  was  centered 


Office  of  Education 


185 


on  problems  such  as  crowed  classes,  shortages  of  teachers,  half-day 
sessions,  and  similar  current  difficulties. 

Attention  has  been  given  to  stimulating  State  and  local  groups  to 
develop  ways  to  encourage  school  attendance  and  to  provide  good 
school  experiences  for  migrant  children.  This  has  been  done  in  a 
number  of  ways.  Packets  of  materials  describing  good  practices 
have  been  sent  periodically  to  key  State  and  local  groups.  A  bulletin 
was  prepared  jointly  with  the  Interdepartmental  Committee  on  Chil¬ 
dren  and  Youth  which  tells  how  to  plan  community  programs  for 
migrants.  An  east  coast  migrant  project  was  started  to  develop  ways 
of  solving  interstate  problems  related  to  the  welfare  of  migrants. 
A  conference  of  representatives  from  10  East  Coast  States  was  held 
to  develop  plans  for  carrying  on  this  pilot  project. 

Staff  members  gave  much  time  to  the  planning  of  itineraries  for 
international  visitors.  In  addition  to  the  more  than  100  persons  in 
groups  at  the  beginning  of  the  school  year,  groups  of  approximately 
14  persons  from  Thailand  and  25  persons  from  Viet-Nam  were  each 
given  several  days’  time.  There  was  also  increasing  demand  for 
recommendation  of  persons  to  go  on  assignment  to  missions  abroad, 
to  evaluate  the  qualifications  of  those  who  were  going,  to  meet  and 
advise  persons  about  to  leave  on  such  missions,  and  to  provide  service 
to  them  through  correspondence  once  they  had  arrived  at  their 
destination. 

Secondary  Education 

Completed  during  the  year  was  A  Look  Ahead  in  Secondary  Edu¬ 
cation,  the  report  of  the  Second  Commission  on  Life  Ad j  ustment  Edu¬ 
cation  for  Youth.  It  reviewed  efforts  of  States  to  provide  education 
for  all  American  youth  with  particular  attention  given  to  organiza¬ 
tional  procedures,  publications,  and  studies  of  school  holding  power. 
Unsolved  problems  which  stand  in  the  way  of  universal  secondary 
education  were  described  and  suggestions  were  made  for  future  ex¬ 
perimentation.  Another  publication,  Teaching  Rapid  and  Slow 
Learners  in  High  Schools ,  reported  adaptations  made  in  a  sample  of 
800  large  high  schools  to  provide  different  teaching  methods  for  f ast- 
and  slow-learning  pupils.  A  third  publication,  Factors  Afjecting 
the  Improvement  of  Secondary  Education ,  is  a  report  of  a  roundtable 
discussion  dealing  with  the  important  experiments  and  investigations 
carried  on  in  secondary  education  from  1920-50. 

Published  during  the  year  were  numerous  publications  useful  to 
teachers,  for  example,  Free  and  Inexpensive  Aids  for  the  Teaching 
of  Mathematics ;  Resources  for  Teaching  English;  Selected  References 
on  the  Supervision  of  Instruction ;  Advantages  and  Disadvantages 
of  Junior  High  Schools;  Materials  Helpful  in  Character  Education ; 


186 


Department  of  Health ,  Education ,  and  Welfare ,  1954 


Core  Cumcukim  References ;  and  Undergraduate  and  Graduate 
Professional  Preparation  in  Health  Education ,  Physical  Education , 
a  Recreation. 

The  Education  of  Exceptional  Children 

Progress  on  the  nationwide  study,  “Qualification  and  Preparation 
of  Teachers  of  Exceptional  Children,”  resulted  in  preparation  for 
publication  of  /State  Certification  Standards  for  Teachers  of  Excep¬ 
tional  Children  and  College  and  University  Programs  for  the  Prep¬ 
aration  of  Teachers  of  Exceptional  Children. 


Visual  Education 

Systematic  cataloging  continued  of  information  about  the  motion 
pictures  and  filmstrips  of  all  Government  agencies  which  are  avail¬ 
able  for  public  use  in  the  United  States.  By  June  30, 1954,  descriptive 
copy  had  been  prepared  on  4,228  such  firms  for  3-  x  5-inch  catalog 
cards  being  printed  and  issued  by  the  Library  of  Congress.  A  special 
catalog  of  Government  films  cleared  for  television  use  was  compiled 
and  published  in  January  1954  and  a  directory  of  loan  and  rental 
sources  of  Government  films  was  issued  in  the  spring  of  1954.  Work 
was  started  during  the  latter  part  of  the  year  on  the  preparation  of  an 
omnibus  catalog  of  all  Government  films  containing  an  exhaustive 
subject  index  and  instructions  for  borrowing,  renting,  and  buying 
each  film.  This  catalog,  to  supersede  the  1951  Office  catalog,  343J± 
Government  Films ,  will  describe  some  5,000  motion  pictures  and 
filmstrips.  Publication  is  scheduled  for  1955. 

The  Visual  Education  Service  also  continued  to  serve  as  the  pri¬ 
mary  point  for  the  release  of  Government  films  for  educational  use 
and  to  administer  the  overall  GSA  Government  contract  covering  the 
sale  of  copies  of  such  films.  At  the  end  of  the  year,  2,925  films  of  22 
different  agencies  were  being  sold  under  the  GSA  contract,  an  in¬ 
crease  of  175  over  the  total  a  year  ago. 

In  cooperation  with  the  audiovisual  directors  in  State  and  Terri¬ 
torial  departments  of  education,  a  study  was  started  of  the  functions, 
organization,  and  services  of  these  departments  in  the  area  of  audio¬ 
visual  education.  The  survey  findings  will  be  published  in  1955. 

Libraries 

Completed  for  publication  as  part  of  the  Biennial  Survey  of  Edu¬ 
cation  in  the  United  States ,  1950-52 ,  was  the  report  of  the  nationwide 
statistical  survey  of  libraries  in  over  1,800  institutions  of  higher 
education  for  the  academic  year  1951-52.  This  project  yielded  data 
on  library  resources,  use,  personnel,  and  expenditures  for  the  use  of 
executives  and  governing  boards  of  higher  educational  institutions, 


Office  of  Education 


187 


librarians  and  students  of  librarianship,  publishers,  and  others  con¬ 
cerned  with  library  administration  and  development. 

Manuscript  was  prepared  on  education  for  library  service  to  be 
included  in  the  forthcoming  bulletin,  Professional  Education  in  the 
United  States ,  to  be  issued  by  the  Division  of  Higher  Education. 
This  provides  a  review  of  the  current  nationwide  pattern  of  profes¬ 
sional  education  for  librarianship,  including  curriculums  offered,  ad¬ 
mission  and  degree  requirements,  and  opportunities  for  graduate 
study.  A  bulletin,  School  Library  Standards ,  195 h  summarizes,  by 
State,  the  current  standards  or  requirements  for  the  training  of  school 
librarians,  for  budgets,  for  books  and  periodicals,  for  library  quarters, 
and  other  pertinent  items. 

HIGHER  EDUCATION 
Major  Consultative  Services 

The  Office  made  its  annual  inspection  of  Howard  University  dealing 
especially  with  the  college  of  liberal  arts  and  with  general  university 
administration.  Also,  with  the  assistance  of  outside  specialists  in 
higher  education,  the  Office  conducted  a  survey  of  higher  education 
in  Arizona,  dealing  with  all  the  State  institutions  of  higher  education. 
This  study  was  conducted  under  the  auspices  of  the  Board  of  Regents 
of  the  University  and  State  Colleges  of  Arizona. 

Conferences 

A  special  conference  was  held  on  “Federal  Policy  With  Respect  to 
the  Granting  of  Academic  Degrees  by  Federally  Sponsored  Institu¬ 
tions.”  This  Conference  of  15  consultants,  broadly  representing  edu¬ 
cational  administration,  industrial  training  programs,  and  the  schol¬ 
arly  areas  of  direct  interest  to  Federal  agencies,  resulted  in  the  prep¬ 
aration  of  recommendations  for  a  general  governmental  policy  with 
respect  to  the  granting  of  academic  degrees  by  Government-supported 
and  operated  institutions. 

A  second  conference,  attended  by  24  persons  who  represented  non¬ 
governmental  groups  interested  in  the  accreditation  of  higher  educa¬ 
tion  institutions  and  the  relationship  of  the  Office  of  Education  to  this 
process,  asked  the  Office  to  make  two  studies :  (1)  A  study  of  the  use 
made  by  State  approval  agencies  of  the  Commissioner’s  list  of  “nation¬ 
ally  recognized  accrediting  agencies  and  associations”;  and  (2)  a  com¬ 
prehensive  study  of  the  status,  practices,  and  procedures  of  accredita¬ 
tion  of  institutions  of  higher  education,  this  to  be  done  in  cooperation 
with  interested  groups. 

College  Housing  Loan  Advisory  Program 

The  college  housing  program  is  administered  by  the  Housing  and 
Home  Finance  Agency,  and  by  formal  agreement  the  Office  of  Educa- 


188 


Department  of  Health ,  Education ,  and  Welfare ,  1954 


tion  advises  on  all  educational  phases  of  the  program.  Under  the 
program  colleges  and  universities  submitted  new  applications  during 
the  year  in  the  amount  of  $74  million.  About  $13  million  in  college 
housing  bonds  were  purchased  by  private  investment  houses  during 
1954.  Of  the  $300  million  authorized  for  the  program,  $150  million 
was  released  for  loans  through  1954.  Applications  are  on  file  for 
funds  in  excess  of  $350  million. 

Publications 

(1)  Higher  Education ,  published  monthly,  September  through 
May,  which  reaches  a  high  percentage  of  the  people  in  the  colleges 
and  universities,  educational  associations,  and  State  departments  who 
determine  higher  education  policies.  Copies  also  reach  ministries 
of  education  and  colleges  and  universities  in  other  countries. 

(2)  Educational  Directory :  Higher  Education ,  which  listed  1,851 
institutions  of  higher  education,  their  principal  officers,  and  provided 
information  on  the  accreditation  status,  control,  and  enrollment  of 
each  institution. 

(3)  Engineering  Enrollments  and  Degrees ,  1953 ,  which  gave  the 
1953  fall  enrollments  in  this  field  and  the  number  of  degrees  conferred 
during  the  year  ended  June  30,  1953.  The  data  are  reported  by  insti¬ 
tution,  educational  level,  and  branch  of  engineering. 

(4)  A  series  of  bulletins  under  the  general  title  of  General  and 
Liberal  Educational  Content  of  Professional  Curricula  was  initiated. 
Two  of  these  bulletins  were  published,  Pharmacy  and  Engineering.  A 
third  on  Forestry  was  submitted  for  publication.  Also  published  was 
a  bulletin  titled  Cooperative  Education  in  the  United  States . 

(5)  A  series  of  articles  on  education  for  the  professions  previously 
published  in  Higher  Education  and  additional  new  articles  have  been 
put  into  book  form  and  will  be  published  under  the  title,  Education  for 
the  Professions. 

(6)  Two  additional  studies  which  have  been  published  include  one 
on  the  3-2  plan  of  engineering  education  and  a  study  of  the  organized 
efforts  to  improve  the  supply  and  utilization  of  specialized  manpower. 

Studies  in  progress  during  the  year  include  one  on  the  costs  students 
incur  in  attending  college.  This  study  involved  16,000  students  in 
103  institutions.  Another  study  is  on  the  causes  of  the  withdrawal  of 
students  from  programs  of  instruction  they  undertook.  This  study 
involves  13,500  students  who  entered  the  freshman  class  in  the  fall  of 
1950  at  161  colleges  and  universities.  A  study  of  the  nature  and  extent 
of  educational  programs  of  less  than  bachelor’s-degree  length  will  be 
completed  during  the  fiscal  year  1955. 


Office  of  Education 


189 


VOCATIONAL  EDUCATION 

Improvement  of  supervision  of  vocational  instruction  was  empha¬ 
sized  in  agricultural  and  home  economics  education.  In  the  trade  and 
industrial  education  programs  special  attention  was  given  to  the  prob- 
Jems  of  providing  related  and  supplemental  vocational  instruction  to 
apprentices  and  the  use  of  representative  advisory  committees. 

In  distributive  education  the  preparation  of  master  plans  of  State 
program  development  was  a  principal  activity. 

In  home  economics,  assistance  was  given  to  a  group  of  States  study¬ 
ing  the  success  and  failure  characteristics  of  home  economics  teachers 
and  their  attitudes  towards  children. 

Significant  publications  include: 

1.  T hr ee- Dimensional  Teaching  Aids  for  Trade  and  Industrial 
Instruction. 

2.  Guiding  High  School  Students  of  V ocational  Agriculture  in 
Developing  Farming  Programs. 

3.  Homemaking  Education  in  Secondary  Schools  in  the  United 
States. 

INTERNATIONAL  EDUCATION 

During  the  past  year  400  teachers  were  brought  to  this  country  for 
training  and  observation  of  American  schools.  These  trainees  visited 
over  8,000  schools,  made  12,000  speeches  about  their  countries,  visited 
in  10,000  American  homes,  and  met  or  talked  with  over  a  million 
United  States  citizens. 

Arrangements  were  made  for  the  interchange  of  150  American 
teachers  with  an  equal  number  of  elementary  and  secondary  school 
teachers  from  Austria,  Australia,  Belgium,  Canada,  France,  Germany, 
Norway,  and  the  United  Kingdom.  Another  121  American  teachers 
were  selected  to  teach  in  various  other  countries. 

Technical  training  programs  were  administered  for  approximately 
550  trainees  sponsored  by  the  Foreign  Operations  Administration. 
These  included  four  high-level  French  teams,  Directors  General  in 
Education  from  Cambodia,  Haiti,  and  Thailand,  as  well  as  numerous 
provincial  superintendents  and  directors.  More  than  100  colleges  and 
universities  cooperated  as  primary  training  centers. 

The  Office  prepared  itineraries  and  programs  for  145  leaders  from 
47  countries.  These  included  college  presidents,  professors,  repre¬ 
sentatives  of  ministries  of  education,  staff  members  of  the  West 
German  Parliament,  and  specialists  in  a  great  variety  of  educational 
fields. 

On  July  1,  1954,  the  Department  of  State  transferred  the  respon¬ 
sibility  for  the  leader  program  to  the  American  Council  on  Education. 

Since  these  various  exchange  and  training  programs  began,  the 


190 


Department  of  Health,  Education,  and  Welfare,  1954 


Office  has  arranged  teaching  assignments  or  training  programs  for 
almost  8,000  foreign  educators  from  60  countries. 

The  Office  of  Education  was  represented  during  the  year  in  the 
delegations  to  meetings  of  five  international  groups:  (1)  The  Public 
Education  Conference  of  the  International  Bureau  of  Education  and 
UNESCO;  (2)  the  meeting  of  the  Technical  Committee  of  ILO  on 
Salaried  Workers;  (3)  the  conference  called  by  UNESCO  to  draft 
plans  for  an  experimental  project  on  teaching  about  the  U.  N.  and 
Specialized  Agencies;  (4)  the  Caribbean  Commission’s  meeting  of  a 
special  committee  on  education  and  small-scale  farming,  and  of  the 
Commission’s  Research  Council;  and  (5)  the  Second  International 
Study  Conference  on  the  Atlantic  Community  of  the  North  Atlantic 
Treaty  Organization.  In  connection  with  participation  in  these  con¬ 
ferences  the  Office  of  Education  proposed  reports  of  United  States 
position  or  practice  in  the  areas  discussed. 

A  publication,  Education  in  Pakistan ,  was  added  to  the  series  of 
basic  studies  of  education  in  other  countries.  This  study  is  based  on 
data  gathered  in  Pakistan  in  1952  and  supplemented  through 
documentation. 

Assistance  was  given  to  colleges  and  universities  through  the 
evaluation  of  credentials  of  2,472  students  from  96  countries;  service 
was  supplied  the  Veterans  Administration  in  the  review  of  the  level 
of  instruction  of  166  foreign  institutions  applying  for  approval  to 
train  veterans  under  Public  Law  550. 

Approximately  1,100  textbooks  and  350  curriculum  materials  were 
added  to  the  Educational  Materials  Laboratory.  This  laboratory  in 
addition  to  serving  teachers  in  this  country  has  special  use  and  signifi¬ 
cance  to  the  teachers  who  come  to  the  United  States  from  other 
countries. 

The  Office  of  Education  Committee  on  F oreign  Language  Teaching 
assisted  in  many  projects  concerned  with  foreign  language  instruction 
in  United  States  schools  and  with  the  teaching  of  English  abroad. 
Examples  of  such  assistance  are:  (1)  participation  in  a  seminar  on 
language  and  culture  sponsored  by  the  Modern  Language  Association 
of  America,  and  (2)  orientation  of  exchange  teachers  of  foreign 
languages  from  abroad. 

Approximately  100  persons  were  recruited  and  nominated  to  the 
FOA  for  educational  positions  in  technical  assistance  programs  over¬ 
seas.  Thirty- three  countries  in  Latin  America,  the  Near  East,  Europe, 
Africa,  and  Far  Eastern  and  Southern  Asia  are  cooperating  in  such 
programs  and  make  requests  for  specialists. 

During  the  year  FOA  delegated  to  the  Office  of  Education  the  re¬ 
sponsibility  for  recruitment  and  professional  and  technical  support  of 
staff  for  the  Latin  American  area. 


Office  of  Education 


191 


ASSISTANCE  TO  SCHOOLS  IN  FEDERALLY  AFFECTED  AREAS 

During  1954  new  legislation  (title  III  of  Public  Law  815)  permitted 
school  districts  to  claim  assistance  in  constructing  school  buildings 
needed  to  house  increases  in  Federal  pupils  occurring  between  June  30, 
1952,  and  June  30, 1954.  Legislation  also  provided  school  construction 
aid  to  needy  school  districts  overburdened  by  Federal  activity  because 
of  large  numbers  of  pupils  residing  on  Federal  property,  primarily 
Indian  reservations.  A  total  of  $140  million  was  approved  by  the 
Congress  in  fiscal  years  1954  and  1955  to  finance  the  Federal  share 
of  projects  approved  under  these  two  new  titles. 

A  supplemental  appropriation  of  $55  million  was  also  enacted 
during  the  fiscal  year  1954  to  be  prorated  among  districts  which  had 
remaining  unpaid  entitlements  under  the  previous  legislation. 

More  than  2,500  local  districts  and  21  federally  operated  on-base 
projects  were  determined  to  be  eligible  for  approximately  $72  million 
in  Federal  funds.  This  amount  was  paid  on  behalf  of  about  920,000 
pupils  reported  as  federally  connected.  These  pupils  represent  al¬ 
most  one-fifth  of  the  enrollment  in  the  schools  which  they  attend; 
and  the  schools  which  they  attend  enroll  about  one-fifth  of  all  public- 
school  children  in  the  Nation.3 

RESEARCH  AND  STATISTICAL  SERVICES 

The  Research  and  Statistical  Standards  Section  carries  major  re¬ 
sponsibility  for  the  basic  statistical  reports  from  the  Office  of  Educa¬ 
tion  in  the  fields  of  elementary,  secondary,  and  higher  education. 
The  Section  is  also  responsible  for  special  statistical  studies  and  re¬ 
ports  on  current  educational  problems,  and  for  providing  statistical 
information  to  a  wide  variety  of  persons  and  groups,  including  con¬ 
gressional  committees,  officials  of  Federal  and  State  agencies,  foreign 
ministries  of  education,  educational  and  other  organizations,  profes¬ 
sional  societies,  newspapers  and  magazines,  and  the  general  public. 
In  addition,  the  Research  and  Statistical  Services  Section  provides 
consultative  and  advisory  services  in  the  area  of  research  methodology 
and  statistics  to  other  Divisions  of  the  Office  and  to  other  govern¬ 
mental  agencies  (such  as  the  National  Science  Foundation)  ;  it  pro¬ 
vides  technical  statistical  services  to  other  Divisions  of  the  Office ;  and 
it  serves  in  a  liaison  capacity  between  the  Office  of  Education  and  other 
Federal  statistical  agencies.  Following  are  some  publications  from 
the  Research  and  Statistical  Standards  Section  during  the  fiscal  year : 
Statistics  of  Public  Secondary  Day  Schools ,  1951-52;  Fall  Enrollment 
in  Higher  Educational  Institutions ,  1953 ;  Earned  Degrees  Conferred 

3  For  a  more  detailed  discussion  of  the  operations  of  this  program  under  Public  Laws 
815  and  874  (81st  Cong.),  as  amended  and  extended  by  Public  Laws  246,  248,  731,  and  732 
(83d  Cong.),  see  Fourth  Annual  Report  of  the  Commissioner  of  Education  concerning  the 
administration  of  Public  Laws  874  and  815. 


192 


Department  of  Health ,  Education ,  and  Welfare ,  1954 


by  Higher  Educational  Institutions ,  1952-58 ;  Current  Expenditures 
per  Pupil  in  Public  School  Systems  in  Large  Cities ,  1952-53 ;  and  in 
Small-  and  Medium-Sized  Cities ,  1952-53 ;  Engineering  Enrollments 
and  Degrees ,  1953  (with  the  Division  of  Higher  Education) ;  and 
Statistics  of  Special  Education  for  Exceptional  Children ,  1952-53 
(with  the  Division  of  State  and  Local  School  Systems). 


Table  1. — Grants  to  States:  Office  of  Education,  fiscal  year  1954  1 


States,  Territories,  and 
possessions 

Total 

Colleges  for 
agriculture 
and  the  me¬ 
chanic  arts 

Cooperative 

vocational 

education 

Survey  and 
school  c  on- 
struction 

Maintenance 
and  opera¬ 
tion  of 
schools 

Total . . 

$205, 761, 959 

$5, 051,500 

$25, 321,340 

2  $105, 265, 046 

$70,124,073 

Alabama _ 

6, 354,  596 

100, 541 

670, 987 

4, 577, 918 

1,005,150 

Arizona _ _ 

5, 060, 963 

77, 477 

170,153 

4, 222,  208 

591,125 

Arkansas _ _ 

3,  514, 814 

89, 048 

491,  997 

2,  299,  703 

634, 066 

California . . .. 

30, 084, 059 

175, 599 

1,222,094 

15,536,857 

13, 149,  509 

Colorado . .  -  ..  _ 

4,  672,  223 

83,  218 

217, 420 

2,  752, 129 

1,619,  456 

Connecticut _ 

1,925,  482 

90,023 

255,  287 

371, 819 

1,208,  353 

Delaware _ _ 

261,724 

73,173 

158,  654 

18, 042 

11,855 

Florida,. _ _  _ 

4,  598,  548 

97, 644 

393,  203 

2,  711,288 

1,396, 413 

Georgia _ _ 

8, 872, 654 

104, 360 

720, 644 

5, 435, 386 

2, 612,  264 

Idaho _ _ _ _ 

1,721,424 

75, 872 

168, 583 

1,001,360 

475, 609 

Illinois . . . . . 

4, 170, 345 

156,906 

1,098,786 

1,444,  264 

1,470,389 

Indiana . . . . . .' - 

2, 998, 934 

109,  245 

655,  604 

1,255, 800 

978,  285 

Iowa _ _ _ _ 

1,607,379 

96, 146 

555, 178 

662, 687 

293,368 

Kansas _ _ 

5,  498,  760 

89, 006 

366, 810 

2, 371,701 

2,671,243 

Kentucky _ _ _ _ _ 

3, 765, 948 

99,  375 

680, 790 

1,422,670 

1,563,113 

Louisiana _ _ _ _ _ 

1,997, 677 

96, 769 

491, 851 

964,  454 

444, 603 

Maine _ _ 

1,057,787 

79,115 

154,934 

393, 469 

430,  269 

Maryland . .  .  ...  ... 

8,  590,  237 

93, 372 

282,  568 

6,  552, 684 

1,661,613 

Massachusetts - 

1,349, 269 

116, 789 

499, 933 

58,864 

673,683 

Michigan _ _ _ 

5,  528, 305 

133, 559 

889, 109 

2, 930, 350 

1,575, 287 

Minnesota _ _ 

1,224, 943 

99, 751 

571,  955 

420,915 

132, 322 

Mississippi - - - 

2,  551,600 

91,735 

614, 315 

1,322,185 

523, 365 

Missouri - - - - - 

3,  360,  287 

109,  448 

695,  773 

1,615, 407 

939, 659 

Montana _ _ _  _ _ 

1,069, 841 

75, 895 

154,  625 

636, 604 

202,  717 

Nebraska., . . . . 

1,867,190 

83,  222 

287,  991 

689,  774 

806,  203 

Nevada . . . ... 

1,664, 385 

71,597 

132,  435 

764,977 

695, 376 

New  Hampshire  . . . 

568, 296 

75, 319 

153,  503 

339,  474 

New  Jersey _ 

2,  530,  481 

118,  233 

500, 499 

927, 027 

984, 722 

New  Mexico _ _ _ 

5, 003, 917 

76, 795 

167,  431 

3, 697, 805 

1, 061, 886 

New  York . . . 

6, 257, 332 

217,934 

1,561,705 

2,  462,  955 

2, 014, 738 

North  Carolina _ 

4, 144,  454 

110, 518 

958, 134 

1,949,  731 

1,126,071 

North  Dakota . . . 

511,483 

76, 181 

202,  404 

84,  698 

148,  200 

Ohio _ _ _ 

7, 298, 688 

149,  269 

1,109,  584 

3, 325,  643 

2,  714,192 

Oklahoma . . . . 

5,  290, 873 

92,  278 

438, 879 

2, 075,  596 

2, 684, 120 

Oregon . . . 

894,  549 

85, 176 

263, 375 

274,  547 

271,  451 

Pennsylvania . . 

3, 450,  529 

174,  720 

1,242,  328 

1,012, 091 

1,021,390 

Rhode  Island _ 

918, 390 

77,  899 

111,959 

165,112 

563,  420 

South  Carolina _ _ _ 

3,  299,  902 

91,118 

492,  257 

1,663, 090 

1,053, 437 

South  Dakota - 

983, 059 

76, 511 

201,546 

173, 338 

531, 664 

Tennessee - - - 

2, 802,  786 

102,835 

715, 420 

1,438, 657 

545,874 

Texas . . . 

11,572,124 

146, 921 

1,248, 752 

5, 446,  642 

4, 729,  809 

Utah . . . . 

2,  753, 794 

76, 872 

165,  983 

1,800,  535 

710,  404 

Vermont _ _ 

331,685 

73, 768 

158,258 

45, 199 

54, 460 

Virginia . . 

15,150,157 

103, 104 

643, 318 

9, 078, 078 

5, 325, 657 

West  Virginia . . . . 

544, 963 

90, 006 

414,354 

6, 615 

33, 988 

Washington _ _ _ 

.8,  522, 481 

93,  731 

362, 316 

4,826,126 

3,  240, 308 

Wisconsin . . . 

1,150, 359 

104,  260 

615, 079 

120, 338 

310, 682 

Wyoming. . 

1, 257,  060 

72, 898 

158,  654 

901,146 

124,  362 

Alaska .  . . . 

1,453, 362 

71, 283 

64, 327 

1,317,752 

District  of  Columbia . . 

96,162 

96,162 

Hawaii . . . 

2,  550, 991 

74, 986 

158, 654 

1,356, 562 

960,  789 

Puerto  Rico. . . . . 

1,019,  717 

50, 000 

479,  789 

489, 928 

Virgin  Islands _ 

34,  991 

34,  991 

1  On  a  checks-issued  basis.  Does  not  necessarily  agree  with  allotments  or  expenditures  for  a  given  fiscal 
year. 

2  Does  not  include  $4,950,000  paid  to  Housing  and  Home  Finance. 


U.  S.  GOVERNMENT  PRINTING  OFFICE:  1955 


1/ 

3  . 

U.  S  DEP 

is<r  &  I 


REPRINT 

From  the  Annual  Report  of  thtr~  I  ^  V' 
ARTMENT  OF  HEALTH,  EDUCATION,  AND  WELFARE 
1955 


Office  of  Education 


DEPARTMENT  OF 

HEALTH,  EDUCATION,  AND  WELFARE 

JAN  2  41957 

LIBRARY 


i: uni i u i <  COLLECTION 


A  report  of  the  work  of  the  Office  of  Education  is,  in  some  respects, 
a  report  of  the  problems  and  achievements  of  American  education. 
It  is  not  surprising,  therefore,  that  a  report  of  Office  activities  in  the 
fiscal  year  1955  should  reflect  some  of  the  awakened  concern  of  the 
American  public  in  matters  pertaining  to  education.  As  citizens  gen¬ 
erally  have  turned  their  attention  to  the  pressing  educational  problems 
confronting  them,  the  Office  of  Education  also  has  been  mobilizing 
itself  to  provide  greater  assistance  and  leadership  in  the  task  of  pro¬ 
viding  the  Nation  with  an  educational  system  equal  to  its  growing 
needs.  Chief  among  the  activities  of  the  Office  designed  to  this  end 
were  the  reorganization  of  the  Office  itself,  and  the  launching  of  the 

White  House  Conference  on  Education. 

• 

REORGANIZATION 

The  primary  obligation  of  the  Office  is  to  provide  leadership  and 
services  that  will  aid  the  educational  profession  and  the  public  in 
providing  essential  education  for  the  Nation.  In  order  that  the  re¬ 
sources  of  the  Office  could  be  mobilized  more  effectively,  the  staff 
activities  were  reorganized  during  the  past  year  under  three  broad 
areas:  (1)  Research,  (2)  Services,  and  (3)  Grants. 

The  research  coordinator  is  responsible  for  the  collecting  and  proc¬ 
essing  of  statistical  data  on  the  status  and  trends  of  elementary, 
secondary,  and  higher  education,  and  for  special  research  studies,  in¬ 
cluding  those  under  the  Cooperative  Research  Program  authorized 
under  Public  Law  531  of  the  83d  Congress.  The  latter  permits  the 
Office  for  the  first  time  to  enter  into  contracts  with  colleges,  universities, 
and  State  educational  agencies  for  the  conduct  of  research,  surveys, 
and  demonstrations  in  the  field  of  education. 

411822—57 - 1  143 

Complete  report  of  the  Department  for  sale  by  the  Superintendent  of  Documents. 

U.  S.  Government  Printing  Office,  Washington  25,  D.  C.  -  Price  65  cents 


144 


Department  of  Health ,  Education ,  and  Welfare ,  1955 


The  services  coordinator  has  responsibility  for  relating  services 
of  International  Education,  State  and  Local  School  Systems,  Voca¬ 
tional  Education,  and  Higher  Education. 

The  grants  coordinator  at  present  supervises  grants  appropriated  by 
Congress  for  construction,  maintenance,  and  operation  of  schools  in 
federally  affected  areas. 

It  is  expected  that  this  overall  reorganization  of  the  Office  about 
these  three  major  areas  will  greatly  increase  the  effectiveness  of  its 
assistance  to  educators  and  the  public. 

WHITE  HOUSE  CONFERENCE 

On  July  26,  1954,  President  Eisenhower  signed  P.  L.  530  which 
provided  for  the  establishment  of  the  White  House  Conference  on 
Education.  The  Office  of  Education  has  been  privileged  to  assist  the 
Presidential  Committee  and  the  staff  of  the  White  House  Conference 
in  inaugurating  this  historic  effort,  which  culminated  with  the  national 
conference  on  November  28-December  1,  1955. 

The  Presidential  Committee  for  the  "White  House  Conference  met 
for  the  first  time  on  December  2,  1954,  holding  four  additional  meet¬ 
ings  during  the  fiscal  year.  The  Committee,  consistent  with  the  ex¬ 
pressions  of  the  President  and  the  intent  of  Congress,  defined  its 
responsibilities  in  the  following  terms:  (1)  to  assist,  when  invited,  in 
planning  conferences  in  the  States  and  Territories;  (2)  to  organize  a 
White  House  Conference  on  Education;  and  (3)  to  make  a  report  to 
the  President  on  the  “significant  and  pressing  problems  in  the  field  of 
education.”  It  was  agreed  that  the  program  of  the  Committee  would 
be  directed  at  the  following  purposes : 

1.  Bringing  about  a  more  widespread  knowdedge  and  appreciation 
of,  and  interest  in,  education. 

2.  Helping  to  create  a  continuing  concern  on  the  part  of  great  num¬ 
bers  of  citizens  to  face  their  responsibilities  toward  education. 

3.  Serving  to  bring  about  an  analysis  of  the  current  condition  of 
our  educational  system. 

4.  Providing  examples  of  solution  to  educational  problems  and  in¬ 
spiration  for  an  accelerated  effort  in  planning  more  action  programs 
of  school  improvement. 

5.  Providing  the  basis  for  a  report  to  the  President  of  the  significant 
and  pressing  problems  in  the  field  of  education  and  making  recom¬ 
mendations,  insofar  as  possible,  for  their  solution. 

The  Committee  decided  that  the  scope  of  the  White  House  Con¬ 
ference  program  should  be  limited  to  consideration  of  the  problems 
of  elementary  and  secondary  education,  but  that  these  problems  should 
be  considered  in  the  light  of  our  total  system  of  education.  With 
these  purposes  clearly  set  forth,  the  Committee’s  program  developed 


Office  of  Education 


145 


rapidly.  Throughout  the  Nation  attention  was  directed  toward  de¬ 
veloping  answers  to  six  questions  which  would  form  the  agenda  for 
the  White  House  Conference. 

1.  What  should  our  schools  accomplish? 

2.  In  what  ways  can  we  organize  our  school  systems  more  efficiently 
and  economically  ? 

3.  What  are  our  school  building  needs  ? 

4.  How  can  we  get  enough  good  teachers — and  keep  them  ? 

5.  How  can  we  finance  our  schools — build  and  operate  them? 

6.  How  can  we  obtain  a  continuing  public  interest  in  education  ? 

It  was  felt  that  the  Committee,  as  a  part  of  its  reporting  function, 

had  an  obligation  to  develop  its  own  facts  and  conclusions  regarding 
the  six  key  questions. 

Six  subcommittees  were  formed,  each  assisted  by  highly  qualified 
educational  consultants,  to  make  independent  studies  of  these  ques¬ 
tions  and  to  prepare  helpful  discussion  materials  for  distribution  to 
the  persons  who  would  participate  in  the  White  House  Conference. 

The  central  purpose  of  citizen  conferences  was  to  bring  about  a 
greatly  increased  awareness  of  educational  problems  on  the  part  of  a 
broad  cross  section  of  the  American  people — the  kind  of  awareness 
which  would  result  in  continuing  astute  and  determined  citizen  action 
on  every  level  of  government. 

To  this  end,  the  Committee  worked  closely  with  24  national  organ¬ 
izations  broadly  representative  of  the  American  people  and  of  the 
education  profession.  In  addition,  several  hundred  smaller  organ¬ 
izations  were  contacted  to  interest  them  in  the  program.  National 
organizations,  through  their  publications  and  by  direct  contact  with 
State  and  local  affiliates,  wyere  instrumental  in  informing  the  Nation 
of  the  nature  of  the  program  and  enlisting  the  active  interest  and 
participation  of  as  many  citizens  as  possible. 

Every  State  in  the  Union,  the  Territories  of  Alaska,  Hawaii,  Puerto 
Rico,  and  the  Virgin  Islands,  and  the  District  of  Columbia  made  plans 
to  participate  in  the  program.  During  the  past  year,  all  52  States 
and  Territories  and  the  District  of  Columbia  voluntarily  held  confer¬ 
ences  on  education  prior  to  the  White  House  Conference.  Some  of  the 
States  which  held  early  conferences  scheduled  a  second  one  prior  to 
the  White  House  Conference.  During  the  year  29  States  went  beyond 
holding  a  single  State  conference  and  conducted  community,  county, 
and  regional  conferences  as  a  part  of  their  State  programs. 

While  the  accomplishments  of  the  President’s  White  House  Con¬ 
ference  on  Education  are  properly  within  the  scope  of  the  fiscal  1956 
report,  it  is  not  too  early  to  report  that,  in  terms  of  citizen  interest 
and  enthusiasm,  this  Conference  is  a  milestone  in  American  educa¬ 
tional  history. 


146 


Department  of  Health ,  Education ,  and  Welfare ,  1955 


INCREASED  ENROLLMENTS  AND  RELATED  PROBLEMS 

In  the  past  few  years  much  concern  has  been  voiced  over  the  in¬ 
creased  enrollments  in  the  schools  and  the  problems  created  by  this 
increase.  The  total  school  enrollment  at  all  levels,  in  both  public  and 
nonpublic  schools,  has  been  estimated  at  38,113,500  for  the  1954-55 
school  year,  an  increase  of  almost  2  million  over  the  previous  year. 
These  pupils  represent  23  percent  of  the  estimated  total  population  of 
162,187,000  on  June  1, 1954.  It  is  estimated  that  by  1959-60  the  total 
school  enrollment  at  all  levels  will  reach  46  million. 

The  estimated  increase  of  1,692,000  pupils  in  elementary  and  second¬ 
ary  enrollments  in  1954-55  over  1953-54  is  the  largest  single  year  in¬ 
crease  recorded.  The  1,473,000  increase  in  elementary  pupils  is  5.6 
percent  above  last  year,  and  the  219,000  increase  in  secondary  pupils 
is  3.0  percent  above  last  year.  Enrollment  in  institutions  of  higher 
education  increased  12.1  percent  during  this  period. 


School  enrollments  in  the  continental  United  States ,  1953—54  and  1954—55  1 


Elementary  schools  (including  kindergartens)  :  1954-55  1953-54 

Public _  24,  091,  500  22,  801,  400 

Private  and  parochial _  3,  506,  200  3, 325, 400 

Residential  schools  for  exceptional  children 2 _  65,  000  65,  000 

Model  and  practice  schools  in  teacher-training 

institutions _  38, 300  37, 900 

Federal  schools  for  Indians _  27,  400  27,  500 

Federal  schools  under  Public  Law  874 _  9,  600  7,  800 


Total  elementary _  27,738,000  26,265,000 


Secondary  schools : 

Public _  6,  582,  300  6,  388,  000 

Private  and  parochial _  774,  800  751,  200 

Residential  schools  for  exceptional  children 2 _  11, 100  11, 100 

Model  and  practice  schools  in  teacher-training  insti¬ 
tutions  and  preparatory  departments  of  colleges _  40,  500  40,  000 

Federal  schools  for  Indians _  12,  300  11,  800 

Federal  schools  under  Public  Law  874 _  1,  000  900 


Total  secondary _  7,422,000  7,203,000 

Higher  education: 

Universities,  colleges,  professional  schools,  includ¬ 
ing  junior  colleges  and  normal  schools _  2,  740,  000  2,  444,  000 


Other  schools : 

Private  commercial  schools _  _  144,  000  131,  000 

Nurse  training  schools  (not  affiliated  with  colleges 
and  universities) _  69,500  71,900 


Total  other  schools _  213,  500  202,  900 


Grand  total _  38, 113,  500  36, 114,  900 

1  Office  of  Education  estimates. 

*  In  addition  to  those  provided  for  In  day  schools. 


Office  of  Education 


147 


Approximately  60,000  public  elementary  and  secondary  classrooms 
and  related  facilities  were  constructed  in  the  United  States  during 
the  1954-55  school  year.  It  is  estimated  that  the  capital  outlay 
investment  for  these  facilities  was  in  excess  of  $2  billion.  In  spite  of 
this  all-time  high  in  school  construction,  the  country  still  faces  a  large 
school  building  program  because  of  increasing  enrollments,  popula¬ 
tion  mobility,  school  district  reorganization,  and  wide  demands  for  an 
extended  and  enriched  program  of  education  and  community  services. 

The  nationwide  School  Facilities  Survey  conducted  by  the  Office  of 
Education  revealed  that  States  have  projected  their  plans  for  meeting 
school  plant  needs  to  the  extent  of  476,000  classrooms  during  a  period 
of  five  school  years  (1954-55  to  1958-59,  inclusive),  at  an  estimated 
aggregate  capital  outlay  cost  of  more  than  $16  billion,  exclusive  of 
planned  rehabilitation. 

The  primary  source  of  school  construction  funds  has  been  school 
district  bonds  supported  by  local  property  taxes.  There  are  trends, 
however,  toward  school  district  reorganization  and  State  aid  for  capi¬ 
tal  outlay  which  will  broaden  the  fiscal  base  and  improve  methods  of 
financing  school  construction. 

Planning  school  plants  is  becoming  more  and  more  a  cooperative 
procedure.  School  architects,  administrators,  supervisors,  teachers, 
pupils,  furniture  manufacturers,  and  lay  citizens  cooperate  in  plan¬ 
ning  school  facilities.  School  buildings  and  equipment  are  thus  be¬ 
coming  more  functional  and  better  adapted  to  educational  require¬ 
ments. 

Specialists  in  curriculum,  school  buildings,  and  furniture  and  equip¬ 
ment,  in  Federal  and  State  governments  and  in  colleges  and  universi¬ 
ties,  are  assisting  local  school  officials  and  architects  in  the  initial 
planning  for  the  space  required  for  different  courses  and  learning 
activities,  the  equipment  needed  for  effective  instruction,  proper  light¬ 
ing  for  a  variety  of  seeing  tasks,  and  suitable  heating,  ventilating, 
sanitation,  and  sound  control.  Final  decisions  on  these  matters,  how¬ 
ever,  are  made  by  local  school  officials,  subject  to  State  regulations. 

School  programs  today  include  a  variety  of  learning  situations 
which  entail  many  activities  and  instructional  materials.  Such  pro¬ 
grams  demand  classrooms  designed  for  multiple  purposes.  The  trend 
in  elementary  school  planning  is  toward  a  self-contained  classroom  of 
900  or  more  square  feet  with  work  counter,  sink,  toilet,  storage  com¬ 
partments,  chalk  and  tack  boards,  display  cases,  and  movable  furniture 
and  equipment.  Such  rooms  are  readily  adapted  to  accommodate  a 
variety  of  activities.  Secondary  school  plants  are  usually  designed 
with  special  classrooms  for  science,  art,  music,  homemaking,  business 
education,  crafts,  and  various  types  of  vocational  and  prevocational 
shops.  The  trend  in  secondary  school  planning,  however,  is  toward 


148 


Department  of  Health ,  Education,  and  Welfare,  1955 


some  multi-use  classrooms  which  will  serve  more  than  one  specialized 
subject  area. 

The  shortage  of  teachers  continued  during  1954-55,  and  elementary 
and  secondary  schools  will  need  a  total  of  229,700  new  teachers  when 
the  schools  open  this  fall.  These  teachers  will  be  required  (1)  to 
replace  91,200  emergency  teachers;  (2)  to  replace  83,800  qualified 
teachers  who  will  leave  the  profession;  and  (3)  to  provide  the  55,200 
teachers  needed  for  the  increase  in  enrollment.  It  is  estimated  that 
25,000  of  the  emergency  teachers  will  become  qualified  by  the  time 
school  opens.  In  addition,  95,186  teachers  completed  certification  re¬ 
quirements  in  1955,  but  only  63,400  of  these  are  expected  to  accept 
teaching  positions.  With  only  88,400  new  qualified  teachers  entering 
the  profession,  there  will  be  a  deficit  of  141,300  teachers  when  schools 
open  in  the  fall.  The  141,300  shortage  will  have  to  be  made  up  by 
more  emergency  teachers,  by  teachers  returning  to  the  profession  who 
did  not  teach  during  the  last  year,  and  by  more  overcrowding.  The 
figures  given  above  do  not  include  any  teachers  to  reduce  present 
overcrowding  nor  to  enrich  the  curriculum. 

The  annual  estimates  submitted  to  the  National  Education  Asso¬ 
ciation  by  the  State  departments  of  education  showed  an  average  an¬ 
nual  salary  per  member  of  instructional  staff  in  1954-55  of  $3,932. 
The  average  elementary  school  classroom  teacher’s  salary  was  $3,615; 
among  secondary  school  teachers  the  average  was  $4,194. 


Supply  and  demand  for  elementary  and  secondary  public  and  nonpublic  school 

teachers ,  1955—56 


Item 

Supply : 

Total  teachers,  1954-55 


Elementary 

and 

secondary 
1,  201,  800 


Less  emergency  teachers,  1954-55. 


91,200 


Total  qualified  teachers,  1954-55 _ 1, 110,  600 

Less  7.5  percent  turnover _  83,  300 

Qualified  teachers  returning  for  1955-56 _  1,  027,  300 

Emergency  teachers  qualifying  for  1955-56 _  25,  000 

New  supply  of  qualified  teachers  (79  percent  of  elementary  and 
56  percent  of  high  school  teachers  trained  in  1954-55) _  63,400 

Total  qualified  supply,  1955-56 _ 1, 115,  700 

Demand : 

Total  teachers,  1954-55 _  1,  201,  800 

Teachers  needed  to  meet  increase  in  enrollment  in  1955-56 1 _  55,  200 

Total  demand,  1955-56 _  1,257,000 

Shortage  of  qualified  supply _ * _  141,300 

1  See  footnote  1,  on  following  page. 


Source  :  Office  of  Education  Circular  No.  417,  Revised,  and  estimates  for  1955—56 ; 
and  The  1955  Teacher  Supply  and  Demand  Report  of  the  National  Education  Association. 


Office  of  Education 


149 


JUNIOR  HIGH  SCHOOL 

During  fiscal  1955  the  staff  of  the  Office  of  Education  gave  con¬ 
siderable  attention  to  the  reorganization  of  secondary  education  and 
problems  associated  with  the  junior  high  school.  Studies  indicate 
that  the  reorganization  of  schools  to  include  some  form  of  junior  high 
school  has  gone  forward  rapidly  in  recent  years,  especially  since  1946. 

The  number  of  seventh-  and  eighth-grade  pupils  enrolled  in  the 
secondary  schools  rose  almost  continuously  from  142,000  in  1920  to 
1,993,000  in  1952.  During  the  same  period,  enrollments  in  these 
grades  in  the  8-4  schools  fell  from  2,778,000  to  2,025,000.  This  drop 
is  due  chiefly  to  the  shifting  of  these  grades  to  the  new  junior  high 
school  forms  of  organization. 

In  1920  there  were  less  than  5  percent  of  the  seventh-  and  eighth- 
grade  pupils  in  the  reorganized  schools ;  by  1952  this  proportion  had 
risen  to  almost  half  (49.6  percent)  of  the  total.  The  rapid  increase  in 
total  secondary  school  enrollments  coupled  with  the  reorganization  of 
secondary  schools  has  necessitated  the  construction  of  many  new 
school  facilities. 

These  developments  have  caused  some  educators  to  raise  questions 
concerning  the  junior  high  school  as  a  unit  in  secondary  education. 
Has  the  junior  high  school  been  set  up  because  of  expedient  ad¬ 
ministrative  and  building  considerations,  or  is  it  the  best  organization 
to  provide  general  education  for  early  adolescents  12-15  years  of  age  ? 
Does  it  clearly  demonstrate  superiority  over  the  traditional  8-4  plan  ? 
Have  its  purposes  changed  so  much  since  its  origin  in  1909  as  to 
suggest  that  the  junior  high  school  needs  a  new  redirection?  These 
questions  have  stimulated  a  surgence  of  professional  interest  in  the 
junior  high  school. 

Because  of  the  wide  and  growing  interest  in  the  junior  high  school, 
the  critical  demands  for  more  buildings  for  youth  of  this  age  group, 
and  the  unavailability  of  recent  data  the  office  staff  sponsored  a 
National  Conference  on  Junior  High  Schools.  An  analysis  was  also 
made  of  State  department  of  education  policies  and  regulations  affect¬ 
ing  the  junior  high  school.  As  a  result  of  these  activities  several 
national  professional  organizations  and  State  departments  of  educa¬ 
tion  are  now  making  studies  of  this  important  segment  of  secondary 
education. 


1  The  number  of  elementary  and  secondary  school  teachers  in  public  schools,  In  the  fall 
of  1954.  was  1,065,803  (Office  of  Education  Circular  No.  417  Revised).  To  this  must  be 
added  the  number  in  nonpublic  schools  (private  and  parochial),  in  model  and  practice 
schools  of  colleges  and  universities,  in  residential  schools  for  exceptional  children,  and 
in  schools  operated  under  Federal  auspices.  The  number  of  teachers  in  this  group  of 
schools  was  estimated  as  136,000,  on  the  basis  of  1  teacher  to  every  33  pupils — the  ratio 
prevailing  in  the  Roman  Catholic  schools  which  enroll  88  percent  of  the  pupils  in  this 
group. 


150 


Department  of  Health ,  Education ,  and  Welfare ,  1955 


EDUCATIONAL  TV 

At  the  beginning  of  fiscal  1955,  there  were  7  non-commercial  edu¬ 
cational  television  stations  in  operation.  During  the  year,  1  of  the  7 
suspended  operation  pending  reorganization,  and  9  new  stations  went 
on  the  air,  bringing  the  total  of  the  educational  television  stations 
to  15.  At  the  close  of  fiscal  1955,  11  additional  stations  were  actually 
under  construction,  16  more  had  already  received  their  construction 
permits  from  the  Federal  Communications  Commission,  and  appli¬ 
cations  for  13  more  had  been  filed. 

A  look  at  the  15  educational  TV  stations  in  operation  at  the  end 
of  fiscal  1955  reveals  5  distinct  types  of  licenses.  Six  of  the  15  are 
owned  and  operated  by  State  universities.  Four  stations  are  owned 
and  operated  by  non-profit  educational  television  corporations  formed 
specifically  to  serve  educational  and  cultural  needs  of  all  elements  of 
the  population  of  the  local  metropolitan  areas.  Three  of  the  stations 
are  owned  and  operated  by  State  educational  broadcast  councils 
financed  from  State  appropriations.  One  station,  KUHT  of  Houston, 
is  owned  and  operated  by  a  city  university,  the  University  of  Houston. 
One  station,  WGBH-TV  of  Boston,  is  owned  and  operated  by  the 
Lowell  Foundation,  an  endowed  foundation  serving  educational  and 
cultural  needs  of  the  Boston  metropolitan  area. 

On  the  whole,  educational  television  station  development,  already 
involving  an  expenditure  of  more  than  $10  million  for  equipment 
alone,  is  showing  a  decidedly  healthy  growth.  Now  that  educational 
station  planners  no  longer  feel  themselves  under  compulsion  to  get 
their  stations  on  the  air  immediately,  lest  locally  reserved  educational 
television  channels  be  re-assigned  for  commercial  use,  more  attention  is 
being  given  to  planning  educational  program  services,  and  to  develop¬ 
ing  sound  bases  for  financing  station  operating  and  programing  costs. 
In  fact,  the  trend  today  seems  to  be  to  select  and  train  the  production 
staff  first,  starting  actual  production  over  closed  circuit  facilities  on 
an  experimental  basis  while  funds  for  station  construction  and  opera¬ 
tion  are  being  raised. 

The  growth  of  educational  television  development  seems  in  no  way 
to  have  dimmed  the  interest  of  schools  and  colleges  in  radio  broad¬ 
casting.  In  the  year  just  ended,  some  30  new  educational  FM  sta¬ 
tions  have  gone  on  the  air,  bringing  the  total  of  non-commercial 
educational  radio  stations  in  operation  to  160. 

EXCEPTIONAL  CHILDREN 

During  the  year,  the  Office  of  Education  continued  to  give  leader¬ 
ship  to  the  nationwide  study  on  the  Qualification  and  Preparation  of 
Teachers  of  Exceptional  Children.  A  study  was  made  of  the  distinc¬ 
tive  competencies  needed  by  teachers  of  the  blind,  crippled,  deaf, 
gifted,  hard-of-hearing,  mentally  retarded,  partially  seeing,  special 


Office  of  Education 


IS 


health  cases,  socially  maladjusted,  and  speech-handicapped.  In¬ 
cluded  also  was  an  evaluation  of  the  competencies  needed  by  special 
education  personnel  in  colleges  and  universities,  and  in  administrative 
positions  in  State  and  local  school  systems. 

Four  publications  have  now  come  from  the  study  and  others  are 
nearing  completion.  The  results  of  the  study  were  presented  at  vari¬ 
ous  National,  State,  and  regional  meetings  throughout  the  year.  It 
is  anticipated  that  the  findings  will  form  the  basis  for  improved 
programs  for  exceptional  children  through  the  development  of  better 
in-service  and  pre-service  preparation  of  teachers. 

CIVIL  DEFENSE  EDUCATION 

A  delegation  of  authority  by  the  Federal  Civil  Defense  Adminis¬ 
tration  to  the  Department  of  Health,  Education,  and  Welfare  gave 
the  Office  of  Education  the  responsibility  for  planning,  developing, 
and  distributing  materials  which  will  assist  schools  in  teaching  civil 
defense  skills,  knowledge,  and  fundamentals  of  behavior  during  emer¬ 
gencies.  Contractual  agreements  were  made  with  State  departments 
of  education  in  Connecticut,  Michigan,  and  California  to  establish 
pilot  centers  for  the  development  of  civil  defense  instruction  materials 
for  teachers  in  various  subject  areas  and  at  all  levels.  The  Office  of 
Education  aided  the  State  pilot  center  staffs  by  reviewing  and  evaluat¬ 
ing  technical  reports  developed  by  the  Federal  Civil  Defense  Admin¬ 
istration  and  other  government  and  non-government  agencies. 

ASSISTANCE  TO  SCHOOLS  IN  FEDERALLY  AFFECTED  AREAS1 

A  major  activity  of  the  Office  during  the  1955  fiscal  year  was  admin¬ 
istration  of  the  grant  programs  authorized  for  those  school  districts 
which  have  experienced  a  severe  financial  burden  as  a  result  of  activi¬ 
ties  of  the  United  States.  The  fiscal  year  1955  was  the  fifth  year  these 
programs,  authorized  by  Public  Laws  815  and  874  of  the  81st  Congress, 
had  been  in  operation.  Public  Law  815  authorizes  financial  assistance 
for  construction  of  school  facilities  needed  to  house  increased  school 
enrollments  resulting  from  new  or  expanded  Federal  activities,  mostly 
military  installations.  Public  Law  874,  the  companion  law,  provides 
Federal  assistance  for  current  operating  expenses  each  year  to  take 
the  place  of  local  revenues  lost  primarily  because  of  the  nontaxable 
status  of  federally  owned  land  on  which  the  school  children  live  or 
on  which  their  parents  work. 

Passage  of  these  two  Acts  in  September  1950  marked  the  first  attempt 
by  the  Congress  to  establish  a  uniform  policy  governing  the  allocation 
of  financial  assistance  to  school  districts  seriously  affected  by  Federal 

1  For  a  more  detailed  discussion  of  the  operations  of  this  program  under  Public  Laws  815 
and  974  (81st  Cong.),  as  amended,  see  Fifth  Annual  Report  of  the  Commissioner  of  educa¬ 
tion  concerning  the  administration  of  Public  Laws  874  and  815. 


411822—57 - 2 


152 


Department  of  Health ,  Education ,  and  Welfare ,  1955 


activities  and  to  place  the  administration  of  this  program  in  one  ad¬ 
ministrative  agency.  The  Laws  also  attempted  to  establish  an  objec¬ 
tive  method  of  determining  the  extent  of  the  Federal  financial  burden 
and  the  amount  of  Federal  assistance  to  which  each  district  was  en¬ 
titled.  Accordingly,  each  Act  established  specific  requirements  for 
eligibility,  defined  the  categories  of  Federal  impact  for  which  payment 
would  be  made,  and  included  a  formula  for  determining  the  amount 
of  assistance.  In  addition  to  grants  to  local  educational  agencies  Pub¬ 
lic  Law  815  recognized  the  necessity  for  and  authorized  the  construc¬ 
tion  of  temporary  schools  in  certain  situations  and  the  Federal  con¬ 
struction  of  schools  on  Federal  bases  where  necessary  in  order  best  to 
serve  the  children.  Public  Law  874  recognized  the  necessity  for  and 
authorized  the  Commissioner  of  Education  to  arrange  for  providing 
free  public  education  for  children  living  on  Federal  enclaves  when 
no  State  or  local  educational  agency  was  responsible  for  or  was  able 
to  provide  suitable  education  for  such  children. 

The  original  Public  Law  815  provided  Federal  assistance  for  in¬ 
creases  in  school  enrollment  which  resulted  from  Federal  activities 
which  occurred  from  the  beginning  of  World  War  II  in  1939  to  June 
30,  1952.  This  program  was  extended  in  August  1953  by  the  passage 
of  Public  Law  246  to  provide  for  increases  in  school  enrollment  occur¬ 
ring  from  June  30, 1952,  to  June  30, 1954.  Early  in  the  1955  fiscal  year, 
Congress  again  extended  this  program  by  the  passage  of  Public  Law 
731  to  provide  for  school  enrollment  increases  occurring  during  the 
period  June  30,  1954,  to  June  30,  1956.  An  appropriation  of  $70  mil¬ 
lion  was  made  early  in  the  1955  fiscal  year  for  allocation  to  projects 
filed  by  June  30,  1954,  and  for  completion  of  that  program.  In  April 
1955  Congress  made  available  an  additional  $70  million  for  the  first 
year  of  the  newly  authorized  program.  Thus,  a  major  activity  of  the 
Office  during  the  year  has  been  the  analysis  of  applications  submitted 
for  the  new  2-year  period,  an  allocation  of  funds  to  approved  projects, 
and  the  completion  or  moving  toward  completion  of  projects  already 
approved  from  prior  years’  appropriations. 

By  June  30, 1955,  a  total  of  $585,000,000  had  been  appropriated  for 
construction  of  school  facilities  in  federally  affected  school  districts. 
In  addition,  an  estimated  $230,000,000  had  been  added  to  the  projects 
from  local  funds.  These  funds  were  used  or  will  be  used  to  help  build 
2,700  school  buildings  in  local  districts  and  134  federally  constructed 
projects  located  on  83  Federal  installations.  It  is  estimated  that  this 
program  will  have  helped  provide  approximately  25,000  classrooms 
and  related  school  facilities  which  wull  be  sufficient  to  house  an  esti¬ 
mated  750,000  children. 

During  the  fiscal  year,  2,831  school  districts  applied  for  assistance 
under  Public  Law  874  for  maintenance  and  operation  of  school  plants. 
Of  these,  2,700  were  determined  to  be  eligible  for  approximately  $75 


Office  of  Education 


153 


million.  In  addition  there  were  31  federally  operated  on-base  proj¬ 
ects  under  the  provision  of  section  6  of  the  Act.  The  eligible  school 
districts  had  an  average  daily  attendance  of  910,000  federally  con¬ 
nected  children  on  which  payments  were  authorized  and  an  estimated 
total  attendance  of  over  5,500,000  pupils. 

While  Federal  activities,  particularly  those  connected  with  defense 
contracts,  have  stabilized  throughout  the  country  there  continues  to  be 
a  number  of  new  Federal  impact  areas  resulting  primarily  from  new 
or  expanded  Air  Force  installations,  reclamation  project  activities,  and 
atomic  energy  projects.  Continued  construction  of  housing  for  mili¬ 
tary  personnel  on  or  near  military  installations  also  increases  school 
enrollment  in  the  Federal  impact  areas.  Thus  there  was  an  increase 
of  177  eligible  school  districts  in  the  1955  fiscal  year  over  1954  and 
an  increase  of  about  3  percent  in  the  cost  per  pupil  resulting  in  an 
increase  of  approximately  $10  million  in  the  cost  of  the  program. 

Another  major  activity  occupying  the  Division  during  the  year  was 
securing  compliance  with  the  January  1954  order  of  the  Secretary  of 
Defense  that  no  school  located  on  military  installations  could  be  oper¬ 
ated  on  a  segregated  basis  after  the  fall  of  1955.  There  were  24 
schools  located  on  Federal  property  operated  by  local  educational 
agencies  on  a  segregated  basis  during  the  1954-55  school  year.  Com¬ 
pliance  with  the  order  of  the  Secretary  of  Defense  required  ascertain¬ 
ing  whether  local  educational  agencies  operating  on-base  schools 
could  in  the  1955-56  school  year  operate  those  schools  on  an  integrated 
basis  or  whether  Federal  operation  under  section  6  of  the  Act  would 
be  necessary  and,  if  so,  preparing  the  necessary  budgets  and  arrang¬ 
ing  for  such  operation. 

Of  the  24  schools  located  on  Federal  property  20  were  federally 
owned  schools  located  on  military  installations  and  operated  by  local 
educational  agencies  on  a  segregated  basis  during  the  1955  fiscal  year. 
Four  of  these  have  been  discontinued,  8  will  be  operated  on  an  inte¬ 
grated  basis  by  local  educational  agencies  in  the  1956  fiscal  year,  and 
8  will  be  operated  by  the  Federal  Government  on  an  integrated  basis. 
The  remaining  4  projects  are  locally  owned  schools  located  on  prop¬ 
erty  leased  by  the  local  educational  agencies  from  the  Department 
of  Defense.  These  schools  will  be  operated  on  the  same  basis  as  are 
other  schools  in  these  districts. 

VOCATIONAL  EDUCATION 

The  Office  of  Education  administered  approximately  $31,000,000 
of  Federal  vocational  education  funds  appropriated  for  allotment  to 
the  States  and  Territories  for  the  fiscal  year  ending  June  30,  1955. 
This  was  an  increase  of  $5,000,000  over  the  previous  year.  The  addi¬ 
tional  funds  were  used  primarily  to  extend  the  program  to  communi¬ 
ties  not  previously  having  vocational  programs. 


Department  of  Health ,  Education ,  and  Welfare ,  1955 


154 

The  Assistant  Commissioner  for  Vocational  Education  was  made 
an  ex-officio  member  of  the  Federal  Committee  on  Apprenticeship. 
The  Office  participated  in  several  Federal-State  apprenticeship  agency 
joint  conferences  called  by  the  U.  S.  Department  of  Labor.  Closer 
working  relationships  were  established  in  the  apprenticeship  program 
in  the  matter  of  understandings  of  the  respective  responsibilities  of 
this  Office  and  these  agencies  in  the  gathering  of  statistics  and  the 
development  of  programs  of  related  instruction  for  apprentices  con¬ 
ducted  by  public  schools. 

A  conference  of  State  directors  of  vocational  education  was  held  to 
consider  policy  matters  in  the  administration  of  the  total  program  of 
vocational  education.  Areas  studied  included  vocational  guidance, 
distributive  education,  home  economics,  trade  and  industries,  and  agri¬ 
culture.  The  recommendations  of  the  conference  will  be  used  as  a 
basis  of  future  considerations  of  policy. 

The  Office  also  held  a  planning  conference  on  research  in  agricul¬ 
tural  education  in  which  recommendations  made  by  the  National  Com¬ 
mittee  on  Research  in  Agricultural  Education  were  considered.  As 
a  result,  a  comprehensive  study  is  to  be  made  of  the  Young  Farmer 
Program  and  a  publication  on  the  subject  issued  for  use  by  vocational 
leaders  in  agricultural  education. 

Staff  members  met  with  representatives  of  producers  of  both  natural 
and  synthetic  fibers  to  plan  a  training  program  in  textile  fibers  for 
salespeople  employed  in  stores,  including  high  school  students  enrolled 
in  cooperative  distributive  education  programs. 

The  shortage  of  teachers  of  home  economics  persists  although  7,693 
persons  were  enrolled  in  college  courses  in  1954  preparing  for  the 
teaching  of  home  economics.  The  shortage  is  due  to  the  facts  that 
home  economics  teachers  marry  after  a  few  years  of  teaching  and  leave 
the  profession,  and  that  programs  of  home  economics  are  being  estab¬ 
lished  in  many  more  schools  each  year. 

The  shortage  of  coordinators  of  local  cooperative  programs  in  dis¬ 
tributive  education  and  persons  qualified  for  State  level  positions  in 
the  program  has  become  acute.  The  shortage  in  this  field  is  due  in 
part  to  the  fact  that  increased  Federal  funds  were  available  for  1955 
following  several  years  of  decreases  in  Federal  funds  which  resulted 
in  the  curtailment  of  teachers  and  coordinator  training  programs  in 
some  of  the  States. 

The  shortage  of  vocational  agriculture  teachers  has  become  more 
acute  than  at  any  time  since  World  War  II  despite  the  fact  that  3,479 
persons  were  being  trained  by  the  colleges  as  such  teachers.  The 
shortage  in  this  field  is  due  largely  to  the  fact  that  most  of  the  voca¬ 
tional  agriculture  teachers  are  trained  in  the  land-grant  colleges 
where  they  take  military  training  and  become  reserve  officers.  After 
serving  several  years,  many  go  into  other  than  teaching  occupations. 


Office  of  Education 


155 


Increased  demand  for  agricultural  college  graduates  by  commercial 
concerns  and  State  and  Federal  agricultural  programs  also  contributes 
to  the  shortage. 

LAND-GRANT  COLLEGE  AND  UNIVERSITY  FUNDS 

Each  year  the  Office  of  Education  initiates  certification  as  to  each 
State  and  Territory  (1)  whether  it  is  entitled  to  receive  its  share  of 
the  annual  appropriations  for  the  land-grant  colleges  and  universities 
and  (2)  the  amounts  it  is  entitled  to  receive.  The  certification  for 
the  year  ending  June  30, 1955,  for  the  Bankhead- Jones  funds  (annual 
appropriations)  amounted  to  $2,501,500  and  that  for  the  Morrill- 
Nelson  funds  (permanent  appropriation)  amounted  to  $2,550,000,  a 
grand  total  of  $5,051,500. 

COLLEGE  HOUSING  PROGRAM 

The  Office  of  Education  provided  advisory  service  to  colleges  and 
universities  and  the  Housing  and  Home  Finance  Agency  on  new  appli¬ 
cations  in  the  amount  of  $70,000,000  during  fiscal  1955.  These  loan 
requests  are  anticipated  to  provide  residential  facilities  for  20,928 
single  students,  1,020  married  students,  and  323  faculty  members. 

The  prevailing  interest  rate  of  3.25  percent  deterred  many  appli¬ 
cants  from  completing  loan  requests  and  financing  needed  residential 
facilities.  Privately  operated  institutions  used  the  program  to  a 
greater  extent  than  publicly  operated  institutions  because  the  3.25 
interest  rate  is  still  favorable  to  the  private  college  or  university. 
Publicly  supported  institutions  tended  either  to  delay  construction  or, 
in  some  favorable  instances,  to  secure  loans  at  interest  rates  slightly 
under  the  College  Housing  Program  rate.  Associations  in  higher 
education  continued  to  request  lower  interest  rates,  preferably  under 
3  percent,  and  a  release  of  all  remaining  funds  for  immediate  use. 

Private  investors  continued  to  participate  in  the  program.  During 
Fiscal  1955,  individuals  and  syndicates  are  reported  to  have  purchased 
approximately  $8,000,000  in  college  housing  revenue  bonds  when 
opened  to  competitive  bids  under  the  College  Housing  Program.  A 
few  40-yea.r  issues  were  sold  to  private  investors,  but  the  usual  pattern 
was  that  only  the  earlier  issues  were  purchased  by  private  investors. 

ADULT  EDUCATION 

During  the  year  the  Office  of  Education  gave  recognition  to  the 
rapidly  growing  movement  of  adult  education  by  creating  an  Adult 
Education  Section.  Its  purposes  are  to:  (a)  provide  consultative 
services  to  State  and  local  school  officials,  teacher-education  institu¬ 
tions,  professional  and  lay  organizations,  and  Federal  agencies  on 
needs  in  and  problems  of  adult  education;  (b)  conduct  and  publish 


156 


Department  of  Health ,  Education ,  and  Welfare ,  1955 


studies  in  the  field  of  general  adult  education,  including  the  education 
of  the  aging  and  aged;  ( c )  participate  in  conferences  and  workshops 
on  the  various  phases  of  adult  education;  and  ( d )  establish  and  main¬ 
tain  cooperative  relationships  with  professional  and  lay  organizations 
and  voluntary  agencies  interested  in  the  field. 

INTERGROUP  EDUCATION 

The  Office  of  Education  cooperated  actively  with  the  National 
Education  Association  and  the  American  Teachers  Association  in 
developing  a  packet  of  materials  and  a  leader’s  guide  on  intergroup 
education  for  leaders  of  adult  community  groups.  The  purpose  of 
the  packet  and  leader’s  guide  is  to  provide  an  overall  orientation  to 
the  several  aspects  of  the  problems  involved  in  achieving  improved 
human  relations.  While  the  packet  is  concerned  with  the  general 
subject  of  intergroup  relations,  it  will  be  found  useful  to  persons 
interested  in  the  implementation  of  the  Supreme  Court’s  opinion  on 
school  segregation. 

INTERNATIONAL  EDUCATION 

Education  has  an  increasingly  important  role  in  international  af¬ 
fairs.  First,  it  is  one  of  the  best  ways  to  help  people  to  become 
acquainted  with  each  other.  Various  cultural  programs  designed  to 
promote  understanding  seem  to  grow  in  scope  and  effectiveness  with 
each  passing  year.  Secondly,  education  is  a  necessity  for  people  who 
are  learning  new  technical  skills  needed  to  improve  their  standard 
of  living.  Technical  assistance  to  people  less  advanced  mechanically 
than  ourselves  is  an  increasingly  important  component  of  our  foreign 
policy,  and  is  in  fact  a  program  of  education. 

Substantial  funds  of  the  United  States  and  other  governments  are 
supporting  international  educational  programs,  both  on  the  country- 
to-country  and  on  the  United  Nations  basis.  Private  organizations 
also  are  investing  large  sums  in  educational  enterprises  designed  to 
increase  international  understanding,  and  to  improve  economic  con¬ 
ditions. 

The  Office  of  Education  has  a  growing  part  in  supporting  many  of 
these  programs,  although  it  has  direct  operating  responsibility  for 
only  a  small  part  of  the  Federal  investment  in  international  education. 
The  Office  serves  as  adviser  and  agent  for  a  number  of  Federal  inter¬ 
national  activities,  and  also  is  frequently  asked  to  provide  advisory 
services  to  numerous  private  organizations  and  individuals. 

One  evidence  of  the  growing  importance  of  education  in  relations 
between  nations  is  in  the  agendas  of  international  conferences.  The 
Office  has  an  increasingly  important  responsibility  in  advising  the 
Department  of  State  concerning  important  educational  issues,  and 


Office  of  Education 


157 


in  preparing  position  papers  for  the  guidance  of  American  delegates 
to  a  variety  of  international  conferences. 

The  new  role  of  the  United  States  in  international  affairs  is  reflected 
in  schools  and  universities  by  the  need  for  new  courses,  the  revision 
of  existing  courses,  and  in  a  variety  of  research  programs.  Lay  groups 
and  organizations  are  carrying  on  related  activities. 

The  Office  is  asked  advice  concerning  curriculum  development  for 
children  in  elementary  schools  of  the  United  States  to  help  them 
become  acquainted  with  the  peoples  and  cultures  of  other  countries. 
Secondary  schools  are  experimenting  with  programs  designed  to  stim¬ 
ulate  in  young  people  an  interest  in,  and  a  better  understanding  of, 
current  affairs.  Teaching  about  the  United  N ations  and  its  specialized 
agencies  is  another  approach  to  international  understanding.  School 
systems,  State  departments  of  education,  private  publishing  com¬ 
panies,  and  Government  agencies  are  publishing  bulletins,  yearbooks, 
and  articles  to  assist  schools  in  developing  programs  of  international 
understanding.  The  Office  serves  a  useful  function  in  helping  edu¬ 
cators  to  avoid  propaganda,  and  to  develop  a  sound  approach  to 
international  education  which  is  in  harmony  with  our  national  interest. 

Both  Government  and  business  are  turning  to  the  universities  for 
specialists  in  international  affairs.  Institutions  of  higher  education 
are  providing  more  area  programs,  more  facilities  for  overseas  re¬ 
search,  and  improved  collections  of  source  materials  and  training 
for  scholars  specializing  in  international  relations. 

Exchange  of  persons  programs  sponsored  by  the  United  States 
Government  and  by  private  organizations  are  bringing  thousands  of 
students  and  educators  from  other  countries  to  the  United  States,  and 
have  greatly  stimulated  an  interest  in  international  education.  Col¬ 
leges  and  universities,  State  departments  of  education,  thousands  of 
schools,  private  educational  organizations,  as  well  as  community 
groups  and  private  citizens,  have  cooperated  in  providing  for  these 
visitors  educational  experiences  and  an  insight  into  American  life 
and  culture.  The  opportunity  to  assist  in  this  program  has  given 
countless  citizens  of  our  country  an  opportunity  to  obtain  firsthand 
information  about,  and  to  develop  a  deeper  understanding  of,  the 
people  and  lands  from  which  these  visitors  came. 

In  cooperation  with  the  Department  of  State  during  the  year  1954—55 
the  Office  of  Education  arranged  exchange  and  one-way  teaching 
assignments  for  436  teachers  and  school  administrators  from  the 
United  States  and  cooperating  countries.  In  addition,  305  visiting 
educators  came  on  6-month  training  grants  under  the  Teacher  Educa¬ 
tion  Programs. 

During  the  1954-55  school  year  the  Office  of  Education  continued  to 
work  with  the  Foreign  Operations  Administration  in  the  development 


158 


Department  of  Health ,  Education ,  and  Welfare ,  1955 


of  technical  assistance  programs  of  education  in  34  countries.  One 
hundred  thirty-four  educators  were  recruited  by  the  Office  for  appoint¬ 
ment  by  the  Foreign  Operations  Administration  to  serve  in  educa¬ 
tional  missions  in  these  countries.  Professional  and  technical  con¬ 
sultation  was  provided  by  the  Office,  and  the  Foreign  Operations  Ad¬ 
ministration  was  advised  on  the  development  of  university  contracts 
for  carrying  out  assignments  in  education  overseas.  Under  this  same 
program,  700  educators  from  more  than  30  countries  were  brought 
to  the  United  States  for  training  in  a  wide  variety  of  fields  to  promote 
their  countries’  economic,  social,  and  educational  development. 

Assistance  was  continued  to  university  and  college  registrars,  State 
Boards  of  Licensure,  and  the  U.  S.  Civil  Service  and  other  Federal 
agencies  in  the  interpretation  of  credentials  for  study  in  other  coun¬ 
tries,  totaling  2,900  requests.  The  Veterans  Administration  also  con¬ 
tinued  to  call  upon  the  Office  for  recommendations  regarding  the  level 
of  instruction  in  certain  courses  offered  by  foreign  schools  for  United 
States  war  veterans. 

The  Clearing  House  in  the  Office  of  Education,  established  at  the 
request  of  the  Department  of  State  to  maintain  a  file  of  information 
concerning  persons  entering  and  leaving  the  United  States  under  the 
various  Federal  Government-sponsored  exchange  programs,  including 
that  of  the  Foreign  Operations  Administration,  increased  its  list  from 
15,000  to  21,000  individuals  this  year.  To  date,  some  80  different  statis¬ 
tical  studies  have  been  prepared  by  the  Clearing  House  for  the  Depart¬ 
ment  of  State. 

The  Office  of  Education,  through  its  Educational  Materials  Labora¬ 
tory,  has  provided  an  opportunity  for  visiting  educators  from  other 
countries,  as  well  as  educators  and  laymen  in  the  United  States,  to 
examine  representative  textbooks  and  materials  used  in  schools  in  this 
country.  In  cooperation  with  specialists  of  the  Office  of  Education, 
it  has  assisted  FOA  missions,  the  United  States  Information  Agency, 
and  Ministries  of  Education,  in  selecting  texts  and  materials  for  use 
in  other  countries.  The  Laboratory  also  maintains  a  permanent  ex¬ 
hibit  of  materials  produced  in  the  FOA  missions  and  in  connection 
with  fundamental  education  programs  around  the  wmrld. 

There  is  a  substantial  and  growing  interest  among  American  educa¬ 
tors  in  international  education.  The  success  of  these  programs,  both 
governmental  and  private,  results  from  the  strong  public  support  they 
are  receiving  both  in  this  country  and  abroad.  There  is  a  growing 
belief  that  education  is  an  effective  means  for  achieving  the  foundation 
of  international  stability  and  peace. 


Office  of  Education 


159 


OTHER  SOURCES  OF  INFORMATION 

U.  S.  Government  Films  for  Public  Educational  Use.  Bulletin  1955,  No.  1. 

State  Accreditation  of  High  Schools.  Bulletin  1955,  No.  5. 

Statistics  of  Land-Grant  Colleges  and  Universities,  Year  Ending  June  30,  1954. 
Bulletin  1955,  No.  8. 

Summaries  of  Studies  in  Agricultural  Education,  Supp.  No.  8.  Vocational  Divi¬ 
sion  Bulletin  No.  256. 

Statistical  Summary,  1951-52.  Chapter  1,  Biennial  Survey  of  Education  in  the 
United  States,  1950-52. 

Statistics  of  State  School  Systems,  1951-52.  Chapter  2,  Biennial  Survey  of  Edu¬ 
cation  in  the  United  States,  1950-52. 

Statistics  of  City  School  Systems,  1951-52.  Chapter  3,  Biennial  Survey  of 
Education  in  the  United  States,  1950-52. 

Statistics  of  Higher  Education,  1951-52.  Chapter  4,  Section  II,  Biennial  Survey 
of  Education  in  the  United  States,  1950-52. 

Federal  Government  and  States.  Part  1,  Education  Directory,  1954-55. 

Counties  and  Cities.  Part  2,  Education  Directory,  1954-55. 

Higher  Education.  Part  3,  Education  Directory,  1954r-55. 

Education  Associations.  Part  4,  Education  Directory,  1954-55. 

Resident,  Extension,  and  Adult  Education  Enrollment  in  Institutions  of  Higher 
Education,  November  1953.  Circular  No.  414. 

Earned  Degrees  Conferred  by  Higher  Education  Institutions,  1953-54.  Circular 
No.  418. 

Fall  Enrollment  in  Higher  Educational  Institutions,  1954.  Circular  No.  419. 

Engineering  Enrollment  and  Degrees,  1954.  Circular  No.  421. 

Current  Expenditures  per  Pupil  in  Public-School  Systems:  Large  Cities,  1953- 
54.  Circular  No.  436. 

Current  Expenditures  per  Pupil  in  Public-School  Systems :  Small  and  Medium- 
Sized  Cities,  1953-54.  Circular  No.  438. 

Statistics  of  Public  Elementary  and  Secondary  Education  of  Negroes  in  the 
Southern  States,  1951-52.  Circular  No.  444. 

Salaries  and  Other  Characteristics  of  Beginning  Rural  School  Teachers,  1953-54. 
Circular  No.  446. 

Statistics  of  Negro  Colleges  and  Universities,  1951-52  and  Fall  of  1954.  Circular 
No.  448. 

Public-School  Finance  Programs  of  the  United  States.  Misc.  No.  22. 

The  State  and  Education — The  Structure  and  Control  of  Public  Education  at  the 
State  Level.  Misc.  No.  23. 

Digest  of  Annual  Reports  of  State  Boards  for  Vocational  Education  to  the  Office 
of  Education,  Fiscal  Year  Ended  June  30,  1954. 

Fourth  Annual  Report  of  the  Commissioner  of  Education  Concerning  the  Admin¬ 
istration  of  Public  Laws  874  and  815,  June  30,  1954. 

Education  in  the  United  States  of  America.  Special  Series  No.  3. 

School  Facilities  Survey — Projected  Plans  for  Meeting  School  Plant  Needs. 

Higher  Education  (9  issues — September  1954-May  1955,  inclusive). 

School  Life  (9  issues — October  1954- June  1955,  inclusive). 


160 


Department  of  Health ,  Education ,  and  Welfare ,  1955 


Table  1. — Grants  to  States:  Office  of  Education ,  fiscal  year  1955  1 


States,  Territories,  and 
possessions 

Total 

White 

House 

Conference 

on 

Education 

Colleges 

for 

agriculture 
and  the 
mechanic 
arts 

Coopera¬ 

tive 

vocational 

education 

Survey  and 
school  con¬ 
struction 

Mainte¬ 
nance 
and  opera¬ 
tion  of 
schools 

Total. . . . . 

$238,974,453 

$608,048 

$5,051,500 

$30,  522, 885 

2  $120, 932, 499 

3  $81, 859,  521 

Alabama . . . 

4,  417, 953 

12,  557 

100,  541 

819,070 

2,  590, 998 

894, 787 

Arizona . . . . 

3, 148,  719 

5,000 

l  77,  477 

176, 617 

2, 175, 368 

714,  257 

Arkansas . . . . 

2,  509,  425 

7,698 

89,048 

604, 431 

1, 132,  542 

675, 706 

California . . 

42,  573,053 

49, 155 

175,  599 

1, 462, 830 

25,  566,  322 

15,  319,147 

Colorado . . . . 

4,  600,  514 

5,  698 

83,  218 

264,  598 

2,  339,  366 

1,  907,  634 

Connecticut _ _ 

3,  536,  341 

8,  718 

90,023 

296,851 

1,  493,  759 

1,  646,  990 

Delaware. . . 

369,  509 

5,000 

73, 173 

165,000 

102,073 

24,  263 

Florida  . . 

5, 186,  416 

97,  644 

471,  508 

2,  989,  822 

1,627, 442 

Georgia . . . 

7,  953;  966 

14,  456 

104, 360 

877, 478 

6, 157,  584 

1,800,088 

Idaho . . . 

1,  455,  968 

5,000 

75, 872 

183,  629 

757,  710 

433,  757 

Illinois . . 

5,048,707 

36, 304 

156, 905 

1,  319,  265 

1, 363, 173 

2, 173,060 

Indiana . . . 

2,  998, 101 

109,  245 

791, 108 

1, 143,  720 

954, 028 

Iowa . . . 

1, 196,  551 

10,  505 

96, 146 

677,  803 

116,834 

295,  263 

Kansas . . . 

6,  280,  570 

8,089 

89,006 

447,  258 

2, 333, 609 

3,  402,  608 

Kentucky . . . . 

2,  404,  880 

11, 956 

99,  375 

831,  933 

694,  690 

766,  926 

Louisiana _ _ _ 

2,091,  656 

11,  630 

96,  769 

597,088 

833,863 

552,  306 

Maine . . . . 

1,  789,  914 

5,000 

79, 115 

182, 301 

915,  335 

608, 163 

Maryland . . 

9,  202,  216 

10,  246 

93,  372 

368,  864 

5, 871,  720 

2, 858,014 

Massachusetts _ 

1, 965,  333 

19, 759 

116, 789 

578,  702 

365,  219 

884, 864 

Michigan . . . 

7,  277,073 

27,  630 

133,  559 

1,068, 101 

4, 818, 472 

1,229, 311 

Minnesota- . . 

1,  788,  762 

12, 311 

99.  751 

695,  523 

856,  624 

124,  553 

Mississippi . 

1,  778, 164 

8,803 

91,  735 

756,  771 

437,  213 

483,  642 

Missouri . 

3,  865,  391 

16,  517 

109,  448 

842,  619 

1,573,  472 

1, 323,  335 

Montana . . . 

1,  272,  253 

5,000 

75, 896 

177,  374 

667,  346 

346,  637 

Nebraska . . 

1,  778,  760 

5,  432 

83,  222 

350, 854 

271,088 

1,068, 164 

Nevada . . . . 

1,  777,  956 

5,000 

71,  597 

139,  937 

961, 865 

599,  557 

New  Hampshire . 

695,  289 

5,000 

75,  319 

162,  420 

27,064 

425,  486 

New  Jersey . . . 

3,  508,  970 

20,  731 

118,  233 

580,067 

1,  464, 102 

1,  325, 837 

New  Mexico . . 

5,287,021 

5,000 

76,  795 

180,  335 

3,  673,  202 

1,351,  689 

New  York . . 

7, 869, 339 

61, 426 

217, 934 

1, 866,018 

3, 883, 417 

1,840,544 

North  Carolina...  _ _ 

2,  538,  487 

16.  908 

110,  518 

1, 169, 633 

672, 253 

569, 175 

North  Dakota. . . . 

564,  726 

5,000 

76, 181 

241,  993 

28,174 

213, 378 

Ohio . . 

9,  245, 196 

33,  747 

149,  269 

1,  335,  914 

4,  598,  671 

3, 127,  595 

Oklahoma.. . 

7,  789,  277 

9,077 

92,  278 

534, 841 

4, 188,054 

2,  965,027 

Oregon. . . 

1, 470, 870 

6,460 

85, 176 

320,  287 

528,  522 

530,  425 

Pennsylvania . . 

3,  859,025 

42, 970 

174,  720 

1,  752,  240 

561,  659 

1,327,436 

Rhode  Island . . 

1,  923,  278 

5,000 

77,  899 

121,  678 

1,013,  735 

704,  966 

South  Carolina _ 

2,  909,  521 

8, 851 

91, 118 

602,  801 

1, 169,  239 

1,037,512 

South  Dakota... - - 

1,  350, 150 

5,000 

76,  511 

238,  440 

450,  242 

579,  957 

Tennessee . 

3, 217, 645 

13,424 

102,  835 

872,  729 

1,  388,  580 

840,077 

Texas . . . . 

15, 179,  437 

146,  921 

1,  512,  498 

8, 146,  833 

5,  373, 185 

Utah . 

2,  816, 026 

76,  872 

172,  329 

1,757,  221 

809,  604 

Vermont- _ _ 

336,  579 

5,000 

73,  768 

162,083 

44,  570 

51, 158 

Virginia..  . . 

18, 027,  649 

103, 104 

780, 631 

9,  986,  932 

7, 156,  982 

Washington. . 

12,  300,  913 

9, 993 

93, 731 

436,  685 

7,  516,  491 

4,244,013 

West  Virginia _ 

652,  907 

7,811 

90, 006 

504,  398 

50,  692 

Wisconsin . . . 

1,  445,  491 

14, 186 

104,  260 

745,  322 

130, 956 

450,  767 

Wyoming . . 

675,054 

5,000 

72, 898 

165,000 

205,  685 

226,  471 

Alaska.. . . . . . 

3, 326, 368 

5,000 

71,  283 

648,  201 

2, 601, 884 

District  of  Columbia  _ 

110, 139 

5,000 

105, 139 

Hawaii. . . . 

2, 895,  897 

5,000 

74.  986 

165,000 

1, 309, 478 

1,  341, 433 

Puerto  Rico  _ 

673,  956 

50,000 

613, 911 

10, 319 

-274 

Virgin  Islands 

37,092 

5,000 

32, 980 

-888 

1  On  a  checks-issued  basis.  Does  not  necessarily  agree  with  allotments  or  expenditures  for  a  given  fiscal 
year. 

2  Does  not  include  $6,725,000  paid  to  Housing  and  Home  Finance. 

3  Does  not  include  $319,716  paid  to  Air  Force,  $2,363,051  to  Army,  $13,532  to  Commerce,  $5,380  to  Interior 
$676,161  to  Navy,  and  $13,326  to  Veterans’  Administration. 


U.  S.  GOVERNMENT  PRINTING  OFFICE:  1957 


REPRINT 


From  the  Annual  Report  of  the 

U.  S.  DEPARTMENT  OF  HEALTH,  EDUCATION,  AND  WELFARE 

1956 


Office  of  Ed.ii cation 


DEPARTMENT  OF 
hEALTH,  EDUCATION,  AMD  WELFARE 

MAY  2  3  1958 

library 

Education  Collection 


7.  Introduction 

Fiscal  Year  1956  was  unusually  significant  for  American  education 
and  for  the  Office  of  Education.  Throughout  the  country  there  was 
unprecedented  recognition  of  the  contribution  of  the  schools  to  the 
national  welfare — recognition  that  what  the  schools  contribute  to  an 
individual  they  contribute  to  the  strength  of  the  Nation.  The  empha¬ 
sis  was  on  citizen-educator  cooperation,  on  getting  the  facts,  on  action 
to  improve  the  schools.  At  local,  State,  and  National  levels  educators 
and  laymen  organized  to  appraise  the  accomplishments  of  schools, 
to  identify  and  look  squarely  at  the  problems  facing  schools.  They 
found  much  to  be  done. 

At  the  local  level,  in  rural  communities,  small  towns,  and  cities, 
parents  and  other  citizens  displayed  an  increased  interest  in  their 
schools;  they  served  on  curriculum  and  other  planning  committees, 
assisted  with  the  school-lunch  program,  and  worked  on  the  school 
playground.  Ten  million  members  of  parent-teacher  associations 
discussed  school  programs,  problems,  and  policies.  They  all  asked 
for  facts. 

State  departments  of  education  sought  solutions  to  old  and  new 
problems  and  better  methods  of  serving  the  schools.  They  too  asked 
for  facts.  In  many  States  legislatures  provided  for  greater  financial 
support  for  schools,  improved  provisions  for  teacher  welfare,  and 
studied  various  methods  of  providing  for  a  better  education  for  their 
children. 

State  and  local  interest  and  activity,  as  well  as  official  recognition 
of  the  severity  of  the  educational  problems,  were  reflected  in  action 
at  the  Federal  level:  In  the  White  House  Conference  on  Education, 
in  the  President’s  Conference  on  the  Fitness  of  American  Youth,  in 

430681—57  159 

Complete  report  of  the  Department  for  sale  by  the  Superintendent  of  Documents, 

U.  S.  Government  Printing  Office,  Washington  25,  D.  C.  —  Price  75  cents 


160 


Department  of  Health ,  Education ,  and  Welfare,  1956 


the  President’s  appointment  of  a  committee  on  education  beyond  the 
high  school,  in  the  volume  of  legislative  activity,  and  in  increased 
demands  on  the  Office  of  Education. 

The  Office  of  Education,  as  the  agency  of  the  Federal  Government 
established  “to  promote  the  cause  of  education,”  was  vitally  concerned 
in  all  this  educational  ferment.  Its  functions,  as  defined  by  the  organi¬ 
zation  act  of  1867,  are  to  collect  such  statistics  and  facts  as  shall  show 
the  condition  and  progress  of  education,  to  diffuse  such  information 
as  shall  aid  the  people  of  the  United  States  in  the  establishment  and 
maintenance  of  efficient  School*  systems,  and  otherwise  promote  the 
cause  of  education*,  r  . 

The  Office’s  primary  means  of  discharging  its  responsibilities  for 
these  functions  is  through  the  collection,  interpretation,  and  publica¬ 
tion  of  statistics ;  through  research  and  publication  of  its  findings ;  and 
through  rendering  consultive  and  advisory  services.  From  time  to 
time  administrative  functions  have  been  added  to  Office  responsibili¬ 
ties,  and  in  1956  the  Office  administered  Federal  funds  under  three 
programs:  for  vocational  education  of  less  than  college  grade,  for 
land-grant  colleges  and  universities,  and  for  school  assistance  in  fed¬ 
erally  affected  areas.  Thus  it  will  be  seen  that  the  Office  is  authorized 
to  work  primarily  in  three  areas :  Research,  services,  and  the  adminis¬ 
tration  of  grants.  Some  of  its  major  accomplishments  in  each  area 
will  be  summarized  in  this  report. 

For  many  years  the  Office  has  cooperated  with  other  Federal 
agencies  in  educational  and  related  programs,  some  in  voluntary  asso¬ 
ciation  and  some  in  response  to  legislative  mandate.  The  Office 
continued  such  cooperation  in  1956. 

White  House  Conference  on  Education 

THE  CONFERENCE 

The  Eighty-Third  Congress,  in  response  to  the  President’s  request, 
authorized  and  appropriated  funds  for  use  of  the  States  and  Terri¬ 
tories  for  local,  regional,  and  State  conferences  leading  to  a  White 
House  Conference  on  Education.  In  December  1954,  President  Eisen¬ 
hower  named  a  34-member  Committee  for  the  White  House  Conference 
on  Education  to  plan  and  conduct  an  overall  study  of  the  Nation’s 
elementary  and  secondary  school  needs.  More  than  4,000  local, 
regional,  and  State  conferences  on  education  were  held  during  1955, 
involving  more  than  a  half-million  citizens.  Under  the  American 
system  of  local  school  control,  each  State  and  Territory  evolved  its 
own  program  without  direction  from  the  President’s  Committee.  The 
year’s  activity  was  the  most  thorough,  widespread,  and  intensive 
study  the  American  people  have  ever  made  of  their  educational  system. 

The  White  House  Conference,  held  November  28  to  December  1, 1955, 


Office  of  Education 


161 


in  Washington,  D.  C.,  climaxed  the  series  of  State  and  Territorial 
Conferences.  More  than  1,800  persons  within  the  States  and  Ter¬ 
ritories,  including  representatives  of  national  organizations,  took  part 
in  the  discussion  of  the  six  topical  questions  posed  at  the  conference. 

There  has  been  widespread  agreement  that  the  White  House  Confer¬ 
ence  emphasized  the  importance  of  education  to  the  well-being  of  the 
Nation  and  the  individual,  made  available  to  many  interested  citizens 
information  on  needs  of  education  and  the  existing  resources,  and 
stimulated  interest  in  education.  In  his  Special  Message  to  the  Con¬ 
gress,  January  12,  1956,  the  President  commented  on  the  conference: 

Benefits  are  already  apparent.  About  half  a  million  people  across  the 
Nation,  representing  all  segments  of  life,  came  to  grips  with  the  problems 
of  education.  The  status  of  American  education — where  it  is ;  the  future 
of  American  education — where  it  should  and  can  go — have  been  illumi¬ 
nated  as  never  before.  Most  important  of  all,  there  has  been  a  reawakening 
of  broad  public  interest  in  our  schools  *  *  *  no  more  potent  force  can 
be  devised  for  assailing  a  problem  than  the  common  will  to  do  the  job. 
For  the  improvement  of  our  educational  system,  the  people  themselves 
have  laid  the  foundation  in  understanding  and  willingness  to  do  the  job. 

REPORT  TO  THE  PRESIDENT 

In  April  1956  the  Committee  for  the  White  House  Conference  on 
Education  presented  its  report  to  the  President.  The  126-page  report 
is  in  three  parts:  (1)  The  committee’s  statements  and  recommenda¬ 
tions,  (2)  the  Report  of  the  White  House  Conference  on  Education,  and 
(3)  a  summary  of  the  State  conference  reports. 

THE  COMMITTEE  REPORT 

The  committee  report  contains  79  specific  recommendations  for  the 
improvement  of  schools  in  the  6  areas  of  elementary  and  secondary 
education  the  conference  was  asked  to  study.  F rom  its  own  studies  and 
results  of  State  and  Territorial  conferences  and  the  White  House 
Conference,  the  34-member  committee  concludes  that  the  schools  now 
affect  the  welfare  of  the  Nation  more  than  ever  before  in  history. 

The  report  embraces  the  traditional  concept  of  education  in  a 
democracy :  Schools  free  men  to  rise  to  the  level  of  their  abilities ;  they 
stand  as  the  chief  expression  of  the  American  tradition  of  fair  play 
for  every  one  and  a  fresh  start  for  each  generation.  The  committee 
also  accepts  the  broadened  functions  of  education:  To  improve  the 
child’s  health ;  to  provide  vocational  training ;  and  to  do  anything  else 
within  its  power  to  help  bring  the  child  up  to  the  starting  line  as  nearly 
even  with  his  contemporaries  as  his  native  skills  will  permit. 

The  committee  report  recognizes  the  progress  that  has  been  made 
in  American  education,  but  points  out  that  schools  have  fallen  far 
behind  the  aspirations  and  the  capabilities  of  the  American  people. 
To  help  close  the  gap  between  educational  ideals  and  realities,  the  com- 


162 


Department  of  Health ,  Education,  and  Welfare,  1956 


mittee  makes  a  number  of  recommendations.  Some  of  them  are  sum¬ 
marized  below. 

1.  That  school  authorities  emphasize  priorities  in  education,  that  school  chil¬ 
dren  be  given  first  things  first. 

2.  That  American  people  deny  funds,  other  than  local,  to  districts  which  do 
not  organize  on  an  efficient  basis. 

3.  That  local  boards  quickly  assess  their  school  building  needs,  give  the  in¬ 
formation  to  chief  State  school  officers,  who  in  turn  can  relay  it  to  the  Office 
of  Education;  That  State  and  local  communities  do  all  they  can  to  construct 
new  buildings  and  that  where  necessity  is  shown  to  exist,  Federal  funds  be  used 
in  such  emergencies  as  the  present. 

4.  That  greater  inducement  be  offered  to  attract  and  retain  good  teachers  and 
that,  while  the  shortage  exists,  greater  effort  be  made  to  use  teacher  services 
more  efficiently. 

5.  That  a  new  look  be  taken  at  the  question  of  how  much  money  the  Nation 
should  spend  on  education.  (A  doubling  of  present  expenditure  during  the  next 
decade  would  be  an  accurate  reflection  of  the  importance  of  education  to  society. 
Funds  must  come  from  all  levels  of  government.  Good  schools  are  admittedly 
expensive,  but  not  nearly  so  expensive  in  the  long  run  as  poor  ones.) 

6.  That  every  possible  step  be  taken  to  encourage  the  interest  and  activity  of 
citizens  in  school  affairs. 

7.  That  a  White  House  Conference  on  higher  education  similar  to  the  one  on 
elementary  and  secondary  education  be  held  promptly. 

CONFERENCE  REPORT 

Part  2  of  the  report  to  the  President — the  official  report  on  the  White 
House  Conference — presents  the  six  summary  conclusions  reached  by 
the  discussion  groups  on  the  six  questions  participants  had  been  asked 
to  consider.  A  few  significant  conclusions  are  quoted  below. 

What  Should  Our  Schools  Accomplish? 

It  is  the  consensus  of  these  groups  that  the  schools  should  continue  to 
develop : 

1.  The  fundamental  skills  of  communication — reading,  writing,  spelling 
as  well  as  other  elements  of  effective  oral  and  written  expression;  the 
arithmetical  and  mathematical  skills,  including  problem  solving.  While 
schools  are  doing  the  best  job  in  their  history  in  teaching  these  skills, 
continuous  improvement  is  desirable  and  necessary. 

New  Challenges  in  Education 

Consideration  must  be  given  to  the  need  for  continuing  growth  and 
development  in  education  at  all  levels  in  amount  and  scope,  to  keep  up 
with  the  economic,  social,  and  moral  implications  resulting  from  the  ad¬ 
vances  in  technology  and  science. 

What  Are  Our  School  Building  Needs? 

It  appears  that  under  present  plans  only  2  or  3  States  have  been  quoted 
as  stating  that  they  can  meet  their  building  needs  for  the  next  5  years. 

We  have  taken  the  question  exactly  as  stated.  Under  the  present  plans 
and  time  limitations  stipulated,  it  seems  to  be  virtually  impossible  for 
most  of  the  States  to  meet  school  building  needs. 


Office  of  Education 


163 


The  general  consensus  was  this:  No  State  represented  has  a  demon¬ 
strated  financial  incapacity  to  build  the  schools  it  will  need  during  the 
next  5  years.  But,  with  the  exception  of  a  few  States,  none  of  the  States 
presently  has  plans  which  indicate  a  political  determination  powerful 
enough  to  overcome  all  of  the  obstacles. 

Some  Territories  and  a  few  States  may  need  outside  financial  assistance. 

Hotv  Can  We  Get  Enough  Good  Teachers — And  Keep  Them? 

We  believe  that,  to  increase  the  supply  of  good  teachers  from  any  source, 
three  basic  considerations  must  be  kept  in  mind : 

1.  The  prestige  and  status  of  teaching  must  be  comparable  to  other 
professions  within  the  community. 

2.  The  salary  structure  must  be  high  enough  and  flexible  enough  to  com¬ 
pete  effectively  with  other  fields  bidding  for  quality  manpower. 

3.  The  teacher’s  job  must  be  so  defined  as  to  challenge  and  attract  the 
interest  of  talented  people. 

Hoxc  Can  We  Finance  Our  Schools — Build  and  Operate  Them? 

The  participants  approved  by  a  ratio  of  more  than  2  to  1  the  proposition 
that  the  Federal  Government  should  increase  its  financial  participation 
in  public  education.  Of  those  favoring  such  increase,  the  overwhelming 
majority  approved  an  increase  in  Federal  funds  for  school  building  con¬ 
struction.  On  the  issue  of  Federal  funds  to  the  States  for  local  school 
operation,  the  participants  divided  almost  evenly.  A  very  small  minority 
was  opposed  to  Federal  aid  for  education  in  any  form. 

Hoiv  Can  We  Obtain  a  Continuing  Public  Interest  in  Education  ? 

We  agreed  that  the  energy,  intellectual  effort,  and  investment  of  money 
on  the  White  House  Conference  on  Education  will  be  futile  unless  specific 
and  positive  actions  are  undertaken  at  the  local,  county,  State,  and 
National  levels  to  meet  the  existing  crisis  in  education  and  plan  for  future 
needs. 

Five  of  the  six  conference  reports  commented  on  the  role  of  the 
Office  of  Education  in  the  current  effort  to  improve  the  Nation’s 
schools.  Among  the  recommendations  on  the  Office  were  the  follow¬ 
ing  :  That  the  Office  be  further  strengthened  to  perform  the  functions 
it  is  now  performing  in  making  reports,  in  carrying  on  research,  and  in 
providing  promptly  statistical  information  needed;  that  the  Office 
make  a  study  of  certification  standards  and  establish  a  basis  for  re¬ 
ciprocity  in  certification  among  the  States. 

The  official  report  also  recommended  that  a  White  House  Conference 
on  Education  be  held  periodically  at  national,  State,  and  local  levels. 

STATE  AND  TERRITORIAL  SUMMARIES 

Part  3  of  the  report,  a  summary  of  State  and  Territorial  reports, 
made  a  number  of  recommendations  and  suggestions  on  the  Office  and 
Office  activities.  Among  them  were  the  following:  That  the  Office 
increase  its  staff  in  adult  education;  disseminate  its  findings  more 


164 


Department  of  Health ,  Education ,  and  Welfare,  1956 


widely ;  and  expand  its  services  to  include  regular  communications  on 
research  in  school  building  construction. 

FOLLOWUP 

Many  States  and  national  organizations  are  following  up  the  White 
House  Conferences  in  a  variety  of  ways.  Missouri  is  planning  6 
followup  conferences;  Oregon  has  held  32  followup  meetings;  and 
other  States  have  organized  planning  committees.  National  Organ¬ 
izations  are  working  on  topics  of  the  White  House  Conference,  teacher 
recruitment,  school  financing,  organization  of  citizen  committees,  and 
others. 

In  the  Office  of  Education  an  Advisory  Committee  of  National 
Organizations  composed  of  lay  and  educational  organizations  advises 
and  makes  recommendations  to  the  Commissioner  and  his  staff  “to 
promote  the  cause  of  education  throughout  the  country.”  It  also  ad¬ 
vises  on  Conference  followup  work. 

The  Report  of  the  'White  House  Conference  Committee  is  available 
from  the  Superintendent  of  Documents,  U.  S.  Government  Printing 
Office,  Washington  25,  D.  C. 

President’s  Conference  on  Fitness  of  American  Youth 

Becatise  of  his  concern  that  we  “do  more  than  we  are  now  doing 
to  help  our  young  people  become  physically  fit  and  therefore  better 
qualified,  in  all  respects,  to  face  the  requirements  of  modern  life,” 
President  Eisenhower  called  a  Conference  on  Fitness  of  American 
Youth.  This  conference  was  held  at  the  U.  S.  Naval  Academy,  An¬ 
napolis,  Md.,  on  June  18-19,  1956.  The  Office  of  Education  assisted 
the  White  House  and  Vice  President  Richard  M.  Nixon,  who  served 
as  conference  chairman,  in  the  planning,  conduct,  and  followup  of  this 
important  meeting. 

The  150  participants  included  representatives  of  local,  State,  and 
Federal  Governments;  professional  education,  health,  medical,  and 
recreation  organizations;  child  and  youth-serving  agencies;  civic 
groups ;  the  motion  picture  industry ;  radio  and  television  networks ; 
amateur  and  professional  athletics  and  sports;  and  newspaper  and 
magazine  editors  and  publishers ;  sportscasters  and  sportswriters. 

The  conference  discussion  resulted  in  a  number  of  important  find¬ 
ings  and  recommendations.  Among  these  were  the  following : 

1.  A  fitness  program  should  provide  for  development  of  the  total 
person — physical,  spiritual,  mental,  emotional,  social,  cultural — and 
should  recognize  the  interrelationship  of  all  personality  factors. 

2.  Research  is  needed  to  determine  the  full  nature  and  dimensions 
of  the  youth  fitness  problem  and  to  supply  the  facts  essential  in  formu¬ 
lating  new  policies,  plans,  and  programs,  and  in  improving  old  ones. 


Office  of  Education 


165 


3.  Schools,  community  recreation  agencies,  youth  organizations,  and 
other  groups  should  take  steps  to  expand  and  improve  programs  of 
health,  physical  education,  recreation,  sports,  and  other  aspects  of 
youth  fitness  by  providing  necessary  leadership,  programs,  and  fa¬ 
cilities  to  meet  the  needs  of  all  the  Nation’s  boys  and  girls. 

4.  Within  the  community,  and  on  regional,  State,  and  national  levels 
as  well,  full  coordination  and  cooperation  among  public  and  private 
agencies  and  organizations  and  interested  citizens  are  needed  to  insure 
wise  planning  and  efficient  use  of  fitness  resources. 

5.  Although  a  regimented  national  youth  program  is  to  be  avoided, 
a  nlimber  of  Federal  agencies  do  provide  appropriate  services  relating 
to  youth  fitness.  Therefore,  the  President  should  provide  for  exten¬ 
sion  and  improved  coordination  of  Federal  services  and  should  estab¬ 
lish  a  citizens’  advisory  group  to  lend  assistance  toward  this  end. 

In  response  to  the  last  recommendation,  President  Eisenhower, 
through  an  Executive  order  issued  on  July  16,  1956,  established  a 
President’s  Council  on  Youth  Fitness  and  a  President’s  Citizens’  Ad¬ 
visory  Committee  on  the  Fitness  of  American  Youth.  The  council 
is  composed  of  the  Vice  President  of  the  United  States,  who  serves  as 
chairman,  and  the  heads  of  departments  that  are  concerned  with  the 
activities  of  young  people — the  Departments  of  Health,  Education, 
and  Welfare;  Agriculture;  Interior;  Justice;  and  Labor.  The  crea¬ 
tion  of  a  council  at  cabinet  level  should  provide  for  better  coordina¬ 
tion  of  the  activities  of  some  30  Federal  agencies  that  touch  the  lives 
of  children  and  should  stimulate  and  improve  existing  programs. 

The  Citizens  Advisory  Committee  will  be  appointed  because  the 
conference  recommended  and  the  President  agreed  that  the  American 
people  need  to  be  made  freshly  aware  of  the  importance  of  physical 
and  other  recreational  activity.  The  President  points  out  the  need  for 
a  comprehensive  study  and  reevaluation  of  all  government  and  non¬ 
government  activities  relating  to  the  fitness  of  American  youth. 

Through  the  work  of  the  council  and  the  committee,  American 
citizens  in  general  should  benefit  from  the  findings  and  recom¬ 
mendations. 

The  Office  of  Education  will  cooperate  with  the  council  and  the 
committee. 

The  Report  to  the  President  of  the  U.  S.  on  the  Annapolis  Con¬ 
ference  is  available  in  booklet  form  from  the  Superintendent  of  Docu¬ 
ments,  U.  S.  Government  Printing  Office. 

President’s  Committee  on  Education  Beyond  the 
High  School 

In  his  special  message  to  the  Congress  on  January  12,  1956,  Presi¬ 
dent  Eisenhower  expressed  concern  about  the  growing  problems  in 


166 


Department  of  Health ,  Education,  and  Welfare,  1956 


the  field  of  education  beyond  the  high  school  and  his  belief  that  imme¬ 
diate  action  on  the  problem  was  needed.  He  said : 

Shortages  now  exist  in  medicine,  teaching,  nursing,  science,  engineering, 
and  in  other  fields  of  knowledge  which  require  education  beyond  the 
level  of  the  secondary  school.  Changing  times  and  conditions  create  new 
opportunities  and  challenges.  There  are  now  possibilities  for  older  per¬ 
sons,  properly  trained,  to  lead  more  productive  and  rewarding  lives.  The 
tide  of  increasing  school  enrollment  will  soon  reach  higher  educational 
institutions.  Within  10  years  we  may  expect  3  students  in  our  colleges 
and  universities  for  every  2  who  are  there  now. 

Higher  education  is  and  must  remain  the  responsibility  of  the  States, 
localities  and  private  groups  and  institutions.  But  to  lay  before  us  all 
the  problems  of  education  beyond  high  school,  and  to  encourage  active 
and  systematic  attack  on  them,  I  shall  appoint  a  distinguished  group  of 
educators  and  citizens  to  develop  this  year,  through  studies  and  confer¬ 
ences,  proposals  in  this  educational  field.  Through  the  leadership  and 
counsel  of  this  group,  beneficial  results  can  be  expected  to  flow  to  educa¬ 
tion  and  to  the  Nation,  in  the  years  ahead. 

Tlie  President’s  concern  for  this  area  of  education  was  shared  by 
the  Committee  for  the  White  House  Conference  on  Education  and  by 
interested  citizens  generally. 

In  April  1956,  President  Eisenhower  appointed  a  committee  of 
33  prominent  lay  leaders  and  educators  to  undertake  a  large-scale 
study  of  post  high  school  education. 

At  the  first  meeting  the  committee  agreed  on  basic  objectives :  First, 
to  collect,  assemble,  and  disseminate  information  for  the  purpose 
of  increasing  public  awareness  of  the  problems  which  lie  ahead  in 
the  field  of  education  beyond  the  high  school;  second,  to  encourage 
the  planning  and  action  that  should  be  undertaken  by  institutions  and 
groups  of  institutions,  locally  and  nationally,  publicly  and  privately, 
to  meet  the  impending  demands ;  and  third,  to  advise  the  President  on 
the  proper  role  of  the  Federal  Government  in  this  field. 

In  considering  these  objectives  at  its  first  and  second  meetings,  the 
committee  discussed  a  wide  range  of  problems  on  which  facts  were 
needed  and  on  which  planning  and  action  should  be  forthcoming. 
For  example,  the  following  questions  presented  themselves : 

What  aims  should  guide  the  provision  of  education  beyond  the  high 
school  ?  What  should  be  done  to  supply  the  quantity  and  quality  of 
persons  for  science,  industry,  government,  and  education?  to  meet 
other  educational  needs  of  persons  with  a  wide  range  of  abilities  and 
interests  before,  during,  and  after  their  work  careers?  to  staff  the 
schools  and  colleges  with  qualified  teachers?  How  can  physical 
facilities — classrooms,  laboratories,  libraries,  dormitories — be  pro¬ 
vided  for  the  5  to  7  million  students  who  will  be  ready  for  college  by 
1970  ?  What  will  be  the  annual  cost  of  educating,  or  of  failing  to  edu¬ 
cate,  the  number  of  persons  necessary  to  serve  the  vocational  and  other 


Office  of  Education 


167 


needs  of  an  increasing  population  ?  What  adjustments  may  be  needed 
in  existing  institutions  ?  What,  if  any,  changes  in  the  role  of  the  Fed¬ 
eral  Government  in  this  field  should  be  made  ?  What  implications  are 
there  for  higher  education  in  the  international  and  defense  activities 
of  the  United  States? 

The  committee  has  reached  general  agreement  upon  the  most  effec¬ 
tive  method  of  working. 

The  President’s  committee,  assisted  by  a  small  staff  and  by  con¬ 
sultants,  will  collect,  compile,  and  organize  statistics  and  other  infor¬ 
mation  needed  to  shed  light  upon  the  true  dimensions  of  the  problem 
areas  mentioned  above,  and  will  publish  a  series  of  reports.  States 
will  be  asked  to  organize  State  committees,  made  up  of  educators  and 
lay  leaders  to  study  the  State  conditions  and  stimulate  interest  and 
action  at  the  institutional,  local,  and  State  levels.  During  the  spring 
of  1957  the  President’s  committee  will  sponsor  a  series  of  perhaps  five 
regional  conferences  to  emphasize  current  problems  and  to  assist  the 
States  in  framing  the  basic  issues  for  consideration  at  the  local  and 
State  levels. 

States  will  then  develop  their  own  studies,  and  conferences  will  be 
held  to  clarify  and  crystallize  public  views  on  such  questions  as  those 
suggested  above,  and  to  encourage  institutional,  local,  and  State  activ¬ 
ity  to  accomplish  agreed-upon  objectives. 

During  this  process  the  President’s  committee  will  have  a  good 
opportunity  to  decide  whether  it  should  call  a  national  meeting.  If 
such  a  conference  is  held  its  purpose  will  be  to  have  representative 
Americans,  well  grounded  by  their  State  and  regional  studies,  gather 
to  discuss  these  problems  from  a  national  perspective  and  to  advise  the 
President’s  Committee  on  pertinent  matters. 

Legislation 

Fiscal  year  1956  was  a  period  of  increased  legislative  activity.  Al¬ 
though  the  number  of  public  laws  enacted  by  the  United  States  Con¬ 
gress  affecting  education  was  relatively  small,  the  scope  and  variety  of 
education  bills  introduced  and  considered  indicate  a  growing  concern 
with  the  Nation’s  educational  system.  Some  of  the  bills  introduced 
proposed  scholarships  and  fellowships,  veterans’  educational  benefits, 
loans  for  college  housing,  assistance  for  medical  school  construction, 
graduate  and  undergraduate  traineeships,  tax  deductions  or  exemp¬ 
tions  for  tuition  payments,  international  exchanges  of  students,  gen¬ 
eral  aid  for  school  construction,  aid  for  federally  affected  areas,  nurse 
training,  and  fine  arts. 

The  area  of  greatest  activity  consisted  of  proposals  for  general 
Federal  aid  to  school  construction.  During  the  84th  Congress  the  Ad¬ 
ministration’s  legislative  program  included  recommendations  for  the 
enactment  of  such  legislation,  and  the  President,  on  February  8, 1955, 


430681—57 


-2 


168 


Department  of  Health ,  Education ,  and  Welfare,  1956 


and  again  on  January  12, 1956,  submitted  to  the  Congress  special  mes¬ 
sages  on  this  subject.  A  general  school  construction  aid  bill  was  re¬ 
ported  to  the  House  of  Representatives  in  1956  and  debated,  but  failed 
to  pass. 

Among  the  measures  enacted  by  the  Congress  during  1956,  6  are  of 
direct  interest  to  education :  Public  Laws  204,  221,  345,  382,  597,  and 
634. 

Public  Law  345,  approved  August  11,  1955,  amends  Title  IV  of  the 
Housing  Act  of  1950  by  increasing  the  amount  of  college  housing  loans 
that  may  be  outstanding  at  any  one  time,  from  $300  million  to  $500 
million.  It  also  expands  the  program  to  permit  loans  on  additional 
types  of  self -liquidating  education  facilities  (dining  halls,  student 
centers,  infirmaries,  etc.),  provides  for  a  decreased  interest  rate  for 
borrowers,  and  lengthens  the  maximum  maturity  on  loans  from  40  to 
50  years.  The  added  funds  will  help  colleges  build  to  meet  expanded 
enrollments. 

Several  amendments  to  legislation  providing  assistance  for  schools 
in  federally  affected  areas  (Public  Laws  815  and  874,  as  amended) 
were  enacted  during  the  year. 

Public  Law  204,  approved  August  1,  1955,  which  amends  Public 
Law  874,  provides  for  the  continued  operation  of  a  limited  number  of 
schools  on  military  installations.  Under  the  amendment  the  responsi¬ 
bility  for  determining  whether  the  free  public  educational  facilities 
available  to  children  residing  on  military  installations  are  “suitable,” 
within  the  meaning  of  Public  Law  874,  will  be  exercised  jointly  by  the 
Commissioner  of  Education  and  the  Secretary  of  the  military  depart¬ 
ment  concerned,  after  consultation  with  the  appropriate  State  school 
agency. 

Public  Law  221,  makes  Oak  Ridge,  Tenn.,  and  Richland,  Wash., 
atomic  energy  installations,  eligible  for  payment  under  the  provisions 
of  Public  Law  874. 

Public  Law  382  amends  Public  Laws  874  and  815,  as  amended,  by 
extending  for  1  additional  year  assistance  to  local  agencies  in  areas 
affected  by  Federal  activities;  liberalizes  the  formula  for  calculating 
payments ;  postpones  for  1  more  year  the  3-percent  absorption  require¬ 
ment  ;  provides  for  the  transfer  of  title  to  certain  federally  constructed 
school  facilities  to  local  educational  agencies  and  improves  the  admin¬ 
istrative  machinery  for  certain  “unhoused”  and  Indian  children. 

Public  Law  597  approved  June  19,  1956,  established  a  5-year,  Fed¬ 
eral  grant-in-aid  program  to  the  States  to  assist  in  extending  public 
library  services  to  rural  areas.  The  act  authorizes  Federal  appropria¬ 
tions  of  $7 y2  million  annually  for  the  fiscal  year  1957  and  each  of  the 
next  4  fiscal  years  for  payments  to  States  whose  plans  for  the  further 
extension  of  public  library  services  to  rural  areas  without  such  services, 


Office  of  Education 


169 


or  with  inadequate  services,  have  been  approved  by  the  Commissioner 
of  Education. 

The  act  provides  for  a  minimum  allotment  of  $40,000  annually  to 
each  of  the  States  ($10,000  to  the  Virgin  Islands)  plus  an  allotment 
from  the  remainder  of  the  appropriation  based  upon  each  State’s  rural 
population  in  relation  to  the  rural  population  of  the  United  States  as 
a  whole.  The  allotment  for  each  State  must  be  matched  by  the  State 
on  the  basis  of  a  formula  which  takes  into  account  the  relative  financial 
ability  of  the  States. 

Public  Law  634,  approved  June  29,  1956,  establishes  an  educational 
assistance  program  for  children  of  servicemen  who  died  as  a  result  of 
a  disability  or  disease  incurred  in  line  of  duty  during  World  Wars  I 
and  II  or  the  Korean  conflict.  Approximately  156,000  war  orphans, 
average  present  age  10  to  14  years,  will  be  entitled  to  36  months  of 
education  and  training  under  the  act. 

During  the  year  the  Office  of  Education  further  developed  its  serv¬ 
ices  in  the  field  of  school  law,  particularly  by  providing  information 
on  State  legislation  to  educators  and  laymen  who  are  working  to  im¬ 
prove  the  nation’s  school  system. 

Progress  and  Problems 

President  Eisenhower  in  his  special  education  message  to  the  Con¬ 
gress,  January  12, 1956,  said : 

Signs  of  heartening  progress  have  come  to  light.  Among  these  are 
classroom  construction  at  a  higher  rate  than  ever  before;  teachers’  sal¬ 
aries  increased  in  many  communities ;  the  number  of  small,  uneconomical 
school  districts  reduced ;  substantially  more  young  people  preparing  for 
the  teaching  profession ;  private  gifts  to  higher  education  at  new  heights ; 
support  of  education  at  all  levels  greater  than  ever  before. 

Encouraging  as  these  advances  are,  they  are  not  enough  to  meet  our 
expanding  educational  needs.  Action  on  a  broader  scale  and  at  a  more 
rapid  rate  is  clearly  imperative. 

We  still  do  not  have  enough  good  classrooms  for  our  children.  There 
is  insufficient  emphasis  on  both  short-range  and  long-term  research  into 
the  core  of  educational  problems.  We  need  examination  and  study,  from 
a  broad  viewpoint,  of  the  increasing  needs  of  higher  education.  These 
lacks  are  magnified  by  an  ever-increasing  stream  of  student  enrollment 
and  the  increasing  complexity  of  modern  society. 

In  his  message  the  President  called  for  action  on  some  of  the  most 
pressing  problems  in  education :  Federal  aid  to  relieve  the  classroom 
shortage,  a  vigorous  program  of  educational  research  to  be  conducted 
by  the  Office  of  Education,  State  and  local  attention  to  the  need  for 
good  teachers,  and  for  a  commission  study  of  education  beyond  the 
high  school. 


170 


Department  of  Health ,  Education,  and  Welfare,  1956 


ENROLLMENT 

A  few  figures  will  indicate  the  size  of  some  of  these  problems. 
Total  enrollment  in  public  and  nonpublic  schools,  including  higher 
institutions,  in  1955-56  was  estimated  by  the  Office  of  Education  at 
39,798,700,  an  increase  of  1,670,200  over  1954-55.  (See  table  1.) 
Total  estimated  population  in  the  United  States  was  165,271,000  at  the 
beginning  of  fiscal  year  1956.  Total  estimated  enrollments  therefore 
represented  24.1  percent  of  total  population. 

The  estimated  enrollment  in  elementary  and  secondary  schools  was 
1,101,300  higher  than  the  total  in  1954-55,  an  increase  of  3.1  percent. 
Elementary  schools  enrolled  an  estimated  776,200  more  pupils  in 
1955-56,  an  increase  of  2.8  percent  over  1954-55,  and  secondary  schools 
an  estimated  325,100  more,  an  increase  of  4.4  percent. 

A  total  of  2,996,000  students  enrolled  in  colleges  and  universities,  the 
largest  in  our  history  and  the  fourth  year  of  consecutive  increases, 
with  each  of  the  last  2  years  adding  about  one-fourth  of  a  million 
students.  This  increase  was  the  result  of  larger  high  school  gradu¬ 
ating  classes  and  a  larger  percentage  of  students  going  on  to  college. 

TEACHER  SHORTAGE 

The  teacher  shortage  continued.  When  schools  opened  in  the  fall 
of  1955,  they  faced  a  shortage  of  141,300  qualified  elementary  and  sec¬ 
ondary  teachers.  (See  table  2.)  The  shortage  had  to  be  met  by 
additional  emergency  teachers,  by  the  reentrance  of  former  teachers 
into  the  profession,  and  by  further  overcrowding  of  the  classrooms. 
In  the  computation  of  the  total  shortage  the  additional  teachers  needed 
to  reduce  the  present  overcrowding  or  to  enrich  the  curriculum  were 
not  taken  into  account. 

CLASSROOMS 

A  record  62,600  classrooms  and  related  facilities  for  elementary 
and  secondary  schools  were  constructed  during  the  1955-56  school  year 
at  an  estimated  cost  of  $2.4  billion.  Even  with  this  large  construction 
total,  the  gap  between  the  number  needed  and  the  number  of  class¬ 
rooms  available  remains  wide. 

MIGRANT  CHILDREN 

The  Office  continued  its  efforts  to  improve  the  educational  oppor¬ 
tunities  of  children  of  agricultural  migrant  laborers,  estimated  at 
600,000  children  in  the  United  States  in  1956.  During  the  year  Office 
staff  members  worked  with  two  interagency  groups  devoted  to  the 
problem:  The  subcommittee  of  the  President’s  Interdepartmental 
Committee  on  Children  and  Youth  (now  the  Subcommittee  on  Chil¬ 
dren  of  Agricultural  Migrants)  and  the  Committee  on  Migratory 
Labor.  The  Office  also  periodically  distributes  packets  of  materials 


Office  of  Education 


171 


on  the  education  of  migrants,  inventories  of  State  and  Federal  re¬ 
sources,  and  analyses  of  problems. 

SCHOOL  DROPOUT  PROBLEM 

The  dropout  problem  continued  to  be  serious.  Of  the  4%  million 
16-to-l7-year-olds  in  this  country,  over  a  million  were  not  in  school, 
and  of  these  only  a  few  more  than  half  were  employed.  Some  progress 
has  been  made,  however,  according  to  Office  studies.  A  larger  per¬ 
centage  of  high  school  youth  (age  14  to  17  years)  in  public  and  private 
schools  is  enrolling  in  high  school — 85  percent  enrolled  in  grades  9  to 
12  in  the  fall  of  1955,  as  compared  with  62  percent  10  years  ago,  and  a 
larger  percentage  of  those  who  enter  is  staying  to  graduate,  63  percent 
in  1954  as  compared  with  47  percent  10  years  ago.  The  Office,  in  coop¬ 
eration  with  the  Department  of  Labor,  conducted  a  Back-to-School 
Campaign  during  the  summer  of  1956. 

MANPOWER  SHORTAGE 

Few  developments  in  recent  years  have  had  such  vast  implications 
for  American  education  as  the  growing  public  concern  over  existing 
shortages  of  technically  trained  manpower.  Public  concern,  inten¬ 
sified  by  reports  that  the  U.  S.  S.  R.  was  producing  increasing  numbers 
of  scientists  and  engineers,  stimulated  interest  in  scientific  and  tech¬ 
nical  training  programs  in  U.  S.  colleges  and  universities. 

Central  to  any  consideration  of  this  manpower  problem  is  education, 
and  the  chief  factor  in  the  expansion  of  trained  manpower  is  the 
capacity  for  training — the  facilities  for  education,  the  need  to  improve 
teacher  qualifications,  curriculums,  methods  of  instruction,  facilities, 
and  equipment,  all  are  part  of  the  problem.  For  this  reason  the 
responsibility  falls  on  education  to  consider  the  needs  created  by 
technical  and  scientific  advances.  The  Office  of  Education  worked 
closely  with  the  National  Science  Foundation,  scientific  organizations, 
Federal  defense  agencies,  professional  education  and  teacher-pre¬ 
paring  organizations  to  coordinate  efforts  to  increase  the  supply  and 
improve  the  quality  of  trained  scientists,  engineers,  and  teachers  in 
these  fields. 

SIGNS  OF  PROGRESS 

There  were  other  signs  of  progress  in  education,  among  them  the 
following:  More  than  9  million  pupils,  or  31  percent  of  the  total, 
were  transported  to  and  from  school  daily.  Expenditure  per  pupil  in 
average  daily  attendance  increased  from  $351  in  1953-54  to  $380  in 
1955-56.  The  movement  toward  teaching  foreign  language  in  elemen¬ 
tary  schools  gained  momentum ;  15  years  ago  fewer  than  15,000  pupils 
were  getting  foreign  language  instruction  in  elementary  schools,  but 
in  the  school  year  1955-56,  nearly  300,000  wene.  There  was  increasing 


172 


Department  of  Health ,  Education,  and  Welfare ,  1956 


cooperation  between  local  schools  and  State  departments  of  education 
and  between  State  departments  and  the  Office  of  Education. 

At  every  level  plans  were  being  made.  In  the  Office  of  Education 
plans  provided  for  a  broader  program  of  research  and  for  expanded 
service  to  education. 

The  Office  of  Education  has  made  an  effort  to  improve  these  phases 
of  education  all  along  the  line.  Specialists  in  science  and  mathematics 
have  made  a  number  of  research  studies,  written  reports  of  their  find¬ 
ings,  and  served  in  consultive  and  representative  capacities  with 
professional  associations  and  groups  to  improve  the  status  of  education 
in  these  fields.  During  the  year  the  Commissioner  organized  an 
informal  Office  task  force  to  keep  abreast  of  rapid  developments  in  the 
scientific  manpower  field  and  to  publicize  these  developments  in  the 
interest  of  better  coordination  of  all  activities  related  to  the  field. 
Office  specialists  organized  and  disseminated  data  on  educational  de¬ 
velopments  pertaining  to  the  shortage  and  with  possible  solutions. 
Continuing  studies  were  made  of  earned  degrees  and  offerings  and 
enrollments  in  science  and  engineering. 

Three  Office  specialists  worked  with  the  National  Committee  on 
the  Development  of  Scientists  and  Engineers  on  methods  and  pro¬ 
cedures  of  improving  mathematics  and  science  education  in  elementary 
and  secondary  schools. 

Through  its  periodicals,  School  Life  and  Higher  Education,  the 
Office  made  information  available  on  scholarships  and  grants  offered 
for  science  study  and  digests  of  studies. 

Research 

Authoritative  information  is  being  sought  about  education  at  every 
level.  Federal  agencies,  national  associations  in  commerce,  industry, 
and  the  professions,  State  departments  of  education,  and  local  groups — 
all  are  demanding  more  facts.  Probably  at  no  time  in  history  has 
there  been  greater  need  for  factual  information  on  education  nor  a 
greater  audience  for  it  than  in  the  last  few  years. 

In  his  special  education  message  to  the  Congress  the  President 
said:  “Basic  to  all  endeavors  in  improving  education  is  a  vigorous 
and  farsighted  program  of  educational  research.” 

In  1956  the  Office  of  Education  took  major  forward  steps  to  provide 
an  expanded  and  strengthened  research  program.  Under  the  ex¬ 
panded  program  Office  research  is  conducted  under  cooperative  agree¬ 
ments  with  agencies  outside  the  Federal  Government,  by  the  Office 
Research  and  Statistical  Services,  and  by  Office  specialists.  Although 
the  cooperative  phase  of  the  program  was  emphasized  in  1956,  each 
phase  of  the  program  is  important,  each  phase  supplements  the  other, 


Office  of  Education 


173 


and  each  contributes  to  the  strength  of  the  overall  program.  The 

[intent  and  scope  of  the  program  were  indicated  by  Secretary  Folsom 
in  October  1955.  He  said : 

In  the  educational  field,  as  we  have  already  seen  in  health,  one  of  the 
most  basic  needs  is  more  research.  We  are  working  now  on  plans  for  an 
expanded  program  of  educational  research,  which  we  hope  to  submit  to  the 
next  Congress.  The  purpose  is  to  help  our  Office  of  Education  render  a 
still  more  significant  and  effective  service  in  leading  the  way  for  better 
education  of  all  our  children.  We  plan  to  study  such  specific  problems  as 
educating  the  retarded  child,  so  he  can  lead  a  normal  productive  life.  We 
also  plan  more  research  into  the  problems  of  educating  the  child  with 
special  abilities,  so  the  Nation  may  utilize  these  abilities  more  fully.  We 
plan  research  into  the  chronic  problems  of  school  housing,  teacher  staffing, 
and  school  financing.  We  hope  to  bring  some  light  to  unanswered  ques¬ 
tions  that  have  handicapped  our  educational  program  for  many  years.  In 
a  related  field,  we  hope  to  make  vast  improvements  in  our  educational 
statistics,  so  we  may  specify  more  definitely  just  what  and  where  our 
problems  are  and  what  needs  to  be  done  about  them. 

Some  of  the  plans  described  by  Secretary  Folsom  were  put  into  op¬ 
eration  in  1956.  Details  on  the  recently  developed  and  the  continuing 
programs  are  reported  in  the  following  sections  of  this  chapter. 

COOPERATIVE  RESEARCH  PROGRAM 

The  Office  of  Education  operates  three  types  of  research  programs : 
(1)  Research  studies  conducted  by  Office  of  Education  specialists, 
(2)  statistical  studies  conducted  by  the  Research  and  Statistical  Serv¬ 
ices  Branch,  and  (3)  cooperative  research  with  colleges,  universities, 
and  State  educational  agencies.  All  three  programs  are  important, 
but  cooperative  research  is  the  newest  and  is  therefore  given  the  most 
attention  in  this  report. 

Under  Public  Law  531,  83d  Congress,  the  Commissioner  of  Educa¬ 
tion  is  authorized  to  “enter  into  contracts  or  jointly  financed  coopera¬ 
tive  arrangements  with  universities  and  colleges  and  State  educational 
agencies  for  the  conduct  of  research,  surveys,  and  demonstrations  in 
the  field  of  education.”  As  a  first  step  in  initiating  a  research  program 
under  this  law,  the  Commissioner  asked  specialists  on  the  Office  staff 
to  identify  a  number  of  the  most  pressing  problems  in  education. 
Then,  with  the  advice  of  several  leaders  in  education  and  research  who 
served  the  Office  as  consultants,  these  problems  were  reviewed  and 
ten  of  them  were  selected  as  particularly  appropriate  for  concentration 
of  efforts  in  the  beginning  phases  of  this  program. 

In  developing  the  program  the  Office  had  the  advice  of  an  ad  hoc 
committee  of  five  outstanding  research  specialists  in  the  field  of  edu¬ 
cation.  Later  the  Commissioner  appointed  a  permanent,  nine-member 
committee  which  included  the  five  members  of  the  ad  hoc  committee 
and  research  specialists  representing  the  social  sciences,  medicine,  and 
the  physical  sciences. 


174 


Department  of  Health ,  Education ,  and  Welfare,  1956 


The  program  emphasizes  three  broad  areas  of  interest — the  con¬ 
servation  and  development  of  human  resources,  the  staffing  and  housing 
of  our  Nation’s  schools,  and  the  educational  implications  of  our 
expanding  technology  and  economy.  In  the  human  resources  area 
there  are  included  such  problems  as  the  education  of  the  mentally 
retarded,  the  development  of  special  abilities  of  students,  the  educa¬ 
tional  aspects  of  juvenile  delinquency,  and  the  retention  and  continu¬ 
ation  of  students.  In  the  second  area  attention  is  focused  on  the 
problems  of  staffing  the  Nation’s  schools  and  colleges  and  the  planning 
and  costs  of  school  construction,  with  special  emphasis  on  institutions 
of  higher  education.  In  the  third  area  there  are  such  problems  as  the 
implications  of  expanding  technology  for  vocational  education,  the 
educational  problems  resulting  from  population  mobility,  the  educa¬ 
tional  needs  of  low-income,  rural  families,  and  the  educational  uses  of 
television. 

A  general  proposal  for  an  attack  through  research  was  prepared 
on  each  of  these  ten  problems.  The  proposals  were  reviewed  by  the 
ad  hoc  research  advisory  committee  and  by  outstanding  specialists 
in  certain  areas  who  served  the  Office  as  consultants. 

Because  of  current  public  concern  with  the  education  of  mentally 
retarded  children,  a  special  staff  was  set  up  to  plan  for  research  in 
this  area  and  an  ad  hoc  advisory  committee  on  the  education  of  the 
mentally  retarded  was  appointed.  With  the  advice  and  guidance  of 
the  committee,  the  Office  prepared  an  extensive  statement  on  the  major 
research  needs  in  this  area  and  the  facilities  in  institutions  of  higher 
education  and  in  the  State  educational  agencies  which  may  be  suitable 
and  available  for  research. 

The  research  advisory  committee  established  the  following  criteria 
to  be  used  in  selecting  proposals  suitable  for  support  by  the  Office: 
A  project  should  (1)  promise  to  have  a  value  within  a  reasonable 
time,  (2)  attack  a  problem  in  which  progress  has  been  delayed  by 
wide  gaps  in  knowledge,  (3)  have  significance  for  the  country  as  a 
whole,  and  (4)  give  preference  to  new  projects  or  to  those  in  which 
duplication  would  be  desirable  as  a  scientific  check  on  earlier  conclu¬ 
sions.  In  recommending  projects  to  be  carried  out  in  the  cooperative 
research  program,  the  committee  will  also  consider  (1)  the  competence 
of  the  person  who  will  direct  the  project,  (2)  the  research  resources 
of  the  institution  or  State  department  of  education  under  whose  aegis 
it  will  be  directed,  (3)  the  scientific  merit  of  the  project,  (4)  the  extent 
to  which  the  project  will  help  to  develop  research  personnel,  and 
(5)  the  need  for  research  in  the  area  proposed  in  terms  of  the  total 
educational  research  picture. 

Development  of  this  program  was  a  major  activity  of  the  Office 
during  the  year.  By  the  end  of  June  the  Office  had  received  70  pre- 


Office  of  Education 


175 


Iliminary  proposals  for  research,  and  the  number  seemed  likely  to  in¬ 
crease  rapidly  after  information  on  the  availability  of  funds  became 

known. 

RESEARCH  AND  STATISTICAL  SERVICES 
Reference  Service 

The  work  of  the  research  and  statistical  reference  service  of  the 
Office  continued  to  expand  throughout  the  year.  New  procedures 
for  making  current  statistics  available  were  instituted.  In  response 
to  demands  from  governmental  agencies,  educational  associations, 
and  private  industry,  annual  projections  to  1965  were  prepared  for 
public  and  private  elementary  and  secondary  enrollments;  projec¬ 
tions  to  1970  were  prepared  for  total  enrollments,  fall  enrollments, 
and  first-time  enrollments  in  institutions  of  higher  education;  and 
number  of  degrees  to  be  conferred,  by  level,  and  by  sex  were  projected 
to  1970.  In  addition,  annual  projections  to  1965  were  made  for  degrees 
to  be  conferred  in  six  major  fields  of  study  (biological  sciences,  engi¬ 
neering,  healing  arts,  physical  sciences,  social  sciences,  and  “all  other”) . 

A  31-page  set  of  National  and  State  statistical  tables  on  education 
was  prepared  for  the  Statistical  Abstract  of  the  United  States  (a 
Department  of  Commerce  publication).  UNESCO  was  furnished 
a  33-page  report  on  educational  statistics  for  the  period  1950-54, 
inclusive,  and  on  the  attitude  of  the  government  toward  the  stand¬ 
ardization  of  educational  statistics  for  use  at  the  Geneva  UNESCO 
Conference. 

Prompt  publication  of  summaries  of  recent  statistical  studies  was 
obtained  through  articles  in  School  Life  and  Higher  Education. 

Research  Consultation 

Consultive  services  and  appropriate  statistics  were  provided  to 
the  President’s  Commission  on  Veterans  Pensions,  to  an  ODM  sub¬ 
committee  on  specialized  personnel,  and  to  the  Subcommittee  on  Low- 
Income  F amilies  of  the  J oint  Committee  on  the  Economic  Report. 

RESEARCH  STUDIES  BY  OFFICE  SPECIALISTS 

Office  specialists  in  the  various  subject  matter  fields  and  levels  of 
education  made  a  number  of  research  studies  in  1956.  Some  of  the 
studies  were  made  at  the  request  of  professional  agencies  and  organi¬ 
zations;  for  instance  three  projects  were  carried  out  at  the  request 
of  the  Council  of  Chief  State  School  Officers.  Other  studies  dealt 
with  problems  widely  recognized  as  urgent  by  educators,  Federal  offi¬ 
cials,  or  laymen,  such  as  Supervision  in  Rural  Schools.  Studies  made 
under  this  phase  of  the  research  program  are  discussed  under  the 
appropriate  subject  heads  in  this  report.  Published  reports  of  the 


430681-57- 


176 


Department  of  Health ,  Education,  and  Welfare,  1956 


specialists’  findings,  interpretations,  and  suggested  applications  are 
listed  under  Publications. 

Services  to  Education 

One  of  the  ways  in  which  the  Office  has  traditionally  promoted 
the  cause  of  education  is  through  service  to  State  and  local  school 
systems.  In  rendering  this  service  the  Office  provides  information, 
consultation,  and  advice  on  education  at  the  different  levels  and  in 
fields. 

ADMINISTRATION 

One  of  the  most  significant  educational  developments  in  the  20th 
century  is  the  continued  rise  in  leadership  of  State  departments  of 
education.  This  movement  has  been  accentuated  in  the  past  few  years 
and  is  reflected  in  the  growing  stature  of  the  professional  staffs  of  these 
departments,  the  higher  level  of  salaries  attached  to  the  positions, 
and  the  recognition  by  local  school  officials,  by  college  and  university 
staffs,  and  by  the  public  in  general  of  the  expanding  program  of 
services  which  the  departments  are  now  giving.  No  small  part  of 
this  increase  in  leadership  has  been  due  to  the  efforts  of  the  departments 
themselves.  The  Office  of  Education  has  assisted  them  by  making 
nationwide  surveys  and  studies  which  define  the  role  of  State  agencies 
in  the  educational  scheme  and  delineate  the  responsibilities  of  per¬ 
sonnel  in  the  departments  in  the  various  areas  of  service. 

During  the  1956  fiscal  year  the  Office  of  Education  engaged  in 
several  nationwide  cooperative  studies  which  have  bearing  on  policy 
and  good  practices  in  State  school  administration.  Studies  dealing 
with  the  responsibilities  of  the  State  departments  of  education  for 
school  plant  services  and  for  pupil  transportation  were  published 
during  the  year. 

During  the  year  the  Office,  in  cooperation  with  the  American  As¬ 
sociation  of  School  Administrators,  the  Association  of  School  Busi¬ 
ness  Officials  of  the  United  States  and  Canada,  the  Council  of  Chief 
State  School  Officers,  the  Department  of  Bural  Education,  the  Na¬ 
tional  Education  Association,  and  National  School  Boards  Association, 
completed  a  study  entitled,  “Financial  Accounting  for  Local  and  State 
School  Systems.”  Nearly  200  representatives  of  the  cooperating  or¬ 
ganizations  participated  in  2  national  and  8  regional  conferences 
which  shaped  the  financial  accounting  handbook.  The  handbook  will 
be  the  basic  guide  in  the  United  States  for  financial  accounting  for 
local  and  State  school  systems.  To  reflect  accurately  the  condition 
and  progress  of  education  at  local,  State,  and  national  levels,  educa¬ 
tional  data  must  be  a  matter  of  record  at  its  source  and  must  be  recorded 
in  terminology  that  means  the  same  thing  from  place  to  place.  This 


Office  of  Education 


177 


handbook  will  serve  education  everywhere  as  the  guide  for  recording 
financial  data  so  that  it  will  have  the  same  meaning  to  all.  It  will 
greatly  improve  the  basis  for  educational  research,  the  comparability 
of  educational  information,  and  the  reliability  of  State  and  national 
summaries. 

ORGANIZATION 

The  establishment  of  soundly  organized  local  school  districts  con¬ 
tinued  to  be  a  major  problem  in  American  education — in  1955  there 
were  over  59,000  school  districts  in  the  Nation;  of  the  total  number 
nearly  two-thirds  had  fewer  than  10  teachers,  over  half  were  organized 
for  elementary  school  purposes  only,  and  more  than  1  of  every  7  did 
not  operate  a  school  of  any  kind.  Practicable  approaches  to  dealing 
with  this  problem  effectively  were  the  concern  of  a  special  Office  project 
which  was  virtually  completed  during  the  year,  with  publication  of 
the  report  scheduled  in  fiscal  year  1957.  This  project  is  the  first  major 
school  district  reorganization  study  undertaken  by  the  Office  of  Edu¬ 
cation  since  completion  of  the  Local  School  Units  Project  in  the  late 
1930’s. 

Coincident  with  carrying  on  the  project,  the  Office  rendered  con¬ 
sultive  services  to  legislative  councils,  special  commissions,  State  de¬ 
partments  of  education,  and  other  agencies  in  a  number  of  States  where 
efforts  were  being  made  to  develop  more  effective  reorganization 
programs. 

The  rapid  growth  of  the  National  School  Boards  Association  and 
of  State  associations  and  an  increasing  recognition  of  the  importance 
of  effective  school  board  stewardship  have  emphasized  the  need  for 
research  on  statutory  provisions  governing  local  school  boards  and  the 
procedures  employed  by  them  in  carrying  out  their  responsibilities. 
To  meet  this  need  a  series  of  studies  was  launched ;  the  first  in  the  series 
was  largely  completed  in  1956,  and  a  report  of  the  study  is  scheduled 
for  publication  in  fiscal  1957. 

SCHOOL  FINANCE 

Throughout  the  year  the  Office  provided  service  and  information 
on  financing  the  schools.  More  and  more  difficulties  of  financing  the 
programs  of  education  became  evident.  To  help  finance  the  schools 
the  State  legislatures  have  been  approving  larger  appropriations  and 
enacting  laws  which  provide  improved  methods  of  allocating  State 
funds  to  the  schools.  Local  boards  of  education  have  also  been  ap¬ 
proving  larger  budgets,  securing  larger  amounts  from  the  general 
property  tax,  and  seeking  new  sources  of  local  revenue  for  the  public 
schools.  Increases  in  enrollments,  demands  for  additional  school 
services,  and  the  need  for  the  new  school  buildings  indicate  that  the 


178 


Department  of  Health ,  Education ,  and  Welfare ,  1956 


methods  of  financing  the  schools  will  continue  to  require  more  atten¬ 
tion  in  the  months  ahead. 

SCHOOL  HOUSING 

The  Nation  is  continuing  to  spend  more  than  $2  billion  a  year  for 
public  elementary  and  secondary  school  construction.  This  annual 
expenditure,  however,  is  not  sufficient  to  erase  the  existing  deficit  of 
classrooms,  to  house  the  increasing  enrollment,  and  to  replace  the 
schools  that  become  obsolete  each  year. 

Activity  within  the  States  indicates  a  trend  toward  improving  the 
pattern  of  financing  school  construction,  through  such  measures  as 
district  mergers,  increasing  legal  bonding  limits,  and  State  financial 
assistance  through  grants  and  loans. 

The  Office  of  Education  promoted  and  participated  in  cooperative 
planning  by  educators,  architects,  and  lay  groups  to  improve  the  edu¬ 
cational  adequacy  of  new  facilities. 

One  of  the  major  school  plant  problems,  which  is  still  only  partly 
solved,  is  the  acquisition  of  adequate  and  properly  located  sites  to  ac¬ 
commodate  the  ever-increasing  requirements  for  new  schools  to  serve 
a  growing  and  mobile  school  population. 

A  recent  Office  study  of  State  school  plant  services  revealed  a  trend 
toward  the  provision  of  more  and  better  school  plant  services  and  in¬ 
creased  leadership  by  State  departments  of  education. 

ELEMENTARY  EDUCATION 

The  Office  has  continued  to  give  leadership  to  professional  and  lay 
organizations  concerned  with  education  at  the  elementary  level,  to 
elementary  staff  members  in  State  departments  of  education,  to  super¬ 
visors  in  county  schools,  and  to  individuals  and  groups  in  local  com¬ 
munities  through  in-service  activities  in  town  or  city,  or  sponsored  by 
colleges  and  universities.  This  leadership  has  been  concerned  with 
rounding  up  sources  of  information  as  well  as  specific  items  of  informa¬ 
tion  on  many  problems,  and  interpreting  school  problems  and  pro¬ 
grams  to  parents  and  to  teachers  needing  such  help. 

One  of  the  important  ways  of  identifying  major  problems  and  of 
working  on  these  problems  has  been  the  Annual  Conference  on  Ele¬ 
mentary  Education  held  this  year  with  62  national  professional  and 
lay  organizations  represented.  The  theme  of  the  conference  was 
“Working  Together  for  Children  in  1956.” 

Research  was  used  in  such  studies  as  Status  of  Physical  Education 
for  Children  of  Elementary  School  Age  in  City  School  Systems ; 
and  what  some  States  have  been  doing  about  the  recruitment  of 
teachers.  Reports  of  these  studies  are  scheduled  for  publication  in 
fiscal  1957. 


179 


Office  of  Education 


[  SECONDARY  EDUCATION 

During  fiscal  year  1956  the  Office  devoted  considerable  time  and  at- 
i  tention  to  the  pressing  manpower  problems  in  such  professional  fields 
as  science,  mathematics,  and  teaching.  Office  of  Education  specialists 
in  mathematics  and  science  worked  closely  with  such  voluntary  pro- 
j  fessional  organizations  and  government  agencies  as  the  American 
Association  for  the  Advancement  of  Science,  the  National  Science 
I  Teachers  Association,  the  National  Science  Foundation,  and  the  Pres- 
i  ident’s  Committee  on  Science  and  Engineering.  Kecommendations 
were  made  for  the  guidance  of  action  programs  to  obtain  more  quali¬ 
fied  persons  in  the  shortage  areas  through  cooperative  efforts  to  im¬ 
prove  the  quality  of  instruction  programs  and  to  increase  the  number 
of  teachers  in  secondary  schools.  Studies  were  made  of  science  and 
mathematics  in  public  high  schools.  In  addition,  plans  were  made 
for  a  survey  of  the  teaching  loads  and  the  preparation  of  science  and 
mathematics  teachers,  to  be  made  by  the  Office  in  cooperation  with 
State  departments  of  education  and  the  National  Science  Foundation. 

In  conjunction  with  the  Interdepartmental  Committee  on  Children 
and  Youth,  the  Office  of  Education,  the  Department  of  Labor,  and  the 
Employment  Service  studied  various  problems  associated  with  the 
transition  of  youth  from  school  to  work.  An  Office  bulletin  offers 
advice  useful  to  school  administrators  interested  in  initiating  and  im¬ 
proving  work  experience  education  programs  in  the  high  schools. 

At  the  request  of  the  Council  of  Chief  State  School  Officers,  the 
Office  made  a  study  of  the  curriculum  responsibilities  of  State  depart¬ 
ments  of  education.  This  study  will  be  carefully  analyzed  by  the 
study  commission  of  the  council  in  an  effort  to  improve  leadership 
responsibilities  of  State  education  departments  and  relationships  with 
local  schools.  The  study  was  a  joint  undertaking  of  the  Elementary 
and  Secondary  Sections. 

To  find  ways  of  effectively  coping  with  the  pressing  problems  in 
secondary  schools  the  Office  called  a  conference  of  selected  State 
directors  of  instruction  to  discuss  (1)  current  developments  in  second¬ 
ary  education,  (2)  ways  of  improving  secondary  school  programs, 

(3)  research  being  carried  on  by  State  education  departments,  and 

(4)  the  program  of  the  Office  of  Education  and  ways  in  which  the 
Office  can  more  effectively  assist  State  education  officials. 

ADULT  EDUCATION 

During  the  year  Office  staff  members  worked  with  national  organi¬ 
zations  and  State  and  regional  groups  on  the  role  of  adult  educa¬ 
tion  in  promoting  better  health,  improved  human  relations,  and  vo¬ 
cational  efficiency  and  adjustment,  including  such  organizations  as  the 
National  Association  for  Practical  Nurse  Education,  the  Virginia 


180 


Department  of  Healthy  Education ,  and  Welfare,  1956 


Joint  Conference  of  Vocational  and  Industrial  Arts  Services,  and  1 
Alpha  Kappa  Mu  Honorary  Society.  The  Office  continued  to  coop¬ 
erate  with  the  Section  on  Fundamental  and  Literacy  Education  of  the 
Adult  Education  Association  on  a  variety  of  activities  in  developing 
a  national  commission  on  literacy,  and  with  the  National  Council  on 
Naturalization  and  Citizenship  on  the  education  of  the  foreign  born. 

The  Office  assumed  responsibility  for  organizing  and  conducting 
the  Group  and  Work  Sessions  on  Education  of  the  Federal  State  Con-  i 
ference  on  Aging,  and  for  writing  the  conference  report. 

[NTERGROUP  EDUCATION 

The  Office  of  Education  continued  to  cooperate  with  the  National 
Educational  Association  and  the  American  Teachers  Association  in 
promoting  the  use  of  the  kit  and  packet  of  materials  on  intergroup 
education.  Staff  members  participated  in  several  conferences  on 
planning  the  extension  of  intergroup  education. 

In  addition,  consultive  services  were  rendered  to  the  Council 
of  National  Organizations,  National  Congress  of  Colored  Parents 
and  Teachers,  Advisory  Committee  on  Parent  Education  of  the  Na¬ 
tional  Council  of  Churches  of  Christ  in  the  USA,  and  to  the  Steering 
Committee  of  the  Tuskegee  Institute  Self-Study. 

EXCEPTIONAL  CHILDREN 

Programs  for  the  education  of  exceptional  children  in  the  United 
States  have  been  increasing  rapidly,  but  their  expansion  is  retarded 
by  such  factors  as  lack  of  qualified  teaching  personnel  and  the  need 
of  more  knowledge  about  these  children  and  their  deviations.  Within 
the  last  year  the  Office  of  Education  has  done  something  about  both 
of  these  problems. 

For  several  years  the  Office  has  been  giving  leadership  to  a  nation¬ 
wide  study,  “Qualification  and  Preparation  of  Teachers  of  Excep¬ 
tional  Children.”  The  general  purpose  of  the  study  is  to  aid  in  se¬ 
curing  for  the  Nation’s  schools  the  necessary  number  of  teachers  and 
teachers  with  the  best  possible  qualifications.  Specifically  it  is  hoped 
that  the  findings  will  contribute  to  a  better  understanding  of  (1)  com¬ 
petencies  needed  by  teachers  and  other  special  education  personnel 
and  (2)  the  kind  of  experiences  and  professional  preparation  believed 
to  contribute  to  effective  work  with  the  various  types  of  exceptional 
children.  To  this  Office-directed  project  more  than  2,000  leading 
educators  have  contributed  either  through  membership  on  one  of  15 
committees  or  by  providing  information  through  inquiry  forms. 

During  the  year  a  national  spotlight  was  turned  on  the  problems 
of  educating  the  mentally  retarded.  The  Office  is  now  giving  leader¬ 
ship  to  the  solving  of  some  of  these  problems,  not  only  through  the 


Office  of  Education 


181 


special  project  on  teacher  preparation  but  also  through  cooperative 
research  on  various  aspects  of  mental  retardation,  mentioned  earlier. 

AUDIOVISUAL  EDUCATION 

The  use  of  audiovisual  educational  materials  continued  to  expand 
during  the  year  with  attention  being  given  experimentally  to  the  use  of 
these  materials,  particularly  sound  motion  pictures,  in  alleviating  the 
shortage  of  qualified  teachers.  During  the  year  a  trend  toward  a  closer 
integration  of  audiovisual  and  printed  materials  with  school  cur- 
riculums  became  apparent. 

The  Office  of  Education  continued  to  provide  services  relating  to 
the  audiovisual  materials  of  the  Federal  Government,  It  cataloged 
the  5,098th  Government  film  for  Library  of  Congress  catalog  cards 
and  issued  a  650-page  catalog,  Government  Films  for  Public  Educa¬ 
tional  Use. 

As  part  of  its  program  to  strengthen  State  and  local  educational 
resources,  the  Office  prepared  its  5th  edition  of  a  directory  of  State  and 
local  sources  of  educational  films,  which  identifies  and  describes  the 
resources  and  services  of  3,300  16mm  film  libraries. 

In  line  with  its  overall  policy  of  making  fact-finding  comparative 
studies  of  the  functions,  responsibilities,  and  services  of  the  various 
State  departments  of  education,  the  Office  took  preliminary  steps 
(including  the  preparation  of  a  questionnaire)  toward  such  a  study 
of  audiovisual  education  in  the  various  State  governments.  The  study 
will  be  completed  and  published  in  fiscal  year  1957. 

The  Office  of  Education,  with  a  complete  file  of  all  Government  films, 
continued  to  provide  a  central  reference  service  on  the  films  of  all 
agencies;  and,  in  addition,  to  answer  miscellaneous  inquiries  (weekly 
average  150)  for  audiovisual  information. 

RADIO-TELEVISION 

Throughout  the  Nation  there  was  convincing  evidence  of  interest 
in  the  educational  uses  of  radio  and  television  in  the  increase  in  number 
of  stations  and  number  of  courses  offered  on  the  air.  The  number  of 
radio  stations  owned  and  operated  by  colleges,  universities,  and  school 
systems  increased  from  160  in  1955  to  176  in  1956,  and  the  number  of 
noncommercial  educational  TV  stations,  from  15  in  1955  to  26  in  1956. 
Some  of  the  TV  stations  were  supported  by  public  funds;  others 
either  totally  or  in  part  by  foundations  and  subventions  of  funds; 
and  still  others  by  local  communities.  There  was  also  a  general  in¬ 
crease  in  the  number  of  courses  offered  and  the  number  of  students 
enrolled.  At  60  institutions  400  courses  were  available  for  university 
credit.  At  a  single  Junior  College  of  the  Air  4,000  students  were 
registered  for  evening  courses. 


182 


Department  of  Health ,  Education ,  and  Welfare,  1956 


The  Office  served  educational  institutions,  public  and  private,  with 
materials,  information,  and  advice  on  conducting  their  programs. 
Office  cooperation  with  the  Department  of  Defense,  Department  of 
Treasury,  Department  of  State,  United  States  Information  Agency, 
Bureau  of  Standards,  Library  of  Congress,  International  Coopera¬ 
tion  Agency,  and  similar  government  agencies  has  brought  about  a 
successful  relationship  in  dealing  with  common  problems  by  combined 
effort  in  educational  matters  affecting  these  various  services. 

International  radio  and  television  received  increased  attention. 
The  United  Nations,  UNESCO,  individual  foreign  broadcasting  sys¬ 
tems  in  Europe,  the  Near  and  Middle  East,  Africa,  Australia,  South 
America,  and  the  Far  East  regularly  exchange  educational  ideas  and 
program  offerings  with  the  Office. 

CIVIL  DEFENSE  EDUCATION 

The  most  significant  activities  of  the  Civil  Defense  Education  Proj¬ 
ect  carried  on  in  the  Office  have  been  built  around  formal  agreements 
with  State  departments  of  education  in  Connecticut,  Michigan,  and 
California  for  the  operation  of  civil  defense  education  pilot  centers. 
These  centers  have  developed  instruction  materials  for  use  by  ele¬ 
mentary  and  secondary  school  teachers.  The  materials  listed  below 
were  prepared  by  teachers,  supervisors,  administrators,  and  cur¬ 
riculum  specialists  in  accordance  with  established  procedures  and 
policies  of  each  State : 

Connecticut : 

(1)  Education  for  Natural  and  Wartime  Emergencies 

(2)  Curriculum  Guide  for  Emergency  Education 
Michigan: 

( 1 )  Civil  Defense  in  the  Classroom 

(2)  Film  strip  for  civil  defense  in  schools 
California : 

(1)  Civil  Defense  for  Personal  and  Family  Survival 

(2)  Some  Suggestions  for  Introducing  Civil  Defense  Into  the  Curriculum 

Materials  developed  in  the  three  States  were  reviewed  in  a  5-day 
conference  sponsored  by  the  Office  of  Education  in  cooperation  with 
the  Federal  Civil  Defense  Administration  in  Battle  Creek,  Mich.  The 
conference  was  attended  by  representatives  of  the  States  and  larger 
city  school  systems.  Recommendations  and  suggestions  of  this  group 
have  been  incorporated  in  a  handbook  on  civil  defense  for  schools.  It 
contains  information  and  suggestions  for  school  administrators  and 
teachers  planning  protective  measures  in  school  civil  defense. 

GUIDANCE  AND  STUDENT  PERSONNEL  SERVICES 

On  July  1, 1955,  the  Office  of  Education  expanded  its  guidance  and 
student  personnel  services  to  (1)  assist  local  and  State  authorities 


Office  of  Education 


183 


in  initiating  or  expanding  services  suitable  to  their  needs,  (2)  coop¬ 
erate  with  interested  public  and  private  schools  and  agencies,  (3) 
serve  as  a  clearinghouse  for  information  especially  adapted  to  school 
use,  and  (4)  prepare  and  issue  professional  materials. 

During  the  year  the  Office  prepared  and  distributed  pamphlets  and 
leaflets  on  occupations,  guidance  programs,  lists  of  guidance  officials, 
State  certification  requirements,  and  testing  programs.  Staff  mem¬ 
bers  carried  on  continuing  research  in  such  selected  guidance  areas 
as  the  problem  of  “dropouts,”  building  needs  for  guidance  services, 
and  summer  and  academic-year  offerings  at  colleges  and  universities 
in  the  preparation  of  guidance  workers. 

The  Office  also  worked  with  agencies  and  groups,  both  private  and 
governmental,  concerned  with  improving  services  in  this  field.  For 
instance,  staff  members  cooperated  with  the  Department  of  Labor  in 
developing  studies  and  providing  information ;  with  the  Departmental 
Committee  on  Juvenile  Delinquency,  a  subcommittee  of  the  Inter- 
Departmental  Committee  on  Children  and  Youth ;  and  with  the  rep¬ 
resentatives  of  the  Atomic  Energy  Commission,  the  American  Medical 
Association,  the  American  Personnel  and  Guidance  Association,  the 
National  Education  Association,  the  National  Association  of  Chiropo¬ 
dists,  and  the  American  Pharmaceutical  Association  in  developing 
occupational  information  material  for  later  publication. 

SERVICES  TO  LIBRARIES 

In  cooperation  with  the  State  library  agencies,  the  Office  of  Educa¬ 
tion  made  a  nationwide  survey  of  the  structure  and  control  of  publicly 
supported  library  services  at  the  State  level.  The  basis  of  the  study 
was  an  analysis  of  the  State  laws  as  of  January  1, 1956,  supplemented 
by  fundamental  information  from  political  science,  educational  ad¬ 
ministration,  and  library  science. 

The  Office  also  provided  library  data  and  consultive  services  to  the 
Coordinating  Committee  on  the  Revision  of  Public  Library  Standards 
of  the  American  Library  Association.  This  undertaking  should  result 
in  extended  and  better  public  library  service  for  the  people  of  the 
United  States  since  the  new  standards  emphasize  the  performance  of 
libraries  rather  than  per  capita  costs  and  quality  of  service  rather 
than  quantity.  The  committee  foresees  a  network  of  public  library 
services  which  will  reach  every  person  in  the  United  States.  These 
services  will  be  found  at  the  community  outlets  in  village,  town,  and 
rural  areas,  backed  up  by  the  large  central  library  of  city  or  county, 
and  with  the  State  library  at  the  apex  of  the  cooperative  system. 
Larger  units  of  library  administration  are  called  for  in  the  interest 
of  economy  and  efficiency  of  operation. 


184 


Department  of  Health ,  Education ,  and  Welfare,  1956 


VOCATIONAL  EDUCATION 

In  fiscal  year  1956  the  Office  of  Education  administered  grant-in-aid 
programs  providing  more  than  $33  million  for  vocational  education 
in  the  States  and  Territories  under  the  Smith-Hughes,  George-Barden, 
and  supplementary  acts.  This  total  is  an  increase  over  the  amount 
available  in  1955.  Most  of  the  increase,  $2%  million  provided  under 
the  George-Barden  Act,  was  used  to  extend  vocational  education  to 
communities  that  had  not  previously  had  programs.  Table  3,  col¬ 
umn  4,  page  195,  shows  the  distribution  of  funds  for  vocational 
education,  by  States,  in  fiscal  year  1956. 

The  Office  of  Education  issues  an  annual  digest  of  the  statistical 
and  financial  reports  made  by  the  State  boards  of  vocational  educa¬ 
tion  to  the  Office  covering  the  program  provided  for  by  the  Smith- 
Hughes  and  George-Barden  Acts.  The  digest  of  State  reports,  which 
shows  expenditures  made  and  work  done  in  vocational  education  for 
the  previous  year  ending  J une  30,  is  ordinarily  available  in  March  of 
the  succeeding  year.  The  digest  of  State  reports  for  fiscal  1956  is 
in  preparation. 

The  Office  continued  its  cooperative  working  relationships  with  the 
States  in  the  further  development  and  improvement  of  vocational 
education.  Federal-State  attention  focused  principally  on  means  of 
alleviating  the  teacher  shortage,  on  the  preparation  of  teachers;  im¬ 
provement  of  supervisory  practices ;  and  on  making  instruction  more 
effective.  Two  phases  of  program  development  were  of  particular 
concern  to  the  Office :  The  contribution  that  vocational  education  can 
make  to  the  solution  of  special  problems  of  low-income  families ;  and 
the  significance  of  technological,  economic,  and  social  changes  to 
vocational  training. 

A  revision  of  the  Statement  of  Policies  for  the  Administration  of 
Vocational  Education  based  on  experience  and  interpretations  of  the 
current  acts  and  policies  was  undertaken  during  1956,  and  a  prelimi¬ 
nary  draft  was  submitted  to  State  officials  for  review.  The  policy 
statement  will  also  be  reviewed  by  a  special  committee  of  State  direc¬ 
tors  of  vocational  education  and  executive  officers  of  State  boards  for 
vocational  education  before  it  is  approved  by  the  Commissioner  of 
Education. 

Program  specialists  in  agriculture,  distributive  occupations,  home 
economics,  and  trade  and  industry  made  official  visits  to  the  States  to 
review  vocational  problems  and  assist  with  the  solution  of  problems 
as  requested. 

During  the  year  consultants  were  invited  to  work  with  staff  mem¬ 
bers  on  a  number  of  studies  designed  to  improve  vocational  education. 
The  studies  dealt  with  the  training  needs  of  persons  employed  in  out¬ 
side  selling;  problems  of  small  businesses,  and  the  training  needs  of 


Office  of  Education 


185 


employers  and  managers  of  such  enterprises  (distributive  education) ; 
related  instruction  and  supervisory  training  in  trade  and  industrial 
education ;  and  agricultural  education  for  out-of-school  young  farmers. 
Published  reports  of  these  studies  are  intended  to  improve  school 
offerings  and  to  expand  vocational  education  services. 

Continued  emphasis  was  given  to  the  professional  improvement  of 
administrative  and  supervisory  personnel  and  to  the  emerging  prob¬ 
lem  areas  in  the  States  in  regional  conferences  for  State  personnel. 
Separate  conferences  were  conducted  for  workers  in  agricultural, 
distributive,  home  economics,  and  trade  and  industrial  education. 
Through  discussion  of  questions  relating  to  the  operation,  expansion, 
and  improvement  of  the  program  these  conferences  developed  a  con¬ 
tinuing  awareness  among  leaders  of  responsibilities  and  improved 
practices  in  program  supervision  and  administration. 

Recognizing  the  need  for  trained  workers  for  the  rapidly  growing 
labor  force  in  distributive  occupations  and  the  contribution  that  voca¬ 
tional  education  can  make  in  preparing  people  for  these  occupations, 
many  groups  and  individuals  sought  information  about  the  Federal- 
State  program  of  distributive  education.  As  a  result  of  this  increased 
interest  and  the  desire  of  business  to  cooperate  in  expanding  and  de¬ 
veloping  this  program,  program  specialists  in  distributive  education 
worked  with  trade  and  business  groups  and  individuals  concerned 
with  the  business  of  distribution.  A  3-day  teacher-training  clinic 
in  textile  fibers  for  teachers-coordinators  in  distributive  education  was 
conducted  in  the  Central  region. 

Staff  specialists  in  home  economics  education  worked  individually 
and  in  conferences  with  teachers,  supervising  teachers,  teacher  train¬ 
ers,  city  and  State  supervisors,  and  teacher  training  institutions  on 
means  of  increasing  the  supply  of  home  economics  teachers,  of  helping 
former  teachers  who  return  to  the  field,  on  improving  student-teacher 
experiences,  and  on  other  ways  of  strengthening  the  program. 

Specialist  in  home  economics  education  met  with  a  representative 
group  of  college  teachers  of  foods  and  nutrition  and  administrators  to 
consider  means  of  strengthening  and  improving  the  teaching  of  foods 
and  nutrition.  This  was  a  followup  of  a  conference  of  this  same 
group  held  the  previous  year.  Followup  conferences  were  also  held 
in  the  several  regions  for  college  teachers  in  foods  and  nutrition  to 
consider  course  offerings  in  foods  and  nutrition  in  relation  to  the 
changes  in  problems  of  family  living  and  in  the  production  and  dis¬ 
tribution  of  foods,  and  the  significance  of  these  changes  to  food  and 
nutrition  programs  and  educational  procedures. 

A  report  of  the  project,  Experiences  With  Infants  in  the  Prepara¬ 
tion  of  Home  Economists,  begun  in  1955  was  issued  jointly  by  the 
Home  Economics  Education  Branch  and  the  Children’s  Bureau.  The 


186 


Department  of  Health ,  Education ,  and  Welfare,  1956 


report  represents  a  first  step  toward  better  understanding  of  common 
problems  in  the  preparation  of  professional  workers  who  offer  services 
to  children  and  their  families. 

To  provide  training  for  potential  leaders  and  give  participants  an 
opportunity  to  identify  and  evaluate  basic  concepts  of  leadership,  the 
Office  organized  a  Leadership  Training  Conference  in  Trade  and  In¬ 
dustrial  Education  which  was  attended  by  more  than  60  persons  from 
the  States,  Puerto  Rico,  Hawaii,  the  Virgin  Islands,  and  Alaska,  A 
report  of  the  conference  was  distributed  to  the  States. 

A  group  of  persons  engaged  in  trade  and  industrial  supervisory 
development  programs  were  brought  together  by  the  Office  to  study 
means  of  developing  supervisory  personnel.  The  findings  of  the  group 
on  the  nature  and  structure  of  successful  programs  should  be  helpful 
to  others  in  solving  similar  problems.  A  report  of  the  conference  was 
distributed  to  the  States. 

A  systematic  followup  of  the  work  conference  on  “Research  and 
Studies  in  Trade  and  Industrial  Education”  was  made  to  collect  data 
on  research  in  trade  and  industrial  education.  A  report  “Research 
and  Studies  in  Trade  and  Industrial  Education”  was  developed  to 
assist  the  States  in  research  essential  to  developing  programs  of  trade 
and  industrial  education  capable  of  keeping  pace  with  technological 
advances  in  our  continually  expanding  economy. 

Since  farming  is  becoming  more  highly  mechanized,  the  farmer 
needs  to  have  special  training  in  the  operation  and  maintenance  of  his 
equipment.  Instruction  in  this  important  area  was  given  special 
attention  in  departments  of  vocational  agriculture.  Members  of  the 
agricultural  education  staff  during  the  year  assisted  States  in  plan¬ 
ning  and  conducting  special  workshops  for  teachers  of  agriculture  to 
assist  them  in  the  further  development  and  improvement  of  the  in¬ 
struction  in  farm  mechanics  that  is  offered  in  local  schools. 

HIGHER  EDUCATION 
Research 

Five  research  studies  in  higher  education  were  carried  on  during 
the  year :  (1)  The  costs  incurred  by  students  in  attending  college;  (2) 
the  extent  and  causes  of  the  withdrawal  of  students  from  college  be¬ 
fore  completing  their  programs  of  studies;  (3)  the  status  of  planning 
in  the  area  of  college  and  university  facilities;  (4)  staffing  the  Na¬ 
tion’s  schools;  and  (5)  student  financial  assistance. 

The  study  of  what  it  costs  students  to  attend  college  was  based  on 
the  expenditures  of  15,500  students  in  110  colleges  and  universities. 
The  study  of  student  attrition  was  based  on  the  experiences  of  13,000 
students  who  entered  the  freshman  class  in  1950  in  147  institutions. 
Reports  on  these  studies  will  be  published  in  fiscal  year  1957. 


Office  of  Education 


187 


Three  of  the  projects  were  initiated  in  fiscal  year  1956  as  a  part 
of  the  expanding  research  program  of  the  Office.  The  study  of  col¬ 
lege  and  university  facilities  sought  answers  to  three  major  questions: 
(1)  What  are  the  extent  and  the  character  of  the  additional  enroll¬ 
ment  that  can  be  accommodated  with  existing  facilities?  (2)  what 
facilities  have  been  constructed  within  the  past  5  years  and  how  were 
they  financed?  and  (3)  what  additional  facilities  are  planned  for 
construction  before  1970?  All  colleges  and  universities  listed  in  the 
Higher  Education  Directory  were  asked  to  respond  to  the  questions. 
The  project  is  scheduled  for  completion  in  fiscal  year  1957. 

A  pilot  project  was  undertaken  to  explore  appropriate  research 
targets  and  techniques  to  be  employed  in  studies  of  problems  relating 
to  the  staffing  of  the  Nation’s  schools  and  colleges.  The  project 
developed  plans  in  anticipation  of  a  major  research  effort  to  study 
the  teacher  personnel  of  the  Nation,  and  it  also  developed  and  tried 
out  procedures  and  instruments  to  be  used  in  such  a  research  effort. 
Further  activity  in  this  area  will  depend  on  the  future  development 
of  the  extended  research  program  of  the  Office. 

The  student  financial  assistance  project  is  concerned  primarily  with 
institutional  assistance  resources  and  their  utilization.  The  study 
also  deals  with  such  topics  as  sources  of  funds  for  undergraduate 
scholarships  and  graduate  fellowships,  size  of  grants,  distribution  of 
graduate  fellowships  by  fields  of  study,  availability  and  use  of  student 
loans,  loan  fund  practices,  student  employment,  and  the  relationships 
between  the  size  of  scholarship  grants,  tuition  fees  and  living  costs, 
and  the  number  of  students  who  received  grants.  This  study  will 
also  provide  the  basic  materials  for  new  directories  of  undergraduate 
scholarships  and  graduate  fellowships  and  for  a  comprehensive  study 
of  student  assistance.  The  results  of  the  study  will  be  of  interest 
and  value  to  many  groups  interested  in  higher  education,  such  as 
college  administrative  officers,  business  groups,  State  and  Federal 
officers  interested  in  scholarship  programs,  parents,  prospective  college 
students,  and  high  school  counselors. 

Services  and  Studies 

In  addition  to  instituting  and  carrying  on  the  research  projects  in 
higher  education,  described  under  Research,  the  Office  completed  and 
published  a  comprehensive  study  of  education  for  the  professions. 
It  was  the  first  such  report  to  be  issued  in  the  United  States  since  1900. 
The  Office  also  reviewed  and  analyzed  the  present  status  of  statewide 
and  regional  interinstitutional  studies  of  higher  education  and  pub¬ 
lished  the  report  of  the  study  in  the  March  1956  issue  of  the  periodical, 
Higher  Education.  A  new  issue  of  Accredited  Higher  Institutions 
was  prepared  and  is  scheduled  for  publication  in  1957.  The  Educa¬ 
tion  Directory,  1955-1956,  Part  3,  Higher  Education,  and  the  periodi¬ 
cal,  Higher  Education,  were  also  published. 


188 


Department  of  Health ,  Education ,  and  Welfare,  1956 


The  Office  gave  consultive  service  to  State  higher  education  surveys 
and  planning  in  Mississippi,  Louisiana,  Nevada,  and  Florida,  and 
advisory  service  to  higher  education  institutes,  conferences,  and  asso¬ 
ciations  in  the  development  of  their  program  and  activities. 

The  Office  also  discharged  its  legal  responsibility  for  the  annual 
inspection  of  Howard  University;  rendered  advisory  service  to  the 
Department  of  Justice,  Immigration  and  Naturalization  Service,  on 
the  approval  of  schools  which  foreigners  on  student  visas  may  attend ; 
advised  the  Housing  and  Home  Finance  Agency  on  whether  applicants 
for  college  housing  loans  met  the  legal  requirement  for  loans;  and 
added  the  American  Association  of  Nurse  Anesthetists  to  the  Com¬ 
missioner’s  list  of  30  nationally  recognized  accrediting  agencies  and 
associations  which  he  is  required  to  publish. 

Administration  of  Grants 

For  the  year  ending  June  30, 1956,  the  Office  administered  a  total  of 
$5,051,500  to  land-grant  colleges  and  universities.  The  Office  responsi¬ 
bility  in  this  program  is  to  certify  that  each  State  and  Territory  is 
entitled  to  receive  its  share  of  the  annual  appropriation  and  the  amount 
it  is  entitled  to  receive.  See  table  3,  column  3,  for  distribution  of  funds 
by  States. 

INTERNATIONAL  EDUCATION 

American  education  has  an  increasingly  important  function  in  in¬ 
ternational  affairs.  The  Office  has  received  enthusiastic  support  from 
the  profession  in  recruiting  educators  for  assignments  overseas  and 
in  placing  and  training  foreign  educators  in  the  United  States.  It  is 
being  requested  to  cooperate  with  public  and  private  agencies  in  an 
increasing  number  and  variety  of  international  educational  activities. 

One  of  the  recent  developments  in  international  education  is  a  rap¬ 
idly  increasing  interest  in  revising  the  American  curriculum  at  all 
levels  to  introduce  Americans  to  all  the  peoples  of  the  world,  for  it  is 
estimated  that  at  any  one  time  between  2  and  3  million  Americans  are 
living,  working,  or  traveling  abroad,  in  every  country  in  the  world. 
Our  schools  and  colleges  are  calling  on  the  Office  for  help  in  develop¬ 
ing  techniques  for  training  Americans  to  live  on  this  new  American 
frontier. 

International  Educational  Relations 

The  Office  has  a  statutory  responsibility  for  studying,  interpreting, 
and  reporting  on  developments  in  education  abroad.  This  is  one  of 
the  oldest  activities  of  the  Office,  and  today  is  growing  rapidly  be¬ 
cause  of  the  new  importance  of  education  as  an  instrument  of  foreign 
policy,  and  also  because  of  the  new  role  of  the  United  States  as  a 
world  leader. 


Office  of  Education 


189 


During  the  year  comparative  educational  research  and  specialized 
educational  services  in  the  Office  provided  authoritative  information 
for  the  public  and  contributed  to  the  development  of  international 
understanding.  Stress  was  laid  on  research  and  services  which  States, 
groups,  or  individuals  would  find  difficult,  if  not  impossible  to  carry 
out. 

Studies  were  made  of  education  in  other  countries,  including  Taiwan 
and  Mexico.  Basic  work  was  completed  on  the  first  edition  of  a  new 
International  Education  Yearbook,  entitled  “Education  for  Better 
Living,”  to  be  published  in  fiscal  1957.  Important  research  was 
launched  on  education  under  Communism,  and  the  manuscript,  “Edu¬ 
cation  in  the  Soviet  Union,”  is  now  ready  for  publication.  One  staff 
member  visited  ministries  of  education  in  Germany  to  obtain  basic 
information  on  a  study  to  be  published  in  1957.  Studies  of  educational 
terminology  used  in  the  U.  S.  A.,  in  Haiti,  in  Brazil,  and  in  Spanish 
America  were  prepared.  Work  in  this  field  sparked  the  idea  for 
glossaries  in  the  World  Survey  of  Education  published  by  UNESCO. 
Teaching  aids  for  developing  international  understanding  to  meet 
the  increasing  demands  from  schools  and  libraries  in  the  United  States 
as  well  as  from  foreign  countries  were  issued. 

University  and  college  registrars,  State  boards  of  licensure,  the 
United  States  Civil  Service  Commission,  and  other  Federal  agencies 
called  upon  the  Office  to  evaluate  the  credentials  of  2,828  foreign  stu¬ 
dents.  This  information  was  essential  to  the  matriculation  of  these 
students  in  United  States  universities  and  colleges. 

The  Office  advised  with  the  Veterans  Administration  on  the  ap¬ 
plications  of  some  100  foreign  educational  institutions  for  approval 
to  train  veterans  under  the  provision  of  the  Veterans  Readjustment 
Assistance  Act  of  1952  (P.  L.  550,  82d  Congress). 

The  Educational  Materials  Laboratory,  which  was  developed  with 
the  cooperation  of  members  of  the  American  Textbook  Publishers  In¬ 
stitute,  added  591  books  to  its  collection  as  well  as  pamphlets,  bulletins, 
and  materials  developed  in  educational  missions  of  the  International 
Cooperation  Administration.  During  the  year  the  laboratory  enabled 
some  600  visitors  to  examine  representative  textbooks  and  materials 
used  in  United  States  schools.  The  visitors  included  foreign  embassy 
staff,  other  foreign  visitors,  United  States  personnel  preparing  to  work 
in  technical  assistance  programs  abroad,  and  United  States  educators 
and  laymen. 

The  Clearinghouse,  established  at  the  request  of  the  Department  of 
State,  maintains  a  file  of  persons  entering  and  leaving  the  United 
States  under  the  various  Federal  Government-sponsored  exchange 
programs.  At  the  end  of  the  fiscal  year  a  total  of  36,000  names  were 


190 


Department  of  Health ,  Education ,  and  Welfare,  1956 


on  file,  an  increase  of  15,000  over  the  1955  total.  The  Clearinghouse 
met  requests  from  the  Department  of  State  for  approximately  190 
statistical  tables  with  these  data.  In  addition,  the  Clearinghouse  be¬ 
gan  a  file  of  American  Dependents  Schools  abroad  containing  approxi¬ 
mately  1,000  listings. 

The  Office  coordinated  the  preparation  of  reports  on  educational 
subjects  required  by  United  States  participation  in  international  or¬ 
ganizations.  These  reports  concerned  decisions  taken  by  governments 
with  respect  to  education  and  provided  background  data  for  technical 
groups  at  international  conferences.  Examples  of  such  reports  and 
background  data  were :  “Elementary  Education  in  the  United  States” 
for  UNESCO’s  World  Survey  of  Education;  “Vocational  Training 
in  Agriculture”  for  the  use  of  the  International  Labor  Conference  in 
preparing  an  international  recommendation  on  this  subject;  andj 
“School  Inspection  (Supervision)”  for  the  UNESCO — International 
Bureau  of  Education  Conference  on  Public  Education.  Office  spe¬ 
cialists  also  served  on  U.  S.  delegations  to  international  conferences. 

Educational  Exchange  and  Training 

Under  the  Teacher  Education  Program,  which  the  Office  conducts 
in  cooperation  with  the  International  Educational  Exchange  Service 
of  the  Department  of  State,  Office  staff  arranged  programs  for  the 
training  of  262  foreign  teachers  in  the  methods  and  techniques  of 
American  education.  Approximately  80  percent  of  them  were  con¬ 
cerned  with  elementary,  secondary,  and  vocational  education,  and 
English  as  a  second  language ;  20  percent  participated  in  an  American 
civilization  project.  A  workshop  was  held  at  the  University  of  Puerto 
Pico  for  47  educators  from  Carribean  countries. 

Under  the  Teacher  Exchange  Program  school  authorities  in  46 
States,  3  Territories,  and  the  District  of  Columbia  cooperated  with 
the  Office  in  the  placement  of  502  American  and  foreign  teachers  for 
506  available  teaching  opportunities:  156  Americans  exchanged  jobs 
with  156  foreigners ;  104  Americans  were  recruited  for  specific  teach¬ 
ing  vacancies;  71  Americans  attended  summer  seminars  in  France, 
Germany,  and  Italy;  15  teachers  from  other  lands  were  assigned  to 
teaching  positions  in  the  United  States. 

The  Technical  Training  Program  provided  for  specific  training  of 
teachers  and  other  educators  from  underdeveloped  areas  to  support 
educational  projects  in  their  own  countries.  These  projects  were  de¬ 
veloped  by  American  technicians  to  assist  cooperating  foreign  gov¬ 
ernments  in  obtaining  economic  and  social  progress  through  improve¬ 
ment  of  education,  health,  and  agriculture.  Cooperating  with  the 
International  Cooperation  Administration,  the  Office  arranged  tech¬ 
nical  training  for  the  academic  year  for  600  educators  from  39  coun- 


Office  of  Education 


191 


tries.  In  this  program  particular  emphasis  was  placed  on  practical 
training  and  experience. 

Educational  Missions  Abroad 

United  States  Technical  Assistance  programs  were  aided  by  the 
Office  in  the  recruitment  of  85  education  specialists  for  assignments 
in  overseas  missions  of  the  International  Cooperation  Administration. 
The  Office  furnished  essential  technical  support  to  these  educators  by 
providing  packets  of  educational  publications,  appraising  lists  of  in¬ 
structional  materials  and  equipment,  and  rendering  professional  ad¬ 
vice  on  specialized  problems. 

The  staff  of  the  Office  participated  in  on-the-spot  surveys  of  educa¬ 
tional  programs  overseas,  took  part  in  international  conferences,  and 
consulted  with  the  education  officials  of  many  other  countries  on  pro¬ 
fessional  matters  of  common  interest. 

SCHOOL  ASSISTANCE  IN  FEDERALLY  AFFECTED  AREAS 

One  of  the  major  functions  of  the  Office  of  Education  is  the  admin¬ 
istration  of  two  laws  that  provide  Federal  aid  to  education  in  districts 
that  have  been  affected  by  Federal  activity.  They  are  Public  Laws 
874  and  815,  both  passed  by  the  Eighty-first  Congress  in  September 
1950. 

For  fiscal  year  1956  the  Congress  appropriated,  under  Public  Law 
815,  a  total  of  $33,900,000,  which  was  added  to  the  continuing  appro¬ 
priation,  and  under  Public  Law  874,  a  total  of  $90,000,000.  Columns 
5  and  6,  table  3,  page  195,  show  the  distribution  of  funds  to  States 
made  under  both  laws  during  the  year. 

Public  Law  874  authorizes  Federal  contributions  toward  the  oper¬ 
ating  costs  of  public  elementary  and  secondary  schools  in  districts 
that  feel  the  Federal  presence  in  one  or  more  of  these  ways :  As  a  loss 
of  revenue  through  the  tax-exempt  status  of  Federal  properties;  or 
as  added  school  costs  either  (1)  because  of  the  attendance  of  children 
who  live  on  Federal  property  or  whose  parents  are  employed  on  such 
property  or  (2)  because  of  a  sudden  and  substantial  increase  in  school 
enrollment  growing  out  of  Federal-contract  activities. 

Public  Law  815,  as  amended,  authorizes  financial  assistance  for 
building  schools  in  areas  affected  by  Federal  activity,  for  the  con¬ 
struction  of  temporary  schools  in  certain  situations,  and  for  construc¬ 
tion  of  schools  on  Federal  bases  where  necessary  to  house  school 
children. 

With  the  completion  of  the  sixth  year  of  Federal  assistance  to  schools 
in  federally  affected  areas  under  these  two  laws  the  number  of  school 
districts  participating  has  increased  to  2,860. 


192 


Department  of  Health ,  Education ,  and  Welfare,  1956 


Annual  payments  to  federally  affected  districts  to  aid  in  meeting 
current  operating  expenses  for  the  fiscal  year  amounted  to  approxi¬ 
mately  $86  million.  Payments  were  made  on  behalf  of  some  980,000 
federally  connected  pupils  claimed  by  school  districts  which  had  a 
total  attendance  of  about  6,200,000  students.  The  affected  districts 
educate  approximately  one-fifth  of  all  the  Nation’s  public  school 
children. 

The  number  of  school  construction  projects  which  had  been  ap¬ 
proved  by  the  close  of  fiscal  year  1956  had  passed  the  3,000  mark.  A 
total  of  $609  million  in  Federal  funds  had  been  allocated  to  some 
3,100  school  construction  projects  approved  by  June  30.  These  funds 
together  with  approximately  $260  million  in  local  funds  which  had 
been  added  to  the  projects  will  be  sufficient  to  house  some  700,000 
schoolchildren. 

In  the  spring  of  the  year  the  President  made  recommendations 
to  the  Congress  for  an  extension  of  the  program  for  school  construc¬ 
tion  in  federally  affected  areas.  This  extension  in  time  was  made 
essential  principally  by  the  substantial  program  of  military  housing 
which  had  been  enacted  by  the  Congress  and  which  will  create  a 
demand  for  additional  classroom  space  in  federally  affected  areas. 

A  separate  report  was  made  to  the  Congress,  as  required  by  law, 
covering  the  administration  of  this  program  and  providing  detailed 
information  on  receipts  and  disbursements  of  Federal  funds,  school 
districts  participating,  and  other  phases  of  operation. 

Major  Publications  Off  the  Press  in  Fiscal  Year  1956 

Clerical  and  Custodial  Staff  in  Public  Secondary  Day  Schools 
Course  Offerings  in  Guidance 

Current  Expenditures  per  Pupil  in  Public  School  Systems — Large 
Cities,  1954-55 

Current  Expenditures  per  Pupil  in  Public  School  Systems — Small  and 
Medium-Sized  Cities,  1954-55 
Digest  of  Deports  of  State  Boards  of  Vocational  Education 
Earned  Degrees  Conferred  by  Higher  Educational  Institutions, 
1954-55 

Educational  Directory,  1955-56 

Federal  Government  and  States,  Part  I 
Counties  and  Cities,  Part  II 
Higher  Education,  Part  III 
Education  for  the  Professions 
Education  in  Mexico 

Engineering  Enrollments  and  Degrees,  1955 


Office  of  Education 


193 


Enrollment  (Opening  Fall)  in  Higher  Education  Institutions,  1955 
Enrollment,  Teachers,  and  Schoolhousing — Fall  Statistics,  1955 — 
Full-Time  Public  Elementary  and  Secondary  Day  Schools 
Fifth  Annual  Report  of  the  Commissioner  of  Education  Concerning 
the  Administration  of  Public  Laws  874  and  815,  June  30, 1955 
Guide  for  Part-Time  Instructors — Distributive  Education  for  Adults 
National  Leadership  Development  Conference — Trade  and  Industrial 
Education,  1956 

Offerings  and  Enrollments  in  Science  and  Mathematics  in  the  Public 
High  Schools 

Public  Vocational  Education  Programs — Characteristics  of  Programs 
Under  Provisions  of  the  Federal  Vocational  Education  Acts 
Radio  and  Television  Bibliography 

Report  to  the  President  by  the  Committee  for  the  White  House 
Conference 

Resident,  Extension,  and  Adult  Education  Enrollment  in  Institutions 
of  Higher  Education 

School  Facilities  Survey — Report  of  the  Long-Range  Planning  Phase 
Selected  References  on  School  Finance 

Selection  and  Training  of  Part-Time  Instructors — Distributive  Edu¬ 
cation  for  Adults 

State  Policies  and  Regulations  Affecting  Junior  High  Schools 
The  State  and  Publicly  Supported  Libraries 
State  School  Plan  Services 

Supervision  in  Rural  Schools — A  Report  of  Beliefs  and  Practices 
Teachers  of  Children  Who  Are  Deaf 
Training  for  Quantity  Food  Preparation 

Work  Experience  Laboratories — Distributive  Education  for  Youth 
Periodicals 

Higher  Education  (9  issues,  September  1955-May  1956) 

School  Life  (9  issues,  October  1955- June  1956) 


194 


Department  of  Health ,  Education ,  and  Welfare,  1956 


Table  1. — School  enrollments  in  the  continental  United  States ,  1954—55  and 

1955-56 

[Office  of  Education  estimates] 


School 

Year 

1955-56 

1954-55 

Kindergarten  through  Grade  8: 

24,  588. 000 
3, 768. 000 

71. 500 

38. 500 
32, 200 
16, 000 

24, 091, 500 
3,  506, 200 
65,000 
38,300 
27, 400 
9, 600 

Residential  schools  for  exceptional  children . . .  _  ..  .  . . 

Model  and  practice  schools  in  teacher  training  institutions _  _ 

Federal  schools  under  Public  Law  874.  _ _ _ _ _ 

28,  514, 200 

27,738,000 

Grades  9-12: 

Public  school  system  _  _ 

6, 860,000 
823, 200 
12, 200 

41,  000 
9, 800 
900 

6,  582,300 
774, 800 
11, 100 

40,  500 
12, 300 
1,000 

Private  and  parochial  schools _ 

Residential  schools  for  exceptional  children..  _ 

Model  and  practice  schools  in  teacher  training  institutions  and  preparatory 
departments  of  colleges _ _ _ 

Federal  schools  for  Indians _ 

Federal  schools  under  Public  Law  874 _ 

Total  secondary _  _ 

7, 747, 100 

7, 422, 000 

Total  elementary  and  secondary _ _  _ 

36,  261, 300 

35, 160. 000 

Higher  education: 

Universities,  colleges,  professional  schools,  including  junior  colleges  and 
normal  schools _  _  _ 

2, 996, 000 

2, 755, 000 

Total  higher  education _ _ _ _ _  _ 

2, 996, 000 

2, 755, 000 

Other  schools: 

Private  commercial  schools  (day  and  evening) _ _  _  .  _  _ 

450,000 
91,  400 

144, 000 
69,  500 

Nurse  training  schools  (not  affiliated  with  colleges  and  universities) _ 

Total  other  schools _ _  _ 

541,  400 

213,  500 

Grand  total  ..  _ _ _ 

39, 798, 700 

38, 128,  500 

Table  2. — Supply  and  demand  for  elementary  and  secondary  public  and 
nonpublic  school  teachers ,  1955—56 


Item 

Elementary 

and 

secondary 

Supply 

Total  teachers  1954-55  i_—  ..  _  .  .  _  _ 

1, 201,800 
91, 200 

Less  emergency  teachers  1954-55 _  _ 

Total  qualified  teachers  1954-55 _ _ _ 

1, 110,  600 
83,300 

Less  7.5  percent  turnover.—  _  _  _  . 

Qualified  teachers  returning  for  1955-56 _  _ _  ..  _ _ 

1,027, 300 
25,000 

63,400 

Emergency  teachers  qualifying  for  1955-56  _  _ 

New  supply  of  qualified  teachers  (79  percent  of  elementary  and  56  percent  of  high  school 
teachers  trained  in  1954-55)... _ _ _ _ 

Total  qualified  supply  1955-56 . . . . . . 

1, 115, 700 

Demand 

Total  teachers  1954-55.. _ _  _  _ _  _ _ _ _ 

1,201,800 
65, 200 

Teachers  needed  to  meet  increase  in  enrollment  in  1955-56  1 . . . . 

Total  demand  1955-56 . . .  ...  _  _ _ 

1, 257,000 

Shortage  of  qualified  supply  (see  note  below)  _ 

141,300 

1  The  number  of  elementary  and  secondary  school  teachers  in  public  schools,  in  the  fall  of  1954,  was 
1,065,803  (Office  of  Education  Circular  No.  417,  Revised).  To  this  must  be  added  the  number  in  nonpublic 
schools  (private  and  parochial),  in  model  and  practice  schools  of  colleges  and  universities,  in  residential 
schools  for  exceptional  children,  and  in  schools  operated  under  Federal  auspices.  The  number  of  teachers 
in  this  group  of  schools  was  estimated  as  136,000,  on  the  basis  of  1  teacher  to  every  33  pupils— the  ratio  pre¬ 
vailing  in  the  Roman  Catholic  schools  which  enroll  88  percent  of  the  pupils  in  this  group. 


Office  of  Education 


195 


Table  3. — Grants  to  States:  Office  of  Education,  fiscal  year  1956  1 


States,  or  Territories  and 
possessions 

Total 

Colleges  of 
agriculture 
and  the  me¬ 
chanic  arts 

Cooperative 

vocational 

education 

School 
construction 
(P.  L.  815) 

Maintenance 
and  operation 
of  schools 
(P.  L.  874) 

Total . . 

$208, 633, 750 

$5, 051, 500 

$33, 199, 226 

2  $89, 176,815 

*  $81, 206, 209 

Alabama . — 

4, 441, 564 

100, 541 

898, 437 

2,  424, 208 

1,018,378 

Arizona. . . 

2,  659, 106 

77, 477 

180, 844 

1,  494, 698 

906, 087 

Arkansas . . . . . 

2,  575,  559 

89, 048 

657, 340 

1, 190, 397 

638,  774 

California. - - 

30, 958,  570 

175,  599 

1, 620, 978 

14, 817,  260 

14, 344,  733 

Colorado... . 

4,  551,  669 

83, 218 

284, 221 

2, 031, 178 

2, 153, 052 

Connecticut - - -  - - 

3, 015,  738 

90, 023 

315,367 

1,413,804 

1, 196,  544 

Delaware _ 

373,  261 

73, 173 

165, 000 

92, 098 

42, 990 

Florida _ _ _ _ 

4,  473,  567 

97,  644 

514, 850 

2,  098, 100 

1,  762, 973 

Georgia . . 

5,  727,  555 

104, 360 

964,335 

2, 994, 183 

1, 664, 677 

Idaho . . - 

1, 009, 966 

75,872 

187,  580 

304,  253 

442, 261 

Illinois . . 

4, 637.  295 

156, 905 

1, 460, 900 

1, 031, 100 

1,988,390 

Indiana . . . 

2, 453,  746 

109,  245 

871,  495 

720, 916 

752, 090 

Iowa . . 

1, 175, 270 

96, 146 

741, 157 

92,  793 

245, 174 

Kansas - - 

5,  2'9, 763 

89, 006 

484,  204 

1, 349, 928 

3, 366,  625 

Kentucky - - - 

2, 122,  618 

99, 375 

911,771 

363, 039 

748, 433 

Louisiana- . . - . . 

1,  223, 429 

96, 769 

652,  621 

92, 936 

381, 103 

Maine . . . . - 

1,232, 956 

79, 115 

189,  789 

329, 948 

634, 104 

Maryland - - - - 

10, 128, 904 

93, 372 

397, 919 

6, 256,  533 

3, 381, 080 

Massachusetts — - - 

2, 196, 372 

116,  789 

637, 684 

177, 806 

1,  264, 093 

Michigan . . . . . . 

7, 292, 818 

133,  559 

1, 181,820 

5, 338, 495 

638, 944 

Minnesota- . . — . - 

1,615,  571 

99,  751 

762,  446 

634, 342 

119,032 

Mississippi - - - 

1,  435, 190 

91,  735 

826.110 

137, 195 

430, 150 

Missouri - - 

4, 183,  467 

109, 448 

929, 047 

1,981,037 

1, 163, 935 

Montana _ _ - . - 

1,532, 877 

75, 896 

189, 168 

1, 019, 371 

248,  442 

Nebraska - - - 

1, 954, 805 

83,  222 

379, 037 

531,019 

961,  527 

Nevada - - -  - 

1,64 -<,914 

71,  597 

141,440 

827,  537 

604, 340 

New  Hampshire- . . . 

777.843 

75,319 

160, 088 

135, 199 

407.  237 

New  Jersey - - - 

2,  690, 191 

118,  233 

643,  742 

503,  546 

1,419.  670 

New  Mexico - - -  ... 

6,  266, 140 

76,  795 

189,  715 

4,  569, 489 

1, 430, 141 

New  York - -  .. 

5,  717,  475 

217, 934 

2,070, 072 

1, 257, 018 

2,172,  451 

North  Carolina - 

2,  584,  204 

110,  518 

1, 288, 053 

681,809 

503,824 

North  Dakota... - - 

553,882 

76, 181 

256,  940 

27,  691 

193,  070 

Ohio. . . . . 

7,  545, 160 

149, 269 

1,  477,  593 

2,  788, 373 

3, 129, 925 

Oklahoma - - - 

8, 215, 876 

92,  278 

582, 057 

4, 394, 929 

3, 146,  612 

Oregon - - 

1, 178, 618 

85, 176 

344,  590 

116,378 

632,  474 

Pennsylvania . . 

3,477,  117 

174,  720 

1,807,  730 

185,  714 

1, 308, 953 

Rhode  Island - - - 

1,313,625 

77, 899 

126,  458 

323,  503 

785,  760 

South  Carolina - - - 

2, 194,  223 

91,118 

656, 029 

592, 384 

854,  692 

South  Dakota,. - - 

1, 744, 954 

76,  511 

253,114 

587, 185 

828, 144 

Tennessee - - - 

3, 198, 899 

102,835 

958,  503 

1, 075, 163 

1,062,398 

Texas . . . 

12, 954,  224 

146, 921 

1, 671, 308 

5,913,353 

6, 222,  642 

Utah... _ _ 

2, 152,  490 

76, 871 

172,  225 

1, 157,385 

746,  008 

Vermont _ 

279, 944 

73,  763 

164,  761 

41,415 

Virginia - - 

16, 392,  764 

103, 104 

857,  026 

8,410, 911 

7, 021,  723 

Washington _ _ 

7, 937,  557 

93,  731 

474,  773 

3,  265, 362 

4,  103,  691 

West  Virginia . . . . 

803, 180 

90,  006 

546, 818 

91,  505 

79, 851 

Wisconsin - - 

1,  420,  260 

104,  260 

819, 313 

157,  772 

338, 915 

Wyoming . . 

784,313 

72,898 

159,  443 

287,  586 

264,386 

District  of  Columbia  _ 

106, 999 

106, 999 

Alaska . . . 

4, 018, 213 

71, 283 

43, 378 

741, 162 

3,162, 390 

Hawaii _ 

3,  520,  764 

74, 986 

166,  202 

2,031,670 

1,  247, 906 

Puerto  Rico _ 

751,  456 

50, 000 

618, 907 

82,  549 

Virgin  Islands _ 

37,829 

37, 829 

1  On  a  checks-issued  basis.  Does  not  necessarily  agree  with  allotments  or  expenditures  for  a  given  fiscal 
year. 

2  Does  not  include  $7,525,000  paid  to  Housing  and  Home  Finance  Agency. 

3  Does  not  include  $735,255  paid  to  Air  Force,  $2,677,462  to  Army,  $11,587  to  Commerce,  $4,291  to  Interior, 
$831, 254  to  Navy,  and  $6,767  to  Veterans  Administration. 


f: 


LJ 


B.  S.  GOVERNMENT  PRINTING  OFFICE:  1957 


/fw5 


Office  of  Education 


„  department"!)? 

hEALTH,  EDUCATION,  AND  WELFARE 

MAY  2  3  1958 

library 

Education  Collection 


Introduction 

Fiscal  Year  1957  was  one  of  healthy  growth  and  activity  in  American 
education.  Men  and  women  in  every  phase  of  life — cultural,  social, 
economic,  and  industrial — recognized  the  need  for  more  education. 
Many  demands  were  made  on  school  officials  at  all  levels.  For  ex¬ 
ample,  progress  in  medicine,  in  dentistry,  in  industrial  arts  means 
changes  in  educational  programs  preparing  doctors,  dentists,  and  in¬ 
dustrial  artists.  Population  growth  and  mobility,  changing  occupa¬ 
tional  patterns,  and  technological  advances  mean  changes  in  educa¬ 
tional  patterns  as  well  as  increased  facilities.  As  the  spotlight 
focused  on  the  schools,  educators  went  to  work  to  solve  their  problems. 

_  A  few  facts  will  indicate  the  size  of  these  problems. 

Schools  and  colleges  in  the  United  States  enrolled  41,366,000  stu¬ 
dents  in  the  1956-57  school  year,  an  all  time  peak  and  an  increase  of 
1,567,300  over  enrollment  in  1955-56  (see  table  1).  Public  and  non¬ 
public  elementary  schools — kindergarten  through  grade  8 — enrolled 
29,711,000  children,  an  increase  of  1,196,800 ;  secondary  schools — grades 
9  through  12 — enrolled  7,820,000,  an  increase  of  72,900;  colleges  and 
universities,  3,244,000,  an  increase  of  248,000.  In  all  other  types  of 
schools — private  commercial,  day  and  evening,  nurse  training  schools 
not  affiliated  with  colleges  and  universities — enrollment  increased 
from  541,400  to  591,000. 

In  the  fall  of  1956,  94  percent  of  all  children  in  the  5-  to  13-year-old 
age  group  were  in  school,  and  88.2  percent  of  those  in  the  14-  to  17- 
year-old  group  as  compared  to  80.1  percent  10  years  ago. 

Of  the  total  enrollment,  5,133,000  pupils  were  in  private  elementary 
and  secondary  schools,  an  increase  of  5  percent  over  the  preceding 


159 


160 


Department  of  Health ,  Education,  and  Welfare,  1957 


year.  In  recent  years  enrollment  in  private  schools  has  increased 
more  rapidly  than  in  public  schools. 

The  classroom  shortage  in  public  elementary  and  secondary  schools, 
which  had  been  accumulating  over  a  period  of  years,  continued  in 
1957. 

In  the  school  year  1956-57  public  elementary  and  secondary  school 
enrollment  exceeded  normal  capacity  by  about  2.3  million  children. 
Of  this  number  about  840,000  pupils  were  on  half-day  schedules,  and 
the  others  were  in  overcrowded  classrooms  or  in  makeshift  facilities 
not  designed  for  school  ^vprk.  The  number  in  excess  of  normal  capac¬ 
ity  represents  the  number  oUpupils  that  cannot  be  accommodated 
without  double  sessionsji]*4hed*istrugtion  rooms  of  the  publicly  owned 
school  plant  in  use,  according  to  State  standards  of  normal  capacity. 

Pupils  were  housed  in  1,087,000  instructional  rooms,  which  was 
49,000  or  4.7  percent  more  than  the  number  available  in  1955-56. 
State  departments  of  education  reported  that  in  1956-57  an  additional 
159,000  instruction  rooms  were  needed  in  the  continental  United 
States,  80,000  of  them  to  accommodate  the  2.3  million  pupils  in  excess 
of  normal  capacity  and  79,000  to  replace  those  in  unsatisfactory  con¬ 
ditions.  A  total  of  69,200  instruction  rooms  in  public  schools  were 
scheduled  for  completion  during  the  year. 

The  shortage  of  qualified  elementary  and  secondary  teachers  in 
public  and  nonpublic  schools  was  a  little  less  severe  than  it  was  a  year 
ago — 120,700  as  compared  to  141,300  in  1955-56  (see  table  2).  Of  the 
total  1.2  million  teachers  in  the  public  school  system  in  the  fall  of 
1956,  89,400  or  1  in  every  13  were  emergency  teachers — that  is  they 
did  not  meet  the  State’s  standards  for  the  lowest  teaching  certificate. 
State  departments  reported  that  full-time  teachers  holding  emer¬ 
gency  certificates  constituted  7.5  percent  of  the  total  teaching  staff  in 
public  elementary  and  secondary  schools  as  compared  with  6.8  per¬ 
cent  the  year  before.  The  increase  in  the  proportion  of  emergency 
teachers  was  caused  in  part  by  the  adoption  of  higher  certification 
requirements  in  some  States. 

Turnover  among  teachers  was  high — about  7.5  percent  of  the  quali¬ 
fied  teachers.  Turnover,  as  used  here,  included  those  who  died  and 
those  who  left  the  classroom  because  of  death,  retirement,  marriage, 
or  to  work  in  another  field.  It  does  not  include  teachers  who  moved 
from  one  teaching  job  to  another. 

The  Office  estimates  that  when  public  and  nonpublic  schools  open 
in  the  fall  of  1957,  there  will  be  a  shortage  of  135,000  qualified  elemen¬ 
tary  and  high  school  teachers — 55,000  teachers  will  be  needed  to  meet 
the  enrollment  increase ;  12,600  to  make  up  the  difference  between  the 
94,000  leaving  the  profession  and  the  81,400  new  teachers  who  com¬ 
pleted  their  college  training  in  1956-57;  and  67,400  to  replace  the 


Office  of  Education 


161 


emergency  teachers  employed  last  year  (22,000  of  last  year’s  89,400 
emergency  teachers  will  have  become  qualified  before  school  opens). 
In  1956-57  the  shortage  of  qualified  teachers  was  met  by  the  employ¬ 
ment  of  emergency  teachers  and  further  overcrowding  of  classrooms. 

The  National  Education  Association  reports  that  in  1956-57  more 
than  half  of  all  teachers  were  women  in  elementary  grades,  and  40.1 
percent  of  all  teachers  were  in  rural  districts ;  that  in  general  the  level 
of  preparation  was  higher  in  urban  districts  than  in  rural,  in  secondary 
schools  than  in  elementary,  and  among  men  than  women.  Only  a  few 
teachers  were  paid  less  than  $2,000  a  year  or  more  than  $7,000;  the 
average  was  $4,220. 

The  cost  of  education  was  high.  For  education  in  public  elemen¬ 
tary  and  secondary  schools,  including  capital  outlay,  the  country  spent 
about  $12  billion.  Expenditures  per  pupil  in  average  daily  attend¬ 
ance  averaged  $400  for  the  school  year  1956-57.  Office  of  Education 
reports  indicate  that  about  56  percent  of  public  school  funds  were 
provided  from  local  property  taxes;  40  percent  from  State  taxes  on 
incomes,  sales,  and  other  forms  of  business  activity;  and  the  other  4 
percent  from  the  Federal  Government. 

The  growth  of  education  in  the  States  and  local  communities  led 
to  increasing  demands  for  leadership  and  to  increasing  requests  for 
service  and  information  from  the  Office  of  Education — information 
on  such  subjects  as  curriculum  organization,  efficient  operation  and 
administration,  and  on  methods  of  expanding  educational  opportuni¬ 
ties  at  all  levels  and  to  persons  of  varying  degrees  of  ability.  With 
a  65  percent  increase  in  funds  and  under  recently  enacted  legislation, 
the  Office  of  Education  was  able  to  expand  its  professional  staff  and 
services  and  to  initiate  new  programs  in  cooperative  research.  These 
services  and  programs  as  well  as  the  new  programs  of  grants  for  li¬ 
brary  service  in  rural  areas  and  the  extension  of  vocational  education 
are  discussed  in  more  detail  in  the  following  pages. 

LEGISLATION 

Although  the  number  of  congressional  enactments  affecting  educa¬ 
tion  was  small,  the  number  and  variety  of  bills  introduced  and 
considered  during  the  year  reflected  national  interest  in  education. 
Bills  introduced  included  proposals  for  general  scholarships  and 
fellowships,  veterans’  educational  benefits,  graduate  and  undergrad¬ 
uate  traineeships  in  specialized  fields,  assistance  for  State  studies 
of  education  beyond  the  high  school,  general  aid  for  school  construc¬ 
tion,  aid  for  federally  affected  areas,  vocational  training  in  the 
fishing  industry,  and  programs  in  the  fine  arts. 

A  number  of  proposals  for  general  Federal  aid  to  the  States  for 
school  construction  were  made.  During  the  84th  and  85th  Con- 


162 


Department  of  Health ,  Education ,  and  Welfare,  1957 


gresses  the  Administration’s  legislative  program  included  recom¬ 
mendations  for  the  enactment  of  such  legislation.  A  general  school 
construction  aid  bill  failed  to  pass  the  House  of  Representatives  on 
July  15,  1956.  The  President,  in  his  State  of  the  Union  Message 
on  January  10,  1957,  and  in  a  special  message  to  the  Congress  on  the 
status  of  education,  January  28,  1957,  again  requested  the  enactment 
of  such  legislation.  A  general  school  construction  aid  bill  again  was 
reported  to  the  House  in  1957  and  debated,  but  failed  to  pass. 

Among  the  measures  enacted  by  the  Congress  during  fiscal  year 
1957,  ten  in  the  second  session  of  the  84th  Congress  are  of  direct 
interest  to  education.  They  are  briefly  summarized  below. 

Public  Law  752,  approved  July  20,  1956,  amends  the  Agricultural 
Act  of  1949,  as  amended,  by  further  extending  the  Special  School 
Milk  Program  to  nonprofit  nursery  schools,  child-care  centers, 
settlement  houses,  summer  camps,  and  similar  nonprofit  institutions 
devoted  to  the  care  and  training  of  children,  whether  or  not  such  in¬ 
stitutions  are  caring  for  underprivileged  children  on  a  “public  wel¬ 
fare  or  charitable  basis.” 

Public  Law  813,  approved  July  26,  1956,  authorizes  appropriations 
for  allotments  to  the  States  to  assist  them  in  providing  for  a  com¬ 
mittee  for  education  beyond  the  high  school  and  authorizes  appropri¬ 
ations  for  the  expenses  of  the  President’s  Committee  on  Education 
Beyond  the  High  School. 

Public  Law  880  (Social  Security  Amendments  of  1956),  approved 
August  1,  1956,  amends  the  Social  Security  Act  in  three  ways  which 
concern  education.  Title  II,  Section  218  (a)  (6),  is  amended  so 
that  employees  of  State  and  local  governments  who  desire  to  come 
under  Old-Age  and  Survivors  Insurance  (OASI)  may  be  considered 
as  a  separate  group  for  purposes  of  coverage — at  the  option  of  the 
State  and  provided  that  all  new  employees  do  come  under  OASI. 
The  amendment  affects  Florida,  Georgia,  New  York,  North  Dakota, 
Pennsylvania,  Tennessee,  Wisconsin,  and  the  Territory  of  Hawaii. 

Title  II,  Section  218  (d)  (6),  is  further  amended  to  permit  affected 
States  (Nevada,  New  Mexico,  Oklahoma,  Pennsylvania,  Texas,  Wash¬ 
ington,  and  the  Territory  of  Hawaii)  to  cover  under  OASI  nonpro¬ 
fessional  school  employees  who  are  under  a  teachers’  retirement  sys¬ 
tem,  and  permits  them  to  do  so  without  a  referendum  and  without 
covering  the  professional  employees  who  are  in  a  system.  Title  III, 
Section  406  (a) ,  is  amended  by  removing  the  requirement  that,  in  order 
to  receive  aid,  a  needy  child  between  the  ages  of  16  and  18  be  in  attend¬ 
ance  in  a  school. 

Public  Law  881  (Servicemen’s  and  Veterans’  Survivor  Benefits 
Act),  approved  August  1,  1956,  provides,  among  other  things,  for  a 
continuing — until  age  21 — dependence  and  indemnity  compensation 


Office  of  Education 


163 


for  an  orphan  child  who  reaches  age  18  and  is  pursuing  a  course  of 
instruction  in  an  approved  educational  institution.  The  bill  also 
provides  that,  when  there  is  a  widow  with  a  child  who  has  attained  age 
18,  when  social  security  survivor  benefits  are  terminated,  the  child 
shall  be  provided  with  a  supplemental  veterans  administration  benefit 
of  $35  per  month  while  pursuing  a  course  of  instruction  in  an  ap¬ 
proved  educational  institution. 

Public  Law  896,  approved  August  1,  1956,  extends  to  the  Territory 
of  Guam  benefits  provided  under  other  Federal  statutes,  including 
assistance  to  vocational  education,  to  schools  in  federally  affected 
areas,  and  for  library  services. 

Public  Law  911,  approved  August  2,  1956,  amends  the  Vocational 
Education  Act  of  1946  to  authorize  grants  not  to  exceed  $5  million 
for  the  fiscal  year  ending  June  30,  1957,  and  for  each  of  the  next  4 
fiscal  years  to  States  with  State  plans  for  extending  and  improving 
practical  nurse  training. 

Public  Law  922,  approved  August  2,  1956,  amends  the  act  to  pro¬ 
mote  the  education  of  the  blind  (Act  of  March  3,  1879,  as  amended), 
so  as  to  authorize  wider  distribution  of  instructional  materials  and  to 
increase  the  amount  authorized  to  be  appropriated  for  this  purpose 
from  $250,000  to  $400,000. 

Public  Law  949,  approved  August  3,  1956,  extends  until  June  30, 
1958,  the  programs  under  Public  Laws  815  and  874  of  the  81st  Con¬ 
gress,  as  amended,  which  provide  for  Federal  financial  assistance  in 
constructing  and  operating  schools  in  areas  affected  by  Federal  ac¬ 
tivities  ;  and  makes  certain  technical  changes  in  the  provisions  of  these 
laws. 

Public  Law  1020,  approved  August  7, 1956,  amends  and  extends  the 
National  Housing  Act,  increasing  the  amount  of  college  housing  loans 
authorized  to  be  outstanding  at  any  one  time,  from  $500  million  to 
$750  million. 

Public  Law  1027,  approved  August  8,  1956,  amends  the  Vocational 
Education  Act  by  authorizing  the  appropriation  of  $375,000  for 
vocational  education  in  the  fishery  trades  and  industry,  and  distrib¬ 
utive  occupations  therein,  to  be  administered  by  the  United  States 
Commissioner  of  Education  in  consultation  with  the  Secretary  of 
the  Interior.  The  Secretary  of  the  Interior  is  authorized  to  make 
grants  to  public  and  nonprofit  private  universities  and  colleges  to 
promote  the  education  and  training  of  professionally  trained  persons 
needed  in  commercial  fishing,  and  an  appropriation  not  to  exceed 
$550,000  for  each  fiscal  year  is  authorized  for  this  purpose. 

During  the  year  the  Office  of  Education  continued  to  develop  its 
services  in  the  collection  and  interchange  of  information  in  the  field 
of  school  law.  A  principal  objective  is  to  develop  and  maintain  a 


164 


Department  of  Health ,  Education ,  and  Welfare ,  1957 


clearinghouse  of  information  on  the  status  of,  and  trends  in,  school 
law  developments  in  the  States  and  to  service  the  requests  of  State 
and  local  school  officials  and  organized  groups  on  such  developments. 
Two  basic  reports  on  the  provisions  of  State  school  law  governing 
special  education  of  exceptional  children  and  early  elementary  edu¬ 
cation  were  compiled  and  published.  General  information  on  State 
and  Federal  educational  legislation  was  also  collected  and  made  avail¬ 
able  to  the  public. 

Organization  and  Administration  of  Education 

STATE  SCHOOL  ADMINISTRATION 

Through  the  development  and  distribution  of  information  on  var¬ 
ious  aspects  of  State  school  administration  and  through  consultive 
services  to  State  departments  of  education,  legislative  committees, 
special  committees,  and  other  agencies,  the  Office  of  Education  con¬ 
tinued  to  assist  States  in  their  efforts  to  achieve  more  effective  pro¬ 
grams  of  State  school  administration. 

During  the  year,  the  Office  published  as  a  handbook  the  results  of 
the  financial  accounting  study  completed  in  fiscal  1956.  Entitled, 
Financial  Accounting  for  Local  and  State  School  Systems ,  the  hand¬ 
book  was  officially  approved  by  leading  national  educational  associa¬ 
tions  who  cooperated  in  its  development  as  the  basic  guide  for 
financial  accounting  for  local  and  State  school  systems  throughout 
the  country.  By  the  end  of  the  fiscal  year  a  number  of  States  had 
already  started  to  incorporate  the  handbook’s  recommendations  into 
their  accounting  systems.  This  handbook  is  the  second  in  a  basic 
educational  records  and  reports  series  aimed  at  laying  the  ground¬ 
work  for  comparable  educational  information  among  States  and 
communities.  With  such  groundwork  established,  it  will  be  possible 
to  have  available  adequate  and  reliable  educational  information  for 
local,  State,  and  national  spheres  of  activity. 

The  year  saw  the  substantial  beginning  of  a  project  on  property 
accounting  for  local  and  State  school  systems.  Aimed  at  standard¬ 
izing  the  meanings  of  basic  items  of  information  and  terminology 
relating  to  school  lands,  buildings,  and  equipment,  the  project  is  being 
conducted  in  cooperation  with  the  American  Association  of  School 
Administrators,  the  Association  of  School  Business  Officials  of  the 
United  States  and  Canada,  the  Council  of  Chief  State  School  Officers, 
the  National  Council  on  Schoolhouse  Construction,  and  the  National 
School  Boards  Association.  Hundreds  of  representatives  of  the  coop¬ 
erating  associations  from  all  parts  of  the  country  will  participate, 
through  national  and  regional  conferences,  in  the  production  of  the 
third  handbook  in  the  series.  In  this  way,  the  handbook  will  reflect 
the  needs  and  wishes  of  a  broad  representative  sample  of  its  prospec- 


Office  of  Education 


165 


tive  users  with  respect  to  the  kinds  and  the  meanings  of  basic  infor¬ 
mation  about  school  property  that  should  be  available. 

LOCAL  SCHOOL  ADMINISTRATION 

Efforts  to  secure  more  soundly  organized  local  school  districts  con¬ 
tinued  with  marked  success  in  some  States  but  with  many  others 
either  attempting  to  launch  new  districting  programs  or  to  improve 
the  effectiveness  of  those  already  in  operation.  To  assist  the  States 
with  this  widespread  problem,  the  Office  of  Education  completed  a 
study  dealing  with  the  conditions  which  facilitate  and  those  which 
hinder  progress.  To  help  local  communities  engaged  in  redistricting 
activities,  Office  specialists  developed  a  manual  of  planning  pro¬ 
cedures  which  is  scheduled  for  publication  in  fiscal  year  1958. 

Another  problem  directly  related  to  sound  district  organization 
is  that  of  determining  the  nature  and  scope  of  services  beyond  regu¬ 
lar  classroom  instruction  and  activities  a  school  system  can  provide 
at  reasonable  cost.  These  are  the  administrative,  supervisory,  and 
other  systemwide  services  needed  to  provide  good  conditions  for 
teaching  and  learning  in  the  classroom  and  for  overall  efficiency  of 
the  school  system.  In  fiscal  year  1957  a  special  Office  project  was 
initiated  dealing  with  this  problem. 

During  the  year  the  Office  cooperated  with  State  and  national 
organizations  engaged  in  serving  local  boards  of  education  and  com¬ 
pleted  a  study  of  State  statutory  provisions  governing  membership 
on  local  school  boards. 

SCHOOL  FINANCE 

The  Office  continued  its  services  to  States  and  local  communities 
which  have  problems  in  supporting  schools.  Throughout  the  Na¬ 
tion  there  was  continued  difficulty  in  securing  reasonably  adequate 
tax  revenues  for  schools.  During  the  past  year  the  financing  prob¬ 
lems  were  intensified  by  increases  in  enrollments,  public  demands 
for  additional  services,  and  rising  costs  which  required  greater  ex¬ 
penditures.  To  aid  the  schools  in  solving  such  problems  the  Office 
published  studies  reporting  and  interpreting  information  on  status, 
trends,  and  developments  in  school  finance  and  school  business 
management. 

The  Office  also  gave  consideration  to  the  requirements  of  State 
legislatures  and  State  departments  of  education  in  developing  im¬ 
proved  plans  for  financing  the  schools.  Among  such  new  plans  are 
those  which  propose  (1)  enactments  of  foundation  programs  for 
supporting  schools,  (2)  allocations  of  State  funds  for  public  2-year 
colleges,  (3)  authorizations  of  local  nonproperty  taxes  as  additional 
sources  of  school  revenue,  (4)  appropriations  of  State  funds  to  help 


166 


Department  of  Health ,  Education,  and  Welfare,  1957 


local  school  districts  construct  additional  classrooms,  and  (5)  the 
easing  of  restrictions  on  the  creation  of  debt  to  permit  local  districts 
to  borrow  funds  for  the  construction  of  new  school  buildings. 

SCHOOLHOUSING 

Since  1950  the  schoolhousing  program  has  become  big  business. 
During  the  first  7  years  of  the  decade  a  total  of  $131/£  billion  was 
spent  to  provide  schoolhousing  for  an  enrollment  increase  of  7% 
million  public  elementary  and  secondary  students,  for  rehousing  those 
who  moved  to  new  localities,  and  for  replacement  of  some  old  build¬ 
ings.  This  total  expenditure  represented  an  average  capital  outlay 
investment  of  approximately  $36,000  per  classroom  with  related  fa¬ 
cilities.  The  number  of  children  born  each  year  continued  to  in¬ 
crease;  building  deterioration,  pupil  mobility,  and  other  factors 
helped  create  new  housing  demands.  The  recent  nationwide  school 
facilities  survey  gave  impetus  to  the  drive  for  adequate  schoolhousing 
and  provided  the  States  with  preliminary  data  for  long-range  school- 
plant  programs. 

In  1957  the  Office  of  Education  provided  leadership  and  encour¬ 
agement  to  help  expand  and  improve  State  department  of  education 
services  and  guidance  for  local  school-plant  programs.  Various 
State  departments  established  new  or  expanded  existing  school- 
plant  service  units.  Some  States  increased  State  financial  assistance 
for  local  school-plant  construction.  Office  specialists  in  school  hous¬ 
ing  participated  in  numerous  State  or  regional  conferences  or  work¬ 
shops  organized  to  provide  data  on  the  development  and  maintenance 
of  efficient  and  economical  school-plant  programs. 

Providing  adequate  schoolhousing  for  modern  educational  pro¬ 
grams  requires  careful  functional  planning  and  designing  with  specific 
attention  to  space  and  facility  arrangements  best  adapted  to  the 
program  to  be  offered.  The  schoolhousing  specialists  cooperated  with 
various  national  organizations  in  developing  planning  criteria  and 
assisted  State  department  of  education  and  local  school  officials 
through  publications,  conferences,  and  advice  in  developing  tech¬ 
niques  and  procedures  for  studying  program  needs  and  for  develop¬ 
ing  plant  layouts  best  adapted  to  facilitate  the  educational  program. 
They  also  assisted  in  establishing  criteria  and  procedures  for  local 
cooperative  planning. 

Substantial  progress  was  made  in  developing  essential  criteria  to 
be  used  in  manufacturing  and  selecting  the  school  furniture  and 
equipment  needed  in  carrying  out  effective  educational  programs. 
Data  on  pupil  body  measurements  were  being  used  extensively  as 
guides  for  architectural  and  other  designers  of  buildings  and  particu¬ 
larly  for  designers  of  school  furniture  and  equipment.  The  present 


Office  of  Education 


167 


trend  in  planning  school  buildings  is  to  develop  school  facility  ar¬ 
rangements,  furniture,  and  equipment  which  are  adapted  to  the  ages 
and  sizes  of  pupils  using  them  and  to  the  learning  activities  of  the  pu¬ 
pils.  Such  features  as  working  heights  and  spacing,  the  needs  of 
left-handed  pupils,  and  the  dimensional  spacing  and  heights  desirable 
for  certain  types  of  physically  handicapped  children  are  all  con¬ 
sidered.  Designers  and  manufacturers  are  making  extensive  use  of 
such  data,  and  during  the  year  they  requested  the  advice  and  services 
of  the  Office  in  applying  them  to  new  design  problems. 

The  completed  school  plant  must  be  maintained  ready  for  use.  The 
Office  provided  guidance  to  the  States  and  local  districts  in 
developing  maintenance,  modernization,  rehabilitation,  and  custodial 
improvement  programs.  A  1956  school-plant  insurance  study  stim¬ 
ulated  several  State,  many  local  district,  and  some  college  graduate 
student  studies  on  school  building  insurance.  Many  State  and  city 
school  officials  established  custodial  training  programs  along  lines 
suggested  by  the  Office  to  improve  school  custodial  services. 

Schoolhousing  specialists  serve  in  a  liaison  capacity  between  the 
field  of  building  and  equipment  technology  and  school  officials.  The 
Office  is  constantly  engaged  in  various  studies  in  cooperation  with 
technological  organizations  having  a  bearing  on  school-plant  con¬ 
struction  and  efficiency.  One  study  under  way  is  to  establish  new 
standards  for  school  lighting  to  replace  those  developed  in  1948; 
and  another  to  establish  a  standard  pattern  for  measuring  of  floor 
areas  in  school  buildings.  These  measurements  are  to  serve  as  bases 
for  computing  and  comparing  school  building  space  allotments  and 
unit  costs. 

Services  to  Local  Schools 

ELEMENTARY  EDUCATION 

In  recent  years  the  States  have  intensified  their  efforts  to  provide 
adequately  for  the  education  of  young  children  in  the  public  schools. 
They  have  expanded  services,  widened  age  ranges,  increased  their  re¬ 
quirements  for  teacher  certification,  and  made  an  effort  to  extend  edu¬ 
cational  opportunity  to  all  groups  at  varying  levels  of  ability. 
Greater  activity  at  the  State  and  local  level  has  led  to  greater  need 
for  Office  of  Education  information  and  services.  The  activities  de¬ 
scribed  below  will  give  an  indication  of  the  type  of  services  the  Office 
rendered  to  elementary  education  in  1957. 

During  the  year  specialists  in  elementary  education  completed  a 
number  of  studies:  1)  On  improved  methods  of  reporting  to  parents 
on  pupils’  progress;  2)  on  teacher  recruitment  and  retention,  show¬ 
ing  what  State  groups  have  done  in  the  recruitment  and  selection  of 
teachers  and  what  some  schools  have  done  to  promote  teacher  profes- 


168 


Department  of  Health ,  Education ,  and  Welfare ,  1957 


sional  development;  8)  on  conservation  practices  in  elementary 
schools;  and  4)  on  the  status  of  physical  education  in  elementary 
schools  in  the  United  States. 

The  Office  continued  its  efforts  to  improve  educational  opportuni¬ 
ties  for  children  of  migrant  agricultural  workers.  Through  repre¬ 
sentation  on  the  Working  Group  of  the  President’s  Committee  on 
Migratory  Labor,  the  Office  cooperated  with  other  agencies  and  De¬ 
partments  in  studying  the  relation  of  education  to  the  problems  of 
transportation,  housing,  and  health — problems  which  the  Committee 
dealt  with  during  the  year.  The  Office  initiated  a  study  to  make  a 
census  of  migrant  children  attending  school;  it  will  be  completed  in 
1958.  The  Office  also  organized  and  participated  in  two  regional  con¬ 
ferences  on  the  education  of  migrant  children,  one  in  Kalamazoo, 
Mich.,  for  the  North  Central  States,  the  other  in  Santa  Fe,  N.  Mex., 
for  the  Southwest  States.  Throughout  the  year  staff  specialists  con¬ 
sulted  with  private  and  public  agencies  working  on  migrant  education 
projects,  such  as  the  planning  of  summer  schools  for  migrant  chil¬ 
dren,  teacher  education  workshops  for  teachers  of  migrant  children, 
and  preparation  of  printed  materials  on  the  education  of  migrant 
children. 

Significant  proposals  for  elementary  education  resulted  from  two 
conferences  held  in  the  Office  of  Education.  About  60  persons  from 
50  large  cities  attended  a  conference  for  supervisors  of  elementary 
education  in  large  cities.  One  proposal  was  that  children  and  par¬ 
ents  be  invited  to  participate  along  with  professional  educators  in 
developing  good  programs  of  instruction  and  that  schools  should  help 
children  become  selective  in  what  they  learn  through  greater  emphasis 
on  critical  and  creative  thinking  and  problem  solving. 

A  second  conference  was  concerned  with  the  role  of  special  teachers 
of  art,  music,  and  physical  education  in  the  elementary  school.  Spe¬ 
cialists  in  these  fields  and  in  general  elementary  education  attended. 

SECONDARY  EDUCATION 

In  general,  the  school  year  1956-57  reflected  increased  emphasis  by 
educators  and  citizens  on  improving  the  quality  of  curriculum  content 
and  instruction  in  secondary  schools  and  at  the  same  time  on  devising 
methods  of  school  organization  and  teaching  appropriate  to  the  indi¬ 
vidual  differences  of  adolescent  youth. 

Specialists  for  mathematics  and  science  continued  to  devote  atten¬ 
tion  to  the  completion  of  basic  studies  of  the  quantitative  and  qualita¬ 
tive  status  of  mathematics  and  science  instruction.  A  pilot  study  of 
the  qualifications  and  teaching  loads  of  mathematics  and  science 
teachers  was  conducted  in  three  States.  The  study  pattern  developed 
was  adopted  by  other  States  working  to  improve  their  programs. 


Office  of  Education 


169 


The  1954  study  of  mathematics  and  science  offerings  and  enroll¬ 
ments  was  repeated,  and  analytical  comparisons  were  made.  Kesults 
show  continued  increase  in  the  availability  of  courses  in  high  school 
and  increase  in  enrollments. 

Staff  specialists,  in  cooperation  with  those  of  other  Government 
agencies,  reviewed  studies  of  the  growing  national  need  for  foreign 
language  competence  in  Government,  business,  industry,  and  educa¬ 
tion.  A  conference  attended  by  school  administrators,  supervisors, 
teachers,  and  teacher-educators  was  held  which  identified  problems 
and  the  need  for  modernizing  and  extending  foreign  language  in¬ 
struction  to  more  pupils  for  longer  sequences  of  time. 

A  study  of  research  findings,  administrative  and  organization  pat¬ 
terns,  and  instructional  materials  for  developmental  and  remedial 
reading  programs  in  junior  high  schools  was  completed.  Another 
study  was  released  which  analyzed  the  various  types  of  cooperative 
school-community  work  experience  education  programs  in  secondary 
schools.  Suggestions  useful  to  school  administrators  in  initiating 
and  conducting  such  programs  were  made. 

ADULT  EDUCATION 

During  the  year  the  Office  of  Education,  through  one  of  its  staff 
members,  worked  with  the  Adult  Education  Association  in  estab¬ 
lishing  the  National  Commission  on  Literacy.  The  Commission  will 
help  develop  a  national  awareness  of  the  problem  of  adult  illiteracy 
and  the  importance  and  urgency  of  solving  the  problem.  It  will  also 
give  leadership  in  attacking  the  problem. 

With  the  National  Education  Association  the  Office  developed  a 
cooperative  program  making  the  consideration  of  adult  education  a 
part  of  American  Education  Week.  Heretofore,  emphasis  during 
this  annual  national  observance  has  been  on  the  education  of  chil¬ 
dren  and  youth.  From  now  on  educational  leaders  plan  to  em¬ 
phasize  lifelong  learning  as  one  of  the  major  areas  of  American 
education  as  a  means  of  making  adult  education  an  integral  part  of 
the  regular  educational  programs. 

Another  phase  of  the  Office  of  Education’s  effort  to  promote  na¬ 
tional  concern  for  adult  education  was  the  development  of  an  adult 
education  exhibit  for  the  use  of  teachers,  lay  leaders  of  community 
groups,  and  others  interested  in  adult  education. 

Underlying  all  the  Office’s  plans  and  activities  in  adult  education 
are  its  regular  and  basic  studies  in  the  various  areas  of  adult  edu¬ 
cation.  During  the  year,  work  was  begun  on  the  collection  and  in¬ 
terpretation  of  adult  education  statistics;  on  studies  of  activities  in 
State  departments  of  education  and  local  school  systems  relating  to 
adult  education ;  and  on  education  for  the  aging. 


448006—58 - 12 


170 


Department  of  Health ,  Education ,  and  Welfare,  1957 


For  the  first  time  questions  on  the  extent  to  which  people  partici¬ 
pate  in  adult  education  activities  will  be  asked  in  the  current  popula¬ 
tion  survey  of  the  Bureau  of  the  Census.  This  survey,  planned  for 
October,  will  cover  a  sample  of  35,000  households  in  330  subdivisions 
of  the  country  and  will  yield  a  national  estimate  of  the  number  of 
adults  who  have  pursued  some  educational  activity  during  the  past 
year.  Office  specialists  in  adult  education,  in  cooperation  with  the 
adult  Education  Association  and  the  Fund  for  Adult  Education, 
made  the  arrangements  with  the  Census  and  obtained  the  cooperation 
of  several  voluntary  agencies  in  planning  the  questions  and  the  pre¬ 
liminary  instructions  for  Census  enumerators.  It  is  hoped  that  the 
experience  from  the  inclusion  of  these  questions  in  the  October  Pop¬ 
ulation  Survey  will  be  sufficiently  satisfactory  to  warrant  the  in¬ 
clusion  of  similar  questions  in  the  1960  Census. 

EXCEPTIONAL  CHILDREN 

Children  whose  physical,  mental,  or  emotional  qualities  differ  sig¬ 
nificantly  from  the  average  or  normal  are  called  exceptional  children. 
Public  interest  in  the  education  of  exceptional  children  in  the  United 
States  continued  to  mount  in  1957.  It  was  focused  primarily  on 
children  with  mental  retardation,  speech  and  hearing  impairment,  and 
blindness.  This  interest  was  evident  at  Federal,  State,  and  local 
levels. 

In  recent  years  there  have  been  many  developments  in  the  education 
of  the  mentally  retarded.  One  of  national  significance  is  the  pro¬ 
gram  of  cooperative  research  in  this  field  which  was  launched  by  the 
Office  of  Education  during  the  year  (See  Cooperative  research) .  For 
the  first  year  in  a  new  program,  the  variety  and  coverage  of  areas 
for  study  was  extensive.  Research  projects  initiated  included  studies 
on  trainable  and  educable  children,  age  groups  ranging  from  pre¬ 
school  to  adolescence,  day-school  and  residential-school  programs, 
and  urban  and  rural  population. 

National  interest  in  developing  and  improving  standards  for  su¬ 
pervisors  and  teachers  to  work  with  the  various  types  of  exceptional 
children  also  continued.  One  of  the  deterrents  to  the  development 
of  educational  programs  for  handicapped  or  gifted  children  has 
been  the  shortage  of  specially  prepared  and  trained  teachers  for 
them.  For  a  number  of  years  the  Office  has  given  leadership  to  a 
nationwide  study  on  this  problem,  and  during  fiscal  1957  completed 
three  of  the  study  reports:  one  on  the  preparation  of  teachers  of 
mentally  retarded,  one  on  teachers  of  socially  maladjusted  children, 
and  the  third  on  speech  correctionists. 

Plans  for  the  education  of  blind  children  in  this  country  seem 
to  be  changing  somewhat.  On  the  basis  of  preliminary  figures  col¬ 
lected  by  the  American  Printing  House  for  the  Blind,  an  increased 


Office  of  Education 


171 


number  of  blind  children  were  being  educated  in  day  schools  in  1957. 
The  ratio  of  enrollments  in  residential  schools  to  day  schools  was 
about  6  to  4.  Together  with  this  shift  in  philosophy  and  practice, 
some  changes  were  made  in  the  Federal  act  to  promote  the  education 
of  the  blind  (Public  Law  922, 84th  Cong.,  2d  sess.) . 

AUDIOVISUAL  EDUCATION 

The  Office  continued  to  provide  services  relating  to  the  audiovisual 
materials  of  the  Federal  Government,  including  cataloging  new  films 
for  Library  of  Congress  catalog  cards,  administering  the  Govern¬ 
ment’s  contract  covering  the  sale  of  films,  and  preparing  a  supple¬ 
ment  to  the  1955  catalog,  “United  States  Government  Films  for 
Public  Educational  Use.”  Work  was  started  on  the  compilation  of 
a  catalog  of  Government  maps  available  for  educational  use. 

As  part  of  its  program  to  strengthen  State  and  local  educational 
resources,  the  Office  prepared  directories  of  audiovisual  employees  in 
the  Federal  Government,  State  departments  of  education,  and  large 
city  school  systems;  and  made  a  study  of  audiovisual  education  in 
State  departments  of  education.  This  study  showed  that  the  States, 
while  differing  in  individual  practices,  were  providing  a  number  of 
services  affecting  the  classroom  use  of  audiovisual  instructional  ma¬ 
terials — through  curriculum  development,  school  accreditation, 
teacher  certification,  publications,  and  workshops  as  well  as  through 
the  production  and  distribution  of  audiovisual  materials. 

RADIO-TELEVISION  SERVICES 

The  nationwide  development  of  radio  and  television  in  education 
was  indicated  by  the  increase  in  the  number  of  program  offerings 
on  commercial  and  noncommercial  stations  cooperating  with  educa¬ 
tional  institutions,  in  the  large  number  of  courses  for  credit  offered 
over  television,  and  in  the  number  of  stations.  Program  offerings 
over  noncommercial  TV  stations  increased  to  a  general  average  of 
56  hours  a  week,  and  commercial  stations  made  sharp  increases  in  in¬ 
stitutional  cultural  programs.  The  number  of  courses  for  credit  in¬ 
creased,  particularly  where  experimental  use  on  a  noncredit  basis 
justified  the  offering.  The  number  of  educational  radio  stations  in¬ 
creased  from  176  in  1956  to  193  in  1957,  and  educational  television 
stations  from  26  in  1956  to  29  on  the  air  in  1957  and  11  in  the  con¬ 
struction  or  planning  stages. 

Closed-circuit  television  in  schools  and  on  college  campuses  also 
showed  the  results  of  successful  experimentation  over  the  past  year. 
Large  cities,  such  as  Los  Angeles,  Atlanta,  Chicago,  and  New  York, 
maintained  closed-circuit  as  well  as  open-circuit  broadcasting. 
Smaller  cities  like  Evanston,  Ill.,  Hagerstown,  Md.,  Wichita,  Kans., 


172 


Department  of  Health ,  Education ,  and  Welfare,  1957 


and  San  Jose,  Calif.,  carried  on  teaching  experiments  demonstrating 
the  educational  possibilities  of  television. 

During  the  year  the  Office  cooperated  with  educational  institutions 
and  with  the  Department  of  Defense,  Department  of  State,  the 
Treasury  Department,  Department  of  Commerce,  the  United  States 
Information  Agency,  the  National  Science  Foundation,  and  other 
Government  agencies  in  planning  and  producing  programs.  Staff 
specialists  advised  on  educational  projects  in  many  parts  of  the  United 
States,  under  various  State  auspices,  the  Commonwealth  of  Puerto 
Rico,  and  a  number  of  foreign  countries  just  starting  television. 

GUIDANCE  AND  STUDENT  PERSONNEL 

During  the  year  the  Office  prepared  and  distributed  pamphlets, 
circulars,  and  leaflets  on  various  occupations  for  the  use  of  school 
guidance  and  student  personnel  workers.  Major  publications  dealt 
with  such  areas  as  certification  requirements  for  guidance  workers 
including  school  psychologists,  summer  and  academic  year  offerings 
at  colleges  and  universities  in  the  preparation  of  guidance  and  student 
personnel  workers,  and  retention  in  high  schools  in  large  cities.  Staff 
members  continued  research  in  evaluation  of  guidance  and  student 
personnel  services,  characteristics  of  students  and  educational  pro¬ 
grams  in  schools  having  low  student  dropout  rates,  guidance  practices 
in  260  local  schools,  and  guidance  procedures  for  the  selection  of 
students  in  vocational  education. 

The  Office  also  carried  on  a  number  of  activities  in  cooperation 
with  other  agencies  and  groups,  both  private  and  governmental.  In 
one  of  these — the  Stay-in-School  Campaign — the  Office  cooperated 
with  the  Departments  of  Labor  and  Defense  in  preparing  and  dis¬ 
tributing  press  and  radio  releases  and  a  handbook  for  the  use  of 
communities  in  urging  high  school  youth  to  stay  in  school.  A  study 
on  the  transition  from  school  to  work  prepared  to  aid  schools,  civic 
clubs,  PTA’s,  and  employers  in  assisting  youth  as  they  move  from 
education  to  employment  was  the  outgrowth  of  discussions  with  a 
subcommittee  of  the  Inter-Departmental  Committee  on  Children  and 
Youth.  A  study  of  the  retention  of  students  in  high  schools  grew  out 
of  a  6-year  planning  and  research  program  involving  22  large  city 
school  systems.  A  study  of  careers  in  atomic  energy  was  made,  with 
technical  assistance  from  the  Atomic  Energy  Commission. 

Staff  specialists  also  cooperated  with  other  governmental  and  pro¬ 
fessional  groups  concerned  with  guidance  and  personnel. 

Vocational  Education 

One  of  the  functions  of  the  Office  of  Education  is  to  administer 
the  grant-in-aid  funds  for  vocational  education  of  less  than  college 
grade  made  available  under  provisions  of  the  Smith-Hughes  and 


Office  of  Education 


173 


George-Barden  and  supplementary  acts  and  to  assist  States  in  the 
promotion  and  improvement  of  such  education. 

To  carry  out  the  provisions  of  these  acts  the  Congress  appropriated 
slightly  more  than  $38  million  in  matching  funds  for  allotment  by  the 
Office  to  the  States  in  1957,  an  increase  of  about  $5  million  over  the 

1956  total.  In  1956  State  and  local  expenditures  for  vocational  edu¬ 
cation  amounted  to  $142,705,208.  That  year  more  than  65  percent  of 
the  high  schools  in  the  country  offered  training  in  one  or  more  of  the 
vocational  programs — agriculture,  distributive  occupations,  home 
economics,  trade  and  industry,  practical  nurse  education — and  ap¬ 
proximately  3,500,000  youths  and  adults  were  enrolled. 

The  Federal  grant  included  $2  million  for  the  extension  and  im¬ 
provement  of  practical  nurse  training,  under  legislation  enacted  by 
the  84th  Congress  (Public  Law  911),  amending  the  George-Barden 
Act. 

The  action  of  the  Congress  in  providing  special  funds  for  prac¬ 
tical  nurse  training  stimulated  the  States  to  extend  such  training. 
By  the  close  of  the  year  47  States  and  Territories  were  participating 
in  the  program.  The  Office  assisted  the  States  through  intraregional 
conferences  in  working  out  program  plans  for  the  growth  and  de¬ 
velopment  of  practical  nurse  training.  Five  such  conferences  were 
conducted  during  the  year  by  three  professional  nurse-educators 
who  had  joined  the  staff  to  assist  with  the  program. 

Policies  for  the  administration  of  the  practical  nurse  training  pro¬ 
gram  under  the  provisions  of  Public  Law  911  covering  the  most  im¬ 
portant  points  were  developed  and  distributed  to  the  States  early 
in  the  year.  By  the  end  of  the  fiscal  year  a  full  statement  of  policies 
for  the  administration  of  the  program  for  training  practical  nurses 
had  been  completed. 

The  84th  Congress  also  enacted  legislation  (Public  Law  896)  en¬ 
titling  Guam  to  participate  in  the  vocational  education  program. 
Other  legislation  (Public  Law  1027)  was  designed  to  promote  voca¬ 
tional  education  in  the  fishery  trades  and  industry  and  distributive 
occupations  therein.  No  funds  were  appropriated  for  the  fiscal  year 

1957  under  either  of  these  acts. 

The  changing  economic  and  social  conditions  affecting  farming, 
industry,  distribution,  and  family  living  emphasize  the  importance 
of  continual  appraisal  of  vocational  programs  arid  adjustments  to 
them  to  meet  the  needs  of  workers,  as  well  as  the  demand  for 
workers.  States  report  that  training  is  needed  for  many  new  in¬ 
dustries  and  for  old  industries  employing  new  production  methods. 
New  and  higher  skills  are  needed  by  workers  to  meet  the  job  require¬ 
ments  of  the  present  and  the  future.  To  help  the  States  improve 
their  program,  the  Office  conducted  17  regional  conferences  for  State 
personnel  in  vocational  education.  Special  emphasis  w^as  given  to 


174 


Department  of  Health ,  Education ,  and  Welfare,  1957 


adapting  instruction  to  changing  conditions,  keeping  abreast  of  tech¬ 
nical  improvements,  meeting  the  need  for  preservice  and  in-service 
training  of  teachers  and  supervisors,  providing  new  areas  of  training, 
and  developing  leadership  in  vocational  education,  adult  education, 
and  action  research. 

In  carrying  out  studies  and  plans  for  improving  the  program  in 
specific  areas,  the  Office  brought  together  groups  of  persons  with  ex¬ 
perience  in  successful  programs  or  with  experience  in  the  areas  under 
consideration.  Representative  of  these  were : 

(1)  A  conference  on  various  phases  of  the  practical  nurse  train¬ 
ing  program  in  which  20  persons  participated  to  advise  the  staff 
on  significant  steps  in  the  preparation  of  plans  for  programs  of 
practical  nursing;  to  develop  criteria  for  evaluating  progress;  and 
to  identify  studies  needed. 

(2)  A  group  of  17  home  economists  who  reexamined  the  program 
of  home  economics  for  adults,  considered  the  development  and  im¬ 
provement  of  these  programs,  and  assisted  in  preparing  basic  con¬ 
tent  materials  for  a  much  needed  bulletin  in  this  field. 

(3)  A  conference  on  implications  for  trade  and  industrial  educa¬ 
tion  of  technological  change  in  industry,  in  which  vocational  edu¬ 
cators  from  16  States  participated.  Special  contributions  were  made 
by  representatives  from  industry,  Government,  and  other  groups 
concerned  with  the  training  of  technicians. 

To  assist  the  States  in  developing  various  phases  of  the  program 
for  which  there  was  an  expressed  need,  the  Office  rendered  service 
in  the  following  ways:  1)  Conducted  a  second  national  conference 
for  the  development  of  leadership  in  trade  and  industrial  educa¬ 
tion  for  new  and  potential  State  supervisors,  with  59  industrial  edu¬ 
cators  from  38  States  participating. 

2)  Organized  and  conducted,  in  cooperation  with  representatives  of 
the  textile  industry,  a  series  of  textile  fiber  clinics  to  bring  to  State 
and  local  leaders  in  distributive  education  information  on  recent  de¬ 
velopments  and  on  sources  of  teaching  materials. 

3 )  Held  the  first  regional  conference  on  farm  mechanics  for  teach¬ 
ers  of  vocational  agriculture,  with  11  States  participating,  to  develop 
functional  programs  in  farm  mechanics  instruction  in  keeping  with 
modern  mechanized  agriculture. 

4)  Conducted  workshops  on  farm  mechanics  in  a  number  of  States 
for  State  staffs  in  agricultural  education. 

5)  Cosponsored,  with  a  university  which  offers  teacher  training 
in  home  economics,  the  first  of  a  series  of  workshops  on  improvement 
in  home  economics  teaching — emphasizing  social,  economic,  and 
scientific  developments  as  they  affect  home  and  family  life. 

Several  projects  were  undertaken  during  the  year.  They  included 
a  preliminary  investigation  into  the  study  and  research  needed  in 


Office  of  Education 


175 


vocational  education  in  secondary  schools ;  a  study  of  the  importance 
of  business  education  as  a  field  of  training  and  as  a  potential  source 
of  workers;  the  development  of  curriculum  materials  for  quantity 
food  preparation  in  hotels  and  restaurants;  and  management  train¬ 
ing  needs  of  small  business  establishments  and  the  contribution  that 
distributive  education  in  secondary  schools  can  make  to  such  training. 

The  Office  reviewed  programs  in  the  several  States  and  assisted  the 
States  in  appraising  their  administrative  practices  and  at  the  same 
time  program  specialists  assisted  the  States  in  further  developing 
their  programs. 

Office  specialists  participated  in  teacher-training  workshops  and 
in  meetings  of  State  supervisory  and  teacher-training  staffs  on  the 
improvement  of  instruction;  assisted  in  State- conducted  studies  of 
vocational  education;  served  on  committees  concerned  with  curricu¬ 
lum  improvement;  worked  with  State  staffs  and  teacher-training 
institutions  on  research  projects;  helped  in  the  preparation  of 
resource  materials  for  use  in  universities  and  local  school  systems; 
and  participated  in  many  of  the  annual  State  conventions  of  voca¬ 
tional  educators. 

The  revision  of  the  Statement  of  Policies  for  the  Administration 
of  V ocational  Education  (Bulletin  No.  1),  begun  in  fiscal  year  1956, 
neared  completion  by  the  close  of  the  fiscal  year.  In  this  task  there 
has  been  wide  participation  by  State  directors  of  vocational  educa¬ 
tion,  with  the  final  work  to  be  done  by  a  special  committee  composed 
of  chief  State  school  officers  and  State  directors,  working  with  mem¬ 
bers  of  the  staff  of  the  Office  of  Education  and  the  Office  of  the 
General  Counsel. 

Higher  Education 

The  following  projects  are  representative  of  Office  research  and 
consultive  services  to  higher  education  during  fiscal  year  1957. 

COST  OF  GOING  TO  COLLEGE 

During  the  year,  the  Office  completed  a  study  (reported  in  Bulletin 
1957,  No.  9,  91  p.)  of  what  a  year  in  college  costs  undergraduate 
students  and  the  major  source  of  student  budgets.  Based  on  the 
experience  of  15,325  students  in  110  colleges  in  41  States  during  the 
school  year  1956-57,  the  study  reports  that  the  estimated  cost  of 
attending  undergraduate  college  per  school  year  averaged  $1,500  for 
publicly  controlled  colleges  and  $2,000  for  private  and  related 
institutions. 

These  costs  were  double  those  undergraduate  students  paid  in  1940. 
The  family  of  the  average  student  provided  from  its  current  income 
41  percent  of  the  student’s  budget;  he  earned  26  percent  of  it; 
received  20  percent  from  trust  funds  and  other  forms  of  long-time 


176 


Department  of  Health ,  Education ,  and  Welfare ,  1957 


family  savings ;  and  received  the  remaining  13  percent  from  scholar¬ 
ships,  loan  funds,  veterans’  benefits,  and  miscellaneous  resources. 

STATEWIDE  PLANNING  AND  COORDINATION  OF  HIGHER  EDUCATION 

The  Office  published  a  roundup  on  what  each  of  the  48  States  is 
doing  in  the  field  of  statewide  planning  and  coordination  of  higher 
education.  The  Office  provided  consultive  services  on  the  topic  to 
State  executive  and  legislative  councils  and  to  boards  of  regents  in  8 
States:  Colorado,  Florida,  Louisiana,  Michigan,  New  Mexico, 
Nevada,  Tennessee,  and  Wisconsin.  Staff  specialists  also  contributed 
to  improved  State  planning  and  coordination  in  higher  education 
through  work  with  the  President’s  Committee  on  Education  Beyond 
the  High  School,  and  through  service  to  the  Southern,  Western,  and 
New  England  regional  compacts  of  States  for  developing  higher 
education. 

COLLEGE  STUDENT  RETENTION  AND  WITHDRAWAL 

During  the  year,  the  Office  completed  a  4-year  study  of  the  extent 
and  causes  of  the  retention  and  withdrawal  of  college  students.  It 
was  based  on  the  experience  of  13,700  students  who  first  enrolled  in 
college  in  the  fall  of  1950.  The  students  attended  147  representative 
institutions  in  46  States  and  the  District  of  Columbia.  The  study 
shows  that  40  percent  of  the  freshmen  who  entered  college  in  1950 
remained  to  graduate  4  years  later  and  that  an  additional  20  percent 
were  ultimately  graduated.  The  holding  power  of  colleges  indicated 
by  these  figures  represents  a  significant  improvement  over  those  shown 
by  a  study  done  in  1937. 

Among  freshmen  general  dissatisfaction  with  the  instructional  and 
counseling  program  ranked  highest  among  causes  for  withdrawal. 
Academic  failure  ranked  second.  For  sophomores,  juniors,  and 
seniors,  personal  financial  problems  ranked  highest.  The  greatest 
number  of  dropouts  were  in  the  freshman  year. 

COLLEGE  AND  UNIVERSITY  FACILITIES  SURVEY 

Preliminary  reports  from  a  college  and  university  facilities  survey 
now  underway  indicate  that  during  the  last  5  years  the  country  has 
spent  $2  billion  for  new  buildings  and  expects  to  spend  $4  billion 
for  this  purpose  during  the  next  5  years.  Approximately  62  percent 
of  new  construction  in  the  last  5  years  was  for  publicly  supported 
institutions  and  38  percent  for  private  colleges  and  universities. 

Publicly  controlled  institutions  got  56  percent  of  their  construction 
funds  from  local,  State,  and  Federal  taxes;  31  percent  from  bond 
issues;  and  13  percent  from  other  sources.  During  the  same  period, 
privately  supported  institutions  got  56  percent  of  their  construction 
funds  from  gifts,  20  percent  from  bond  issues  and  other  borrowings, 


Office  of  Education 


177 


10  percent  from  current  institutional  funds,  8  percent  from  endow¬ 
ment,  4.5  percent  from  governmental  appropriations,  and  1.5  percent 
from  other  sources. 

SURVEY  OF  ORGANIZED  OCCUPATIONAL  CURRICULUMS 

The  Office  of  Education,  in  cooperation  with  the  American  Society 
for  Engineering  Education,  has  published  detailed  statistics  on  engi¬ 
neering  enrollments  and  degrees  since  1949.  In  1957,  following  a  re¬ 
quest  from  the  President’s  Committee  on  Scientists  and  Engineers, 
the  joint  enterprise  was  extended  to  cover  organized  occupational 
curriculums  (both  engineering  and  nonengineering)  of  less  than  4 
years’  duration  in  technical  institutes,  junior  colleges,  and  other  higher 
educational  institutes. 

Questionnaires  covering  curriculums  of  less  than  4  years’  duration 
for  the  academic  year  1956-57  were  sent  to  all  recognized  institutions 
of  higher  education.  Returns  from  95  percent  of  them  show  that  639 
institutions  enrolled  92,430  students  in  nonengineering  curriculums, 
and  60,242  in  engineering-related  curriculums ;  and  graduated  23,441 
students  from  nonengineering  curriculums  and  10,737  from  engineer¬ 
ing-related  curriculums.  Publication  of  complete  data  early  in  fiscal 
year  1958  will  make  available  for  the  first  time  information  on  the 
extent  and  type  of  training  at  the  technician  and  semiprofessional 
level. 

COLLEGE  STAFFING  STUDY 

There  were  301,582  faculty  members  in  American  colleges  and  uni¬ 
versities  in  the  fall  of  1955.  According  to  Office  of  Education  esti¬ 
mates,  college  student  enrollments  will  increase  from  3,244,000  in 
1956-57  to  6,676,000  by  1970-71.  Thus,  about  double  the  number  of 
present  college  teachers  will  be  required  if  the  present  teacher-student 
ratio  is  to  be  maintained.  The  already  difficult  staffing  problems  are 
expected  to  become  more  serious. 

In  consideration  of  these  facts  the  Office,  in  May  1957,  sponsored  a 
conference  of  representative  leaders  in  higher  education  to  advise  on 
(1)  how  colleges  and  universities  are  now  meeting  the  teacher  short¬ 
age,  and  (2)  the  ability  of  the  American  graduate  school  to  prepare 
a  sufficient  number  of  suitably  qualified  college  faculty  members  to 
meet  the  demand.  Initial  steps  were  taken  in  fiscal  1957  on  an  Office 
study  of  these  problems. 

INSTITUTIONAL  FINANCIAL  AID  TO  STUDENTS 

Specialists  in  higher  education  completed  a  nationwide  survey  of 
institutional  financial  assistance — excluding  student  aid  grants  of  the 
States,  corporations  and  other  business  firms,  labor  unions,  and  other 
organizations — to  undergraduate  and  graduate  students.  Although 


178 


Department  of  Health ,  Education ,  and  Welfare ,  1957 


1,560  colleges  and  universities  reported  some  type  of  student  aid,  190 
others  reported  that  they  had  no  form  of  financial  aid  for  their  stu¬ 
dents.  Preliminary  data  showed  that  in  the  school  year  1955-56  in¬ 
stitutional  aid  to  undergraduates  totaled  $141,985,153,  of  which  45.9 
percent  was  for  employment,  45.2  percent  was  for  scholarships,  and 
8.9  percent  was  for  loans.  Institutional  financial  aid  for  graduate 
students  totaled  $64,928,950,  of  which  54.0  percent  was  for  assistant- 
ships,  28.3  percent  for  fellowships,  10.0  percent  for  employment,  and 
7.7  percent  for  loans. 

As  a  byproduct  of  its  student  aid  study,  the  Office  completed  two 
directories  listing  the  institutional  student  aid  resources  separately 
for  undergraduate  and  graduate  students.  These  directories  will  be 
published  early  in  fiscal  year  1958.  The  Office  plans  to  distribute 
copies  of  the  directories  to  all  secondary  schools  and  to  all  institutions 
of  higher  education  in  the  United  States. 

COLLEGE  HOUSING  PROGRAM 

During  fiscal  1957,  the  staff  of  the  Office  was  requested  by  the  Com¬ 
munity  Facilities  Administration  to  review  and  report  on  the  second 
largest  number  of  loan  applications  for  college  housing  since  the  in¬ 
ception  of  the  program.  These  applications  totaled  315,  three-fourths 
of  which  were  from  private  colleges  and  67  percent  from  institutions 
with  enrollments  under  1,000  students.  The  total  amount  requested 
in  1957  by  the  315  applicants  was  $403,991,000,  as  contrasted  with 
$413,250,000  requested  by  386  applicants  in  fiscal  1956. 

Amendments  to  the  Housing  Act,  enacted  by  the  85th  Congress, 
1st  Session,  will  increase  the  college  loan  fund  from  $750  million  to 
$925  million.  The  interest  rate,  now  at  2.78  percent,  will  be  about 
3  percent  for  fiscal  1958. 

ADMINISTRATION  OF  GRANTS 

For  the  year  ending  June  30,  1956,  the  Office  administered  a  total 
of  $5,051,500  to  land-grant  colleges  and  universities  under  the  Morrill- 
Nelson  and  Bankhead- Jones  Acts.  Office  responsibility  in  this  pro¬ 
gram  is  to  certify  that  each  State  and  Territory  is  entitled  to  receive 
its  share  of  the  annual  appropriation  and  the  amount  it  is  entitled  to 
receive.  The  amounts  allotted  to  the  States,  Territories,  and  the 
Commonwealth  of  Puerto  Pico  are  shown  in  table  3. 

International  Education 

Throughout  1957  the  Office  continued  to  shape  its  program  to  meet 
the  growing  interest  in  international  education.  As  the  public  be¬ 
comes  increasingly  aware  of  the  importance  of  education  to  mutual 


Office  of  Education 


179 


understanding  of  the  cultures  of  the  world  and  thus  to  world  peace, 
there  are  increasing  demands  on  the  Office.  In  1957  the  Office  re¬ 
ceived  many  requests  for  service  from  Federal,  national,  and  inter¬ 
national  agencies  and  from  American  and  foreign  educators. 

RESEARCH  AND  STUDIES 

President  Eisenhower,  in  a  commencement  address  at  Baylor  Uni¬ 
versity,  Waco,  Texas,  in  1956,  proposed  that  colleges  and  universities 
in  the  United  States  cooperate  in  the  development  of  higher  educa¬ 
tion  in  countries  with  inadequate  educational  facilities.  Since  that 
time  several  appraisals  have  been  made  of  the  status  of  American 
higher  education  abroad ;  among  them  was  the  Office  study,  American 
Cooperation  With  Higher  Education  Abroad ,  published  in  1957. 
It  is  a  summary  of  governmental  and  nongovernmental  programs. 

In  addition  to  its  regular  studies  of  comparative  and  international 
education,  the  Office  introduced  two  new  series  of  publications  in 
1957 :  A  series  of  yearbooks  on  education  around  the  world,  and  a 
series  of  bibliographies.  The  first  yearbook  was  released  under  the 
title  Education  for  Better  Living :  The  Role  of  the  School  in  Com¬ 
munity  Improvement.  It  is  a  survey  of  what  schools  are  doing  in 
16  nations  and  colonial  areas  to  improve  community  living  condi¬ 
tions.  The  first  of  the  annual  series  of  bibliographies,  Bibliography : 
1956  Publications  in  C omparative  and  International  Education ,  was 
issued  as  an  aid  to  American  professors  and  leaders  in  comparative 
and  international  education  in  the  United  States  and  abroad. 

In  1957  work  was  begun  on  three  studies  which  will  be  published 
in  1958:  (1)  Educational  developments  in  Japan  since  the  war,  based 
on  a  field  study  by  a  specialist  in  Far  Eastern  education,  (2)  the  edu¬ 
cational  organizations,  institutions,  and  programs  in  Brazil,  based  on 
a  field  study  by  a  specialist  in  Latin  American  education,  and  (3)  the 
functions  and  organizations  of  ministries  of  education,  to  be  pub¬ 
lished  as  the  second  yearbook  on  education  around  the  world.  Offi¬ 
cials  of  other  United  States  Government  agencies,  particularly  those 
with  overseas  posts,  cooperated  with  Office  specialists  in  planning  the 
study  of  ministries  of  education  and  in  securing  data  for  it. 

FAR  EAST  UNIT 

A  Far  East  unit  was  established  in  the  Office  in  1957  to  handle 
the  increasing  workload  relating  to  education  in  Asian  countries. 
The  unit  was  organized  after  staff  specialists  had  conferred  with 
representatives  of  the  Government  and  educators  outside  the  Office 
on  the  direction  educational  research  on  the  Far  East  should  take 
to  serve  the  needs  of  the  Government  and  the  profession. 


180 


Department  of  Health ,  Education,  and  Welfare,  1957 


EVALUATION  OF  FOREIGN  CREDENTIALS 

The  number  of  foreign  nationals  studying  in  the  United  States  has 
risen  steadily  since  World  War  II,  to  at  least  40,000  in  1957.  The 
increase  in  foreign  students  studying  in  the  United  States  and  of 
United  States  students  studying  abroad  adds  to  the  work  of  the  staff 
members  who  evaluate  foreign  study  for  the  use  of  educational  insti¬ 
tutions,  State  certification  offices,  boards  of  licensure,  civil  service 
commissions,  and  personnel  offices  in  making  decisions  on  the  equiva¬ 
lence  of  specific  foreign  study  to  study  in  the  United  States. 

In  1957,  two  trends  were  evident  in  requests  for  evaluation:  A 
higher  proportion  of  the  requests  were  from  governmental  boards  of 
licensure,  probably  reflecting  a  larger  number  of  mature  persons 
coming  here  with  the  intention  of  practicing  a  profession;  and  a 
larger  number  of  requests  were  for  information  about  the  status 
of  foreign  universities  from  government  agencies  with  responsibility 
for  United  States  citizens  studying  in  higher  institutions  overseas. 

EDUCATIONAL  CLEARINGHOUSE 

The  Office  provided  the  Department  of  State  with  183  statistical 
tabulations  on  government-sponsored  grantees  entering  and  leaving 
this  country  during  the  year,  a  service  it  has  given  annually  since 
1952.  The  statistical  studies  include  such  information  as  numbers 
and  types  of  grantees  by  country  of  destination  or  origin,  State  of 
origin  or  destination,  fields  of  specialization,  age  groupings,  and 
veterans’  status. 

During  the  year,  the  Office  prepared  records  giving  the  name, 
address,  category,  specialty,  occupation,  and  institution  of  placement 
of  every  foreign  grantee  entering  this  country  between  1952  and  1955. 

INTERNATIONAL  CONFERENCES 

The  Office  coordinated  the  preparation  of  educational  reports  re¬ 
quired  for  United  States  participation  in  international  organizations. 
These  reports  dealt  with  decisions  of  governments  on  education  and 
provided  background  data  for  technical  groups  at  international 
conferences. 

For  example,  a  report  on  the  training  of  primary  (elementary) 
teacher  training  staffs  was  prepared  for  the  Twentieth  Annual  Inter¬ 
national  Conference  on  Public  Education  at  Geneva ;  and  in  response 
to  requests  from  UNESCO,  materials  were  assembled  on  special  edu¬ 
cation  in  the  United  States  for  the  Belgian  Ministry  of  Education  and 
on  vocational  and  technical  education  for  the  Netherlands  Ministry  of 
Education. 

On  the  recommendation  of  the  United  States  delegations  to  the  In¬ 
ternational  Conference  on  Public  Education,  sponsored  by  UNESCO 
and  the  International  Bureau  of  Education,  the  Office  of  Education, 


Office  of  Education 


181 


in  cooperation  with  the  United  States  Information  Agency,  prepared 
an  exhibit  for  display  in  the  Palais  Wilson  in  Geneva  from  July  1957 
to  June  1958.  The  exhibit  is  on  school  construction,  the  major  sub¬ 
ject  of  the  1957  conference. 

EDUCATIONAL  MATERIALS  LABORATORY 

The  Educational  Materials  Laboratory  has  been  in  operation  since 
1953  for  the  use  of  foreign  visitors,  United  States  educators,  and 
other  persons  interested  in  improved  educational  materials.  In  1957 
the  Laboratory  had  a  collection  of  approximately  6,000  items  in¬ 
cluding  textbooks  supplied  by  the  American  publishers  and  materials 
developed  by  United  States  education  missions  in  foreign  countries. 

During  1957  the  Laboratory  served  other  government  agencies ;  ed¬ 
ucators  from  other  countries,  most  of  whom  were  brought  to  the 
United  States  by  the  International  Cooperation  Administration  and 
the  International  Educational  Exchange  Service  of  the  Department 
of  State;  American  educators  going  abroad  under  the  technical  as¬ 
sistance  program  of  ICA  or  to  administer  American  sponsored  schools 
in  other  countries ;  and  a  number  of  ICA  missions  overseas.  A  ma¬ 
jority  of  the  ICA  requests  were  for  assistance  in  obtaining  materials 
in  American  educational  specialties  and  for  technical  advice  on  estab¬ 
lishment  of  education  materials  centers  in  several  missions. 

Service  to  American  schools  continued  to  be  a  major  part  of  the 
Laboratory’s  activities.  In  1957,  1,166  individual  requests  were  re¬ 
ceived  from  47  States,  2  Territories,  the  District  of  Columbia,  and 
Guam.  Most  of  them  were  for  assistance  in  planning  courses  and  in 
locating  materials  from  other  countries.  A  series  of  “Teaching  Aids 
for  Developing  International  Understanding,”  which  include  anno¬ 
tated  lists  of  teaching  materials,  was  initiated  for  use  by  American 
teachers.  Thirteen  such  lists  were  compiled. 

TEACHER  EXCHANGE  PROGRAM 

The  continued  exchange  of  American  and  foreign  teachers  results  in 
an  effective  interpretation  of  educational  systems  and  cultures  to  par¬ 
ticipating  groups  in  the  United  States  and  abroad.  To  further  this 
aim  the  Office  cooperates  with  the  IES,  Department  of  State,  in  re¬ 
cruiting  American  teachers  for  overseas  assignments  and  matching 
American  and  foreign  teachers  for  interchange  of  positions.  During 
the  year  25  new  teaching  opportunities  overseas  were  announced. 

In  1957  the  Office  placed  502  American  and  foreign  teachers,  includ¬ 
ing  71  American  teachers  for  summer  seminars  in  France,  Germany, 
and  Italy;  104  Americans  for  teaching  assignments  abroad  and  15 
foreign  teachers  for  similar  assignments  in  the  United  States;  and 
156  American  and  156  foreign  teachers  who  exchanged  positions. 


182 


Department  of  Health ,  Education ,  and  Welfare ,  1957 


TEACHER  EDUCATION  PROGRAM 

The  teacher  education  program  in  which  foreign  teachers  are 
brought  to  the  United  States  for  a  6 -month  study  of  American  educa¬ 
tion  has  reached  into  many  American  communities.  The  308  teachers 
from  43  countries  here  under  this  program  during  the  past  year  visited 
more  than  6,000  schools  and  homes  in  1,100  communities  and  met  over 
a  million  people.  They  appeared  on  radio  and  television  programs 
and  were  the  subject  of  newspaper  articles  in  at  least  37  States.  Study 
programs  were  arranged  for  them  in  12  university  training  centers 
in  elementary,  secondary,  and  vocational  education,  English,  and 
American  civilization. 

The  following  countries  participated  for  the  first  time  during  the 
past  year:  Chile,  Colombia,  Ecuador,  Fiji  Islands,  Honduras,  Jor¬ 
dan,  Laos,  Malta,  Turkey. 

The  second  teacher  development  workshop  was  held  at  the  Univer¬ 
sity  of  Puerto  Kico  for  32  educators  from  countries  of  the  Caribbean 
area.  The  30-day  program  in  elementary  and  secondary  education 
was  conducted  in  Spanish.  This  program  is  also  carried  on  in  co¬ 
operation  with  IES,  Department  of  State. 

TECHNICAL  TRAINING  PROGRAM 

During  the  year  the  Office  assisted  the  International  Cooperation 
Administration  by  arranging  training  programs  for  540  participants 
from  newly  developing  countries.  The  participants  received  their 
academic  training  in  130  educational  institutions  in  a  wide  variety  of 
subjects  such  as  elementary,  secondary,  and  vocational  education; 
engineering;  and  physics;  and  supplementary  training  in  different 
types  of  commercial  and  industrial  installations.  As  part  of  their 
training  the  participants  visited  unions,  PTA’s,  civic  groups,  granges, 
and  hundreds  of  other  organizations. 

TECHNICAL  COOPERATION  PROGRAM 

The  Office  continued  to  work  with  the  ICA  in  the  development  of 
technical  cooperation  programs  in  37  newly  developing  countries. 
Eighty-seven  specialists  were  selected  for  appointment  by  ICA  to 
serve  in  educational  programs  of  these  countries  where  approximately 
300  educators,  exclusive  of  college  contract  employees,  are  helping 
to  improve  educational  conditions. 

The  Office  also  furnished  essential  technical  support  on  special 
educational  problems  of  these  educators  in  the  countries  where  they 
work,  participated  in  international  conferences,  and  consulted  with 
education  officials  of  many  other  countries  on  professional  matters 
of  common  concern. 

NONPROGRAM  VISITORS 

The  Office  also  serves  large  numbers  of  foreign  visitors  who  are  not 
participants  in  any  one  of  the  three  programs  for  which  funds  have 


Office  of  Education 


183 


been  transferred  to  the  Office.  Some  of  these  “nonprogram”  visitors 
make  appointments  directly  with  staff  members  in  all  divisions  of  the 
Office.  A  number  of  visitors  are  referred  by  other  Government 
agencies,  educational  organizations,  and  foreign  embassies  for  assist¬ 
ance  in  educational  matters.  It  is  estimated  that  during  the  year  350 
non-program  foreign  educators  received  educational  services  from  the 
Office.  These  activities  are  a  traditional  service  of  the  Office. 

Research  and  Statistical  Services 

COOPERATIVE  RESEARCH 

In  1957  the  Office  launched  the  cooperative  research  program, 
which  is  authorized  under  Public  Law  531,  83d  Congress.  The  act 
authorizes  the  United  States  Commissioner  of  Education  to  “enter 
into  contracts  or  jointly  financed  cooperative  arrangements  with 
universities  and  colleges  and  State  educational  agencies  for  the  con¬ 
duct  of  research,  surveys,  and  demonstrations  in  the  field  of  educa¬ 
tion.”  An  appropriation  of  $1,020,190  was  made  for  the  support  of 
such  research  during  fiscal  year  1957. 

Proposals  under  the  program  are  received  by  the  Office  from  insti¬ 
tutions  of  higher  education  and  State  departments  of  education.  All 
such  proposals  are  submitted  to  the  Research  Advisory  Committee  for 
their  review  and  recommendations.  This  Committee  ordinarily  meets 
three  times  each  year,  in  October,  January,  and  May. 

The  Committee  evaluates  the  proposed  projects  on  the  basis  of  the 
following  criteria:  (1)  Significance  of  the  project  for  education 
throughout  the  Nation;  (2)  soundness  of  technical  design  of  the 
study;  (3)  personnel  and  facilities  available  to  carry  out  the  project; 
and  (4)  economic  efficiency  (economy  of  the  proposed  procedures  and 
expected  value  of  findings  in  relation  to  Federal  cost).  Projects  con¬ 
sidered  outstanding  are  recommended  by  the  Committee  to  the  Com¬ 
missioner  of  Education.  When  projects  are  approved  by  the 
Commissioner,  contracts  are  negotiated  for  their  support.  Although 
a  substantial  amount  of  the  necessary  financial  support  is  provided 
by  the  Federal  Government,  the  cooperating  institution  or  agency 
also  contributes  to  the  total  cost  of  the  project. 

By  the  end  of  fiscal  year  1957  the  Office  had  received  324  applica¬ 
tions  for  the  support  of  research  proposals  representing  requests  for 
Federal  funds  of  more  than  $15  million.  Of  these,  the  Research 
Advisory  Committee  had  reviewed  316  proposals  and  had  recom¬ 
mended  108  of  the  projects  for  final  approval. 

Since  two-thirds  of  the  total  amount  of  Federal  funds  appropriated 
was  designated  for  research  in  the  education  of  mentally  retarded 
children,  more  proposals  were  received  dealing  with  this  subject  than 
with  any  other.  At  the  end  of  the  fiscal  year  a  total  of  72  projects  had 


184 


Department  of  Health ,  Education ,  and  Welfare ,  1957 


been  initiated  and  were  receiving  financial  support  under  the  Coop¬ 
erative  Research  Program.  These  projects  received  current-year  sup¬ 
port  of  approximately  $1  million.  Most  of  the  projects  will  require 
an  additional  year  or  more  for  completion.  Of  the  72  projects  ini¬ 
tiated,  42  deal  with  the  mentally  retarded.  Of  the  30  projects  in  areas 
other  than  the  mentally  retarded,  10  deal  with  staffing  the  Nation’s 
schools  and  colleges,  6  with  the  retention  and  continuation  of  students 
in  school,  3  with  the  development  of  special  abilities,  3  with  educa¬ 
tional  aspects  of  juvenile  delinquency,  and  8  with  other  aspects  of 
education.  The  projects  are  being  carried  on  in  30  different  institu- 
tiofis  of  higher  education  and  in  6  State  departments  of  education. 
STATISTICAL  SERVICES 

During  fiscal  year  1957  the  research  and  statistical  staff  was  in¬ 
creased  from  26  to  68  persons.  As  a  result,  the  traditional  basic  sta¬ 
tistical  surveys  of  school  systems  and  institutions  have  been  strength¬ 
ened,  studies  of  new  areas  of  educational  statistics  have  been  initiated, 
and  a  new  section  (the  Reference,  Estimates,  and  Projections  Section) 
has  been  established.  The  new  section  will  systematize  and  expand 
the  program  of  educational  estimates  and  projections  in  order  to  pro¬ 
vide  current  data  urgently  needed  for  policy-making  purposes. 
Study  has  already  begun  for  projections  of  enrollment  at  elementary, 
secondary,  and  higher  education  levels;  the  number  of  high  school 
graduates;  and  the  number  of  degrees  conferred  by  institutions  of 
higher  education. 

During  the  year  improvements  were  made  in  survey  techniques, 
such  as  sampling  procedures,  coverage  of  surveys,  forms  design,  meth¬ 
ods  of  data  collection,  and  analysis  and  interpretation  of  data.  Im¬ 
provements  were  also  made  in  the  collection  of  data  through  visits  of 
staff  members  to  State  departments  of  education.  Staff  time  in  the 
field  was  shortened  through  the  employment  of  local  clerks  or  the 
preparation  of  photocopies  of  State  records. 

NEW  SURVEYS 

During  the  year  work  was  begun  on  a  number  of  new  surveys  which 
will  be  reported  in  fiscal  1958.  The  major  studies  are  described 
briefly  in  the  following  paragraphs. 

Survey  of  Beginning  Teachers. — This  study  is  focused  primarily 
on  the  economic  status  of  beginning  teachers,  their  degree  of  satisfac¬ 
tion  with  various  aspects  of  their  job,  and  their  commitment  to  teach¬ 
ing  as  a  career.  It  is  based  on  a  scientifically  selected  sample  in  two 
stages — the  first,  a  sample  of  school  districts  which  were  requested  to 
submit  lists  of  beginning  teachers,  and  the  second,  a  sample  of  these 
beginning  teachers,  to  whom  a  detailed  questionnaire  was  mailed. 


Office  of  Education 


185 


Suburban  City  School  Systems . — Because  virtually  all  of  the  in¬ 
crease  since  1950  in  the  civilian  population  of  the  United  States  has 
taken  place  in  the  168  standard  metropolitan  areas  it  has  become  im¬ 
perative  that  information  about  the  large  and  increasing  number  of 
suburban  school  systems  within  these  areas  be  collected  and  made 
available.  Consequently  the  current  biennial  survey  of  city  school 
systems  was  expanded  in  coverage  and  content. 

The  expanded  survey  will  contain  information  on  about  475  sub¬ 
urban  cities,  all  located  in  standard  metropolitan  areas,  including 
personnel  and  financial  matters,  the  qualifications  of  their  teachers, 
salary  practices,  specialized  curriculum  offerings,  and  class  size. 

County-Unit  School  Systems . — The  county-unit  school  system, 
which  is  rapidly  becoming  a  significant  type  of  school  organization, 
has  not  been  systematically  studied  prior  to  the  present  survey.  This 
survey  of  “complete”  county  units,  that  is,  those  counties  which  oper¬ 
ate  single  school  systems,  represents  an  extension  of  the  coverage  of 
the  Biennial  Survey  of  Education. 

Rural  County  School  Systems. — This  year  the  Office  began  to  de¬ 
velop  a  program  of  rural  school  statistics  designed  to  provide  data 
similar  to  those  published  for  city  schools.  A  questionnaire  identical 
with  that  which  went  to  cities  has  been  sent  to  about  1,200  counties 
which  had  been  identified  as  having  “rural”  characteristics.  Through 
the  program  the  Office  expects  to  provide  valuable  information  for 
persons  interested  in  improving  the  educational  opportunities  of  rural 
children. 

Highway  Safety. — In  cooperation  with  the  National  Commission  on 
Safety  Education  of  the  National  Education  Association,  the  Office 
has  requested  all  institutions  of  higher  education  to  report  the  courses 
or  activities  they  provide  for  training  people  in  the  field  of  highway 
safety.  The  results  will  be  analyzed  by  specialists  of  the  National 
Education  Association  and  this  Office,  and  will  be  published  as  a 
classified  directory  wdiich  should  prove  useful  to  students,  counselors, 
employers,  safety  councils,  and  insurance  groups. 

Enrollment  by  Scientific  Subject  Field. — This  survey  was  insti¬ 
tuted  in  response  to  urgent  requests  from  organizations  and  institutions 
concerned  with  the  present  and  future  supply  of  scientific  manpower. 
A  pretest  was  conducted  in  which  600  institutions  of  higher  education 
were  requested  to  report  enrollments  of  junior-year  students,  by  major 
field  of  science. 

Other  Surveys. — Two  other  fields  of  study  which  deserve  mention, 
although  they  were  in  the  drawing-board  stage  at  year  end,  are  a  sta¬ 
tistical  study  of  adult  education  activities  and  a  survey  of  teacher 
turnover,  the  primary  purpose  of  which  is  to  obtain  a  reliable  estimate, 
on  an  annual  basis,  of  the  number  of  teachers  leaving  the  profession. 

448006—58 - 13 


186 


Department  of  Health ,  Education ,  and  Welfare ,  1957 


Assistance  to  Schools  in  Federally  Affected  Areas 

Fiscal  year  1957  was  the  seventh  year  of  continuous  operation  of 
the  program  for  Federal  assistance  to  schools  in  areas  affected  by 
Federal  activity.  Like  the  preceding  years  the  seventh  year  showed 
a  growth  in  the  number  of  participating  districts. 

Federal  payments  to  federally  affected  districts  (P.  L.  874,  as 
amended)  to  aid  in  meeting  current  operating  expenses  for  the  year 
amounted  to  $113  million.  These  payments  were  made  on  behalf  of 
some  1,200,000  federally  connected  pupils  claimed  by  school  districts 
which  had  a  total  attendance  of  over  7.6  million  pupils.  The  school 
districts  receiving  these  funds  provided  free  public  education  to  ap¬ 
proximately  one-fifth  of  the  Nation’s  public  school  enrollment.  The 
number  of  participating  districts  in  fiscal  year  1957  amounted  to 
approximately  3,400,  an  increase  of  about  500  in  the  number  of  eligible 
districts  over  the  previous  year.  This  increase  in  eligible  districts 
was  the  largest  since  1952,  the  second  year  of  the  program,  when  600 
new  districts  were  found  to  be  eligible. 

From  the  beginning  of  the  program  in  1950  to  the  end  of  fiscal 
1958,  school  construction  projects  approved  numbered  3,705  for  which 
Federal  funds  amounting  to  $712  million  had  been  allocated  (Public 
Law  815,  as  amended).  Local  school  districts  which  have  received 
school  construction  aid  under  this  program  have  added  $303  million 
in  their  own  funds  to  these  projects  and  in  addition  have  provided 
sites  and  off-site  improvements  not  included  as  a  part  of  the  approved 
project.  The  school  construction  work  thus  far  initiated  under  this 
program  is  more  than  $1  billion,  and  the  classroom  accommodations 
provided  by  the  approved  projects  will  be  sufficient  to  house  some 
950,000  pupils. 

One  of  the  principal  causes  of  the  continued  extension  of  the  school 
construction  program  is  the  substantial  program  of  military  housing 
which  has  been  authorized  by  the  Congress  under  title  VIII  of  the 
National  Housing  Act.  This  program,  popularly  known  as  the 
Capehart  housing  program,  authorizes  the  Federal  Government  to 
issue  mortgages  sufficient  to  provide  funds  for  some  150,000  family 
housing  units  on  military  installations.  The  program  has  been 
amended  twice  since  its  original  enactment  with  the  effect  that  the 
number  of  housing  units  to  be  approved  under  it  has  been  enlarged 
and  the  date  for  final  commitment  of  mortgages  has  been  extended 
until  June  30,  1959.  Since  the  children  who  will  live  in  these  family 
housing  units  will  need  school  facilities  on  or  near  the  military 
installations,  the  Congress  has  provided  for  continued  Federal  assist¬ 
ance  under  Public  Law  815  for  school  construction. 


Office  of  Education 


187 


Since  the  amendments  to  the  Capehart  housing  program  extend 
the  time  for  the  approval  and  construction  of  the  housing  units,  a 
1-year  extension  of  Public  Law  815  to  accommodate  these  new  housing 
units,  was  recommended  by  the  Department  and  adopted  by  the 
Congress.  This  extension  will  enable  school  districts  to  make  claims 
for  Federal  assistance  in  school  membership  through  fiscal  year  1959. 

In  extending  Public  Law  815  for  one  additional  year  the  Congress 
indicated  its  intention  “to  make  a  thorough  study  of  the  entire  Fed¬ 
eral  impact  problem  in  order  to  develop  a  program  which  will  oper¬ 
ate  efficiently  and  economically  without  periodical  extension  and 
piecemeal  changes” ;  and  to  this  end  directed  the  Department  to  pre¬ 
sent  its  recommendations  early  in  the  next  session  of  the  Congress. 

Library  Service 

PUBLIC  LIBRARIES 

In  1871,  the  Commissioner  of  Education  said  in  his  Annual  Report: 

“Public  libraries  are  at  once  an  important  means  and  a  valuable  index  of 
education.  .  .  .  Year  by  year  this  office  should  be  able  to  present  the  growth 
of  this  valuable  auxiliary  to  all  forms  of  culture.” 

In  1957  the  Office  revised  and  enlarged  its  regular  program  of 
activities  in  the  public  library  field.  A  public  library  specialist  was 
appointed  to  the  staff,  with  the  special  responsibilities  for  planning 
and  conducting  research  and  other  studies  to  meet  the  increasing  de¬ 
mands  for  objective  data  and  trends.  Added  to  the  work  in  this  area 
has  been  the  coordinating  of  library  services  with  adult  education  and 
services  to  the  aging  at  the  national  and  State  levels. 

Further  evidence  of  the  growing  awareness  of  the  important  role 
which  public  libraries  play  in  the  educational  life  of  the  Nation  can 
be  found  in  the  enactment  of  the  Library  Services  Act  (Public  Law 
597,  84th  Cong.)  signed  by  the  President  on  June  19,  1956.  This 
legislation  provides  for  a  5-year  program  of  Federal  assistance  to 
the  States  and  Territories  in  extending  public  library  services  to  those 
rural  areas  which  have  either  no  libraries  or  inadequate  libraries. 

Regulations  were  drafted  and  reviewed  at  a  series  of  four  regional 
conferences  with  heads  of  State  library  administrative  agencies 
charged  with  the  responsibility  of  carrying  out  State  plans  for  the 
improvement  and  extension  of  rural  public  library  service. 

Thirty-five  States  and  Hawaii  submitted  plans  and  qualified  for 
their  Federal  allotments  of  $40,000  each  under  the  $2,050,000  appro¬ 
priation  for  fiscal  1957.  These  States  not  only  matched  the  Federal 
allotment  of  $1,440,000,  but  overmatched  it  by  $2,941,259;  although 
they  were  required  to  put  up  only  $1,282,861,  they  put  up  a  total  of 
$4,224,120.  The  percentages  of  total  funds  budgeted  in  State  plans 


188 


Department  of  Health ,  Education ,  and  Welfare,  1957 


by  categories  of  expenditures  were:  Salaries  and  wages,  40.6;  books 
and  materials,  36.8;  equipment,  10.6;  and  all  other  operating,  12. 

Under  the  impetus  of  the  Library  Services  Act  a  number  of  States 
have  enacted  new  legislation  and  increased  their  appropriations  for 
public  libraries  to  meet  the  requirements  of  the  act.  Other  States 
appropriated  emergency  funds  so  that  they  could  immediately  qualify. 
One  State  created  a  new  library  extension  agency  and  appropriated 
funds  to  match  the  Federal  allotment.  The  reports  in  the  periodicals 
issued  by  the  State  agencies  speak  enthusiastically  of  the  helpful  effect 
of  the  Library  Services  Act  on  the  library  programs  in  the  respective 
States. 

EDUCATION  FOR  LIBRARIANSHIP 

To  meet  requests  for  information  pertinent  to  the  widespread  short¬ 
age  of  trained  librarians  throughout  the  United  States,  the  Office 
has  endeavored  to  maintain  for  the  past  5  years  a  current  list  of  higher 
educational  institutions  which  offer  courses  in  library  science.  The 
number  of  such  institutions  has  increased  during  this  period  from 
about  400  in  1951-52  to  nearly  600  in  1956-57. 

PUBLIC  SCHOOL  LIBRARIES 

A  comprehensive  statistical  survey  of  public  school  libraries  for 
1953-54,  the  first  since  1947-48,  was  completed  during  the  year.  By 
appropriate  adjustments  for  the  use  of  sampling  and  for  nonresponse, 
it  was  possible  to  derive  figures  for  the  Nation  as  a  whole.  The  cal¬ 
culations  showed  that  128,831  schools  were  involved.  The  number 
of  librarians  employed  in  1953-54  was  30,753,  of  whom  15,971  were 
professionally  trained  and  14,782  had  little  or  no  professional  train¬ 
ing.  The  number  of  volumes  in  the  school  libraries  at  the  close  of 
1953-54  was  102,915,052,  of  which  9,609,949  were  added  during  the 
year.  The  total  annual  library  expenditure,  excluding  salaries,  was 
$25,222,207,  of  which  $16,066,277  was  spent  for  books  and  pamphlets 
and  $2,199,352  for  periodicals  and  newspapers. 

Advisory  Committees 

In  carrying  out  its  activities  the  Office  had  the  cooperation  of  ad¬ 
visory  committees,  professional  associations  and  groups,  State  de¬ 
partments  of  education,  and  educators  and  laymen.  Among  the  ad¬ 
visory  committees  working  with  the  Office  during  the  year  were  Office 
of  Education  Research  Advisory  Committee,  the  National  Commit¬ 
tee  on  the  Study  of  the  Qualification  and  Preparation  of  Teachers 
of  Exceptional  Children,  the  National  Advisory  Committee  for  the 
Exchange  of  Teachers,  the  Advisory  Committee  of  National  Organ- 


Office  of  Education 


189 


izations,  and  the  Advisory  Committee  on  the  Library  Services 
Program. 

The  cooperation  of  these  committees  provides  a  vital  link  in  the 
continuity  which  the  Office  seeks  to  maintain  in  citizen-educator 
teamwork. 

To  provide  a  direct  means  of  communication  with  and  between  or¬ 
ganizations  and  associations  the  Office  launched  a  new  publication, 
Education  Fact  Sheet,  and  put  out  seven  issues  during  the  year. 
The  publication  carries  brief  items  on  the  activities  of  the  Office, 
national  organizations  interested  in  education,  and  the  States  and 
communities. 

The  President’s  Committee  on  Education  Beyond  the 
High  School 

The  First  Interim  Report  of  the  President’s  Committee  on  Educa¬ 
tion  Beyond  the  High  School  was  submitted  to  the  President  on 
November  16,  1956.  The  report,  which  included  the  Committee’s 
preliminary  conclusions,  was  intended  to  promote  discussion  among 
as  many  educators  and  laymen  as  possible.  About  25,000  copies  of 
the  report  were  distributed. 

Following  the  submission  of  the  First  Interim  Report,  the  Com¬ 
mittee  organized  itself  into  subcommittees  for  the  purpose  of  prepar¬ 
ing  the  Second  Report  to  the  President.  This  report  will  contain 
recommendations  on  the  need  for  teachers  and  for  student  assistance, 
the  problems  of  financing  and  of  providing  a  diversity  of  educational 
opportunity  beyond  high  school,  and  the  relationships  of  the  Federal 
Government  to  education  beyond  the  high  school. 

In  addition  to  making  its  own  studies,  the  Committee  sponsored 
five  regional  conferences  during  April  and  May  1957.  The  confer¬ 
ences,  held  in  Boston,  New  York,  Louisville,  Saint  Louis,  and  San 
Francisco,  were  attended  by  1,400  laymen  and  educators  who  con¬ 
sidered  problems  of  post-high-school  education  as  they  related  to  the 
region.  The  staff  developed  a  source  book  of  statistical  information 
and  salient  facts  on  post-high-school  education  for  the  use  of  con¬ 
ference  participants.  Each  of  the  conferences  submitted  a  report  of 
its  proceedings  to  the  President’s  Committee. 

The  second  report  will  be  submitted  to  the  President  in  fiscal  1958, 
and  copies  will  be  distributed  to  120,000  educators  and  laymen 
throughout  the  country. 


190 


Department  of  Health ,  Education ,  and  Welfare ,  1957 


Major  Publications  Off  the  Press  in  Fiscal  Year  1957 

Accredited  Higher  Institutions,  1956 

Administration  of  Public  Laws  874  and  815,  6th  Annual  Report  of  the  Commis¬ 
sioner  of  Education,  June  30,  1956 

Adventuring  in  Research  to  Improve  School  Practices  in  Homemaking  Programs 

American  Cooperation  with  Higher  Education  Abroad 

Austrian  Teachers  and  Their  Education  Since  1945 

Directors  and  Supervisors  of  Special  Education  in  Local  School  Systems 

A  Directory  of  3,300  16mm  Film  Libraries 

Education  for  Better  Living,  1957  Yearbook  on  Education  Around  the  World 
Education  Directory,  1956-57  (Parts  1,  2,  3,  4) 

Education  for  National  Survival,  A  Handbook  for  Schools 
Education  in  Taiwan 

Engineering  Enrollments  and  Degrees,  1956 

Extraclass  Activities  in  Aviation,  Photography,  and  Radio  for  Secondary  School 
Pupils 

Fall  1956  Enrollment,  Teachers,  and  Schoolhousing  in  Full-Time  Public  Elemen¬ 
tary  and  Secondary  Schools 
Federal  Funds  for  Education,  1954-55  and  1955-56 
Financial  Accounting  for  Local  and  State  School  Systems 

Home  Economics  in  Colleges  and  Universities,  Planning  Space  and  Equipment 
National  Stay-in-School  Campaign,  Handbook  for  Communities 
Opening  Enrollment  in  Higher  Educational  Institutions,  Fall  1956 
Planning  and  Conducting  a  Program  of  Instruction  in  Vocational  Agriculture  for 
Young  Farmers 

Progress  of  Public  Education  in  the  United  States  of  America,  1956-57 
Pupil  Transportation  Responsibilities  and  Services  of  State  Departments  of 
Education 

Research  in  Industrial  Education,  Summaries  of  Studies,  1930-55 
Resident  and  Extension  Enrollment  in  Institutions  of  Higher  Education,  Nov. 
1955 

School  District  Reorganization  Policies  and  Procedures 
School  Property  Insurance,  Experiences  at  State  Level 

The  Secondary  School  Plant,  An  Approach  for  Planning  Functional  Facilities 
Statistics  of  City  School  Systems ;  Staff,  Pupils,  and  Finances,  1953-54 
Statistics  of  Higher  Education  :  Faculty,  Students,  and  Degrees,  1953-54 
Statistics  of  Higher  Education :  Receipts,  Expenditures,  and  Property,  1953-54 
Statistics  of  Land-Grant  Colleges  and  Universities,  Year  Ended  June  30, 1955 
Statistics  of  State  School  Systems:  Organization,  Staff,  Pupils,  and  Finance, 
1953-54 

Summaries  of  Studies  in  Agricultural  Education  (Supplements  9  and  10) 

Summary  of  Federal  Funds  for  Education 

Teachers  of  Children  Who  Are  Blind 

Teachers  of  Children  Who  Are  Mentally  Retarded 

Teachers  of  Children  Who  Are  Partially  Seeing 

Teaching  about  the  United  Nations  in  United  States  Educational  Institutions 
Trends  in  Significant  Facts  on  School  Finance,  1929-30  to  1953-54 
Work  Experience  Education  Programs  in  American  Secondary  Schools 
Higher  Education  (9  issues,  September  through  May) 

School  Life  (9  issues,  October  through  June) 


Office  of  Education 


191 


Table  1. — Enrollment  in  the  continental  United  States ,  1955—56  and  1956—57 

[Office  of  Education  estimates] 


School 

Year 

1955-56 

1950-57 

Kindergarten  through  grade  8: 

Public  school  svstems,  regular  full-time -  -  -  - -  . 

24,  588, 000 
3,  768,  000 
32,  200 
16, 000 
110,  OOC 

25,  283,  000 
4,  267,  000 
26, 000 
19,000 
116, 000 

28,  514,  200 

29,  711,000 

Grades  9-12: 

Public  school  svstems,  regular  full*time  _  -  - 

6, 860,  000 
823,  200 
9, 800 
900 
53,  200 

6, 876, 000 
866,  000 
11,000 
1,000 
66. 000 

Private  and  parochial  schools,  regular  full-time _  _  - 

Federal  schools  for  Indians . -  _ _ 

Federal  schools  under  Public  I. aw  874 _ 

Othfir  _  _  __  __  . 

Total  grades  9-12 .  . __ . . . 

7, 747, 100 

7, 820, 000 

Total  elementary  and  secondary _ _ _ 

36,  261,  300 

37.  531,000 

Higher  education: 

Universities,  colleges,  professional  schools,  including  junior  colleges  and 
normal  schools _  _ _ _  _ _ 

2, 996,  000 

3.  244, 000 

Other  schools: 

Private  commercial  schools,  day  and  evening 

2, 996,  000 

3,  244, 000 

450,  000 
91,  400 

500, 000 
91,000 

Nurso  training  schools,  not  affiliated  with  colleges  and  universities _  .  .  . . 

Total  other  schools _ _ _ _ 

541,  400 

591,000 

Grand  total _ _  _ _ _ _  _ _ 

39,  798, 700 

41.366,000 

Table  2. — Supply  and  demand  for  elementary  and  secondary  public  and 
nonpublic  school  teachers ,  1956—57 


Item 

Elementary 

and 

secondary 

Supply 

Total  teachers,  1955-56  *. 

1, 266, 000 
77, 600 

Less  emergency  teachers,  1955-56 _ 

Total  qualified  teachers,  1955-56 . _ . . . .  _  ... _ 

1, 188. 400 

89. 100 

1,  099, 300 
20, 000 

76. 100 

Less  7.5  percent  turnover  of  qualified  teachers _ _  __  _ _ _ 

Qualified  teachers  returning  for  1956-57 _ 

Emergency  teachers  qualifying  for  1956-57 _ _  ....  ..  _ _  ... 

New  supply  of  qualified  teachers  (81.6  percent  of  elementary  and  62.9  percent  of  high 
school  teachers  trained  in  1955-56) . .  .  ...  _ _ _  .  _ 

Total  qualified  supply,  1956-57 _ _ _ _ _ _ 

1, 195, 400 

Demand 

Total  teachers,  1955-56 _  .  . .  ..  _  _ 

1.  266, 000 
50, 100 

Teachers  needed  to  meet  increase  in  enrollment  in  1956-57 _  _ 

Total  demand,  1956-57 _ _ _ _ _ 

1, 316, 100 

Shortage  of  qualified  supply _ _ _  _ 

120,  700 

1  The  number  of  elementary  and  secondary  school  teachers  in  the  public  school  system,  in  the  fall  of  1955. 
was  1,135,930  (Office  of  Education  Circular  No.  467,  Revised).  To  this  must  be  added  tne  number  in  non¬ 
public  schools  (private  and  parochial),  in  model  and  practice  schools,  in  colleges  and  universities,  in  resi¬ 
dential  schools  for  exceptional  children,  and  in  schools  operated  under  Federal  auspices.  The  number  in 
Catholic  private  and  parochial  schools  in  1955-56  was  114,000  (estimated  by  National  Catholic  Welfare 
Conference,  Dept,  of  Education).  The  number  in  the  other  types  of  schools  is  estimated  as  16,250. 


192 


Department  of  Healthy  Education ,  and  Welfare,  1957 


Table  3. — Grants  1  to  States:  Office  of  Education ,  fiscal  year  1957 


States,  Territories,  and 
possessions 

Total 

Colleges  for 
agriculture 
and  me¬ 
chanic  arts 

Library 

services 

Cooperative 

vocational 

education 

Maintenance 
and  opera¬ 
tion  of  schools 
(Public  Law 
874) 

School  con¬ 
struction 
(Public  Law 
815) 

1 

2 

3 

4 

5 

6 

7 

Total _ 

$204,  336,  577 

$5,  051,  500 

$1,  440,  000 

$37,  582,  036 

2  $93, 194,  675 

$67,  068,  366 

Alabama _ _ 

4,  440,  916 

100,  541 

40,  000 

1, 023,  505 

2,  403,  230 

873,  640 

Arizona _ 

2,  312, 153 

77,  477 

40,  000 

197,  420 

1,  343,  063 

654, 198 

Arkansas - - 

2,  337,  833 

89,  048 

40.  000 

759,  496 

725,  618 

723,  671 

California - 

33,  748.  271 

175,  599 

40.  000 

1,  873,  650 

16,107,  775 

15,  551,247 

Colorado -  - 

4.  428,  815 

83,  218 

40,  000 

324,  396 

2, 380,  448 

1, 600,  753 

Connecticut _ _ 

2, 175,  268 

90,023 

40,  000 

347,  696 

1, 103,  323 

594,  226 

407,  328 

73, 173 

170, 186 

113,  919 

50,  050 

District  of  Columbia 

79,  961 

79,  961 

5,  429,  497 

97,  644 

602, 112 

2,  717,  369 

2, 012,  372 

Georgia _ _ 

6, 118,  713 

104, 360 

40, 000 

1, 123,  236 

3,  091,  693 

1,  759’  424 

867,  535 

75,  872 

210,  327 

538. 165 

43. 171 

Illinois _ 

4,  521,  467 

156,  905 

40, 000 

1,  690,  318 

1,  990,  787 

643,  457 

Indiana _ _ 

1,  928,  961 

109,  245 

963,  073 

661,  799 

194,  844 

Iowa _  __ 

1,  315,  854 

96, 146 

40,  000 

844,  810 

276,  918 

57,  980 

4, 198.  327 

89,  006 

574,  038 

2,  871,295 

663,  988 

Kentucky _ 

2,  268, 184 

99,  375 

40,  000 

1, 029,  962 

766,  318 

332,  529 

Louisiana _  _ 

1,  827,  217 

96,  769 

40,  000 

724,  292 

659,  970 

306. 186 

1, 107,  971 

79, 115 

202,  875 

689,  238 

136,  743 

Maryland..  _ 

9,  674'  701 

93’  372 

453,  365 

4, 199,  910 

4,  928,  054 

Massachusetts _ 

3,  049,  749 

116,  789 

40,  000 

720,  724 

1,  604,  452 

567,  784 

Michigan _ 

7, 008,  278 

133,  559 

40,  000 

1, 344, 240 

399,902 

5, 090,  577 

Minnesota _ 

1,  594, 176 

99,  751 

40,  000 

918,  835 

83,  204 

452.  386 

Mississippi . . . 

1,  780,  390 

91,  735 

4U,  000 

967,  241 

553,  065 

128,  349 

Missouri... . 

3,  717,  508 

109,  448 

40,  000 

1,063,406 

1,  243,  468 

1,  261, 186 

Montana _ 

1,  263,  528 

75,  896 

40,  000 

210,  270 

374,  668 

562,  694 

Nebraska _ 

1,  970,  096 

83,  222 

40,  000 

427,  369 

866,  250 

553,  255 

Nevada _ 

944,  319 

71,  597 

160,  628 

585,  810 

126,  284 

New  Hampshire _ 

732,  599 

75,  319 

40,  000 

149,  790 

403,  871 

63,  619 

New  Jersey _ _ 

3,  215,  614 

118,  233 

40, 000 

740,  906 

1,  471, 328 

845. 147 

New  Mexico. _ 

4,  552, 144 

76,  795 

40,  000 

217,  207 

1,  791,  937 

2,  426, 205 

New  York _ 

6,  526,  311 

217,  934 

40,  000 

2,  405,  413 

1,  954,  331 

1, 908,  633 

North  Carolina _ 

3,  053,  848 

110,  518 

40, 000 

1,  441,  575 

961, 914 

499,  841 

North  Dakota _ 

577,  236 

76, 181 

40,  000 

280,  375 

151,  013 

29,  667 

Ohio _ 

6,  296,  978 

149,  269 

40,  000 

1,  686,  442 

2,  921,  747 

1,  499,  520 

Oklahoma _ 

7,  391,  471 

92,  279 

40,  000 

681, 177 

3,  905,  274 

2,  672,  741 

Oregon _ 

1,  733, 154 

85, 176 

40,  000 

390, 110 

681,  904 

535, 964 

Pennsylvania _ 

3,  904,  622 

174,  720 

2,  059,  943 

1,  245,  487 

424,  472 

Rhode  Island _ 

1,  475,  735 

77, 899 

136,  282 

941, 121 

320,  433 

South  Carolina.. . 

3, 152, 164 

91, 118 

40, 000 

734, 059 

1,  605,  891 

681,  096 

South  Dakota _ 

1,  821,  457 

76,  511 

40,  000 

277,  504 

951,  741 

475,  701 

Tennessee _ 

3,  293,  230 

102,  835 

40,  000 

1,  074,  226 

1, 199, 033 

877, 136 

Texas... . . . 

12,  348.  662 

146,  921 

40,  000 

1,  878,  287 

6,  565,  589 

3,  717,  865 

Utah . . . 

1,  973,  903 

76,  871 

181,  265 

1, 020.  735 

695, 032 

Vermont _ 

330,  302 

73,  768 

40,  000 

167,  670 

48,  864 

Virginia..  _ _ 

14,  284,  826 

103, 104 

40,  000 

975,  508 

7,  655,  804 

5,  510,  410 

Washington 

6,  633,  305 

93,  731 

580,  427 

3,  762.  991 

2, 196, 156 

West  Virginia _ 

938,  918 

90,  006 

40,  000 

617,  951 

144,  026 

46,  935 

Wisconsin _ 

1,  623,  066 

104,  260 

40,  000 

954,  778 

278,  331 

245,  697 

Wyoming _ 

688,  791 

72,  898 

176,  475 

281,  666 

157,  752 

Alaska _ _ 

3,  478,  734 

71, 283 

18,  937 

3, 153,  264 

235,  250 

Guam _ 

287, 160 

287, 160 

Hawaii.  _ _ 

2,  889,  362 

74,  986 

40,  000 

182,  334 

1,  457,  996 

1, 134,606 

Puerto  Rico _ 

595,  964 

50,  000 

545,  964 

Virgin  Islands.. _ 

20,  000 

20,  000 

*  On  the  basis  of  checks  issued. 

2  Totals  do  not  include  payments  made  to  the  Air  Force,  $989,619;  Navy,  $649,661;  Veterans’  Adminis¬ 
tration,  $2,649. 


Gallaudet  College 


Gallaudet  College  is  devoted  to  the  education  of  deaf  persons  who 
because  of  their  handicap  would  have  difficulty  in  schools  and  colleges 
for  hearing  students.  The  college,  located  in  Washington,  D.  C.,  is 
the  world’s  only  college  for  the  deaf.  It  was  accredited  last  May  by 
the  Middle  States  Association  of  Colleges  and  Secondary  Schools. 
In  addition  to  education,  it  conducts  research  into  the  educational 
problems  of  deafness.  It  consists  of  the  Kendall  School  and  the  col¬ 
lege  proper. 

KENDALL  SCHOOL 

Primary  and  secondary  schooling  is  provided  for  deaf  children  in 
the  Kendall  School,  which  also  serves  as  a  laboratory  school  for 
teachers  training  in  the  college.  The  oral  method  of  instruction  is 
used  for  all  pupils  except  those  who  make  no  progress  under  it.  En¬ 
rollment  last  year  was  75,  of  which  63  came  from  the  District  of 
Columbia. 

GALLAUDET  COLLEGE 

The  college,  established  in  1864  by  act  of  Congress,  offers  the  associ¬ 
ate’s  degree  after  2  years  of  study,  and  a  bachelor’s  degree  in  the  liberal 
arts  and  sciences.  The  Preparatory  Department  provides  the  senior 
year  of  high  school  for  students  who  are  unable  to  obtain  it  in  the 
State  schools  for  the  deaf.  The  Graduate  Department  of  Education 
offers  a  master’s  degree  and  a  professional  diploma  in  the  education 
of  the  deaf  to  students  with  normal  hearing,  and  offers  a  four- week 
training  course  to  vocational  counselors  who  wish  to  acquire  a  deeper 
understanding  of  deaf  persons.  Total  enrollment  in  the  college  last 
year  was  324  with  students  from  42  States,  Hawaii,  the  District  of 
Columbia,  and  7  foreign  countries. 

249 


448006-58 - 17 


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'  *<•  ■ 

■ *•'  : 

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Howard  University 


Howard  University,  located  in  the  District  of  Columbia,  was  char¬ 
tered  by  act  of  Congress  on  March  2,  1867.  The  university  offers 
programs  of  higher  education  on  the  undergraduate,  graduate,  and 
professional  levels.  Undergraduate  students  are  registered  in  the 
college  of  liberal  arts;  graduate  students  seeking  the  master’s  and 
doctor  of  philosophy  degrees  are  registered  in  the  graduate  school; 
professional  students  are  registered  in  the  colleges  of  medicine,  dentis¬ 
try,  pharmacy,  and  the  schools  of  engineering  and  architecture, 
music,  social  work,  law,  and  religion.  (The  school  of  religion  re¬ 
ceives  no  support  from  Federal  funds.) 

The  educational  program  of  Howard  University  is  conducted  in 
keeping  with  the  democratic  purposes  of  the  land-grant  colleges  and 
State  universities  with  the  low  tuition  fees  and  living  costs  which 
characterize  these  State  institutions  and  with  an  educational  program 
resting  upon  and  permeated  by  the  content  and  spirit  of  a  general 
or  liberal  education.  The  university  admits  students  of  both  sexes, 
from  every  race,  creed,  and  national  origin,  but  it  accepts  and  under¬ 
takes  to  discharge  a  special  responsibility  for  the  admission  and 
training  of  Negro  students. 

ENROLLMENT  OF  STUDENTS 

During  the  school  year  1956-57,  the  university  served  a  total  of 
5,787  students  as  follows:  4,604  during  the  regular  academic  year  and 
1,183  in  the  summer  session  of  1956.  The  net  total  enrollment,  exclud¬ 
ing  all  duplicates  was  5,020,  distributed  in  the  ten  schools  and  colleges 
as  follows :  liberal  arts,  2,297 ;  graduate  school,  490 ;  engineering  and 
architecture,  679 ;  music,  290 ;  medicine,  297 ;  dentistry,  527 ;  phar¬ 
macy,  140;  law,  100;  social  work,  150;  and  religion,  50.  This  en¬ 
rollment  included  a  larger  body  of  Negro  professional  students  than 


251 


252 


Department  of  Health ,  Education ,  and  Welfare,  1957 


all  other  universities  of  public  support  in  all  the  Southern  States 
combined. 

GEOGRAPHICAL  DISTRIBUTION  OF  STUDENTS 

Of  a  total  of  4,604  students  enrolled  during  the  regular  school  year, 
4,115  or  89.4  percent  came  from  40  States  and  the  District  of  Colum¬ 
bia,  while  489  students,  or  10.6  percent,  came  from  outside  the  con¬ 
tinental  United  States  including  43  foreign  countries  and  4 
possessions  of  the  United  States. 

The  4,115  students  who  came  from  the  United  States  were  distrib¬ 
uted  as  follows:  New  England  States,  81;  Middle  Atlantic  States, 
628;  East  North  Central  States,  204;  West  North  Central,  69;  South 
Atlantic  States,  2,530;  East  South  Central  States,  297;  West  South 
Central  States,  268;  Mountain  States,  6;  and  Pacific  States,  32. 

The  489  students  from  outside  the  continental  United  States  came 
from  43  foreign  countries,  including  9  countries  in  Africa,  8  coun¬ 
tries  in  Asia,  12  countries  in  Europe,  7  countries  in  Central  America, 
5  countries  in  South  America,  and  13  island  countries  in  the  British 
and  Netherlands  West  Indies. 

VETERANS 

There  were  821  veterans  enrolled  at  Howard  University  during  the 
school  year  1956-57.  These  veterans  were  distributed  among  the  10 
schools  and  colleges  as  follows:  363  in  liberal  arts,  153  in  engineer¬ 
ing  and  architecture,  18  in  music,  46  in  pharmacy,  54  in  dentistry, 
46  in  law,  51  in  medicine,  7  in  religion,  15  in  social  work,  and  68  in 
graduate  school. 

ARMY  AND  AIR  FORCE  ROTC 

Army  ROTC. — Two  hundred  and  eighty-five  students  were  en¬ 
rolled  in  Army  ROTC  during  the  school  year  1956-57,  of  whom  216 
were  in  the  first  and  second  year  courses. 

Air  Force  ROTC.- — A  total  of  287  students  was  enrolled  in  Air 
Force  ROTC.  Two  hundred  and  forty-two  of  these  were  in  the  first 
and  second  year  courses. 

THE  FACULTY 

There  were  528  teachers  serving  the  university  during  the  year 
1956-57.  Of  this  number,  there  were  295  full-time  teachers  and  233 
part-time  teachers.  The  full-time  equivalent  of  the  teaching  staff 
was  348.6.  Of  this  number  307  were  teaching  in  the  ranks  of  instruc¬ 
tor  and  above  as  follows:  69  professors,  68  associate  professors,  73 
assistant  professors,  and  97  instructors. 

From  the  beginning  of  the  university’s  work  in  1867,  the  Founders 
invited  to  the  faculties  of  the  university  learned  and  able  men  and 


Hoivard  University 


253 


women,  on  the  basis  of  their  ability  and  character  as  individuals  and 
without  discrimination  as  to  sex,  race,  creed,  color,  or  national  origin. 
It  was  a  major  purpose  of  the  Founders  to  employ  Negro  teachers, 
among  others,  on  every  faculty.  Today  the  Negro  members  of  the 
professional  faculties  of  Howard  University  constitute  together  a 
group  of  professional  teachers  larger  by  far  than  all  the  Negroes  so 
employed  in  all  other  American  universities  combined.  The  existence 
of  this  group  of  Negro  university  teachers  at  Howard  University  has 
been  a  standing  inspiration  to  the  Negro  people  for  more  than  three- 
quarters  of  a  century,  and  membership  on  one  of  these  faculties  has 
been  the  first  employment  of  many  of  the  outstanding  Negroes  in  the 
public  life  of  America.  From  them  came  the  founder  and  operator 
of  the  first  blood  plasma  bank  in  the  world,  the  first  Negro  governor 
of  an  American  possession,  the  first  Negro  in  the  Secretariat  of  the 
United  Nations  (Nobel  Prize  Winner),  the  first  Negro  member  of  the 
bench  of  the  United  States  Court  of  Appeals,  and  the  first  Negro 
Cultural  Attache  in  the  diplomatic  service  of  the  United  States  to  a 
major  European  nation. 

THE  BUILDING  PROGRAM 

In  1956-57  the  following  new  buildings  were  completed  and  occu¬ 
pied:  the  School  of  Law  Building,  the  Biology  Building,  and  the 
Administration  Building.  The  occupancy  of  the  Administration 
Building  permits  the  university  for  the  first  time  to  bring  together 
all  the  offices  involved  in  university-wide  administration. 

Near  the  end  of  the  school  year  1956-57,  work  was  completed  on  a  new 
building  for  the  preclinical  branches  of  medicine.  This  structure  con¬ 
stitutes  an  extension  of  the  previously  existing  building  provided  for 
the  College  of  Medicine.  The  old  building  is  now  being  remodeled. 
The  new  building  has  five  stories  and  a  basement.  It  contains  the 
classrooms  required  for  teaching  the  preclinical  branches  of  medicine, 
in  addition  to  laboratories  and  the  service  spaces  related  to  them.  It 
is  designed  to  provide  for  200  preclinical  medical  students  and  200 
preclinical  dental  students  and  dental  hygienists  and  to  render  service 
to  60  pharmacy  students. 

In  J anuary  1957  work  was  begun  on  a  new  men’s  dormitory.  The 
new  dormitory  will  provide  for  304  students  and  is  expected  to  be 
completed  in  time  for  occupancy  for  the  opening  of  the  fall  term 
in  1958. 

GRADUATES 

During  the  year  1956-57,  there  were  560  graduates,  compared  with 
554  graduates  during  the  year  1955-56.  These  560  graduates  came 
from  31  States,  the  District  of  Columbia,  the  Virgin  Islands,  Puerto 


254 


Department  of  Health ,  Education ,  and  Welfare,  1957 


Rico,  and  the  following  foreign  countries:  Egypt,  Liberia,  Nigeria, 
Sierra  Leone,  China,  India,  Barbados,  Bermuda,  Grenada,  Jamaica, 
Trinidad,  Cuba,  Spanish  Honduras,  Albania,  Germany,  Latvia, 
Poland,  Brazil,  and  British  Guiana. 

These  560  graduates  were  distributed  among  the  10  schools  and 
colleges  as  follows :  liberal  arts,  237 ;  engineering  and  architecture, 
41;  music,  22;  graduate  school,  60;  social  work,  28;  medicine,  72; 
dentistry,  51 ;  dental  hygiene,  8 ;  pharmacy,  17 ;  law,  19 ;  and  religion, 
5.  The  university  also  awarded  three  honorary  degrees. 

Since  its  establishment  in  1867,  Howard  University  has  graduated 
19,823  persons.  By  far  the  large  majority  of  these  graduates  have 
been  Negroes.  Among  their  number  is  a  larger  body  of  graduates 
in  medicine,  dentistry,  pharmacy,  engineering,  music,  law,  and  social 
work  than  the  entire  output  of  Negro  professional  graduates  in  all 
universities  and  colleges  of  public  support  in  the  entire  group  of 
Southern  States.  These  graduates  are  at  work  in  43  States  and  27 
foreign  countries.  In  every  population  center  in  the  United  States 
they  constitute  the  largest  and  most  diversified  group  of  trained 
Negro  public  servants  related  to  any  single  institution  in  the  world. 

The  largest  number  of  graduates  have  entered  the  field  of  teaching, 
primarily  in  the  Southern  States.  Two  thousand  eight  hundred 
and  seventy-three  have  entered  the  practice  of  medicine;  2,365  have 
entered  the  practice  of  dentistry  and  dental  hygiene;  2,325  have  en¬ 
tered  the  practice  of  law;  768  have  entered  the  ministry;  824  have 
entered  the  field  of  pharmacy;  583  have  gone  into  engineering  and 
architecture;  and  357  have  entered  the  field  of  social  work. 

SERVICE  IN  FOREIGN  COUNTRIES 

In  recent  years,  teachers  from  Howard  University  have  served  in 
Burma,  Brazil,  Egypt,  Ethiopia,  Germany,  India,  Israel,  Iraq,  Italy, 
British  Guiana,  and  Japan.  Fulbright  scholars  from  the  university 
have  worked  in  Egypt,  Ghana,  Iraq,  Japan,  Norway,  Sweden,  Den¬ 
mark,  Italy,  France,  Greece,  England,  and  India. 

The  responsible  leaders  in  Government  and  the  friends  of  America 
again  and  again  have  acknowledged  their  services  as  being  of  the 
greatest  value  to  their  country  and  to  the  cause  of  democracy  in  the 
world. 

The  most  recent  testimony  from  the  Government  affects  work  done 
by  the  Head  of  our  Department  of  Architecture  in  British  Guiana. 
“Dr.  Mackey  has  made  a  magnificent  contribution  which  transcends 
his  outstanding  technical  competence.  Dr.  Mackey  has  established 
a  relationship  with  the  people  of  the  country  based  on  trust  and 
mutual  respect  which  creates  an  environment  that  is  uniquely  recep¬ 
tive  to  the  ideas  he  has  to  convey.” 


Detailed  Contents 

THE  SECRETARY’S  REPORT 

Page 

Health _  2 

Research _  3 

Medical  Services _  4 

Services  to  the  States _  5 

Food  and  Drugs _  7 

Education _  9 

Old-Age,  Survivors,  and  Disability  Insurance _  11 

Public  Assistance _  12 

Services  for  Children _  13 

Vocational  Rehabilitation _  _ _  _  ___  14 

Special  Planning  for  the  Aged _  15 

Table  1. — Grants  to  States:  Total  grants  under  all  Department  of  Health, 

Education,  and  Welfare  programs,  fiscal  year  1957 _  16 

SOCIAL  SECURITY  ADMINISTRATION 

SOCIAL  SECURITY  IN  1957 _  17 

Program  Emphasis _  17 

Program  Operations _  18 

Program  Administration  in  1957 _  20 

International  Activities _  22 

OLD-AGE,  SURVIVORS,  AND  DISABILITY  INSURANCE _  23 

What  the  Program  Is  Doing _  24 

Beneficiaries  and  Benefit  Amounts _  24 

Disability  Provisions _  25 

The  Protection  Provided _  26 

The  Coverage  of  the  Program _  27 

Income  and  Disbursements _  27 

Administering  the  Program _  28 

Legislative  Developments  During  the  Year _  31 

Provisions  of  the  1957  Amendments _  32 

Combined  Reporting  for  Social  Security  and  Income-Tax  Withholding 

Purposes _ 35 

255 


256 


Department  of  Health ,  Education ,  and  Welfare,  1957 


Page 

Coordination  of  the  TVA  Retirement  System  With  Old-Age,  Survivors, 

and  Disability  Insurance _  36 

Retirement  System  of  Federal  Home  Loan  Banks _  37 

Simplification  Study _  37 

Financing  the  Program -  37 

Old-Age  and  Survivors  Insurance  Benefits _  37 

Disability  Insurance  Benefits _  38 

PUBLIC  ASSISTANCE _  38 

Effect  of  the  1956  Amendments _  38 

Trends  in  Caseloads  and  Expenditures _  39 

Old-Age  Assistance  , -  40 

Aid  to  Dependent  Children -  40 

Aid  to  the  Blind _  40 

Aid  to  the  Permanently  and  Totally  Disabled _  41 

General  Assistance _  41 

OASI  Beneficiaries  Receiving  Supplementary  Assistance  Payments _  41 

Program  and  Administrative  Developments _  42 

Improving  Medical  Care  for  Public  Assistance  Recipients _  43 

Strengthening  Social  Services  for  Needy  People _  46 

Efforts  To  Increase  Availability  of  Qualified  Staff _  49 

Other  Administrative  Developments -  50 

Defense  Welfare  Services _  52 

Services  for  Repatriated  Americans -  52 

CHILDREN’S  BUREAU _  53 

Some  Facts  and  Figures  About  Mothers  and  Children _  54 

Children  With  Special  Needs _  55 

Federal  Interdepartmental  Committee  on  Children  and  Youth _  56 

Programs  of  the  Bureau -  56 

Research  in  Child  Life -  56 

Maternal  and  Child  Health  Services _  58 

Crippled  Children’s  Services _  60 

Child  Welfare  Services _  63 

Juvenile  Delinquency  Services _  68 

International  Cooperation _  69 

FEDERAL  CREDIT  UNIONS _  70 

Research  and  Development _  71 

Table  1. — Social  Security  Administration:  Funds  available  and  obliga¬ 
tions  incurred,  fiscal  years  1957  and  1956 _  72 

Table  2. — Financing  social  insurance  under  the  Social  Security  Act:  Con¬ 
tributions  collected  and  trust  fund  operations,  fiscal  years  1955-57 _  73 

Table  3. — Old-age,  survivors,  and  disability  insurance:  Estimated  number 
of  families  and  beneficiaries  receiving  benefits  and  average  monthly 
benefit  in  current-payment  status,  by  family  group,  end  of  June  1957 

and  1956 _  74 

Table  4. — Old-age,  survivors,  and  disability  insurance:  Selected  data  on 
benefits,  employers,  workers,  and  taxable  earnings,  by  State,  for 

specified  periods,  1954,  1956,  and  1957 _  75 

Table  5. — Old-age,  survivors,  and  disability  insurance:  Selected  data  on 
benefits,  employers,  workers,  and  taxable  earnings  for  specified  periods, 
1955-57 _  76 


Detailed  Contents 


257 


Page 

Table  6. — Special  types  of  public  assistance  under  plans  approved  by  the 
Social  Security  Administration:  Number  of  recipients  and  average 
payment,  June  1957,  and  total  payments  to  recipients,  by  program  and 

State,  fiscal  year  1957 _  77 

Table  7. — Special  types  of  public  assistance  under  plans  approved  by  the 
Social  Security  Administration:  Federal  grants  to  States  and  total 
expenditures  and  percent  from  Federal  funds,  by  program  and  State, 

fiscal  year  1957 _  79 

Table  8. — Maternal  and  child  health  and  welfare  services:  Grants  to 
States  for  maternal  and  child  health  services,  services  for  crippled 
children,  and  child  welfare  services  under  the  Social  Security  Act,  by 

program  and  State,  fiscal  year  1957 _  81 

Table  9. — Federal  credit  unions:  Number  of  members,  amount  of  assets, 

amount  of  shares,  and  amount  of  loans  outstanding,  Dec.  31,  1935-56__  82 

Table  10. — Federal  credit  unions:  Assets  and  liabilities,  Dec.  31,  1956, 

and  Dec.  31,  1955 _  82 

PUBLIC  HEALTH  SERVICE 

HEALTH  OF  THE  NATION _  83 

Health  Record _  84 

Births,  Marriages,  and  Divorces _  85 

Influenza _  85 

Poliomyelitis _  87 

Funds  and  Personnel _  88 

National  Library  of  Medicine _  88 

Board  of  Regents _  89 

New  Building _  89 

Public  Health  Methods _  90 

Analysis  of  Illness  and  Disability _  90 

Education  for  Health  Professions _  91 

Studies  of  Health  Services _  91 

Consultative  Services _  91 

NATIONAL  INSTITUTES  OF  HEALTH _  92 

Clinical  Center _  93 

Division  of  Biologics  Standards _  94 

Division  of  Research  Grants _  94 

Central  Services _  95 

Institute  of  Allergy  and  Infectious  Diseases _  95 

Grant-Supported  Research _  96 

Institute  of  Arthritis  and  Metabolic  Diseases _  97 

Grant-Supported  Research _  98 

Cancer  Institute _  99 

National  Chemotherapy  Program _  99 

Grant-Supported  Research _  100 

Biostatistical  and  Field  Investigation  Studies _  100 

Cancer  Control  and  Research  Training _  101 

Institute  of  Dental  Research _  101 

Heart  Institute _  103 

Grant-Supported  Research _  105 


258 


Department  of  Health ,  Education ,  and  Welfare ,  1957 


Page 

Institute  of  Mental  Health _  106 

Psychopharmacology _  106 

Mental  Health  Research _  107 

Grant-Supported  Research _  108 

Institute  of  Neurological  Diseases  and  Blindness _  108 

Grant-Supported  Research _  109 

BUREAU  OF  MEDICAL  SERVICES _  110 

Hospitals  and  Outpatient  Facilities _  110 

Volume  of  Services _  111 

Training  and  Clinical  Investigations _  112 

Medicare _  113 

Evaluation  of  Hospital  Care _  113 

Freedmen’s  Hospital _  114 

Foreign  Quarantine _  115 

International  Traffic  Volume _ 116 

Medical  Examinations _  116 

Other  Quarantine  Activities _  117 

Health  Services  for  Indians _  118 

Therapeutic  Services _  119 

Preventive  Health  Services _  119 

Tuberculosis  Control _  120 

Dental  Services _  121 

Services  to  Mothers  and  Children _  121 

Training  of  Indians _  122 

Construction _  122 

Legislation _  122 

Health  Facilities  Construction  Program _  123 

Deficit  of  Hospital  Beds _  124 

Research  in  Hospital  Services _  124 

Dental  Resources _  124 

Dental  Manpower _  125 

Prepaid  Dental  Care _  125 

Nursing  Resources _  126 

Research  Grants  and  Fellowships _  126 

Traineeships _  126 

Studies  of  Patient  Care _  127 

How  Nurses  Spend  Their  Time _  127 

Turnover  of  Nursing  Personnel _  128 

Medical  Services  for  Federal  Agencies _  128 

Office  of  Vocational  Rehabilitation _  128 

Bureau  of  Old-Age  and  Survivors  Insurance,  Social  Security  Administra¬ 
tion _  129 

Bureau  of  Public  Assistance,  Social  Security  Administration _  129 

Office  of  Education _  129 

United  States  Coast  Guard,  Treasury  Department _  129 

Maritime  Administration,  Department  of  Commerce _  130 

Foreign  Service,  Department  of  State _  130 

Bureau  of  Prisons,  Department  of  Justice _  130 

Bureau  of  Employees’  Compensation,  Department  of  Labor -  131 


Detailed  Contents 


259 


Page 

BUREAU  OF  STATE  SERVICES _  131 

Division  of  General  Health  Services _  132 

State  Grants _  132 

Poliomyelitis  Vaccine  Activity _  132 

Arctic  Health  Research  Center _  133 

Emergency  Health  Services _  133 

Program  Development _  134 

Public  Health  Education _  134 

Public  Health  Nursing _  135 

Training _  135 

National  Office  of  Vital  Statistics _  135 

Division  of  Special  Health  Services _  136 

Accident  Prevention _  136 

Air  Pollution  Medical  Program _  137 

Chronic  Disease  Control _  137 

Heart  Disease  Control _  138 

Occupational  Health _  138 

Radiological  Health  Medical  Program _  139 

Tuberculosis  Control _  140 

Division  of  Sanitary  Engineering  Services _  141 

Robert  A.  Taft  Sanitary  Engineering  Center _  141 

Air  Pollution  Engineering _  141 

General  Engineering _  142 

Milk  and  Food  Sanitation _  142 

Radiological  Health _ - _  143 

Water  Supply  and  Water  Pollution  Control _  143 

Engineering  Resources _  144 

Communicable  Disease  Center _  144 

Epidemic  and  Disaster  Aid _  145 

Representative  Field  and  Laboratory  Investigations _  145 

Poliomyelitis _  145 

Respiratory  Diseases _  145 

Venereal  Diseases _  145 

Viral  Encephalitis _  146 

Diphtheria _  146 

Rabies _  146 

Psittacosis _  147 

Typhoid  Fever _  147 

Staphylococcus  Diseases _  147 

Laboratory  Activities _  147 

Vector  Control  Problems _  148 

Training _  148 

Division  of  Dental  Public  Health _  148 

Fluoridation _  148 

Other  Services  _  149 

Division  of  International  Health _  149 

Table  1. — Statement  of  appropriations,  authorizations,  obligations,  and 

balances,  fiscal  year  1957 _  150 

Table  2. — 'Commissioned  officers  and  civil  service  personnel  as  of  June  30, 

1957 _ 153 

Table  3. — Research  grants  and  awards,  fiscal  year  1957 _  155 

Table  4. — Payments  to  States,  fiscal  year  1957 _  156 


260 


Department  of  Health ,  Education,  and  Welfare,  1957 


OFFICE  OF  EDUCATION 

Page 

Introduction _  159 

Legislation _  161 

Organization  and  Administration  of  Education _  164 

State  School  Administration _  164 

Local  School  Administration _  165 

School  Finance _  165 

Schoolhousing _ 166 

Services  to  Local  Schools _  167 

Elementary  Education _  167 

Secondary  Education _  168 

Adult  Education _  169 

Exceptional  Children _  170 

Audiovisual  Education _  171 

Radio-Television  Services _  171 

Guidance  and  Student  Personnel _  172 

Vocational  Education _  172 

Higher  Education _  175 

Cost  of  Going  to  College _  175 

Statewide  Planning  and  Coordination  of  Higher  Education _  176 

College  Student  Retention  and  Withdrawal _  176 

College  and  University  Facilities  Survey _  176 

Survey  of  Organized  Occupational  Curriculums _  177 

College  Staffing  Study _  177 

Institutional  Financial  Aid  to  Students _  177 

College  Housing  Program _  178 

Administration  of  Grants _  178 

International  Education _  178 

Research  and  Studies _  179 

Far  East  Unit _  179 

Evaluation  of  Foreign  Credentials _  180 

Educational  Clearinghouse _  180 

International  Conferences _  180 

Educational  Materials  Laboratory _  181 

Teacher  Exchange  Program _  181 

Teacher  Education  Program _  182 

Technical  Training  Program _  182 

Technical  Cooperation  Program _ w _  182 

Nonprogram  Visitors _  182 

Research  and  Statistical  Services _  183 

Cooperative  Research _  183 

Statistical  Services _  184 

New  Surveys _  184 

Assistance  to  Schools  in  Federally  Affected  Areas _  186 

Library  Service _  187 

Public  Libraries _  187 


Detailed  Contents 


261 


Page 

Education  for  Librarianship _  188 

Public  School  Libraries _  188 

Advisory  Committees _  188 

The  President’s  Committee  on  Education  Beyond  the  High  School.  189 
Major  Publications  Off  the  Press  in  Fiscal  Year  1957 _  190 

Table  1. — Enrollment  in  the  continental  United  States,  1955-56  and 

1956-57 _  191 

Table  2. — Supply  and  demand  for  elementary  and  secondary  public  and 

nonpublic  school  teachers,  1956-57 _  191 

Table  3. — Grants  to  States:  Office  of  Education,  fiscal  year  1957 _  192 

FOOD  AND  DRUG  ADMINISTRATION 

Food,  Drug,  and  Cosmetic  Act _  195 

Disaster  and  Defense  Activities _  195 

On  the  Food  Front _  196 

Potential  Health  Hazards _  196 

To  Keep  Food  Clean _  197 

Pocketbook  Protection _  199 

Seafood  Inspection  Service _  200 

Products  of  Special  Dietary  Significance _  200 

Drugs  and  Devices _  201 

Illegal  Sales _  202 

Adulterated  and  Misbranded  Drugs  and  Devices _  203 

New  Drugs _  204 

Cosmetics  and  Colors _  205 

Certification  Services _  205 

Enforcement  of  Other  Acts _  206 

New  Court  Interpretations _  206 

Changes  in  the  Law  and  Regulations _  207 

Regulations _  208 

Scientific  Investigations _  210 

Enforcement  Statistics _  212 

Table  1. — Actions  on  foods  during  the  fiscal  year  1957 _  198 

Table  2. — Number  of  samples  on  which  criminal  prosecutions  and  seizures 
were  based  and  number  of  court  actions  instituted  during  the  fiscal 

year  1957 _  213 

Table  3. — Import  inspections  and  detentions  during  the  fiscal  year  1957_  213 

office  of  vocational  rehabilitation 

Research-Demonstration  Projects  and  Increased  Community  In¬ 
terest  Are  Shaping  Rehabilitation _  215 

Rehabilitations  in  1957 _  216 

Economic  Value  of  the  Program _  216 

Research  and  Demonstration  Projects  Cover  Diverse  Problems 

of  Disabled _ 218 


262 


Department  of  Health ,  Education ,  and  Welfare ,  1957 


Page 

Striking  Results  in  Epilepsy,  Cerebral  Palsy _  219 

Studies  on  Many  Fronts _  220 

Community  Interest  Reflected  in  Growth  of  Rehabilitation 
Facilities _  220 

Federal  Aid  to  Construction _  221 

Federal  Aid  to  Facilities _  221 

New  Aids  for  Center  Planning _  222 

Sheltered  Workshops _  222 

Program  of  Training  Is  Augmenting  Supply  of  Professional  Per¬ 
sonnel _  223 

Services  to  Blind  Persons _  225 

Mental  Illness _  227 

Program  Expenditures  Indicate  Growth  and  Activity  Throughout 

the  Nation _  227 

Stimulating  Employment  for  the  Handicapped _  228 

New  Programs  Started _  229 

Program  Development _  230 

State  Staff  Improvement _  230 

Cash  Disability  Benefits  Broaden  Program _  231 

State-Federal  Relationship _  232 

Cooperation  With  Public  Assistance _  232 

Informational  Activities _  233 

International  Activities _  233 

Table  1. — Number  of  referrals  and  cases,  by  agency,  fiscal  year  1957 _  235 

Table  2. — Vocational  rehabilitation  grants,  1957,  State  divisions  of  voca¬ 
tional  rehabilitation _  237 

Table  3. — Vocational  rehabilitation  grants,  1957,  State  commissions  or 
agencies  for  the  blind _  238 

Chart  1. — Disabilities  and  major  occupational  groups _  217 

SAINT  ELIZABETHS  HOSPITAL 

Division  of  Medical  Services _  240 

Clinical  Branches _  240 

Psychotherapy  Branch _  241 

Psychology  Branch _  242 

Laboratory  Branch _  242 

Nursing  Branch _  242 

Occupational  Therapy _  242 

Social  Service _  243 

Chaplain  Services  Branch _  243 

Library  Branch _  243 

Special  Services _  243 

Volunteer  Services _  244 

Medical  Records  Branch _  244 

Division  of  Administration _  244 

Business  Management  Branch _  244 

Maintenance  and  Industrial  Branch _  244 


Detailed  Contents 


263 


Page 


Needs  of  the  Hospital _  245 

Table  1. — Movement  of  patient  population,  fiscal  year  1957 _  245 

Table  2. — Consolidated  statement  of  movement  of  patients,  by  classifica¬ 
tion,  fiscal  year  1957 _  246 

AMERICAN  PRINTING  HOUSE  FOR  THE  BLIND 

Services  to  Schools  and  Classes  for  the  Blind _  247 

GALLAUDET  COLLEGE 


Kendall  School _  249 

Gallaudet  College _  249 

HOWARD  UNIVERSITY 

Enrollment  of  Students _  251 

Geographical  Distribution  of  Students _ _  _  - _  _  252 

Veterans _  252 

Army  and  Air  Force  ROTC _ 252 

The  Faculty _  252 

The  Building  Program _  253 

Graduates _  253 

Service  in  Foreign  Countries _  254 


U.  S.  GOVERNMENT  PRINTING  OFFICE:  1958 


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