rv aye 5 Sikes! woe-8 yRSROTIA =e rit ere tae 2.27% ee Toe 4 Red =. ek wl te Pie er el | Sutarereret rhe Seger aS » Peer Cnet Pap) alae Ns cana $it elas Soret Pad Upc anieass bape eee Shr ai a ye ew Pe ee yh Se es Te Tomy wh eA a man ~ ie CAS deibibohe t SAN OS WH i LAG ea he a 9 GY BB eH we i 6 , oe Oe HE A Sie aw hoe We ere ee Para % Se RR stig ete NS Ae a 8 ee xen tee, = se Was CFR e ROS Se telin ecllen ewer LS ores yeen Tne re a Ew) (es a She tele Sa Uae nes te Say se ey “ ae ee Nas we ta a ne 7) ee id Senecace mere i * i ¥ at ms Se 2 Cin eee be ee) ar peatecataty Fa seice $ Smee ee age eres berets z Ke nee “ pre erent s ey, a py ee ra = pia sy tak ar ow Bek atone et pa ene ss fe ¥ be diag canes 2 44 mit Laas ea as en ee! Grist wy eles Pein?! * * Dae ect @ bw da bee + Le UR ERS iia ij SA) rie; sie-% Leow FBT e La aa (anes ‘ ih si | ee) wis tas cS SHR ae ee teed 2 pee Dh ea tc ees Sewn pe Seated oe os 4 5% Fg as ee Ce chudiiea de ate +e Porer ee See be eat io % tae wee + Bias ergot oe Me NOs ed 2H a alata 4 hs Coe oe i habitat a * a ahet beat ae ae PR ef — Te Se - : . YD pee Ee Spy A Pit ¢ ne € se ~ Cette a ee ee ee ee oe yee ee ee ae 2 eae ~_ 2 hy hie OE, le Tl ar HE k= s) i ad ar b's ee ft » Bile SS ee ie y 1 q Fi ¥ } Cy EDUCATION for All American Youth Educational Policies Commission V ; National Education Association of the United States and the American Association of School Administrators 1201 Sixteenth Street, Northwest, Washington 6, D. C. ess Copyright, 1944 NaTIONAL EpucaTION ASSOCIATION OF THE UNITED STATES Washington 6, D. C. First Printing, September 1944 Second Printing, October 1944 Third Printing, January 1945 The Educational Policies Commission Appointed by the National Education Association of the United States and the American Association of School Administrators Appointed Members ALEXANDER J. STODDARD, Chairman Francis L. Bacon EpwIn A. LEE James BRYANT CONANT Pau T. RANKIN PRUDENCE CUTRIGHT Mayci£ SOUTHHALL EDMUND E. Day GEORGE D. STODDARD CHARLES B. GLENN GEORGE D. STRAYER SIDNEY B. Hay PEARL A. WANAMAKER Ex-Officio Members N. L. ENGELHARDT EV. leo SCHEAGLE WILLARD E. GIVENS S. D. SHANKLAND BEULAH K. WALKER Advisory Members J. W. STUDEBAKER GEORGE F. Zook WILLIAM G. Carr, Secretary 1201 Sixteenth Street, Northwest Washington 6, D. C. Foreword HIS VOLUME stems from a firm conviction on the part of the Educational Policies Commission that the extension, adaptation, and improvement of ‘secondary education is essen- tial both to the security of our American institutions and to the economic well-being of our people. Such a development in secondary education can and should be brought about within the framework of the local and state educational systems. If the federal government will help to finance and encourage such a development, and if the local and state leadership will do its part, it will be neither necessary nor desirable for the federal government itself to operate educational services for the youth of the nation. In the nearly three years in which it has been developing these policies for secondary education, the Commission has tried to dig beneath statements of general principles and to sug- gest in some detail how approved principles can be carried out in practice. It should be emphasized, however, that the programs of education described in this volume are not intended to be blueprints for local school systems. On the contrary, they are merely samples of the many different possible solutions to the problem of meeting the educational needs of all American youth. These samples are offered in the hope that they will stimulate and aid the planning and action which are already under way in many states and communities and which soon must be under- taken in all. Plans for postwar education are too complex to be improvised in a few months after the problems are already upon us. Now is the time, the one and the best time, for citizens and educators in thousands of American communities to join forces in plan- ning the kinds of schools which America needs and must have. [v] Acknowled oment INCE FEBRUARY 1942, when the Educational Policies Com- mission voted to begin the preparation of this volume, many groups and individuals have contributed to its development as the document passed through a series of careful revisions. The Commission wishes to acknowledge here the valuable assistance that it has received in this process. First, and above all, it wishes to thank Greorce L. MaxweE Lt, _ assistant secretary of the Commission. Under the direction of the Commission, he has drafted the larger part of this volume including the chapters on American City and Farmville. Noth- ing that the Commission can say in appreciation of his skill and untiring effort could be a greater tribute to him than the unus- ual combination of broad vision and practical common sense revealed in every page of these chapters. The opening and concluding chapters, constituting a frame- work around the document, were written by the secretary of the Commission, WILLIAM G. Carr, who has also been respon- sible for coordination of the efforts of the many individuals and groups who have contributed in one way or another to the development of this volume. In November 1942, the secretary and the president of the American Vocational Association, L. H. DENNIs and JoHN J. SEIDEL, met with the Commission in Washington to assist in reviewing a prospectus of the document. In January 1944, members of a committee of the National Association of Secondary-School Principals met to review the report. The membership of this committee included Paut E. ELICKER, OsCAR GRANGER, E. P. GRIZZELL, E. R. JOBE, GALEN Jones, J. Paut LEonarp, and HucH H. STEwart. In April 1944, a committee of the American Association for Health, Physical Education, and Recreation met in New York [vii | City to present the viewpoint of this group on the program in health and physical education. Members of the group were LAURENTINE COLLINS, WILLIAM L. HuGHEs, BEN W. MILLER, Jay B. Nasu, A. H. Prirztarr, C. H. McCroy, Jesse F. Wi- LIAMS, and PAULINE B. WILLIAMSON. A draft of several extensive sections of the “American City” chapter was prepared by Paut T. RANKIN. AUBREY A. Douc- Lass wrote a draft of the chapter on “A State System of Youth Education.” OLiver H. Brmson, C. L. CusHmMan, F. F. EL- LioTT, PauL L. Ess—ert, and R. H. MarHEwson reviewed certain sections of the manuscript. The following persons reviewed the entire document in a pre- liminary form and prepared critical analyses of it for considera- tion by the Commission: WALTER F. DowNEy, WiLL1aM DuN- CAN, CLAUDE FUEss, CLINTON S. GOLDEN, ALONZO GRACE, H. P. HammMonp, DaBNEY LANCASTER, JOHN L. LoUNsBURY, ALEXANDER MEIKLEJOHN, ERNEST O. MELBY, Howarpb PILLs- BURY, Maurice F. Seay, JOHN J. SEIDEL, and HENRY M. WRISTON. With the cooperation of the National Association of Sec- ondary-School Principals, a short digest and interpretation of this volume has been prepared by J. PauL LEonarop. This will be issued soon as a publication of the Association. Deeply grateful as we are to all the persons named above, the Commission assumes final responsibility for the document. [vin ] of Contents PAGE OCC OLOMIPEE ID: ecu We Ne cdi Ae Pa eC ae a A Vv PMCRIIOW ICU CINE (te. ete past pe Rah OF HOR Se ee RF Vil CHAPTER iL, Compiled eile Bie ye che ae ates ee vk eae 1 oneal VAmenicaneY Out t's a setlny 18a a. int: 11 NEL he Farmvalle,Community School 014.5. ' 28 4. : 23 iver ochoolsetorsyouth in. American, City... «\ss.22. 4. LA pyr neotatcroystem Ot Youth Education: 2.00.00 0400. 33.9 Waleed istonya Lbataviust,ber Written: |. 0.00... 2 oh 383 CLS name ee eeees HDs Alan es ht Sed OE UME Ses a SEE 411 [1x ] CHAPTER | Could It Happen? DUCATIONAL CHANGE is bound to come, and to come i swiftly. Only the nature and direction of change may be controlled. | No one can surely foretell the future of American education, for no one knows what American educators, boards of educa- tion, and legislatures will do during this critical period. We can, however, foresee the alternatives. And, by a study of our past experience, we can predict the general consequences of each of the lines of action—or inaction—which the public schools may pursue. The alternative possibilities, very briefly stated, are these: 1. A federalized system of secondary education may be cre- ated, at first to compete with and ultimately to replace the tra- ditional American system of state and local control of education. 2. A wisely planned and vigorously implemented program for the improvement, adaptation, and extension of educational services to youth may be developed by the local and state educa- tional authorities. The Commission strongly and unanimously favors the second alternative and rejects the first. Nevertheless, the Commission firmly believes that if local and state planning and action are lacking, a federal system of secondary education is scarcely less certain to occur than the succession of the seasons. In order to compare and contrast the two possible lines of development, this volume contains two hypothetical histories. One “history,” constituting most of the remainder of this chapter, is written on the assumption that the first alternative occurs. The other “history,” presented in Chapter VI of this volume, relates what can happen if we follow the second alternative. [1] In order that the reader may be constantly aware that the two “histories” in this chapter and in Chapter VI are projections of the future, they have been printed in a type-face which sets them apart from the rest of this volume. The remainder of this opening chapter, then, consists of quotations that may possibly be found in the concluding pages of some standard history of education published some twenty years from now. This is a sequence of events which the Com- mission fervently hopes will xot happen. But they will happen unless effective planning and action occur to direct educational developments in more desirable directions. Here, then, is: THE HISTORY THAT SHOULD NOT HAPPEN “The end of the second World War marked a turning point in the his- tory of youth education in the United States. “The complete victory of the United Nations, after a long and bitter struggle, was followed by the demobilization of our armies and the rapid conversion of the bulk of the war industries to the pursuits of peace. Al- though the United States government made strenuous and, on the whole, successful efforts to administer the process in an orderly fashion, the de- mobilization and readjustment of some 30,000,000 persons placed a severe strain upon economic, social, and educational institutions that had been geared for years to the demands of a total wer. Educational Needs Following the Second World War ‘Many of the demobilized soldiers were in their late teens or early twenties. Their civilian education had been interrupted by military serv- ice; few of them had enjoyed extensive experience in normal community living or in earning a livelihood by civilian pursuits; all of them needed guidance and training in order that they might find a place in the ongoing life of the nation. They were grown men and women, yet they needed education in the attitudes and activities of civilian life. “Similar educational needs were found among the men and women who had been employed in the war industries. In many cases their wartime vocational skills were no longer useful. For many of the younger workers, as for many soldiers, employment in a war industry had meant an inter- rupted educational career. [2] “The boys and girls in their middle teens who were still in school at the end of the war were greatly disturbed. They had been diligently pre- paring themselves, by means of preinduction training and vocational prep- aration, to take an active part in the armed forces or on the production fronts. With the end of the war, their vocational outlook was rendered profoundly different and difficult, their future status uncertain. While the war continued, their services had been desperately needed. They had been urged and assisted to prepare themselves as rapidly as possible for full- time employment in civilian or military pursuits. But now the opportunities for work in war industry were few, and the labor market was flooded with returning soldiers and displaced war industry workers, many of whom had priorities on jobs and previous working experience. Even the great pro- gram of P. W. P. W. (Postwar Public Works) at first gave preference to the war veterans and offered relatively little opportunity for youth em- ployment. “Youth were therefore urged to remain longer in school. This was cer- tainly sound advice, not primarily because it was one method of limiting the labor supply, but chiefly because the vast and complicated responsi- bilities of adult citizenship in the postwar world clearly required extended civic, vocational, and cultural education. “The secondary schools of the country, with the exception of those in a very few localities, had no comprehensive plan available to meet this situation. They had given little thought to what they ought to teach or how they ought to teach it, either to returning soldiers, to demobilized war industry workers, or to the young people already in their schools who now changed their objective from immediate wartime employment to ex- tended preparation for living in a strenuous period of national and world reconstruction. “The result of this situation, if we may compress the educational his- tory of nearly a decade into a single phrase, was the establishment and entrenchment of our present National Bureau of Youth Service (N. B. Y. S.) as the only important agency of secondary education in this country. “This development is so important that the next few pages will be de- voted to a more careful review of its causes and consequences. Why the Schools Were Unprepared “\W/e who live in the second half of the twentieth century may find it quite difficult to understand why the schools of an earlier day were so ill- prepared to meet the contingencies which must certainly have been ex- [3] pected, at least by the educational leaders of that time. But while we may be justified in regarding their failure with wonder, we should refrain from censure. Hindsight is always easier than foresight, and we must remember, as we review the history of those trying years, that there were at least - four reasons for this apparent lethargy, this inability to cope with the new situation. ‘For one thing, the secondary schools had devoted themselves with amazing energy to a series of highly successful efforts to help win the war. In view of the extremely narrow margin which, at the outset of the war, separated victory from defeat, we can certainly approve their industry and understand their anxiety. “The schools made some far-reaching changes in the very midst of war. They showed themselves not only resourceful but flexible. The preinduc- tion training for young men and the programs which trained over five million workers for the war industries are but two examples. The locally- controlled public-school systems showed that they could react promptly, vigorously, and effectively when confronted by a national war emergency. This ability of the local schools to react to a national wartime crisis was not equally evident with respect to the long-range planning for the peace. “The published records of the professional meetings held in those years show us clearly how engrossed the schools were in the immediate war problems. Even a cursory examination reveals that while the records abound with eloquent references to postwar education and reconstruction, they are almost barren of specific suggestions as to how the educational system would be changed in order to accept the responsibilities which everyone knew would devolve upon it in the event of a victory for the United Na- tions. On the contrary, it seems to have been assumed that, when the war ended, the schools would simply collect the fragments of their prewar program which had been put in storage for the duration and fit these ele- ments back into the familiar prewar pattern. No one seems to have noted that the pattern, too, was shattered and beyond repair; that the end of the war was the end of an epoch to waich there could be no return, in edu- cation or in any other aspect of life. “We must remember also that many secondary schools were poorly organ- ized to meet a suddenly emerging national problem. There were at that time about 28,000 high schools in the United States. The median high school had only 140 students and six faculty members. Each of the thousands of smaller high schools was controlled by a local board of education which, within certain very general and broad requirements, acted as a law unto itself. [4] Many of the state departments of education were weak and not legally con- _ stituted to meet such a critical situation. Almost all of them were under- staffed and overworked. “In the third place, the local funds available to education, even when supplemented, as they were in a few states, by state school funds, were often quite inadequate to provide the buildings, equipment, and personnel neces- sary for complete educational service. The one agency that might have im- proved this fiscal: situation, the government of the United States, failed to _act effectively. “It must be said on behalf of the educational leaders in that day, that they used their utmost talents of persuasion and strategy to secure the appropria- tion of federal funds (pitifully small requests they now seem to us, by com- parison with our federal school expenditures) to equalize educational opportunities. They made vigorous representations before one Congress after another, both prior to and after the entry of the United States into the war. They called for action in the name of fair play and democracy; they engulfed the Congress in oceans of convincing statistics; they could summon to their support all the logic, the evidence, the common-sense reasoning, and the appeals to high motives. Their efforts were hampered, not only by the active opposition of certain influential minorities and the lack of vigorous support from the current national Administration, but also by the relative disunity and weakness of the professional organizations of teachers as com- pared with other occupational groups in the population. They were, there- fore, unable to awaken the public from its apathy on the issue and to arouse widespread public support for federal aid to education. “Still, they might have succeeded in obtaining federal funds had it not been for a formidable psychological obstacle. That barrier was the now almost incomprehensible fear that harmful federal control of education would inevitably follow federal aid to the states for education. These fears seem strange to us at present, not only because the federal government now con- trols practically all of our secondary education, but also because we see clearly that failure to strengthen the financial basis of local education in- evitably led to federal operation and control of large segments of our school system. It was the lack of federal assistance to the local and state school sys- tems that created the necessity for our present system of federal control. But that fact, so obvious now to the historian, was apparently quite invisible to the contemporary statesman. “Meanwhile, the Congress and the Administration, hearing no strong demand for action from the American people as a whole, refused to“grant [5] any funds whatever for education, except certain earmarked emergency }~— funds for wartime vocational training and other special purposes. ‘The fourth, and last, reason for the incapacity of education during post- war years was the tremendous pressure of the traditional educational pro- gram. We have seen in earlier chapters of this history that the American high school began as a means of preparing youth for college and for cultural pursuits. Although its enrolment doubled, redoubled, and.redoubled again, during the first four decades of this century, and although its declared pur- poses had been broadened far beyond college preparation, equally funda. mental changes in the secondary-school curriculum and in the preparation of teachers were not made. The heroic efforts and revolutionary changes in procedure which the secondary schools made in-the national crisis of war could not be sustained in the peace that followed. The slow prewar processes of minor piecemeal adjustment were quite inadequate for a situ- ation requiring extensive changes and prompt, unified action. ‘In times of peace, this profound discordance between educational pur- pose and program, between promise and performance, meant that nearly half of the youth of secondary-school age left school before graduation and many of those less adventurous spirits who remained on the rolls were able to profit but little by the instruction aforded. Once a young man or young woman left school, the school ordinarily took no further substantial interest in him. It was generally supposed that any youth who was not absolutely Feeble-minded could, if he would ‘apply himself, learn the information and skills which had for generations been the substance of precollegiate edu- cation. It was assumed that in some way, not clearly understood, this knowl- edge would be useful to him in later years. And it was taken for granted that, even if the knowledge so acquired should be valueless or forgotten, the process of acquiring it was, in itself, a wholesome experience. It fol- lowed, therefore, that any young person who dropped out of school was so clearly at fault that the school could only wash its hands of further re- sponsibility. “This is a severe picture; too severe, no doubt—for even in those schools, there were multiplied thousands of devoted teachers who understood the needs of young people and who succeeded admirably in giving many of them an excellent education. Yet these and other adaptations, made by indi- vidual teachers or occasionally by an entire school system, were too slow and too ‘spotty in view of the heavy demands which a period of world reconstruction was bound to impose upon the secondary schools of the United States. [6] “The need for public education in the postwar period on the part of large groups of persons who could profit but little from the conventional ‘courses. which were the chief peacetime offerings of most schools, together with the failure of the state and local school systems to meet the situation, led the federal government to move into the vacuum. The National Bureau of Youth Service “We have seen how the federal government experimented, in the decade 1933-1943, with various youth-serving and youth-educating agencies. None of these agencies survived during the war, but their experience and prece- dent made it easy and natural for similar programs to be revived on an ex- panded scale. The National Bureau of Youth Service was at first created to provide employment for youth, largely on public works projects. To move from work to work experience, from there to vocational training, and from there to related instruction was a series of easy steps. Within a year, so rapidly did the new influence expand, citizenship training, health education, family-life education, and other aspects of comprehensive developmental programs were taken over by the National Bureau. These new national insti- tutions were, for the moment, relatively free from the dead hand of inertia. They announced themselves as ready and willing to provide an educational service to youth in terms of the demands of contemporary life. Being under federal control, these agencies enjoyed substantial federal support. This was an asset of no mean importance in the postwar years and, as we have seen, it was an asset stubbornly denied to the state and local school systems. “The new N.B.Y.S. schools soon attracted many recruits to their wide- open doors. There were, besides young demobilized soldiers and war workers, many out-of-school youth, unable to find employment and often rejected or unwanted in their small local high schools. Even many of the ‘regular high-school boys and girls, especially those whose families had small incomes, shifted over to the new federal institutions. Meanwhile, the local taxpaying groups rejoiced to think (as they erroneously supposed) that the school tax burden was correspondingly reduced, ‘because the federal government paid the bill.’ “For a short time, the local and state school systems did retain contro! of the remnants of the war production training program. This activity, which had successfully trained several million workers for the war industries, was converted, on a somewhat reduced scale, to retraining for the industries of peace and the vocational rehabilitation of wounded veterans. Two years after the end of the war, however, these two programs were transferred miro by executive order to the N.B.Y.S., taking with them also the ‘Smith-Hughes’ program established in World War I. “In vain the then leaders of secondary education pleaded that the es- tablishment of these federal agencies resulted in the creation of class systems of education, that they involved federal control over curriculum, personnel, and teaching methods, and that they endangered the very existence of that system of universal secondary education which had so long been one of the characteristics of the American democratic way of life. They could point out all the defects of the new federal program, but they had, for the most part, nothing sufficiently definite to offer in place of it. “The public psychology that permitted and even encouraged these devel- opments would be a Fruitful topic for extended discussion. There was a strange mixture of confusion, indifference, impatience with the slow adapta- tions of the local public schools, and inability to see the ultimate and in- evitable result toward which public policy in education was moving. The ordinary ‘average citizen’ wanted better education for young people. A federal system seemed to be an easy way to obtain what he wanted, quickly and painlessly. It made little difference to him, he said, how this education was controlled or administered. He was most confused with reference to the effect of federal financial aid on the local and state school systems. He was inclined to accept uncritically the glib slogan that federal aid means federal domination of schools,’ although, as we have already seen, just the opposite was really the case. He shrugged off the warnings of the educators by ascribing their opposition to simple professional jealousy. He wanted action in a hurry, and even though getting the job of educational change done with dispatch meant giving up things of great value, he was not inclined to protest. Indeed, he was not even able to see clearly just what the long-term values of local and state control of education were. Each added bit of fed- eral activity in education seemed desirable and, taken by itself, quite harm- less. He was beset by many economic and political problems which seemed, at first glance, far more important than the issues of educational control. When federalization of education had run its full course, many of these same people were amazed that a series of small concessions could add up to such great and fundamental changes in the whole purpose and conduct of education and in the American way of life itself. Some Effects of Federal Control of Education “It is too early as yet to appraise fully the results of the development that has been described in the preceding paragraphs. Some contemporary [8] students of education believe that great harm has been done to education and to democracy. These critics declare that, after the first short period of pioneering and flexibility, the federal youth program has assumed a rigidity — of pattern and procedure that far exceeds the bad effects of traditionalism in the state and local system that it replaced. They say that the old system, with all its shortcomings, could be changed, improved, and adapted to local conditions by means of local experiments and local freedom to try out prom- ising innovations. It is certainly true that local freedom cannot be permitted to exist within the vast and orderly reaches of a single federal educational system. . “These critics also declare that the present system has created unfortunate class distinctions with respect to the education of youth and that it offers a constant and open temptation to the invasion of youth education for parti- san political purposes. They point to the alleged scandals of the presidential campaign of 1956 as one of many examples of this danger. They accuse the political party then in office of misusing the power which lay in its hands through control of the education of the ‘majority of American youth. It is officially admitted that courses of study in all matters relating to history, government, and economics were quietly revised, immediately after the 1952 election, by the experts of the N.B.Y.S. in Washington. These new courses were prescribed for nationwide use in the federal secondary schools, junior colleges, and adult classes in 1954. Strict inspection was established by the Washington and regional offices of the N.B.Y.S. to see that all teachers and youth leaders followed the new teaching materials exactly. Critics of this procedure were curtly informed that the preparation and prescription of such material is an entirely legitimate function of our federal government. lt has, of course, been impossible for the teachers themselves to combat the trend of the times when the federal government prescribes their qualifica- tions, administers their eligibility examinations, and issues their pay checks. ‘As the closing pages of this history are being written, this same group of critics is initiating a campaign to restore the former system of decen- tralized secondary education. It may not be the function of a historian to predict the future, but this writer believes that it is highly improbable that their endeavor will succeed. Great opportunities rarely return, and it would now require tremendous efforts to recover what the majority of educators, schoolboard members, and other citizens of that time let slip from their hands less than a generation ago. Furthermore, the few remaining local high schools of today have returned to their original function of preparing a selected minority of our youth for strictly cultural pursuits. The history of education, [9] like that of all other social services, is punctuated by the ruins of institutions that would not or could not adapt to new and urgent needs. It now appears almost certain that the locally administered high school, for so many years the center of the American dream of equal opportunity through education, has joined the Latin grammer school of the seventeenth century and the academy of the nineteenth in the great wastebasket of history. The book from which the above paragraphs are quoted has not yet been written. Whether such paragraphs ever will be written depends upon the effectiveness of educational planning and action, now and in the months immediately ahead. In no area of our life is leadership more greatly needed. It may be that the future historian will make an entirely different report. He may say that the schools of the nation had anticipated the youth needs of the postwar years; that they were ready to move to meet these needs as they developed; that every state and every large locality had a definite plan for doing so; that the federal government was at last persuaded to supply adequate financial aid to make this service possible; that the teaching profession was prepared to make the necessary changes in curriculum and administration; that the local organization of education was sufficiently flexible to permit the establishment of secondary schools adequate to the tremendous educational job that waited to be done; and that the secondary schools of America, under state and local control, were transformed into agencies serving all American youth, whatever their educational needs, right through the period of adjustment to adult life. If, as this Commission firmly believes, the American system of education based on local control and initiative is worth saving, we must begin to save it now. We cannot successfully improvise a program when the war is over. We must plan and act at once or never. If we say to the challenge of the present moment ““Not yet,” we shall be obliged to say at some future time “It is too late now.” [10] CHAPTER tI For All American Youth teas: ARE two important facts to remember about all American youth. First, there are about 11,000,000 of them between the sixteenth and twenty-first birthday, the group with whose edu- cation this document is primarily concerned. Second, no two of the 11,000,000 are identical. Here, by way of example, are brief descriptions of a dozen or so out of the 11,000,000. The number of these sketches is limited for practical reasons; a thousand such accounts would not exhaust their infinite variety. Here, to begin with, is Edith of Suburbia. She has about aver- age intelligence. Her family is well-to-do, with a tradition of college education. They have planned that she shall attend a rather expensive women’s college. She has no definite vocational purpose, but she looks forward to college experience and feels sure she will have ‘“‘a perfectly swell time.” Here is Max, born in Metropolis and raised on the streets thereof, a boy of average intelligence and no special abilities as yet discovered. He has the capacity to learn and follow any one of the fairly skilled occupations. The family is respectable, living in moderate circumstances. The father and mother have little education themselves and no great appreciation of its value to others. There are several younger brothers and sisters who must be fed and clothed. Max left school at the end of the compulsory attendance period and got a job. He lost this job in a few months and is now unemployed, an economic liability to his ee nes stead of an asset as they had hoped. Next, meet Gilbert who lives across the street from the post office in Farmville. He is somewhat above average in intelligence, fleet of foot and broad in the shoulders, the star athlete of the village high school. He has a knack with engines and is already [11] working part time in the local garage. He is studying English, social studies, auto mechanics, and Spanish. Gilbert says he: doesn’t care much about going to college. His family can sup- port him in high school but could not afford tuition or even living expenses away from home. This is George, a Negro boy. In intellectual ability, George is superior. Given the interest, ambition, and opportunity, he would be likely to succeed in a professional school. But in George’s small home town, employment for Negro boys is lim- ited almost exclusively to unskilled and low-paid jobs. George left school at fourteen. He has been doing odd jobs, and vaguely planning to move to Detroit or southern California to get factory employment at wages that seem very high as compared with his local standards. Yet, since these are faraway places and it is hard to find out exact information, George may settle down within the limitations of his own community. Gertrude tries hard to succeed in school, but she is not very popular among teachers or classmates. She always receives poor grades. Her father and mother both have irregular, unskilled, poorly-paid work by the day. They resent the fact that their daughter is prevented by the school attendance law from helping with the support of the family. Gertrude is rarely dressed at- tractively; she never has any spending money; she has never won any distinction or recognition in school or elsewhere. The school psychologist says she is just barely above the moron level of intelligence. She has applied for a work permit and, if she gets the permit, will probably accept the first job that is offered to her. | Norman is gifted with distinctly superior intelligence. He is ambitious and industrious, successful and happy in the aca- demic high-school course. He wants to study medicine and is determined to do so, although he and his parents will have to struggle desperately to scrape together enough money to pay the full costs of college and medical school. Norman’s sister, Norma, is two years younger and fully as intelligent and as industrious as her brother. Unfortunately, she contracted poliomyelitis in infancy and, although she had good medical and nursing care, she is badly crippled for life. She thinks she could succeed in certain phases of library work if there were some way for her to obtain the training. But if [12] Norman goes to college, the family cannot possibly send Norma as well. Herbert, too, is a brilliant and agreeable student. His father “owns” (subject to a heavy mortgage) a rather poor and run- down fruit farm. Herbert now attends a four-teacher rural high school. His assignments for homework this weekend are: Ere igh eee ek, OC bis gk Julius Caesar, Act II ivebramie fa tee Ye Se: Deriving the formula for the rtf term of a binomial expansion DPPC ter be ly inte: she P hc ot Caesar, Book I, lines 65-72 PaMeriCany, LStOLryrie: x3 The War of 1812. Mem- orize the principal battles and the names of the op- posing commanders. Herbert doesn’t think he wants to go to college. Schoolwork, he says, is easy enough but “it doesn’t get you anywhere.” He will graduate next year and then help his father or get a job on another farm. James thinks he knows exactly what he wants to do; he wants to “go into aviation.” He has fair mechanical abilities and average intelligence. His middle-class parents want their son to have “a better education than we did” and they think it would be nice if James could graduate from college and become a teacher, or a minister like his Uncle William. Russell and Victoria, brother and sister, live on a Kansas farm with their widowed father. Their mother died five years ago. By industry and good investments the father has built up a substantial estate and income. The two children are now his only interest in life; he is proud of their good looks and good school records; he wants to keep them living with him. Russell has no vocational plans except to help his father. Victoria looks forward to an early marriage, an arrangement of which her father is quite unaware. Martha is a Negro girl, daughter of a tenant farmer. Ignorant, cheerful, and improvident, she has no occupational plans, or plans of any other kind for that matter. Following the tradition in her community, Martha left school at an early age, will help [13] at home for a few years, and will probably marry in her early teens. Here also is Leonardo, a quiet boy with marked artistic talent. Here is Harold, also an artist, but unfortunately an artist in petty larceny. ‘he patrolman in his block and the juvenile court judge know well his sullen, indifferent face. Harold is convinced by now that crime doesn’t pay unless it is organized on a large scale. Here is Gretchen who arrived in this country a few mega ago on a refugee ship. Here is José, son of Mexican itinerant farm laborers. Here is Helen, daughter in the second American-born gen- eration of Japanese ancestry. Here is Helene, the most popular girl in town—brilliant, beautiful, full of energy, a young genius in organization and leadership. Here is Lancelot, a young man with an unusually disagreeable disposition and a definitely low intelligence whose wealthy par- ents want him to go to law school. Is the task of providing education for all American youth a hopeless one? Can any program or series of programs be devised that will meet all, or even a majority, of these bewildering human needs, complicated as they are by vast differences of economic circumstances? The task is indeed complex; it is not for that reason unman- ageable. It certainly cannot be performed by any one single organized form of educational experience. It cannot be met without the expenditure of money, effort, and time. It cannot be met by an educational policy which concludes that, because a given youth leaves a given kind of school, the youth is per se uneducable or wayward. The task can be met: first, by identifying the major types of educationally significant differences found among American youth; second, by noticing the equally significant characteris- tics that all or nearly all youth have in common; third, by de- | [14] vising and inaugurating educational programs and organizations that provide for the common needs of all youth and the special needs of each individual. How Youth Differ At least eight categories of educationally significant differ- ences are illustrated in the above descriptions of Max, Gilbert, Martha, and the others: 1. Differences in intelligence and aptitude will exist, regard- less of modifications in the environments of individuals. While certain portions of these differences are inherited, even these cannot be predicted from parentage. These differences require different educational procedures, content, and standards of speed and achievement. 2. Differences in occupational interests and outlooks are both desirable and necessary. They require guidance to match abilities against the requirements of the job, desires against opportunities. They require curriculum adjustments that provide the necessary preparation for thorough workmanship in all occupations. They require administrative arrangements that will remove or minimize undemocratic “‘social-status” distinctions among oc- cupational fields and their corresponding educations. 3. There are differences in availability of educational facili- ties, differences caused either by location of residence or family economic status. The elimination of these differences is an entirely practicable matter of administration and finance, in- volving the proper organization and location of schools, and the provision of transportation and student-maintenance facilities, of state and federal equalization funds, and of public or private scholarship funds. 4. There are differences in the types of communities in which youth reside. Insofar as these differences are educationally sig- nificant, they can be met by a guidance program providing information and outlooks which transcend community barriers, and by curriculums which are adjusted to the needs and op- portunities of diverse communities. [15] 5. There are differences of opportunity resulting from dif- ferences in social and economic status, often aggravated by dif- ferences in race. ‘The removal of such inequalities is a difficult matter, often requiring basic social and economic changes in the community. Yet, even so, these differences can be measurably reduced by wise educational leadership and administration, and by the objective study of community problems in schools. 6. There are differences in parental attitudes and cultural backgrounds. In many cases, cultural differences can be utilized for valuable education purposes. In other cases, where differ- ences give rise to conflict or jeopardize the proper development of children and youth, the undesirable effects may be minimized through a program of home visitation and parent education. 7. There are differences in personal and avocational interests. Within reasonable bounds, these differences may well be en- couraged by a broad curriculum with opportunities for some selection of studies. 8. There are, finally, differences in mental health, emotional stability, and physical well-being. Extreme disabilities must be compensated for in special schools and classes. Other temporary or less serious deviations from normal health may be met by appropriate adjustments in curriculum and regimen and by remedial health instruction and school health services. What Youth Have in Common The common qualities of youth are fully as important to education as their differences. For example: All American youth are citizens now; all (or nearly all) will be qualified voters in the future; all require education for civic responsibility and competence. All American youth (or nearly all) are members of family groups now and will become members of other family groups in the future; all require an understanding of family relationships. All American youth are now living in the American culture and all (or nearly all) will continue to do so in the future; all require an understanding of the main elements in that culture. [16] All American youth need to maintain their mental and physical health now and in the future; all require instruction to develop habits of healthful living, understanding of conditions which foster health, and knowledge of ways of preventing disease, avoiding injuries, and using medical services. All American youth will be expected to engage in useful work and will need to work to sustain themselves and others; all therefore require occupational guidance and training, and orien- tation to current economic conditions. All American youth have the capacity to think rationally; all need to develop this capacity, and with it, an appreciation of the significance of truth as arrived at by the rational process. All American youth must make decisions and take actions which involve choices of values; all therefore need insight into ethical values. Particularly do they need to grow in understand- ing the basic tenet of democracy—that the individual human being is of surpassing worth. w Ww Ww When we write confidently and inclusively about education for all American youth, we mean just that. We mean that all youth, with their human similarities and their equally human differences, shall have educational services and opportunities suited to their personal needs and sufficient for the successful operation of a free and democratic society. These youth are created male or female, black or white, halt or hale. Birth and environmeént have tended to make some of them more alert or more shrewd or more bold than others. Environment and education have made them rich or poor, law- abiding or delinquent, employed or idle. | Their names are Dumbrowski, Oleson, Cabot, MacGregor, Veschinni, Adamatoulous, Okada, Chin, Valdez, Descartes, Kerchevsky, Schmidt, Smith, and Smythe. [17] They reside in farmhouses, cabins, trailers, packing boxes, skyscrapers, tenements, hotels, housing projects, houseboats, dormitories, mansions, prison cells, and just plain houses. Among these youth are many of great potential talents. The American system of education has laid great stress on the de- velopment of these talents, wherever they may be found, for the benefit of the nation as well as of individuals. In the years to come, the nation will stand in even greater need of the leader- ship, the resourcefulness, and the creative abilities of its most capable citizens; and education must prize and cultivate their talents accordingly. These youth—all of them—are to be the heirs and trustees for all that is good or bad in our civilization. What humanity will achieve a generation hence depends largely on them and on their education now. Each of them is a human being, more precious than material goods or systems of philosophy. Not one of them is to be care- lessly wasted. All of them are to be given equal opportunities to live and learn. ue 2 ¢ ww This Commission believes that, in the main, educators and lay citizens alike want the schools to extend their services so as to meet all the educational needs of all youth. Tradition, to be sure, and some vested interests impede change in education, as in every other institution. But, for the most part, these impedi- ments do not arise from any active opposition to educational advancement. They will be largely swept away by a vigorous movement to shape education to the needs of all youth, when once that movement gains momentum. Given the proposition that secondary education should serve all American youth, the chief difficulties are practical. We must plan education for youth in a greatly altered world, the charac- ter of which we cannot yet accurately foresee. And in this — [18] partially unpredictable world of the future, we must plan to carry education into areas largely unexplored. Facing these un- certainties, we are tempted to postpone planning, to counsel waiting until the outlines of the postwar world become more clear. We must not wait, however. Events move too swiftly and on too vast a scale for us to be able to cope with them when they are almost upon us. Of some things we are already reasonably sure—the needs of youth, for instance. Others we can predict with some confidence, such as the distribution of employment among the major occupational fields. On a few matters we shall have to hazard conjectures, for example, the volume of private and public employment available for beginning workers. Furthermore, a considerable body of tested educational ex- perience is available. Much of it is still scattered, to be sure, in pioneering schools throughout the land. But these experiences could readily be brought together and placed at the disposal of everyone. We will do well, then, to make our plans at once, using all that we know and all that can be reliably predicted; making conjec- tures now and then, when no better way appears; and revising our plans from time to time to accord with the changing course of events. Better by far to do this, tentative though it may be, than to keep on waiting for the certainty which never comes. Preview of the Next Three Chapters As a contribution to educational planning, we offer the next three chapters, in which we propose to describe school services for youth as we should like to see them in the postwar years. All three of the chapters will be written from the point of view of an observer who reports the conditions which exist five years after the cessation of hostilities. [19] \ In the next two chapters, we shall describe the schools for \ youth in two selected communities in the state of Columbia—in | Farmville, a rural area with a country village at its center, and in American City, a city of 150,000, which is the industrial and commercial center of a larger region. In the chapter which then follows, we shall tell how the state of Columbia, as a whole, endeavors to assure opportunity for adequate education to all its young people. Farmville and American City are not regarded as typical of all American communities or of all American education. Even two hundred such descriptions could not wholly represent the great variety of American life. But there are thousands of com- munities much like Farmville; there are hundreds similar to American City; and the educational principles applied to Farm- ville and American City are applicable in any community. The state of Columbia is not considered typical of all Ameri- can states. Indeed, there is no such thing as a typical state. Some states already have many of the elements of the state system of education to be described in this chapter. Other states, in order to establish such a system, will have to make fundamental and far-reaching changes in their state departments of education, in their state school finance system, in their minimum educa- tional programs, in the organization of their school districts, and in their school laws. The important things are the principles embodied in the educational system of the state of Columbia. Diversity among the states in the details of organization and program is to be expected and encouraged, provided that the underlying principles are sound.* In a word, these descriptions are not blueprints; they are sam- ples. Let no one suppose that they are intended to be instructions or models handed down from “national headquarters.” They 1 See also: National Education Association and American Association of School Adminis- trators, Educational Policies Commission. The Structure and Administration of Education in American Democracy. Washington, D. C.: the Commission, 1938. Chapter III, “The Ad- ministration of Public Education: State School Administration.” [20] are offered, rather, in the hope that they may stimulate and aid the planning and action which are already under way in many states and communities, and which must soon be undertaken by all. These chapters contain some assumptions as to what may happen outside the schools during the first few years after the war, particularly in the fields of agriculture, industry, labor, government, and international relations. The Commission has endeavored to assume those changes which are not only possible but probable, in the judgment of authorities in these fields. When, as is sometimes the case, the authorities do not agree among themselves, the Commission has had to choose one of several possible assumptions. The point of view from which these three chapters are written may be summed up in a few sentences. Schools should be dedi- cated to the proposition that every youth in these United States —regardless of sex, economic status, geographic location, or race —should experience a broad and balanced education which will (1) equip him to enter an occupation suited to his abilities and offering reasonable opportunity for personal growth and social usefulness; (2) prepare him to assume the full responsibilities of American citizenship; (3) give him a fair chance to exercise his right to the pursuit of happiness; (4) stimulate intellectual curiosity, engender satisfaction in intellectual achievement, and cultivate the ability to think rationally; and (5) help him to develop an appreciation of the ethical values which should undergird all life in a democratic society. It is the duty of a democratic society to provide opportunities for such education through its schools. It is the obligation of every youth, as a citizen, to make full use of these opportunities. It is the re- sponsibility of parents to give encouragement and support to both youth and schools. These plans for schools of the future contain many departures from common practices in schools. But the Commission has included only those additions and changes which, in its judg- [21] ment, are feasible from a financial point of view and practicable from an educational point of view. These are not the schools of Utopia, to be achieved in some remote, indefinite future. T hese _are schools of the United States of America, as they can be in the fifth decade of the twentieth century. [22 | CHAPTER Il The Farmville Community School (Written five years after the cessation of hostilities) GREAT MANY PEOPLE live in the Farmvilles of the United A States—more than in New York, Chicago, Philadelphia, Detroit, and Los Angeles; more than in the nation’s one hundred big cities put together; yes, more even than in all the five hun- dred cities with populations over 20,000. For the Farmvilles are rural America—the 43.5 percent of our people who in 1940 lived in the open country, at the crossroads, and in villages and towns under 2500 in population. By comparison, 28.8 percent of our people lived in our larger cities, from 100,000 up, while . 27.7 percent lived in medium and smaller cities, from 100,000 down to 2500. Farmville people raise many valuable products, without which the rest of us could not live—corn, wheat, potatoes, soybeans, grapefruit, sugar cane, cotton, timber, hogs, cattle, and chick- ens. But by far the most valuable product of Farmville is chil- dren, and in producing children the people of Farmville quite surpass their city cousins. In 1940 the 40 percent of the nation’s adults in rural areas actually had more children and youth (ages under twenty-one) than the 60 percent who lived in cities— 23,956,983 as compared with 23,862,245. The Lean Years of the Thirties The years of the thirties were hard years for the people of Farmville. The markets for most farm products shrank with the worldwide depression. People in cities and people abroad could not buy all that the farmers were able to produce. So there were large surpluses of many crops, and the bottom dropped out of prices. Nature, too, seemed unfriendly during these years. The droughts of 1934, 1936, and 1939, a succession of disastrous [23] floods, and the destructive dust storms in the West plagued large sections of the country. Farmers’ incomes, never high in comparison with those of city dwellers, dwindled to the lowest point in many years. Farm debts mounted, and many owners lost or sold their farms. Tenancy, sharecropping, and day labor increased while the incomes of tenants and farm laborers fell. In many ways the federal government sought to better the lot of farmers. Some of its actions were directed toward depres- sion problems. Others were efforts to improve long-term agri- cultural conditions. These programs—added to the long-stand- ing services of the U. S. Department of Agriculture, the state agricultural colleges, and the public schools—unquestionably helped the farmers. But the basic problem of the thirties was still unsolved. Only a general economic recovery, which would restore markets and sustain prices, could supply the solution. It was not surprising, therefore, that many people left the farms during the thirties. The large-scale migrations from the ‘““dustbow!” area to the Far West were the most spectacular, but everywhere people were moving from farms to towns and cities. More would have gone, no doubt, had there been better oppor- tunities for work in the cities. Under these conditions, it was impossible for the people who remained on the farms and in the villages to make many im- provements in education, sanitation, health services, housing, recreation, or library facilities, when these improvements meant increased expenditures. Strangely enough, the federal govern- ment, which spent billions in its economic programs for agricul- ture, did little or nothing—apart from the work relief agencies —to sustain and improve rural schools, libraries, and public health services. | _ Yet in spite of adversity, the thirties were also years of prog- ress. One of the greatest values which they yielded was almost a byproduct. All over the nation, committees of farmers were organized and went to work to help carry out the federal agri- cultural programs in their own districts, and to plan other [24] ways of meeting their common problems. These years of ex- perience in community cooperation at the “grass roots” made it possible for the people of Farmville to act quickly and effec- tively for community improvement in the postwar years. Moreover, some rural communities made notable advances in educational and social services, despite the lack of funds— thanks to the efforts of resourceful, persevering men and women. This decade saw the rise of some remarkable rural schools, dedicated to the betterment of the life of all the people of their communities, and operated at no more than the ordinary costs of rural schools because of the devoted and sacrificial serv- ice of principals and teachers. There were pioneer achievements in other fields as well. Bookmobile traveling libraries appeared in several states. Rural health clinics and public nursing services were established in some districts. Farmers’ cooperatives multi- plied—cooperatives for buying expensive equipment, for pro- ducing and marketing foods, for purchasing electric power, for canning and freezing food for home consumption, and many others. Many such enterprises were initiated or aided by rural schools. In many schools the students and teachers worked quietly but effectively to exterminate mosquitoes and rodents; screen the windows and doors of farm houses; build sanitary toilets; increase home production of vegetables, eggs, and milk; build and operate shops for repairing farm machinery; and transform woods and fields into recreation areas. These accom- plishments, scattered though they were, became widely known and influenced the thinking and planning of many people. Yes, the thirties were hard years for the people of Farmville. But during those years were sown seeds of progress which have come to fruition in the Farmville community of today. The Strenuous Years of the War The war brought great changes to Farmville. Its first demand, beginning in 1940, was for men to work in war industries and [25] to serve in the armed forces. It drew men and their families away from farms and villages to the cities. From 1940 to 1943, some 2,500,000 people moved away from the farms, to work in the cities and to enter the Army and Navy.’ It was chiefly the young men who left the farms, but young women and older people went, too, in large numbers. Migration to the cities was well under way before a second war demand became insistent—the demand for increased agri- cultural production. When the United States entered the war, it became apparent at once that more food was needed than ever before in the nation’s history, and that it was needed quickly. More agricultural products were needed in industry, too. And some crops, hitherto imported, now had to be grown at home. Here was a national problem of first magnitude—more farm products were needed to carry on the war, fewer workers were available to produce them. To the credit of the people of rural America, the problem was met with success. Workers were found to take the places of many who had gone to cities and entered the armed forces; and the production of farm workers was increased by greater use of labor-saving machinery and wider application of scientific knowledge. In both cases, educa- tion played an important part. It was not easy to replace farm workers. The armed forces, the war industries, and civilian industry and commerce all needed manpower, and pay in cities was well above the income of most people who worked on farms.’ Rural America itself had to supply most of the workers. Older men returned to more active work. More women went into fields. People in towns and villages closed their shops and offices to help with the harvesting of perishable crops. And millions of boys and girls from the schools added their labor to that of older workers. Schools ad- *Data supplied by the U. S. Department of Agriculture. * As late as 1941, the cash income of half of the rural families of the United States was less than $760. (U. S. Department of Agriculture.) [26] justed their schedules to the seasonal needs of farming. Teachers helped to recruit and supervise the “land army” of young workers. Combined study-and-work programs appeared in large numbers with schools giving credit for work on farms and in homes, supervised by teachers. Such things, to be sure, were not new. Rural boys and girls have always done some work on farms or in their homes; and in some schools—especially in courses in vocational agriculture and home economics—farm and home work has long been looked upon as a part of education. What was new was the scale on which work was conducted. In wartime, more students worked, and more of their time was given to work, especially at peak seasons. More teachers took part in organizing and supervising work programs. More schools recognized the educational values of work experiences for all students, developed study-and-work programs, and gave credit for supervised work. We shall see some enduring results of these wartime experiences when we look at the Farmville Secondary School today. Moreover, under the Victory Farm Volunteers program, several hundred thousand boys and girls from the cities—often accompanied by their teachers—went out to farms during their summer vacations to work where they were most needed, par- ticularly in harvesting perishable crops. The economic products of this work were not its only values. Many city youth gained an understanding of farm life and labor which no amount of book study could have produced. The experience left its mark on the programs of many city schools—on that of American City, for example, as we shall see in the next chapter. Along with the recruiting of farm labor went the increased use of labor-saving machinery and improved farming methods. Fortunately, the manufacture of farm machinery and equip- ment was not greatly reduced during any of the war years save one, and the supply of parts for replacement was cut scarcely at all. A nationwide program of education was launched, [27] financed by the federal government and carried on through the public schools. In rural schools throughout the nation, farmers and farm youth were instructed in the uses of farm machinery and in its repair and maintenance. Under these con- ditions, the number of tractors and tractor-drawn machines in use increased slowly but steadily during the war, and has grown still more in the postwar years. Today in the Farmville Second- ary School we shall find the farm machine shop in a place of first importance. Scientific advances, too, were speeded up all along the agri- cultural line—in processing and preserving foods, in the devel- opment of higher yielding strains of crops, in control of insects and diseases, in fertilizing and cultural practices, and in live- stock breeding and feeding. Education went hand in hand with scientific progress, and the public schools, the agricultural col- leges, and the Department of Agriculture all helped to train farmers in the practical uses of the latest scientific develop- ments. This program, too, has continued unabated through the postwar years. On the whole, the war years saw considerable improvement in the economic situation of farmers and of the villages and towns dependent on farm trade. Farm production rose steadily, until in 1944 it reached a level about 30 percent above that of the 1935-39 average. During the same years, the prices of farm products rose to a point about 80 percent above the 1935-39 average. The gross income of farmers in 1944 was, therefore, around $22,500,000,000, as compared with a 1935-39 average of $10,432,000,000. Since the number of farm families had declined during these years, the midpoint in the distribution - of farm family incomes rose from $760 in 1941 to about $1500 in 1944.° The trends of the thirties were reversed. Farm debts declined, conditions of tenure were improved, wages for farm labor rose, and land values advanced. 3 . . U. S. Department of Agriculture estimates. [28 ] Most of the farmers’ committees and cooperatives continued to be active during the war years. In addition, born out of com- mon purposes of war, there was a good deal of informal co- operation on the part of rural people. Farmers frequently “teamed up” in the use of machinery and labor for cultivating, planting, and harvesting. People from towns and villages turned out to help harvest perishable crops. War bond campaigns and other “home front” activities helped people to know one another better and added to their experience of working together. Hours of work were long, to be sure, and time was precious. Never- theless, in Farmville and many other communities, people took time, as the end of the war approached, to form or revive community councils and to begin to plan for better community life in the years ahead. | The Years after the War ' When the war was over, the nation was confronted by the colossal tasks of converting the war economy to the uses of peace and demobilizing the greater part of its armed forces. Some unemployment in the cities inevitably resulted. Accumu- lated savings, mustering-out pay, and unemployment insurance payments helped to sustain the purchasing power of city people, but there was, nevertheless, some decline in the domestic market for farm products. During the first year, however, the drop in the domestic market was offset’ by the demand for agricultural products abroad. Food was desperately needed for the undernourished and as yet unrehabilitated populations of large sections of Eu- rope and Asia. Exports rose sharply as enemy-occupied areas were freed and shipping facilities became available. Farm pro- duction was maintained at.a high level, and the price of farm products remained stable. During the second year, however, the farmers were not so fortunate. At home, conversion and demobilization had not yet [29] been completed, and there was still some unemployment; while abroad, relief was giving way to rehabilitation and reconstruc- tion. The first postwar crops had been harvested in Russia, west- ern Europe, and China, and not nearly so much food was needed from the United States. Farm production was reduced accord- ingly, and with it, farm income. This recession was short-lived, however. As industrial con- version neared completion, the domestic demand for farm prod- ucts rose once more. Now it was possible for industry to produce goods to satisfy the long pent-up civilian wants; and the vast accumulated savings of millions of people were available to buy these goods. Industry and commerce were again operating at close to full capacity. There were jobs for most people between twenty and sixty who wanted to work, and wages were high. People in cities had money to buy farm products, the industrial uses of agricultural products continued to expand, and the foreign market was still sizable. So farm production and income returned to their wartime level and have remained there during the past three years. During the first two postwar years, some of the people who had left the farms and villages returned. Some, of course, were those who’ naturally wanted to get back home now that the war was over. Among these were many who had been in the armed forces. Others, dissatisfied with the crowding and inade- quate housing of the war industry centers, yearned for the open spaces in which they had been reared. Still others went back because it seemed to them that in the uncertain years just after the war, the farm offered greater economic attractions than the city—if one knew something about farming. So back they came and with them came a few young people, city reared, who had worked on farms in wartime and liked farm life. ~ Not as many returned as had gone, however—not nearly as many of the younger people. Most of the youth stayed in the cities, and it was well that they did so, for rural America, even under the most prosperous conditions, could not have found places for them all. [30] The need for farm labor, in fact, has been steadily reduced since the war as a result of continuing technical advances. Improved labor-saving machinery has been available in abun- dance, and many farmers have been able to buy it. The scientific developments of the war years have been advanced still further and applied more widely, thereby increasing the yield of labor. Transportation and marketing facilities have been greatly im- proved. Electricity has been carried into tens of thousands of farms and farm homes—and with it, labor-saving electrical appliances. So, as soon as the first postwar back-to-the-farm wave passed, and as soon as urban industry began to offer employment to new workers, the regular flow of youth from farms and villages to cities was resumed. | During the early war years, rural communities were hard put to it to keep the educational and social services which they had. Large numbers of teachers, doctors, and nurses moved to cities or entered the armed forces, and it was difficult, often impossible, to replace them. It was out of the question to think of building new schools or other public buildings during these years because of lack of materials. Farm people, however, were not unmindful of their com- munity needs during the war. Nor did they fail to see that their improved economic state would soon bring improvements in home and community life within their reach. As the end of the war drew near, in community after community someone came forward to call people together and invite them to consider how, with more money at their disposal than they had ever had before, they could provide better schools for their children, better houses for their families, better health services, recrea- tional facilities, and cultural opportunities for everyone. The people, many of them already accustomed to working together on matters of common concern, responded not only with plans but with action. Through the years that have followed, this process of building for the good life in rural communities has [31] gone on apace. The states and the federal government have helped in many ways, but credit for the advances in rural com- munity life belongs chiefly to the people of the Farmvilles. Now, as we write, the prosperous “post-conversion” period is coming to a close and is merging into what we may call the “postwar period proper.” The backlog of consumer wants has been largely satisfied. The surplus savings of individuals have been largely spent or invested. The nation is settling down into the long pull, to make its economic system work as well in peace- time as it worked in war. What this period holds for agriculture, no one can accurately foresee. That will depend chiefly on conditions in industry, for the main market for agricultural products is in the cities of the United States. To a lesser extent it will depend upon foreign trade and our success in exchanging goods with other nations to the mutual benefit of all concerned. Today, as we look at the thousands of Farmville commu- nities five years after the war, we find here about 40 percent of the nation’s people, enjoying, on the whole, a higher stable level of prosperity than they have ever known, with better houses, better schools, better health services, better recreational and cultural facilities than they have been able to provide hitherto. There are some exceptions, of course. There are still large areas well below such a fortunate state, and there are individual ex- ceptions in every community. Though the future cannot be predicted with certainty, the outlook is generally promising— provided that the rural population does not greatly increase. But farm and village people do have large families. And the families are largest in the sections least able to support popula- tion increases. Unless the rural birth-rate drops sharply, a large proportion of rural youth will have to move to towns and cities, not only this year and the next, but for as long a time as we can see into the future. In order to keep the rural popula- tion between twenty and sixty stable in the nation as a whole, it is estimated that forty-six out of every hundred farm youth [32] and thirty-three out of every hundred youth from villages and rural towns should go to the cities.* This fact, one can readily see, presents the educators of Farmville with one of their most difficult problems. INTRODUCING THE FARMVILLE SECONDARY SCHOOL In one of these Farmvilles—it might be any one of thou- -sands—we find the Farmville Secondary School. With its eight hundred boys and girls, its modern buildings, spacious grounds, and adjacent farm lands, this school is the outstanding institu- tion in a village of a thousand people. It draws its pupils from an area of nearly two hundred square miles, with 6000 inhabi- tants, bringing them in by school buses from homes as far as twenty miles away. The area which is now the Farmville school district was for- merly divided into five small districts, each with an eight-grade elementary school and two with small four-year high schools. During the war, the recently organized Farmville Community Council addressed itself to the question of consolidating the smaller districts. Myron Evans, the new principal of the village high school at Farmville, took the lead in bringing this matter before the council, for he, more than anyone else, realized how far his little school fell short of meeting the needs of the youth of the countryside. He was warmly supported by several par- ents on the council. With the help of the state department of education, a careful study was made of the advantages and disadvantages of con- solidation, of the area and population which could best be served by a consolidated school system, and of the probable costs of. buildings and operations. The council favored the union of the five districts, with a single secondary school and three elementary schools, each from kindergarten through sixth grade. Its recommendations were approved by the voters of the districts. “U.S. Department of Agriculture estimates. [33] Then came the work of planning for the new secondary school. Before the architect’s drawings could be made and the costs estimated, it was necessary to decide whom the school should serve and what sort of educational program it should offer. For months these matters were discussed in meetings of the new board of education, of the community council, and of parents and other citizens’ groups. Mr. Evans and his little staff of teachers worked industriously on the program plan- ning and spent many of their evenings meeting with the board, the council, and the other groups. Requests for help were made to the state department of education and to the schools of edu- cation in the agricultural college and the state university, and much valuable counsel was received from the staffs of these agencies. . A Single Institution Serves the Entire Period of Youth In the end, it was decided that the secondary school should include eight grades, from seven through fourteen, and that it should also provide educational services for out-of-school youth and adults. Plans for the educational program were fashioned, taking account—as we shall see in a moment—of the differences between the early and the later years of adolescence. Moreover, it was decided that the new school should serve as the commu- nity recreational center and that space should be provided to house other needed community services, particularly: a library and a health center. Only after these matters had been agreed upon did the board proceed with plans for the building and for financing the construction.’ It is four years now since the new secondary school was opened, with Mr. Evans as its principal. ° Plans for the building were subject to approval by the state department of education, since the state law required the state department of education to prescribe and enforce the observance of certain minimum standards in the construction of school buildings. The pro- gram of instruction, particularly in the thirteenth and fourteenth grades, was likewise required to meet the minimum standards set by the state department of education. See Chapter V for further discussion of these matters. [34] Some 360 pupils in the Farmville Secondary School are in Grades VII, VIII, and IX. About the same number are in tenth, eleventh, and twelfth grades; for school attendance is now required until the eighteenth birthday.® There are eighty students in Grades XIII and XIV—chiefly boys and girls who expect to remain in Farmville and become farmers, merchants, homemakers, mechanics, office workers, and salespeople. In ad- dition, many young people are served by the school through its program of adult education and recreation. . The entire period of youth is thus encompassed within a single institution. Within the school, one finds no hard-and- fast divisions, but rather a continuous program suited to boys and girls from twelve to twenty, changing with the changing needs and interests of maturing youth, and sufficiently flexible to permit adaptation to students who differ somewhat from the average. Meeting Common and Divergent Needs Grades VII, VII, and IX might be called the period of the common secondary school. The educational needs of boys and girls from twelve to fifteen are, on the whole, common to all. Hence the curriculum for these three years is, in its broad out- lines, the same for all pupils, though with ample opportunity within each class for the teacher to take account of differences among individuals. During these early years of adolescence, the pupil continues to grow in knowledge and understanding of the world in which he lives; in ability to think clearly and to express himself intelli- gently in speech and writing; in his mastery of scientific facts * The state law now requires attendance until the eighteenth birthday or the completion of the twelfth grade, whichever is earlier. Productive work outside the school may be counted as school attendance, when it is a planned part of the youth’s educational program, and when the school staff supervises the work. [35] and mathematical processes; and in his capacity to assume re- sponsibilities, to direct his own affairs, and to work and live cooperatively with other people. At the same time, he is in- troduced to a wide range of experiences in intellectual, occu- pational, and recreational fields, so that he may have a broad base for the choices of the interests which later he will follow more intensively. He is helped to understand the processes of physiological and emotional maturing, characteristic of these years, and to develop habits of healthful living. He gains greater insight into his own abilities and potentialities.” In the later years of adolescence—from sixteen to twenty or thereabouts—some of the important interests of individual stu- dents diverge. Most striking are the differences in occupational interests. Some youth look forward to farming, some to busi- ness, some to mechanical occupations, some to medicine, teach- ing, nursing, or engineering, some to military service, and some to homemaking. Whatever the interest may be, whether the time of employment be near at hand or still remote, a youth rightly feels that he wants a part of his school experience to advance him on his way to entering the occupation of his choice. Among older youth, moreover, one frequently finds diverse intellectual interests, which are of great significance for edu- cation. Here is a boy who enjoys mathematics for its own sake, and another fascinated with literature. Here is a girl who spends many extra hours in the science laboratory because of sheer in- tellectual curiosity, and another no less devoted to music. Marked differences also appear in recreational interests, which run the gamut from athletics to reading, from art to wood- craft. _ In these three fields—occupations, intellectual pursuits, and recreational interests—the curriculum of Grades X through XIV is differentiated to suit the needs of individuals. Each stu- 7 Since this volume is a description of the education of youth in their later teens, our ref- erences to education before Grade X will hereafter be only incidental. [36] dent, aided by his counselor and teachers, develops an educa- tional program consistent with his purposes and capacities. In other fields, however, educational needs continue to be predominantly common to all youth. Most notable is the com- mon need of all youth for education in the responsibilities and privileges of citizenship. Youth also have common needs for ’ education in family living, in health, and in understanding and appreciation of the cultural heritage. In these areas, the cur- riculum of the upper grades is substantially the same for all students, and adjustments to individual needs and abilities are made within the classes. Normally the first half of the tenth grade is the time when a student moves on from the common curriculum to the par- tially differentiated program. As we shall see shortly, this is a time of intensive guidance and planning. No student is com- pelled, however, to make choices before he is ready to do so, or to postpone his decisions until he reaches tenth grade. Within a flexible program, continuous from Grades VII through XIV, it is possible to suit the time of transition to the varying ages at which students mature. There are some youth who, at fourteen or fifteen, are already well started on courses preparatory for occupations or for college. And occasionally one finds a student who, at seventeen or eighteen, has not yet “found himself” and is still pursuing a course designed to help him reach an intelli- gent decision regarding his future. Attendance at school, as we have noted, is now required until the completion of twelfth grade.* Up to this point, the Farm- ville Secondary School endeavors to provide educational serv- ices for all its students, whatever their plans for the future may be. In Grades XIII and XIV, however, and in its program of education for out-of-school youth, the school attempts to serve only those youth who expect to remain in Farmville or other rural communities, and who do not intend to study in colleges ° Or the eighteenth birthday, whichever comes earlier. [37] or universities. All others—those who plan to work in the cities and those who look forward to education in colleges and professional schools—are advised to leave the Farmville school at the end of the twelfth year, and to continue their education in one of the state’s eleven community institutes® or in a college or university. * * phe Boys and girls in Grades X, XI, and XII have reached the age (fifteen to eighteen) when youth are thinking seriously about their vocations and their plans for becoming self-supporting. On the basis of careful studies of the local situation, the school staff knows that approximately 40 percent—fifty youth in each class—should leave the Farmville district to continue their edu- cation and find their work in the cities. Farmville simply can- not support them. Furthermore, they should leave soon, pref- erably after completing the twelfth grade, for Farmville has little to offer them in the way of work or education after they are eighteen—and they should not waste precious years in aim- less efforts. , But human beings, especially American boys and girls, can- not be expected to conform exactly to desirable statistical patterns. Here is what the boys and girls in the new Farmville Secondary School’s three graduating classes have actually done. Of every hundred who have completed Grade XII, 18 have continued at the Farmville school through Grade XIII only. ® Here, and elsewhere in this volume, the term “community institute” refers-to a free public educational institution, offering two years of education beyond the twelfth grade, in a variety of fields, both vocational and nonvocational. For most students, the course in the community institute is “terminal,” that is, it marks the end of full-time attendance at an educational institution. Some students, however, move on from the community institute to professional schools or to the upper two years of liberal arts and technical colleges. The community institute also conducts the program of part-time education for out-of-school youth and adults. The American City Community Institute will be described in some detail in Chapter IV, and the system of eleven community institutes in the state of Columbia will be described in Chapter V. 738] 24 have continued or expect to continue at the Farmville school through Grades XIII and XIV. 16 have dropped out of full-time schooling, but have re- mained in the Farmville district. | 16 have gone away to university, agricultural college, teach- ers college, or liberal arts college—some to return later to Farmville, some to remain away. 17 have gone away to one or another of the state’s eleven community institutes, for one or two more years of edu- cation before going to work in cities. 9 have gone directly to work in cities, dropping out of full- time schooling. Who should go to the cities to stay? Who should go away to college or university and come back into rural America to be teachers, doctors, dentists, lawyers, pastors, librarians, nurses, county agricultural agents, home demonstration agents, for- esters, farmers, and farmers’ wives? Who should stay on in Farmville? And how is this Farmville Secondary School, forty miles from the nearest city of any size, to offer an educational program that will be equally helpful to those who are going to be farmers and village merchants; those who are going to the cities to find jobs in industry, commerce, and transportation; and those who are going on to professional schools of law, en- gineering, medicine, education, and agriculture? These are some of the questions which the school staff, the board of edu- cation, and the parents of the Farmville district have been try- ing to answer through the program of their school. « / GUIDANCE IN THE FARMVILLE SECONDARY SCHOOL 7” The keystone of the school program is guidance—personal assistance to individual boys and girls in making their plans and decisions about careers, education, employment, and all sorts of personal problems. Guidance is no mechanical process, whereby counselors and teachers sort out boys and girls as a grading machine sorts ra LoS [39] apples—this one to stay on the farm, that one to work in an airplane factory, this one to be a teacher, that one to run the local garage. Guidance is rather the high art of helping boys and girls to plan their own actions wisely, in the full light of all the facts that can be mustered about themselves and about the world in which they will work and live. Guidance is not the work of a few specialists. It is rather a service from the entire school staff, which requires some people with special knowledge and skills, but enlists the cooperation of all. Guidance is not limited to vocational matters. It includes the whole gamut of youth problems. Guidance, moreover, is not peculiar to the secondary schools. Good education from the earliest grades onward includes guidance from understanding teachers, principals, and counselors. Important new factors enter into guidance as boys and girls move into the later teens. During the years just ahead, most of these youth will make plans and decisions with far-reaching effects on their lives. They will have to decide what occupa- tions they are going to enter; whether they will stay in the Farmville district or move away; what education they want and where to get it; when to go to work, where, and at what jobs; whether to marry soon or wait a few years; and so on. For each decision, plans must be formulated and carried out. All are important, and more often than not, they are inter- woven. The Counseling Staff The requirements for the good counselor are many. First of all, he must have understanding of young people and their prob- lems, grounded in scientific knowledge, yet shot through with sympathy and the ability to look at life through the eyes of boys and girls. He should have some special training in counseling methods, mental hygiene, and the discriminating use“of tests [40] and measurements. When vocational matters loom so large, he should have accurate knowledge about occupational opportuni- ties, requirements, and preparation. He must have ample time for conferences with pupils, parents, and employers. And not least in importance, he must be thoroughly familiar with the purposes and program of his school, and able to work closely with teachers throughout the school. Most teachers have some of these qualifications, some have all—save possibly the ample time. And in any school, a good share of counseling will be done by the teachers, in their classes and through informal conversations with students. At the Farmville school, however, it is believed that guidance is more effective when it is shared between the teachers and staff members for whom guidance is a chief responsibility. So we find four counselors in the school—two men and two women. All four were formerly classroom teachers. Each of them still teaches at least the equivalent of one course. They were chosen because, as teachers, they showed unusual interest in guidance, seemed to have the personal qualifications for effec- tive counseling, and were willing to take the necessary special training. Each counselor is responsible for advising about two hundred students, or about one-fourth of each class from Grade VII through Grade XIV.” In Grades VII, VIII, and IX, guidance is chiefly the work of classroom teachers. Counselors remain largely in the back- ground, working with and through the teachers. They use these years to become acquainted with their students individually, and to gather information about them from many sources. They observe their students in classes and shops and on the play- ground, confer with their teachers, study their performances on various tests, and follow their health records. They arrange * Approximately thirty students each for Grades VII through XII, and twenty students for Grades XIII and XIV together. A student normally will continue with the same coun- selor from the time of his entrance into Grade VII until he leaves the Farmville school, but changes may be made in the interest of students. [41] occasions for talking with parents and for visiting in homes. From time to time they converse informally with their stu- dents, encouraging them to tell of the things they do best and like most to do, as well as of their difficulties and problems. They are particularly careful to pass on to teachers any information which may be helpful to them. Only rarely, when problems of unusual difficulty arise, do they counsel their students directly— and then, only by arrangement with the teachers concerned. As the students approach the end of the ninth grade, the counselor assumes a larger share of direct responsibility for guidance. He arranges a leisurely conference with each of his students on questions which will be faced under more urgent circumstances the next year. Counselor and student talk to- gether about the student’s interests and hopes for the future; about the plans and ambitions which his parents have for him; about the possibilities for a satisfying occupation in Farmville and elsewhere; and about the educational opportunities avail- able to him in the years ahead. They go over the record of his school history, review the things in which he has succeeded and those in which he has not done so well, and discuss the signifi- cance of his performances on tests. They compare his abilities with his interests and plans. They talk about the rewards of various occupations—the satisfactions of social usefulness and personal growth, as well as the returns in money. The counselor never urges a premature decision. He is well satisfied if the stu- dent is started on the process of studying himself and relating his interests and abilities to the facts of the world at work. The counselor does more. He skilfully guides the conversa- tion until the student and he are talking about other satisfac- tions—those that come from friendships, from happy family life, from health and active play, from carrying one’s share of the load as a member of the community and a citizen of the nation, from the enjoyment of beauty, and from intellectual achievement and growth. As they talk, the counselor tries to help the student understand that the school is here to help him [42] grow in achieving all these satisfactions—both now, while he is still a student, and in the years to come. By the time his students are ready for tenth grade, the coun- selor knows that Jerry Black is the youngest of three sons; that his father’s farm will barely support one family; that his oldest brother has married and started farming as a tenant, while the second son is working in the village; that Jerry has average intelligence, better than average mechanical ability, a satisfac- tory achievement record, and a strong interest in things mechan- . ical, currently focused on airplanes. He knows that Marie Stewart is an only child; that her father, who has the most pro- ductive farm around Farmville, wants her to stay at home and marry someone who will take over the farm; that her mother wants her to go away to college and realize the unfulfilled maternal ambitions to be a musician; that Marie, who has superior intelligence but has seldom used it, doesn’t want to be either a farmer’s wife or a musician, but does want to get away from home and have a chance to live her own life. He has com- parable information about Ernest Mathews, son of the operator of the Four Corners Garage; Nellie Bowers, one of four chil- dren of a farm laborer; Enid White, physician’s daughter; Howard Daniels, the most intelligent boy in his class, whose widowed mother runs a small dry-goods shop. Studying the World at Work When they enter the tenth grade, the 120 boys and girls of the class go to work directly on their educational and vocational plans. One of their major activities during the first term is the — study of “The World at Work.” This serves a number of pur- poses. It acquaints pupils with their own dependence on the labor of farmers, workers’in factories and transportation, clerks, managers, homemakers, physicians, engineers, teachers, public officials, mechanics, carpenters, and many others. It yields a bet- [43] ter understanding of the way in which the economic system is operated. It promotes appreciation of the necessity of labor in human society. It fosters respect for all useful work well done. And it helps pupils to become familiar with the facts about the chief occupational fields, among which their choices are likely to be made. Far from being a “book course,” this takes the students at once into their own community. Each year the tenth-grade classes, under supervision of their teachers, bring the occupa- tional survey of Farmville and vicinity up to date. Here the students examine the occupations represented in their own dis- trict, the types of jobs available in each, requirements in the way of ability and training, the number of openings each year, and possibilities of advancement. Surveying goes beyond the mere gathering of facts. Students have both time and oppor- tunity to observe the practice of occupations with which they are not already familiar. Four times during the year, the tenth-grade students visit American City, a large industrial and commercial city some forty miles away. There, with the aid of counselors from the American City schools, they observe some of the industries, commercial establishments, and professions. On the first visit, everyone spends several hours in a factory, following the manu- facturing process from beginning to end and observing the duties of the various kinds of workers. Regardless of occupa- tion, it is believed, everyone should be familiar with machine production. So also with business. On the second visit, all go to one or another of the larger commercial firms, where they can see the operations and workers involved in buying and sell- ing goods and keeping accounts. The third visit supplies a sam- pling of professional and public services—the Good Samaritan. Hospital and public health center, the office of the county wel- fare director, the American City Community Institute, and the public employment service. On the fourth trip, students visit in smaller groups according to their special interests—some [44] going back to places visited earlier, others exploring new fields, such as law, beauty shops, radio broadcasting, hotel and restau- rant operation, and newspapers. Those with interests in occupa- tions not well represented in American City may arrange to visit in other cities. Field work is supplemented by class study and discussion, and by reading in a well-stocked library of books and pamphlets on occupations. Particularly helpful are the bulletins on occupa- tional trends, opportunities, and requirements, now issued regu- larly by the U. S. Office of Education in cooperation with other © federal agencies, with supplements for the state supplied by the state department of education. Motion pictures are frequently used, and to great advantage, especially after pupils have had some firsthand experiences in observation. Recently developed instructional films make it pos- sible to show the main operations in an entire manufacturing industry, a business, a transportation system, or a profession, in the course of from one to three hours for each subject, with a thoroughness which would not be possible in a brief visit. Through films it is also possible graphically to show the mar- kets of local products and the sources of things purchased, and to demonstrate the economic interdependence of the Farmville community and many other parts of the nation and of the world.” | The study of “The World at Work” is a project of the entire tenth-grade teaching staff, rather than of one teacher or de- partment. Teachers of mathematics and science, for example, undertake to acquaint students with the nature and require- ments of scientific and engineering occupations, as well as to show the uses of mathematics and science in other occupations; so also with teachers of English, health, agriculture, home economics, machine shop, and business education. ™ The state department of education and state institutions of higher education are now jointly engaged in some promising experiments in the use of television as a means of bringing activities of the out-of-school world into the schools. [45] The .Educational Plan for the Individual Meantime, students and counselors continue to confer. Often they agree that further tests of aptitudes and interests will be helpful, and they study the results of these tests together. Health records are examined, and if unremedied defects are found, the school physician is called in for advice. Many of the activities during this first year, both in and out of classrooms, are ex- ploratory in character, designed to discover students’ capacities and to awaken their interests. All the tenth-grade teachers, — therefore, share in this diagnostic process. Their information is pooled with that of the counselors at periodic staff conferences. Sometime during the year, each student is asked to work out a tentative educational plan, carrying through the twelfth grade, and to discuss this with his parents and his counselor. Some students are ready to plan after two months; some may need six. As early in the process as possible, the parents are asked to come to the school, and student, parents, and counselor go over the matter together. This is repeated at least once, some- times several times, as the plan takes form. More often than not, the teacher in the field of the student’s major interest joins these conferences. This plan usually includes a vocational choice, but it may not. The school will not require such a choice until the student is ready. Experience has shown that the making of a plan helps to give the student a sense of purpose and direction in education, which may otherwise be lacking. When plans are well suited to the student’s interests and abili- ties, there is less need for subsequent individual attention by counselors. A large share of guidance in occupational matters is then taken over by the teachers in the field of the student’s chief interest. But the counselor continues to keep.in touch with each student, his teachers, and his parents, and is partic- ularly alert for new problems. Like the family physician, he [46] is available at all times to any student who has a problem re- quiring immediate attention. Students’ plans are regularly re- viewed toward the end of each year and are frequently revised. Sometimes they are remade completely. Parents are consulted whenever a major change seems advisable. Other Duties of Counselors The counselor has many other duties. One of the most im- portant is to work with teachers. This is a two-way process. — From teachers he gathers much information which is helpful in understanding students and in locating their needs and problems. To the teachers he furnishes information which helps them to fit their class work more exactly to students’ needs. Never does he permit his office to become a “bottleneck” for information which should be in the possession of teachers. When Marie Stewart is struggling with the problem of parental domination; when Frank Hood is recovering slowly from a long illness; when Jennie Harkness is so engrossed in her first serious love experi- ence that her schoolwork is being neglected; when Howard Daniels is on the point of changing over from distributive occupations to a course looking toward law—these facts should be known, and known promptly, by all the teachers who work with Marie and Frank and Jennie and Howard; and it is the counselor’s responsibility to see that they are known promptly. The counselors are in general charge of part-time employ- ment of students, whether in school or out. They administer the public funds for student aid. They cooperate with other teachers in arranging for the supervised work experiences which are integral parts of the educational programs of most students. And they are alert to see that work opportunities or scholar- ships are available to all students who need money to meet their personal expenses.” See pages 63-66 for a discussion of work experience and pages 164-69 for a discussion of financial aid to students. [47] State law requires school attendance until the age of eighteen. That age—in most cases the end of twelfth grade—is another time of major decisions for Farmville youth. Several choices are open to them. They may leave school at once for full-time work. They may continue in the Farmville Secondary School for one or two years, for advanced training in agriculture, homemaking, or other occupations of the Farmville area, and to continue their general education. They may go to the com- munity institute at American City,” or to some similar ‘school offering advanced training in industrial, commercial, and other occupations, as well as preprofessional courses. Or they may enter a university or a four-year college. The last half of Grade XII is, therefore, a period of intensive guidance, definitely pointed toward next steps. Valuable assistance is given by coun- selors from American City, who spend some days at Farmville to confer with youth who plan to enter the professions and other careers in the cities. Guidance for “Out-of-School” Youth The Farmville counselors, of course, continue to advise those who remain in the school through Grades XIII and XIV. They are also responsible for the school’s “follow-up” guidance service to those who leave the Farmville school, whether they remain in this district or move away. Here the counselors try to steer a middle course between two dangers. On the one hand, there is the danger of prolonging the dependency of young people of eighteen, nineteen, and twenty, who should be moving rapidly toward independence and self-direction. On the other hand, there is the danger of “turning young people loose” and leaving them to find their way unaided into the next step of their lives at a time when they may be in greater need of educational services and com- petent counseling than they were as full-time students. % See footnote 9, page 38, for a statement regarding community institutes. [48 ] So, when youth leave school and remain in the Farmville dis- trict, the counselors keep in touch with them until they feel that they are well on their way in the next step, whether that be farming, business, or homemaking. Many of these youth are “self-starters.” They know what they want to do and how to start doing it; and when they need help, they know where to go and how to get it. They often come back to talk with their former counselors and teachers, to ask for information or ad- vice, to enrol in adult education courses, or to request that some new course be offered. Others need more individual attention. Some need help in finding their first jobs, in getting started on their farms, or in making a beginning of home life. Some decide, after a year or two in Farmville, that they will have better opportunities in the cities. In any case, the counselors and teachers have found that the school can be of great help to “out-of-school” youth by provid- ing part-time and evening classes in agriculture, homemaking, and business; by arranging for correspondence instruction; by sponsoring clubs for young farmers and young homemakers; and by supplying competent advice on such matters as loans, government programs, home planning, and the care of small children. Over 40 percent of the Farmville youth, we must remember, leave the district on completion of twelfth grade—some 33 per- cent for education elsewhere, 9 percent to work. The first group—those who continue their education—require attention from Farmville counselors only until they have made the ac- quaintance of counselors in the community institutes or col- leges which they attend. Those who go directly to work in cities need to be followed more closely. They, more than any other Farmville youth, are likely to have difficult problems of adjustment during their first year out of school. Fortunately, most city-school systems—like that in American City—now have special counselors for out-of-school youth. The Farmville counselors make it a point to see that each one of their young [49] people who goes to work in a city is promptly put in touch with one of these youth counselors. EDUCATION SUITED TO INDIviDUAL NEEDs At best, however, guidance is only a means to an end. It will avail the student but little to work out an individual plan for education unless he is in a school in which that plan can be carried out. It will profit the counselor and teacher little to define the needs of individual boys and girls unless they are able to provide education to meet those needs. Flexibility in Curriculum and Instructional Methods : | The Farmville Secondary School has, therefore, sought to make its curriculum and methods of instruction so flexible and — adaptable that each youth may pursue that course which seems best suited to his abilities, his occupational plans, his personal interests, and the conditions of his present and future life as _ citizen, worker, and family member. This effort, on the whole, has been successful in spite of many practical difficulties. The obstacles would have been far greater, perhaps insuperable, under an unyielding system of grades, credits, promotions, and accrediting to higher institutions. The traditional system, however, was already in process of change before the war. Research studies had long since shown that diagnostic tests of intelligence and other abilities, coupled with — the judgments of teachers as to personal qualifications, provided at least as reliable a basis for predicting college success as did the customary record of credits and grades. This was confirmed by several large-scale experiments in the thirties. Experiments had — also shown that students who had followed any of a number of well-conceived experimental curriculums in high schools had performed at least as well in college as had their paired fellow students who had taken the regular college preparatory courses. [50] : | : I | r . | New Bases for College Admission The war experiences added great impetus to the changes in methods of admission to colleges and universities. Under pres- sure of war manpower needs, the schools of medicine, dentistry, engineering, and education accelerated their programs and — modified their requirements for admission. Many liberal arts colleges, facing the possibility of sharp decreases in enrolment, did the same. The armed forces, in search of officer candidates and technicians, instituted a nationwide program of qualifica- tion testing for high-school seniors, which took precedence over the customary high-school credits and grades in the selection of young men to be sent to colleges and universities for training. Later, the Army and Navy sent thousands of men from the en- listed ranks to colleges and universities. Graduation from high school was required, but not from college preparatory courses. Moreover, during the war, plans were developed for granting both college and high-school credit for correspondence courses offered through the Armed Forces Institute, and for certain educational experiences in military service, when supported by evidence from tests or other objective achievements.’* When ‘the war ended, large numbers of now mature men and women from the armed forces, who were not high-school graduates, were admitted to colleges and universities under the veterans’ education program, on the basis of evidence of educational ac- complishments while in service. All these experiences, taken together, greatly modified the practices of admitting students from high schools to higher in- stitutions. There was a strong movement away from the use of credits and grades in prescribed patterns and sequences of courses, and toward a more general use of tests of intelligence, other abilities, and aptitudes; achievement tests and examina- “See: Secondary-School Credit for Educational Experience in Military Service. Washington, D. C.: National Association of Secondary-School Principals, a department of the National Education Association, 1943. 32 p. - [51] tions in broad fields; and appraisals by teachers and principals of such characteristics as industry and maturity. With the end of the war came many educational readjust- ments. In the case of admissions to colleges and universities, however, there was little evidence of desire to revert to prewar practices. Instead, both the secondary schools and the higher institutions endeavored to improve and stabilize the newer methods. The secondary schools consequently were relatively free to shape their curriculums and their systems of evaluating and crediting, for all their students through Grade XII, and for most of those in Grades XIII and XIV. Only in the cases of stu- dents in community institutes who wished to continue their education in professional schools did the higher institutions designate fields and sequences of study as prerequisite for ad- mission. Even these requirements were seldom prescribed by the higher institutions alone. Usually they were the products of joint conferences of representatives of the professional schools and the upper secondary schools. These changes came with surprising suddenness, but they were not accidental products of the war. Changes of this character must have occurred within a few years, in any case, as the sec- _ ondary schools were extended through the thirteenth and four- teenth grades, and as a larger and larger proportion of youth enrolled in the secondary schools and terminated their full-time education within the secondary period. The war merely acceler- ated the rate of change. To return to Farmville. This school continues to use the ae as the chief unit for organizing instruction. But classes are viewed as tools of education, and like all tools, they have to be shaped to their uses. The schedule of work and the methods of instruction in each class are suited as nearly as possible to the needs of the students. Many classes are composed of students with half a dozen or more focal points of interest. A class in science, for example, may include five boys who look forward [52] to farming, six girls with a common interest in homemaking as a career, four boys interested in automotive and mechanical work, one who expects to study medicine, two who want to enter the Army or Navy air forces, a girl talented in music, two girls who plan to teach, two boys and a girl headed toward business, and four who have no definite vocational interests. Add to this variety of interests a range of I.Q.’s from 85 to 135, and the need for diversification of instruction is evident. These boys and girls have many common needs in their study of science. For example, they all need to understand science in relation to personal and public health, as an important factor in the improvement of many aspects of home and community life, and as a constantly effective cause of far-reaching changes in agriculture, industry, transportation, communication, war- fare, and, ultimately, in international relations and world organ- ization. They all need to understand the methods of scientific experimentation and to develop a scientific point of view. In many other respects, their needs are divergent—especially their needs for knowledge of scientific facts and their applications. Class time is divided between work by the group as a whole, to meet needs common to all, and projects carried on by smaller groups and individuals in accordance with their particular needs.” The principle of suiting curriculum and methods to the edu- cational needs of individuals is operative throughout the school. We shall meet many other examples, as we become acquainted with the programs in vocational education, citizenship, family living, health, recreation, literature, and the arts. Values of Systematic Study and Intellectual Achievement Preserved Let us be clear on three points. The Farmville school has not abandoned required learning in favor of free election by every * See pages 130-33 for further discussion of science in the Farmville school. [53] student. Large areas of the school program are required of all students—areas dealing with civic competence, health, family life, and the cultural heritage, for example. These are areas of common need for all youth, but the students who work in these areas are not identical in their abilities, their backgrounds, or their plans for the future. Within each class, therefore, teach- ers are alert to the differences between students and attempt to provide learning experiences which are “tailor-made” for the individual. That is one reason why students commonly take part in planning the work of their courses, and why committees and small-group and individual projects are so frequently used in classes—as we shall see in a few moments. | The Farmville school has not abandoned sequences of learning in order to cater wholly to current interests. But the sequences are made to suit individual students, rather than to conform to textbooks or prescribed courses of study. That is one reason why so much importance is attached to students’ educational plans. For in making his plan, the student, under guidance, learns to map his own sequence of learning experiences by which he can move most efficiently from where he is to where he wants to be. Nor does the Farmville school neglect its students who have superior capacities for intellectual achievement and leadership. Quite the contrary. These teachers well know that the complex problems of the postwar world will require the best efforts of the best minds, disciplined to thorough study and clear thinking. They are quite aware that postwar America needs competent leaders as never before. Because students’ programs are individ- ualized, the student of superior intelligence is encouraged to work well beyond the average of the class; and if he has special interests in government, history, science, mathematics, or in any other field of study, he is allowed extra time to pursue those interests. Because students carry so many responsibilities in the school and in the community, the student with unusual qualifi- cations for leadership is helped to develop those qualities, and with them a sense of the public obligations of leadership. [54] The Student’s Personal History Record In place of the former system of credits and grades, the Farm- ville school has developed the student’s personal history record. Here one may find the student’s educational plan and the record of his progress in carrying out that plan. Here also are written statements from each of his teachers, summarizing his specific achievements in each of his courses, and appraising his initiative, industry, reliability, and other personal characteristics, as well as his abilities. Here are records of measured performance on tests of intelligence and aptitudes, on tests of occupational skills based on employment standards, on tests of essential infor- mation, and on tests of civic competence, such as ability to apply principles and generalizations and to reason logically in dealing with social problems. Here are reports of his employ- ment experiences, including farm, business, and home projects which he has managed himself, accompanied by appraisals from his employers and supervisors. Here is found his record as a citizen of the school and the community—not merely a list of offices and activities, but descriptions of the services which he has rendered, the group projects in which he has taken part, and the leadership which he has displayed. Here also his coun- selor has added those items of personal information which he considers relevant to the youth’s success in employment or in advanced education. In short, this personal history is designed to be equally useful to the student himself, to a prospective em- ployer, to the admissions officers of a university, or to the coun- selors in the community institutes in the cities. Accomplishments are measured and recorded as objectively and accurately as possible. Success and failure, however, are relative to students’ abilities. A student of limited ability may carry out a plan suited to his capacities and come to the end of his school career with a merited feeling of satisfaction. This does not mean that his accomplishments will qualify him to [55] enter professional school or to get a job as a skilled worker. It does mean, however, that he has achieved the things which he, with the aid of his counselor and teachers, set out to do. He has undertaken an educational program within his powers and has carried it through. Such an experience of success is the right of every child and youth, whether he be endowed with five talents or with one. ! There are occasions of failure, too, at Farmville. When a stu- dent falls short of carrying out his educational plan, that is taken as evidence that more effective guidance is needed. It may mean that the plan is too ambitious in relation to the student’s ability, and needs to be revised to come within his reach. It may signify that the pupil is working far below his ability. In either case, the problem is one to be approached through counseling. More often than not, the cause is located and the remedy applied. Neither skilful guidance nor good teaching, however, is a panacea. When counselors and teachers have done their best, a student may yet persist in doing far less than he is able to do. When this occurs, the school must enter the fact on the student’s record, while it continues its search for causes and cures. PREPARING YOUTH FOR OCCUPATIONS Most Farmville youth, like most youth everywhere, want to become self-supporting and independent through their own labor. They want to work, and they want their work to be some- thing more than the means of earning a bare subsistence. They want to be able to look forward to advancement and increasing income if they do their work well, whether they work for wages or manage their own farms, stores, or shops. They have seen their parents work, they have worked themselves, and they know that toil is a necessary part of life. But they also know that work is not all burdensome, that even routine labor may be interesting if one is interested in the products of one’s labor. These things are true of girls as well as boys. Not all the Farm- ville girls, to be sure, expect to work for wages or salaries. But [56] many do, for a few years at least; and a few think of working permanently. The majority expect to marry soon and live on farms and in the villages. From their own experience, these girls know that independence and self-support for the Farmville family depend on the work of the wife as well as the husband. Most Farmville families are still economic units, with all their members working to produce at least a part of the goods and services which they consume. Farmville youth have many other interests. They like to play football and baseball, to date and dance, to sing and swim, and ‘to go on picnics. Their basketball team is as good as any in the state. Their band and chorus go to the state music festival. They send delegations to conventions of the Future Farmers of Amer- ica, the 4-H Clubs, and church young people’s societies. Boys are interested in girls, girls in boys, and many of them are begin- ning to think seriously about possibilities of marriage. But here they encounter the problems of work and self-support. A young man wants to have a job, or a farm and some money to run it, before he assumes the responsibilities of marriage. And apart from marriage, boys and girls alike need money for clothes and personal expenses in order to be at their best in the social and recreational activities of school and community. Most of them have to work for that money, because even in good times the cash incomes of farm families will not often support such ex- penses. Most of them want to work, because of the sense of independence and self-direction which they gain. Farmville youth are interested in citizenship, too, as we shall see presently. But citizenship education in Farmville begins close to home and close to the process of making a living. It com- mences with group activities in the school which frequently in- volve production of goods or services and management of busi- ness activities. It extends out into the community through a variety of school services, some of which are designed to increase productivity and wealth. Many of these activities provide oc- cupational as well as civic training for youth. _ [57] Citizenship education is extended beyond the community into the region, the nation, and the world, as boys and girls follow the ramifications of their occupations—getting firsthand expe- rience with the government agricultural programs and serv- ices; observing meetings of county agricultural committees and service clubs; becoming familiar with farmers’ organizations, in their national as well as local settings; studying organizations of labor and employers along with those of farmers, and seeing the influences of these various groups on governmental policies; following closely the actions of the federal government and of the Council of the United Nations, in order to understand the. likely effects on the occupations in which they are interested. These activities are not the whole of citizenship education, but they are a sufficiently important part to show that there is no sharp separation between preparation for an occupation and growth in civic understanding and responsibility. As youth progress through the Farmville school, there is an increasing integration of activities in vocational training, social studies, and community services, each supporting the other. The Farmville school, therefore, looks upon youth’s prime interest in occupations as an educational need to be met and an educational opportunity to be seized. By successfully meeting the need for occupational preparation, the school may also open the way to more effective education for citizenship and personal development. The school’s occupational survey of the Farmville district shows the number of people employed in each occupation. *° It shows the number of openings likely to occur in each field each year, due to deaths, retirements, and expansion of employ- ment. Since homemaking is one of the major occupations of Farmville’s graduates, the survey also includes data on family life in the community—the number and sizes of families, dis- tribution of ages at which marriage takes place, housing facilities for new families, and the like. In addition, the school has recent © See page 44, [58] reports of employment conditions and trends in the main oc- cupational fields for all nearby cities and for the state, and also the national and regional reports issued by the federal govern- ment. From all these data it is estimated, as we have seen, that about three-fifths of Farmville’s boys and girls may expect to support themselves through work in rural areas and that two- fifths should go to cities. These facts are well known to pupils and parents, teachers and counselors. They are carefully con- sidered when educational plans are being made. Further than this the school cannot go, nor does it attempt to. For the right to choose one’s occupation and one’s place of residence, though not written in the Bill of Rights, is one of the most important and jealously guarded of the American civil liberties. Over the last four years, approximately twice as many young people have remained in Farmville as have moved to cities, although there have been variations from year to year. The youth of Farmville fall into three distinct groups with respect to their occupational plans: First, those who expect to remain in Farmville or in rural communities. For these farm-and-village youth, the school seeks to provide occupational training through Grade XIV, which will prepare them to move at once into adult employment. Second, those who are going to the cities to work in industry, business, transportation, and other fields—in positions which do not require college or university preparation. The Farmville school undertakes to carry this group well along the road of occupational training; but its staff and equipment are inade- quate for complete preparation. These youth must go to Ameri- can City or elsewhere for advanced training in Grades XIII and XIV, and occasionally in Grade XII. Third, those who look forward to study in colleges and uni- versities as preparation for the professions and comparable occupations. These youth remain in Farmville through Grade XI. The school endeavors to supply educational experiences relevant to the vocational plans of each student but leaves pre- professional training for the community institutes, the colleges, and the universities. [59] Let us now examine the occupational preparation of each of these three groups. Youth Who Expect To Remain in Farmville Those who remain in Farmville will work chiefly in four fields. Two-thirds of the boys, on the average, will be farm owners, tenants, or farm laborers. Practically all the girls will be homemakers, though some will work in stores and offices be- fore marriage, and a few will work afterward. Some boys will work in garages and machine repair shops, some in stores and offices. Now and then there will be an opening for a postal em- ployee, a school bus driver, a beauty parlor operator, a carpen- ter, an electrician, or assistant in the library or health center. Vocational education therefore falls largely in four fields— agriculture, homemaking, business, and mechanics. These are not rigidly defined curriculums, with prescribed courses. Rather, they are occupational areas, within which the school attempts to offer the instruction needed by youth, and within which boys and girls work out individual plans for the training which best meets their needs. Farmers need to know how to repair automo- biles, tractors, and other farm machinery; and village mechanics frequently operate small farms. Boys, as well as girls, have a practical interest in home planning, family budgeting, and the production and preservation of foods for home use. Farmers, as well as storekeepers, need to know how to keep accounts, secure credit at reasonable interest rates, and make out government reports, Rural merchants, as well as farmers, need to understand government programs for price stabilization and crop loans. The plan of each student for vocational education is not a listing of courses, but rather an inventory of experiences which will best help that particular student to attain his occupational goal. Thanks to the flexibility of courses and schedules, it is usually possible for each student to secure these experiences at the times when they are most needed. [60] Indeed, the term “‘course”’ in its conventional use is a mis- nomer for much of the work in vocational education. What the school actually offers is a series of projects, each including a variety of skills and operations, each combining practice, train- ing on the job, and class instruction. For example, the school operates a shop for the repair of farm machinery. Here boys learn to repair mowers, disk plows, seeders, and tractors brought in by farmers who pay for the cost of new parts and materials. Every boy who expects to farm spends enough time in the shop to learn to care for his own machinery. But some boys, who ex- pect to become shop mechanics, continue for several years, learning how to do the more highly skilled work, how to manage a shop; how to order parts, keep accounts, and compute costs. Again, much of the food for the school lunches is produced and processed locally. Families are allowed credit on the cost of their children’s lunches for food grown at home, frequently by the children themselves. Other food is grown by students in the school gardens. This food supply must be planned in ac- cordance with consumption needs. Much of the food must be canned, frozen, or dehydrated as it is received, and stored for future use. Other food must be purchased commercially. Daily menus must be planned, food must be prepared, inspected, and served. Accounts must be kept, bills paid, costs computed. A large share of the work is done by students, under the super- vision of teachers of home economics, agriculture, and business education. This project alone supplies a wealth of training in nutrition, food preparation, gardening, accounting, and business management for dozens of girls and boys each year. Around the school are grouped a number of cooperative enterprises, operated by the people of the community—a can- nery, a poultry hatchery, a feed grinding mill, and a refrigera- tion plant for meat and vegetables. The buildings in which these are housed were constructed by boys from the school. Under supervision of teachers, students do much of the work in these plants, including accounting as well as plant operation. [61] In addition to special skills, boys and girls learn business man- agement, office practices, the operation of cooperatives, and ways of raising their standards of living by increasing produc- tion from their farms and back yards. There are many other group projects—for home improvement, for community im- provement, and for improvement of the school itself—in which a variety of skills may be learned—carpentry, electric wiring, masonry, woodworking, furniture making and repairing, weav- ing, rug hooking, home decoration, ornamental gardening, and sO on. AES In addition, many pupils have individual projects, planned jointly with their teachers and their parents, which occupy a part of their time throughout the year. These projects, well known to all familiar with the 4-H Clubs and the vocational agriculture and homemaking programs of rural schools, provide valuable training for farming and homemaking and frequently are sources of income for youth as well. The school also operates a farm on nearby land, for students interested in farming who live in the villages. Boys and girls may rent portions of this land, purchase stock and seed on credit, and raise poultry, livestock, vegetables, and other crops, as a part of their school program. To be sure, they face the hazards of loss as well as profit, but they learn some principles of collective security by operating a mutual insurance fund for protection against loss by reason of disease, insects, and weather. There is no insurance, however, against loss resulting from incompetence or neglect. Reading, class instruction, and laboratory work are no less important in Farmville than in other schools. But they are sched- uled as needed on the projects to provide background informa- tion and to clarify principles and generalizations. The mechanics of internal combustion engines is taught while a tractor motor is being rebuilt. Study of the chemistry of soils accompanies the preparation of ground for planting. Study of the physics of electricity grows out of practical work on the uses of elec- tricity on the farm and in the home. Nutrition is studied when [62] girls are planning menus for homes and school lunches. Boys and girls who are about to take over the accounts of a coopera- tive are psychologically ready for instruction in bookkeeping. Productive Work Experience in the Farmville Educational Program Work experience is an essential part of all the activities just described. Work experience is a matter of learning to apply oneself continuously and industriously to a job, learning to work under supervision, learning to meet high standards of perform- ance. Practically every boy and girl in the Farmville school has an abundance of work experiences. Students engaged in repairing farm machinery, operating a refrigeration plant, installing farm electrical equipment, planning and preparing school lunches, keeping the accounts of a cooperative cannery, or raising their own poultry and livestock are learning to judge their work, not in terms of credits and grades, but by their ability to produce useful goods and services. Wages may or may not be-paid for such work. They are not essential to work expe- rience. There is this difference, however, between the work which the students usually do in and around the school and the work of adults. In the case of students, the most important con- sideration is what youth learn. The production of goods and services is incidental to learning. Beginners are necessarily inefhi- cient; achievement is measured in terms of growth; and when an acceptable standard of efficiency has been attained, the youth is moved on to another project—for there is much to learn. In adult employment, whether for wages or for oneself, pro- duction is the chief consideration. Some training is usually re- quired, both at the beginning of employment and as work con- tinues; but here learning is incidental. Success in office, shop, factory, or on the farm depends on one’s efficiency in producing goods and services. In all except the unskilled occupations, this means the worker must bring at least basic skills to his job. [63] The view generally prevails around Farmville that it is a good thing for a boy or a girl to have, as a part of his or her education, a period of productive work under conditions approximating those of adult employment—where production of goods or services is of main importance and where the worker receives a wage for his labor or a price for his product. One finds agree- ment on this point among teachers, parents, employers, and young people themselves. Everyone ought to know, they say, what it means to work for production—and the only way to learn that is by experience. Whether one later is going to work for others, work for himself, or employ others, a successful experience of this kind, while in school, will be an asset. So we find that most of the Farmville youth include in their school programs a period of work in which their chief purpose is to produce goods or services for wages or for sale. There are no uniform requirements, save those of the laws relating to the labor of minors. Each plan is made to suit the individual. The boy who expects to leave school.at the end of the compulsory period must, of course, schedule his work project for Grade XI or XII. Those who plan to continue at the Farmville school through Grade XIII or XIV usually place the work project later. Those who look forward to preparation for urban occupations in the community institute in American City or some other city generally prefer to get their employment experiences in urban communities. The job may be part-time and extend over a period of a year or two years. Or it may occupy most of a student’s time through a period of three, four, or six months. In a rural community, where work is at its peak during the summers, many students are able to get their work experiences during the summer vacations. Jobs are of many kinds, related, as closely as possible, to the youths’ occupational plans. Efforts are made to find jobs which afford incentives and opportunities for learning throughout the entire period of employment. Counselors and teachers help to arrange and plan the work. The teacher observes the student [64] while he is on the job, consults with the employer, and, when- ever needs for training are revealed, seeks to supply instruction in the school. Some boys work on farms. Some rent land from their fathers or neighbors and run their own farms. Boys and girls work in stores and offices in the village, two or three stu- dents often sharing a full-time job. Similar arrangements have been made with the garages and machine repair shops. Indeed, the Farmville businessmen have come to recognize that the community must not only provide schools for its youth, but must also supply jobs for its youth, in hard times as well as good. Accordingly, they have earmarked certain “student jobs” which will give work to around twenty boys and girls each year—enough to employ most of the youth in- terested in village careers. Employers, as well as youth, benefit from this arrangement. Youth get employment experience, supervision and training from their teachers, information use- ful in planning their further education, and cash income. Jobs which might otherwise be blind-alleys are transformed into opportunities for growth. Employers find that students are more productive than other workers in the same jobs, because they are being trained by the school as they work and because most of them are interestéd in their work. Some businessmen, who originally employed students out of interest in young people rather than because they thought they needed them, now think their young assistants are indispensable. The school itself and the associated cooperatives offer a number of jobs for older students. The farm machinery repair shop, the school gardens, the school farm, and the four coopera- tives each employs a student as a paid supervisor, who works under the supervision of the teachers of agriculture and carries much of the responsibility for operation. Older girls looking forward to homemaking are employed as assistants in the school- lunch program and in the home economics department. There are part-time jobs for three or four girls as home assistants in the village. Several carry on home projects for [65] the production of foods, which they sell either to the school or at the farm women’s cooperative market. Each year one or two particularly talented girls will produce marketable craft articles which are sold through a home crafts cooperative. The counselors and teachers who supervise student employ- ment take care that wages, hours of work, and working con- ditions are consistent with fair labor practices in adult employ- ment. Students are well informed on such matters through their work in social studies, and are not likely to be exploited through ignorance. Vocational Education in the Thirteenth and Fourteenth Years Most of the occupations around Farmville require a wide range of knowledge and skills. The farmer needs to understand animal and poultry husbandry, soils and soil conservation, fer- tilizers, control of diseases and pests, marketing, the keeping of accounts, and government regulations. He must be able to make ordinary repairs on motors, machinery, plumbing, and electrical equipment, and to do a good share of his own building construction. | The village mechanic has to handle gasoline motors, Diesel motors, automobiles, trucks, tractors, and all sorts of farm machinery from plows to combined harvesters. The electrician is called on to service radios, television receivers, and such elec- trically operated equipment as milking machines, cream sepa- rators, refrigerators, cold storage plants, poultry hatcheries, vacuum cleaners, air-conditioning units, food grinders and mixers, and electric fences. The worker in store or office may have to be salesman, buyer, bookkeeper, typist, and file clerk. The homemaker needs practical knowledge of nutrition, clothing, child care, hygiene, home care of the sick, home fur- nishings, and electrical equipment; of the processes of cooking, canning, dehydrating, and freezing foods; and of methods of growing fruits, vegetables, and poultry. In addition, she should [66] have those understandings of child development and human relations and those appreciations of the beautiful and the good which make homemaking a fine art. | One-fourth of a student’s time during the three years from Grade X through Grade XII is sufficient only for a part of the preparation needed for any of these occupations.*’ The school staff encourages the boys and girls who expect to remain in Farmville to continue in the school, either as full-time students or in part-time and evening classes. Most of them do so. Some | return for an additional year, some for two; while most of those who leave full-time schooling at the end of Grade XII enrol in part-time courses or in the clubs for young farmers and young homemakers which the school sponsors. Half or more of the students’ time in Grades XIII and XIV Is spent in study and practice related to occupations, including | productive work under school supervision. Vocational educa- tion in these two upper grades is directed toward three pur- poses: to build all-round proficiency in the broad occupational fields of farm and village; to equip students with knowledge of the sciences and mathematics relevant to their occupations, so that they can meet new problems and improve their practices _after they leave school; and to help each student more fully to understand the place of his or her occupation in the con- temporary economy and culture. Youth Who Expect To Live and Work in Cities We turn now to the second occupational group. What has the Farmville Secondary School to offer to its boys and girls who plan to live in cities and to work at jobs below the pro- fessional level? What can this rural school do for youth who will be working for airplane and automobile manufacturers, “Students learn many things in the earlier grades which are related to homemaking, farming, and mechanical work. But, for reasons explained earlier, this report does not attempt to cover the years prior to Grade X. [67] steel mills, food milling plants, oil refineries, banks, department stores, hotels, railroads, airlines, and government agencies— when Farmville has none of these institutions? The members of the school staff are fully aware of the difficulty of the problem. They do not claim to have found the complete solution, but here are their answers to date. 1. Rural boys and girls should be reliably informed about urban occupations as well as rural, before choosing their voca- tions. The city needs to be stripped of its glamour, on the one hand, and its forbidding grimness, on the other. We have already seen how the Farmville counselors and teachers attempt to apply this in connection with guidance, with the cooperation of their colleagues in American City and other cities, and with the aid of excursions, motion pictures, and the occupational reports of federal and state agencies. 2. Rural boys and girls, who have tentatively chosen urban careers, need to know what qualifications, what training, and what other experiences they will need in order to succeed. Reading, motion pictures, conferences with Farmville coun- selors and with visiting counselors from American City, and observation during visits to American City and other cities are all intended to help meet this need. 3 3. Success in occupations is dependent on many factors other than specific vocational skills, such as industrious habits of work, cooperation, reliability, resourcefulness, and the willing- ness to assume and carry out responsibilities. Farmville students are more likely to develop these qualities by working on projects which have observable value to themselves, their families, their school, and their community, than they are by practicing the Operations of occupations which are still remote from their experience. 4. The occupations of Farmville employ many of the basic skills and much of the knowledge needed for work in most | urban occupations. In some respects Farmville offers better [68 ] opportunities than city schools for introductory training in industrial and commercial fields, because it is easier to put students to work on practical jobs involving a wide range and variety of operations. The boy who works in the farm machine shop is learning uses of tools and machines which are applicable anywhere. The girl who handles the accounts and correspond- ence of a cooperative cannery is learning business practices use- ful in any office. 5. With the aid of counselors, teachers, and flexible sched- ules, each student is helped to plan a program of experiences through Grade XII which is clearly related to his occupational plans. In most cases it will be found that Farmville offers no less than the schools of the cities, during these years when basic skills and knowledge are being developed. Sometimes, however, the school does not supply the experi- ences which an individual student needs. This is a challenge to staff ingenuity, which is usually adequate to the problem. Out of such situations grew the school beauty parlor and the school printing shop. Occasionally, however, it is advisable to send a student to some other school at the end of Grade XI, or even earlier, so that he may lose no time. The boy or girl must not suffer for the inadequacies of the school. 6. The Farmville Secondary School does not attempt to carry its city-bound students beyond Grade XII. It has neither staff nor equipment for the more advanced training appro- priate to the later years. Furthermore, it is too far removed from cities to be able to arrange or supervise employment experiences for youth in training for urban occupations. Some who leave Farmville at the end of the twelfth grade want to go to work at once. A few have found jobs through friends and relatives; others ask the aid of their counselors, who have contacts with the statewide system of junior place- ment bureaus jointly maintained by the schools and the public © employment service. Whenever a youth goes to a city job, a [69 | notice and copy of his school history are mailed at once to the city-school guidance office. A friendly visit from a city coun- selor follows soon, bringing an invitation to use the guidance and placement services and to attend evening school. Some want to enter apprenticeship training for the skilled trades. This usually requires the assistance of the Farmville counselor and the junior placement bureau in the city to which the boy is going. Since supplementary education in schools is required in most apprenticeship training programs, the contact with the city schools is usually assured. The greater number continue their education in one or another of the public community institutes. That at American City attracts the largest group. It is located in the nearest of the state’s larger cities, and offers education in most of the fields in which youth want to work. It has exceptional facil- ities for study, observation, and practice in the refrigeration and air-conditioning industry and in air, rail, and highway transportation. If, however, a student is interested in public service as a career, he will be likely to go to the community institute in the state capital; while for training in glass, ceramics, or plastics industries, he goes to Three Rivers. There are eleven community institutes in the state. They all offer about the same courses in the industrial, commercial, service, and subprofessional fields which employ large numbers of workers. In addition, each one specializes in a few fields, such as those mentioned above, in which the openings for new workers are relatively few. A Farmville youth may choose the school which seems best equipped to offer him the training he desires. Few Farmville families would be able to send their children away to school, if they had to bear the full costs of tuition and living expenses. However, all public schools in the state are free through Grade XIV, while part-time employment and public funds for student aid bring education away from home within the reach of all. [70] Youth Who Plan To Attend Four-Year Colleges and Professional Schools Farmville has yet a third group of students—those who wish to continue their education after Grade XIV, through college or professional school. Their number is not large—no more than twenty in each class of six times that number. They are, how- ever, an exceedingly important group, for among them is found a high proportion of youth with superior intelligence and unusual capacities for leadership. Some are headed for the agricultural college. Some plan to become physicians, teachers, lawyers, clergymen, engineers, nurses, or research scientists. Some look on college as an opportunity for further mental exploration, and prefer to make only tentative occupational plans while in secondary school. The principle followed in planning the occupational training of other students is applied here also. Each student, in consulta- tion with his advisers, maps out a program through Grade XII which seems best fitted to his particular plans and needs; and the school staff endeavors to make it possible to follow that program with profit. Because of the diversity of interests among these students, this principle leads toward individualized pro- grams—a striking contrast to earlier practices under which these students would have been grouped together and required to choose between one or two “college preparatory” curriculums. These students do much of their work with other boys and girls, in classes and on projects which combine activities com- _mon to all with opportunities to pursue special interests. Here and there, however, in classroom, laboratory, and library, or out in the community, one finds students working in small groups or as individuals, following interests which are unique. If the school cannot supply teachers qualified to instruct them, it turns for assistance to the correspondence study bureau of one of the state institutions of higher education. Individualization of programs does not mean neglect of the social aspects of education. In education for citizenship [71] and personal development, these students attend the same classes and engage in the same activities as others. They take part in youth activities in school and community and fre- quently achieve positions of leadership and responsibility. The school staff realizes the potential value to society of those who are more gifted by nature and who enjoy the privileges of college and university education. It is, therefore, deeply con- cerned that these youth shall early develop a sense of public responsibility in connection with their careers. This school, furthermore, is dedicated to the improvement of life in its own community and in rural America. The staff members know that rural communities enjoy far less than their proportionate share of the services of physicians, dentists, nurses, librarians, clergymen, lawyers, recreational leaders, well- trained educators, and other professional people. They know that, in the past, most youth who have gone to college from farm and village have not returned. Therefore, they want to be certain that Farmville youth who go to college or univer- sity carry with them an understanding of the needs of their own community and of the opportunities for service and leadership which Farmville presents to those who choose to come back. Accordingly, the chief item on the program of each youth who plans a professional career is study of the present place of his chosen profession in the Farmville community, and of the needs and possibilities for expanding the services of his profession. This is not separate from the study of the com- munity in social studies classes, which is one of the important elements of the school’s citizenship education program. Rather, it is an intensification of the work. begun in social studies, especially of those aspects associated with students’ career plans. Students who are interested in medicine and nursing act as assistants in the recently established health center, which is housed in the school. They take part in surveys of health con- ditions and needs. They are active in campaigns for improved [72] sanitation and the prevention of communicable diseases. They accompany the visiting nurse on some of her rounds and assist the school physician in the health examinations of pupils. In so doing, they gain much information regarding their chosen professions, which is helpful in planning their school programs. No less important is the fact that they learn to look at medicine and nursing as public services for meeting community needs. Those who are going to the agricultural college work in similar relations with their teachers of vocational agriculture and homemaking and with the county agricultural agent and the home demonstration agent. For prospective teachers, the Farmville Secondary School itself provides unexcelled facil- ities for the study of the teaching profession as a community service. Although there are no engineers in Farmville, the effects of engineering are everywhere apparent—in the rural electrification program, for example; in irrigation and flood control facilities; and in the public highway system, on which Farmville depends for transportation. Observations of such facts and of further needs are supplemented, from time to time, by field trips to engineering projects and to the offices of engineers engaged in public planning and construction. Studies preparatory to professional education are not neg- lected, but their development waits upon recognition of need. Seldom does it wait long after students have commenced their field work. The boy or girl who is working in the health center usually sees clearly that chemistry and biology are basic to medicine and nursing. The boy who has studied dams and power projects at firsthand knows that knowledge of mathematics and physics is essential for the engineer. Counselors and teachers have some important functions here. (1) They help the student to understand the requirements of the professional field or fields in which he is interested, in terms of intellectual ability, knowledge, skills, and personal qualities. (2) They help the student to assess his own qualifications in comparison with the requirements. (3) They help him to plan [73] his work at Farmville in sequences which make for the most efficient learning, and which make good connections with be- ginning work in the colleges. (4) They help him to master each unit in his program before he leaves it. Objective measurements are used wherever possible, not for “grading” in the conven- tional sense, but to help the student evaluate his own progress. (5) They help the student to move as rapidly as is consistent with mastery, in carrying out his plan of studies. Progress is measured by achievement, rather than by clock-hours spent in class, and true acceleration is thereby made possible. The repetition of the phrase, “they help the student to do so and so,” suggests that responsibility in these matters rests finally with students. So it does. The Farmville Secondary School has no required curriculum of college preparatory studies. It helps each student to plan a course adapted to his abilities and his long-range interests, and to carry out that plan. Most students do well, and come to the end of Grade XII with sound foundational work, well-developed habits of self-direc- tion, and understanding of the relation of what they have done to what lies ahead. Not all, however. Choosing and planning a career is too complex a matter to be operated on a time schedule. At Farm- ville, as everywhere, there are boys and girls who do not decide to go to college until late in Grade XII, or even after gradua- tion. There are students whose occupational interests shift once, twice, even thrice in the course of three years. Such students are not arbitrarily penalized. Recommenda- tions to colleges are based upon general records of achievements and abilities, rather than specific patterns of preparation. Fortunately most of the colleges share this point of view and have adjusted the curriculums of the first two years to ac- commodate the students whose decisions are made late. One consequence, of course, is inescapable. The student must spend time in college on foundational work which he might have done in secondary school, had his plans been made earlier. [74] More serious are the problems presented by students of superior ability who are satisfied with far less than they are capable of doing, and by students of limited ability who insist on trying for professional careers, in spite of evidence that they are not likely to succeed. Under wise counseling and good teaching, such problems are often solved in their early stages. But they sometimes persist, in spite of the best that counselors and teachers can do. Now and then a student, who has refused to heed the warnings along the way, comes to the end of Grade XII to find the doors of professional education closed to him. When that occurs, the school staff stands ready to help in the necessary readjustments. There is always another chance for the student who sincerely wants one and who has the abilities needed to make good. For the student who lacks the requisite abilities, there is assistance in planning for another career, and in securing the necessary preparation in the shortest time possible. More than this the school cannot do. It is respon- sible for providing educational opportunities for all youth according to their needs; but it cannot compel all youth to make good use of these opportunities. EDUCATION FOR Civic COMPETENCE Before the new Farmville Secondary School was opened, the principal and several teachers and board members held con- ferences with groups of parents and other citizens to discuss the purposes and program of the school.’* Like many other educators, the principal and teachers were convinced that the time had come for all schools to make a more determined ef- fort to educate youth for the responsibilities of citizenship. They were not certain, however, that parents would share these views, and were prepared to find indifference, if not opposition. But persuasion was scarcely needed. The citizens of 8 This chapter, the reader will recall, was written five years after the cessation of hos- tilities. The new Farmville Secondary School opened one year after the cessation of hostilities, four years prior to the time of this report. [75] Farmville were ready to agree that citizenship education was of first importance. | This attitude of rural citizens grew out of their own ex- periences. Through a decade of depression and the years of war preparation and warfare that followed, they had learned that their welfare was inseparably bound up with the policies of government. The markets for their crops, the prices of their products, the costs of what they had to buy, and in many cases the amounts which they could produce were all influenced, di- rectly or indirectly, by the actions of government. In common with everyone, they had experienced the government’s neces- sary wartime controls of prices, production, consumption, and uses of manpower. When the war ended, they realized that their ability to continue to live on the land would depend on govern- mental policies with respect to such matters as foreign trade, tariffs, taxation, price control, crop control, and conservation. In many other ways, close to home, their lives were influ- enced by governmental action. Their electric power, their water for irrigation, and their protection against floods—all had their source in a multiple-purpose river development, initiated and financed by the government. Their access to markets was de- pendent on state highways and interstate commerce policies. Their hopes for establishing a health clinic and a public library could be realized only with state or federal aid. Their new school was possible only because the state legislature had author- ized the reorganization of school districts and because the state and federal governments were now providing equalization funds for a part of the costs of school operation. Such experiences, of course, might have caused these rural citizens to feel that they were helpless pawns in the hands of powerful forces far removed from their control, dependent on benefits bestowed by others. That did not happen, however. Throughout the depression and the war, farmers and villagers were as alert politically as any group in America. They listened to forums, roundtables, and commentators on the radio. They [76] read newspapers. They met in county agricultural committees, farm bureaus, farmers’ unions, granges, service clubs, PTA’s, churches, community councils, and extension classes, to be- come informed, to discuss, and to act. By observation and ex- perience, they became convinced that in our democracy the people can and do govern; that while government may influ- ence public opinion, it cannot for long disregard it; that even in a nation of 132,000,000 people, the individual citizen does count. They also saw that the people, when they are ill-informed or lack a sense of public obligation, can make dangerous and costly errors. They emerged from the war conscious of greater power and aware of graver responsibilities. As Farmville’s parents talked about these things, and about their sons and daughters and how the school might best serve them, they agreed that they wanted the school to equip their children for the responsibilities of citizenship as no other gen- eration of citizens has ever been equipped. As to how this was to be done, that was a matter for educators to determine. Now, four years later, the civic purpose permeates the school. We see its influence in classrooms, shops, health proj- ects, community service enterprises, clubs, councils, and many other places. Because citizenship education is widespread, it is dificult to describe. One cannot put one’s finger on this or that course and say, “Here! This is citizenship education in Grade X.”” One would have to tell of most of the school’s pro- gram to give a complete report. At first sight, this diffusion might seem to indicate confusion and lack of planning. “‘Citi- zenship education,” one might say, “has become everybody’s business. And what is everybody’s business is soon nobody’s business.” That, however, is not the case. Citizenship educa- tion permeates the school because the school staff intended that it should. Citizenship education is everybody’s business, be- cause the faculty made it so. The activities of the various classes, projects, and committees fit together into a total picture, because the Farmville teachers plan their work together. [77] Perhaps one can best understand the Farmville school’s citizenship education program if he thinks of it in terms of seven principles set up by the faculty to guide them in their program planning. Here we shall list these principles, and under each, give illustrations to show what the school actually does to develop civic competence. Most of the processes to be illus- trated commence early in elementary school, and are well advanced by the time the boy or girl enters tenth grade. The importance of the earlier years is fully recognized. But, since this is a study of the education of older youth, illustrations will be drawn only from the upper secondary school. 1. Living democratically in the school Citizenship education begins with the life of the school. Here, in a society which is familiar and relatively simple, pupils learn the meaning of democracy and the methods of democratic action through direct experience in face-to-face relations. Out of the many significant experiences, which might be cataloged here as illustrations of this principle, we select three. Students at Farmville learn the meaning of respect for the individual, which is basic to democracy, through experiences of being treated as individuals worthy of respect. Teachers may talk to youth for days without end about democracy being based on “‘respect for the dignity and worth of the individual”; but they will be speaking meaningless words, unless teachers are at the same time practicing what they teach. At Farmville the guidance services, the suiting of education to individual needs, and the provision of equal educational opportunity for all youth—all described elsewhere in this report—are founda- tions of civic education, because they supply experiences which are necessary for the understanding of democracy. Youth are quick to sense the attitude of respect on the part of oe and are prompt in responding to it. No less important is the treatment of the student by his fellows. To be sure, teachers cannot compel students to treat | [78] one another with respect, but they can create and maintain conditions which foster mutual respect on the part of students, and at Farmville they do so. Take the student from a family of low income, who might | easily be at a social disadvantage. Every Farmville student, who needs to, has a chance to earn money for his personal expenses. There is no stigma attached to such work. Quite the contrary. For, as we have seen, everyone in the school does some work, and many students work throughout their school careers. Work is an accepted and respected part of school life for all. Take the student whose intelligence is below average. If the curriculum were composed largely of activities requiring abstract thinking, this student would rarely if ever have a chance to win his classmates’ respect for his abilities. The Farmville Secondary School prizes intelligence and encour- ages its full development and use. But it prizes and seeks to develop other abilities as well. Every student takes part in many activities, such as shop work, community surveys, recrea- tional projects, and enterprises for the improvement of school, home, and community, which utilize a variety of talents— mechanical and artistic skills, leadership, executive ability, and the capacity for sustained hard work. Rare indeed is the student who cannot give a good account of himself in some of these undertakings, and thereby merit the respect of his fellow students. . Or again, take the student from a minority racial group, the student who is sensitive to a physical handicap, or the student who is temperamentally shy and withdrawing. Such students are often shunned or ridiculed by their fellows, sometimes de- liberately, more often thoughtlessly. Resentment and attempted retaliation may ensue, and this in turn may breed more intense dislike. } Farmville teachers, from the elementary grades upward, do their best to prevent such vicious spirals from starting. When the spirals do start, they seek to check them promptly. Their [79] approach is positive. They believe that mutual understanding is best promoted when people work together on jobs which seem worth doing, and in which they have a common interest. By the same means, they say, personal dislikes among students can largely be prevented or removed. That is one reason why many of the school’s activities take the form of useful projects carried on by small groups of students. In the course of a year, a student will work on a dozen or more such projects and will come to know fifty or more of his fellow students as fellow workers. Rare indeed is the student who remains socially iso- lated after a few months of such experiences. Students at Farmville learn how to share in setting up the purposes, policies, and plans for the activities in which they en- gage. The accent here is on the words, “learn how.” Through- out the school, activities are planned jointly by teachers and students, always with a view to employing the most effective planning methods. The old separation between “faculty activi- ties” and “student activities” has largely disappeared. We have already seen how students share in planning and carrying out class projects, such as the occupational survey, the farm ma- chinery repair shop, and the school lunchroom. Similar examples will be cited later, in the fields of health, recreation, and family life education. Students and teachers sit together on the edi- torial board of the school newspaper and on the committees for assemblies and athletics. Students, as well as teachers, are members of the committees responsible for curriculum plan- ning, for health and safety, and for student employment policy. In brief, all the important policy and action groups in the school are composed of teachers and students working together in a relation of partnership; and each such group serves as a laboratory in the ways of democracy through practice.” For more detailed descriptions of the many ways in which student activities may help to educate youth for citizenship, see: National Education Association and American Association of School Administrators, Educational Policies Commission. Learning the Ways of Democracy: A Case Book in Civic Education. Washington, D. C.: the Commission, 1940. Chapter IV, “Out-of-Class School Activities,” p. 191-261. [80] Students at Farmville learn the meaning of “civic responsi- bility’ by carrying responsibilities which directly affect the wel- fare of other people. If a student fails to carry out his respon- sibility, the job doesn’t get done, and other people suffer. A farmer’s brood of chickens dies; a tractor burns out a bearing just when it is needed for spring plowing; luncheon portions are reduced by half; the school newspaper, containing im- portant notices about meetings, is a day late; an assembly pro- gram is cancelled—in each case, because someone failed to do that for which he was responsible. On the other hand, the _ student who is faithful to his responsibilities has a twofold re- ward. He receives public recognition for the value of what he has done; and he has the private satisfaction of ‘knowing that he has been of real service to his school or his community. Such consequences are far more effective instruments of teaching than any system of grades, awards, or other extrinsic recogni- tion. The individual student thus learns to take his own re- sponsibilities seriously; and students in groups learn to inquire into the competence of those to whom responsibilities are as- signed. Both are important among the ways of democracy which youth must learn. 2. Extending civic activities into the community The students’ direct experience in civic affairs is broadened as rapidly as possible by extending their activities into the local community. Study of the community begins early in Farmville’s schools, and one finds a continuous interplay between school and com- munity throughout the elementary and early secondary years. By the time students reach tenth grade, most of them can begin to take active parts in community affairs. The responsibilities which they can carry increase as they proceed through the upper grades. Sometimes, as in the case of the occupational survey, they take chief responsibility for some community enterprise. More [81] often, as with the health projects, the farmers’ cooperatives, the recreational program, and the community youth council, they work with adults in activities for community service and improvement. Such work is considered a part of a student’s school program. Indeed, it constitutes an apprenticeship in local citizenship, and at the same time provides information and experience which students share with one another in their class discussions. Students working for community improvement soon come into contact with agencies of government. They find the fed- eral and state governments represented in their county agri- cultural agent, their home demonstration agent, their county agricultural committee, and in agencies for rural electrifica- tion, soil conservation, flood control, and the improvement of roads and transportation—all working to improve the economic conditions of the district. They meet the state government again through the public health service, the state park service, the state department of labor, and through the many services rendered by the state department of education, the state college of agriculture, and the state university. Their local public agencies, they find, are the means whereby the community pro- vides schools, a library, recreation facilities, police and fire pro- tection, and many other services. In a word, they learn to think of government as an instrument, which people use to do things collectively for the common good. These firsthand contacts with the community are not casual. They are planned parts of the systematic study of the Farm- ville area and its institutions. This study commences with the occupational survey in the tenth grade and is later expanded to include other aspects of community life, such as health, recrea- tion, government, natural resources, education, and cultural opportunities. Community studies are planned and conducted by the entire teaching staff, for every field in the school cur- riculum is represented in the community. Social studies teachers are responsible for the general direction of community studies, [82] but teachers of science, agriculture, home economics, literature, arts, health, recreation, and business education all make their contributions at appropriate times. This study has its practical outcome, for one of its purposes is to keep up to date the cen- tral file of information about the community, which is used by the school, the community council, and practically all the local agencies. 3. Moving out to the larger scene Citizenship education moves out to the state, national, and world situations by way of the experiences which pupils have had in school and community. As they move outward, pupils should be led to see and understand the connections. There is scarcely any matter of local concern in Farmville which does not lead quickly to considerations which are state, regional, national, or even worldwide in scope. This is particu- larly the case when, as in Farmville, the school is concerned with the improvement of its community. The teachers and students of the Farmville Secondary School are, therefore, studying international settlements, policies and programs of the federal and state governments, and regional projects for the development of electric power and irrigation, not only because it is their duty as citizens to be familiar with these matters, but because their own welfare is daily condi- tioned by the acts of government officials, legislators, and cor- poration executives in remote places. Take markets and prices for farm products, for example. Both are determined largely by national and international action. Policies with respect to foreign trade, the shipment of foods to devastated countries, control of production of farm crops, parity prices for farm products, government purchase of surplus commodities, freight rates, and the like, combine to exert a far greater influence on Farmville’s income from its products than the factors subject to local control by Farmville people. It is an easy step, therefore, for classes to move from [83] the study of agriculture in their own community to the study of the larger scene as it affects their community. Take electricity. Students at Farmville are made alert to the possibility of improving rural life by the use of electrical appliances. They become familiar with the operation of elec- trically operated automatic water pressure systems, milkers, milk coolers, feed grinders, poultry brooders, food dehydrators, and cold storage lockers, all of which would lessen farm labor and increase production. They likewise learn through practice how home labor can be lightened and home services increased by the use of electric lighting, electric ranges, refrigeration, laundry equipment, vacuum cleaners, and other household ap- pliances. But that is only half the story. They learn also that gen- eral application of electricity to rural life depends upon two factors, both beyond their direct control: the availability of cheap power and of low-cost credit for the purchase of equip- ment. So their interest in rural electrification leads them naturally to_the study of the policies of government and of regional utility and credit corporations, and to an examina- tion of ways in which they, as citizens, can act to influence these policies. One might go on to illustrate with health services, schools, roads, or irrigation. As Farmville youth study their community, they find that these and other necessary services cannot be provided by their unaided efforts. Larger units of government must assist in planning, construction, and finance. One therefore finds no sharp divisions of the social studies into courses on the community and courses on national and world affairs. Under skilful teaching, practically every local interest is made to yield its harvest of useful knowledge and intelligent attitudes about the larger scene. | 4. Developing competence in the study of public problems Help students master methods of studying and judging pub- lic problems. Familiarize them with some of the important [84] issues on which citizens are currently expected to pass judg- ment and to act. Stress thorough study of a few problems, rather than superficial treatment of many. — As students in the tenth and eleventh grades pursue the activities and studies described in preceding sections, they be- come aware of many public questions and of the connection of these with the welfare of themselves and their neighbors. It is one thing, however, to recognize these problems. It is another to be able to judge them in the light of relevant facts and with a view to the common good. | Students in the twelfth grade, therefore, spend the greater part of their social studies class time on the study of a few timely and significant public questions. Each class chooses its problems on the basis of its judgment as to timeliness and public importance. Each class follows its own schedule. A problem is usually studied until there is general agreement that it has been well mastered, rather than according to the calendar. The means of investigation are those which would be available to the average citizen in the community—books and pamphlets from the public libraries, radio programs, newspapers, maga- zines, and participation in discussion groups and forums. Students often attend adult meetings where the question is being discussed. People competent to discuss the problem may be invited to the school to speak and confer with classes. Freedom to discuss controversial matters has been the accepted policy since the board of education adopted it four years ago. Much of the class work is done in small groups, with the teacher acting as consultant and guide. As the study of a problem ap- proaches its concluding stages, the class usually meets as a whole for discussions, while each student prepares a written statement of his own position on the matter at issue, with a justification therefor. During the current year, one twelfth-grade class has been studying three problems: (1) Should the people of the Farm- [85] ville area join with the residents of the adjacent Green Valley and Mountain View areas in building a hospital to serve the three communities, as recently proposed by the community council? This has resulted in study of the needs for hospital facilities, of ways of financing capital and operating costs, and of various methods of group hospitalization insurance. (2) If the market for agricultural products should now contract somewhat, should farmers be allowed to produce whatever they wish in whatever quantities they are able, or should there be some system of allotments for certain crops in order to adjust production to demand? If the latter, by whom should control be exercised and what form should it take? This has involved investigation of the relations between markets and prices for agricultural products, on the one hand, and of in- dustrial employment, urban income, and foreign markets, on the other, as well as appraisal of earlier programs and current proposals for production control. (3) Should the United States take a leading part in undertaking to create a permanent inter- national organization to replace the councils and committees of the United Nations, which have been in charge of postwar settlements? This has led to study of the history of the foreign policy of the United States, of previous efforts at international organization, and of the economic, political, and geographic relations of the United States to other nations. One year of such work gives youth a growing degree of com- petence in dealing with public questions. It also makes them aware of the number and difficulty of the issues which the aver- age citizen is called upon to meet. Those who remain in the Farmville Secondary School through Grades XIII and XIV are eager to continue this type of study. Their work in the two later years takes on added interest because of its outlet in the community. Most of the questions studied in school dre of interest to adults as well as to youth; but adults, on the whole, have less time than students to devote to the study of these matters. Furthermore, few adults have had [86] opportunity for training or experience in methods of conduct- ing public discussions, as the records of many recent attempts to develop programs of adult civic education will testify. It is a frequent practice at Farmville for a panel of older students from Grades XIII and XIV to go out to an adult forum or to a meeting of a club, a civic group, or a farmers’ organization, to present the main facts and arguments on some timely ques- tion. A student sometimes leads the ensuing discussion as well. Class work includes training in methods of public presentation and in leadership of forums, panels, and discussion groups. Thus the school is rendering an immediate service to its com- munity and at the same time is equipping the citizens of the next generation to continue their civic education through the years of adult life. §. Developing competence in political action Citizens must learn not only how to make sound judgments, but also how to register their convictions so they will count. Students should, therefore, study methods of political action, at the local, state, and national levels. They should also evaluate these methods in terms of their effectiveness and their consist- ency with democratic principles. Go to a meeting of a farmers’ organization, a county agri- cultural committee, the community council, a citizens’ forum, or a local political group, and you are likely to find student ob- servers from the Farmville Secondary School, acting as eyes and ears for their classmates, gathering firsthand information about political action in their community. Go to the county seat or the state capital, and you will find that Farmville’s young emis- saries are known there also. They have watched the county commissioners and the state legislature in action. They have talked with their representatives in both bodies, and with other officials, too. They are not especially concerned with the formal operation of government. They could read about that in books. But they are interested in finding out how their parents and [87] neighbors and other adults act to get things done by political means. On that subject, most of the books have little to say. Students have to search out information for themselves. Go into classrooms, and you will find students reporting what they have seen and heard, and classes discussing their findings. They have discovered how political parties operate, how can- didates are nominated, how platforms are written. They have learned that the ballot is not always the most effective instru- ment of political action, because issues may be obscured at elections, or important questions may arise between elections. They have become familiar with “pressure groups” of various kinds, and with the ways in which they exert their influence in the county seat, the state capital, and in Washington. Their experiences do not necessarily lead students to condemnation of these methods of political action. For example, one frequently hears students defending pressure groups as necessary and use- ful. The trouble with existing pressure groups, they say, is that they represent too few people and too narrow interests. What is needed, they assert, is bigger and better pressure groups, rep- resenting large cross sections of the public and working to pro- mote the general welfare. As a result of such experiences, some of the older students have already become active members of community civic groups. Without waiting until they have reached the voting age, they have taken their places as young adults in the farmers’ organizations, community forums, political parties, and other groups. Similar things are happening in many other rural communi- ties, thanks to the annual rural youth leadership conference at the state agricultural college. This conference, now in its fourth year, has helped hundreds of rural youth to share ex- periences, work on common problems, and broaden their out- look and understanding. Farmville’s delegates have gained many ideas and much encouragement, and have also contributed their share. [88] 6. Building knowledge as a tool of civic competence Equip students with knowledge and understanding of con- temporary society and of historical background, to enable them to deal with new issues as they arise and think clearly regarding social goals for the future. Seek to develop understanding of trends, movements, and relationships. Through all, stress under- standing and appreciation of democracy, of American ideals, and of the achievements of the American people in realizing their ideals. The teachers at Farmville, like many teachers elsewhere, came to the end of the war with some perplexing questions about the teaching of history and other social studies. The thirties had been a decade of problems—economic, political, social; local, national, international. Efforts at solution had given rise to still other problems. Education, reflecting the spirit of the times, had stressed the problem approach to the study of society. This approach had values which few would deny; but when used exclusively, it also had shortcomings. It made the student familiar with a series of specific problems. Too often, how- ever, it failed to give him understanding of their interrelations, of their causes, and of the historical movements out of which they had emerged. Too often it failed to equip him with the in- formation and insights needed to deal with the new crop of problems which the next year might bring forth. The war years added to the teachers’ perplexities. Appeals and pressures came from federal agencies and national organiza- tions for new “emphases” to meet wartime needs—for more teaching about Latin America and hemispheric relations, for promotion of understanding of China and the Far East and of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, for units on consumer economics, inflation, and war aims, and for stress on “global geography” and “air-mindedness.” All of these were good in themselves, but their sum was greater than already heavily- laden courses could bear. As patriotic teachers did their best to respond to each new appeal, the social studies courses in- [89 ] creasingly became composites of unrelated ‘“‘problems” and “units.” | As soon as the war pressures were eased, the Farmville staff set out to rebuild their courses on the study of society. Some of the outcomes we have already examined—the firsthand study of the local community, the expansion of outlook to the national and world scene, and the mastery of methods of dealing with public questions. These, however, were not enough. “We are responsible,” these teachers said in one of their early reports on the subject, “for helping all youth to develop four understandings: first, of our own nation—its people, its government, its material resources, its growth and achieve- ments, and, most important of all, the ideals of liberty and — justice which motivated its founders and inspired its citizens in all generations; second, of the relations of our nation to the rest of the world—and that includes, of course, understanding the main features of the rest of the world; third, of the main trends in the historical development of the present na- tional and world situation; and fourth, of the possibilities of progress toward fuller realization of democratic ideals and the conditions of just and durable peace. These should be part of the minimum equipment of every citizen. “In order to develop these understandings, there must be systematic study of contemporary society and of history. We make that statement with our eyes open to the dangers of its abuse. We know how easy it is to allow systematic study for definite purposes to degenerate into a routine process of ac- quiring information for its own sake. But one should not reject something useful merely because it may be abused. We believe that the dangers can be avoided, if we can answer two ques- tions: First, out of the vast reservoir of material which might be taught about the world of the past and present, what will serve best to develop these four understandings? Second, how can we enlist the active participation of students from the [90] beginning, and sustain their interest through a necessarily long period of study?” | Ever since the new Farmville Secondary School was opened, the teachers have been searching for the answers to their ques- tions. They have planned, acted, studied results, revised plans, acted again; and they have found answers. Not final answers; not formulas. But they have found materials and methods that are already yielding encouraging success and that promise well for the future. Here are some of their more significant ex- periences, as they have reported them. “Boys and girls are interested in action and adventure. We have tried to apply that simple fact in our teaching. We have sought to teach history as a fascinating story, packed with more action and adventure than one can find in works of fiction. “A story needs a central theme, a plot. We had to hunt for that among the facts of history, for we could not shape the past to suit our own desires. We hunted, and we found the theme. Like a hidden figure in a picture puzzle, it had been obscured by detail. But, once discovered, it stood out so clearly that thenceforth one could not help seeing it. “This theme of history, as we try to teach it, is man’s age-old struggle to achieve freedom and security. From the dawn of history, men have sought freedom to rule themselves, freedom to think and express their thoughts, freedom to worship, free- dom to work. From the earliest times, men have sought security for themselves, their families, and their nations against destruc- tive forces of nature and the hostile actions of their fellow men. “This struggle has been waged unceasingly through the ‘centuries against the vaunting ambitions of tyrants, the might of empires, the selfishness of vested interests, doctrines of racial and class superiority, against disease and drought, flood and famine, the inertia of tradition, and the blindness of ignorance. In every age and every land, men have worked to build a civili- zation yielding increasing freedom and security to more and more of the people. Now, in our own time, men are venturing [91] into territory largely unexplored, and are seeking to achieve freedom and security on a worldwide scale. The centuries are marked by monuments of progress, but always these monu- ments have been built by the devoted efforts of men and women. There is no easy road to progress. Whenever a com- placent people relax the eternal vigilance, they jeopardize the achievements of centuries. “Tn this story of human striving, the United States has been destined to have a leading part—if it will. We have been blessed with vast natural resources and a genius for production which have yielded us material benefits beyond those of any age or nation. Science has placed powerful instruments in our hands, wherewith we may banish famine and poverty and reduce the ravages of disease. Under stress of war, we have fashioned weapons and forces sufficient to protect our land against aggression. “We are inheritors of freedom-loving people, liberal ideas, and spiritual ideals from all of western civilization. Our national history is marked by the achievements of men and women of high purposes, prophetic vision, and indomitable courage, and by ever-widening diffusion of the blessings of liberty among the people. Of all the nations in all of history, we now have the means and opportunity to achieve the free- dom and security for which mankind has struggled through the ages. “Moreover, the end of the war found us in a position of great influence among the nations. We can use our influence to help all nations achieve security against aggression and the threat of future wars. We can use our wealth and power in the interest of economic security and greater freedom for all people everywhere. “Such are our opportunities. But it is by no means certain that we shall seize them. Within the nation and throughout the world, there are powerful forces opposed to the extension of freedom and security. The age-old struggle still goes on. | [92] Once before the United States faced a similar opportunity— and turned away. This time we have not turned away. But we may still do so, not so much through ill will as by reason of ignorance and weariness of spirit. “If we as a nation set our faces toward the fuller achievement of freedom and security for all people everywhere in the world, then vistas of human progress open up, to which the youth of this generation may well give their enthusiastic devotion. The frontiers have not closed. The days of adventure have not ended. But if we choose once more to turn aside, to look back- ward, to think of ourselves in isolation from the other peoples of the world, who can foretell the catastrophes which the future may hold? This generation of youth is growing into manhood and womanhood at the most dramatic moment in the whole of human history. “Around this theme we have planned our program. Only the broad outlines are laid down in advance. The detailed con- tent is supplied by teachers and students together, as the course proceeds. | ““At the start, we tie the course to the students’ interest in the present and the future. That interest is genuine and strong. You do not have to prod boys and girls into awareness of national and international affairs, when their earliest memories reach back to depression years, their childhood was lived in wartime, and their futures even now are being shaped by acts of our own and other governments. “The course opens with a survey of the United States and its relations with the rest of the world. First we stress the posi- tive achievements of freedom and security—our civil liber- ties, our institutions of government, the benefits resulting from the applications of science in industry, agriculture, transpor- tation, and health, for example. Next we seek to locate the frontiers of our time—the points at which men are now striving for greater freedom and security. Among these, of course, are current efforts to safeguard the right to work for [93] all our people, to broaden our social security program, to ex- tend equality of educational opportunity to all our children and youth, and to fashion a world organization of nations. Then we select a few of those frontier areas, to which students are particularly alert, and show how history enlarges our understanding of them and our ability to deal with the prob- lems which they present. In contrast, we show how failure to understand history has led the American people into costly errors in the past. By every means, we try to show that his- tory is to be studied because of the light which it throws on the present and the future. “Then, out of the past, teachers and students select those creative movements and personalities which mark man’s ad- vances in attaining freedom and security. Causes of progress are sought for, and also the chief obstacles which have hin- dered advancement. Continuities and interrelations are stressed, rather than isolated events. On a worldwide stage, this drama of history moves forward, reaching its climax as the course returns to the present and faces the world of the future. “One scene in this drama of history invariably stands out above all others. That is the period in which the thirteen colonies were transformed into the United States of America. Nothing out of the past is so important, we think, as the under- standing of the aims and ideals, the struggles and conflicts, the devotion and perseverance, and the far-sighted wisdom of the men who founded this nation. No heritage from the past is sO inspiring to the youth of today as the three great docu- ments of that period—the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and the Bill of Rights—when these are viewed as the products of men who wrestled with the problems which free men of every generation must face and who wrought their enduring answers into these charters of American de- mocracy. ‘The proposal for this course originated with the social studies teachers. But planning was scarcely begun, before [94] teachers from other fields were brought in, and soon the course became a project of the entire school staff. Incidentally, we teachers are learning as much from the course as our students. “The teachers of agriculture, for example, are helping stu- dents to see how advances in agriculture and in conditions of rural life have been among man’s chief steps toward economic security. At first they intended to limit the study to the United States. But food now looms so large on the world scene that they were soon including the main features of agriculture in other nations, particularly Russia, central Europe, China, Argentina, and Brazil. They are also working on a study of movements for extension of freedom in this country, which had their origins or chief support among farm people. ‘The teachers of science are indispensable. The contributions of science to security and freedom are of incalculable im- portance. Science applied in industry, agriculture, and trans- portation has helped man far along the road to a world economy of abundance. Science applied in medicine, surgery, and sanitation has reduced illness and lengthened lives. Science applied in the press, the radio, and television has greatly in- creased man’s ability to disseminate information and _ ideas. Science applied to the study of man has shattered myths of racial, class, and sex superiorities, demonstrated that the vast majority of people are capable of lifelong learning, strength- ened our faith in the ability of the common people to rule themselves, and broadened our views of the freedoms and op-- portunities which are the rights of all people. “No one plays a more important part in the course than the teachers of literature. Whatever the subject, whatever the period of history, novels, dramas, biographies, and poetry have incomparable value as means of gaining insight into the ideals, the aspirations, and struggles of men and women. They supply the elements of action and adventure, so appealing to youth, and so often lacking in the factual treatises. The historical novel and drama, and their later counterparts, the historical [95] motion picture and radio-television broadcast, are frequently used to recreate an earlier period, to interpret the culture of another people, or to embody historic words and deeds in men and women of flesh and blood. Art and music are often joined with literature as expressions of the ideals of a people or an age. “One reason why students are so interested in this course, we think, is because they have a large part in developing its contents. The course itself is an adventure for all of us. There is no detailed syllabus, no single source book. Information must be gathered from many books, pamphlets, periodicals, newspapers, radio programs, and people. Teachers guide the search and do their share of the searching. But much of the work of discovery is done by students, and their contributions are of value to teachers as well as to themselves. “As we review what we have learned from our brief ex- perience with this course, these things stand out. “We are learning to think in terms of world history. In order to understand our present relations with other nations, we find it necessary to know the main currents of history not only in North America and western Europe, but also in Rus- sia, the Far East, India, and Latin America. “We are learning to think of a world of nations increasingly interdependent. We can trace the decline of isolation from the days when Rome, China, and India was each a world em- pire unto itself, down to the removal of the last vestiges of isolation by the airplane. “We are learning to look for causes and consequences of events—particularly of wars and revolutions and great social changes. “We are learning to select, out of all that might be studied, those events and movements and personalities most relevant to our central theme, most helpful in developing the four under- standings which are our aims. “We teachers, at least, are learning these things. That we know. And we think it likely that our, students are learning [96] them with us. For nothing is more conducive to learning by the young than to work with teachers who are also learners. “This course ends where it began—with study of the con- temporary world, centered in our own nation. This ending also marks the beginning of the work for the next year. In the course of our study, we have identified many problems of our own time, but we have not tried to solve them. As we return to the present and look toward the future, we conclude by selecting those problems now before the American people, which, in our judgment, are most important and most urgent. This last step is also the first step for the course in public prob- lems in the twelfth grade.” 7. Foster loyalty to the principles and ideals of American democracy. Encourage youth to set up goals for achievement by their generation which will surpass those of their fathers, and which will bring the community, the nation, and the world nearer to the attainment of democratic ideals. Older people are always concerned about the loyalties of youth, and their concern is naturally heightened whenever the nation is passing through a period of crisis or rapid change. Only the most carping critic could find fault with the per- formance of American youth while war was being waged. It was chiefly the nation’s youth who fought the battles and who gave their lives, or risked them, to win the victory. Of those youth who did not serve in the armed forces, millions labored in factories and on farms to produce weapons and food. Those who continued in schools prepared themselves for active service when the call should come, and meanwhile sought and found many opportunities to be useful through their schools and in their communities. But when the enemy was defeated and the call to heroic action and unusual endeavor was no longer sounded, the ques- tion of youth’s loyalty again came to the fore. Some, as always, were alarmed by youth’s questioning of the past and their [97] interest in proposals for political and economic change. Others, who viewed youth’s perennial dissatisfaction with the status quo as a healthy condition, were disturbed by other questions. How would this oncoming generation react to a world in which older brothers and sisters had experienced the great adventures, and held priorities on most of the favored positions in civilian life? Would youth respond with cynicism and the abandonment of all loyalties and ideals? Were we headed for another age of “jazz” and “flaming youth”? Could we find and use a “moral equivalent of war” to arouse and hold the loyal- ties of youth in peacetime? . Farmville people were like people everywhere. They talked about these things in their various meetings and in their daily conversations. As they talked, their concern grew. Something should be done, they said—but what? Some favored more rigorous discipline, more stress on ritual and ceremony, more efforts to inculcate loyalty by direct instruction. Others felt that loyalty must be fostered rather than forced, but were frequently uncertain as to the best methods. The superintendent of schools saw that this was a matter on which the whole community should be consulted. Whatever program might be adopted by the schools would have to be understood and supported by a considerable part of the pub- lic. So, with board approval, he arranged the appointment of a committee representing the community council, the parent- teacher association, the school staff, and the student body, to study this matter, to discuss it with other groups in the community, and to make such reports and recommendations as it might see fit. After some months of work, the committee drafted a statement, which has served as a guide to the school and a basis for understanding between school and community. We quote several sections which carry the main points of the report. ) “Loyalty is like love and the kingdom of heaven. It lives in people’s hearts. You cannot make a person loyal by telling him [98] that he must be loyal. You cannot make him loyal by requiring him to repeat pledges or take part in ceremonies. The person with loyalty in his heart delights in expressing his devotion; but unless he first be loyal, ritual and pledges are of little worth. “Loyalty is not built, part by part. It grows. We who spend our lives in helping things grow should not find it difficult to understand that. We can plant the seeds of loyalty in the hearts of boys and girls. We can identify the conditions under which loyalty grows most vigorously. In our homes, our school, and our community, we can do our best to supply the conditions favorable to healthy growth. “As to the conditions of growth, there are four which seem to us important: “Loyalty grows when it has its roots in experience. Boys and girls must have experiences of democratic living, in their homes, their schools, and their community, and must find them good, if they are to be deeply loyal to democratic ideals. Otherwise, they can give only lip service to empty words. We therefore look with favor upon the efforts of the school staff to make the school a place where boys and girls can experience democracy and learn its ways through practice. “Loyalty grows when one has clear ideas about that to which one is loyal. Experiences as well as words may have little mean- ing. Boys and girls have to be helped to examine their experi- - ences, to discover the distinguishing marks of those that are democratic, and to decide why those are to be preferred to others. Then they will have a stock of ideas which they can use in dealing with the world beyond the range of their immediate experience, and their loyalty can grow accordingly. “Loyalty grows when one appreciates the cost of the object of one’s loyalty. It is easy to take our nation, our freedoms, our democratic institutions for granted. Each one of us needs to relive, in imagination, the struggles and sacrifices by which these things were achieved. Here lies one of the great values of the study of history. [99] “Loyalty grows when one has a chance to work for the cause to which he is loyal. We older people often forget this. We are so eager to have boys and girls appreciate their democratic heritage that we offer it to them as a finished product, rather than an ideal, still in the making. We would do better to help them see the American patriots’ dream of a nation with liberty and justice and opportunity for all, and to encourage them to have a real part in bringing that dream nearer to fulfilment.” Ww xg rhe How much time, you are doubtless asking, does this seven- point program take? Doesn’t it require more time than a school can give, and do all the other things it has to do? Farmville’s teachers faced that question. There were many “other things” that they wanted to do. Time was limited. If they had followed precedent, they would have decided that one class period a day was sufficient, and that the rest could be done through the extracurriculum program and incidentally along with other activities. But they did not follow precedent. Instead, they talked about the relative importance of the purposes of educa- tion. They agreed that there is no purpose more important than the preparation of boys and girls for the full responsibilities of citizenship. They agreed that there is no purpose more difficult to accomplish, especially in a time when the whole world is in a process of remaking. And they agreed that youth will no more learn to be good citizens through “incidental” experiences than they will incidentally learn to be good doctors, teachers, me- chanics, or farmers. Time for citizenship education must be provided, they said, commensurate with its importance. And they have found the time, as we shall see later, without slight- ing the other major purposes of education.” PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT OF YOUTH If Thomas Jefferson were alive today and were to visit Farm- ville, the statesman—who was also educator and farmer—would *° See chart on page 153. [100] find a bond of spiritual kinship with these farm and village people. For the purposes which guide the Farmville Secondary School are strikingly similar to Jefferson’s immortal triad of inalienable rights—life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. To preserve their right to life, youth are prepared to earn their livings at useful occupations and are launched upon self-sup- porting careers. To safeguard their right to liberty, youth are equipped to assume the responsibilities of citizens of a demo- cratic commonwealth. To assure to all the right to the pursuit of happiness, youth are helped to achieve well-rounded personal development. In the minds of the people of Farmville—the teachers, pa- rents, and others interested in youth—this purpose of personal development ranks equally with vocational efficiency and civic competence.” Rural schools, they know, too often have neglected this side of education. Health services have frequently been inadequate. Thousands of country schools have had none whatever. The same is true of libraries, of recreational facilities, and of oppor- tunities for social life. The curriculums, in many cases, have been restricted to a few academic courses and a few courses in agriculture and home economics. Teachers have been poorly paid, as a rule, and often inadequately trained for anything beyond conventional teaching of conventional subjects. Educational poverty in rural schools has not been deliberate, of course. It has been caused chiefly by financial poverty and faulty school-district organization. On the whole, the taxable wealth per child of school age in rural communities has been 7 The three purposes of education in this statement—namely, occupational preparation, civic competence, and personal development—correspond, with the exceptions to be noted, to the four ‘“‘purposes of education in American democracy” set forth in the Educational Policies Commission’s statement on that subject (Washington, D. C.: the Commission, 1938). These four purposes are self-realization, human relationship, economic efficiency, and civic responsibility. In the Farmville Secondary School, the two purposes of self-realization and human relationship are combined under the heading of personal development. The consumer aspects of economic efficiency appear under personal development (especially in connection with education for family living) and under civic competence, as well as under occupational preparation. Otherwise there is general agreement between the two statements. [101] far below that of cities; and, until recently, only a few of the states have supplied state financial aid to schools in such a man- ner as greatly to reduce the disparity between school districts. Furthermore, in most cases, rural high-school districts have been too small to support schools with programs broad enough to serve the needs of youth. Knowing these things, and knowing that as a consequence, countless thousands of rural boys and girls have been unfairly handicapped in their pursuit of happiness, the people of Farm- ville have resolved that the children and youth of their com- munity shall have opportunities for personal development com- parable to those found in the best city schools. Personal development, however, is a broad purpose which needs to be translated into specific aims in order to serve as a guide to educational practice. To the teachers of Farmville, personal development means growth in six aspects of living: 1. Health of body and mind . Family life Recreational and leisure-time interests and activities Understanding and appreciation of the cultural heritage Intellectual achievement Character, conceived as conduct in relation to other per- sons, motivated by ethical ideals and principles. NM B &W DO These—and with them, occupational proficiency and civic competence—are areas of growth, not titles of courses. They are educational purposes, not compartments. We must not expect to find courses corresponding precisely to each area, nor must we suppose that we shall be able neatly to classify all the activities of the school under one or another of these headings. Learning is the result of interaction between the whole of a boy or girl and the whole of a situation; and both learners and situations are usually too complex to permit easy classification. The Farmville Secondary School does have a program, of course—a plan of organization of learning experiences. Later we shall examine this program and consider such practical [102] questions as scheduling and sequences.” But we shall be follow- ing the example of the Farmville teachers if we think first of boys and girls in the process of growing, and recognize that curriculums, courses, and schedules are instruments for foster- ing growth. Health of Body and Mind The time, three years ago, when Jennie Harkness entered the tenth grade. The speaker, Mrs. Wallace, Jennie’s counselor: “Jennie, the board of education has decided to provide free health examinations for all students in the school, and we should like you to be examined as soon as possible. The ounce of prevention, you know. Either Dr. Bradford or Dr. White will examine you, whichever you and your parents prefer. Oh, Dr. Bradford is your family physician? Good. Then will you report to Miss Lambert, the school nurse, on Wednesday at ten o’clock in the health room? We will want to have a look at your teeth and eyes, too. Dr. Rogers is examining teeth and we have an eye specialist coming out from the city. Here is a page of information for you and your parents to read together. Will you ask your father or your mother to fill out this form and will you bring it back to me before Wednesday? Thank you, Jennie.” Health examinations were new three years ago. But if Jennie were to go through the schools of the Farmville district today, her health examination in Grade X would be her fourth, in- stead of her first. WwW 4 rXG - Four weeks later. Scene, the conference held every Friday afternoon during the period of health examinations. “Howard Daniels certainly needs glasses,” said Dr. Bradford, as he looked up from a handful of records. 3 See pages 149-52. [103] | > ‘““He should have them soon, too, Doctor,” commented Mr. Gilbert, Howard’s counselor. ‘“‘He reads more than most boys. I’ve noticed that he always has a book at hand when he is work- ing in his mother’s store. I talked to Howard and his mother yesterday. Mrs. Daniels has to count every penny, but she would do anything for her boy. I think we can get him fixed up when his class goes to American City next month. That will save them the cost of a trip to the city.” “Good,” replied the doctor. “It’s too bad that Farmville can’t support an oculist. We pay for it in headaches. Well, here’s Marie Stewart. Teeth in bad shape. But I see that she has already made an appointment with Dr. Rogers. That’s one good thing about these examinations. They get people to do things that they have put off much too long. You’d think, wouldn’t you, with her father being as well off as he is well, never mind that! Now about this Flynn boy. He’s underweight, and his posture isn’t good, and he seems to lack the energy a boy of sixteen should have. All tied up together, no doubt. H’m. The record says that the Flynn children all have to work pretty hard at home, and that it’s doubtful that they get the right © food for growing youngsters. Know anything more about the family?” “Yes, I do,” put in Miss Lambert. “I am sure the boy is poorly nourished. All the Flynn children have the same diffi- culties. Miss Scott has been making some progress with Mrs. Flynn. I went with her on the last visit. Mrs. Flynn seems will- ing enough, but she doesn’t know the simplest facts about nutrition. And Mr. Flynn, we were given to understand, will have nothing to do with this new-fangled diet stuff. Miss Scott has Charles’ older sister in home economics. She is giving Katherine special instruction in inexpensive diets, and she hopes to persuade Mrs. Flynn to let the girl have a part in feed- — ing the family.” “That sounds promising,” said the doctor. “What about his physical education, Mr. Haines?” [104] “I’ve been giving him special attention,” replied the teacher. “He gets plenty of exercise at home, but not the right kind. Fortunately, he’s eager to learn to swim. He needs a chance to play games, too. There’s not much play at home, I’m afraid.” “Good. Nothing too strenuous at first, of course. We’ll have to build him up. You'll look after extra milk for him, Miss Lambert; and he may need a daily rest period for a while. “Jennie Harkness,’ Dr. Bradford continued. “ve known her since she was a baby. Heart murmur. Effect of rheumatic fever six years ago. Nothing serious now, but will need watch- ing. Avoid overexertion and fatigue. I see that Miss Burton has already taken care of her program in physical education. Mrs. Wallace, you will see that the rest of Jennie’s teachers are informed, won’t you?” “Yes, and I will have a talk with Jennie, too, about her school work. We want to be sure that she finds things to do that are within her strength, and that she doesn’t think of herself as different from other girls.” “Very good. Now, here’s the last one for this week,” resumed the physician. “Ernest Mathews. Sound as they come.” “And fairly bursting with energy,” added Ernest’s counselor. “All that boy needs is someone to help him direct that power drive of his.” ui He Basa 23 Examinations, health guidance, and follow-up are indispen- sable, but they are only part of the school’s health program. It is more important, says the staff, to prevent poor health than to correct it. It is better to develop healthful living conditions than to cure the casualties of an unhealthy environment. Youth should therefore learn how to make their schools, their homes and their community conducive to good health; and the foun- dation of learning is direct experience. Ww ne Ww The occupational survey in Farmville and the visits to American City had more values than one to Ernest and [105] Jennie and their tenth-grade classmates. They learned how to go after information for a particular purpose and what to do with information after they had gathered it. They gained con- fidence in their ability to meet adults and talk with them about adult affairs. They had the satisfaction of seeing the results of their work put immediately to practical use. At the time when this class completed its study of ‘The World at Work,” the community council was considering ways of improving health in the Farmville area. Miss Randolph, the teacher, told the class of some of the problems which the council was facing, and suggested that the students might be interested in helping to gather some of the needed infor- mation. “Why can’t we study health in the same way we studied occupations?” asked Ernest Mathews. ““We could make a sur- vey of sickness and accidents, same as we did with jobs.” “What good would it do you to find out how many people are sick?” another pupil objected. ““We can’t go running out > to ask people questions every time we take up something new in class.” “Besides,” added Marie Stewart, “people don’t like to have you question them about their illnesses. They don’t mind dis- cussing their jobs, but health is a private affair.” | “Tt isn’t private if I catch malaria from you,” someone retorted. | | “You don’t catch malaria. You get it from a mosquito.” “As if I didn’t know that! I mean, your health isn’t private if you have malaria, and a mosquito bites you and then bites me and gives me some of your malaria germs.” “This is getting rather complicated, isn’t it?” said Miss Randolph with a smile. “Perhaps the person really responsible is someone who allows a breeding place for mosquitoes to stand on his property. Well, do you think that we might be able to gather some useful information about health and disease with- out offending people?” [106] “JT think we could,” said Enid White, daughter of the phy- sician. “I have heard my father say that many people are sick from malaria and typhoid and other diseases that can be pre- vented, and that if the people understood more about the causes of these diseases, there wouldn’t be so much illness.” This is a small sample of one of many discussions which were the beginnings of investigations of local health conditions, with practical outcomes far beyond any imagined when they were first thought of, and with commensurate learning value. Mr. Grayson, a science teacher, and Miss Lambert, the school nurse, came in to help. It was fortunate that three teachers were working on the project, for it required much careful guidance and skilful handling of public relations. The enthusiasm of youth is sometimes blind to adult sensitivities—and Marie was right, many people do regard their health, or lack of it, as a private matter. But Dr. Bradford and Dr. White gave their support, parents were informed through the PTA, and the project went forward. The important thing is that Howard, Marie, Jennie, Ernest, Charles, and Enid were soon busily engaged in finding out the frequency and location of typhoid, malaria, tuberculosis, diphtheria, scarlet fever, and other communicable diseases; studying about the causes, transmission, and prevention of these diseases; locating some of the actual causes in the Farmville dis- trict; taking preventive measures in their own homes; and planning public campaigns for prevention. When the investigation was completed, the class met with the community council, to present its findings and recommen- dations. The report contained facts about the rates of com- municable diseases in the Farmville district; about screening of windows and doors, sanitary toilets, sewage disposal, and water supplies in a sampling of homes; about breeding places of mosquitoes, flies, and rats; and about the extent of immuniza- tion among a sampling of the people. It also proposed a series of actions to remove the causes. [107] COMMUNITY COUNCIL OF FARMVILLE FARMVILLE, U. S. A. October 10, 19— Mr. Myron Evans, Principal, Farmville Secondary School, Farmville, U. S. A. Dear Myron: Last spring a committee of students from the Farmville Secondary School submitted a report to this council on “Health Improvement through the Control of Communicable Diseases.” Members of the council were greatly impressed by the facts which students had gathered and by the sensible character of the recommendations. It is a pleasure to report to you that steps have been taken to carry out most of the recommenda- tions through the organizations represented in this council. The students have also been very helpful in our program of action. They contributed most of the labor and a good share of the management in the campaigns to clean up the breeding places of mosquitoes, flies, and rats. These experiences have made us aware of the resources for community service which we have close at hand in our school. Now we greatly need the help of some of your students in an enterprise which we think will mean a great deal for the wel- fare of this part of the county. Federal and state money has been made available to assist in the operation of public health centers in rural communities. There is no doubt that we need such a center here and that many of our people want it. Indeed, the board of education was so far-sighted as to provide the rooms for a health center in the new school building. Now here’s the rub. In order to make application for this aid, we must gather a great deal of information about people’s health and the facilities for medical treatment, nursing, hos- pitalization, and the like, and we must meet a December 31 deadline. If twenty of your students could give five hours a week of their time for the next six weeks, we could get the application in good shape. We do not want to exploit willing boys and girls, or to divert them from their main job of getting [108] an education. But we believe that this enterprise has great educational possibilities—especially if Miss Lambert, Miss Ran- dolph, and Mr. Grayson could spare some of their time to give it supervision. This is a large request which we make. But it is also a tribute to the high esteem in which we hold our school. Sincerely yours, ARTHUR T. SCOTT, Chairman. Ww ree ake One hundred and twenty students volunteered. Ernest Mathews, Enid White, and Howard Daniels were among the twenty selected. Their work on the health center project was included, of course, in their school program. Ww Ww Ww Excerpts from the Farmville Enterprise during the follow- ing year: March 15: Yesterday saw the opening of the new Farmville District Health Center in its quarters in the school building. Dr. Hugh Anderson, state public health officer, gave the ad- dress at the opening ceremonies, at which Mrs. Anna War- ren, chairman of the health center board, presided. Dr. Anderson pointed out that the health center will serve four purposes. It will be a center for distributing informa- tion and conducting demonstrations and educational ac- tivities. It will provide a public health nursing service throughout the district. It will also operate a clinic, which will bring medical examinations and simple surgical and medical treatment within the reach of all. And it will give leadership in helping the people of the community to recog- nize and meet their health problems. The staff will con- sist of our two local physicians, Drs. White and Bradford, both of whom have been among the chief promoters of the center, and Miss Ruth Edinger, an experienced public health nurse. Mrs. Warren, in her introductory remarks, paid [109] tribute to the fine services of students and teachers from the Farmville Secondary School who did much of the work in preparing the application for federal and state funds. April 1: Well-Baby Clinic at Health Center Tomorrow and Monthly Thereafter April 14: Eye Clinic To Be Held at Health Center Twice Yearly June 20: State Health Demonstration Truck To Spend Next Week in Farmville District September 10: Free Immunizations at Health Center Expected To Reduce Disease Rate October 23: Second Nurse Joins Health Center Staff we a Ww That is all we have time to tell about, in the way of com- munity health activities, for there are other health activities within the school, which must also be mentioned. Let us look at the personal history records of our six stu- dents. All six of them, we find, have been learning about per- sonal health and hygiene, both physical and mental, from tenth grade onward. To be sure, there has not been a continuous course on health through the three years. Instead, units and projects on health have been introduced when they seemed to be most needed, and when they were appropriate to the ma- turity and experience of students. More often than not, the study of health was closely related to work in some other field— family living, consumer education, science, or community problems. In tenth grade, as we have seen, these students learned a great deal about personal health from their investigation of [110] health conditions in the community. In addition, they all studied nutrition, foods, and home sanitation in their work on family life. Their course in science also yielded useful health knowledge. By planning their work together, and sometimes pooling their time and teaching, the teachers were able to avoid duplications and make these experiences reenforce one another. In eleventh grade, the school nurse and the teachers of sci- ence, home economics, and physical education pooled their time and resources for a period of intensive work on health and hygiene. A counselor with training in psychology and mental hygiene joined them. Some of the work consisted of quick “refreshers” of things learned earlier—first aid and safety, taught in ninth grade, and nutrition, home sanitation, and communicable diseases, from tenth grade. Most of the content was new, however, organized around the personal health needs and problems of boys and girls, with materials drawn from physiology, hygiene, dietetics, chemistry, biology, and psychology. Particular stress was laid upon the study of mental health. A good working library was collected of books by reliable psychologists and mental hygienists—books written for young people rather than for their teachers and parents, which deal with the everyday lives of boys and girls and stress the normal aspects of mental health rather than maladjustments.”* Against a background of reading in such books, students were able to discuss many of their personal problems objectively and profit- ably. They were informed that problems which they did not wish to discuss in class might be talked over with their coun- selors or the teachers, and many took advantage of this invi- tation. In twelfth grade, the work in health dealt with the needs of later adolescence and the early years of adult life. Here came "The “Personal Efficiency” bookshelf in the library, which is available to all students, includes such titles as: ‘Growing Into Life,” ‘“What It Means to Grow Up,” “Understanding Yourself,” “Popularity,” and “Building Your Life.” [111] the unit on “Friendship, Courtship, and Marriage,” which we shall describe more fully in a few moments. Here also the girls received training in care of small children and home nursing. So much for the experiences common to all our students. Some individuals have done still more. Jennie Harkness, whose major field is homemaking, has had advanced work in foods and home hygiene, is now an assistant in the school lunchroom kitchen, and next year (she expects to continue through Grade XIV) will be an assistant to the teacher of home economics. Enid White, who plans to be either a nurse or a laboratory technician, followed her tenth grade general science with an individual program of study in chemistry and biology, worked last year as a volunteer assistant to the school nurse, and this year has a paying position as an assistant in the health center. She is also a member of the school committee on health and safety. Ernest Mathews’ good work on the community health survey in tenth grade won him an appointment to the school health and safety committee the next year. This year he is chairman of the committee. Under Ernest’s vigorous leadership, the committee has made a study of health and safety condi- tions in the school—in classrooms, shops, lunchrooms, toilets, locker rooms, gymnasium, school buses, and on playgrounds. The report was completed last month. It contains so many constructive proposals that a special meeting has been called of the faculty and the student council to hear the angings and consider the recommendations. ke Ww x4 Farmville Footballers Defeat Clear Falls in Close Contest Girls’ Field Hockey Schedule Announced Flynn Wins Interclass Diving Match New Archery Equipment Arrives Weekend Camping Trips Planned Class Gives Program of Early American Folk Dances —Headlines from the Farmville School News selected during the past six weeks. [112] What is important here is not the headlines (you could match them from many other school papers), but what these headlines mean in terms of our six Farmville youth. For each headline stands for one of our six, and together the six head- lines mean, “Opportunity for regular, healthful, vigorous exer- cise for all, and to each according to his needs.” You recognize the first, of course. Ernest Mathews, we may be sure, was in the thick of that “close contest.’”? And Enid White, who is no less energetic than Ernest, is captain of one of the field hockey teams in the intramural league. But how comes Charles Flynn to be winning a diving contest? Isn’t he the boy who was underweight and listless and who had such poor posture? Yes, he is—or was three years ago. Then Mr. Haines found that Charles had always wanted to swim but had never had a chance to learn. A few weeks of coaching in swim- ming and diving by one of Mr. Haines’ student assistants brought Charles through the beginner’s stages. He was soon enjoying his new skills and at the same time was strengthening the muscles which had been weak. Mr. Haines kept his eye on Charles, and gave him a few minutes of special instruction from time to time. So the boy gained strength and confidence, until he became as good as the average in muscular develop- ment and coordination. Having grown that much, Charles was not satisfied. He had never excelled at anything before, but here was opportunity. He continued to practice, hard and faithfully, and now we read “Flynn wins interclass diving match.” Jennie Harkness can’t play field hockey. Remember that she has to watch her heart. But she can now shoot an arrow into the bull’s-eye as often as any other girl in school. Howard Dan- iels loves the out-of-doors, but he has to spend most of his spare time on week days in his mother’s store. He is planning to go to college and law school, and most of his studies keep him indoors. He gets some exercise in the gym and on the play- ground, but not enough for a growing boy. This spring Howard has been on three weekend camping trips and several nature [113] hikes. Three years ago Marie Stewart was overweight, soft, and lacking in self-confidence. But she had good rhythmic sense and muscular coordination, and in Miss Burton she found an understanding teacher. Now Marie is that slim and graceful gitl who has one of the leading parts in the folk dancing. There is more to physical education, of course, than these brief sketches tell. But perhaps enough has been reported to show that the Farmville Secondary School believes that training in physical skills and the enjoyment of physical activities are essential parts of education, which foster health both of body and of mind. Family Life A recent visitor to Farmville was talking with a group of upper-class students. “What school experiences have you found most helpful to you personally?” he asked. Up went the hand of one of the older boys. Looking at the boy’s muscular frame and hardened hands, the visitor expected a reply of “physical education” or “machine shop” or “agri- culture.” He was quite surprised, therefore, when the boy responded, “I found the work on family life very helpful.” “How was that?” asked the visitor. “Well, we’re all members of families now, and most of us will have families of our own in a few years. It seems to me that people’s happiness depends to a large extent on the kind of homes they have and how they get along with other mem- bers of their families. Our study of family life helped me to understand what families are for and how important it is for everyone who belongs to a family to do-his part to make the family a success. It helped me to a better understanding of my parents and their problems, and IJ think I will be a better mem- ber of my own family when the time comes for that.” “We've just finished a discussion of friendship, courtship, and marriage,” put in another boy. “That helped many of us with our personal questions.” [114] “It was a good idea to have several teachers working with us, when we talked about personal relations,” added a girl. “We were told that we could go to any of them and talk over our problems, if we wanted to. You could choose the teacher you thought would best understand your particular problem.” “We learned a lot of other things about family living,” said another girl, “about cooking, and nutrition, and clothing, and care of children, and how to make our homes beautiful as well as convenient. Have you seen the model home that the boys built three years ago? The students chose all the furnishings, and the girls redecorate it every year. Every girl gets practical training in the model home.” ““We can practice in our own homes, too,” said a third girl eagerly. ““We have home projects, and you should see the changes in some of our homes since we have been studying home management and home furnishing.” “You mustn’t think we rush home and barge into our parents’ business,” said another girl. “We discuss every home project with our parents, and they and we decide on the plans before anyone starts to work. For years my parents have wanted our living-room to be more livable, and they said our whole crowd could work on it if we wanted to. Five of us girls did, and three of the boys worked with us part of the time. The boys got so interested that they helped us make over the garden and did some repairs that Dad hadn’t time for. Of course Mother and Dad went over all the plans with us and with our teacher. I wish you could see our house now. The living-room is really a room to live in, and we all use it far more than we ever did before.” “Girls aren’t the only ones who learn practical things,” another boy remarked. “Boys are members of families, too. We learned about buying clothes and furniture, and planning family budgets. In the shops they taught us how to do electric wiring, and how to repair electrical equipment and furniture and other things around the home. We could learn to make is > furniture, too, if we were interested. I took the unit on camp cooking. I work at the state park every summer, and it cer- tainly is handy to know how to cook.” These statements are fairly representative of students’ re- actions to their experiences of education in family living. A few words may serve to fill some blank spaces in the picture. Study of family life, like that of health, is distributed through all the years of the Farmville Secondary School, with experi- ences suited to the interests and maturity of students. Boys and girls in Grades VII through X are chiefly concerned with their present experiences as children in families and with the simpler skills of home operation. From the eleventh or twelfth grade onward, both girls and boys think of themselves increasingly as homemakers—as prospective wives, husbands, and parents. Now they are ready to consider the family from a more mature point of view, to seek the knowledge and master the skills which will help them to assume the responsibilities of marriage and parenthood. All girls have class and laboratory work in foods, clothing, household furnishings, and home management; practical ex- perience on home projects, in the model home, and in the school kitchen; instruction in the care of small children, with practice in the nursery school; and training in home hygiene and home nursing. For boys, there is work in home mechanics, which includes all sorts of skills useful in the maintenance and repair of houses, furniture, and household equipment. A large part of the work is carried on by girls and boys to- gether—for the most important aspects of family life are the common concern of both sexes. Girls and boys together study the unique services of the family to its members, such as pro- viding affection and security; the influence of the family on the personalities of children; the important role of the family as an agency of religious and moral education; and the possi- bilities of conducting the family as a democratic association of persons. [116] Boys and girls together discuss the problems of family living —how to organize the family on a basis of mutual helpfulness, so that everyone contributes services to the common good; the need for wives and mothers to have satisfying interests outside the home; and the family’s use of leisure time. Together, too, they study the economic side of family life— the planning of homes and home furnishings; budgeting the family income; how the family can produce for its own con- sumption; and consumer buying. Indeed, a large part of the school’s program in consumer education accompanies the study of family life, and properly so. For the material welfare of most farm and village families is largely dependent on the wise and discriminating expenditure of their relatively small cash incomes—and never more so than in these days of rising prices and multiplied appeals to purchase the latest commercial prod- ucts of the “new age.” ™ | Much that is done elsewhere in the school is related to family life. We have found this true of health education. We shall also find it true of recreational and leisure-time activities. In addi- tion, boys in agriculture study production and preservation of food for home use, ornamental gardening, carpentry, and elec- tric wiring. In the handicraft shops, students have opportunities to learn weaving, dyeing, woodworking, furniture repairing, rug hooking, and other home crafts. Counselors and teachers of home economics are particularly close to the home.lives and family problems of students. From the time a boy or girl enters the-school, the counselor has con- tacts with the parents as well as the student. He consults with the student and his parents together on all major educational decisions, and sometimes also when difficult personal problems arise. Home economics teachers make it a practice to visit the homes of their students and to discuss home projects with *% The experiences of the war years raised consumer education to a position of first im- Pp vA Pp portance in the curriculum. Other phases of consumer economics are studied in connection with social studies, agriculture, business education, and health education. [117] parents and students together. Since these teachers are also re- sponsible for adult education, they frequently find that their relations with parents yield opportunities for the school to serve the entire family. Ww w eS Among the problems frequently encountered by counselors and teachers are those growing out of the relations between boys and girls—their friendships and social activities, their loves and disappointments, their courtships and plans for marriage. More than once a boy or girl would say, “I wish there were some course in school, where we could get help on these ques- tions. We study about our relations with our parents in our present families, and about our families we’re going to have by and by. But the courses skip right over the place where we are now. Why can’t we study about sex, and love, and marriage, the same as we study anything else? There’s nothing more im- portant to boys and girls of our age, and for most of us there isn’t any place else we can go for help.” Out of such experiences, there came, at the end of the first year, the proposal for a unit on “Friendship, Courtship, and Marriage,” to be included in the twelfth-grade program. After discussion in the faculty and with the superintendent, the plan was carried to the board of education, the parent-teacher association, and the youth council. A few were skeptical, but most of the responses were favorable. The support of Farm- ville’s two physicians and of two local pastors silenced a few who might otherwise have openly opposed the plan. It was decided to offer the unit during one year, to both boys and girls, on an experimental basis. The course was planned and conducted as a group project, with Mrs. Wallace, one of the counselors with good training in psychology and two children of her own, in charge. She was ably assisted by Dr. Bradford, Miss Lambert (the school nurse), and the other counselors. The teachers of home economics, literature, science, and physical education also made valuable contributions. When the experi- [118] mental year was over, the question was referred back to the community groups, all of which gave votes of confidence. Ww wv Ww From twenty to twenty-five girls in each class through twelfth grade do their major work in homemaking. About one- third continue in the Farmville Secondary School through Grade XIV. For these, there are opportunities for advanced study in every phase of family life. In Grades XIII and XIV, the work is largely individual and is well balanced between reading and consultation with teachers, on the one hand, and practical experience, on the other. The school’s homemaking activities are so many and so varied that teachers could not possibly supervise them all without aid. Most of the girls in the last two years become assistants to the teachers, helping to supervise and manage the school lunchroom, the nursery school, the foods and clothing laboratories, the model home, _ the home crafts shops, the home projects, and the projects for food preservation. Recreational and Leisure- Time Activities ' One of the busiest spots in Farmville is the office of Mr. Warfield, recreational supervisor for the Farmville school dis- trict. This is the coordinating center for a multitude of activi- ties and events which, in one way or another, engage the interest of most of the people of the district, young and old alike. Let us look at the schedule for a recent week, chosen at ran- dom. The annual community festival is only a few weeks dis- tant; the pageant, dances, and musical numbers are being re- hearsed; committees on exhibits, staging, and program are meeting. Spring has brought its insistent call to the out-of- doors. “Twilight League” softball games are scheduled for the five playgrounds in the district. A model airplane and kite- flying contest is to be held on Saturday. Several groups are planning picnics at Forest Park. [119] This is the week on which the ‘““Community Night” program goes to the Four Corners Elementary School, with a well-chosen motion picture and other entertainment by local talent. The school chorus is to sing at the Methodist Church next Sunday evening, and the speech choir will present a program at this week’s meeting of the Ruritan Club. The gymnasium, pool, and recreation room at the Farmville Secondary School are open four nights a week. The gymnasiums in two elementary schools are each open one night a week (two nights during the winter months). All of these must be super- vised. It is fortunate for Mr. Warfield that he has the aid of a corps of able young student assistants from the secondary school. He could never look after all these affairs alone. Five years ago things were different. In those days, people around Farmville had little to occupy their leisure time. There were ball games in the fields and on vacant lots, of course, and boys went swimming in the creek. Boys and girls talked at the drug stores, put nickels in juke boxes, and occasionally bor- rowed the family car for an evening at the movies or for a dance in American City. Now and then there were school dances, church socials, and parties, and people sometimes danced or played cards in their homes. But most of-the recreation was unplanned, and, on the whole, uninteresting, especially for older boys and girls. | What happened to work the transformation? That story can best be told by Mr. Warfield, who came to the old high school in 1938 to teach physical education, English, and the school’s one class in music. It was he, more than any other one person, who made the educators and citizens of Farmville aware of - their community’s recreational resources. “Tt was fortunate,” Mr. Warfield recalled, ‘that we had time to plan carefully for our new building. We had a chance to think about the purposes of the new school. Naturally there were conflicting views at first. Some thought vocational educa- tion was the one important thing. Well, vocational education [120] is important, but it’s not the whole of education. And some of us, I guess, were just as zealous and just as narrow in our pleas for leisure-time activities. But it all came out well in the end. We found that it was not a case of either-or, but rather one of both-and. “Before we could decide what sort of plant we needed for recreational activities, we had to answer three questions. “First, we asked, what are the functions of our school in rela- tion to recreational and leisure-time interests? We said there are two. [he first function of any school is to teach, or if you prefer, to help people to learn. And we said that people should be helped to learn two things—to cultivate leisure-time inter- ests and to develop skill in following those interests. In those days, before we reorganized our elementary schools, most of our youngsters came to us with only a narrow range of recre- ational interests, because they had never had a chance to de- velop any others. It was our job to expose these boys and girls to many possible interests and to help them discover their capacities for enjoyment. Side by side with interests we put skill. Whether you play the clarinet, dance, swim, or play baseball, you enjoy it more if you are reasonably skilful. It was also our job, we said, to teach people to do well the things which they choose to do. “In Farmville, we went on, the school has a second function. No matter how well you teach, you can’t expect people to use their leisure time constructively unless they have facilities. For sports, you need play fields and a gymnasium. For music and drama, you need instruments, rooms, and a stage. For handicrafts, you need shops and equipment. In those days, Farmville had none of these facilities. So we said that this school, which we were planning, ought to be equipped to serve as the recreational center for the community. “Then we asked our second question. Whom should the school serve? Well, obviously, the boys and girls enrolled as students. But only these? What about those other youth out of [121] school, yet only a year or so older than our students? Their needs for leisure-time activities are often greater than those of boys and girls in school. Yes, we said, we must serve them, too. And what about older people? They too have leisure time. Has the school a responsibility to them? Of course it has. So we agreed that, as far as possible, the school should serve the entire population. When facilities were limited, we added, youth should come first. “Our third question was geographical—Where should the school’s services be located? At first we thought only in terms of the central school building. Then we reflected that many people lived so far from Farmville that they could come to the building only occasionally. Ten or fifteen miles isn’t far, to be sure, but multiply it by two for a round trip and then by five cents a mile for gas and oil and tires, and it amounts to more money than many of our people can spend for recreation. As rapidly as possible, we concluded, we must find ways of carry- ing the recreational services of the school to youth and older people in their neighborhoods and homes. “The rest,” Mr. Warfield continued, “is a long story, and I won’t take time to tell it all. We built a plant, as you have seen, with a gymnasium, an auditorium, sound-proofed music rooms, a theater, a recreation room, a swimming pool, and a number of smaller rooms for craft shops, clubs, and committee meet- ings. The board of education, I should add, was farsighted enough to include space for a community library. “As for the program, we felt that the young people should have an important voice in planning their own recreational activities. We brought them into the planning from the start— boys and girls who were out of school as well as students. These young people have contributed their share of good ideas. They have made surveys of recreational needs. They have done most of the work in building the playgrounds and improving the park. They have made a large part of our recreational equip- ment in the school shops. Most important of all, many of them [122] have developed into capable leaders and assistant teachers. We _ teachers can multiply our usefulness many times by spending a part of our time in training older boys and girls to be recrea- ‘tional leaders. “There are a few other high points which I might mention. You have seen the playground at the school here in Farmville. Well, we have five of those in the district, and they are in use most of the year. I hope you can visit Forest Park while you are here. Four years ago that was just another woods, which nobody used. The young people worked two years to make that woods into as attractive an outing place as you will find. Thanks to some aid from the federal government and the state and to an interested board of education, we got our community library last year.”* We also fitted up a truck as a traveling library to dis- tribute books to people at their homes. When the two new elementary schools were built, each one was equipped with a good gymnasium which can also be used for public meetings and entertainments. Two years ago, the board of education decided to employ a full-time recreational supervisor for the district; and they honored me by choosing me for the position.” “Now, if you want to know what the school does for the recreation of its regular students, I think you’d better talk with the principal. He is as deeply interested as I, and better informed.” | ve ve ot Indeed, Mr. Evans was deeply interested, and quite willing to continue Mr. Warfield’s narrative. “Every student,” he said, “is encouraged to develop three types of avocational interest: some sport or activity involving exercise and coordination of the large muscles; some ability which can be employed and enjoyed in larger groups, such as choral singing, orchestral playing, dramatics, and folk dancing; BGiccal Fducation Association and American Association of School Administrators, Educational Policies Commission. Social Services and the Schools. Washington, D. C.: the Commission, 1939. Chapter IV. * Tbid., Chapter V. [123] and some hobby which can be pursued alone or within the family. Of course, this is a matter of guidance and skilful | teaching, rather than assignment. We don’t believe that recrea- tional interests can be forced. “We try to give the same encouragement and opportuni- ties to out-of-school youth and older people through our late afternoon and evening program. “We also try to share the best accomplishments of our students with the community, through plays, concerts, ex- hibits, athletic contests, and the like. We think this is good for the students and good for the community. “Each student has opportunity to gain proficiency in at least one sport. Many choose more than one, of course. A few carry sports to excess, and a few don’t respond to any. But our counselors and teachers watch that matter rather closely. We have the usual athletic teams, which turn in a fair per- centage of interscholastic victories. We recognize the values of competitive athletics, but we try not to magnify those values out of proportion to others. I think I can safely say that teachers and students alike give far more attention to intramural sports, where everyone takes part. Our teachers of physical education are teachers first, and coaches incidentally. The effectiveness of their work is judged by the number of students participating in a wide variety of sports, rather than by the victories achieved by a few. “Music, dramatics, pageantry, and dancing are our chief activities of the community group type. We have a band, an_ orchestra, and a chorus, whose schedules are well filled with per- formances for school and community audiences. Our students produce some creditable plays and they have written and per- formed some impressive pageants. Probably the most colorful activity is the large folk-dancing class. Miss Burton, the teacher, is something of a genius in that field. Her classes have become widely known in this part of the state, and receive more invita- tions than they can accept for performances away from home. [124] “You have seen some evidences of the preparations for the community festival. That is an all-community affair, but the school plays a large part in it. As a matter of fact, the idea originated here in the school four years ago, when a pageant was presented to celebrate the anniversary of the end of the war. Hundreds of people came to see it, and it was so favor- ably received that we decided to continue it as an annual event. The next year the elementary-school children were brought in, and several adult groups, too. Now the festival has become the year’s high point for all the arts. Hundreds of children, youth, and adults take part, and practically the whole com- munity is the audience. The central theme is the progress which the nation and the world have made in achieving the aims for which the war was fought. Since those achievements change from year to year, each year’s program is different. The festival is a great challenge to the ingenuity of our people. “The activities of the third type—for personal and family enjoyment—are many. You have seen our handicraft shops and our art studios. We have a dozen or so hobby clubs—model airplane, radio and television, gardening, photography, nature study, and the like. Our library carries a good supply of cur- rent magazines and books for recreational reading, and we get these out to homes through the bookmobile. The recreation room is well stocked with games which can be played at home as well as in the school, and we have a game loan library. There are well over a hundred different games there, which families can play at home. Students can borrow them for two weeks at a time, just as they would take out books. Most of the game equipment is made in the handicrafts shops, and the game library is so popular that students are kept busy making addi- tional sets.” Mr. Evans paused for a moment, then added: “Unless you have lived in the country, you can hardly appreciate the place of the rural school as a center of social life. When our school buses have made their afternoon deliveries, our students are [125] scattered over an area of nearly two hundred square miles. Most of our students would have but little social experience with their fellows, if they did not get that experience here at the school. That is why we have a recreation room, in which students can visit and dance and play games in their free time. That is why we have occasional dances and other social events during the school day. And that is one of the reasons why recreational and leisure-time interests have a large place in the school program. “T could tell you as much again about our program for out- of-school youth and adults and about the use of the school as a community recreation center—but that is another story.” The Cultural Birthright of Youth So far we have been thinking about personal development in terms of health, emotional stability, and the face-to-face rela- tions of youth with their elders and their companions in work and play. That, however, is only half of the story, as the teachers at Farmville will tell you. Growth, they say, is a process of inter- action between organism and environment. The amount and nature of growth depend upon the environment as well as on the organism. The human organism, which we call a person, develops in an environment which, on its material side, is in- creasingly the product of the applications of scientific knowl- edge, and on its intellectual and social side is entirely the prod- uct of many centuries of human experience. We call that en- vironment our civilization or our culture. One of the chief reasons why schools exist is to guide each oncoming generation into meaningful experiences with the more important aspects of our civilization. Mr. Grayson, a science teacher, likes to drive this point home with an illustration which is worth quoting. “It is somewhat overdrawn, I admit,” he says, “but I think it is useful. Suppose that you have a child endowed with the [126] capacities of a Newton, a Mozart, and a Socrates. In early infancy, you place this potential super-genius in an isolated village in the interior of Borneo, and there you keep him, cut off from all contacts with the rest of the world. What will happen to him in the way of personal development? “At best, he will grow a little beyond the narrow confines of the civilization of his Borneo village; and that is all. He may invent a new hand weapon for bashing the heads of enemy tribesmen. He may observe that certain herbs are more efh- cacious than the incantations of priests for relieving the symptoms of disease. He may introduce new rhythms into some of the tribal dances. He may question some of the grosser tribal superstitions, and try to make some of the village customs a bit more humane. But that is as far as he would go. “In spite of his superb native equipment, he would never dis- cover the law of gravitation, invent the differential calculus, write a symphony, or deliver a discourse on ethics. He would not know one solitary thing about the scientific method, mathe- matics, symphonic music, ethical principles, or logical reason- ing. Instead, his mental furnishings would consist of tribal tra- ditions, customs, and rituals; of taboos, magic, and supersti- tions. In short, our Newton-Mozart-Socrates combination is just an ordinary headman in a primitive Borneo village when he is cut off from the civilization in which his abilities might have flourished. “Unfortunately, you don’t have to send a child to Borneo to isolate him from important factors in civilization. You can cut him off from the understanding of science; of democratic government; of art, music, and literature; or of ethical princi- ples, without ever moving him from the place where he was born. It is possible for a boy or girl to grow up in this com- munity or any other, and have his personality dwarfed or dis- torted because of the poverty of his environment. Not only is that possible, but it happens, year in and year out, to thousands of children. [127] “Now, what does this mean for education? It means that there are some educational experiences which boys and girls should have because they are human beings, living in the United States of America in the middle of the twentieth century. These experiences do not have to be justified because they make a person a better worker, or a better citizen, or a better parent. They undoubtedly do all these things, but that is beside the point just now. “Tt means that we as teachers are obligated to study the civili- zation in which we and our pupils live, to select those elements which are most important for the development of civilized per- sons, and to see that every child has opportunities for mean- ingful experiences with those elements. It is our job to help boys and girls become civilized human beings by giving them their rightful heritage of the true, the beautiful, and the good.” To make a long story short, the Farmville teachers have identified four areas in our civilization which they have called “the cultural birthright of youth.” “Every American youth,” they have said, “should understand the meaning of the democratic way of life and should know how this way of life has been wrought into the fabric of Ameri- can society and particularly into the processes of government. “Every American youth should understand the structure and operation of the economic system, and should be sensitive to the effects, in terms of social well-being, of his economic acts as producer, consumer, and citizen. “Every American youth should understand the scientific method and point of view and the influence of science on human life and thought, and should know those scientific facts fundamental to the understanding of the world in which he lives. “Every American youth should constantly grow in his ca- pacities to enjoy beauty and to understand and appreciate the best in literature and the arts.” [128] We have already given considerable attention to the first two of these—the understanding of democracy and of economic processes. Here we need do no more than to review briefly what has already been said. The last two—the understanding of science and the appreciation of literature and the arts—will be treated more fully. The Meaning of Democracy We have seen. that understanding of the democratic way of life is a prime objective of Farmville’s program of education for civic competence.” Indeed, citizenship education would fail to achieve its chief purposes if it did not develop that un- derstanding. One may know tthe salient facts about govern- ment, the important events and movements of history, and the pro’s and con’s of the public issues of the day—and yet his citizenship will be but an empty form and his culture a useless adornment if he does not understand the democratic way of life.” Democratic principles and practices are therefore stressed throughout the study of history and American political insti- tutions. Understanding Economic Processes Most of us spend the major part of our waking hours in eco- nomic activities—as producers of goods and services which other people consume and as consumers of goods and services which other people have produced. Farmville’s teachers want their students to understand that these activities, which in years to come will occupy so much of their time and energy, are closely bound up with the values of life and with social well- being. These teachers have the idea that the cultured person, among other things, is economically literate and socially sensitive. He *™ See pages 78-81. - ®8WNational Education Association and American Association of School Administrators, Educational Policies Commission. The Education of Free Men in American Democracy. Washington, D. C.: the Commission, 1941. See especially Chapter III, ‘“SDemocracy as a Great Social Faith’; and Chapter V, “The Loyalties of Free Men.” [129] knows how the economic system works and how it affects human welfare. He understands the long-range consequences of his own economic acts. He is concerned for the welfare of others as well as himself, and he acts accordingly. In a word, he views his economic activities in their social connections. These economic understandings are taught throughout the school program in relation to their uses in life—particularly in connection with the activities of producers, consumers, and citizens. The school endeavors to develop, not only efficient producers and prudent consumers, but also citizens who are sensitive to social well-being and who are disposed to promote that well-being. Science Watch the boys and girls in Farmville’s agricultural labora- tories, the boys in the machine shop and the electrical shop, the girls in classes on foods and nutrition, and the students engaged in studying health, and you will see a great deal of planned teaching of science and mathematics. You will also see a great deal of learning of facts and principles which will long be remembered and applied, because things are being learned in connection with their uses in life. The teachers are not satisfied, however, to teach only the practical applications of science. For the past three centuries, they say, science has played a leading part in shaping our civili- zation. Today, it is a potent influence in directing the future course of our culture. Science is one of the chief elements in the cultural heritage; and the understanding of scientific methods and the scientific point of view is a part of the cul- tural birthright of youth. The teaching of science begins early—not in secondary school, but in first grade. If instruction in science is postponed too long, the mind of the learner becomes stocked with un- scientific habits of thinking and with assumptions and prej- udices unsupported by facts. The everyday lives of pupils, in [130] schools, in their homes, and on their farms, provide a wealth of opportunities for scientific learning. The school makes good use of these resources, and also of those found in the fields, the woods, and the streams—the book of nature, which, as Agassiz said, is always open. Not only scientific facts are taught, but also the scientific methods by which facts are discovered. There is danger, the teachers believe, that the pupil may learn to take his science on the authority of the textbook or the teacher, and may fail to develop the attitude of critical inquiry which marks the scientific mind. Every elementary classroom is, therefore, used as a laboratory for simple experiments; and in secondary school, experimentation is carried much further. There experiments are a common means for finding the facts about foods, soils, the growth of plants and animals, the control of diseases, elec- tricity, refrigeration, motors, and many other matters con- nected with occupations, health, and home life. By constantly practicing scientific inquiry, students develop a knowledge of experimental methods, an understanding of the nature of proof, and a respect for truth arrived at by rational processes, which they could hardly gain in any other way. The ways in which science has influenced ways of living _ and thinking receive particular attention. A great deal is taught incidentally throughout the schools; but this is a matter, the teachers say, which deserves to be studied directly. A con- siderable part of the tenth-grade science course is, therefore, devoted to the role of science in human progress. This course on “The Scientific View of the World and of Man” is worth a few moments of our attention. Without at- tempting to describe it in full, we may point out a few of its features. Imaginative association with great scientists is used as one effective way of learning about scientific methods. The history _ of science is full of adventure and dramatic action, which ap- peal strongly to young people’s interests and arouse their [131] imagination. The lives of some of the great scientists are studied, representing the major scientific fields. These scien- tists are thought of as living men, facing difficult problems to which they do not know the answers, and confronting many obstacles rooted in ignorance and prejudice. In imagination, the students watch them at work, and look particularly for the methods which they use in attacking their problems. They see them, in Pasteur’s words, “constraining themselves for days, weeks, even years, trying to ruin their own experiments, and only proclaiming their discoveries after having exhausted all contrary hypotheses.” Thus the methods of science are taught as instruments which men have created and used to solve some of humanity’s most important problems. Some of the great scientific experiments are also studied, which are within the comprehension of tenth-graders—experi- ments of recent years as well as of the more remote past. When- ever possible, these are repeated in the school laboratory. Students see how the experiments and discoveries of scientists have changed our ways of living; how the work of Watt and Faraday made possible our modern systems of power machine production and rapid transportation, how the experiments of Boussingault and Mendel led to scientific agriculture, and how Pasteur and Koch revolutionized the treatment of disease. Students trace the development of the view that we live in a world of natural laws, of orderly cause and effect, not a world of chance or arbitrary action. They observe the growth of faith that human intelligence, using the scientific method of inquiry, can discover the laws of nature and so bring the physical world increasingly under man’s control. They also see that science has given man the basis of many of his highest hopes for a better world. For science not only makes progress possible, it also sets new goals for man to work toward. From the scientific point of view, disease, poverty, ignorance, and inequalities of oppor- tunity are not evils to be passively accepted. They are evidence either that we have not yet solved some problems which can be [132] solved, or that we have failed to apply the scientific knowledge which we already possess. Throughout the year, an attempt is made to add to the students’ stock of fundamental scientific principles and facts, and to help students to see these as related parts of a whole. Most boys and girls, the teachers have found, are now able to develop a conception of a natural universe, operating accord- ing to laws, and of themselves as parts of that universe. When once this pattern of thinking has been well established, other facts and principles are fitted into it as students continue to learn. The cultural aims of the teaching of science are well summed up in a statement prepared last year by the Farmville staff: An educated person will understand that science is based upon methods, which men have slowly and painstakingly de- veloped, for discovering, verifying, organizing, and interpret- ing the facts about the world in which we live and about the people in it. He will know that the use of scientific methods has worked revolutionary changes in men’s ways of living and thinking. He will see that the methods of science are one of mankind’s chief instruments for making further progress. He will know that most scientific advances have depended upon precise measurement and accurate calculation and that mathematics is indispensable to scientific inquiry. He will recognize that problems in human society, as well as in the physical world, should be attacked by scientific methods and from a scientific point of view. He will be familiar with certain fundamental principles ae facts from the sciences, which, when taken together, give him a sound view of the nature of the world in which he lives. “If a person understands these things,’’ commented one of the teachers, ‘“‘we think he has gained the chief cultural benefits of science. If he doesn’t understand them, his mind is living in the fifteenth century, no matter how many scientific facts he can recite or how many scientific gadgets he can operate.” [133] Literature and the Arts Literature and the arts are found often and in many places throughout the Farmville school program. We have seen how biographies, fiction, drama, and poetry are read in the course on history. Novels like Tree of Liberty, dramas like Abe Lin- coln in Illinois and The Patriots, and the poetry of Whitman and Stephen Vincent Benét quicken the imaginations of youth as they study the meaning of the democratic way of life. Some students find that a painting by Grant Wood, a lithograph by George Bellows, or a song such as ““America the Beautiful” or “Ballad for Americans” will express their feelings about some aspect of American life far more adequately than a prosaic essay on the subject. Moreover, literature and art are often the keys which open the doors to the culture of peoples in other lands and other times. Music, drama, folk-dancing, pageantry, and recreational reading stand high among the leisure-time activities. In the classes on “Family Living,” one sees that beauty in the home and its surroundings has a large place and that the place of good literature in the home is not forgotten. Business classes study beauty in the furnishings of offices and stores. Counselors often use biographies and novels to help students better to understand the vocations which they are considering, or to gain insight into their personal problems. In the study of economic, political, and social questions, teachers frequently find that a problem remote from the experiences of students can be brought near and made concrete and vivid thru the use of novels and biographies. Students’ experiences with literature and the arts reach their culmination in the twelfth grade, where a generous portion of time is set aside for study and appreciation in this field. This course is remarkable in a number of ways which merit our at- tention. The classes meet in a room quite unlike any other in the school building—a room that was planned for this purpose. Its [134] panelled walls, built-in bookcases and cabinets, indirect lighting, and pleasing harmony of colors show that the architect was partner to the planning. Its beauty is enhanced by the furnish- ings—the large tables and comfortable library chairs, the draperies, rugs, and floor lamps, the vases of flowers from the school garden, and the half dozen prints and paintings which hang upon the walls. Even the equipment seems to belong to an artistic whole—the radio-phonograph set, the piano, the built- in motion picture screen and projection booth, and the dais. It is a beautiful room; yet there is nothing pretentious, nothing formal about it. It seems to invite one to enter and enjoy what he may find. “We want this twelfth-grade course to be a great and glorious adventure for each one of our students,” said one of the Farmville teachers. ““We want it to be a time for the dis- covery of latent interests and talents and a period for growth in appreciation and enjoyment. We want our students to de- velop such a love for the beautiful and the good that they will continue to find inspiration and enjoyment in literature and the arts through all the years ahead. “Throughout the year we expose our students to a wide variety of experiences of beauty—in music, poetry, drama, in other forms of literature, and in the visual arts. We try to suit these experiences to the students’ diverse backgrounds and talents, for it is growth that we seek, rather than the at- tainment of some absolute standard. We encourage students to have a large share in planning their experiences. When new records, new books, or new prints are to be bought, the students help to choose them. Sometimes we all work together, sometimes in small groups, sometimes as individuals, for we must allow for differences in tastes as well as common interests. “We try to keep these experiences of beauty close to the everyday lives of students. We do not want our boys and girls to think of beauty as something found only in art museums | and concert halls. We want them to find beauty in their homes, [135] in the pictures in their living-rooms, in flowers tastefully ar- ranged, in radio programs, in their phonograph records, in the books they own or take from the library, in their gardens, in woods and streams and sunsets, in the little parks in the villages, and in the show-windows of the village stores. ““T have said that we expose students to these experiences of beauty. That, we think, is all that we can do. We sometimes call these experiences a part of the birthright of youth. One cannot compel a person to accept a birthright. You can only offer the birthright and say “This is yours if you care to claim it.” But there are few who do not respond. “We have a second aim,” the teacher continued. “That is to make the reading of literature a means for the enlargement of experience. The person who knows and enjoys good litera- ture can live vicariously through a wealth and range of experi- ences which otherwise could come to him only in a long and varied life under the most fortunate circumstances. He can make the acquaintance of great and noble men and women of the past and of the present. He can know the great characters of drama and fiction. He can travel to other lands and see life through the eyes of people of other cultures. He can enter into the hopes and disappointments, the struggles, failures, and suc- cesses of ordinary people like himself. He can learn to anticipate the great crises and dilemmas of life, which none of us, however fortunate, can escape; and he can know how other people have met these crucial tests, some nobly and some meanly, some with fortitude and some with fear. He can rejoice in life’s beauty, laugh at its humor, and weep for its tragedies. For all of this, only three things are required—imagination, ability to read, and good books.” This rural school, moreover, is the center of literary and artistic interests for the entire community—for adults as well as for youth and children. In Farmville there are no art gal- leries, no concert halls, no museums, no theaters, no libraries apart from the school, no parks other than those developed [136] _ by the school. Yet Farmville people may hear concerts of good _ music creditably performed, see good plays well acted, and enjoy the beauty of the out-of-doors in their own park, because the school helps them to provide these services for themselves. The achievements of students in music or drama or pageantry are frequently shared with the community. But older people are not merely observers of their children’s performances. They come to the school at nights. They have their own or- _ chestras, their own choruses, their own “Little Theater.” On some occasions, as in the case of the community festival, people _ of all ages, from kindergartners to grandparents, come together both as participants and as audience. The school seeks to help people of all ages to enjoy beauty in their homes and their village communities. From the school library, every family may borrow good books, prints of good pictures, and records of good music. In the Farmville School News and the Farmville Enterprise, every family may find a list of forthcoming radio programs, selected by a committee of students and teachers as “‘the week’s best listening” in music, drama, literature, and public affairs. Every family may enjoy a day’s outing in Forest Park whenever it chooses. And every resident of Farmville may feel pride in the trees and shrubs and flowers which line the main street, give beauty and color to the school grounds and the public square, and cause even the hurried tourist from the city to take his foot off the throttle and remark: “You know, Id like to live in a place like this.” Intellectual Achievement The casual visitor to the Farmville Secondary School usually inquires, in the course of the day, “How well do the graduates of your school succeed in the liberal arts colleges and univer- sities?” And he is usually surprised by the reply. Not that Farmville has had an unusual number of top-ranking students in colleges and universities. It has had its share, but no more. The remarkable thing is, rather, that no graduate of the new [137] Farmville Secondary School has failed in college or university. The 16 percent of the graduates of this school * who go on to the four-year colleges and universities have a creditable record of solid achievement which testifies, not only to their ability, but also to the soundness of their preparation for advanced work. The casual visitor naturally assumes that a school which places so much emphasis on the present living of youth, on the improvement of community life, and on such practical matters as competence in occupations, citizenship, and family living, can hardly develop the discipline of sustained intellectual effort needed for success in advanced academic and professional study. He assumes, too, that students who have not followed a pre- scribed college preparatory curriculum in high school are going to lack both the knowledge and the mental disciplines required in the higher institutions. ; Those who know the Farmville school well, however, are not surprised. They know that students at Farmville have many experiences which foster habits of intellectual effort and de- velop respect for intellectual achievement. And they know that these habits and this respect are developed under circumstances that make it likely that they will “‘carry over” to other situa- tions, whether these be advanced study or the practical affairs of daily living. For one thing, most of a student’s learning at Farmville is directly related to his purposes. The student wants to do some- thing, either as an individual or as a member of a group. He applies himself diligently to learn the things needed to do what he wants to do, and thereby a8 habits of parte es and industry. The Farmville teachers recognize, of course, that students’ purposes alone are not adequate guides to education. Untutored _ purposes may be relatively trivial. But they also know that, *® As compared with 11 percent during the five years 1936-1941. Some sixty students from the three graduating classes of the new school have now attended universities and four- year colleges for from one to three years. [138] under skilful teaching, a student’s purposes will grow. They will grow in the number and kinds of people which they en- compass. A purpose of “having a good time” for oneself may grow into a purpose of improving the recreational facilities for the entire community. They will grow in complexity. A pur- pose of enjoying the company of a congenial person of the other sex may grow into a purpose of becoming self-supporting, marrying, and establishing a home. They will grow in the time span- covered. A purpose of earning a living may grow into a purpose of mastering the knowledge and skills needed to become a physician or a teacher. Nothing is more important to the Farmville teachers than growth in the scope, complexity, and time span of their students’ purposes. Closely related to purposeful learning is the students’ experi- ence of self-direction in learning. Boys and girls at Farmville are encouraged to take responsibility for planning and direct- ing their own work. Many of their activities take the form of individual and small-group projects. This is particularly the case with those who plan to go to colleges and universities. Students who have become accustomed to directing their own intellectual efforts in high school usually find little difficulty in moving to situations where one must assume responsibility in order to succeed—whether those situations be in the world of work or in institutions of higher education. For another thing, Farmville students are accustomed to learn about things in their relationships with one another. Their study of occupations and economic affairs is invariably bound up with matters of community welfare and citizenship. Their study of science is related to its applications in farming, health, and the professions. Their study of history begins and ends with its relationships with contemporary events and issues. Nothing is more important in any form of intellectual endeavor than the ability to perceive relationships. Again, much of what students learn at Farmville must stand up to practical testing. Science and mathematics, for example, [139] are applied to gasoline motors, electrical equipment, crop pro- duction, food preparation, and health. If the student’s knowl- edge is faulty, or if there are errors in his calculations, the costly consequences are soon apparent to all concerned. Such experiences supply an effective stimulant to rigorous intellectual effort. Indeed, in practically every area of learning, one finds that teachers and students together have identified certain know!- edge and operations which everyone should master in order to achieve competence. In mathematics, for example, the operations which all should master are identified during the earlier grades, and most stu- dents have learned them by the time they reach the tenth grade. Not all, however. For these, remedial instruction is provided until acceptable mastery has been achieved. After ninth grade, advanced mathematics is taught to all as needed in connection with agriculture, mechanics, business education, and home- making, and in systematic courses for those whose occupa- tional and educational plans require it. The school also operates a “mathematics workshop,” with a teacher in charge at all times, where remedial instruction is given and where any student may go at any time for help with the mathematical operations which he needs to use. —- So also with English language. The staff undertakes to develop reasonable mastery of reading and listening, and of written and spoken expression, by the end of ninth grade. Thereafter three ways are provided for further growth in language ability: (1) Those who still have language defi- ciencies receive remedial instruction. (2) Throughout the school, everyone has frequent experiences in the use of language, through oral and written reports, class discussions, reading, and dramatics; and every teacher has agreed that growth in the skills of language shall be one of the aims of his teaching, what- ever his field may be. There is also an “English workshop,” where students may go to have their reports read and criticized [140] and to get assistance whenever they encounter language difh- culties. (3) Those with special interest in the English language may elect advanced instruction in this field. Finally, sustained intellectual achievement is fostered be- cause the Farmville teachers encourage intellectual curiosity. When Howard Daniels came to this school three years ago, his narrow world could be contained within the span of fifteen years and a radius of fifty miles. To be sure, Howard had read books and had enjoyed them; but his voluntary reading had been limited to highly improbable fiction. Then Howard dis- covered history. In the eleventh-grade course, he found that history could be filled with more interest and adventure than works of fiction. He read the materials needed for his class work, but did not stop there. Instead of chapters,- he read books, and asked for more books. His teacher saw her opportunity. _ She talked with Howard about the books which he had read, helped him better to understand the great movements of history, and aided him in planning further reading. The boy’s interest throve on such fare. Here was intellectual curiosity, the eagerness for knowledge for its own sake. One might go on to tell of Enid White, whose keen mind and zest for science have carried her far beyond her fellow students in chemistry and biology; of Philip Scott, who solves problems in calculus for the fun of it; of Martha Burke, whose love of beauty and urge to create have flowered into exceptional artistic talent; and of other boys and girls whose eagerness to learn, in one field or another, outruns that of their fellows. Teachers are always alert for evidences of intellectual curi- osity; and whenever that curiosity appears, they do their best to nourish it. That is one reason why they spend so much time in counseling students’and working with them individually. They are not satisfied when only a few students are eager for intellectual growth. They want to find and fan the spark of intellectual curiosity in every boy and girl, if that be possible. [141] That is one reason, too, why they attach so much importance to individual educational plans and to flexibility of class instruc- tion. Students with special interests in such fields as chemistry, physics, mathematics, and history are able to pursue those interests within the regular classes, working as individuals or in small groups, and going as rapidly and as far as they can. Self-direction is encouraged, and increased with each new evidence of growth; yet the oversight of teachers is sufh- ciently close to safeguard the students against the dangers of superficiality. Correspondence courses from the extension divisions of uni- versities and colleges have proved helpful. They serve as useful guides for the more advanced work in such fields as science, mathematics, and history. They also make it possible for some students in Grades XIII and XIV to study in fields not regularly taught at Farmville. At present we find students enrolled in correspondence courses in foreign languages, photography, radio, forestry, aeronautics, and astronomy. Students do their work at the school, with the guidance of their teachers, while the courses are serviced by the extension divisions. In the teaching of foreign languages, the school is making effective use of methods developed during the war, employ- ing correspondence courses accompanied by phonograph re- cordings. Indeed, this method makes possible a wider choice of languages than was found in even the largest high schools, when class instruction was the only method used. This year, one teacher of languages is able to supervise students who are studying Russian, Spanish, French, Italian, German, and Latin. There is no aristocracy of “subjects” in the Farmville cur- riculum. Mathematics and mechanics, art and agriculture, his- tory and homemaking are all peers. For the teachers of Farm- ville believe that the key to intellectual growth is found, not in the inherent virtues of particular fields of learning, but in the strong purposes of the learner which impel him to attempt [1427 the difficult and to persevere until he has accomplished that which he has undertaken to do. Nor does Farmville recognize an aristocracy of students, based solely on superior native talents. There are good athletes who have become such in spite of physical handicaps. There are also boys and girls of average mental ability, who, when once they have experienced the satisfaction of mental growth, have shown a zest for learning equal to that of some of their more gifted schoolmates. They, too, are eligible for the only aristoc- racy which Farmville knows—the aristocracy of those who have achieved. Growth in Character Implicit in all that we have written about the Farmville Secondary School, there is one aim which should now be made explicit. That is the purpose of fostering growth in character. A volume might be written on this subject, but perhaps we shall understand the matter as well from a brief statement recently made by the principal. “SA person’s character, as we understand it,” Mr. Evans began, ‘is his conduct in situations involving other persons, and his character is good to the degree that he consistently respects the rights of other persons and seeks their welfare, as well as his own. If that is correct, then opportunities for character growth exist whenever a student works or plays in association with others, or whenever he does anything that affects the welfare of others. And character growth takes place to the extent that the student becomes aware of the effects of his actions on others, and learns to give the same consideration to the welfare of others as he gives to his own. The essential of character was stated long ago by a teacher who said: ‘As ye would that others should do unto you, even so do ye also unto them.’ “Whenever a teacher is alert to these opportunities and uses them wisely, that teacher is helping the student to develop good © [143] character. It is not necessary, of course, for teacher and students to talk about character in every situation. The experience of working democratically with others for some purpose larger than one’s own welfare is often the best character education. The teacher who understands children will know when it is advisable to talk things over and when to let the experience stand by itself. “It is quite impossible, in our judgment, to put one’s finger on a few spots in the school program and say, “This is our pro- gram of character education.’ Every teacher is a teacher of character, for good or for ill. Every activity of the school may be an occasion of moral growth for some student, whether it be in the classroom, shop, laboratory, or playground. “This is too important a matter to leave to chance. Teachers must agree that character development is a common aim, and each teacher must consciously make that aim his own. Teachers should agree as to what is good character, lest the learner be confused by a variety of moral climates within the school. Teachers must understand that character grows through learn- ing, just as the ability to read and write grows, and they must know how this growth takes place and what level of character development they may reasonably expect of the pupils in their classes. Most important of all, I think, teachers must understand boys and girls and be able to look at situations from the students’ points of view, which are often quite different from those of adults. We have found no quick or easy way for ac- complishing these things. Whatever progress we have made’ has come from study and practice by e aakees and frequent discussions in faculty meetings. | “Character education in school would stop far short of its possibilities if it were limited to school experiences alone. A person’s character grows as he becomes sensitive to the rights and welfare of more and more people, including people whom he may not see face to face, but who are nevertheless affected by his actions. For example, a person may be most considerate [144] of the welfare of the members of his family and of his friends and close associates, yet quite indifferent to what happens to many other people in his own community. Here, I think, lies the chief character value of the close relation between the school and the community. Through community studies, es- pecially those involving firsthand contacts, students become responsive to the welfare of people other than their immediate associates, and in quite specific terms—such as the needs of these people for health services, for opportunities to work, for sufficient income to maintain a reasonable standard of living, and for fair treatment regardless of race or economic status. “We must not forget the educational uses of the capacity for imagination. It is possible to extend the range of moral sensitivity beyond our own community to people in cities, in other regions of our own country, and in other nations, thanks to the fact that we are able to have vicarious as well as direct experiences. There are great resources for character education in literature, history, and in the study of the people of our own and other nations. But to be effective, the imaginative materials must have continuity with what the student has al- ready experienced in his relations with other persons. Other- wise, the new experience is likely to be a matter of emotion divorced from action. And character is action. “Now a word about ethical principles and ideals, which we consider particularly important in the character development of high-school youth. “In the cases of younger children, ideas of right and wrong, standards of value, and religious views are largely those im- parted by parents and teachers. A child may act contrary to the socially approved standards, but he seldom questions the standards. “Adolescence, however, is another story. The adolescent is a questioning person. He wants to know ‘Why is this right and that wrong?’ If the only answers that we give him are that this is the customary and socially approved way of acting, [145] or that he will be punished if he acts otherwise, he is not likely to be greatly impressed. He wants to get back of patterns of conduct to the principles or the values by which those pat- terns can be justified. | “Furthermore, adolescence is a period of moral conflicts. The natural drives of youth to be independent of their parents and elders, to choose their own companions, to control their . own time and money, to plan their own futures, and to express their new-born powers of affection run head-on into habits and social customs—and if the battle is simply one between the drives and the customs, the drives are likely to win—usually at considerable cost to mental health, however. At such times boys and girls need help in finding purposes and ideals which are compelling in their appeals, and which will guide them in working out the solutions to their conflicts. “Again, adolescence is a period of searching for life purposes. Choices are made in these years which may determine the entire course of a youth’s life—choices of vocation, of education, of a place to live and work, the choice, perhaps, of a wife or hus- band, and so on. The adolescent may choose a purpose which is narrowly selfish—to make all the money he can and to get all that money can buy, without regard for other people—or he may choose a purpose of social usefulness. But whether we older people do anything about it or not, he will have a purpose of some kind. “Moreover, for many a youth at least, adolescence is a period of dissatisfaction with the world as it is. The mistakes of his elders loom large. He sees the cruelty and costliness of war, the con- trasts of wealth and poverty, the prejudices and injustices in the world around him—and he doubts the wisdom of the gen- erations which, as he thinks, are responsible for such conditions. If young people are helped to find social purposes and ideals of a better society, to which they can give their loyalty, and if they are helped to find things that they can do which contribute to social improvement, then their dissatisfaction may become a [146] constructive force for social progress. But if we ignore them, or worse, try to repress them, they are likely to become cynics or rebels. “Finally, most adolescents—probably all of them, if we knew the facts—have some rather insistent questions about the mean- ing of life. They may not think about them often, but when they face some moral crisis or some tragic experience, these questions become of commanding importance. They are the age-old questions: “What is man? Whence does he come and whither does he go? Why should the righteous suffer? Are all our human strivings and ideals part of some greater plan, or are they just an accident on a tiny bit of cosmic dust? What is worth living for? What is worth dying for?’ “JT do not mean to imply that our students start out with abstract questions about ethical principles and ideals. They don’t. They begin with concrete problems and conflicts, which grow out of their daily living and their observation of the world around them. Some of these they take in their stride and solve rather quickly, for better or for worse. But now, and then there arises a’ problem so important, or a conflict so sharp, that the student does a great deal of serious thinking before he finds a way out. It is then that he searches for principles and purposes to live by—even though he may never use those terms. “Have we in the school an obligation to help him? By all means, yes. And we can help him. We can help him to see the ethical issues involved in his immediate problem. We can help him to understand that other people have faced similar prob- lems before and that he may be able to profit by their experi- ence. And we can help him to take account of the best that human experience has to offer in working out the solution to his own problem. “This is chiefly a matter of individual counseling, but not entirely. Much help is also given in classes where problems common to many students are dealt with—for example, in the classes on mental health and personal relations in the family. [147] “We can do more than this, however. We can help students become sensitive to ethical issues of which they have not been aware, through guided analysis of situations in school, home, and community life. We can help them to anticipate prob- lems which they have not yet encountered, but which will surely arise as the years go on. And we can help them to become familiar with the. best that human thought and experience have produced in the way of principles and ideals to live by through the study of literature, of history, and of the mean- ing of democracy. Our literature is rich in works which deal with ethics and the philosophy of life—dramas, novels, biog- - raphies, poetry, and essays. The Bible contains many great passages which everyone should know and understand. We read them in our courses in literature, as records of the ex- periences of men of noble spirit and rare insight, seeking answers to the eternal questions of right and wrong and the meaning of life. History is a record of man’s moral experiences and progress, as well as of his political, economic, and military | activities. And democracy is at heart a great social faith, grounded in ethical principles which every high-school boy and girl can understand, and pointed toward ideals and pur- poses to which every youth can give his loyalty.*° “The school, of course, is only one among several agencies which act to shape the characters of boys and girls. The great- est influence of all is doubtless that of the home. For that reason, our counselors and teachers try to maintain a partnership with parents throughout the years when children are in school. “All of history bears testimony to the important role of re- ligion and religious institutions in character development. Here at Farmville, one finds close cooperation between the churches and the schools. Both churches and schools are well represented on both the community council and the youth * National Education Association and American Association of School Administrators, Educational Policies Commission. The Education of Free Men in American Democracy. Washington, D. C.: the Commission, 1941. Chapter III, “Democracy as a Great Social Faith”; Chapter V, “The Loyalties of Free Men.” [148 ] council, and many of the projects for youth welfare receive their chief support from these two agencies. Local pastors and leaders in churches have been among the chief supporters of improvements in education for youth. The schools, in turn, have endeavored to strengthen the churches, chiefly through the voluntary services of schoolteachers, a number of whom teach in the church schools and act as advisers to young peo- ple’s societies in the churches. Perhaps the most difficult prob- lem which the churches face is that of securing trained leader- ship in religious education. It is gratifying to note that several of the schoolteachers have become particularly interested in that problem, and that they have been among the leaders in organizing and conducting the annual leadership training in- stitute for the churches of the district.” SCHEDULES AND SEQUENCES If the reader has the impression that the Farmville Secondary School is, in William James’ phrase, a buzzing, blooming con- fusion, the fault is ours as reporters. To be sure, the school is buzzing with activity, and to the person accustomed to well- ordered classes moving from subject to subject on an unvarying schedule, it may seem to be in confusion. But when one has spent a few days at the school, he finds that confusion is ap- parent rather than real, and that both teachers and students are following plans which are well understood by all. It is true, how- ever, that we have followed the lead of the Farmville staff in placing questions of scheduling and sequences after the descrip- tion of the program. For the staff first decided what they were going to do and why, and then did their best to make schedules which would help them to accomplish their purposes. Before we talk about schedules and the number of hours of work in this field and that, let us enter a strong warning. Perhaps we should print it across the page in large red letters: “THIS IS NOT A BLUEPRINT!” Certainly the Farmville staff would wish us to make this point emphatic. They would say that their [149] program represents the best thought and practice which they have been able to produce to date, but not the best they will ever produce. They would insist that, like St. Paul, they are still “‘stretching forward to the things which are before.” The educator who reads these pages is, nevertheless, justified in asking: “Is it possible to include all these courses, community studies, home projects, work experiences, and the rest in the program of a public secondary school? If so, how is it done?” And he is entitled to an answer. We hope he will remember, however, that the answer for his school may be somewhat different from that of Farmville, and that Farmville’s answer three years from now may be different from that of today. There is nothing unusual about the framework of schedul- ing at Farmville, except that the seven-hour school day is somewhat longer than customary. There are seven periods of fifty-five minutes each. A student normally works for six of these periods and has one period free to use as he chooses. The school year is forty weeks in length. Each student therefore normally has 1200 work periods in the school year. Sometime before the opening of school, the staff decides on the number of periods to be allocated to each course or area of learning. Let us take the tenth grade as an example. One hundred and twenty periods are allotted for the study of ““The World at Work,” 180 periods for other community studies, 200 periods for occupational study and practice, and so on. — Then the staff lists the special projects which will require larger blocks of time than one period a day, as far as these can be foreseen. The study of “The World at Work,” for example, should be completed within the first eight weeks, and requires students to go out into the community for several hours at a time. Three periods a day are allotted to this study. Other community studies will need double periods later in the year. The teachers of the tenth grade “Family Life” project want blocks of time from the twenty-second to the twenty- eighth weeks, for students to plan and work on home projects. [150] The teachers of recreational and leisure-time activities want double time during the weeks preceding the community festi- val. Occupational training does not begin in tenth grade until the twelfth week, after students have completed ““The World at Work” study and have had time to work out plans with their counselors; but the teachers want larger blocks of time toward the end of the school year. Extra time is needed during the first two weeks to determine needs for remedial instruction and plan elective courses. Taking these factors into account, the schedule for Grade X might look like this: AREAS OF TOTAL LEARNING WEEKS PERIODS 0 4 Sie 12 16 20 a 2A 28 4: 32.) 367740 | uivelLaond ase Occupational Recreational © and leisure- time activi- ties, physical education Elective studies, or remedial instruction ! 200 preparation 1 period daily 2 periods daily 3 periods reeks: Sree Seeded Community daily studies sas ere a — 2 eae ' 1] 1 | 1 | 300 Family life, ott s ‘health, mental | ) 150 hygiene ae oS ae 1 period daily Science 1 period daily 1 | 1 period daily a 1 period daily 1 1 1 | 150 | | | The matter is not quite so simple as this chart might indicate. The four all-day trips to American City have to be scheduled and other projects of brief duration which may require three or more periods a day while they are being carried on. Some adjustments have to be made during the year for matters come up which cannot be foreseen. The schedule is reviewed once each month, and changes are made as needed. Comparable schedules are made for the other grades, and all have to be fitted together so that teachers’ schedules are reason- ably even, though not unvarying, through the year. Such scheduling is not easy, but with a small staff of people who are committed to this way of working, no insuperable obstacles have been encountered. | Now let us look at the curriculum as a whole, in terms of the main educational purposes of the Farmville Secondary School. The grouping which follows must be used with caution, for most courses and projects serve a number of purposes. The study of “The World at Work,” for example, contributes to occupational preparation as well as to education for civic competence. The year’s work in literature and the arts enriches recreational and leisure-time interests. And so with others. On the opposite page is the sequence of “‘areas of learning” for the current year, and the approximate number of periods as- signed to each. THE SCHOOL’s CONTINUING RESPONSIBILITY Such is the program of the Farmville Secondary School, as it relates to boys and girls who are in full-time school attend- ance. We have repeatedly noted, however, that the school’s responsibility does not end when a boy or girl leaves full-time schooling at the end of Grade XII, XIII, or XIV. Every service of the school is available both to out-of-school youth and to adults. cet | Counselors, we recall, endeavor to keep in touch with all young people who leave the school, whether they remain in [152] AREAS OF LEARNING GRADE x Xl XII XII = XIV Preparation for Occupations Study and practice related to occupational preparation (including work in science, mathe- matics, social studies, English, or foreign lan- guage preparatory to advanced study in col- lege or university, as well as education for agricultural, mechanical, commercial, and homemaking: occupations) Education for Civic Competence Community studies and civic projects, extend- ing into larger areas (including ‘The World at Work’’) Historical study of ‘‘Man’s Efforts to Achieve Freedom and Security” - Investigation of current political, economic and social problems; study of their historical backgrounds; and civic projects Personal Develooment CEES SE ES SS EE) Family life, health, and mental hygiene (in- cluding the domestic, personal, and health as- pects of consumer economics) Recreational and leisure-time interests, includ- ing physical education Understanding and appreciation of the cultural heritage: . “The Scientific View of the World and of Man” Historical study of ‘Man's Efforts to Achieve Freedom and Security”’ Literature and the arts Elective studies or individual projects, or (in Grades X-XII) remedial instruction in English or mathematics, if needed 150 | 150 | 100 | 200; 200 1,200 1,200 1,200 1,200 1,200 *This course is listed twice, since it is a major part of the program in each area. Farmville or elsewhere, until it is evident that they are reason- ably well adjusted to the next step.in their lives—whether it be a job or continuing education. Scarcely a day passes that does not see some former student return to the school to talk with a counselor or with one of the teachers. A young farmer Lisi wants the agriculture teacher to look over his plans for the farm which he has just rented. Another needs help in clearing up some points about recent developments in the government’s agricultural program. A newly-married couple seek counsel about the home they plan to build. A young mother needs information about child care. A young war veteran returns to Farmville and asks advice about making a start at farming. A boy who left school three years ago at the end of twelfth grade would like to go to agricultural college next year. Another boy is moving to the city and wants advice about finding a job there. Still another is thinking seriously of enlist- ing in the Navy. Others come in to inquire about the evening course in poultry husbandry, to. join the orchestra, to discuss the next meeting of the young farmers’ club, or to work on plans for the next community forum. Four nights a week the Farmville Secondary School building is open; and, at least one night a week, each of the two out- lying elementary-school buildings. We have already had a glimpse of the recreational activities which go on in these buildings in the evenings.** But recreation is not the only interest of adults and out-of-school youth. There are classes, organized whenever a need appears, in fields as varied as the activities of Farmville people. A part of the leadership is pro- vided by teachers from the school, but not all.*? There are other people in the community quite competent to lead adult groups, and they frequently do so. 3 A comprehensive program of part-time and evening classes in agriculture has been developed, under the supervision of the teachers of agriculture in the Farmville Secondary School. Several of these classes are taught by successful farmers, one of whom is a graduate of the state agricultural college. A former home economics teacher, now married and living in See pages 119-26. Teaching of adult classes is a part of the regular teaching schedule—not an extra added to a full day in the secondary school. [154] Farmville, teaches two classes in homemaking for young wives and girls soon to be naarried. The librarian leads a group on “Recent Good Reading.” The public health nurse teaches home hygiene, home nursing, and first aid. The proprietor of the local garage, a skilled mechanic, is in charge of the machine shop. A young married woman who is a talented musician directs the orchestra and chorus. It is the policy of the school to develop and use the leadership resources of the community —in other words, to help people educate themselves. There is one service to adults and out-of-school youth par- ticularly close to the hearts of half a dozen members of the school staff. That is education in public affairs. The education of the good citizen never ends. Conditions change constantly, on the world scene, the national, and the local. New issues arise. The information of three years ago, or even one, is behind the times. These teachers, working with the community council and with officers of local organizations, endeavor to help citizens keep abreast of the latest developments in public affairs and to provide an open forum for the discussion of public issues. | At least once each month, there is a “Community Night” program at the school at which a public question of current interest is discussed by a competent individual or panel, with audience participation following. In addition, the school helps various organized groups in the community to arrange pro- grams on public matters. We have seen that students in Grades XIII and XIV are able to assist in the leadership of these pro- grams, and that they receive special training in leading forums and discussions, to the end that the community may increas- ingly supply its own leadership.** The library cooperates by supplying books and pamphlets on the topics under consider- ation, and the school and village newspapers print weekly See page 87. 4 The library of the state department of education now has a bureau which supplies books, pamphlets, and motion picture films on a wide range of public questions. [155] schedules of radio forums, round tables, and addresses on public affairs. How THE FARMVILLE COMMUNITY Is ORGANIZED How does it happen that the Farmville district—a run-of- the-mine rural community, enjoying no special advantages of wealth, location, personal leadership, or other resources—has accomplished the things which we have read about in the pre- ceding pages? Whatever the complete answer may be, the outstanding fact is that there were people here who had both the desire and the ability to work together for the welfare of the entire community. Personal leadership was an important factor, of course, but this was no one-man achievement. Even at the beginning, several people shared the leadership, and they were always reaching out to get more and more people to join them. Organizations aré not new in Farmville. For many years. this community has had churches, political groups, farmers’ organizations, and a village businessmen’s service club. But these organizations were limited both in membership and in purpose. Organizations representing the entire community and concerned with all aspects of community welfare have come only in recent years. During the thirties, three local committees were organized to deal with various problems of the depression. The county agricultural agent called together a committee of farmers, to’ assist in operating the agricultural programs of the govern- ment. The county welfare director set up a second committee, to help meet problems of relief and to plan useful work proj- ects for the unemployed. A little later, the county superin- tendent of schools assembled still another group, to serve as a committee on the emergency in rural education. These three committees had several members in common and many inter- — ests in common, for they were all trying to meet the impact _of the depression on the Farmville area. Within a short time, [156] they held a joint meeting ahd found the experience so profitable that they decided to continue to meet and work together. This Farmville Emergency Council, as it was called, was active for more than four years. Then, as depression problems receded, it lapsed into inactivity—but not without leaving a residue of experience in community cooperation. The war brought new problems, and the people again felt the need for some means of working together. This time the move to organize was indigenous. The moving spirits were the new principal of the village high school (Myron Evans, who later became principal of the new Farmville Secondary School), the head of a farmers’ organization, the president of the local service club, a doctor’s wife who was a member of the board of education, a pastor, and a teacher of agriculture. They called a meeting to which representatives of all community © groups and agencies were invited, and the outcome was the organization of the Farmville Community Council. Originally set up for the village of Farmville and its environs, the council soon extended its scope to include the smaller villages nearby and the surrounding rural areas. Several members of the school staff have been active in the council from the beginning. The council has addressed itself to many tasks. Among these have been the problem of farm labor supply during the war; local administration of rationing and price control; war bond campaigns; helping men returning from the armed forces to become reestablished; the merger of the five smaller school dis- tricts in the consolidated district; the financing of the costs of new school buildings and the enlarged school budget; the establishment of a health center and library; the promotion of “Community Nights,” combining recreation, entertainment, and discussions of community improvements or other public questions; and the establishment and operation of a number of producers’ and consumers’ cooperatives and of pools for the sharing of expensive farm equipment. [157] By the middle of the second year, questions relating to the needs and welfare of youth bulked so large that it was felt that the council could not give them the careful study which they merited, along with its many other interests. Moreover, there were some on the council who believed that young people should be allowed to share largely in the study of their own needs and the planning of youth services. So it was decided to establish a committee of the community council to deal par- ticularly with the needs of youth, which became known as the youth council. Part of the youth council’s membership is drawn from the community council, namely, representa- tives of the schools, the parent-teacher association, and other organizations concerned with youth welfare. The youth coun- cil also includes youth representatives from each of these agencies and from some youth organizations not included in the community council, for example, the Future Farmers of America, the 4-H Club, the Farmville School Alumni Club, and the church young people’s federation. There is also a repre- sentative of employers. Membership is about evenly divided between youth and adults. The youth council elects its own officers, who may be either adults or young people. The functions of the council are stated simply: (1) to study what needs to be done in the interests of youth, (2) to make plans for getting such things done, (3) either to recommend these plans to the proper agency | or to act to carry out the plans, whichever may be appropriate, and (4) to see that youth have as large a part as possible in planning and working for their own welfare. | There are only a few organizations in and around Farmville, and their officials know each other well and are now accustomed to work together for a variety of purposes. Therefore, the youth council has only a minor interest in coordinating the work of youth agencies. Students conduct most community surveys that are needed, as a part of their schoolwork. So the [158] _—- youth council is not a fact-finding organization, although it may and does propose matters for investigation. Its vitality depends upon the existence of jobs to be done for the welfare of youth; and since there has been an abundant supply of such jobs in the postwar years, the youth council has flourished. Among its accomplishments are these: It en- listed the cooperation of all employers in the annual occupa- tional survey. It persuaded employers to earmark learners’ jobs for older students from the school. It campaigned among businessmen, householders, and farmers for listing with the school counselors of all temporary, part-time, and summer jobs for youth. It worked for the employment of a district recre- ational director. Through state park officials and the state department of education, it initiated the plan for a summer camp for conservation work in a state park about fifty miles distant, employing youth from several consolidated schools. It raised funds to send six Farmville youths to the state rural. youth leadership conference at the state agricultural col- lege, for two weeks each summer, and it has advised school officials regarding the opportunities for continuation study needed by youth after they leave the Farmville Secondary School. — Each year brings its supply of new problems. Each year also brings new members to the council, and often, with them, new ideas. So it seems likely that both the youth council and its parent body will be permanent Farmville institutions. SOME MATTERS OF ADMINISTRATION The most important thing about any educational agency is what happens to the people whom that agency serves. Every- thing else—administration, organization, financial support, plant and equipment, even the teaching staff—are means to the end of helping boys and girls, men and women, to Jearn. For that reason, we have given many pages to the report of what people learn at the Farmville Secondary School and how [59] they learn. For the same reason, we shall be correspondingly brief in our discussion of matters of organization and admin- istration. In these closing pages, we shall sketch the administrative organization of the school, add a few words about the com- munity school plant, and describe the main features of the school’s plan for providing financial aid to students. The Administrative Organization of the Schools The present Farmville school district was formed five years ago by the consolidation of five small districts, all of which had elementary schools, two of which had high schools. With- out the consolidation, the school which we have described would have been impossible. The district includes an area of approximately 200 square miles, a population of some 6000— 1000 in Farmville, a total of 1000 in four other villages, 4000 -on farms. The number of children and youth from six to eighteen is approximately 1500. The district maintains the Farmville Secondary School (Grades VII through XIV) and three elementary schools— one in Farmville, one at Four Corners, and one at Valley View— all under the same board of education and superintendent. Control of educational policy rests with the board of educa- tion.” The district superintendent of schools is the executive officer of the board, responsible: for presenting policies and programs to the board and for carrying out these policies and programs after the board has approved.** The board also em- ploys a district director of recreation and a librarian for the ® National Education Association and American Association of School Administrators, Educational Policies Commission. The Structure and Administration of ‘Education in American Democracy. Washington, D. C.: the Commission, 1938. p. 42, 59. Pibid. pesoGlas te oe [160] ee district public library, both of whom are responsible to the superintendent.”’ Within this framework of administration, a great many peo- ple, as we have seen, take part both in formulating policies and in carrying them out. In the first place, the principal of the secondary school and the teaching staff—working together as we have repeatedly observed them—frequently develop policy proposals for presentation to the board.** When these proposals come up for consideration, it is common practice for staff representatives to attend the board meeting, and for the entire group to discuss the proposals thoroughly before the board takes action. The principal and the staff bear full responsibility for carrying out approved policies in the school.*” The staff, in turn, has admitted student representatives to a responsible part in the planning of courses, projects, and other educational serv- ices, and also to the process of formulating policy proposals. In the second place, the lay citizens of the community fre- . quently advise the board on youth needs and propose policies for consideration by the board, through the community coun- cil and its offspring, the youth council. Representatives of these councils commonly meet with the board when their pro- posals are discussed. Since the school staff is represented on both councils, and the students also on the youth council, there is rarely any sharp disagreement between proposals coming from the councils and those originating with the school. Usually the proposals either support or complement one another. But even if there were disagreement, the superintendent and the board members believe that it would be essential to maintain lines of communication: with organizations in which citizens _ "National Education Association and American Association of School Administrators, Educational Policies Commission. Social Services and the Schools. Washington, D. C.: the Commission, 1939. Chapters IV and V. 8 National Education Association and American Association of School Administrators, Educational Policies Commission. The Structure and Administration of Education in American Democracy. Washington, D. C.: the Commission, 1938. p. 67. MIbids pr 61; 62, 67; 70,071: [161 | are well represented, for in the long run, the people are the ultimate judges of educational policy.*° Few if any of the major advances of the past five years would have been possible without the support of the community council and of the members of the organizations represented in the council. And it is doubtful that this support would have been forthcoming, had these citizens not had a part in shaping the plans and policies. Farmville has been fortunate to have able leadership and wise administration at the local level. This alone, however, could not have brought the school more than a fraction of the distance it has travelled. Able leadership and wise administration at the state level were also necessary—and they have not been wanting. The state department of education in recent years has greatly enlarged the scope and improved the quality of its educational leadership. It has done this in part by direct services to schools, through publications, through conferences and workshops, and through personal services of staff members. Its policy through- out has been to encourage local initiative and resourcefulness, rather than to prescribe to the local authorities. Of even greater importance in this period, the state department has worked to secure changes in state laws and increases in state funds for education; to revise regulations and procedures and reorganize administrative machinery to suit the needs of the times; and to integrate the youth services of local school dis- tricts into a statewide system.” The Community School Plant It was indeed fortunate that the people of Farmville began to plan for postwar education well before the end of the war. For educational planning requires time—much time, when peo- ple venture into pioneer fields. When the war was over, the © Ibid., p. 42, 68, 71, 78. “For a more complete description, see Chapter V, “A State System of Youth Education.” [162] eo new demands on public education came with a rush, and had to be dealt with promptly. It was even more fortunate that there were men and women in Farmville who insisted on planning for new kinds of educa- tional services and a new type of school, to serve all the youth of a large area. Farmville folk might easily have accepted the traditional pattern of school district organization and the tra- ditional type of rural high school as the framework for plan- ning. Had they done so, they would have accomplished only minor improvements. The two village high-school buildings would have been replaced with new structures serving the same purposes as the old. The small district pattern of organ- ization and educational program would thereby have been “frozen” for decades to come. The people of Farmville were ready, however, and they were ready with plans suited to the times. Consolidation of districts had already been voted. The board of education, with support from the community council, had decided that it wanted a school building which would serve the educational needs of _the entire community, including older youth and adults; that the building should be planned to accommodate other com- ‘munity service agencies, such as a library and a health center; that the auditorium should be suited to community forums, concerts, dramatic programs, and public meetings of all kinds; that formal classrooms should give way to conference rooms, adaptable to a variety of uses by pupils and adults; that ample provision should be made for shops and laboratories; that the recreational facilities of the school should be available for pub- lic use in the evenings; and that the entire building should be designed with a view to the health and safety of students and teachers. Technical assistance was available from U. S. Office of Education publications, from the state department of educa- tion, from teachers colleges and schools of education, and from several other excellent publications on planning of community [163] schools. With these aids, the board of education and its archi- tects were able to design a school building suited to the pro- gram which has been described.” The location of the school was also an outcome of advance planning. The Farmville people wanted their school plant to include a farm—one large enough to permit practice in farm- ing by those agricultural students whose parents did not have farms. By locating their school about half a mile from the village, they were able to lease seventy acres—fifty under culti- vation, twenty wooded—with an option to purchase. Two years of experience confirmed the wisdom of their decision. They secured a loan, purchased the property, and found that the produce and rentals from students would cover a large part of the amortization costs. As we have seen, several acres of this land near the school were subsequently used for an out- door recreation center, while the wooded section was made into a community park and outing area. Not all the needs were anticipated, however. Several addi- tional shops were needed, and the plan for a model farm home was developed. These structures were built largely by students, and their construction provided valuable training for the boys’ who worked on them, and in some cases, a means of earning school expenses as well. Financial Aid to Students * Equality in educational opportunities depends upon two con- ditions. Opportunities suited to youth needs must be available, and youth must be able to take advantage of them. The Farmville district, we have seen, has been able to go far toward providing educational service designed to meet the needs of all its youth. It is conceivable, however, that many “ Approval of minimum standards by the state department of education was required. See page 34, footnote 5. * The discussion which follows is, in large part, applicable to the schools of American City, and will not be repeated in Chapter IV. Principles and policy are substantially the same in the two situations. [ 164 | youth might not be able to use these services. Some might live at too great a distance from the school. Some might be com- pelled by their parents to leave school as soon as legally per- missible, when it was advisable for them to continue. Some might lack the funds to buy clothes and meet other personal expenses. The board of education and the Farmville Secondary School staff, with state and federal aid, have attempted to remove such obstacles. Handicaps of distance have been removed by free bus trans- portation. School buses travel to within easy walking distance of the most remote residence in the district. Parental indifference to education has been largely eliminated by making parents partners in the shaping of their children’s educational plans. When misunderstandings occur, as they sometimes do, a home visit from a counselor or teacher usually serves to clear them up. There are exceptions, of course, but they are now rare. The most difficult obstacles are financial. The cash income of most farm families is insufficient for tuition and living ex- penses away from home, and sometimes not enough for more than the minimum necessities of clothes and food. Furthermore, families are generally large. Younger children must be fed and clothed from the family income. Older children feel that they should at least pay their own way. Thanks to aid from state and federal funds, public education is free through Grade XT V—whether a youth studies in Farm- ville, American City, or elsewhere. The Farmville district will pay the local share of the cost of education in any public school in the state, and state and federal funds follow school attendance. School activities are also free. Since the school looks upon athletics, dramatics, music, journalism, and social experience as integral parts of education, it sees no justification for charg- ing fees for these activities. All books are available in the school library, and there are no fees for laboratory or shop work. [165] Students’ financial problems therefore center in their ability to earn enough to meet personal expenses, and, in some cases, to contribute something to the family budget. Out of a student body of eight hundred above Grade VI, around three hundred each year must earn all or a part of their personal expenses. The four counselors are chiefly responsible for helping students to meet their financial problems, and to date they have had encouraging success. | 1. There are part-time jobs in private employment, in the village, on farms, and away from home in the summer months. These include the learners’ jobs earmarked for students, which have been described earlier,** and many others. Many are tem- porary, most of them give only a few hours work a week, but taken together they are the largest single source of student income. 2. There are part-time jobs in the school, carried as a part of the regular school budget; and a few similar jobs with other public agencies. 3. Some earmarked federal money is available for student aid. This may be used to pay for useful work for any public agency, including the school. A limited portion may be dis- pensed as scholarship grants. The federal money is sufficient for about one-sixth of those who need work. 4. After federal equalization aid for general educational pur- poses had somewhat relieved the financial pressure, a portion of state and local school funds was made available for student aid. ite ‘ 5. The fifth resource is productive enterprises carried on by students on farms, in their homes, in the village, or on prop- erty rented from the school. Such enterprises are often as- sisted from the local district’s student-aid funds. Small invest- ments, for example, are often made in equipment, livestock, or seed, which students use as a means for earning money. Since the problems faced by Farmville’s counselors are found in almost every school, it may be helpful to review the main “See page 65. [166] features of the student aid program, as they appear after four years of experience. 1. Each student is expected to render some service to the school and the community each year, without pay, as his or her contribution to the common welfare. Checking books in and out at the library, cleaning the cafeteria after lunches, desk duty in the school office and the game library, and grading and rolling the ground for the community playground are examples. Students are rotated on such work, so that each has his fair share of the interesting and the routine. 2. There are, however, jobs in the school which require more time, continuous work throughout the year, and some skill de- veloped through experience; for example, cataloging books in the library, cashier duty in the cafeteria, playing accompani- ment for choral classes, and assisting in custodial work. On these jobs, students are paid hourly wages comparable to those in private employment. When these services are essential to the operation of the school, they are included in the regular school budget. When they are connected with new ventures, the federal or state student-aid funds are used. 3. Students are not paid for work performed primarily for its learning value, even though it may be productive. For example, boys in the farm machinery shop and girls in the school kitchen do a good deal of productive work during their first year, but they are not paid, for they are in the shop and kitchen primarily to learn. 4. Students are paid for work on productive projects, how- ever, when they have developed reasonable skill and when such work is in addition to their normal educational programs. Boys frequently do work of this kind during rush seasons in the farm machinery repair shop, in the refrigeration plant, and in the feed mill. Girls do the same in the school kitchen during the canning season, and in the accounting and mimeographing offices when work is heavy. In such cases, the wages paid to students are added to the costs of production. §. There are also a few continuous jobs on productive proj- ects which require considerable skill and, frequently, mana- gerial ability as well. For all these, students are paid wages as [167] a part of the costs of production. Several examples were noted earlier—foremen in the cooperative plants, manager of the farm machinery shop, and head assistants in the school lunch pro- gram. Most of these jobs are reserved for the “work experience projects’ of advanced students.*° 6. As far as possible, students are helped to get work which is related to their educational and occupational plans. This is usually practicable for jobs within the school and other public agencies. It is more difficult in cases of private employ- ment. Through the community youth council and the par- ents’ organizations, the counselors have been able to get nearly everyone in the community to agree to employ youth through the counselor’s offices. While avoiding arbitrary assignments of student workers, the counselors have in many cases been able to match jobs with youth interests, to the mutual advantage of employer and worker. 7. Every work experience, however remotely related to oc- cupational plans, is considered a part of the youth’s education. The teacher in the student’s major field of interest is respon- sible for enlisting the cooperation of the employer and for helping the youth to gain the maximum learning from the experience. Counselors are included, of course, in the planning of all such experiences. 8. As far as eligibility is concerned, no distinction is made between jobs maintained by federal student-aid funds, by state and local student-aid funds, by the regular school budget, and by private employers. All students paid from public funds are paid by the school district, and the source of the money is known only to school officials. Counselors know the students who must earn money and the approximate amount which each student needs. They undertake to find work of some kind for everyone who needs it, so the question of rules of eligibility does not arise. 9. As a general practice the amount of public funds used _ for student aid is determined by the availability of private jobs. Normally all private jobs and all regularly budgeted jobs in “See section on “Productive Work Experience in the Farmville Educational Program,” pages 63-66. [168] the school must be filled before public funds are used to main- tain additional work. Exceptions are made, however, when they are clearly in the interest of students’ educational advancement. 10. Federal and state funds for student aid are used chiefly to pay for work associated with new ventures in education and in other public services. When such experiments are success- ful, they contribute to community progress and create more opportunities for permanent employment. Work in connection with accepted public services is generally paid for from local - funds. 11. Increasingly the school is using its local student-aid funds to help students earn money through enterprises which they manage themselves. For example, the school has bought a power spray, a lime spreader, a power saw, and a small tractor. Crews of boys learn to operate and maintain these machines, and contract to work for farmers. Machinery is thus made avail- able which many individual farmers would be unable to afford, and farm labor costs are thereby reduced. Students get a larger return for their labor when they have equipment. Most im- portant of all, the educational values of these experiences are usually greater and more varied than those of work for hourly wages. Business arrangements and accounting are supervised by the school, and experience in these matters also is educa- tional. Many other projects might be cited, among them the canning of food by groups of girls, using pressure cookers furnished by the school; individual and group farming on land rented from the school; wiring farm buildings for electricity; and the making of home craft products for marketing. 12. Counselors may make outright grants for student aid in exceptional cases in which such action seems clearly in the interests of boys and girls, for example, a girl who lives a mile from the last stop of the school bus, and who must spend over two hours a day in travel; a boy who carries a heavy load of work on the farm to help his widowed mother maintain a family of four; or a student who is seriously handicapped in health. In such student aid as elsewhere, the Farmville program is characterized by flexibility and adaptation to individual needs, rather than by rigid rules and unyielding requirements. [169] RETROSPECT AND PROSPECT This completes our review of the activities of the Farmville Secondary School. We have seen that the keystone of the school program is guidance, a process whereby boys and girls are helped to plan their own lives in the light of all the facts that can be mustered about themselves and the world in which they live and work. Within this process, the Farmville school seeks to provide for each youth a program of learning experi- ences—a curriculum—which in his judgment and in the judg- ment of the staff of the school is most likely to meet his par- ticular needs, abilities, and plans. This program includes prep- aration for a useful occupation, education for citizenship, and personal development for every boy and girl. The entire life of the school is so organized that the fullest cooperation in the education of youth exists between the activities of the school. and activities of other agencies in the Farmville community. It is time now to leave Farmville in order to examine the schools of a quite different kind of community—American City. Before we move on, however, there is one fact about the Farmville situation that is of supreme importance. The school staff and the community in Farmville are not satisfied with what they have done. They feel that they are making progress, but they know that many problems remain to be solved. They do not look upon their program as the summit of perfection, nor do they regard the Farmville Secondary School as an insti- tution which cannot be altered quickly whenever it may be desirable to do so. This continuing discontent, this lack of com- placency, this eager, forward-facing philosophy is perhaps the best summary of the point of view of the Farmville Secondary — School, the best explanation for its success so far, and the most hopeful augury for its continued growth and improvement. [170] CHAPTER IV Schools for Youth in American City (Written five years after the cessation of hostilities) MERICAN CITY might be any one of two hundred or more AN cities in the United States. These cities differ from each other at this point and that, but their common characteristics are far more numerous than their differences. They are the nation’s centers of manufacturing, trade, finance, transporta- tion, and government. American City represents the third of the nation that is distinctly urban.’ In the pages that follow; we shall begin with an overview of American City, noting particularly the effects of the depres- sion, the war, and the five postwar years, and the ways in which they have influenced education. We shall report the progress which the people of American City have made toward achiev- ing better community life through comprehensive, long-term planning. And we shall inquire particularly about the present conditions of young people from sixteen to twenty-one. Then—because this is a book about education rather than the life of cities—we shall turn to the public schools and sketch some striking characteristics of youth education in American City today, calling attention to the ways in which education has changed in recent years. This leads to the question: By what processes were these changes brought about? Many readers may be more interested in the processes of change than the products. Therefore, be- fore describing the details of the present program of youth education, we shall tell the story of how this program was developed and of how teachers, administrators, board of edu- , In 1940, 34.4 percent of the population lived in cities of 50,000 or more; in 1930, 34.9 percent. [171] cation members, parents, youth, employers, labor officials, and many other citizens all had a part in it. Finally—and this will constitute the greater part of the chapter—we shall tell with some completeness how the three high schools and the new community institute are endeavor- ing to provide adequate educational services for all the youth of American City and to serve youth beyond high school for a larger region as well. INTRODUCING AMERICAN CITY Before we begin to describe the schools of American City, we need to know some things about the community and its people. We had better make our inquiries of the man who, so everyone says, knows more about this community than anyone else—Robert Burnham, executive director of the American City Planning Commission. The reader, we think, will be better introduced to American City if we quote Mr. Burnham’s own words. ‘The history of this city,” Mr. Burnham began, “falls into two periods—pre-1930 and post-1930. Before 1930, the story is fairly simple. The city was one of the first places founded after the Northwest Territory was opened up, and its record from then up to 1930 was one of slow, steady growth. There were ups and downs, of course, along with the rest of the country, but no big booms and no slips backward. It has always been a center of commerce and transportation, for it is situated at an intersection of two natural trade routes—one east-and- west, one north-and-south. It has been a manufacturing center, too, for longer than anyone can remember. “There was no comprehensive plan for city development before 1930. The usual zoning, of course. Otherwise the city ‘just growed,’ like Topsy. It added new industries and com- mercial firms from time to time, and the old ones got bigger. When more houses were needed, somebody opened up a new [172] subdivision. The old city boundaries were outgrown three times, and now the city is spilling over into the suburbs again. “The schools? Ah, the prosperous twenties were great days for American City’s school officials. The city built two new high-school buildings and several junior high and elementary schools, too—all between 1923 and 1929. And in 1930 we pointed with pride to the fact that two out of every three children of high-school age were enrolled in high school.” Our speakers on the subject usually forgot to add that the per- centage of those in high school was eighty-six in the well-to-do area served by Washington High School and only fifty-seven in the lower income area on the south side, where Lincoln High is located. But such differences were more or less taken for granted in those days. “Our schools made educational advances in those years, too. Many of the courses of study were revised from bottom to top, chiefly by committees of teachers working with the curriculum staff in the central office. The program of vocational educa- tion was enlarged, the social studies were brought closer to the life of the community, and some good things were added in the way of art, music, physical education, and guidance. “T shan’t dwell longer on pre-1930 history. It is simple com- pared to the history of the past twenty years. From 1930 to 1940 American City was struggling with the depression, and from 1940 onward the city felt the full effects of the war. We have not had much slow, steady growth and gradual develop- ment in recent years. Instead, we have had a series of swift, sudden, far-reaching changes, sometimes for better, sometimes for worse. When we talk about American City today, we have to remember that many of the conditions which we now find are the results of changes which have occurred during the past ten or twenty years. Often the processes of change are quite as important as their products. “Enrolment includes. private and parochial, as well as public high schools. [173] “For example, if I tell you that the city’s population is 150,- 000, that may not mean much to you. But if you learn that 25,000 of our people moved into the city between 1940 and 1944 and that these were more than had previously moved in between 1900 and 1940, you will realize at once that we have faced some rather difficult problems of providing housing and schools and hospitals for all these newcomers, especially in war- time, when both manpower and materials were scarce. Or if ] say that five out of every six of our people are native-born whites, that there are some 12,000 foreign-born whites, and nearly as many Negroes, those are just static facts.* But when you know that the Negro population practically doubled dur- ing the forties, while the white population increased by 20 percent, you will understand that we have had some particu- larly acute problems connected with the housing, health, and education of our Negro citizens and some aggravated ques- tions of race relations as well.” * Mr. Burnham paused for a moment, shuffled a handful of charts and tables, then laid them aside and went on. Some Effects of the Depression “No, I don’t think it will help you much to listen to figures and look at charts until you know more about the things that happened to us in the thirties and forties. The depression hit us early and with full force. Our chief economic interests are manufacturing, trade, finance, and transportation, and each of these slumped badly, as you know. By 1933, 12,000 of our 48,000 employable workers were out of jobs. You know what happened, for you lived through these years somewhere. We *It is assumed that American City is located in the East North Central region. If it were in the East South Central region, its population might consist of 108,000 native-born whites, 2000 foreign-born whites, and 40,000 Negroes. If it were in the West, its Negro population would probably not exceed 3000. If it were in the Middle Atlantic region, it would probably have 20,000 foreign-born whites. “If American City were located in one of the states where separate schools are provided for children of different races, equal educational opportunities would be provided for each racial group. j [174] had direct relief, work relief, people using up their savings, partial recovery, a recession, and then another partial recovery —but we didn’t get nearly back to full employment until the war came along. As late as 1940, we still had 6000 unemployed. “Now, you are interested in education rather than eco- nomics, so I won’t give you a lecture on the general effects of the depression. But here are a few effects that are closely tied up with education. “For one thing, the rate of unemployment was consistently higher for young people in their late teens and early twenties, who were out of school and wanted to work, than for any other age group. “For another thing, during the depression we became aware of the particular needs of our large body of out-of-school youth. And we found that we had no public agency which could take the responsibility for the welfare of this exceed- ingly important group. At that time, neither the schools, nor the NYA, nor the CCC, nor the public employment service, nor the private agencies, nor all of them put together were providing the kind of continuous guidance and educational services that these young people needed during the critical period of initial adjustment to adult life. “Again, many of us were convinced that the emergency solution to youth problems was not a permanent solution. I’m not criticizing what was done as emergency measures, you understand. But I do say that it is not fair to boys and girls to compel them to shop around at two or three different agencies, and probably to spend a good deal of time in idleness along the way, in order to get the training and experience needed to begin work. These boys and girls have a right to expect the schools to carry them right through on a straight line of edu- cation, practical experience, and guidance, until they are well started on their first jobs. “A fourth thing we learned from the depression was that from this time forth economic affairs and government would [175] be closely interrelated. That meant that if the American people were to solve their economic problems by democratic means, a great deal more understanding of economic matters would have to be included in the equipment of the rank and file of American citizens. There, too, was a job for the schools. The Years of the War “Well, we were just beginning to see these depression les- sons clearly, when along came the war, and pushed the depres- sion into the background. As a center of manufacturing, we felt the war’s impact early. Most of our larger factories were converted to the production of war materials, and soon they began to operate twenty-four hours a day. Additions were built to existing plants, and a new factory for airplane parts was erected. At the same time, the young men began to leave for the armed forces. Their number mounted, wae in time, over 10,000 had gone. “Only a few months before, we had had 6000 unemployed. And now, suddenly, labor was becoming scarce. A nationwide program for training war production workers was. financed by the federal government and carried on locally through the public schools.° That called for prompt action by the school authorities. People came into the schools by the hundreds and then by the thousands—first, the unemployed; then, workers who were leaving other jobs for war production work; women who had never before been in factories or even worked outside their homes; older people, once retired, now returning to work for the duration; and high-school boys and girls eager to get jobs as soon as work permits could be secured. “Yes, almost before they were aware of it, the schools were engaged in training adults and youth for work on a scale far exceeding anything imagined in the past. The school shops were 5 College-level training in engineering, scientific, and management fields was provided by a comparable program operated through the institution of higher education of the state. [176] a ee ee ee a ee in use twenty-four hours a day. The number of people trained each year for war production work was twice as great as the number of boys and girls annually graduated from the city’s three high schools. The schools did a good job, too. Both the trainees and the employers were well satisfied, and the program was continued throughout the war. These experiences, you may be sure, have had their part in shaping the permanent program of the schools. | ‘The war brought the schools a new youth problem, just the reverse of that of the thirties. High-school enrolments had in- creased right through the depression years, until by 1940 we had 4900 boys and girls in school *—over three-fourths of our population of high-school age. But as soon as the war came, enrolments began to drop sharply because many boys and girls were leaving school and going to work at the earliest legal age. In the thirties, the question had been how to find jobs for youth after they left school. In the war years, the question was how to keep youth in school long enough to give them the minimum of education which they would need for permanent employment, for military service, and for the responsibilities of adult citizenship and family life. This problem was solved in part by developing combined study-and-work programs for high-school boys and girls—usually four hours of class work and four hours on the job—and by allowing school credit for work which met certain standards and was carried on under supervision of the school staff. This, too, had its influence on the permanent postwar program. “The war left many other marks on education in American City. Take the matter of these 25,000 people who moved into the city in response to the call for workers in war plants. Within a short time, it became apparent that most of these new resi- dents wanted to remain here permanently. ‘That meant, first of all, a problem of housing. These peo- ®Including students enrolled in private and parochial schools. [177] ple had to have places to live. During the war we got along with temporary houses and makeshift arrangements—families doubling up in the use of houses and living in furnished rooms and trailer camps. We had to get along with this, or thought we did. But as a permanent arrangement, the situation was intolerable. So we had to face the question whether the public had any stake in seeing that these people were decently housed; and we decided that the public had a large stake. We had to consider how the public could protect its stake through the actions of agencies of government and of voluntary planning bodies. Then we had to act. This may seem somewhat remote from education, but it is not. For the problem was taken into the curriculum of the schools, and the study of housing and of city planning moved into the front ranks in high-school and community institute classes. “Our new citizens also brought us zhe problem of expanding our public services. How could we increase our hospital and health services by 20 percent and provide schools and play- grounds for 5000 more children? The schools and other agencies did the best they could under the circumstances, but few people thought the provisions were adequate. The fact was that we had suddenly outgrown our public services, and we were due for some long-term citywide planning in this field, too. That also has found its way into the curriculums of our schools. “The most difficult problem of all was how we were going to keep all these new workers employed after the war when war production had closed down and the veterans had returned. And that, you see, was very closely related to education—for if we were destined to have a permanent labor surplus in the city, where and how were the teen-age youngsters going to get their start at work and how were the schools going to get them ready? “One could go on talking about the influence of the war for hours, I suppose,” Mr. Burnham continued, “‘but I’ll make one more observation, and then leave the war. We took our home [178] front duties seriously here in American City, and in doing so, we learned a great deal about working together in neighbor- hoods, as well as in the city as a whole. Perhaps we were un- usually fortunate in the leadership of our city civilian defense council, for not all cities report the same experience. Here the leaders in civilian defense wanted civilian war services to have roots in the neighborhoods where people lived. So they en- couraged neighborhood councils to make plans for meeting neighborhood needs, and they built their city plans largely out of the materials which came up to them from the neighbor- hoods. We think this type of planning yields better plans and more effective action, so we have kept our roots down in the neighborhoods in most of our postwar planning, and particu- larly in planning for education. ‘The schools did their part on the home front willingly and well. They took over the jobs of registering people for Selective Service and the various ration books. They sold war bonds and stamps, conducted campaigns for salvaging and conserving materials, promoted victory gardens, organized a system of protection against air raids, and rendered innumerable services to civilian defense agencies. They provided day care for the small children of working mothers and afternoon recreational programs for their older children. They tackled the problem of rising juvenile delinquency and did what they could to provide recreation and social activities for youth in out-of-school hours. They offered preinduction training courses for boys, im- proved their training in health and physical fitness, taught more about consumer economics and war aims and issues, and sought to interpret the programs of rationing and price control. They did all these things while they were steadily losing many of their teachers to the armed forces and other war services. “However, I’m not here to deliver a eulogy of the schools in wartime. What I want to point out is that through these home front activities, the educators developed some ways of working which have stood them in good stead in the postwar years. [179] “For one thing, they became accustomed to think and act in terms of larger units than single departments and single schools. When a war activities committee was set up in a high school, its membership cut across the conventional departmental lines, and its purposes encompassed the entire program of the school. When a school committee was organized for a neighborhood, it included representatives from elementary, junior high, and high schools, and it was concerned with the entire range of wartime needs of children and youth in the neighborhood as a whole. Comparable things happened with citywide committees. “For another thing, teachers became better informed about the neighborhoods in which their schools were located and more familiar with people and agencies in these neighborhoods. Many of the wartime activities took both teachers and pupils out into the neighborhoods and involved cooperation with many neighborhood groups. “Most important of all was the fact that teachers took greater care to know their pupils as individuals and to become acquainted with their pupils’ homes and families. Things were happening in families which powerfully influenced the conduct and attitudes of pupils, both in school and out. Teachers found that they were working in the dark unless they knew when children, newly arrived in a strange city, were living in un- bearably crowded quarters; when fathers had left their homes to serve in the armed forces; when mothers had taken jobs and turned the care of younger children over to elder sisters barely in their teens; when boys and girls were free to roam the streets at nights because both their parents were employed on night shifts; and when youth were eager to leave school at the earliest possible hour in order to begin to earn money. They found that when they knew these things, they were often able to shape their teaching and the other services of the schools so as to help the individual pupil just at the time and in the way that the youngster particularly needed help. [180] After the War “So much for the war years. Our people celebrated the vic- tory as heartily and as sincerely as anybody—and then turned industriously to the task of reconverting from war to peace. They were not unprepared, for they had been planning for this time for nearly two years. But by no amount of planning could we have foreseen all the problems. We had our ups and downs, and sometimes we thought we were pretty far down—but we have come through the first five years in good shape. “The first year had some hard spots in it—for example, when the airplane parts factory closed down completely. Then, too, we hoped that some of the women and most of the older men would voluntarily quit working and that many of the people who had moved in during the war would go away. But not nearly as many withdrew as had been hoped, and these were soon outnumbered by the returning veterans. For a time it looked as if we were due for some large-scale unemployment, but fortunately the critical period was short-lived. Most people had unemployment insurance or mustering-out pay to tide them over short periods of idleness. And it wasn’t long before the factories began to get into production for civilian uses. ‘The effect of the veterans’ return was cushioned by the fact that many of them took advantage of the government’s offer of a year or more of free education with living expenses paid. Some of them went away to universities and colleges, but many remained here. They found that the new community institute ” was particularly well suited to give them intensive training in a wide variety of civilian occupations along with a general reorientation to civilian life. Many civilian war work- ers, too, were in need of additional training, for their jobs in the war industries had frequently consisted of just a few repeti- tive operations. The schools offered special programs for them, designed to give them all-round occupational training; and “See footnote 9 on page 38 and footnote 10 on page 189. [181] many responded to the opportunity. The federal government wisely supplied the funds for both programs on the assumption that this was a part of the cost of completing the war. ‘To make a long story short, within two years from the end of the war, most of the city’s industries were operating at close to full capacity. In addition to current needs, there was a large backlog of demands for goods which had not been avail- able during the war. The nation’s consumers had tens of billions of dollars of wartime savings at their command and were able to buy practically everything that the factories could produce. Building also flourished—especially the construction of high- priced and medium-priced houses. We hadn’t yet decided what to do about low-cost housing, which was more desperately needed but less profitable. With this foundation in industrial and building activity, retail and wholesale trade rose to a level surpassing that of the war years when so many civilian goods were restricted. “So far my story sounds quite encouraging. But you are interested primarily in teen-age boys and girls. For them, dur- ing the past five years, the prospects for early employment have not been encouraging. There have been barely enough jobs for experienced workers and war veterans—and few more. Remember that our supply of civilian workers was increased by some 20 percent during the war and that thousands of re- turned veterans are now back on their jobs. The door of em- ployment opportunity has been all but closed to young people in their teens, if they come into the labor market without special training for jobs and without panes employment experience. “Fortunately there were many people in American City who foresaw that this would happen. Our educators foresaw it, and the members of the board of education; and so did many em- ployers, labor leaders, city officials, and parents. Together, they made a determined effort to provide for the needs of youth through their teens by means of the refashioned and expanded [182] program of the American City public schools. Had they not done this, we should now doubtless be witnessing a recurrence of the tragic conditions of the thirties with a large percentage of our youth wasting precious months and years in idleness or in low-paid work on blind-alley jobs. What a shameful spectacle that would have been! ‘““Now we are moving into the period when our economic system will once more have to operate on a current basis. There are no more colossal government expenditures for war ma- terials, and the backlogs of consumers’ wants and wartime sav- ings have been largely used up. The years ahead will be critical, and no one can predict with certainty what they will bring. “But among our people here—our businessmen, our labor leaders, and our public officials—one finds a spirit of enterprise and cooperation which bodes well for the future. I don’t think we are guilty of shallow optimism either. We haven’t begun to meet the enduring needs of the great majority of people for adequate housing, household furnishings and equipment, food, clothing, transportation, medical care, education, recreation, and cultural opportunities. As long as these needs have not been met, we had better not talk about a closed economy and the disappearance of the frontier, or debate as to whether there is enough work to keep everyone employed. We will do better to spend our time in locating unsatisfied needs; in making people aware of them, when necessary; and in improving our economic system and our government so that more and more people may have access to the means of achieving the good life. When we do these things, we open up new frontiers, help keep the econ- omy expanding, and create more work for more people. “Tet me give you a few examples. We have a plant here for manufacturing refrigeration and air-conditioning equipment. It has doubled its payroll in five years. Why? Because it has de- veloped moderately priced products to meet the needs for food- _ freezing units in homes and for air-cooling units in homes and offices. Our farm machinery factory has shown a steady climb in [183] output and employment as more and more farmers understand the uses of machinery and have the means to buy it. And look at education. The number of teachers in the upper grades was more than doubled when we set out to meet the educational needs of our youth. “We have plenty of other needs. We need at least 5000 units of modern low-cost housing. We need larger hospital facilities and more doctors and nurses. We need more public playgrounds and playground supervisors. We need a new ter- minal system, linking our transportation by air, rail, bus, and truck. Moreover, the plans to meet all these needs are well ad- vanced and will soon be placed in operation, not as emergency projects, but as necessary developments in a planned community. If national and world conditions remain reasonably favorable, these new enterprises will provide more than enough employ- ment to offset the disappearance of the backlog. Comprehensive Planning in American City “Who does this planning for the city? I haven’t told you, have I? Well, we have had a city planning commission for a long time, but its work used to be limited to such matters as zoning, parks, and traffic. What I call comprehensive planning began about two years before the end of the war, and has grown stead- _ily since then. It began when businessmen, labor leaders, and city officials commenced to think about the problems of eco- - nomic transition from war to peace and to formulate plans for industrial conversion, for new manufacturing and commercial developments, and for maintaining employment at as high a level as possible. “Tt soon became apparent that planning must include more than economic enterprises alone. One of the fields in which great expansion was expected after the war was the construction of homes, That raised the question of planning residential develop- ments. Should the city be allowed to continue to run wild, or [184] should plans be made to develop new residential neighborhoods equipped with adequate schools, parks, play areas, transportation facilities, and sanitary services? ‘There was the problem of retraining workers and demobi- lized men from the armed forces. That called for cooperative planning by employers, labor leaders, school authorities, and the public employment service. “There was the matter of public works, which might be needed to absorb the labor surplus during the transition period. That raised a series of questions as to what the city and its tributary area most needed. Was it schools, parks, playgrounds, hospitals, highways, arterial thoroughfares, bridges, terminals, or what? There were many applicants for public works projects. Should they be chosen first-come first-served? Or should the people of the city and the surrounding region, through their planning boards and committees, fashion a long-term design for development which should guide the selection of public works of all kinds, whether financed locally or by the federal govern- ment? “Of course, there was also the task of planning adequate education for children and youth—your chief concern. “In a few words, it was not long before planning had been extended to almost every area of life in this region—to goals of production and employment in industry, trade, finance, trans- portation, construction, and services; to studies of the labor supply, of employment trends and outlooks, of needs for train- ing, and of distribution of consumer income; to location of industrial sites and of new residential developments; to water supply, transportation, zoning, and land use; to schools and educational services, parks, playgrounds, recreational areas, libraries, hospitals, and health services; to the elimination of substandard housing; and to the special problems of employ- ment, housing, and public service encountered by minority groups. 7 “We have encountered some opposition, of course. There are [185] a few people to whom the idea of planning is repugnant, because they think it means blueprints handed down from above and government planning for private enterprise. But planning doesn’t mean that in American City. Of course, the federal and state governments have had a part in stimulating planning and in carrying it on. So also have national and state organizations of businessmen, labor, and people interested in education, housing, health, recreation, and municipal government. That was both desirable and necessary, for American City is a part of the state and the nation, and could not plan for itself alone. To be sure, our planning is coordinated through a governmental agency, the city planning commission. Some coordinating agency is es- sential, and the planning commission is a nonpartisan body, rep- resenting a variety of interests, with a competent professional staff under civil service. But most of the initiative and responsi- bility for planning lies with the committees drawn from those local organizations and agencies, both private and public, which are most concerned with the matters under consideration. “T have spoken of city planning, but that doesn’t tell the whole story. Our planning reaches down into neighborhoods and out into the surrounding region. You will find many neigh- borhood planning groups in the city. Some of them are suc- cessors to the old neighborhood civic associations. We are trying to have one such group for each elementary school, for the area served by an elementary school is probably the best neighbor- hood unit we have.* Much of the material for our citywide planning of housing, parks, recreation, traffic, and sanitation comes up to us from these neighborhood groups. ‘“And we do not forget that American City is the economic and cultural center of a region which extends far beyond the Mele ci dibotheod aheald. he dat area wy ithtns treerapetamch wacareer tn aint eee sete child: such that daily life can have unity and significance for him, as a representation of the larger social whole. . . . Its size is determined by the convenient walking distance for children between the farthest house and the school and playground in which a major part of their activities are focused. Its pattern is determined by. the need of isolating school and home from the noise of traffic and its dangers.” Mumford, Lewis. The Culture of Cities. New York: Harcourt, Brace and Co., 1938. p. 472, 473. [186] suburbs. You have recently been at Farmville, I understand. In many respects, Farmville is a suburb of American City—or, I should say, a part of our regional community. The forty miles to Farmville can be covered by trucks in less than an hour over the new highway. Most of the products of Farmville’s acres which are not consumed locally come into the mills and markets of the city. Out from the city’s factories and wholesale houses go the farm machinery, tractors, automobiles, refrigerators, radios, clothing, household furnishing, drugs, and processed foods which Farmville people buy. Farmville people read the city newspapers and tune in on the city’s radio and television broad- casts. Farmville’s youth attend our community institute. We should indeed be narrowly provincial if we were to confine our planning to the city alone and did not open the door of full partnership to the thousands of people who live in the regional community. ‘To sum it all up, we are trying to make planning democratic and keep it close to the people. We are trying to provide the means whereby the people can use intelligence and foresight to control the destinies of their own community. If we succeed, we shall have found the most promising answer yet discovered to the problem of how to maintain local initiative, decentralized responsibility, competitive private enterprise, and widespread popular participation in public affairs, in the face of the trend of the times toward centralization of political and economic power. “If this seems far removed from education, wait until you get into the schools. There you will find that community plan- ning occupies a foremost place in the program of citizenship education and that students are already taking active, respon- sible parts in the process of planning. “Now,” said Mr. Burnham, taking up the sheaf of charts and tables which he had laid aside earlier, ‘‘you doubtless want the facts and figures. Well, here they are. ‘Distribution of American City’s 60,000 Workers by Main Occupational Fields,’ ‘Distribu- [187] tion of Workers by Types of Work Performed,’ ‘Map Showing Average Family Incomes by Blocks of Residence,’ “Map Show- ing Racial and National Composition of the Population by Blocks of Residence,’ and several more. You may take them with you. I think you will find it more profitable to study them as you become familiar with programs of the schools. If you wish to discuss them with me later on, please feel free to come back.” How YoutH EDUCATION IN AMERICAN CITY Has CHANGED IN RECENT YEARS Against this background of the changing city, let us look at American City’s schools for youth. Again we will do well to take our information from the person best informed on the subject—in this case, George Carlisle, superintendent of the American City public schools since 1935. ‘“T’ve been wondering how I could best introduce you to our schools,” Mr. Carlisle began. “It has seemed to me that I might be most helpful if I were to tell you of some of the ways in which our secondary schools of today are different from those of say, ten years ago. I have jotted down ten points of difference which seem to me to be improvements. “1. Educational services have been enlarged, and enrolments have greatly increased. Ten years ago our three public high schools enrolled around 4500 students. Today, with a population 20 percent larger, we have 60 percent more students in the high schools.” Ten years ago there was no public institution in the city for youth beyond the high school. Today, the city has a free public community institute enrolling 3800 full-time students in the thirteenth and fourteenth years of school, and serving both the city and the region for fifty miles around. Ten years ago, our evening classes were limited to a few vocational classes Ree ees of American City today is 150,000, as compared with 125,000 ten years ago. The high-school enrolment from the city is 7088, as compared with 4430 ten years ago. [188] in one high school. Today, the community institute *’ has broad and varied offerings of free afternoon and evening classes for employed youth and adults. “2. Practically all our young people graduate from high school, and many continue beyond. Ten years ago, there were great differences among the city’s three high schools in the pro- portions of youth of high-school age who continued through the twelfth grade. In Lincoln High School, located in the lower- income section of the city, only sixty-three out of every hundred youth of high-school age were in school and only forty-one out of every hundred of twelfth-grade age. In Washington, a school in the section where incomes are highest, the corresponding per- centages were ninety and eighty-five. For Jefferson, in a middle income area, the percentages were seventy-four and sixty-two. “Today, throughout the city, practically all youth graduate from high school. Of course, that might be due wholly to the fact that the maximum age of compulsory school attendance has been raised to the eighteenth birthday. But I don’t think that is the case. Even if the attendance law had not been changed, the percentages in school would still be high. Here is some evidence on the point. Sixty-four percent of the high- school graduates now continue their full-time education beyond high school,** and the differences between schools in this respect have largely disappeared.” Furthermore, over 40 percent of those who leave full-time school at the end of: high school Here, and elsewhere in this volume, the term “community institute” refers to a free public educational institution, offering two years of education beyond .the twelfth grade, in a variety of fields, both.vocational and nonvocational. ° For most students, the course in the community institute is “terminal,” that is, it marks the end of full-time attendance at an educational institution. Some students, however, move on from the community institute to professional schools or to the upper two years of liberal arts and technical colleges. The community institute also conducts the program of part-time education for out-of-school youth and adults. The American City Community Institute will be described in some detail later in this chapter. The system of eleven community institutes in the state of Columbia will be described in Chapter V. " Fifty-five percent in American City Community Institute, 9 percent elsewhere. For the most recent graduating classes, the data follow: Washington High School, 60 percent to American City Community Institute, 16 percent to other colleges and universities: Jefferson High School, 54 percent to A. C. C. I., 9 percent to others; Lincoln High School, $2 percent to A. C. C. I., 5 percent to others. [189] continue their education part time during their hours off work. “3. The purposes and programs of all our schools are now comprehensive, including both general and vocational education for all students. Perhaps I shouldn’t mention this, because the issue seems rather out of date. But I can remember that not much more than ten years ago the relative claims of general and vocational education were a subject of warm debate among some of our principals and teachers. The trouble was, I think, that each side tried to make it a case of either-or and didn’t see that it could be both-and. And the pity was that youngsters often suffered. Many went through our college preparatory and gen- eral curriculums with scarcely a thought about the relation of education to their work in the world. And many others were kept so busy with shop practice and related training that they had little time for anything else. “T don’t think you'll find many evidences of conflict on that subject nowadays. We got rid of most of our misunderstandings when we settled down to a serious study of the educational needs of boys and girls in their teens. Then the facts compelled us to agree that youth have a number of imperative needs, and that the school should help to meet them all. I shan’t go into the details, for you'll doubtless be looking into that study later on. But, most of us have agreed, I think, that preparation for a useful occupation should be one of the chief aims of education for all young people. We have also agreed that we should not exalt the vocational aim at the expense of such aims as civic competence and personal development. We think there is time to provide for all the important educational needs of all our youth in all our secondary schools if only we use our time wisely. “4, All youth now have access to similar educational services, regardless of place of residence or family income. No student is at a disadvantage because he happens to live in a less-favored part of the city, since all the high schools now have the same purposes and comparable programs. To be sure, each high school [190] ’ : offers training in two or three vocational fields not represented in the others. But a youth interested in one of these fields may attend the school where training is offered, no matter where he lives. _ “As to family income, few if any young people now feel any need to withdraw from school because of lack of money. A public requirement that all youth must remain in school through high school carries with it a public obligation to provide all youth with means of earning the money which they need for personal expenses. The schools, the public employment service, and employers together are operating a bureau of part-time em- ployment for students; and public funds for student aid have been appreciably increased by federal, state, and local action. These services of student aid extend to the community institute and to the colleges and universities as well, and make it possible for any student to meet the costs of education beyond high school. “5. Young people may now choose from a far greater num- ber and variety of fields of vocational education. Ten years ago, vocational education below the professional schools was re- stricted to those fields for which training could be provided during the years of high school with the limited equipment which we had in those days. Metal trades, machine shop, auto mechanics, electrical trades, some of the building trades, busi- ness education, retail selling, and homemaking were the possible choices—provided there wasn’t a waiting list because the shops were filled to capacity, as they often were. “Now that we have the community institute, the schools can offer training in many more fields. The institute gives advanced training in all the occupations taught in the high schools. It has staff and equipment which keep pace with newer industrial developments in such fields as air conditioning, refrigeration, airplane construction, air transportation, housing construction, radio and television, and the manufacture of syn- thetic products. It provides training for semiprofessional work- | [191] ers beyond the range of high-school education—for architec- tural and mechanical draftsmen, dietitians, technicians in medi- cal and industrial laboratories, assistants in doctors’ and dentists’ offices, accountants, recreational leaders, and some types of civil service work. In all, it offers courses in some three dozen oc- cupational fields of the city and the surrounding region. } “Students have a greater range of choices in high schools, too. The shop and laboratory space at each of the schools has been doubled or better; new equipment has put an end to waiting lists; and several new courses have been added. “6. Work experience under employment conditions is now included in the educational programs of most students at some time before they leave school. Some students, of course, have been working their way through school ever since schools were started; but for a long time only a few schools like Tuskegee and Antioch and Berea saw that there was a close connection between work and education. It is only recently that educators generally have recognized that the experience of working may be a highly important part of education for young people in the later teens. Ten years ago, many of our students were working part time for wages. But excepting a few students in distributive occupations and diversified trade and industrial occupations, all of this work was extracurriculum—including students’ work for NYA aid. ‘Today practically every student who expects to go into em- ployment from high school or community institute spends a period of time at productive work for wages, while he is still enrolled in school. The schools have the cooperation of a large number of employers, both private and public. If these em- ployers can’t furnish enough regular jobs to go around, student- aid funds are used to pay for work needed by public agencies. Each work experience project is selected and carried out under school supervision and is considered a part of the student’s edu- cational program. Many of the students who go on to college also ask for work experience projects. The staff does its best to [192] find jobs for them, too, for we think that everyone who wants this experience should have it. “7, Citizenship education now holds a foremost place in the programs of all schools. Long before I came to American City, there was a strong concern for citizenship education on the part of a number of teachers and principals; and ever since I’ve been here, I have seen that interest grow stronger and more wide- spread. But it has taken a long time to carry convictions into practice. Long-standing habits stood in the way. Courses in his- tory and other social studies were dominated by the purpose of knowledge for its own sake rather than knowledge for the sake of becoming a good practicing citizen. Student participation in school affairs was limited to extracurriculum activities, usually far removed from the realities of civic life outside the schools _and even from the more important affairs of the schools them- selves. Civic education too often ended where it should have begun—at the bounds of the schools. Oh, there were occasional field trips and excursions to the outside world, but not much more. “It has taken time to change these things. But our experiences of the depression, the war, and the postwar years have acted like rocket explosions to push us forward more rapidly than we might have gone otherwise. There is little doubt nowadays that almost everything else in life, in the long run, will depend on our ability to govern ourselves intelligently, as a nation, in the interests of the common good. Yes, our jobs will depend on that, and the security of our families, and our children’s opportunities —possibly, even, our sons’ lives. Nature never equipped a person with all the knowledge and skill and understanding that are needed by the average citizen of the United States today. Those things have to be learned, and the school is the agency chiefly responsible for teaching them. “Our teachers have restated the aims of citizenship education to agree with the demands made on citizens today. They have refashioned programs to agree with aims. They have developed [193] improved ways of admitting youth to participation in the planning and conduct of school and community activities. Students now have a larger share in making and carrying out policies and plans in their classes and in school affairs. Most im- portant of all, I think, they have far more opportunities for direct participation in civic affairs at the adult level. The schools are closing the gulf which used to separate the school from community. They are finding ways of making the com- munity both the training ground and the proving ground for citizenship education. “8. The city schools now serve many young people from the surrounding region. A few years ago, every school district was a world unto itself, with formidable tariff barriers to prevent the importing or exporting of children and youth. There were youngsters in our south-side suburbs who lived no more than two miles from Lincoln High School, yet who had to ride the bus twelve miles to school because they were in another district. ‘““Now we take it as a matter of course that one-third of the students in the community institute come from outside the city, chiefly from the twelve high schools of the surrounding region. These schools are virtually parts of our system. The superintendents and secondary-school principals of the region meet together several times a year, and the program of the com- munity institute is planned to serve youth from the smaller communities as well as from the city. “Our high schools are also serving suburban areas. There are only 5000 people in the south-side suburbs, and they are folks of moderate means. Most of their children now attend Lincoln High School, their district paying the cost of instruction. I ex- pect that this area will soon be annexed to our American City district. Our northern suburbs have a large high school and a good one. But it cannot offer education in as many vocational fields as our city schools. So around 150 students from the Woodland Park district are attending one or another of the city high schools. [194] “9. Guidance is now provided for all students. Ten years ago, we talked a great deal about guidance and practiced it but little. The fault lay chiefly with us administrators, I think. We did not allow the teachers enough time to do a good job of guidance, and we did not provide the special personnel that was needed. “Today things are different. The teachers have time; the schools have personnel. We could use more of both, of course, but we have made great advances. ‘““Now the schools are able to supply continuous guidance throughout the secondary period—from seventh grade through fourteenth. The main responsibility falls on the teachers. But we also have a few counselors in each school to do certain things that teachers cannot readily do, and we have a small staff of specialists in the central office to assist the teachers and coun- selors. | ‘““Has the guidance service increased our costs? Yes, indeed. Quite appreciably. Guidance requires time, and time for guid- ance is counted as a part of the teachers’ regular schedules. But have you ever thought of the cost of the lack of guidance? We have—in terms of early withdrawals, failures, and retardations —and the total is appalling. When the board of education real- ized the costly waste resulting from mass education without guidance, they were more disposed to be favorable to staff recommendations that guidance services should be increased. “10. The schools now supply continuing education and guid- ance for young people after they leave full-time school. Back in depression days, people were greatly concerned about out-of- school youth and with good reason. For in those days, when a youngster left school he was through with school and the school was through with him—provided that he had passed the age of compulsory attendance. Of course, the schools had part-time and evening classes for those who wanted them. But they made little systematic effort to find out what happened to their own products. “We don’t talk much about out-of-school youth nowadays— [195] because both our thinking and our practice on that subject have changed. The schools have been trying to get rid of the idea that a person’s connection with school ends when he graduates or withdraws from a full-time course. That requires changes in the attitudes of teachers and principals, as well as of boys and girls. “We see encouraging evidences of progress. Nowadays it is taken for granted that someone from the schools is going to try to keep in touch with every boy or girl who graduates or leaves, until each one is well started on the next step of his or her career—whether that be a job, a home, or a college course. And every youth knows, before he leaves school, that the doors of the community institute are open to him whenever he wants to enrol in a course or to talk with a teacher or counselor. I told you, I think, that over 40 percent return for part-time courses. “We have several counselors who give their time chiefly to these youth who no longer attend school full time. They look after the boys and girls who move in from other places, as well as our own city youth. Many of the youngsters, of course, do not need any help. If so, that is fine! Nothing delights the heart of an educator more than young people who are self-starters and self-directors. But some are in urgent need of help because some of life’s most perplexing problems may be encountered along the road from youth into early adult life. Our job of educating youth is not finished when boys and girls graduate. It is finished only when schools have supplied whatever guidance and instruction may be needed to help young people through the critical steps of transition to adult life.” How CHANGES IN YOUTH EDUCATION OCCURRED If the reader agrees that progress has been made, he will doubt- less ask, as we have asked: ‘““How were these changes brought about? By what processes did the educators and the other citizens of American City move from the conventional secondary education of prewar years to the greatly enlarged program of educational services which we [196] find today? And how was it possible to speed up the processes of improvement so as to produce these changes within the short span of less than a decade?” Indeed, the answers to these questions may well be more im- portant than the changes. The American City educational pro- gram is not a finished model to be copied. It is the product, still in the making, of a long process of cooperative planning and action which still goes on. Other communities will have to work out their own solutions to their own educational problems. They will doubtless profit more by studying the process of change in American City than by merely observing the results of the process. It is difficult to select a starting point for the recent changes in youth education in American City. In a sense, they are the latest stages in the process of improvement that has been going on since the first public high school was established here in 1874. After the first World War, this process was accelerated. Throughout the years between the wars, committees of educators worked to improve curriculums and to suit the programs of the schools to the diverse needs of their constantly growing student bodies. The experiences of the depression gave added impetus, as we have seen, especially to the efforts to serve older youth who go directly from the schools into employment. The changes of the last few years, however, have been far more profound and have occurred much more rapidly than those of the preceding decades. Perhaps we may choose 1943 as a starting point, for it was then that several influences converged to in- tensify the concern of educators for the improvements in youth education which the times demanded. Four Factors Which Stimulated Educational Planning 1. Termination of the Federal Youth Agencies The NYA was discontinued as of July 1, 1943; the CCC, a few months earlier. Both agencies had been started during the [197] depression, primarily to give work to youth who were out of school and unable to secure regular employment. True, both programs had other values. The CCC had added to the national wealth through various conservation projects, road building, construction of public parks, and other types of public works in which labor constitutes the major cost. The NYA had pro- vided funds for student aid in high schools and colleges, to be earned by productive work. It had also given more and more attention to the training of needy out-of-school youth in sal- able skills. One can discern at least three reasons why these agencies were terminated. Wartime demands for manpower had sharply re- duced unemployment among youth. Pressure increased to re- duce governmental expenditures in all nonwar activities. More and more people recognized the dangers inherent in any program for the education of youth which shifted the control of educa- tion from state and local agencies to the federal government. Educators particularly were concerned over this last point, as the NYA became increasingly an agency for education. The closing of the federal youth agencies did not mean, how- ever, that problems of youth education had been solved—as thoughtful educators everywhere well knew. It simply meant that, for the time being, the federal government had with- drawn from direct action in this field. It meant that the re- sponsibility for planning and operating educational services for youth was once more wholly in the hands of state and local agencies. It meant that it was imperative for the schools so to improve their educational services for youth that never again would the federal government feel called upon to set up a youth agency under its own control to supply vocational training, work experience, and related education. 2. The Training Program for War Production Workers We have already seen how the schools of American City, be- ginning in June 1940, were quickly engaged in the task of train- [198] ing workers for the rapidly growing war industries. By the summer of 1943, they had prepared some 7500 persons to go into the city’s war plants and had supplied supplementary training for almost as many already employed in war production. The immediate purpose, of course, was to train manpower for war industry. But a number of important long-term conse- quences flowed from the program: For one thing, more people— especially employers—came to recognize that the schools were capable of preparing workers fit to enter at once into employ- ment. For another, the schools’ cooperation with employers, labor, and the public employment service led to mutual under- standing and the will to continue to work together in peace- time. It was demonstrated, moreover, that the nation’s schools, under decentralized state and local control, could operate efh- ciently in meeting a national emergency need requiring co- ordinated action while conserving the values of local initiative and resourcefulness. At the same time, the principle was estab- lished in practice that the federal government should supply financial support for programs to meet needs which are na- tional in character. The need for more widespread and more adequate vocational education was made clear, and the value of vocational educa- tion to society as well as to the individual was demonstrated with dramatic force. A large number of competent teachers in voca- tional fields emerged in the course of this program—many of them people who had not taught before. New equipment for industrial training, costing many millions of dollars, was added to the nation’s school plant. Both teachers and plant were avail- able for postwar use. Let us not suppose that the educators of American City looked upon the war production training program as a model for per- manent education. They were well aware of the limitations of such an emergency war measure. The program was exclusively vocational, with no provision for either civic or cultural educa- tion. The vocational training was narrowly specialized. Most [199] men and women were trained to perform a few operations on specific jobs. There was but little guidance, little use of scientific methods of selecting personnel. Granting these shortcomings, the program nevertheless had a strong impact on education in general. It inspired public confidence in the schools; and it strengthened the faith of educators that the public schools, given intelligent planning and adequate financial support, would here- after be able to equip all youth with the skills and knowledge needed to get and hold a job. 3. Widespread Interest in Postwar Planning By the summer of 1943, it was already apparent that the end of the war would bring a host of complex problems, extending to practically every phase of American life. Intelligent fore- sight was called for to anticipate these problems and to plan how they could best be met. Governmental agencies—federal, state, and local—national organizations of businessmen, labor, and agriculture, and many other associations of citizens began to engage in a multitude of postwar planning activities. In many ways, the impact of this movement was felt in the schools. School people were reading the reports of planning agencies, at- tending conferences, and serving on local committees dealing with postwar problems. It would have been strange indeed had they not turned their attention to postwar planning in their own field of education. The last reports issued by the National Resources Planning Board dealt comprehensively with national problems in the period following the war, and included a section on education.” The Bureau of Labor Statistics, the War Manpower Commis- sion, and other agencies collaborated in estimating the employ- ment situation and occupational trends of the postwar years.” 8 National Resources Planning Board. National Resources Development Report for 1943. Part I, “Post-War Plan and Program.” Washington, D. C.: Superintendent of Documents, 1943. ™ National Resources Planning Board. Demobilization and Readjustment. Washington, D. C.: Superintendent of Documents, 1943. [200] Congressional groups, especially the Senate and House commit- tees on postwar problems, likewise addressed themselves to the task of foreseeing the major problems and preparing to deal with them. National nongovernmental bodies were also active. The com- mittee on economic development was organized by businessmen to encourage and assist private enterprise throughout the coun- try to devise ways for expanding its output and employment in order to maintain production and take up the impending slack in jobs at the end of the war. It set up regional and district organizations and local committees. A local committee became active in American City. It brought together not only employers and labor officials, but also public representatives, including the superintertdent of schools and a member of the board of educa- tion. The superintendent, in turn, discussed the committee’s proposals with the school staff, in order to note the implications for education. It was clear, for example, that a great deal of training and retraining would be required for the workers in local industries. The National Planning Association had been engaged for some years in studying and recommending plans for coping with economic and social problems. Its findings were published in a series of “Planning Pamphlets.” * As the war advanced, increasing attention was directed to the postwar period. The editors of Fortune magazine prepared and published a series of reports on “The United States in a New World.” Teachers in the American City schools used these and similar publications in social studies and other classes and inevitably thought more about the kind of educational program for youth that would be required in the America envisioned by the postwar planners. At the state level there was action, too. Early in 1943 the governor had appointed the state committee on postwar plan- ning. It included key state officials and also selected representa- * National Planning Association, 800 21st Street, N. W., Washington, D. C. [201] tives of industry, labor, local government, and other impor- =a tant interests. Education was represented on the committee and — on the agenda. The state superintendent of public instruc- tion called conferences and named committees: to examine the needs for education and to make proposals for educational im- provement at the state and local levels. American City school people shared in these deliberations and were stimulated further to develop their local plans. Comparable things were happening in American City it- self. Committees to consider local plans for the postwar period were set up by many of the agencies and associations in the community, such as federation of women’s clubs; the League of Women Voters; the citizens housing council; the chamber of commerce; the county federation of labor, AFL; and the county council, CIO. Some neighborhood groups, too—par- ent-teacher associations, civilian defense committees, and com- munity improvement associations—began to work on plans for. bettering their sections of the city. Teachers and school adminis- trators were members of many of these planning groups. In- deed, more often than not, neighborhood planning was centered in some school. The mayor soon appointed a city council on postwar plan-— ning which attempted, for a time, to coordinate planning ac- tivities by means of conferences and committees. It soon be- came evident, however, that the volume of planning was too great to be handled by voluntary service alone. The council therefore recommended that the city planning commission be supplied with a larger staff and budget and that its func- tions be enlarged to include the coordination of all planning in the city and its suburbs.** These things were shortly accom- plished. % As a coordinating agency, the city planning commission exercised no control over planning by private organizations and other public agencies, such as schools and libraries. These all continued to be members of the city council on postwar planning, which served as an advisory body to the city planning commission. The latter, of course, continued to perform its appropriate functions of planning as an agency of municipal government. [202] 4. Wartime Experiences in the Schools Of all the influences which stimulated educational planning, the most potent were those which grew out of wartime expe- riences within the regular programs of the schools. Immediately after Pearl Harbor, a meeting of principals was held to consider ways in which the schools could be geared into the expanded war effort. The schools responded promptly— particularly the secondary schools, since their pupils were near the age of military service. Plans were quickly perfected for protection against possible air raids. The physical education activities were intensified. First aid was introduced as a re- quired unit for all twelfth graders. Preparations were made for the preflight training that was urged by the military authorities. The superintendent of schools was one of the hundreds of school officials present at the National Institute on Education and the War held in Washington in August 1942. On his return to American City, machinery was immediately set in - motion to introduce preinduction training courses and to take some of the other steps that had been recommended at the In- stitute. An all-day conference for principals and supervisors was used to acquaint them with the problems and suggestions | presented at the Institute and to invite them to think about the adjustments which the schools could and should make on behalf of the total war effort. Following this conference, each principal met several times with the teachers in his building, for similar purposes. Indeed, in many schools, the educational implications of the war became the major theme of teachers’ meetings. | Some changes in education followed rather quickly. Most evident, of course, was the emphasis in secondary schools on learning experiences that prepared directly for service in the war—physical fitness programs for all, preinduction courses for boys, and training of both boys and girls for work in war industry. [203] More and more teachers learned to work in groups which cut across conventional divisions of subjectmatter and admin- istrative units. More and more teachers learned to deal with problems in terms of the entire school, the neighborhood, or the city. More and more teachers learned to think in terms of the entire range of needs of children and communities. More and more teachers learned to work with groups of parents, youth, and other citizens representing cross sections of neigh- borhoods and areas of the city. Best of all, more and more teachers became deeply concerned for the individual boys and girls in their classes and earnestly sought to know their pupils better and to help them meet the impact of the war on their lives. As the school year of 1942-43 moved on, teachers, princi- pals, and the superintendent began to think increasingly of what would happen in education after the war ended. They felt that reasonable progress was being made in “gearing the schools to the war effort,” the common phrase at that period. They knew full well that the schools had not been ready for the war; they feared that the schools might not be ready for the peace. The superintendent’s staff, the principals, several of the school faculties, the teachers association, and other groups such as the social studies club and the association of voca- tional teachers gave more and more time and thought to the problems of postwar planning for education. It was soon ap- parent that a unified and concerted attack on the matter was essential if the entire system was to benefit fully from the thinking of these various groups. The Board of Education Authorized Educational — Planning and Supplied Funds Mr. Carlisle, the superintendent, who had followed these movements with far greater care than we have been able to sketch them, believed that the time had come to lay the matter [204] ee ae of long-term educational planning before the board of educa- tion. He therefore proposed that (1) the board go on record as recognizing its most pressing concern to be the development of a comprehensive plan for a system of public education that would meet the needs of all children and youth during the postwar years; (2) the superintendent be authorized to set up an official commission on postwar education made up of per- sonnel in the school system, and a citizens’ advisory council on postwar education made up of representatives of the commu- nity interests chiefly concerned; (3) the teaching and admin- istrative staff in each school be urged to share fully in the plan- ning, and that provision be made for full consideration of their suggestions; and (4) funds be set aside continuously for a period of years, up to 2 percent of the school operating budget, for financing the additional research, cooperative planning, and public relations necessary “if a really effective program is to result that the teachers can conduct and the public will endorse and support.” These proposals aroused the interest of the board as noth- ing had done in years. They became the chief item of business at a series of board meetings. Representatives of interested community agencies and organizations appeared before the board and endorsed the proposals. So did leaders of teachers’ organizations. In due time, the board gave its unanimous ap- proval. It expressed a desire to meet with the new commis- sion on postwar education, as soon as the commission’s work was under way. One member suggested an all-day session of the two groups, to allow time for discussion and deliberation. This proposal was received with favor, and the superintendent was authorized to arrange for this and other joint meetings “fat least twice in each calendar year, and at such other times as may be deemed advisable.” Moreover, the board voted to make progress in planning postwar education an item on the agenda of all its regular meetings. [205] The Commission on Postwar Education The superintendent proceeded at once to appoint the com- mission on postwar education. This body was made responsi- ble for ‘developing and recommending to the superintendent, and through him to the board of education, such educational policies, plans, and programs for the public schools of Ameri- can City, as it deems desirable for the best interests of children and youth in this community.” The commission’s primary function was to be policy formulation. But it was also to have direction of the research, teacher education, and public inter- pretation attendant upon policy-making. One of the most capable men in the school system, the assistant principal of Jefferson High School, was released from his duties and assigned full time to this project as executive secretary for the com- mission.” The commission was made up initially of a principal and a teacher from senior high schools, a principal and a teacher from junior high schools, two elementary-school principals, two elementary-school teachers, the director of instruction and curriculum, the supervisor of vocational education, the direc- tor of research, and the executive secretary—twelve in all. The principals and teachers were chosen primarily on the basis of their general competence and their interest in postwar plan- ning, secondarily to insure as wide representation as possible of subject fields and other special interests. Both the superintendent and the board of education were eager to have the new plans founded on a broad base of par- ticipation, not only by educators, but by parents, youth, and other citizens as well. However, instead of setting up elaborate © machinery at the beginning, they authorized the new com- mission to propose ways of involving a larger number of school personnel in the planning, and to develop methods for working 7 The time required for the work of the commission and of its four major committees soon increased to the point where it was necessary for the schools to release the members from a part of their teaching and administrative duties. The money for postwar planning voted by the board of education made it possible to provide substitutes at such times. [206] effectively with the citizens’ advisory council, the city plan- ning commission, the parent-teacher associations, employer and labor organizations, and the like. The Citizens’? Advisory Council on Postwar Education After organizing the commission on postwar education and seeing it well started, the superintendent of schools proceeded to appoint the citizens’ advisory council on postwar education.” This was a relatively large body, necessarily so in order to repre- sent the numerous interests in the community that had a stake in the public schools. With the advice of the commission on postwar education, the superintendent selected the groups to be represented and invited each group to name at least one member of the council.”® In nearly every case his invitation was accepted with an assurance of interest. Thirty-nine organizations were initially represented. Others were added later. American Association of University Women American Legion Art Institute — Associated Luncheon Clubs (men) Board of Education Boys’ Club Boy Scouts Campfire Girls Catholic Youth Organization Chamber of Commerce Children’s Aid Society Citizens’ League City Federation of Churches * Not to be confused with the council on postwar planning, a citywide body concerned with planning in all fields, and acting in an advisory capacity to the city planning commission. (See page 202.) Mr. Carlisle, the superintendent of schools, was a member of the council on postwar planning and made it clear to the members of that body that the citizens’ advisory council on postwar education, being concerned only with educational planning, would not duplicate or encroach upon the work of the inclusive group. More than one in a few cases of larger groups and organizations especially close to the schools, such as the parent-teacher association. [207] City Congress of Parents and Teachers City Department of Health City Department of Public Welfare City Department of Recreation City Planning Commission City Police Department Committee on Economic Development (local committee) Council of Social Agencies County Bureau of Social Aid County Council, CIO County Federation of Labor, AFL County Juvenile Court Dom Polski Employers’ Association Federation of Women’s Clubs Girl Scouts Jewish Community Center League of Women Voters Public Employment Service Public Library Retail Merchants Association St. Vincent de Paul Society Urban League Veterans of Foreign Wars Young Men’s Christian Association Young Women’s Christian Association. The functions proposed for the citizens’ advisory council were (1) to assemble and present evidence of the needs in the community—especially among children and youth—that should be met by an improved educational program in the schools; (2) to review critically the reports of studies and the recommenda- tions prepared by the commission on postwar education and to suggest improvements; and (3) to keep their agencies and organizations informed as to the development of educational plans and programs. In order to carry out these functions, the council agreed to have regular meetings six times a year and to hold such special meetings as might be required. [208] The citizens’ advisory council elected its own chairman, and the chairman was made a member of the commission on postwar education, thus providing a continuous liaison between these two major planning bodies. Some organizations, of course, took their responsibilities more seriously than others. The more active agencies set up their own committees and study groups, supplied important data to the commission, initiated recommendations and proposals, and were both frank and constructive in their criticisms. In the later _ stages, they were particularly helpful in enlisting widespread community support—a matter of prime importance, since the new program eventually involved some radical changes in peo- ple’s ways of thinking about education, as well as sizable in- creases in current expenditures and a large outlay for buildings and equipment. The members of the congress of parents and teachers, with more at stake than any other group, were most diligent of all. They not only cooperated on all citywide enter- prises; they also organized neighborhood parents’ committees which: worked with the faculties of individual schools and as- sumed a good share of the responsibility for bringing in other neighborhood groups. The services of the two major bodies of organized labor and of the chamber of commerce and the employers’ association should also be mentioned. Without the constructive aid which was given by management and labor, the plans for occupational training and work experience would surely have been far less adequate. The Commission on Postwar Education Goes to Work As we turn now to follow the work of the commission on postwar education for a time, let us remember that the com- mission did not work alone. It constantly drew large numbers of teachers into the processes of planning and experimenting. It frequently referred its findings and recommendations to the citizens’ advisory council on postwar education for review [209] and criticism. And from time to time it submitted reports to the superintendent of schools and the board of education for criti- cism and adoption. Taking Stock of the Schools As one of its first acts, the commission made a quick analysis of the situation within the schools and of the relations between the schools and the community, in order to estimate its limita- tions and resources. What were the chief obstacles to improve- . ment of education in the schools? In the community? How could these best be overcome? And what were the chief re- sources in schools and community? How could these best be utilized? Is it possible, the commission asked, for a large city- school system to make far-reaching changes in its program and act both intelligently and rapidly? If so, what conditions are favorable to such action? The commission’s first findings were sobering to those who had expected that change would come suddenly and with little effort, when once the need had been made clear. 1. The Teachers First, about the teachers. Their average (median) age was forty-three. Sixty percent had been teaching in the American City schools for ten years or more. In the senior high schools, at least, they were primarily people who had specialized in par- ticular subjectmatter areas in college. They were organized into departments, each of which had considerable power and the disposition to “fight for its subject.” Most teachers took pride in teaching their own subjects well. Until the war there had been little crossing of departmental lines, little cooperative planning in terms of individual needs. Indeed, in prewar days the feel- ing was prevalent that the individual teacher did not count for much in the determination of policies, either in the individual school or in the school system as a whole. Only through their [210] teacher associations were teachers powerful; and their collective efforts in these organizations had recently been directed to mat- ters of teacher welfare more than to basic improvements in education. : There were hopeful features, however. Most of the teachers were proud of their school system and loyal to it. They liked to think of it as a progressive system, one which moved forward with the times. Many of them attended summer schools and summer workshops and returned with new ideas about the im- provement of their work as individual teachers or principals. They were ready to accept and even to initiate minor changes within the established educational framework. It was doubtful, however, that they were yet convinced that major changes were needed and that they would have to be made quickly. Nevertheless, as we have just seen, the events of recent years had left their marks on patterns of thought and action. The charge often heard in the depression years, that “the high schools have failed in their duties to millions of boys and girls,” was extremely disturbing to many conscientious teachers, who saw that charge supported by the flow of youth into the CCC and the NYA. And the experiences of wartime had shaken many a teacher out of his accustomed routine of subject teaching, thrown him into all-school and all-neighborhood activities, and made him far more sensitive to educational problems and needs. A spirit of expectation of change was abroad, and was growing —but as yet it lacked a clear sense of direction. 2. Public Relations Public relations were good, but in a negative way. There was relatively little criticism of the schools by parents and citizens. Those who dropped out of school along the way left quietly, without protest. Local financial support compared favorably with that in similar cities elsewhere. The board of education was composed, on the whole, of able, respected people; and the last “‘big fight” over a board election had occurred so long ago 211] that only a few people remembered it. There were parent- teacher associations in every school, some large and active, some small and ineffective—depending largely on who the officers happened to be and on the amount of time and thought which the principal and the school staff were disposed to give to PTA affairs. Care was taken to interpret the schools to the community through published annual reports, newspaper publicity, occa- sional “‘open houses” in the schools, radio programs, and the like. Little provision had been made, however, to bring either parents or any other lay groups into the process of policy-making or planning. Practically no machinery existed for two-way com- munication between members of the school staffs and the great body of citizens in whose hands, in the last analysis, rest the deci- sions regarding educational policy. Here again, however, as we have seen, things were changing. The war brought problems on, which parents had to be con- sulted; and from these it was easy and natural to move on to other questions of school policy. People in neighborhoods began to come together more often to work on one wartime task or another, often meeting at the school; and teachers frequently were members of such groups. When these groups came, as they often did, to talk about what they wanted their neighborhoods to be in the years ahead, it was natural that they should talk about schools and education. Yes, there was a new spirit of public relations in the air, a new-born spirit, sorely in need of nourishment and direction—but alive and growing. 3. Procedures Finally, the commission looked at the machinery of the school system and found it highly standardized. General rules and reg- ulations had been developed to cover most contingencies. They worked, but they worked slowly. They did not encourage origi- \ nality and boldness in meeting problems. Supplies were stand- ardized, and new types of materials had to run a long gantlet before they could be secured. The procedure for adopting new [212] texts, supplementary books, and library books took so long that usually a book could not be bought until at least two years after it had been published. Student trips during school hours were far too few because of the “red tape” necessary in making the arrangements. Administrative units were sharply separated from each other. Schedules of classes in high schools were set up months in advance, and changes were looked upon with disfavor. , All this meant, of course, that the commission would have to give attention to the obstacle of “red tape.” This was a prob- lem primarily for the board of education and for the superin- tendent and his staff, and the commission was assured of their cooperation. Studying Conditions That Lead to Constructive Change Having taken stock of these matters, the commission next asked the questions: What are the conditions under which im- provements in educational systems take place? What can we learn from experiences elsewhere that will help us to bring about change on the scale and with the speed that will likely be needed in these times? Of course, there was the obvious answer. Some changes occur as results of direct orders from superior authority. One could point to the past for evidence. The state legislature had enacted a law requiring the teaching of civics in every high school; the local board of education had directed that high-school gradua- tion requirements should include a course in economics; the council of principals, with the approval of the superintendent, had directed that.a unit in traffic-safety education be included in the eleventh grade; a department head had directed that the study of The Merchant of Venice be discontinued. And all these things had been done. But now the situation was different. Here were questions far more complex and basic than whether one more course should be pies) taught here or one less unit there. Here was the problem of reexamining the entire program of the schools in the light of the needs of children and youth and of postwar American society. No individual or board would be wise enough to write the final answer to this problem and to issue edicts that it be carried into effect. And even if the.superior authority could do these things, it would accomplish little by doing so. For what was needed was far more than changes in courses and techniques. Changes were needed in the attitudes and practices of teachers .1:d school ad- ministrators—changes in their ways of thinking about the pur- poses of education, about pupils and their needs, about the rela- tions of schools to the community and the nation. Comparable changes were needed on the part of parents and the lay public. Such changes, it was clear, could not be brought about by orders. The problem, at heart, was one of educating teachers and admin- istrators in service. Just at this time, it happened, the Commission on Teacher Education of the American Council on Education began to pub- lish the reports of its four-year cooperative study. Among other things, the staff of that Commission had shared in and observed the programs of in-service education of teachers in twenty-six cooperating school systems. One chapter of the report, entitled “Conditions Essential to Continued Progress,” was particularly helpful to the group in American City, for it dealt with pre- cisely the problem which then confronted them, and it was based on experience in a number of school systems. The report was first studied by the American City Commission on Postwar Education, and then was circulated widely among the teachers and administrators of the system. So far-reaching was its influ- ence that we quote the sections which summarize the main points: Efforts to align in-service education activities with some con- cept of the ideal school which has not been accepted by the teachers, or with some comprehensive pattern which goes be- yond the teachers’ sense of need, cannot be expected to suc- eced. [214] , In summary, we believe that the experience with the schools in the cooperative study has demonstrated that: 1. Given proper conditions, teachers will readily join together in an effort to do better what they conceive to be their jobs. 2. When people go to work on jobs that to them seem im- portant, personal growth and program improvement become closely intertwined. 3. Given proper conditions, the teachers’ conceptions of their jobs will broaden and also come to relate more closely to the needs of contemporary society. The report then turned to consideration of the meaning of “proper conditions,” and continued: Conditions Favorable to Voluntary Enlistment and Continued Efforts toward Program Improvement A first and basic condition for enlistment and keeping the members of a staff at work is that the jobs on which they work should truly seem to them to be their jobs, tasks whose accom- plishment seems both appropriate and important. A second condition is that individuals should work on jobs where they can make a positive contribution. .. . A third condition that has seemed to contribute to individual enlistment and continuous work on program improvement is that a high degree of flexibility should be maintained with refer- ence to all group activity and all related individual activity. A fourth condition that has many times been demonstrated to be of major importance is that people should work as friends and equals; equals in the sense of assurance of mutual accept- ance without regard to title or position. A fifth condition basic to keeping We guia personnel at work on program improvement is that the means for con- verting thought into action should be such as to permit a reasonably easy and continuous flow. However, the report continued: We cannot afford to let the matter rest here. It is not enough to be merely active in program improvement. . . . Ac- tivity in itself would not necessarily lead rapidly, if indeed it [215] would ultimately, to positive changes in keeping with current needs. The question was therefore raised: What are the proper conditions under which the teachers’ conceptions of their jobs will broaden and come to relate more closely to the needs of contemporary society? The answer was given: Conditions Conducive to Working on Jobs of Social Significance A first condition for insuring the readiness of a school per- sonnel for jobs of social significance is that a rich association should be maintained between the professional personnel and the youth and adults of the school community. A second condition for insuring the readiness ofr schadl per- sonnel for jobs of social significance is that the personnel should have rich association with important social ideas and ideals.”° Acknowledging its debt to the Commission on Teacher Edu- cation and to other searchers for the conditions favorable to educational improvement,” the American City Commission on Postwar Education proceeded to work out its own solutions, as we shall see presently. Settling Some Questions of Procedure and Policy 1. How To Move from Planning to Action The commission made some important decisions at its early meetings. Two alternatives as to procedure were considered. One was to formulate a comprehensive plan for education in American City’s schools, and then to conduct an aggressive campaign to “‘sell” the plan to the board of education, the teach- ers, and the public, with a view to adoption of the plan in its entirety. » Prall, C. E., and Cushman, C. L. Teacher Education in Service. Wahington, D. C.: Com- mission on Teacher Education of the American Council on Education, 1944. ** For example, Paul R. Mort and Francis G. Cornell, whose book, American Schools in Transition, was studied by the Commission. (New York: Teachers College, Columbia Uni- versity, 1941. 456 p.) [216] The other, more difficult to state precisely, would likewise begin with an inclusive plan, based on a careful study of edu- ‘cational needs. This plan, however, would be thought of as tentative, subject to continuous revision and improvement. Teachers and lay citizens would be invited to review it and propose ways of making it better. Groups of teachers and en- tire schools would be encouraged to experiment within the framework of the plan. The results of experiments would be reported and appraised. Whenever any portion of the proposed program seemed worthy of general acceptance, it would be carried into practice as rapidly as possible. The commission accepted the second alternative. Thus it was possible to go forward with parts of the projected program, without waiting for acceptance of the whole. And thus the comprehensive plan was kept sufficiently flexible to allow it to be improved in the light of experience as an operating policy. 2. Plans Should Outreach Current Practices Moreover, the commission early decided that it would not immure its thinking within the existing educational structure and program, but would rather seek to envision the best pos- sible structure and program for the future. It would not limit its outlook to the clientele then enrolled in the school system but would try to devise ways to take care of the children and youth who were not being served by the schools, but who had a just claim on public educational services—notably children under five and the many out-of-school youth from fifteen to twenty-one. It would not restrict its planning to what might be accomplished within the limits of the funds then available for education but would portray the educational program which American City needed and then try to find ways to finance the program. In short, the commission assumed that the claim of education on public funds was second only to that of national defense and sought to formulate a plan by which the schools of American City might render all the educational [217] services needed by all the children and youth of the city. It followed the example of military authorities in wartime who stated what was required to insure victory and assumed that the nation would provide the funds. 3. Achieving a Balance between Centralization and Decentrali- zation Still another problem was that of finding the right balance and working relationship between centralized and decentralized planning. On the one hand, it seemed clear that sound planning required considerable decentralization. The commission’s twelve mem- bers knew that they alone could not develop an adequate and workable plan. They would need to mobilize and use the best thinking of the entire professional staff, parents, youth, and leaders in community agencies. They were convinced that they would have to rely on teachers—working close to children, youth, and parents in their schools and neighborhoods—for much of the materials required for a picture of educational needs. They believed that groups of teachers, dealing with problems which they could reach out and touch in their own schools and neighborhoods, would be one of the most fertile sources of constructive ideas about educational services. They wanted to develop a plan which would be flexible, adaptable to the varying needs of neighborhoods—one which would stimu- late rather than suppress the initiative and resourcefulness of school faculties. Moreover, since the teachers eventually would have to operate the plan, it seemed only common sense to con- clude that they could operate it better if they understood and approved it because they had helped to make it. Out of considerations like these came a decision to invite every school in the system to become a unit in the citywide planning. The faculty of each school was to choose the problems which seemed to it most important in terms of its own pupils and neighborhood. The commission arranged to meet periodically [218] with representatives of all schools, not simply to hear reports of these individual school projects, but to put these local studies and experiments together and see what larger picture might be emerging. Each school faculty could go about its planning as seemed best to it, but it might call on the commission staff and the research division for a reasonable amount of assistance.” On the other hand, there were at least two good reasons why some phases of planning should be centralized. Many of the conditions which bulked large in postwar educational planning were conditions of the city or the region, not of neighborhoods alone. Employment was cited as an example. Most of the people of American City were not employed in the neighbor- hoods in which they lived, and only a few people lived in the industrial and business section of the city where most of the people were employed. Employers’ organizations and labor unions were citywide rather than neighborhood groups. Em- ployment, occupational trends, and the planning of vocational education all had to be approached largely, though not ex- clusively, through centralized planning. So also with some as- pects of government, public health, and recreation—though in these fields the citywide and neighborhood conditions were more evenly balanced. Time, furthermore, was of the essence. The schools had to be ready to meet the problems and needs which would surely be present as soon as the war should end—and the war might end within a year. Moreover, in order to be ready at the end of the war, the schools had to begin to do some things well in advance of that time. Therefore it was necessary for the commission to draw up some tentative plans rather quickly and then to improve them in the light of critical reviews by staff and lay- men as the continuation of the war gave them opportunity to do so. This balance of decentralized and centralized planning proved *8 The reader is reminded that the board of education had appropriated a sum equal to 2 percent of the schools’ operating budget to cover additional costs involved in postwar planning. [219] quite satisfactory. The faculty in each school, working with parents, students, and neighborhood agencies, selected the prob- lems that seemed most important to it and concentrated its work on these. The citywide commission on postwar educa- tion, with the aid of various committees and with the advice of the citizens’ advisory council, brought together the work of the individual school staffs and formulated over-all plans and policies. These statements, in turn, were reviewed by school faculties and committees of various teachers’ and principals’ organizations before they were submitted to the superintendent of schools and the board of education. 4. The Use of Citywide Committees Citywide committees were needed to assist the commission on postwar education, but it was not clear at first how they should be organized. After considering the possibilities of stand - ing committees by subject fields and standing committees by age-groups of children, the commission decided to have no permanent committees. Instead, it decided to appoint a tem- porary committee whenever a problem calling for special study might arise, choosing people well qualified to deal with that particular problem. Under this policy, committees were soon at work studying such problems as the educational needs of chil- dren under six years of age; employment trends and opportuni- ties in American City; the out-of-school youth in the city and its environs; the needs for public education beyond the twelfth grade; the essentials of an adequate program of vocational edu- cation; and plans for guidance in secondary schools. Whenever a committee completed its work, it was honorably discharged; and other committees were appointed as new problems required attention. Thus a sizable proportion of the schools’ staffs par- ticipated in the planning through committee service. Some Early Experiments Under these policies, school faculties and individual teachers were encouraged to go ahead at once with experiments looking [220] toward better education. Practically every school set up its own committee on postwar education, and the records of these committees show that the new spirit of planning and experi- mentation quickly pervaded each school, and gave rise to a mul- titude of enterprises. A report of what happened during the first year would fill a separate volume, but it will be instructive for us to look briefly at a few of these experiments in the sec- ondary schools and see how they became materials out of which the inclusive program later was fashioned. Any single experience, taken by itself, may not seem to be of great sigmifi- cance. But when we remember that these educational ventures were multiplied by dozens, yes, by hundreds, we begin to see their importance. There is the story of the development of a unit on industrial and labor relations. The social studies teachers at Lincoln High School noted the large number of boys and girls leaving the school to work in factories. They talked with some of them after they had been at work for a few weeks or months and became convinced that the schools were giving these young workers practically no understanding of labor unions, collective bargaining, social security, and the many other nontechnical matters connected with holding a job. The majority of these teachers worked in factories during the summer of 1944. joined unions, and learned everything they could from the point of view of beginning workers. At the end of the summer, they talked with their employers, seeking a fair understanding of their point of view. Then, in cooperation with vocational teach- ers and with help from some recently published materials in the field,” they worked out units on industrial and labor rela- tions which included old age and unemployment insurance, wages and hours laws, workmen’s compensation, safety pro- visions, and government mediation and arbitration, as well as * Particularly, The American Story of Industrial and Labor Relations. Albany, N. Y.: New York State Joint Legislative Committee on Industrial and Labor Conditions, 1943. 315 p. [221] labor unions and employer-employee relations. Students were helped to understand federal and state regulation of child labor, the work permit system, and other aspects of labor regulation that would affect them personally when they first went into paid employment. The units were tried out at Lincoln, revised, and continued. Teachers at Jefferson and Washington heard about them through the channels set up to share such informa- tion and decided to try something comparable in their schools. These teachers said that it was quite as important for boys and girls who were headed for management and the professions to understand these matters, as for those going into factories and stores. Indeed, they added, government was now playing such a large part in labor relations that every citizen ought to have an understanding of the fundamentals of the subject. All this led in turn to the inclusion of industrial and labor relations as one of the areas later included in the new course on “Common Learnings.” : There is also the story of the three teachers at Jefferson High School who agreed to join in an effort to promote pupil growth in family living through their respective fields—English, social studies, and home economics. Arrangements were made for them to have the same pupils, though in separate classes. They worked out their objectives together and planned their three courses so that there were certain periods during the year in which all three converged on family living. During these pe- riods, the teachers met almost daily, sharing experiences and planning their work so that all were working together to meet the same student needs. The home economics teacher undertook to estimate the effects of this type of teaching on the conduct of children in families by means of students’ diaries and inter- views with parents. Her report, based on forty students paired with forty following conventional courses in the three sub- jects, strongly favored the cooperative approach. This experi- ment also became known, and here and there other groups of teachers followed similar plans. Particularly numerous were 222) the cases of teachers of history and teachers of literature work- ing together. These experiments were among the markers which pointed the way to the course in ““Common Learnings.” Here, more briefly, are some other examples: A group of teachers of mathematics and vocational subjects in Jefferson High School, together with teachers from two junior high schools, undertook to ascertain the specific mathe- matical knowledge and skills actually employed (1) by young people who entered industrial and commercial occupations di- rectly from high school, and (2) by young men enlisting in the various military and naval services. Stimulated by the above ex- amples, a group of teachers of chemistry and physics under- took a comparable study for their subjects. They added life in the home as a third type of post-school activity. Fifteen white teachers from several schools made field trips, read, and held discussions, in order to better their own under- standing of the Negro people of American City. Later they in- vited three Negro teachers to join them and spent several months in planning projects and units on intercultural educa- tion which they then used in their classes. Teachers at Washington High School experimented success- fully with a unit on the reading of newspapers and magazines with a follow-up study of effects on students’ reading habits. The American people, they said, read newspapers and periodicals more than any other form of literature; therefore they should _be trained to read them with discrimination. Teachers from Jefferson High School, two junior high schools, and four elementary schools, all in the same area of the city, worked together on studies of sequences and continuity of learn- ings by pupils attending these schools and of problems of transi- tions from each level to the next higher. From this beginning, the group moved to a study of this part of the city in order more accurately to define the needs of children and youth who lived there. Teachers of home economics from all three schools developed an intensive twelfth-grade course on homemaking, family life, and consumer economics for girls who expected to go to work after high school and who had not taken other courses in home economics. Practically all women, said the teachers, will be [223] homemakers, and the schools should make it possible for all girls to secure training in homemaking. A class in social studies at Lincoln High School made a sampling study of opportunities and conditions of work in per- sonal service occupations in American City—because, it was frequently said, this was a field in which employment oppor- tunities for young people would be increased after the war. A brief orientation unit for tenth graders was developed at Lincoln High School and adopted, with modifications, else- where. Numerous experiments were made in teaching students of superior ability, especially in the sciences and mathematics. Of the many experiments and projects undertaken during these months, a few were successful from the start and soon were widely accepted; more were successful only in part and had to be revised and tried over and over again; and some were outright failures, or seemed so at the time. Far more important than these enterprises, however, is what happened to the teach- ers who carried them on. The very fact that the teachers were free to depart from conventional practices quickened their imaginations and aroused their interests. Now they began to feel that they were genuine participants, both in planning a better education and in bringing it into existence. Their attention moved away from themselves, their subjects, and their schools, outward to their pupils and their communities. Studying Educational Needs Once under way, the commission on postwar education turned to a study of the educational needs of children and youth, for it was agreed that a clear picture of needs was basic to pro- gram development. The commission approached this subject from two sides. It examined organized society, both locally and nationally; and it studied the day-to-day lives of boys and girls of various ages. Both approaches were found fruitful. Many published studies of the local community were re- viewed, such as the 1941 report of the council of social agencies on Youth in American City. Reports of national [224] research and planning bodies were studied, particularly the findings and recommendations of such groups as the American Youth Commission and the Educational Policies Commission. Most important of all were the firsthand investigations made by the research division of the public schools and by teachers re- leased from their regular duties to serve on committees. Later in this chapter we shall quote at length from a report issued in the spring of 1944 by a committee which studied the occupational situation in American City and its implications for education.” Comparable studies were made and reports prepared on such subjects as health and physical fitness among children and youth; family conditions in the city; recreational needs and opportuni- ties; and schools as neighborhood centers.”* - “Imperative Educational Needs of Youth” In the spring of 1944, the commission issued its first statement on educational needs. There is not space to reproduce the entire statement, but the summary of ten “imperative educational needs of youth” carries the heart of the document and is par- ticularly important because it was used as the basis for much of the program planning in secondary schools. “1, All youth need to develop salable skills and those under- standings and attitudes that make the worker an intelligent and productive participant in economic life. To this end, most youth need supervised work experience as well as education in the skills and knowledge of their occupations. “2. All youth need to develop and maintain good health and physical fitness. “3. All youth need to understand the rights and duties of the citizen of a democratic society, and to be diligent and competent 74 See pages 286-89. This committee was composed of educators, employers, and represent- atives of labor. * The commission, of course, was concerned with education at every level from preschool to adult. But this is a report on the education of older youth, and henceforth we must limit ourselves to the commission’s actions on youth education. [2057 in the performance of their obligations as members of the com- munity and citizens of the state and nation. “4, All youth need to understand the significance of the family for the individual and society and the conditions con- ducive to successful family life. “§. All youth need to know how to purchase and use goods and services’ intelligently, understanding both the values re- ceived by the consumer and the economic consequences of their acts. , “6, All youth need to understand the methods of science, the influence of science on human life, and the main scientific facts concerning the nature of the world and of man. “7, All youth need opportunities to develop their capacities to appreciate beauty in literature, art, music, and nature. “8. All youth need to be able to use their leisure time well and to budget it wisely, balancing activities that yield satisfactions to the individual with those that are socially useful. “9, All youth need to develop respect for other persons, to grow in their insight into ethical values and principles, and to be able to live and work cooperatively with others. “10. All youth need to grow in their ability to think ration- ally, to express their thoughts clearly, and to read and listen with understanding.” Proposals for Action Such a statement would have availed but little, however, had not the commission followed it shortly with the following pro- posals for a program of action: | “Raise the end of the period of compulsory education to the eighteenth birthday (or high-school graduation, whichever oc- curs earlier), in order that all may have the benefits of at least twelve years of education. The educational needs of youth and the responsibilities placed on schools are now so many, so varied, and so complex that the minimum time for school education 78 See also the statements on “How Youth Differ” and “What Youth Have in Common,” on pages 15-17. f206ta must be increased. State legislation is required. Work to secure such legislation during the war, to be effective six months after the cessation of hostilities. “Make all three American City high schools comprehensive in purposes and programs so that all youth in the city may have access to equal educational opportunities, regardless of place of residence. We do not say, however, that all high-school programs should be identical. Some specialization, particularly in voca- tional fields, is clearly advisable. Action by the board of educa- tion is required. “Establish a free institution of public education above the high school in order to enable those American City youth, who wish to do so, to prepare for occupations that require one or two years of training beyond high school and to continue their gen- eral education at the same time.’ Studies of American City youth show that only 20 percent of those who graduate from high school go on to college. At least an additional 30 percent of the high-school graduates, however, state that they would con- tinue full-time education beyond high school if opportunities were available locally for one or two years of vocational educa- tion in technical and semiprofessional fields combined with con- tinuing civic and cultural education. Moreover, around 40 percent of those who end their full-time education at high- school graduation or earlier say that they would be interested in continuing their education in part-time classes. This requires action by the state legislature, the state department of education, the board of education, and the voters of the district. But certain steps can be taken at once. The board of education can pro- visionally authorize the institution. The broad features of the initial curriculum can be tentatively planned. Preliminary plans and estimates of costs of buildings and equipment can be drawn up. And work can be started to secure the desired state legis- lation. % This institution was later named the American City Community Institute, and will be referred to by that name hereafter. era “Develop a curriculum for Grades VII through XIV which will provide for all youth the experiences through which they can best grow in all the ways indicated in the statement of ‘imperative educational needs of youth.’ This curriculum should be planned as a whole, to cover the entire period of youth, from Grades VII through XIV. Whatever the administrative , organization of the schools may be, it is essential that there be continuity of program throughout these eight years. This re- quires the cooperative action of all teachers and administrators concerned with secondary education aided by groups of in- terested parents and other citizens. “Begin at once to develop an adequate system of guidance continuous throughout both elementary and secondary years. Allow adequate time for guidance on teachers’ schedules and provide such specialists as may be needed. This requires action by the board of education and cooperative planning and action throughout the staffs of the schools. Plan to secure the additional funds which will be needed (1) to expand the high-school plant as needed to accommodate additional students; (2) to furnish additional types of educa- tional service such as expanded vocational education and more adequate guidance; (3) to meet the city’s share of the cost of building the proposed new community institute; (4) to finance the annual operating costs of providing education to some 2000 additional high-school students and the students who will enrol in the community institute; and (5) to provide financial aid to individual students who need to earn money for personal expenses. Funds will have to come from local, state, and federal sources. Begin at once a public relations program for increasing local funds.. Support—if necessary, initiate—a campaign for state funds; and support the national effort to secure federal aid without federal control. “Invite the boards of education of the high-school districts in the region surrounding American City to join with this com- mission in planning an educational program to serve the youth [228] of the region as well as the city, and particularly to share in the development of the American City Community Institute which should be a regional institution. Call in the state department of education at once to assist in this cooperative planning.” The time for citywide action had come. The superintendent of schools and his staff and the board of education took up these generally accepted statements of educational needs and pro- posals for action and pressed vigorously forward, calling on the commission on postwar education, the citizens’ advisory council, and the associated groups of teachers and parents to continue to help as further planning was needed. As we report what followed, we must condense into a few pages the delibera- tions and actions of many people extending over many months. A Continuous Educational Program throughout the Period of Youth Still other questions had to be answered. There was the prob- lem of how youth education should be organized. Had American City been building its program de novo, it is probable that a 6-4-4 type of organization would have been adopted—elemen- tary schools through Grade VI,” lower secondary schools for Grades VII through X, and upper secondary schools for Grades XI through XIV. American City, however, already had its three large high schools and six junior high schools, each with a faculty now deeply involved in the process of educational reconstruction, each with a relatively modern building, each with assets in the form of community cooperation and goodwill. It did not seem advisable to alter the structure of the school system if the de- sired educational ends could be attained otherwise. What was essential—and practically everyone agreed on this —was that the educational program for the entire period of youth be planned and operated as a whole. From Grade VII *°'The elementary school, however, would have been extended downward for at least two years below the conventional first grade. [229] through Grade XIV, the curriculum should have continuity from year to year and significant relationships among its con- stituent parts within each year.” A 4-4 secondary-school system might be better suited to such a program. But a 3-3-2 system, it was believed, could be adapted to these ends, provided that those in charge of curriculum development always kept educational needs and purposes foremost in their thinking. It was decided to think of the junior high school as the lower secondary school, of the senior high school as the middle secondary school, and of the new community institute as the advanced secondary school, and to plan the curriculum for all three levels as a continuous whole.** “Differential” and “Common” Studies in Secondary Schools There was also the question of differentiation of courses in the secondary schools. At what times and in what ways, it was asked, do the interests and educational needs of maturing youth tend to diverge widely enough so that parts of the curriculum should be correspondingly differentiated? And in what respects do the educational needs of youth continue to be common to all and best served through a curriculum followed by all students? The answer was substantially the same as that given at Farm- ville. Throughout the junior high-school period, it was agreed, the educational needs of pupils are sufficiently alike to justify a common curriculum for all pupils with ample provision for — differentiated treatment of pupils within classes to take account of diversities of interests, aptitudes, and abilities.” Beginning in the tenth grade, or thereabouts, young people exhibit differences in certain of their interests and plans which *® The same point of view was taken with respect to the program of the elementary schools; and a great deal of attention was given to articulation of elementary and secondary curric- ulums, and to pupil transition from elementary to secondary schools. See the chart of the “American City System of Public Education” on page 241. Since this report is concerned with the education of older youth, we shall not describe the junior high-school program, or hereafter refer to junior high schools, except incidentally. [230] call for a variety of offerings in the curriculum, among which the students, under guidance, may choose. Differences in occupational interests and plans are the most significant for education. Young people in their later teens have a natural and wholly commendable desire to prepare themselves to become self-supporting and perform useful work in the world. But occupations are many and diverse, and so also are the roads which lead to them. Whatever the roads may be, the schools, from the tenth grade onward, must give every student the opportunity to progress in occupational preparation. Important differences in avocational and intellectual interests also emerge during these years. These differences also, on the whole, are to be welcomed and encouraged. The schools should take account of them by offering a wide range of electives in avocational and intellectual pursuits. Other imperative educational needs of youth, it was believed, can best be met by educational experiences common to all stu- dents. Such is the case with the needs to maintain good health; to grow in understanding and competence as citizens, members of families, and consumers; and to develop appreciation of beauty and a scientific point of view.” To meet these needs, it _was decided to develop a program which would be followed by all students throughout the high schools and the community institute. Differences among students in intelligence, aptitudes, health, and family backgrounds could, it was said, be adequately cared for within classes, by skilful teachers who understood boys and girls and who knew how to make effective use of small- group and individual instruction. Planning the Framework of the Curriculum From these agreements, the next move was to build the frame- work of the curriculum. Not much time was required to reach “Growth in ethical insight and in ability to think rationally, to express one’s thoughts clearly, to read and listen with understanding, and to live and work cooperatively with others were considered to be aims of all educational experiences, both the “differential” and the “common.” [231] a conclusion that the schools must make ample provision to meet the first of the “imperative educational needs of youth”—the need to be equipped to earn a living in a useful occupation. Time was to be allowed for this from tenth grade on through com- munity institute, the proportion of time increasing with the later years. For some, that time would be spent in vocational education and work experience pointed toward employment immediately after high school; for others, it would be given to studies preparatory to advanced work in the community in- stitute or in colleges and universities. No decision was made as yet regarding the amount of time for occupational preparation. That had to wait until the plans for the rest of the curriculum became clear. Agreement was also reached that time should be allowed for the other “differential” studies—the elective courses in recrea- tional and intellectual interests. But how provide those other learning experiences deemed necessary for all youth—the experiences which, it had been agreed, all youth should have in common? What are the experi- ences which help a person to become a more responsible citizen, a better family member, a wiser spender of time and money? How can the schools best help youth develop understanding of democracy, of the scientific method, and of rational processes of arriving at truth? By what means can youth be helped to grow in appreciation of beauty and insight into ethical values? These were the most puzzling problems of all, and months passed before the planning bodies were able to approach an answer which promised to satisfy. Here was proved the wisdom of the earlier decision to involve large numbers of the school staff in the planning process. Among the studies carried on by the commission on postwar education was a series, we recall, which had to do with educational needs revealed in various phases of American life. Each study was made by a committee of teachers and principals, often with the aid of informed laymen. Fortunately each of the committees was com- [232] prised of people representing a wide range of subjectmatter interests. The group that had studied family life, for example, consisted of twenty-two teachers, two principals, and four laymen. The high-school teachers on the committee were from all three high schools and from practically every department. These teachers, who had studied the figures on divorce and marital discord, who had talked with the “‘friend of the court,”** who had reviewed the evidence on family life assembled by social workers and soci- ologists, who had visited the child guidance clinic and observed some of the casualties of faulty homes, who had attended ses- sions of the juvenile court and studied the facts about de- linquency—these teachers became thoroughly convinced that education in family living was second to nothing in importance. By various means, they sought to provide such education in their own classes. Some used literature as a means for portraying fam- ily life and its problems in vivid concreteness; some used home economics as a medium for instruction in the human as well as the material side of home life; some used biology as a point of departure; some developed experimental “core” courses with family living as one of the major areas of study. All agreed on the importance of the area and were certain that a way had to be found to include this phase of education within the program of every student. They were so sure of it that they were willing to give up part of the time of their own subjects, if necessary, to provide a place. Such experiences were not uncommon. Committees that studied other areas—health, citizenship, and consumers’ prob- lems, for example—came out with recommendations for in- clusion of other experiences in a required program and did so with a willingness to make adjustments in the existing program. Moreover, everyone who served on any such study committee thereby became more receptive to the reports of the other com- mittees. All helped interpret the entire group of recommenda- * An official assigned to work with persons contemplating divorce and to administer alimony. [233] tions to the teachers who had not served on committees. They constituted a nucleus of teachers in each school who stood ready to support a rather substantial change in the program if every youth might thereby be assured of the essentials of education. These were the two major questions: What are the learning experiences which all boys and girls should have in common? And how may these be organized so as to be most effective? There were many discussions of these questions, which we shall not attempt to recount. In the end, most of the staff accepted the statement of “imperative educational needs of youth” as the basis for defining the “common studies”’ of secondary educa- tion and were ready to move to the problem of organization. Here several possibilities were considered. One was to set up one or more separate required courses for each of the ““common studies’”—citizenship, family life, health, consumer economics, ‘science, English, literature, and the arts. Another was to have a single course covering all the experiences deemed necessary for all pupils, which would be continuous throughout the years of high school and community institute for two or more periods daily. A third possibility was some combination of the first two —a basic course to include most of the ““ccommon learnings,” supplemented by special courses in certain fields. The first plan had the advantage of simplicity of scheduling, because courses would be set up in single period units for either a semester or a year. It followed the traditional pattern with which pupils and teachers alike were acquainted. In effect, it would simply substitute, for some of the currently required semester and year courses, other courses with a somewhat different and more useful content. The range of knowledge required of in- dividual teachers would be somewhat wider than in conventional courses, but not greatly so. How the Course in “Common Learnings’ Was Developed The second plan—a continuous course using two or more hours daily throughout the upper secondary schools—was ad- [234] vocated on the ground that people’s daily work, their civic in- terests, their family life, their leisure-time activities, the things they think about, and their ways of thinking are all bound up together, each influencing the other. Therefore, it was said, learning in these fields will be more effective and more closely tied to the imperative needs of life if teachers and students are able to deal with all aspects of a given subject, to study problems as they are found in life outside the school, and to keep aware of interrelations which cut across conventional subjectmatter lines. Someone cited housing as an example. In home economics, he said, pupils study about planning and furnishing their own homes. Questions relating to public planning of housing de- velopments, government subsidies, and low-cost credit appear in “American Problems” courses. Courses in physics and chemis- try frequently include units on science applied to houses and their equipment. History classes often study the types of houses characteristic of various periods in national development. ‘Courses on health have their units on “building homes for health.” In mathematics, one finds lessons on computing interest charges and amortization of home loans. In art—but why go on? For nowhere—so ran the argument—wnowhere, under the con- ventional organization of courses, is it possible to study the sub- ject of housing in its entirety. Yet today the paramount problem for fully one-fifth of the families in American City is that of getting a home to live in, within the family means, which will serve all the members of the family in all the ways a home can and should serve them. And within five years, the same problem will rank among those at the top for the majority of the boys and girls in classes today. Why not make it possible, this advocate of the new-type course concluded, for a teacher and a class to turn all their time and all their energies to an all-round study of housing? Why not develop the habit of attacking large problems and using information drawn from a number of subjectmatter fields? [235] Some of the most persuasive arguments came trom teachers who had already been doing some experimenting in this field— combining two, or occasionally three, classes, usually literature and social studies, with science or art added now and then. They and others pointed out these advantages: Under the proposed comprehensive course, students can better understand the relations between the different things they are learning. For example, the impact of science on in- dustry and urban life can be better understood when science and social studies are part of the same course. In like manner, literature is better understood in relation to the life of the times in which it was written and which it portrays, and in turn it throws light upon the history of those times. Within the broad areas planned for the year, classes can begin their work in any year with the problems and purposes of which students are most keenly aware at the time. This gets the class off to an active start at zestful, purposeful learning. The skilful teacher will not be worried if these beginnings deal with the relatively simple and sometimes transient affairs of everyday life. For he knows that when once the processes of interested, purposeful learning are under way, they can be guided toward the more complex and enduring needs of youth. Learning experiences which are important, but which do not require a large amount of time, can be included in the proposed course more readily than in a curriculum organized along the conventional semester-unit lines; for example, brief, intensive work on the improvement of study habits, or on the budgeting of time, or on the recreational resources of the neighborhood. The proposed course would permit the adaptation of learning experiences in some fields to changing interests and outlooks as students become more mature. For example, during the three years from fifteen to eighteen there are marked shifts in the attitudes of students toward family relationships as boys and girls become less conscious of themselves as children, more con- scious of themselves as potential husbands, wives, and parents. So also with interest in occupations. The tenth-grade student is interested in the choice of a possible occupational field and in planning a course to get him ready for a job that is still [236] - faraway. Three years later, he is likely to be concerned about ~ the job that is just ahead—how to get it and hold it, require- ments and conditions of work, industrial and labor relations, and the like. Given the comprehensive course, the learnings about family life and occupations could be distributed through- out the three years and matched to the changing interests of learners. Greater flexibility in use of time would be possible and with it types of learning experiences that were impracticable under the system of single-period courses. When any problem or proj- ect required special attention for a week or a month, nearly the full triple or double period could be used for that purpose. Field trips and firsthand studies of the community would be feasible because of the longer blocks of time. Most important of all, each teacher in the proposed course would have fewer different pupils and more time to work with and observe each pupil in a wider variety of situations. There- fore, it was said, let the teachers of these new “Common Learn- ings” courses serve also as counselors to their students. Such an arrangement would dovetail exactly with the recommendations already made that more adequate provision should be made for guidance and that most student counseling should be done by teachers. | : The proposal was widely discussed before any action was taken. Some feared, as they said, a “soft pedagogy” —an aimless shifting from one point of transient interest to the next without sustained intellectual effort. In reply it was pointed out that the needs to be met would be clearly defined by the staff for each year of the course. There, to be sure, the planning-in-advance-for- everybody would end. Within the broad outlines of each year’s work, each teacher and class would be free to plan and organize their own learning. But planning and organizing, in itself, is an act which requires no mean intellectual effort. Some feared the danger of superficiality. Classes, they said, would “gallop off in all directions at once” and fail to learn any- thing thoroughly. The reply was made that here, as everywhere, the quality of learning would depend upon skilful teaching. [237] Orderly sequences of learning might be expected in this course, quite as much as in single-subject courses. But there would be various types of sequences, each deliberately chosen by teacher and class because it seemed best suited to the task at hand. Some- times the class would follow the method of scientific inquiry to conduct an experiment or solve a problem. Sometimes it would trace the relations of cause and effect through the events of his- tory. Sometimes it would follow the logic of organized bodies of knowledge. And sometimes the order of learning would be that appropriate to growth in appreciations. To be able to choose a sequence of learning appropriate to one’s aim is again an in- tellectual achievement. Finally, there were some who feared—quite mistakenly, as it turned out—that this course would put an end to the systematic study of bodies of knowledge, such as the sciences, mathematics, history, and languages. This objection was withdrawn, however, when it was shown that there would be ample time in the total school program for any student who wished to do so, to com- plete all the courses in subject fields required for admission to college or university, even by those institutions which still held to their prewar requirements. Moreover, it was asserted, the con- ventionally required subjects would appear in the new course, insofar as they were needed to meet the common needs of all youth. English language, literature, history, and science would certainly be found among the ““Common Learnings,” though possibly in unaccustomed settings. Plans for a Program of “Common Studies” Extensive discussions were followed by proposals to try out an inclusive course in “Common Learnings” in a number of forms. This was done for a year in all three high schools. At the end of the year, the teachers concerned and the commission on postwar education studied the results of these tryouts, and reached an agreement as to what they would recommend for [238] the years just ahead. In effect, they endorsed the plan of a single comprehensive course to include all “common learnings.” But for certain practical reasons, to be noted presently, they proposed two modifications of this plan. Here, in brief, are their recommendations: “1. A ‘Basic Course in Common Learnings’ should be of- fered throughout the high school and community institute, planned specifically to meet the educational needs of youth in the fields of citizenship, economics, family living, appreciation of literature and the arts, and use of the English language. Not less than one-third of a student’s time should be allowed for this course during Grades X through XII. The teacher of “Common Learnings’ should also serve as general counselor to the stu- dents in his or her classes. “2, Basic instruction in science should also be one of the studies common to all high-school youth. Ideally, this instruction should be an integral part of the course in ‘Common Learnings.’ At present, however, there is not an adequate supply of teachers qualified to teach science in addition to the other phases of the ‘Common Learnings’ course. For the present, therefore, it seems advisable to include a separate basic course in science in Grade X. This course should be closely related to the course in ‘Common Learnings.’ Membership of classes in the two courses should be identical so that teachers of ‘Common Learnings’ and teachers of science can plan their work together and, when desirable, pool their class time for work on joint projects. After further experimentation, it may be possible to make this basic study of science a part of the work in ‘Common Learnings.’ “3. Instruction in health and physical education is also con- sidered one of the ‘common studies.’ However, because physi- cal education activities are quite different in character from those of other classes and require teachers with special qualifica- tions and because instruction in personal health requires teach- ers with considerable specialized training in the field, it is recommended that this instruction be given in classes separate [239] from the ‘Common Learnings’ course. Here also, however, teachers should be alert to opportunities for relating instruction in the different classes. Teachers of health and teachers of science will find many such opportunities. So also will teachers of health and teachers of ‘Common Learnings’ classes, particularly when the latter are engaged in studying health conditions in the com- munity.” These recommendations were subsequently adopted and have become the basis of the present program.” The areas covered in the ““Common Learnings” course, the sequences of learning by years, and some of the methods of conducting the course will be described later.*° Ww Ww 1“ So much for the story of how changes in youth education occurred in American City. The process of planning, trying out, revising, and trying out again has continued and may be expected to continue. Decisions have been looked upon only as guides to action until better decisions might be made. We shall not attempt to review all the many hypotheses and trials, all the failures and successes, that have been experienced. Instead, we turn now to examine the product, the on-going program of youth education as we find it five years after the cessation of hostilities. But even as we report, the process of change goes on. YOUTH EDUCATION IN AMERICAN Criry TODAY A. AN OVER-ALL VIEW Let us try first to see this program as a whole, lest we become lost in details because we do not understand the main features. * The integrated course in “Common Learnings” is not an indispensable feature of the American City program. The alternative of building a curriculum of separate courses might have been adopted, in which case the courses would probably have been similar to those described in the Farmville Secondary School under ‘Community Studies,” “The History of Man’s Efforts To Achieve Freedom and Security,” “Current Political, Economic, and Social Problems,” ‘‘Family Life,” ‘‘Consumer Economics,” and “Literature and the Arts.” © See pages 248-70. [240] The Scope of Secondary Education Secondary education in American City begins with Grade VII, continues through Grade XIV, and includes post-high- school instruction for out-of-school youth. It covers the ages from twelve through twenty. Although carried on through three institutions—the junior high schools, the high schools, and the community institute—the program is viewed as con- tinuous, and is planned and operated accordingly. This simple chart illustrates the thinking of American City’s educators on the subject.** AMERICAN CITY SYSTEM OF PUBLIC EDUCATION To liberal arts > colleges, techni- Grades Ages >cal colleges, and Nad 5 ii 08 OO Adult Education 20+ professional —— |] schools 14 _ Advanced Secondary School 19 _|¢ ae i 13 (Community Institute) 18 zs EDUCATION 12 Middle Secondary School el 11 (Senior High School) 16 10 1S Z Lower Secondary School 14 8 (Junior High School)*” 13 7 12 6 11 fe) 10 ELEMENTARY EDUCATION : Elementary School : 7 7 1 . 6 Kdgn. 5 Nursery School — 5 Some Facts and Figures The three high schools—Washington, Jefferson, and Lincoln —enrol 7088 local students—all the youth of American City under eighteen years of age save some seven hundred who attend 8 See pages 229-30 for a discussion of the reasons why this form of -organization was adopted. ’ ®Tn this report, we are concerned with the education of youth from fifteen to twenty. Hence we shall refer to the program of the junior high schools only when necessary in order to understand education in the later years. [241] nonpublic schools. In addition, in the high schools there are 386 students who live in suburban areas.** The community institute has 3787 full-time students: 2481 from the city, 1171 from the twelve town and village high schools in American City’s tributary area of some 3000 square miles, 135 from the rest of the state. It also offers a wide variety of daytime and evening classes for adults, among whom are 352 youth under twenty-one, who have left full-time school. The Curriculum in Outline Numbers, however, are not nearly so important as what youth learn in these schools. When we inquire into that, the most striking fact which we meet is that each of the three high schools and the community institute endeavors to meet all of the “im- perative educational needs of youth.” Whichever school a student may attend, he will find a bal- anced program, designed to help him grow in occupational proficiency; in competence as a citizen; in satisfying relation- ships in family, school, and other personal associations; in health and physical fitness; in discriminating expenditure of money and of time; in enjoyable and constructive use of leisure; and in understanding and appreciation of his cultural heritage. To understand a program with so many purposes, we shall have to examine it more closely. The staff of each school first of all endeavors to know its students as individuals. This is fundamental to program plan- ning and to teaching. For while the general needs of youth are common to all, the specific needs of each individual are in some *© Woodland Park, the populous and prosperous suburban community to the north of American City, maintains a high school similar in most respects to the Washington High School in the city. However, youth from this district may attend one of the American City high schools, in order to take advantage of courses in vocational fields not offered in Wood- land Park High School. The suburbs to the south of American City have fewer residents and much less wealth. Practically all their youth of high-school age attend schools in Ameri- can City. In each case, the district of residence pays the local district’s share of cost of in- - struction in American City. State and federal funds for public education follow the students. [242] respects unique. Later we shall have more to say about guidance and the adjustment of instruction to individual students. The curriculum of each school includes four divisions of learning, designated as “Vocational Preparation,” “Individual Interests,” ‘““Common Learnings,” and “Health and Physical Education.” In addition, there is a tenth-grade course on science, closely related to the course on ““Common Learnings.” The first two divisions are referred to as the “area of differential studies” since students elect their programs in these fields from a variety of offerings. The last two divisions and the science course are called the ‘‘area of common studies” since here all students fol- low the same general programs. Each student normally divides his time between these divisions, according to the schedule on page 244. | The content of each of these divisions is summarized on the chart. Perhaps these brief statements will suffice for our present purpose of seeing the program as a whole. Later we shall describe each field in some detail. One point, however, should be under- lined, in order to avoid possible confusion. The work in ‘“‘Vo- cational Preparation”? may be either (1) study, practice, and work experience, intended to équip a youth to go directly to work from high school or community institute, or (2) the study of sciences, mathematics, foreign languages, and other subjects which are part of the equipment for advanced study in the community institute, a four-year college, or a university. For a student following the usual schedule, vocational preparation will occupy one-sixth of his school time in Grade X, oné-third in Grades XI and XII, one-half in community institute. On “Common Learnings,” he will spend one-third of his time in each year of high school, one-sixth in community institute. Science will occupy one-sixth of his time in Grade X. One-sixth of his time will be given to health and physical education throughout the five years and the same to indi- vidual interests. [243 | Provisions for Flexibility At first sight, this schedule may seem to be rigid and un- yielding—ill-suited to the purpose of serving youth according to. their needs. But that is by no means the case. In practice this curriculum is sufficiently flexible to permit almost any student to follow a program “tailor-made” to his needs. COMMUNITY HIGH SCHOOL INSTITUTE a Grades Xx Xl xi xill XIV Individual Interests (Elected by the student, under guidance, in fields of avocational, cultural, or intellectual interest.) Vocational Preparation 2 | (Includes education for industrial, commercial, homemaking, service, and other occupations leading to employment, apprenticeship, or homemaking at the end of Grade Xil, XIll, or XIV; education for technical and semiprofessional occupa- tions in community institute; and the study of sciences, ( Cie sae mathematics, social studies, literature, and foreign Periods ocience | languages in preparation for advanced study in per day 3 | (Methods, | community institute, college, or university. May (average principles, | include a period of productive work under em- for the and facts ployment conditions, supervised by the school year) needed by | staff. Related to the study of economics and indus- allstudents.)} trial and labor relations in ‘‘Common Learnings."’) . Common Learnings (A continuous course for all, planned to help students grow in com- petence as citizens of the com- munity and the nation; in under- standing of economic processes and of their roles as producers and | ss—s—CsS—CSs 5 consumers; in cooperative living in family, school, and community; in appreciation of literature and the arts; and in use of the English language. Guidance of individual students is a chief responsibility of ‘‘Common Learnings” teachers.) Health and Physical Education (Includes instruction in personal health and hygiene; health examinations and follow-up; games, sports, and other activi- ties to promote physical fitness. Related to study of com- munity health in ‘Common Learnings.’’) oO * Broken line indicates flexibility of scheduling. ** Heavy line marks the division between ‘differential studies’? (above) and “common studies’ (below). [244] ‘ Take first the possible adaptations in the schedule itself. Sup- pose a student is not ready to make even a tentative choice of an occupational field in tenth grade. He is not required to do so and may elect two courses, instead of one, in a field of avoca- tional, cultural, or intellectual interest. Suppose, on the other hand, that a twelfth-grade student needs more than two periods a day for machine shop practice and related training, to get ready for a job which is awaiting him. He may then use the individual interests period for additional vocational education. Suppose that a student has a strong interest in aeronautical engineering and wants to go to a university school of engineer- ing immediately after twelfth grade. In his vocational prepa- ration time, he can study physics, chemistry, and three years of mathematics; and he may use his individual interests time, if he so desires, for as many as three more courses related to his major interest. Or, take the case of a community institute student who is already reasonably well prepared for employ- ment or for homemaking but wants to learn more about his- tory, economics, literature, or the arts. It is possible for this student to spend two or three periods a day on these interests, instead of one, with corresponding reduction in time for vo- cational preparation. More important than flexibility of scheduling is flexibility of class instruction. One result of the long process of cooperative planning is that teachers throughout the American City schools now endeavor to suit learning experiences within classes to the abilities and needs of individual students. Community Institute Before we move on to a detailed description of the program, we should say a few words about the community institute. Here is a new institution, only four years old, yet already en- rolling nearly 4000 students. It was established because the people responsible for educational planning in American City and in the state of Columbia came to the conclusion that a large [245] proportion of youth needed free public education beyond the twelfth grade, chiefly to prepare them for occupations which require training beyond that which is possible in high school, and also to carry them forward in the general education appropriate to free men in American democracy. That these people judged rightly is shown by the school’s enrolment. Why Do Students Attend the Community Institute? 1. Some students want to prepare for various technical and ~ semiprofessional occupations which require all the training that high schools can give and one or two years in addition. In this group, for example, are those who wish to become account- ants, draftsmen, laboratory technicians, dietitians, assistants in doctors’ and dentists’ offices, and managers of various businesses. 2. Some want advanced training beyond that which can be offered in the years of high school in the occupations for which high schools provide the basic preparation. Machine shop, metal trades, retail selling, office management, automobile and air- plane mechanics, and the various building trades are examples. In one or two years at the community institute, a student is able to extend his mastery of basic operations, enlarge his knowl- edge of related science and mathematics, secure more prac- tical work experience, and advance in his understanding of economic processes and industrial and labor relations. 3. Some want to prepare for admission to professional schools and the last two years of technical and liberal arts colleges. For various reasons, they prefer to take the first two years of college or university work while living at home. For them, the community institute provides courses comparable to those of the first two years of the four-year colleges. 4, Some want to round out their general education before entering employment or becoming homemakers. To them, the community institute offers a wide range of elective courses in science, social studies, literature, languages, psychology, home economics, music, dramatics, art, and handicrafts. [246] 5. There is yet a fifth group, composed of adults and older youth, mostly employed, who no longer attend school full time, but who wish to continue their education during their free hours. Their interests are wide and varied. Some spring from their daily work, some from their home life, some from their civic activities, some from their uses of leisure time, and some from the simple desire to “keep on growing.” Some enrol in the regular institute courses. Most attend evening classes which are organized especially for them. These classes may meet anywhere in the city, but they are all a part of the. community institute program, for this is the school system’s agency of adult education. Whence Come the Students to the Community Institute? The largest number (65 percent) come from the city itself. But the community institute serves more than the local com- munity. It is the only institution of its kind in an area of some 3000 square miles, with a population of some 170,000 people, excluding that of the city. Approximately one-third of its students come from the twelve high schools of this tributary area. A few (135 at the time of writing) come from places still more distant. The state department of education has arranged for each of the community institutes in the state to specialize in a few occupations, each of which, for the state as a whole, employs only a few beginning workers each year. The Amer- ican City Community Institute is the state’s training center for the air-conditioning and refrigeration industry and for air transportation. It is also one of two centers each for train- ing in printing and baking and one of three centers for air- craft maintenance. Some of these out-of-town students commute to their homes. Nearly five hundred, however, live too far away for daily travel to and from school. Residences for students have been [ 247 ] erected with state funds, and are operated by the school sys- tem on a nonprofit basis. Later we shall see how the institute staff endeavors to utilize the educational possibilities of resi- dential life. The community institute is located on some forty acres of ground near the center of the city, convenient to trans- portation from all parts of the city and its suburbs. A part of the cost of the land and buildings (exclusive of student residences) was borne by the state, the remainder by the Amer- ican City school district. In the next cnapter, we shall explain the division of operating costs between district and state and ‘the method whereby the district is reimbursed for the costs of instruction of out-of-town students. So much for the over-all view of youth education. Now let us examine the program more carefully. First we shall look at each of the main divisions of the curriculum—‘Common Learnings,” the closely related tenth-grade course in science, ‘Health and Physical Education,’ “Vocational Preparation,” and “Individual Interests”—and inquire what youth learn in each of these fields. Then we shall describe the schools’ guid- ance services. and tell of some of the ways in which teachers become acquainted with their students as individuals and seek to adapt the schools’ programs to each individual student. 39 B. “COMMON LEARNINGS”’ The story has already been told of how and why this course was developed.** Now we shall review the purposes of the course; sketch the broad outlines of content as we find it today; and comment briefly on some of the methods employed in teaching. Purposes of the Course Here is a course, continuous from the beginning of Grade X to the end of Grade XIV, designed to provide most of the See pages 234-40. [248] learning experiences which, it is believed, all young people should have im common in order to live happily and usefully during the years of youth and grow into the full responsi- bilities of adult life. It is not intended to provide education in vocational skills and knowledge; in mathematics, the sci- ences, foreign languages, or other subjects required for voca- tional purposes or for advanced study; or in the avocational and intellectual fields which students may elect because of personal interest. Moreover, for practical reasons, the basic instruction in science in Grade X and instruction in health and physical education in all grades, although required of all students, are not included in the present “Common Learn- ings” courses.” Briefly stated, the distinctive purposes of the course in ““Com- mon Learnings” are to help all youth grow in six areas:** 1. Civic responsibility and competence 2. Understanding of the operation of the economic system and of the human relations involved therein 3. Family relationships 4. Intelligent action as consumers “The Grade X science course, however, is now so well correlated with “Common Learnings” that the two might be considered parts of a single course. “ Following is a more complete statement, on which the above summary is based, prepared by a committee of teachers of “Common Learnings.” “Six aims may-be stated, the responsibility for achieving which rests primarily, though not exclusively, with the teachers of “Common Learnings” classes. These are: 1. To help all youth grow in knowledge of their community, their nation, and the world of nations; in understanding of the rights and duties of citizens of the American democracy; and in diligent and competent performance of their obligations as members of the community and as citizens of the state and nation. 2. To help all youth grow in knowledge of the operations of the economic system and in understanding of the human relations and problems in economic activities, particularly of the relations between management and employees. 3. To help all youth grow in understanding of personal relations within the family, of the conditions which make for successful family life, and of the importance of the family in society. 4. To help all youth grow in ability to purchase and use goods and services intelligently, with accurate knowledge of values received by the consumer and with understanding of the economic consequences of one’s acts. 5. To help all youth grow in appreciation and enjoyment of beauty in literature, art, music, and nature. 6. To help all youth grow in ability to listen and read with understanding and to com- municate their thoughts with precision and clarity.” [249] 5. Appreciation of beauty 6. Proficiency in the use of language. To these should be added certain other purposes, which are not distinctive of this course alone, but which are looked upon as common aims for every course and teacher in the American City schools. Chief among these are the purposes to help youth grow: 1. In ability to think rationally and in respect for truth arrived at by rational processes 2. In respect for other persons:and ability to work cooper- atively with others 7 3. In insight into ethical values and principles 4. In ability to use their time efficiently and to budget it wisely §. In ability to plan their own affairs, as individuals and as groups, and to carry out their plans efficiently. It is an exceedingly large order to conduct a course which is directed toward so many aims of such importance and which extends through a period of five years. To meet this order, the teachers have had at their disposal an average of two pe- riods daily in Grades X, XI, and XII and one period daily in Grades XIII and XIV. With so much to be accomplished, it has been necessary for the teachers to plan their work with great care in order to keep first things first. One thing was decided early and has not been changed. This was that the present problems of youth, the needs grow- ing out of their daily lives as boys and girls, should have a place in this course no matter how urgently other matters might press for time. The years of youth, said the teachers, are precious in themselves, and the schools should help every boy and girl to gain from these years all the satisfactions which they may bring. Moreover, many felt that practice in suc- cessfully meeting the problems of each stage of life is the surest way to develop the ability to meet the problems of the stages ahead. [250] Another early decision was that education for civic com- petence should be paramount among the purposes of the course. Out of the war and the prewar depression, it was said, had come a host of difficult, complex, and exceedingly urgent public problems, some domestic and some international, which now had to be solved through the processes of political democ- racy. To a degree unprecedented in history, this nation now requires informed and responsible citizens, diligent and profi- cient in doing their civic duties. As far as children and youth are concerned, the schools are the nation’s chief agency for the development of these qualities of citizens. The schools must not fail to recognize the exigency of this need or to do all in their power to meet it, for the future of political democ- racy in this nation will depend in large part upon the effec- tiveness of their efforts.” A third decision concerned method. Only the general pur- poses for the course as a whole and the major aims, areas, and emphases of each year’s work were to be planned in advance for all classes. Within these limits, it was agreed, each teacher and class should have latitude to plan their own order of learning and choose the details of content. Moreover, student participation in planning was deemed essential. Only by sharing in the planning would students be able to grasp the relationships between the various learnings of the course. Integration of learning, someone pointed out, can occur in only one place—in the mind of the learner. An “integrated” course prepared by teachers alone may appear to be only a collection of unrelated fragments to the student who has not had a part in planning it. 7 The principles underlying a secondary-school program of education for civic competence are discussed at some length in the chapter on the Farmville Secondary School. (See pages 75-100.) These principles are quite as applicable in the case of American City as in that of Farmville. It will not be necessary, therefore, to include a systematic treatment of citizenship education in American City. Numerous illustrations of activities in this field will, however, be included in the description of the “Common Learnings” course. [251] The “Common Learnings’ Course Today Perhaps the best way to introduce this course to the reader is by quoting from the latest edition of the The ‘Student’s Guide to Common Learnings supplied to all students at the time of enrolment.” Tenth Grade ““*Common Learnings 10’ is the first unit in a course that extends through the three years of high school and the two years of community institute. It meets for two periods daily, and is required of all tenth graders. “What does this title, “Common Learnings,’ mean? It means that this course consists of learning experiences which every- one needs to have, regardless of what occupation he may expect to follow or where he may happen to live. / “A part of your time during the first week or two will be used to help you learn to feel at home in high school and to find out how to get around and what to do. You will be taken on a tour of the building to see all the school’s facilities. You will talk about what is in store for you here, both in classes and in other activities. You will also visit the community institute to see what the school system has to offer those who continue beyond high school. All this will take only a few hours, but it may save you many costly mistakes. “You will study the matter of using your time efficiently. We all have exactly the same amount of time—twenty-four hours a day. But we differ greatly in the ways we use our time and in our abilities to use it well. A little time spent now in studying the use of your time may save you a great deal of time in the long run. ' “You will take some tests—tests of your speed of reading, * This description is revised annually by a committee which includes both teachers of “Common Learnings” courses and students who have just completed the course. The “Guide” is also used as the material for discussion at meetings of parents of high-school students throughout the city. While some parents have shared in the planning which led to the “Common Learnings” course, it is advisable to keep all parents informed as to the nature of this course and the reasons which lay back of its adoption. [252] of your understanding of what you read and what you hear, of your ability to express your thoughts orally and in writing, of your mathematical abilities, and of your habits of studying. Don’t be frightened by that array of tests. For their one and only purpose is to find out whether you need any help in language or mathematics or in your study habits. If you do, your teachers will see that you get that help promptly. “In class, you will read and discuss what psychologists have to say that might help you to improve your own methods of studying, reading, and listening. You will also talk about plan- ning and budgeting the use of your time—and practice it, too. “Along with these studies of your school and your use of time goes a third which may require eight or ten weeks. It is called ‘American City at Work,’ though it might be ‘Plan- ning One’s Work in the World.’ Here you will become ac- quainted with what people in American City do to earn a living. You will visit stores, factories, offices, the new airport, and other places where people work. You will see motion pic- tures which will help you to understand the many different jobs that have to be done in a factory, a department store, a hospital, or a railroad terminal. You will listen to talks by employers and workers and teachers in various vocational fields. You will read about occupations, and find out which fields offer the most openings nowadays and which are overcrowded. You will learn about the work of the public employment serv- ice, the occupational research bureau, and the occupational planning council. ‘At the same time, with the help of your teacher, you will be learning more about your own abilities and aptitudes, and checking these against the requirements of the occupations in which you are interested. Perhaps you have already decided what occupation you want to follow; or maybe you haven’t. This study should be helpful to you in either case. “Finally, you will try to fit these industries and businesses and other occupations together into what we call an economic system and see how the various parts depend on one another [253] and how the system operates as a whole. You will have to come back to that again and again in later grades, but you will make a good beginning in tenth grade. “That is as far as ‘Common Learnings 10’ is planned and scheduled in advance. As for the rest, you will be given the general purposes of the course and the areas within which you will be expected to work.. Within these limits, your teacher, your classmates, and you will decide on the topics and prob- lems which you will study and the order in which you will take them up. ‘Now, about these purposes and areas of work for tenth grade. We have already told you about two of them. One is to help you to make the most of your years in high school; to make wise choices of courses and activities; to study, read, and listen efficiently. And the second, as we have just seen, is to make you acquainted with American City at work and to help you on your way to finding a useful place in the world of work. “A third and very important purpose of this course is to help you grow in knowledge of your city and in usefulness as a citizen. In order to be a good citizen in these times, you have to know a great deal about the world you are living in. That part of the world which you can see face to face and reach out and touch is American City; and here, we think, | is the place to begin. “The study of American City will not be new to you. You have already made some studies of your neighborhood in junior high school. Now you will move on to the city as a whole and to more difficult matters. You will begin, of course, with the study of the city at work. What you do after that will be decided by your class and your teacher. “Here, by way of examples, are a few other studies of American City life which tenth-grade classes have made with profit. Voluntary service organizations and what they do for the people of American City—Agencies for youth service, child [254] welfare, education, recreation, care for the aged, aid to poor, civic improvement, and cultural advancement. This might well be related to the question of use of time. Your study might re- sult in a decision to become a member of one of the youth agencies or to give some of your time regularly to service in some agency. American City at play—A study of recreational facilities and opportunities together with needs and problems. This also might be related to the question of use of time aad to your class work in physical education. Housing in relation to family life—This study would con- sider such questions as: What are the most important things a family can do for its members in the city life of our times? What sort of housing facilities are needed in order to enable a family to do these things well? What other conditions? How well are the housing accommodations and other conditions in American City today suited to desirable family life? Community health conditions and needs—Such a study might be a joint project of classes in ““Common Learnings” and classes in health. City planning of residential neighborhoods—Such a study would introduce you to the work of the city planning com- mission. It could be closely related to the study of family life and housing, and to the tenth-grade science course, too. “A fourth area is ‘family life.” Do you know that your experiences in your home have probably had more influence on your personality than all the other experiences of your life? Too often we assume that we know how to be good members of families without giving the matter any thought. Indeed, there are many people who have spent years in getting ready for jobs in factories or stores and who will rush into the far more important and more difficult job of making a home without any preparation whatever. In the course in ‘Common Learnings,’ you can learn a great deal about the conditions of successful family life, which will help you to be a better mem- ber of your family, both now and later.” “In the chapter on “The Farmville Community School,” there is a more complete dis- cussion of education in the field of family life. See pages 114-18. [255] “The fifth area we call ‘consumer economics.’ Those are big words, but don’t let them frighten you. What we mean is this: Every day you are a consumer of goods and services— of food, clothing, recreation, education, and many others. Now, do you know what you are getting for your money, or for your father’s money, or for the tax money that is being spent on you? Are you ‘getting your money’s worth’? How do you know whether you are or not? And how can you know? How does one determine what is a fair price for a product or a fair charge for services? Does it make any difference in the long run whether you spend your money for product A or prod- uct B? Whether you buy from merchant X or merchant Y? These are some of the questions you encounter very quickly when you start studying consumers’ problems—as you will study them somewhere in the ‘Common Learnings’ course. “Sixth and last is the area of growth in ability to use the English language. Whatever your future career may be, you can have no more important assets than the ability to express your thoughts cléarly in spoken and written English and the ability to understand the spoken and written words of others. The engineer and the physician need these abilities as well as the lawyer and the minister. The factory laborer needs them in his work and when he goes into his union meeting. The military man needs them in order to give or receive instructions. In ‘Common Learnings’ you will be listening, reading, speak- ing, and writing every day, and instruction and practice in English will be a part of your regular work.” w Ww ww Such is the plan for tenth grade. The reader to whom this type of course is new may ask, “What has become of the familiar high-school subjects in this new curriculum? What has happened to English language and literature, mathematics, and American history?” The answer is that students still learn to use the English language and mathematics, that they still [256] read literature and study American history—but the conven- tional labels or the accustomed setting may be missing. We have just seen that instruction in English language is one of the main areas in the first year of ““Common Learnings,” and this is true throughout the course from tenth grade to fourteenth. As for mathematics, the course of study through junior high school is intended to develop mastery over the processes and principles which everyone needs to know. If a student still lacks that mastery, remedial instruction is given in tenth grade, longer if necessary.*’ High-school mathematics proper follows the line of vocational interest, and the amount of formal in- struction may vary from nothing to three full years of sys- tematic study. We shall tell about American history in connection with eleventh-grade “Common Learnings.” Literature, in tenth grade, is particularly helpful in study- ing personal problems of all kinds. Students are more objec- tive and analytical when their own problems are presented to them through the medium of a story or drama. Moreover, novels, biographies, dramas, and short stories are often the best means of giving students insight into their motives and conduct. Last, but not least in importance, some of the best things ever said on the solutions of students’ personal problems were writ- ten by poets, novelists, and dramatists. We shall say more about literature later. Eleventh Grade It is not necessary to spend nearly as much time on personal problems this year, for most students are growing in their ability to meet such problems without aid. Most of the prob- lems on which assistance is required are handled by “Common Learnings” teachers through individual or small-group coun- “Remedial instruction may be scheduled either in the time allowed for individual in- terests or in an extra period. Occasionally it is given in the time allowed for tenth-grade vocational preparation. [257] seling. Now and then, however, it seems advisable for the class as a whole to consider them. When this is the case, we recall, such matters have priority. The work of the course in eleventh grade consists chiefly of education for civic competence. It begins with a continua- tion of the study of the city and moves out to the national scene. We shall again quote a description of the year’s work, this time from an article prepared by a committee of ‘““Com- mon Learnings” teachers, which appeared last year in Educa- tional Leadership.” | After describing the course in tenth grade, the authors continued: ‘As far as civic education is concerned, the eleventh-grade course is continuous with the tenth. Here also the aims, at the start, are to help students to become better acquainted with their city and to help them to keep on growing in use- fulness as citizens. A good beginning was made in tenth grade, but there is much more to be done. “The practical difficulties of civic education are greater in cities than in small towns and rural communities. In the latter, all the students are able to go out and see their community for themselves. When they study occupations, they see them in action. When they study health, recreation, public services, community organization, and the like, they gather many of the pertinent facts through personal observation. Moreover, some of the students are able to have a junior partnership with adults in bringing about community improvements. “Such experiences are only rarely possible in high schools in a city of 150,000. Now and then a class may make a fairly complete firsthand study of health, or housing, or recreation within a neighborhood, or have a significant part in some com- munity improvement project. But it would be nearly impos- sible to arrange such experiences for ‘all students. There are “ Journal of the Department of Supervision and Curriculum Development, National Edu- cation Association, Washington, D. C., September 1949. [258] field trips, to be sure, for all students and some experiences in firsthand study of neighborhoods. But most of these are samples, to give the students the ‘feel’ of community life and of direct participation in it. A large part of what city students learn about their community must be learned indirectly, from reports and materials prepared by others. “Yet the need of the city youth to learn about his com- munity is greater, if that is possible, than that of students in smaller communities. The reasons are these. One does not gain an understanding of a city merely from the experience of living in it. The dweller in cities will rarely understand his community unless he deliberately sets out to do so. The city is too large, too complex to yield understanding of itself. Indeed, life in the city is more likely to hinder than aid understanding. It is made up of fragments. The city dweller lives in one part of the city, sends his children to school there, and perhaps goes to church there. He works in another part, and his business or labor associations, if he has any, are located there. He shops and seeks entertainment in a third part. He doesn’t see the city whole. He doesn’t understand its government. He doesn’t know how its economic groups and interests are dependent upon one another, and upon still other economic conditions in the region, the nation, and the world. He doesn’t know, and per- haps doesn’t care, about people in the city who are less for- tunate than he—people who live in slums, people out of work, people who don’t have the same chance that he has because their color is different. “Even if he does know something about these things, he doesn’t know where to take hold to do anything about them. And so he becomes provincial—more provincial by far than people who live in the so-called rural ‘provinces.’ His interests center in his job, his home, and perhaps in his neighborhood, church, and his businessmen’s service club or his local union. He is willing to leave the running of the city as a whole to somebody else—of its government, to those whom he calls [259] ‘politicians’; of its business, to a few ‘business leaders’; of its labor organizations, to a few union officials; of its schools, to the board of education and the superintendent; and of its wel- fare services, to the community fund. “These things will happen, we say, to most of us city dwell- ers unless we make a deliberate effort to know our cities. And most of us are not likely to make that effort unless someone starts us on the way, guides us in the initial steps, and shows us why it is worth the doing. That is why this eleventh-grade course is so important. ‘This year the course moves on to the more complex aspects of city life. “Classes study the city’s people, finding out who they are and where they live. They learn that they live together in neighborhoods, by races, by nationalities, and to some extent by family incomes. They find that there are many communities within the city community, and that some of these have their distinctive churches, clubs, fraternal and political organiza- tions. They observe that there are conflicts and tensions among various groups in the city, sometimes within their own schools. They see evidences of barriers, misunderstandings, and deep- rooted prejudices. They seek answers to questions like these: “What causes these barriers and prejudices, and how can they be removed? What keeps people apart in a city, and what brings them together in mutual understanding? What can we do to have more of the bringing together and less of the cleaving apart?’ Often they do not stop with questions and answers, but move on to translate their answers into action in their own schools and neighborhoods. One finds a great deal of visiting back and forth between high schools and a great many inter- school projects of all kinds—chiefly in order to give youth from various parts of the city the opportunities to become ac- quainted with one another through the ‘unselfconscious’ ex- periences of working together. “Classes study the employment situation and the critical [260 ] problems which may develop in the years just ahead when the reserve supply of wartime demands and wartime savings have been used up. They try to find out about the steps being taken and the plans proposed to meet those problems if they come. “Students become more familiar with the city planning commission and the various voluntary planning groups asso- ciated with it. They find that the work of these planning groups now embraces many areas—economic development, employment, housing, health, recreation, education, parks, li- braries, traffic, transportation, land use, public utilities, and others. These reports furnish a wealth of materials for use by the classes, no matter what problems they may be studying. “Students make the acquaintance of the process of planning as well as its products. They visit the offices of the city plan- ning commission and observe at least one of the planning committees in action. They learn that most of the people who do the planning give their.time without pay because they be- lieve that planning is necessary for the welfare of the com- munity. And they frequently find that there is some study which they can make as a class project which will be of timely assistance. | ; “Before a half of the year has passed, most students have a fairly clear idea as to what the city’s main problems are. More- over, by this time they see that all these problems have con- nections. The connections reach out into national and world situations. They reach back into causes and movements of the past. Local problems of employment are seen to be connected with national and world economic conditions. Local! questions of race relations are but a segment of a national problem. And both sets of problems are the products of movements that have been operating in this nation for many decades. “Most of our students soon realize that they will not make much progress in dealing with problems that are rooted in the past unless they know something about the roots. They [261 ] see that without this knowledge they will blunder along and make all sorts of mistakes which are quite unnecessary. They are ready, therefore, to spend practically all of the latter half of the year in studying the history of American civilization. “We do not attempt to teach the whole of American his- tory within one school year, for we do not think that anyone will learn the whole of history at a single reading. History is, rather, a lifelong study. One searches the past for light on some particular problems of the present, and having found light, he acts more intelligently. New problems arise, and he searches the past once more—this time more efficiently, because there are now landmarks to guide him. Each new searching makes him familiar with more landmarks, and in time he begins to see the past whole and to feel at home there. “So, when we teach the history of American civilization in eleventh grade, we focus it on the issues in the life of American people today, of which our students are most keenly aware. Events and movements of the past become alive, be- cause students are always searching for and finding their con- nections with the present. Most of the things students learn about the past become useful to them at once as aids to intel- ligent action in the present. These satisfactions, we hope, will cause our students to return to the study of history again and again, long after they have left full-time school and without anyone requiring them to do so.” | ‘““Note that we have called this the study of the history of American civilization—not of government, or industry, or any other part of civilization. The most important things about a civilization are the ideas and the ideals of the people. Such things are often vividly expressed in literature and art. There- fore, we frequently use novels, biographies, dramas, and poetry (often with the aid of motion pictures, radio, or recordings) as means of insight into people’s minds.” “7 The teaching of history is treated at greater length in the chapter on Farmville. Sce pages 89-97, . [262] Twelfth Grade For most of our information about the third year, we con- tinue to quote from the article by teachers. “Just as the eleventh-grade course moved to the study of the city in a national setting, so the twelfth-grade course moves to the study of the nation in a world setting. The eleventh- grade study of the history of American civilization has sup- plied a good background of information as well as a knowl- edge of where to go and what to do to get more information as needed. “Each class must make careful choice of areas to be studied, for national and international problems are many and diff- cult. It is better by far to select two or three domestic prob- lems and the same number of the international, and to study these thoroughly, than to rush superficially through a large number. “During this year, students become familiar with the fore- most thinking about plans for maintaining our domestic eco- nomic system at a high level of employment and production— the nation’s number one problem just now. Their acquaintance with city planning helps them to understand planning on the national scene and the relations between local and national planning. “Students also examine the plans for international organi- zation, observe the progress which has been made toward achieving them, and study the outlook for the future. This is the world’s number one problem just now and probably will be for some yéars to come. “Many classes have found the study of American history in eleventh grade so profitable that they have planned to use some time in twelfth grade to study the history of American foreign policy and international relations, at least from 1914 down to the present. This has involved some study of the foreign policies of other countries as well, particularly of Russia, Great Britain, and China. Here, as with American history, the [263] events and movements of the past are selected because of their relevance to the affairs and issues of the present. “The twelfth-grade ‘Common Learnings’ course has another purpose, no less important than this expanding civic aim. That purpose is to give every student a wide range of opportunities to grow in ability to appreciate and enjoy beauty in literature, art, and music. Literature and the arts have been studied inci- dentally throughout the course, but now they become the matter of chief concern for perhaps as much as half the class time during the year.*. . . “Here is demonstrated one of the great values of a course of this type. By the time they reach twelfth grade, students have become so accustomed to look for relationships between various subjects that the study of literature and the arts al- most inevitably becomes tied up with the study of national and world affairs. Literature and the arts are used helpfully as means of understanding the peoples of other nations, as well as our own. Most students find this an exciting adventure, which opens up many new interests to them. Thanks to the work of the new International Agency for Education and our national agencies concerned with cultural relations, a con- stantly growing volume of materials is available, representing the cultures of many nations.*’ Literary works of all kinds in excellent translations, motion pictures (in technicolor, of course), prints of art works, recordings of music, and inter- national radio programs make it possible for American youth to become familiar with the life and thinking of a large part of the people of the world without ever leaving their own neighborhoods.” So much for the quotation. We add one other comment. Twelfth grade often brings a resurgence of personal problems, The teaching of literature and the arts in Grade XII in American City is similar in most important respects to that at Farmville in the same grade. For that reason, we omit a description and refer the reader to pages 134-37 in the chapter on Farmville. * National Education Association” and American Association of School Administrators, Educational Policies Commission. Education and the People’s Peace. Washington, D. C.: the Commission, 1943. p. 38-48. [264] particularly questions of what to do after high school (which are usually handled through small-group counseling), and new sets of questions relating to family life and to consumers’ prob- lems. Now boys and girls are thinking less of themselves as sons and daughters, more of themselves in the roles of makers- of-families. Twelfth-grade classes often decide to include a unit on “Friendship, Courtship, and Marriage,” similar to that which we saw at Farmville.*’ There are a number of teachers in each school who have shown unusual ability in teaching this unit, and their services are made available to all classes that want them. There are also several capable people on the staff of the city office, who are glad to come and help if needed. Community Institute In Grades XIII and XIV, one-sixth of a student’s time is given to “Common Learnings.” Since civic matters become increasingly important as youth move toward adulthood, the course during these two years consists chiefly of study and action in the field of citizenship. There is continuing study of current problems and their historical backgrounds, divided about equally between prob- lems of the city and region, on the one hand, and of the nation and the world, on the other. A student is in the same class throughout the two years, so his program has continuity. There is also a systematic study of certain areas of the world, about which the American citizen of today needs to be informed in order to render intelligent judgment on questions of inter- national relations. The aim here is to develop well-informed “average citizens,” rather than specialists on any area or in any subject field. This means that a very careful selection must be made, out of the great mass of information available about each area, of those facts which yield the maximum under- standing of the civilization of that area and which are most relevant to the relations of the area with the United States. 5° See pages 118-19. [265] This means also that students must become familiar with sources of information which are available to the average citizen— particularly series of pamphlets, periodicals on foreign affairs, and reports of governmental and national agencies—so that they can keep up to date after they have left school. The areas which are currently being studied during the two years of the course are (1) the U.S.S.R. and the adjacent small states in Europe, (2) thé British Commonwealth of Nations, (3) China and Eastern Asia (including Japan and the Philip- pines), (4) the Latin-American republics, (5) the Mediter- ranean area (including Saudi Arabia, Iraq, and Iran), (6) the central European area, (7) India, and (8) Southeastern Asia (including the East Indies). As to action, community institute students are often able to take a direct part in city planning projects. Almost every one of these projects requires the assembling of an immense amount of factual material—often more than the staffs of the planning committees have time for. Each year now sees at least half a dozen institute classes engaged in gathering and organizing data; preparing statistical tables, charts, and maps; and even proposing recommendations for use by one or another of the planning groups. Other “action programs” cover such a wide range of activ- ities that we can mention only a few. Many classes review their studies of voluntary service organizations in the city, and many students find that now, at nineteen or twenty, they can enter fully into the work of these agencies. Out of such studies has come a large student League of Women Voters at the community institute and a corresponding: organization for men.” Projects to reduce racial discriminations and prej- udices and to promote intercultural understanding are also frequently found on the schedules of institute classes. ** Most of the members are still prospective voters, of course. But it is to be noted that the movement to reduce the voting age from the twenty-first to the eighteenth birthday is ' steadily growing in strength. [266] Some Comments on Method During last summer’s session of the American City teachers’ workshop, a group of “Common Learnings” teachers prepared a statement which they called ‘Guides to the Teaching of ‘Com- mon Learnings.’ ” Some excerpts from this statement will prob- ably serve better than anything we could say as observers to give the reader an idea of how this course operates in practice. “Pupil experiences in each major area—civic competence, personal relationships, family life, and consumer economics, for example—are distributed throughout the years of the course, instead of being concentrated wholly in short periods. Students mature and their experiences broaden, and with these changes their interests and purposes alter. Periods devoted to civic mat- ters recur again and again. ‘Family relations’ at twenty is quite a different matter from ‘family relations’ at fifteen. There are, to be sure, some concentrated studies. The tenth-grade project on “American City at Work’ and the eleventh-grade study of “The History of American Civilization’ are examples. But that does not mean that students are through with their study of economics in Grade X or of history in Grade XI. These are the introductions which enable students to deal more intelligently with other economic and historical matters as they arise. “Major areas and emphases are allocated to each grade. Teacher and students are then free to determine the particular experiences which should be included and the order in which they should occur. . “The experiences of the years of youth have intrinsic value, no less than those of later life. Matters of current interest to students have a just claim on the schedule of every class. For example, it may be far more important to help a student choose his out-of-school motion picture, radio, book, and maga- zine fare with discrimination than to see that he reads certain books in school. . . . [267] “Much attention is given to improvement in the use of the English language. Knowledge of words, skill in oral and writ- ten expression, and ability to understand written and oral language are all essential to effective communication and indeed to effective thinking. In this course students are continually talking to people, listening to people, reading books and maga-. zines and newspapers, writing reports and letters. They learn English in action. “Much use is made of current printed materials. Most of the reading of the American people is in newspapers and periodicals, so students are helped to select newspapers and magazines with discrimination and to read them with critical judgment. Pam- phlets constitute a useful resource for the study of current pub- lic questions. And we must not omit the reports of the various planning groups in American City, which are used time and again in connection with community studies. Books are not neglected; but they are not the sole reading fare. . . . “The ‘Common Learnings’ class is the center for individual and group guidance, and the ‘Common Learnings’ teacher is the general counselor for each student in his classes. Having his students for two hours daily and observing them in many types of situations, he is in a better position to know them as individ- uals than any other person in the school. “The ‘Common Learnings’ class is also the local unit of gov- ernment in the school. It elects a representative to the school council. All important questions of school policy are referred to it for discussion and expression of opinion, sometimes for formal action. For such purposes, it has its own officers and committees. .. “The assignment of teachers, on the whole, is so made as to place the specialized training and experience of various teachers where they will be most useful. For example, a teacher with special abilities in economics and sociology would probably be assigned to Grade X; a teacher trained in history to Grade XI; a teacher of literature to Grade XII. Teachers with all-round [268 ] qualifications in the social sciences may be assigned to any grade.” “Assistance is now available from other teachers, to help with the study of subjects in which they are particularly competent. Teachers of various vocations assist in the study of American City at work. Teachers of home economics help with units on family living and consumer economics. Teachers of health and physical fitness assist with studies of community health condi- tions. The class advisers and teachers who have had training in psychology and mental hygiene come in to aid in the discus- sions of mental health, personal relations, and family life. “Systematic arrangements exist for teachers of “Common Learnings’ to meet together and share their experiences and plans. Teaching in such varied fields calls for well-balanced preparation on the part of the teacher.** Continuous experience in working with other teachers can often supply the balance which may be lacking in the teacher’s formal education. It is now regular practice for all the teachers of ‘Common Learnings’ in each school to meet together weekly for a period of coopera- tive planning. At longer intervals, all the ‘Common Learnings’ teachers of the city meet for sessions of what they call the ‘year- round workshop.’ During the school year, the teachers usually 52 Among the questions debated, when the “Common Learnings” course was being planned, were these: Should one teacher carry a class during both periods for a year? Should two teachers, with somewhat different training and interests, have two sections in adjacent rooms and interchange a portion of the time, in order to utilize the special competences of each teacher? Or, should one teacher be responsible for the group, but receive assistance from other teachers, who would come in for short periods to help on special problems? No final answer was reached. Teachers generally favored the third suggestion but recognized the administrative difficulties in such an “on-call”? plan. They saw also that this plan would increase costs substantially. As between the first two the decision was left to be made as seemed best in the individual school. In practice, the first alternative has been the one most generally followed. However, as additional funds have been made available, there has been a steady increase in the use of other teachers for brief periods. 53When the course was first started, teachers had been somewhat hesitant to take the responsibility for teaching in such a variety of fields as those encompassed within any year of “Common Learnings.” After the first year’s trial, however, most teachers reported that the experience had been exhilarating. They had learned along with their pupils. Moreover, many reported that, in their judgment, pupils seemed to learn more readily in classes in which they could sense that the teachers were learning. [269] assemble by grades. But at the end and the beginning of each year, the teachers of all grades meet together, because continuity of learning from year to year is no less important than sequences within each year.” Cc. SCIENCE The need of all youth to understand the methods of science, the influence of science on human life, and the main scientific facts concerning the nature of the world and of man was one of the ten “imperative educational needs of youth,” which be- came the groundwork of the curriculum in the American City secondary schools. In order to meet this need, a basic course in science is a required part of the program of all tenth-grade students.” | The purposes and content of the science course in American City are strikingly similar to those of the course on “The Scientific View of the World and of Man” which is offered in the Farmville Secondary School. Indeed, the two courses have so much in common that it would hardly be profitable to give a separate description of the American City course. The reader is, therefore, referred to the section on science in the chapter on Farmville.” A chief aim in both courses is to help students understand the social significance of science. In Farmville, the social applica- tions were naturally made to life in rural communities. In American City, comparable attention is given to the effects of science on urban life and on industry. Particular stress is placed on the possibilities for improving health, housing, transporta- tion, and home and neighborhood life through the application of scientific knowledge to the planning and development of Cities. “We have already noted the reasons which led to the separation of the course in science and also the fact that the two courses are planned from the course in ““Common Learnings,” and conducted in close relationship with one another. See pages 130-33. [270] D. HEALTH AND PHYSICAL EDUCATION The schools of American City, from nursery school through the community institute, seek to promote the health of children and youth and to help them keep physically fit. This concern for health and physical education is not new. It received a pow- erful impetus at the time of the first World War, when a dis- tressingly high proportion of young men were found to be physically unfit for military service. In the years between the wars, the schools had developed a program of health services, health instruction, and physical education which compared fa- vorably with the best practices of those times. Yet, when the second World War came, American City’s educators faced the sobering facts that over 20 percent of the young men who had recently gone out from their schools were rejected by the armed forces because of physical deficiencies or disease, and that in many cases these defects could have been prevented or reme- died -during the school years. They therefore set themselves with renewed determination to put into effect a program which would raise the level of health and physical fitness throughout the schools. It would take too long to tell of all the details of this program. We shall there- fore direct our attention to those phases of the program which show the most marked variations from practices ordinarily pre- vailing in good secondary schools just prior to the beginning of the second World War. We shall mention six features which are particularly note- worthy—three relating primarily to health, three to physical education. If space were unlimited, the number could be multi- plied several times. 1. Thorough and complete health examinations lead at once to effective follow-up with students and their parents, to indi- vidualized programs of health instruction, and (when needed ) to plans for correction of defects or treatment of disease. There were periodic health examinations in American City [271] high schools in prewar days, and no one would deny their value. But something was lacking—otherwise the proportion of young men rejected for military service would have been much lower. As the health staff of the American City schools studied these matters, they agreed on two points. First, they said, health examinations should be thorough and complete. If a choice had to be made between frequent but hur- ried examinations and thorough examinations at longer inter- vals, the latter were greatly to be preferred. Now every pupil receives a complete examination once every three years while in school and again just prior to leaving full-time school. That is the minimum. Pupils with serious defects and students who suffer severe illnesses are examined more frequently. Second—and this point cannot be stressed too strongly—it was agreed that much more should be done to assure prompt and effective follow-up of all examinations which revealed need for corrective or remedial treatment. Several important steps have been taken to accomplish this end. Health examinations are now made by the pupil’s family physician. The schools have never given remedial treatment save in emergency cases. Treatment has always been a matter for the parents to arrange with the family physician. Therefore, it was said, let the family physician make the examination. Then it would be more likely that prompt and effective treat- ment would follow the examination. This proposal was dis- cussed with the county medical society. The physicians agreed to a fixed fee for examining pupils, and the board of education agreed to pay this fee. A committee representing the medical society and the school health staff worked out the specifications for a standard examination and the forms on which the results of the examination were to be reported. If a pupil has no family physician, his parents are asked to choose one from a list pre- pared by the county medical society. If neither the parents nor the pupil has a preference, the school officials assign the pupil to one of the physicians on the list. | [272] One copy of the health examination report is kept by the examining physician. Another copy goes to the parents. A third copy goes to the ““Common Learnings” teacher, who, we recall, is also the high-school student’s counselor. This copy becomes a part of the pupil’s personal history record. It is used in guid- ance and program planning, and becomes the foundation for the pupil’s program in health instruction and physical educa- tion. The fourth copy goes to the office of the school physician. One of the main duties of the school physician (or medical adviser, as he is now called) is to study the reports of health ex- aminations and to select those cases in which remedial or correc- tive treatment is indicated. He goes over the records of all such cases with the school nurse (now known as the health coun- selor), who is responsible for the person-to-person follow-up with pupils and their parents. Most pupils require little attention from the nurse. Treat- ment by the family physician usually follows the examination as a matter of course, and the nurse then has only to keep informed about the treatment and to record its progress and outcome. But there are always some cases needing treatment, in which nothing is done. Then the nurse has to talk with the pupil, visit the parents—sometimes repeatedly—and perhaps arrange for treatment at one of the city’s several low-cost clinics. Neither the nurse nor the physician is satisfied until he knows _ that the best possible treatment has been given. Teachers of health and of physical education also study the results of the health examinations of pupils in their classes and endeavor to build for classes and for individuals programs which will best meet the needs revealed by the examinations. Arrangements with family dentists for dental examinations are similar to those for health examinations, A dentist on the central office staff serves as dental adviser to the schools. His duties are comparable to those of the medical adviser. Teachers of ““Common Learnings” classes (who are given special instruction by the medical adviser and his staff) conduct [273] annual screening examinations of vision and hearing. When treatment is needed, the follow-up is handled by the medical adviser and nurse in the manner indicated above. 2. The health of students has become a chief concern of the entire school, and health-promoting activities are found throughout the school program. As American City’s educators studied the health needs of their students and the ways in which the schools might meet these needs, they became convinced that a pupil’s health is the result of the way he lives twenty-four hours a day. Some of these hours are lived in the school. They are subject to the school’s control, and the school must take full responsibility for their effects upon the health of pupils. It was agreed, therefore, that each school must provide a healthful school environment and healthful living throughout the school day. This clearly is a responsibility which must be shared by every teacher, by the school administrative officers, and by the custodial staff. There was further agreement that information about healthful living must be taught at many times and places in the school’s program. The desired results can hardly be secured if health instruction is limited to a few separate courses. These views are now generally accepted by teachers in Amer- ican City schools. Practically every member of the staff realizes that he has a part in safeguarding and improving the health of the students in his classes. In home economics classes, one finds instruction about nutrition, home hygiene, health of young children, home care of the sick, and other health aspects of home life. Studies of community health conditions and prob- lems are regularly included in “Common Learnings” classes. The courses in basic science, biology, and chemistry lay great emphasis upon the understanding of health and show how science has advanced man’s ability to prevent and cure disease and to create a healthful environment. In vocational courses, attention is given to provisions for health and safety as im- [274] portant factors in working conditions. A large part of the in- struction in physical education is directed toward the purpose of promoting good health. In addition, time is allowed throughout the secondary-school program for class and individual instruction on matters of health not covered elsewhere in the school program. Classrooms and laboratories for health instruction are now standard equip- ment in each of the three high schools. The subjectmatter for health instruction is determined in part by studying the health examination records and in part by careful observation of each child and, as far as possible, of his home and neighborhood environment. The school buildings and equipment have been carefully planned to contribute to the health of the school. Lighting, heating, ventilation, seating in the classroom, drinking foun- tains, toilets and showers, playground space, and laboratory and play equipment—even the color of the walls—are factors in the health program. The care of these facilities is supervised by the health coordinator, of whom we shall say more in a moment. The thorough understanding by the custodial staff of the rela- tion of the physical environment to health, and the recognition of their responsibility in this matter, are largely the result of her good work. The key person to the health program in each school is the health coordinator, a member of the faculty responsible to the principal and to the school medical adviser. It is her respon- sibility to educate all teachers, through various methods of in-service training, regarding their share in the school’s health program and to integrate the various health activities of the school. This she does largely through the school health coordi- nating committee, composed of representatives of teachers of health, physical education, “Common Learnings,” home eco- nomics, science, and vocational education, and one person each from the school-lunch staff and the custodial staff. The American City schools are concerned with the health of [275] teachers and other school personnel, as well as of pupils. Ar- rangements have therefore been made for health examinations for all staff members at the time of their employment and periodically thereafter. 3. The activities of schools in behalf of students’ health are extended to homes, to neighborhoods, and to the city as a whole. The health of children and youth, as we have said, depends not only on their hours in school, but upon the way they live away from school—in their homes, in their neighborhoods, and at work. If the schools neglect the home and community fac- tors, these out-of-school influences may cancel out many of the beneficial effects of the rest of the school program. While the schools cannot directly control out-of-school conditions, they can influence them by educating pupils and their parents, by cooperating with physicians and community health agencies, and by working with employers to assure safe and healthful working conditions. | We have already noted how the school nurse or health coun- selor visits the homes of students who need remedial or correc- tive treatment and endeavors to inform the parents and enlist their cooperation in improving their child’s health. In addition to such work with individual parents, the schools have de- veloped an extensive program of group education for parents through cooperation with the parent-teacher associations. In this program, the health of children and youth holds a fore- most place. Ten years ago, to be sure, it would hardly have been possible to interest large numbers of parents in the health of adolescents. But here one can see the effects of wartime experi- ence. The unsatisfactory physical condition of one-fourth of the nation’s young men was a startling fact that became widely known during the war, and it made people think. Parents and teachers no longer assume that young people will automatically grow up physically fit for national service and for happy and efficient personal living. Many parents nowadays are willing to give some time to studying how they can better promote their children’s health. ! [276] Then, too, educators have improved their methods of work- ing with parents. Their experience with large programs of adult education has taught them that adults can contribute valuable ideas and significant experiences. They have therefore taken parents into partnership in planning parent education pro- grams. This change in attitude on the part of educators has been an important factor in developing the interest and par- ticipation of parents. Parents now frequently take the lead in ‘organizing courses to learn more about physical and mental health. Staff and money for the conduct of such courses are provided by the schools. Neighborhood and community conditions also affect the health of children, favorably or adversely. These matters are regularly studied in the schools, especially in courses on ““Com- mon Learnings” and health. But the schools do more. Unfavor- able conditions of public health and sanitation can be improved only by public action. The schools are encouraging such action through neighborhood health committees, each composed of parents, physicians, teachers, and other interested citizens living within an area served by an elementary school. The high schools, instead of setting up separate committees on community health, work through these neighborhood committees, and someone from the health staff of each high school is a member of each of the neighborhood committees. This kind of service is a regular part of the professional duties of the staff and is counted as part of the teaching load. Organized education is not the only public agency concerned with health. The board of education and the city board of health work in cooperation, based on a clear understanding of their respective duties and authorities. The schools also work with the county medical society, clinics, and other health and wel- fare agencies, in all measures which these agencies take to im- prove the health of children and youth. Physical education is an indispensable part of the health pro- gram of the American City schools, but it also has other pur- [277] poses and values. It is a means of developing a variety of recreational interests and skills, of providing a wealth of powerfully motivated socializing experiences, and of building desirable attitudes of teamwork, sportsmanship, and respect for other persons.” 4. In the American City high schools and in the community institute, each student follows a program of physical condi- tioning based on the results of his health examination and on | information gained by the physical education teacher from other tests and from observation. This program is composed largely of group activities, yet it is made to suit the individual. Each student has his own schedule of activities, designed to de- velop strength, endurance, mastery of body mechanics, skills of physical performance, and habits of exercise conducive to continuing health and fitness, all according to his own par- ticular needs. Enough time is taken at the beginning of each year for the physical education teacher to discuss each student’s program with that student so that the student may know why he is following this particular conditioning program and what he may expect in the way of outcomes. Teacher and student together set up certain. standards of attainment, and each stu- dent is encouraged to test his own progress toward these stand- ards. In practically every case, the basic conditioning program includes swimming and some form of dancing. 5. Beyond his physical conditioning program, each student has an area of free choice of physical activities. In tenth grade, the selection is preceded by several months of “orientation,” in which the student is introduced to a wide variety of games, sports, and other physical activities and is given instruction in their basic skills. This orientation period is intended to help the student broaden his interests, lest his choices be made from too restricted a list. Thereafter the staff allows students to follow The recreational aspects of physical education have already been treated at some length in the chapter on Farmville. See pages 119-26. The discussion of physical education in this chapter will, therefore, be briefer than that of other aspects of health. [278] their own interests, while the teachers give their attention to instructing students in the activities of their choice, to the end that everyone may be able to do well whatever he chooses to do. In this area of elective physical activities, the schools stress competitive sports—but in quite an unconventional and strik- ing fashion. These sports were under vigorous attack in some quarters during the 1930’s, but the staff of the American City schools, after careful consideration, concluded that no motiva- tion for the development of good health and rugged physical condition could be found that would approximate that pro- vided by competitive athletics. The competitive athletic program in the American City schools, however, is so different from that which prevailed ten or twenty years ago, that the old system would hardly be recognized in its new guise. In the first place, the sports program has been greatly ex- panded and varied. Competition between the schools and be- tween teams within the schools now covers at least a half dozen sports in addition to the old quartet of standbys—football, basketball, baseball, and track. The new sports that have been added. include many of the games which can be played in adult life and by small BrSuUs: such as tennis, golf, bowling, and water sports. Another profound difference between the present program and that of a generation ago is the composition and organization of teams. There is an extensive program of intramural athletics within each school, but the teachers in the American City high schools frankly admit that they have not yet found a way to make competition within the school develop the same degree of enthusiasm and interest as competition between schools. Therefore, in addition to the inclusive intramural program, there is an extensive interschool competitive program in a wide variety of sports. But even this interschool competition is greatly different from [279] that of an earlier day. For instance, there are ordinarily from ten to a dozen school football teams, each representing one school. These are not listed as the first team, the second team, and so on. All are of approximately equal ability. They play each other on equal terms within the school, and each of the teams engages in interscholastic competition. Thus, in any par- ticular sport, such as football, the objective of Lincoln High School, for instance, is to put a larger number of excellent teams on the field for interscholastic competition than its rival schools can, due regard being had for differences in the size of the student body. Thus, when Lincoln High School plays Jeffer- son High School in football during the week of October 9-16, there are usually ten different pairs of teams playing against one another. The school which has the most winning teams is the winner of the week’s competition. The result of this arrangement, of course, is that practically any boy, who is reasonably fit physically and who is willing to submit himself to the rather strict regime of training and practice, can play football for his school. The winning of a victory for the school involves not the selection of a mere handful of highly superior players, but the organization of a large number of teams of good players and the allocation of the superior players to the teams in such a manner as to make the total effectiveness of the school’s teams as great as possible. Similar plans are followed for other sports. Although the physical education classes are separately or- ganized for boys and girls, in those games where mixed par- ticipation by both boys and girls. is suitable—in tennis, golf, and bowling, for instance—there are teams of boys, teams. of girls, and mixed teams. The net effect of these changes has been to retain competitive spirit and at the same time spread participation very widely throughout the student body. The idea of eleven or fifteen boys playing while 3000 others observe them would today be re- [280] garded with amused surprise by the students of American City. 6. The schools endeavor to extend physical education out- ward into the community and onward into the years of adult life. Each high-school building is open from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m., and its gymnasiums, swimming pools, courts, and playgrounds are available for use by community groups at all times when they are not employed by the regular students. Each high school has thus become a community recreation center. The city recrea- tion commission and the board of education have worked to- gether very closely in recent years; they administer these com- munity activities jointly; and they have a number of joint com- mittees. It appears likely that in time it will be wise to combine the two in a single administration. In addition, the schools carry physical education and recrea- tional activities into neighborhoods through the services of their older students. Each year a number of the boys and girls in Grade XII and the community institute are trained as leaders in neighborhood recreational programs. As soon as their preliminary training is completed, they organize and supervise block and neighborhood recreational programs, in games that can be played on vacant lots, in back yards, and on ‘“‘dead-end”’ streets—softball, volleyball, darts, horseshoes, badminton, and the like. All this, of course, is a part of their regular school pro- gram of physical education. It has been found that many of these youth continue their interest in neighborhood recreation after they leave school and voluntarily organize and lead ac- tivities in the areas around their own homes. One-sixth of a student’s time is scheduled for activities in health and physical education throughout high school and com- munity institute. The amount of time and the hours may vary from day to day and from season to season, for the pro- - gram is purposely flexible so that it may be adapted to the intérests and needs of individuals. [281] E. VOCATIONAL PREPARATION There are 7500 boys and girls in the high schools of Ameri- can City and 3800 more in the community institute—11,300 in all. There are 60,000 workers in American City *’ employed in hundreds of occupations ranging all the way from manual tasks requiring a single skill to the highly skilled professions. The schools of American City have undertaken to equip the great majority of youth with the skills and knowledge needed for successful entry into the work life of the city. The schools have undertaken to carry the remainder—those whose occu- pations require advanced training—along the road of prepara- tion through high school or, if they wish, through the second year of college. This is an enormous task, but it was assumed deliberately and with full knowledge of its dimensions and difficulties. It was no accident that preparation to earn a living in a useful occupa- tion stood first on the commission on postwar education’s list of “imperative educational needs of youth.” How People Are Employed in American City First, let us look at some facts about what people do to earn a living.” At present, 74 percent of the workers of American City are thus engaged: in manufacturing, 34 percent; trade and finance, 25 percent; transportation, 6 percent; build- ing and construction, 6 percent; communications, 1% per- cent; and utilities, 114 percent. Twelve percent are engaged in personal service of various kinds: domestic, hotel, restaurant, laundry, cleaning, barbering, beautician, amusement, and the like. The remaining 14 percent are employed as follows: in gov- ernment, 4 percent; and the professional fields, such as educa- tion, medicine, law, and engineering, 10 percent. Including the self-employed, but not including homemakers. The reader will recall that these facts were supplied by the executive director of the city planning commission, who in turn got them from the commission’s bureau of occupa- tional research. [282] Approaching the same matter from the point of view ot types of work which people perform, we find that 33 percent of the workers are employed at jobs below the skilled level in manufacturing, transportation, building and construction, com- munications, and utilities. Fifteen percent are skilled craftsmen or foremen in the same fields, positions which are usually at- tained only through years of experience. Twenty-four percent are clerical and office workers in all fields and salespeople in retail and wholesale trade. These positions vary greatly in the skills required, but most of them have to be entered near the bottom of the ladder. The same might be said of positions in the various forms of personal service which employ 12 percent. Ten percent are professional and semiprofessional people. Six percent are proprietors, managers, and officials. | Educators need more than a “still” picture of employment conditions. They need a continuous moving picture—one which will reveal changes and trends and will help them to forecast what the situation will be when youth now in school are ready for work. These studies of trends are supplied regularly by the bureau of occupational research.” It would require a great deal of space to reproduce them, but perhaps we can summarize the main points in a paragraph or two. The first two years after the war were too unstable to yield anything in the way of trends. But from the end of the second year down to the present several movements may be noted. The number of workers employed in manufacturing and me- chanical fields has dropped slowly but steadily, partly because of the introduction of labor-saving machinery, partly because the demand for manufactured goods has declined from its postwar peak. There has been a decline in employment in build- ing, too. The construction of high- and medium-priced housing and commercial plants rocketed upward after the war and was at an exceptionally high point three years ago. Now the demand for these types of buildings is tapering off. A new upward trend 5 A bureau of the city planning commission. See page 317 for further information. [283] is expected, however, as soon as construction of greatly needed low-cost housing gets under way on a large scale. In all other fields (trade and finance, the professions, personal services, transportation, and government), the general trends during the last three years have been upward—slight but discernible. Turning to types of work, we find a decline in the number of employees below the skilled level in industry and building. The number of skilled workers has increased slightly, however. Machines replace repetitive workers but require skilled workers to keep them operating. The trend is also upward in the cases of clerical and office workers, salespeople in wholesale and retail trades, personal service occupations, and most of the professions —foremost of all, education. The number of proprietors and managers stands unchanged. One thing has been clear for some time. Under present condi- tions, the great majority of young people will have to enter employment through beginners’ jobs that require only a few skills and work their way up, often slowly, to the relatively small number of skilled supervisory and managerial positions. The professional and semiprofessional fields are an exception, but these require years of special training and altogether em- ploy only one in ten. There are other exceptions—in some phases of trade and finance, in a few of the service occupations, and wherever a new industry (such as radio, television, or air trans- portation) develops rapidly. To the individuals affected, these exceptions are of great importance, but their total is not large —not more than another 10 percent. For four out of five, it is safe to say, the first job will be an unskilled or semiskilled be- ginner’s job, and for most of these advancement will come slowly. , Why, then, some have asked, should the schools do more than offer high-school training for beginners’ jobs to the great ma- jority, add a small technical school for the few semiprofessional workers, and prepare the professional candidates for university? How justify the expenditure of public funds to provide youth [284] with more occupational training than they will need on their first jobs? °° These questions were raised many times while the American City Board of Education, the commission on postwar educa- tion, and the citizens’ advisory council were planning what kind of education and how much education the schools should provide for youth. When these bodies decided, as we know they did, to establish a free public institution beyond high school providing advanced vocational education in many fields, the argument which carried most weight was a very simple one. The public schools, it was said, exist primarily to help boys and girls, young men and young women, develop their. full capacities—not merely to supply industry and business with workers for beginners’ jobs. It now seems advisable to require all youth to attend school until the eighteenth birthday, be- cause, under modern conditions, twelve years seems to be the shortest period in which the schools can provide the minimum education needed by youth. But if a youth already equipped to take a beginner’s job wishes to continue his education beyond twelfth grade, he should have the opportunity to do so, even though he develops a surplus of skills and knowledge which are not immediately marketable. The free worker in a free society, it was asserted, should have the right to acquire a reserve stock of skills and knowledge which may enable him to advance more rapidly and free him from dependence upon a single type of job. A second conclusion seems warranted, for American City at least. The proportion of workers employed at repetitive work in factories and offices and at other unskilled work is steadily declining. Machines are taking their places. On the other hand, an increasing proportion of the labor force is employed at work in which personal relations are important—the professions and semiprofessions, retail trade, government, and various forms © Sixty-four percent of American City youth continue beyond high school. It is not likely that more than 20 percent of the youth population can enter occupations at the pro- fessional, semiprofessional, technical, or skilled levels. [285] of personal service. This trend has been observed by educators, and the programs of the schools have been adjusted accordingly. What the Worker Needs To Know The commission on postwar education devoted much time and thought to the question: What is adequate preparation for earning a living? One of its committees, previously mentioned,” prepared a report which showed that the well-prepared worker should learn far more than the skills and knowledge of his occu- pation. Some portions of this report carried such weight that they are worth quoting. “Manufacturing, trade, transportation, and construction,” said the committee, “are significant for educational planning for two reasons: first, because they employ 70 percent of the workers in American City and presumably will employ about that proportion of American City youth; and second, because they are accompanied by conditions which profoundly affect the employment and training of youth. We turn now to examine these conditions.” Large-scale enter prise—Industry, business, and transporta- tion, in the main, are conducted on a large scale. Most people engaged in these fields work for corporations—manufacturing concerns, banks, railroads, air lines, truck lines, transit com- panies, broadcasting companies, large newspapers, large hotels, large department stores, chain markets, chain drug stores, chain restaurants, chain auto service stations, chain motion picture theaters—rather than for individual proprietors. The propor- tion of owner-proprietors of small shops and stores has steadily declined over the past four decades. The young worker who enters employment in American City should be familiar with the organization and operation of large-scale enterprise. Employers and employees’ organizations—Conditions of work in American City, aside from those phases controlled by government agencies, are determined largely by organizations. * See page 225. This committee was composed of representatives from employers’ and em- ployees’ organizations and other public agencies concerned as well as the schools. [286] Employers are organized in various trade associations—manu- facturers, retail merchants, hotel and restaurant operators, builders, and many others. Employees are organized in various unions. Most of the workers in industry, transportation, and construction are union members. Many of those in trade are also. In personal service and professional fields, the influence of organization is smaller, but it is growing. The conditions under which youth may enter employment, the requirements of train- ing, the provisions for seniority and advancement of workers, and many similar matters are largely the results of agreements between the organizations of employers and of employees. There are requirements of union membership to work in some plants. There are requirements of apprenticeship training to enter some occupations. To the youth entering employment in American City, a knowledge of employers’ and employees’ organizations and their ways of working is no less important than a knowledge of his trade. These organizations can act to hinder youth or to help them. They can close the doors of work in the faces of young people, or they can open those doors. A study of their operation should have a place in the occupational training pro- gram. Employment practices—As business enterprises become larger and more highly organized, employment becomes in- creasingly impersonal. Few now are the jobs in this city in which the young worker is personally known by the proprietor-em- ployer. In most cases, the employer is a corporation, and the job is secured either through the personnel office of the plant or store, the public employment service, or a union. Usually the employee works under a foreman, supervisor, or manager, who is himself under the authority of someone higher in the cor- porate hierarchy. The committee was apparently uncertain whether, from the standpoint of education, this condition was good or bad. It regarded the decline in personal relations between the pro- prietor-employer and the worker as a certain loss, especially in the cases of young people just beginning their work. On the other hand, it noted that several of the large-scale employers had established personnel departments and adopted advanced practices in initial selection, in training, in counseling, and in [287] upgrading of workers. If such actions should become general, the committee said, the gains might more than outweigh the losses. In any event, it concluded, students should learn about the practices actually found in American City. The report continues: Government controls—Both federal and state governments also have a voice in determining conditions of youth employ- ment. There are legal and administrative controls over mini- mum age for leaving school, minimum age for part-time work, minimum wages, maximum hours of work, and compensation in case of injury—which must be taken into account in all edu- cational planning and particularly in plans for providing work experience for secondary-school students. Unemployment in- surance and old age insurance are now compulsory in most em- ployment. All these matters should be learned by all students as a part of their occupational preparations. Specialization of labor—Large-scale enterprise and mass pro- duction are accompanied by high specialization of labor on many jobs, chiefly in manufacturing, but extending also to busi- ness and transportation. Most workers in factories and many workers in offices, stores, and maintenance shops perform a relatively small number of operations a great number of times. Workers can be trained for most repetitive jobs after they have been employed and in a comparatively short time. Further- more, the training often requires specialized and expensive — equipment which is not now available in our schools. Employ- ers and labor leaders agree that it is far more important for boys and girls to receive all-round training in basic processes and with basic tools and machines than to be trained in the specific oper- ations of a particular job. Replacement of men by machines—Each advance in machine production results in the reduction of number of worker-hours per unit of product. Unless an advance is accompanied by re- duced hours of work or by increased total production, the effect is to throw men and women out of work. We believe that technological improvement will continue. It will be particularly marked in industry, but it will extend also to construction, transportation, communication, and office work. We who plan for youth education must take account of this fact. We should [288] particularly note that the workers replaced by machines are usually those at the repetitive jobs requiring only a few opera- tional skills. Dependence on national and world economic conditions— The industry, trade, finance, and transportation of American City are delicately adjusted parts of a national system with worldwide connections. Any disruption of the system or of any important part of it will be quickly reflected in local affairs. Both economic and educational planning must consider national and world conditions, as well as local. The workers in American City must inevitably be concerned with the relations of the city’s trade and industry to the national and world system. If they are to share intelligently in meeting problems that may arise locally because of disruptions and changes elsewhere, they should be equipped to do so as a part of their school training. Seven Purposes of Vocational Education Aided by this and other committees the commission on postwar education drew up a statement of seven qualifica- tions of the person equipped for work in the cities. “1. The youth prepared to be a successful worker in any occupation should have mastered the basic skills of his occupa- tion and as much of the related scientific and technical knowl- edge as is possible within the limits of his abilities and the time available. “2. He should have had experience in productive work under conditions of regular employment (or conditions ap- proximating those as nearly as possible), where he can learn the requirements of work for production and be helped to develop those personal qualifications of dependability, coopera- tion, and resourcefulness which bulk so large as factors in success. “3. He should know the requirements for entering the occupation in which he is interested—such as education, ap- prenticeship training, health and physical fitness, previous experience, and union membership (if required). He should [289] also know how to go about getting a job through the public employment service, the personnel offices of employers, and (in some cases) the labor unions. “4. He should understand the functions both of manage- ment and of employees’ organizations in his occupation and the relations between them. He should be acquainted with the purposes and operations of labor unions, if there are such; the obligations and privileges of union membership; and the duties and authority of union officials. He should likewise be familiar with the duties and authority of management—par- ticularly foremen and supervisors. He should know about the machinery for handling relations between management and employees—about collective bargaining, seniority regula- tions, and the means of dealing with grievances and disputes. He should also be informed about the availability of credit unions, group hospitalization insurance, consumers’ coopera- tives, and other cooperative services. 3 “*§. He should understand the relations of government to his occupation—the applications of federal and state laws relat- ing to such matters as unemployment compensation, old age and survivors’ insurance, employers’ liability, collective bar- gaining, and safety provisions. ‘6. He should know how the industry, business, profession, or service field which he expects to enter operates as a whole and about its place in the life of the city. He should be familiar with the most reliable predictions as to the future of his occu- pation and with the work of local planning bodies which relate to his work. And he should have some understanding of the national and possibly the international setting of his occu- pation and of the general economic conditions which shape its course. “7, Finally, he should know how to use the public services available to him after he leaves full-time school—particularly the services of placement, guidance, advanced vocational train- ing, recreation, health, and civic education.” [290] These have become the purposes of occupational prepara- tion in American City’s schools, and the programs of the high schools and of the community institute are being fashioned accordingly. We say “are being fashioned” because the process is far from complete. To move into such a comprehensive pro- gram of occupational preparation for all youth—much of it uncharted territory—is a colossal undertaking which will require years of experimentation and improvement. The Teaching Staff This task of preparing students for occupations enlists the cooperation of practically the whole school staff. The leadership and support of the principal is an important factor. American City is fortunate in having three high-school principals all of whom have helped to plan the present pro- gram and now support it firmly. They and the principal of the community institute have made it a point frequently to attend meetings of advisory committees on vocational educa- tion” and thereby to keep in touch with representatives of employers and labor. Class advisers also help. Two in each high school are respon- sible for seeing that vocational and “Common Learnings” teachers have the latest information about opportunities and requirements in various occupations, as it comes from the schools’ city office of guidance and pupil personnel service.” Two are responsible for placement of students in part-time employment and for administration of student-aid funds. They make it a rule to consult the students’ vocational teachers about all placements, whether with private employers or under the student-aid program, so that all work experiences may yield maximum educational value. There are counselors with com- parable duties in the community institute. *“Common Learnings” teachers, who also serve as general ad- ®2 See pages 306-307 for a description of these committees. See page 322 for information about this office. [291] visers to students in their classes, counsel students at times of initial choices of occupational fields and when students are considering changes of choice. “Common Learnings” courses supply information about the economic life of the city, the work of city planning agencies, occupational trends and out- looks, labor and industrial relations, and labor legislation. Such information tends to be general in character, since the ““Com- mon Learnings” classes are cross-section groups. There are some periods, however, both in Grade XII and in the com- munity institute, when the usual organization of ‘Common Learnings” classes is set aside, and students meet according to their vocational interests. On these occasions, vocational teachers work with the “Common Learnings” teachers, and representatives of employers’ and employees’ organizations are frequently brought in for consultation. Teachers in health and physical fitness help with instruction relating to personal health, industrial hygiene, safety, and first aid. However, the greater part of vocational preparation remains to be done by the teachers of vocational courses. It is they who must help the student to understand the nature of the work he has chosen and to plan the course that will equip him to do it; who must give the instruction in the skills and knowledge of the chosen field; and who must supervise the student on his work experience project. It is they who must bring all the general information about economic processes, labor legisla- tion, and industrial and labor relations to a sharp focus on the particular occupation for which the youth is preparing. Much of the latter is done incidentally as questions arise in shop or classroom. All of these duties call for versatile teachers; and thereon has hung a large problem. For most of the teachers of voca- tional courses are new to the American City schools. The enrolment in high schools has grown by more than 50 percent in the past five years, and the community institute is only [292] four years old. Instructors were needed who, first of all, had had successful practical experience in the occupations which _ they were to teach. Many such people had shown good ability _as teachers in the war production training program, and now were available for regular teaching positions. There were some people, too, who had had comparable experiences in the Army and Navy and in the training-within-industry program. Still others became available from industry, as war production tapered off or shut down entirely. The schools were alert for all such people. More was needed, however, than proficiency. in one’s occupa- tion. These new teachers needed a broad understanding of the philosophy of the educational system which they were enter- ing. They needed training in methods of teaching, in the psy- chology of learning, in methods of counseling, and in the understanding of adolescent youth. And they—and most of the older teachers as well—needed more education in economics, labor and industrial relations, and labor legislation. An extensive program of in-service education for teachers was called for; and the commission on postwar education, working with the teachers concerned, soon presented a plan to the superintendent and the board of education. Summer workshops, continuous conference and committee work through the year, and extension courses in economics and edu- cation, “tailor-made” for this purpose by one of the state institutions of higher education, have been used in combina- tion and to good effect. Education in Vocational Knowledge and Skills Assuming that all occupational preparation is aimed toward the seven purposes listed earlier, we shall direct our attention, from this point on, to what the schools of American City are doing to equip youth with vocational knowledge and skills. Our task will be simpler if we classify these youth in terms [293] of time when they leave or plan to leave full-time school. ‘Three main groups may be identified, and under the first of these, four subgroups. 1. Those who leave full-time school from high school (nor- mally at the end of twelfth grade) a. Those who go to work at regular employment b. Those who go into indentured or formal appren- ticeship 7 c. Those who become homemakers d. Those who enlist in the armed forces 2. Those who continue in community institute for one or two years, preparing for work in one of the fields for which the college offers terminal preparation 3. Those who plan to attend universities or four-year col- leges, many of. whom attend community institute for two years. It is never possible, of course, to know with certainty in which group a boy or girl will eventually fall. Students are free to change their plans, under guidance, and many changes are inevitable. But at any one time these groupings will include practically all the American City student body. Vocational Training in High School 1. For those who leave full-time school from high school The first group—those who leave full-time school at the completion of twelfth grade or at the eighteenth birthday— at present constitutes about 36 percent of the high-school stu- dents. With two exceptions, the general plans for the four subgroups are similar. The first exception is this: Those who go to work at regular employment, directly from high school, should, it is: believed, include in their programs a supervised experience of productive work under employment conditions.** With rare exceptions, * See pages 303-306 for more complete discussion of supervised work experience under em- ployment conditions. This is not identical with part-time work to earn money for expenses, although the same work may serve both purposes. [294] such a work experience is a required part of their program of occupational preparation. Usually it comes during the twelfth grade, when a student is likely to have his post-graduation plans fairly well in mind. There is no prescribed length for this work experience. It may be a part-time job extending through a year or more. It may be a full-time job shared by two students. It may be a full-time job, held by a single student for a briefer period—a summer job, for example. The nature and length of the job are worked out by the student and his vocational adviser with a view to giving the student the experience which will best serve his needs. For those who go from high school into apprenticeship the supervised work experience is considered desirable but usually is not required. For those who go into homemaking from high school, a home project program, planned and carried out under a teacher of home economics and continuing through a year or longer, is the counterpart of the work experience project. The second exception is that many of those who go to work directly from high school spend the last four to eight weeks of their vocational course in intensive practice of the skills of the particular jobs which they expect to have when they leave school. This intensive training is possible, of course, only when a student knows in advance what his job will be and when the school has the equipment for training. In prewar days, it was usually impossible to get a job until one was ready to go to work. But during the war, employers learned that it was to their advantage to anticipate employment needs and to pass such information on to young people through the schools. Many employers have continued this practice. Often the stu- dent’s supervised work experience leads directly to a job or provides the intensive training needed for the first job. This is considered highly desirable, and is arranged whenever possible. ®Tn any case, the work experience project would not be scheduled before the student’s sixteenth birthday. [295] The program of vocational education in high school is planned to be comprehensive for the school system as a whole, with some division of responsibilities among the three high schools. The high schools of American City together offer preparation for practically all the major occupational fields which youth may enter with a background of high-school training. Some fields, to which the annual outlet is large, are found in all three schools; others, with limited outlets, in only one school. Here is the list of the fields in which training (with appro- priate shop and laboratory equipment) is now offered: In all three of the high schools * Business education Distributive occupations (retail and wholesale selling) Homemaking In one high school only Agriculture “ Airplane mechanics Automobile mechanics Building trades Cosmetology (beauty parlor operations) Domestic, hotel, and restaurant occupations “ Electrical trades Machine trades Metal trades Printing trades ** Each high school also has a large and well-equipped general. shop used: for both: voca- tional and nonvocational instruction and practice. * Includes nursery operation, floriculture, landscape gardening, poultry raising, dairy farm- ing, and truck gardening—the forms of agriculture found in the city and its suburbs. The schools, the public employment service, and the occupational planning council, working together, have made considerable progress in. raising household, hotel, and restaurant service—and particularly the first—to the semiskilled and skilled occupational levels. The training in foods, clothing, child care, household care, and home management, which a@ girl receives in a three-year course, certainly entitles her to higher pay and social status than that formerly given to “maids” and “domestic servants.” By working with various women’s clubs, church groups, and PTA’s, the agencies mentioned above have secured the cooperation of a large number of women employers, in the matter of personal treatment as well as wages, and the demand for girls with this training now exceeds the supply. The community institute [296] The fields in the latter group are distributed among the three high schools. A student may attend the school which offers training in the field of his interest, regardless of his place of residence. | The course in each occupational field is continuous through- out the three years, and the same teachers usually carry a class through from Grade X to graduation. This permits an integra- tion of learnings which would be difficult under separate semes- ter or year courses. Shop or laboratory practice, related science and mathematics, field trips to observe the occupation in action, and many of the nontechnical learnings mentioned earlier are all taught in the same course at the times deemed best for learning. Much of the work is done on individual and small- group schedules, thus making it possible to adapt students’ programs to their particular interests and to adjust their progress to their learning abilities. The high schools do not attempt specialization within these broad fields. A basic course in machine trades or metal trades is considered the best preparation which the high school can give for work in the manufacturing industries. So also with business education, distributive occupations, and the rest. For those who go to work from high school, the supervised work experience and the intensive training for a particular job at the end of Grade XII, both referred to above, supply as much specialization. as seems feasible or desirable at this level.. Beyond high school, further specialized training may be secured in either of three ways: through community institute, through evening classes for employed youth and adults, or through apprenticeship. High-school students of unusual ability may has recently experimented with a two-year advanced training course to prepare young women to’ be “thousehold managers,” that is, to take over full responsibility for the care and manage- ment of homes, including children. This is considered a semiprofessional occupation, and the college and employment service are attempting to establish it as such. Thus far the results have been encouraging. The demand is limited, however, and comes chiefly frorm women em- ployed in the professions and: the higher ranks of management. The training, of course, is valuable in preparing young women for the management of their own homes. [297] go at once to the community institute for advanced vocational training if they have mastered the fundamentals of the high- school vocational courses before the end of the twelfth grade. 2. For those who plan education beyond the community institute We turn now to those who plan to prepare for the profes- sions or to complete at least four years of college. Most of what was said of this group at Farmville is applicable also in American City.” Each student is assigned a vocational adviser at the beginning of tenth grade—a teacher who makes it his business to keep in close touch with the occupation in which “7 the student is interested and with the colleges and universities which the student is likely to attend. Each student, in con- sultation with his adviser, maps out a program through twelfth grade which seems best fitted to his particular plans and needs; and the school staff endeavors to make it possible for him to follow that program with profit.” Here, as at Farmville, every student spends some time in observing the profession or other occupation of his choice, as it operates in the community. City students, no less than their rural cousins, need to understand what is required of the physician, the lawyer, the teacher, the engineer, or the busi- ness manager, and to see the possibilities for public service as well as private satisfaction in each of these fields. They need also to see how their present studies of science, mathematics, history, or languages are part of the essential equipment for their later careers and not simply courses prescribed for college admission. Each of the three high schools offers courses in biology, chemistry, physics, mathematics, languages, literature, history, ® See pages -71-75. There are some students, of course, whose present choices do not extend beyond the decision to prepare for college. In planning college preparatory programs, such students are advised by their general counselors, the teachers of ‘““Common Learnings.” [298] and other social studies." The occasional individual who needs a preparatory course not included in high-school offerings can usually find such a course in the community institute and may enrol in it while still a student in high school. One principle underlined by the war experience is that education should be more concerned with the thorough learn- ing of basic principles, processes, and information, than with the relatively superficial “covering” of large bodies of subject- matter, much of which may soon be forgotten. The exacting demands of the professions and the postwar competition for admission to professional schools reenforce the need for such instruction. The teachers in all of the subjects mentioned above have been reconstructing their courses of study with this principle in mind. To provide for the students of superior ability, teachers in all courses endeavor to know their students as individuals, and to suit the program of learning to individual capacities. By frequent use of small group projects and individual work schedules, the teachers seek to keep each student’s learning up to a level commensurate with his ability. The aim is not so much acceleration as enrichment of learning. Scientific testing of abilities and achievements has largely superseded the old system of comparative “grades” under which the rapid-learning student could easily “get by” with compara- tively little effort. Now each student’s progress is measured against his own ability to learn, and success is judged in terms of the ratio of one’s intellectual achievement to his ability to achieve. There are some students in each school who follow one of the trade, commercial, and homemaking courses through most of high school, and then decide that they want to go on to university or college. They are in no way disqualified, ™In addition to the study in these fields included in “Common Learnings.” Although intended primarily for students who need them in preparation for advanced work in com- munity institute and beyond, these courses may be elected by any student in the time allowed for individual interests. [299] provided their general abilities ana quality of work will meet the admission standards. In his two years at the community institute, such a student will have ample opportunity to take the courses required for admission to the upper divisions of the universities. 3. Vocational education in community institute The community institute, as we have seen earlier, is an integral part of secondary education in American City. Its.cur- riculum is composed of courses in the same four major divi- sions as the curriculum of high schools: ““Common Learnings,” ‘Vocational Preparation,” “Individual Interests,” and ‘Health and Physical Education.” The program of the full-time stu- dent normally includes work in all four fields. Here, we are concerned only with the program of “Vocational Preparation.” The time devoted to vocational preparation may be used either to complete courses corresponding to those of the first two years of four-year college or university, or to prepare oneself for an occupation which can be entered directly from community institute. This report will be limited to the latter _—to terminal education at the level of the thirteenth and fourteenth grades. Within this area, we note four differences between the com- munity institute and the high schools: (1) In the community institute, more of the student’s time is given to vocational preparation—normally three hours a day or half time, although it may be more or less. (2) The community institute serves not only the city, but also the large tributary area within a radius of some fifty miles, and, in the cases of a few occu- pations, the state. (3) The community institute offers train- ing in a much larger number and variety of occupational fields than the high schools. (4) The community institute offers part-time education (either vocational or general) to youth no longer attending school full time and to adults. [300] Over thirty occupational fields are now included in the community institute offerings of terminal vocational educa- tion. All the fields found in the high schools are represented here— metal trades, machine trades, auto mechanics, business edu- cation, distributive occupations, and the rest. Many students want advanced training beyond that available in high schools. Specialization within these fields is often possible in commu- nity institute. Here are a few examples: Within the machine trades field, one may specialize in refrigeration and air condi- tioning, which is now American City’s most thriving industry and its chief employer. Within the metal trades field, one may specialize in airplane construction; within the electrical trades field, in radio and television; within the distributive occupations field, in clothing or food merchandising. In addition, the community institute offers training in a number of technical and semiprofessional occupations which require education beyond high school. A sampling of the cur- rent catalog yields these titles: architectural and mechanical drafting, assistants in nursery schools and play centers for young children, attendants in offices of physicians and den- tists, civil service occupations, hospital and public health as- sistants, laboratory technicians (biological and industrial), radio and television broadcasting (program planning and presentation), recreational leadership, and transportation man- agement. The offerings of the community institute also reflect the needs of the tributary area and the state. The twelve “feeder” high schools in the area around American City are (with the exception of suburban Woodland Park) village and town schools of the Farmville type, most of them somewhat larger than Farmville. All, like Farmville, offer thirteenth- and four- teenth-grade training in a few of the chief occupations of town, village, and farm. None of them attempts to give special- ized training in occupations found chiefly in cities, or to offer [301] university and college courses at the junior college level. Most of their students who wish such education go to the American City Community Institute. These “feeder” schools also send students interested in occupations of their own communities, in cases in which the number of workers is too small to justify local training; for example, banking, floriculture, and cos- metology. As for the state, the American City Community Institute has been selected as the state’s training center for the air- conditioning and refrigeration industry and for air transporta- tion, and as one of two or three centers for aircraft maintenance, baking, and printing. There are similar institutions in the state which specialize in other fields with limited employment oppor- tunities, and to these go the American City youth who are interested in such occupations as commercial art, photography, lens grinding, watch repairing, journalism, and cabinet-making. Training varies in length. In most cases, it extends through the two years of the community institute. There are fields, however, in which the training can be given in eight, ten, or twelve months. Much of the training, moreover, is individu- alized, with each student progressing on his own schedule. When a student completes his vocational training before the end of two years, he may, if he so desires, continue his other institute courses in either day or evening classes. Admission to courses is adjusted approximately to anticipated opportunities for employment, always allowing for some pos- sible expansion of employment and for some dropouts along the way. The staff does not wish to oversupply the employment market to the extent that young people cannot secure even beginners’ jobs. At first sight, this practice may seem inconsist- ent with what was said earlier about equipping youth with a surplus of skills beyond the needs of the beginning job. This is not the case. The staff is quite willing to “‘overeducate”’ the young worker who can get a beginner’s job in the field of his training. It would be quite another thing, however, to train a [302] large oversupply of bakers, laboratory technicians, printers, and cosmetologists, many of whom would then be unable to get even beginners’ jobs in these fields. Work Experience as an Integral Part of Vocational Education Most of the students in community institute terminal courses include in their programs a supervised work experi- ence under employment conditions.” The administration of this program is no small task. Some 900 jobs of this type have to be located each year for Institute students and some 400 more for high-school students—even more, in fact, since some jobs must be rejected because of unsatisfactory working condi- tions.’* Those employers, to whom this is something new, have to be informed as to the educational purposes of the work experience and the joint supervision by employer and school staff which is needed to accomplish these purposes. Working conditions have to be investigated to see that they meet all requirements of laws and regulations about safety and the em- ployment of minors. Jobs have to be assigned to students, jointly by counselors and vocational teachers, so as to fit into their individual plans as helpfully as possible. And supervision must be provided by the vocational instructors as well as the em- ployers. This program is possible only because of cooperation on the part of most of the larger and many of the smaller employers, of the public employment service, and the occu- pational planning council.” Probably the experience of the war years did more than anything to win the support of employers. In those years, See pages 63-66 in the chapter on Farmville for further treatment of productive work experience in the educational program. The number of different students who work on these jobs in the course of a year is much larger. Last year’s reports showed over 1700 community institute students and around 800 high-school students. ™ See pages 326-27 for descriptions of the occupational planning council and the junior placement service, respectively. [303] when labor was scarce, the industries and business concerns turned to the schools for help. Hundeds of boys and girls went to work on the “four-four plan’”—four hours in school, four hours at work with school supervision and credit for work. The results, on the whole, were highly satisfactory to employers. Factories found it almost as convenient to schedule four-hour shifts as eight-hour shifts. Retail stores found it economical to use students during their peak business hours. Offices requir- ing full-time workers found it possible to arrange for two stu- dents to share a single job. Many of these young workers, aided by class work and school supervision, grew rapidly in their efficiency and proved as productive, or more so, than older, more experienced workers. When the war was over, the employers expected the school authorities to come to them and say: “Give us back our boys and girls. You don’t need them now, and we want them back in our classrooms.” Instead, to their surprise, the school officials said: ““This work experience is a valuable part of a young per- son’s education. We ask you to continue to employ our students for a part of their time. We will continue to teach them in school and to share their supervision with you in order to help them learn as much as possible from their work experience. And we will give them school credit if their work is done satis- factorily.” Even from a selfish point of view, this proposal had many points in its favor. And when educational values to youth were added, there were but few employers who did not look upon it with favor. Private employment alone, however, has not supplied all the jobs which are needed. The schools themselves, the city plan- ning commission, and other public agencies have also fur- nished many positions. Public funds for student aid are also often used to serve the dual purpose of meeting the student’s financial needs and supplying the supervised work experience. Later on we shall tell how the schools have been able to meet some of the practical difficulties of finding employment, not [304] only for the 2500 students who annually need carefully planned and supervised work experience as a part of their vocational education, but also for hundreds more who need part-time work in order to meet their personal expenses while attending school.” Here we simply record the fact that, thus far, the schools have had remarkable success. To be sure, their success has been achieved in a period of relatively high general employment. They have not yet had to meet the test of large-scale unemploy- ment. But if that time should come—and everyone hopes it may not—we may feel reasonably certain that employers and the public at large will recognize that society has an obligation to its youth, no less than to its older members, and that public funds will be so distributed that youth may not be deprived of one of life’s indispensable ingredients—the experience of productive work. Two other matters deserve mention. American City edu- cators have recognized from the start that if students’ work experiences are to have maximum educational value, they must be supervised by representatives of the schools as well as by the employers. It was agreed that the supervisor should be one of the students’ vocational teachers. Arrangements were there- fore made to release vocational teachers from a part of their schedule of classroom and shop work in order to permit them to visit their students on work experience projects. After a year or so, these vocational “coordinators,” as they were called, agreed that the educational values of work experi- ences would be enhanced if there were definite and fairly uni- form understandings between employer, student employee, and coordinator at the beginning of each work project. They pre- sented this matter to the representative advisory committees (to be mentioned in just a moment) and received generally favorable responses. As a result, a committee representing em- ployers, organized labor, the vocational teachers, and students worked out a “Statement of Standard Employment Practices 3 See pages 325-27, [305] To Be Followed in the Cooperative Work Program.” With minor revisions from year to year, this has proved to be a most valuable aid. Representative Advisory Committees on Vocational Education This report of vocational education would not be complete if we did not record the great contributions made by the rep- resentative advisory committees in the various occupational fields representing employers, employees’ organizations, and the schools. Advisory committees were established in some of the trades long before the war—chiefly in the trades in which labor was well organized. During the war, in American City and many other cities, the number of advisory committees was enlarged to include all the important war industries. These committees proved so helpful—one might even say indispensable—that the school authorities determined to enlarge the number still further. At the present time, there is a city advisory committee which deals with vocational education in the school system as a whole. In addition, there are a large number of craft advisory com- mittees, one for each of the vocational fields represented in high schools and one for each of sixteen additional fields in the community institute. The advisory committees are consulted on all matters of general policy in vocational education. They have helped to determine the needs for trained workers in various fields and to select the occupations to be included in the curriculum. They have advised the school staff as to the nature of the training for each field, the qualifications of instructors, and the equipment needed. They have strongly supported the work experience program. Indeed, without their assistance it is doubtful that work experience on a large scale would have been possible. They have helped to remove barriers to youth employment. [306] In a word, they have built some strong bridges across the gap which once separated the schools and the world of work. F. INDIVIDUAL INTERESTS In the process of trying to give students all the equipment they will need to become good citizens, workers, and members of families, the fact that some things should be done for the sheer enjoyment of doing them is often overlooked. The Ameri- can City schools are alert to this need and have arranged the program so that one-sixth of the student’s time is spent in activities which are pursued for no reason other than that the student is interested in them. This need to develop individual interests is particularly acute for those whose work is of a routine character. The high-school counselors recognize that, unfortunate though it may be, many workers in routine jobs will have to find their chief enjoyments and satisfactions during their leisure time. They therefore try to help all students to use their elective periods in high school for the development of avocational interests which will endure and expand through the years of adult life. Except for the fact that the American City high schools have rather large enrolments and are, therefore, able to specialize the instruction somewhat, the essential characteristics of the program for the development of individual interests are not different from those that have already been described for Farm- ville.” The program is extremely broad. It includes reading; a wide variety of hobbies; the playing of musical instruments, alone or in groups; singing; painting; photography; other rep- resentative arts; and many handicraft activities. Student leader- ship in these activities is fostered, and most of the classes are organized as clubs with their own student officers. Since the purpose of these activities is primarily avocational, no effort is made to develop professional artists. However, from time to time, young people of unusual talent have had that See pages 123-26. [307 ] talent fostered in the American City schools, and have suc- ceeded as professional musicians, artists, writers, actors, and athletes. Students’ choices of individual interest courses are not restricted to leisure-time activities. A. student may have a keen desire to study chemistry, literature, or a foreign language, quite apart from the needs in his prospective vocation. If so, he is free to pursue this interest in his elective period. Many boys who are preparing for college elect a year of general shop, because they feel that in this technical age everyone should know how to handle machines and tools. Hundreds of girls each year elect a one-year course in homemaking, offered in each of the high schools and the community institute, and de- signed especially for girls who do not take any other courses in homemaking; for every girl, whatever her future career may be, is likely to be a homemaker. Boys who plan to enlist in the armed forces—and there are many in these days—may elect a preinduction course which includes orientation to military life and training in technical skills needed in military and naval service. In a word, time for individual interests means exactly time for individual interests whatever they may be. G. SUITING EDUCATIONAL SERVICES TO THE NEEDS OF INDIVIDUALS The public schools of American City are committed to two principles, both easy to state, each enormously difficult to realize in practice. They are committed to the principles that all Amer- ican youth should have access to equal educational opportuni- ties and that each American youth should have access to educational services suited to his particular needs. Each year they are seeking to apply these principles to more than 11,000 students enrolled in three high schools and the community institute. No one—least of all, those most responsible—would claim that the schools have fully achieved these objectives. No one who has had opportunity to observe the facts would deny [308] that they have made great progress. In the closing pages of this chapter we shall report their progress under seven head- ings: (1) guidance services, (2) individualized programs and records of progress, (3) meeting the problem of money for personal expenses, (4) adapting schedules to individuals, (5) special opportunities for the gifted, (6) special services for the handicapped, and (7) continuing services after youth leave full-time school. 1. Guidance Services Guidance holds the same key position in American City that it held in Farmville. All that has been said about guidance there might be repeated here—that it is the art of helping boys and girls to make their important plans and choices in the — light of facts about themselves and their world; that it is not limited to occupational choices and plans, but relates to any and all of the activities and problems of youth; and that it is not primarily the work of specialists, but a service by teachers assisted by specialists. Most of what has been written about the Farmville counselors’ ways of working with students might be said also of counselors and teachers in American City.” And we need. do no more than record the facts that guidance is con- tinuous from elementary grades through community institute, and that guidance services follow the youth who moves from one community to another. The need for providing an adequate system of guidance was recognized early in the process of planning for postwar schools, and ranked high on the list of things to be done.” Then came the question, “By whom shall guidance be rendered?”? Some favored a large staff of specialists. Others advocated guidance by regular teachers. After careful consideration, the commis- sion on postwar education recommended that the chief respon- sibility should be placed upon teachers, and that specialists be "T See pages 40-43. See page 228. [309] used only when necessary to supplement teachers. This counsel has prevailed. This recommendation did not stand alone, how- ever. With it were coupled two others: (1) that the new “Common Learnings” course should meet for an average of two periods daily, thereby giving the teachers time to become acquaintéd individually with their students; and (2) that all teachers serving as general counselors should be allowed time on their working schedules to perform their counseling duties. The latter point is worth underlining. The committee which studied these matters estimated that the cost of adequate guidance services in terms of time and money would be about the same whether the main work of counseling were done by teachers or by a special staff of counselors. The decision to place the bulk of the load on teachers was reached because it was believed that such a plan would result in better guidance and not because it would be less expensive. The system of guidance which we find today is actually quite simple. But because it involves a division of labor among most of the people on the school staffs, we shall need to define the functions of various staff members with some care. Teachers of “Common Learnings” courses are responsible for the general counseling of all the students in their classes.” Each “Common Learnings” teacher normally advises from fifty to sixty students. In tenth grade, these teachers spend the two weeks prior to the opening of the school year in individual conferences with students—one hour or more to each student. Parents are asked to attend this first conference, and at least one of them usually does so. There is time for a leisurely talk— with the pupil’s personal history record as background—and by the end of the hour it is usually possible to agree on the pro- gram which the student will follow during the first high-school year. Some cases call for diagnostic testing or for further investigation of occupational requirements and opportunities. In such a case, a class adviser is called in, and these matters are ® Teachers of “Common Learnings” classes will frequently be referred to as “counselors.” [310] promptly attended to. This same teacher continues to advise the student throughout the tenth grade on all matters relating to general educational plans and personal problems. The coun- selor keeps the student’s personal history record and receives. and records the reports from other staff members. All com- munications and contacts with parents clear through the counselor. | As soon as a student has chosen the course which he will follow (subject, of course, to later revision), he is assigned a vocational adviser. This is a teacher in the field of the student’s vocational major *° who advises him about his work in the field of vocational preparation and on questions which have to do with getting ready for employment and finding a job.” If the student later undertakes a work experience project, it is his vocational adviser who arranges and supervises this. College preparatory students have vocational advisers who are well informed about college and university education and conditions in the various professional fields. Since a student normally takes only one vocational course in tenth grade, his adviser and he have a full year to work out his plans for the later grades. A student normally has the same vocational adviser throughout high school.” Teachers of health and physical education, working with the school health officers and the teachers of ““Common Learnings,” furnish guidance in matters of health and hygiene. There are three men and three women on the staff of each high school, well-trained in counseling and school personnel administration, who give all their time to guidance. They are known as class advisers. Their duties are many, but may be © The reader will recall that a “vocational major” may be a program preparatory to college or university, as well as a vocational program which may end with twelfth grade or com- munity institute. ™ Or, in the case of college preparatory students, getting ready for and entering an institu- tion of higher education. ®2Tf the student should later wish to change his vocational major, his case will be referred back to his counselor (‘Common Learnings’ teacher), who, of course, consults with every- one concerned—the student, his parents, and the vocational adviser. [311] described in a few words by saying that they do the things which teachers, for one reason or another, cannot do. Each class adviser is responsible for general oversight and coordination of guidance for all of the boys or all of the girls, as the case may be, in a grade—from 300 to 450 students for each class adviser. The number is far too large to permit the class adviser to give continuous personal attention to each student. That service is provided by teachers. | The class advisers assign students to ““Common: Learnings” classes, and assign the vocational advisers. Whenever a change of “Common Learnings” teacher or vocational adviser seems advisable, they arrange the change and supervise the transition. Class advisers also take care of matters which require special services or large amounts of time. Here is a student, for example, whose problems call for diagnostic testing. The class adviser arranges for the tests and. goes over the results with the student and his ““Common Learnings” teacher. Here is a student who faces a difficult problem in the choice of an occupation. The “Common Learnings” teacher calls in the class adviser who arranges conferences, field trips, and reading, and confers with the student until a solution is reached. Here is a student who is experiencing difficulties in all his classes, which seem to grow out of some deep-seated personal maladjustments. The class adviser (working, as always, with the teachers concerned) takes time to explore the causes and work toward a solution. If nec- essary, he calls in the psychiatrist from the city school office. The class advisers also have certain responsibilities for the school as a whole. Two of them (one man and one woman) are responsible for supplying teachers with the latest information about occupations and the employment situation.” Two more administer public funds for student aid and, working with the city junior placement service, serve as placement officers for the school.** The other two, working with the central office ® This information is made available through the city-school office of’ guidance and pupil personnel service. See page 291. * See page 326. [312] of guidance and pupil personnel service, are responsible for the school’s program of in-service education for teachers en- gaged in guidance.” The counseling staff in any large city is inevitably beset by two difficulties—the difficulty of knowing one’s students well as individuals, and the difficulty of obtaining reliable informa- tion regarding occupational opportunities and requirements. Without claiming to have overcome them completely, the American City schools have taken some constructive steps toward meeting these difficulties. Knowing Students as Individuals It is not easy to know one’s students well in a large city school. The individual is apt to be lost in the crowd. The counselor cannot count on the informal contacts which occur so fre- quently in a smaller school. He must plan and schedule occa- sions for becoming acquainted with his students. It is even more difficult to know the lives of youth away from school. When boys and girls leave the school building, they are swallowed up by the city. Counselors and teachers rarely see students and their parents in their homes and neigh- borhoods unless they plan to do so. John Sobieski lives only six blocks from the Lincoln High School. But when he has trav- elled those six blocks, he is farther removed from unplanned out-of-school contacts with his counsélor and teachers than is John Roberts, who lives six miles from the Farmville Secondary School. | The very factors which make it hard to know students individually make it imperative to know them. Many of the problems with which students most need help grow out of the fact that the school and the city are large and complex. John Sobieski, aged sixteen, enters the Lincoln High School. In his mind are some reasonable questions. Why must he go to school until he finishes high school? What is this course on “Common © See page 322. P5.15:4 Learnings” and why is he required to take it? Why can’t he just take the courses he wants to take? Why should he choose a field of occupational study now, when he doesn’t know what he wants to do? How can he know what he wants to do, when even experienced workers often can’t get jobs in the factories? How is he going to get a job to pay for his lunches and clothes? There must be people in this school who make it their business to know this boy, to help him to understand that the school is here to serve him, and to assist him to relate the program of the school to his own life and purposes. Otherwise, a large part of his schooling may be wasted; or, worse yet, the school itself may help to make him a rebel, a cynic, a sluggard, an escapist, or a chronic failure. . Counselors and teachers cannot know John Sobieski, or Richard Gordon, or Maria Martinelli, or Samuel Goldberg, if they know them only in school. The homes and neighborhoods of these boys and girls, their parents and their playmates, are shaping their conduct and their attitudes no less than the school. Parents may be solicitous for their children’s welfare and eager to cooperate with the school; or they may be so occupied with work or so engrossed with other interests that they leave the children to shift for themselves. They may be strong sup- porters of the new school program; they may view with sus- picion any education that is different from their own; or they may be people without educational interests. They may desire that their children enjoy every possible advantage; or they may resent the compulsory attendance law which deprives them of a junior breadwinner. They may provide a home in which children find affection and security; or they may be at the point of disrupting their own homes. | ~ So also with neighborhood influences. They may be construc- tive, destructive, a mixture of both, or merely neutral. What- ever they are, they must be understood by all who endeavor to help boys and girls. ) Because it is hard to know students in American City and [314] because it is necessary, the schools have provided both people and time for this purpose. Chiefly responsible, as we have seen, are the teachers of “Common Learnings.” They have their students in classes for two hours a day throughout the year. They have time for personal conferences. They are able to see their students engage in many different types of work and under many different circumstances. Thus they can quickly become familiar with students’ abilities and interests, their lim- itations and problems. Vocational advisers, too, have long and continuous contacts with their students.“ A good part of a student’s class work in vocational preparation is done under his vocational adviser. After the period of rudimentary train- ing, much of the work proceeds on small-group and individual schedules. Likewise, a student normally has the same teacher of health and physical education throughout high school, and his program is planned in the light of his particular needs and abilities. The “Common Learnings” teacher gathers all per- tinent information from these and other sources and incor- porates them in the student’s personal history record, which is available to any teacher who may have occasion to consult it. Counselors and teachers are no less diligent in gathering information about the homes and neighborhoods of the stu- dents whom they advise and teach. Tenth-grade ““Common Learnings” teachers talk with parents at the time of the stu- dent’s enrolment. Whenever it seems advisable, they call at the homes of students. Home economics teachers, too, make it a point to visit the homes of their students, especially those whose major is homemaking. Parents are always consulted about occupational choices and plans for occupational study; about the student’s work experience project; and toward the end of twelfth grade, about the next step after graduation. Usually the parents come to the school, but if that cannot be arranged, the counselor goes to the home. 8° The vocational adviser is a teacher in the field of the student’s vocational major. See page 311. [315] As they visit, counselors and teachers note significant facts about neighborhoods as well as homes. As they talk with stu- dents, they inquire as to their memberships in clubs and churches and their other out-of-school interests. Such informa- tion is noted in the personal history record. Class advisers and “Common Learnings” teachers in each school help one another by pooling their information about neighborhoods, and some- times families, as they meet in staff conferences. They are aided by large-scale sociological base maps of the area served by the school, prepared and kept up to date by students from the community institute as a class project. Information which counselors and teachers gather in their visits is recorded on these maps. By consulting the maps for a few minutes, any counselor or teacher can learn many important facts about the neighborhood in which a student lives. Knowing the Occupational Situation Here in American City and its environs are hundreds of occupations. Most of them, to be sure, can be classified under the headings which we have used previously—manufacturing, trade, transportation, building and construction, personal serv- ices, professions, and government. But within each of these there are dozens of specific types of work. Intelligent guidance requires reliable information regarding the number of people now employed and the number of new workers likely to be employed each year for specific types of work. As we have seen, there is no uniform trend or pattern for the various occupational fields. Each has its own character- istics. One must know not only the types of work, but the jobs available for beginners. Here the facts often run counter to the natural hopes and ambitions of boys and girls, for most beginners’ jobs are at the bottom of the ladder. .To secure this information for the city and its surrounding region, to make it available to counselors and teachers in usable form, and to translate it to students so that it may guide them _ [316] in making their decisions and plans has been a difficult task. An annual occupational survey by high-school students, such as we found at Farmville, would be quite impossible in Ameri- can City. Fortunately the schools have not had to work alone. We have already seen how the representative advisory committee on vocational education and the advisory committees for the various crafts supply information about needs for trained workers and the requirements for entering various occupa- tions.’ Similar committees have been formed to advise the schools about the professions, semiprofessional and service occu- pations, and employment in the field of management. One of the chief concerns of the city planning commission and the various planning bodies associated with it has been to gather reliable information regarding employment, to forecast employment trends, and to develop new employment oppor- tunities.” The schools have been associated with this enter- prise from the beginning. The city planning commission maintains an occupational research bureau to gather and interpret the facts and forecasts from local, state, and national sources. The schools supply one member of the staff of this bureau, who gives special attention to the situation for begin- ning workers. Associated with the planning commission is an occupational planning council, an organization representing employers, em- ployees, the public employment service, the schools, and other civic interests. The purpose of the council is to plan for the maximum utilization of the human and natural resources of the city and its surrounding area, and to propose new develop- ments, both private and public, to that end. The plans and forecasts of this council are also of great value to the schools. One of the five specialists in the schools’ central office of guidance and pupil personnel service is responsible for main- 87 See page 306-307. See page 261. [317] taining liaison with all occupational research and planning agencies in the community and for supplying the information from these agencies to counselors and teachers in form usable for guidance and instruction. The task of putting these reports into shape for educational purposes is of no small proportions. However, instead of setting up a headquarters staff to do this, the schools use committees of advisers and teachers who are released from part of their other duties. Three types of materials are now furnished.” There are guides to occupations for use by students and their parents. These include the chief professional, semiprofessional, personal serv- ice, and public service occupations, as well as manufacturing, trade, transportation, and construction; they also give full rec- ognition to homemaking as an occupation. They describe the specific types of work within each field; they supply informa- tion about beginners’ jobs, the requirements for employment on these, and opportunities for advancement; and they include the most reliable information available about the present em- ployment situation and the outlook for the future. There are manuals of information for class advisers, voca- tional teachers, and ““Common Learnings” teachers, similar in content to the students’ guides, but containing more detailed information and statistical reports. There are also resource units for use in the study of ““Ameri- can City at Work,” which, we recall, is a part of the tenth- grade “Common Learnings” course. In these resource units much attention is given to the interrelations and interdepen- dence of the various economic activities of the city and region, to the study of trends and outlooks, and to the roles of com- munity, state, and national planning. Aided by these materials, and by the field trips, motion pic- tures, and class conferences of the “American City at Work” study, the counselors have found it possible to guide most of their students to reasonably intelligent tentative choices of occupational fields by the middle of the tenth grade or earlier, *° All materials are in loose-leaf form, so as to permit revision as often as may be necessary. [318] and to start them on courses of occupational preparation. Many students change their plans, once, twice, even more times. But it is believed that it is far better for a student to be working toward a tentative occupational goal from his first year in high school onward, than for him to have no vocational purpose whatever. There is one occupation which deserves special mention. The Army, Navy, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard now rank among the more important career fields. They offer many advantages. Pay compares favorably with that for beginners in civilian life when subsistence, clothing, and allowances are taken into account. Opportunities for advancement are somewhat better than for the younger workers in many civilian fields. Since seven-eighths of the military and naval forces are now special- ists, most enlisted men receive technical training in addition to basic military training. Much of this technical training and experience is useful for the man who later decides to return to civilian life. So it is not surprising that many high-school youth are seriously considering enlistment in one of the armed services. Counselors must, therefore, be well informed regarding mili- tary as well as civilian occupations. This is not a simple matter in these days when each branch of the service embraces dozens of specialized departments. Fortunately, the U. S. Office of Education, in cooperation with the War and Navy Depart- ments, has prepared manuals for counselors and teachers and pamphlets for students comparable to those published by the schools on civilian occupations. These are not “‘recruit- ing’ documents, but fair and objective statements of fact, prepared for use in guidance by people who understand guid- ance. Indeed, the schools have carefully avoided recruiting campaigns. Instead, they aim to present national defense, which now employs a sizable part of the nation’s male labor force and a much larger proportion of the males from nineteen to thirty, as worthy of the same consideration as the civilian occupations. [319] Guidance in the Community Institute Guidance for students in the community institute pre- sents some peculiar problems and calls for a higher degree of specialization of functions than we found in high school. The general arrangements are substantially the same as those of the high schools with ‘Common Learnings” teachers serv- ing as general counselors and vocational advisers supplying guidance and supervision to students majoring in their re- spective fields. The full-time advisers, however—one to each three hundred students—are no longer attached to classes but serve the institution as a whole. The community institute advisers must be familiar with the details of a large number of occupations. Over thirty occupational fields are represented in the institute curriculum, and for at least a dozen more the college offers preprofessional courses. Some division of labor is therefore necessary, and each. adviser specializes in one or more groups of related oc- cupations while keeping generally informed about all. Community institute advisers must arrange work experi- ence projects for some 1700 students each year as compared with 800 for the three high schools together.*? As nearly as possible, they must suit these experiences to the educational and occupational plans of students in thirty or more voca- tional fields. This, too, calls for some division of labor and specialization. Community institute advisers must deal with the special problems of some 500 new students each year, whose homes are outside the city-and-suburban area. Most of these youth require some orientation to the city and its occupations. More important still, they must be helped to make the per- sonal adjustments which accompany the move to the city— to find new friends and satisfying social life and often to find work to meet the costs of living away from home. In cooperation, of course, with the vocational teachers or “coordinators” who supervise work experience. [320] Community institute advisers must maintain close con- tacts with the twelve schools, such as the school at Farmville, which send high-school graduates to American City for train- ing in industrial and urban occupations. They go out to these schools to consult with twelfth-grade students who are inter- ested in urban occupations, and they arrange and accompany the visits which students from the “feeder’’ schools make to the city. Community institute advisers must gauge the supply of trained youth to employment opportunities more accurately than is necessary in high school because of the greater spe- cialization of training in the institute. They must also study specific abilities and aptitudes of students with care, for these become increasingly significant as students move into advanced training in technical, semiprofessional, and professional fields. Before we leave the community institute, we must record its service to those youth who go to work directly from high school and those who come to the city from other commu- nities to find work. The number of such youth varies be- tween 500 and 700 annually.”* Most of them begin work at the bottom of the occupational ladder on jobs in which advance- ment comes slowly. As compared with those who go to com- munity institute or into apprenticeship, they are more apt to become dissatisfied or discouraged, more likely to be dis- charged when workers have to be laid off. It is at this time, too, that many of these young people marry, or aspire to marry. For many, perhaps most of this group, this is the year of all years in which wise and friendly counseling is needed, and with it, the invitation to use the resources of the schools’ program of part-time and evening classes. That is why the community institute has four counselors on its staff who give most of their time to out-of-school youth during their first year on the job. *¥n addition, around 900 American City youth each year leave full-time school on the completion of twelfth grade or on reaching the eighteenth birthday, [321] Central Office of Guidance and Pupil Personnel Service As far as possible, the responsibility for guidance lies with the staffs of the several schools. Some things, however, must be done for the city as a whole. To do these, the school sys- tem maihtains a central office of guidance and pupil person- nel service within the division of curriculum. We have al- ready made the acquaintance of the member of its staff who is responsible for information regarding occupational oppor- tunities and trends and for liaison with all occupational plan- ning groups. Another is responsible for general administra- tion of public funds for student aid and for the school’s share of the operation of the junior placement service. The chief duties of a third are to work with groups of teachers and counselors in developing programs of in-service training in counseling procedures and mental hygiene and to arrange for intensive training courses in professional schools. A fourth member is a psychiatrist who is available to the schools for assistance in dealing with students who show evidences of serious maladjustments. The fifth, who serves elementary as well as secondary schools, has general supervision of person- nel records and maintains liaison with the measurement and testing program of the bureau of educational research. How the Schools Developed Personnel for Guidance Where did the American City schools get their teachers of “Common Learnings,” their class advisers, and the other teach- ers who share in the program of guidance? Where did these people come from? What were they doing five years ago? What has happened to them to make them suddenly com- petent to counsel the youth of the city? The schools began with the people they already had—the boys’ and girls’ advisers and the many principals and teach- ers who were already deeply interested in guidance. Indeed, eyed it was these people more than any others who were respon- sible for the inclusion of guidance among the essentials of the new educational program. They became the nucleus of the expanding guidance staff. The school system helped them to do the one thing they needed most—to grow. It provided the funds for summer workshops and week-end conferences and supplied competent leadership in the central office to aid them with a continuous in-service program of training. The schools also brought in some experienced counselors and personnel workers from other fields. Back from the Army and Navy came men and women with good training and several years of experience in personnel work. Others gained comparable experience in the educational program for vet- erans.. The schools needed them, and many were glad for the opportunity to continue in that profession. These were not enough, however, and the schools turned to a third source. They called upon the teachers colleges and schools of education to provide intensive courses in guidance, mental hygiene, and personnel procedures, and to these they sent some of their most promising teachers at school expense. This was a beginning, and the development of these people continues through the in-service program of teacher education. Ww x Ww This guidance service is far from perfect. There are short- comings in personnel, inadequacies in procedures, and prob- lems to which no one yet knows the best answers. The reader has doubtless detected many of these. If so, we remind him that the educators of American City did not shrink from undertaking to do a great and necessary task in a very short time and that they are even now engaged in trying to do it better. 2. Individualized Programs and Records of Progress The efforts of American City educators to suit education to individual needs were facilitated in more ways than one [323] by the changes in methods of measuring, evaluating, and re- cording educational progress in elementary and secondary schools which followed close upon the modifications of re- quirements for admission to colleges and universities. The story of how these changes came about has already been re- lated in the chapter on Farmville, and need not be repeated here.” Suffice it to say that American City is using the same personal history record as Farmville and similar methods of measuring, evaluating, and recording achievements and prog- ress and that these have replaced the former system of rec- ords, credits, and grades.** Placement officers, prospective em- ployers, and admissions officers of higher institutions have found the newer methods far more useful than the old. The report of grades and credits alone, they say, gave them at best a static picture of the student’s intellect and little more. It showed that the student was bright, dull, average, or variable among subjects. The personal history record, when compiled by competent counselors and teachers, comes close to giving them a picture of the whole student in. action. And that is what an employer or an admissions officer wants. The changes just noted have removed the chief obstacles to the development of inclusive courses in “Common Learn- ings,’ to the making of programs and schedules suited to individual abilities and needs, to the adaptation of work within courses to differences among students, and to the inclusion of occupational training and work experience as parts of the educational programs of all students. They have also been an important factor in reducing re- tardation. Most students now move ahead with their classes on programs suited to their abilities, and those whose work falls below their capacities are dealt with through remedial * See pages 51-53. 8 See pages 377-78. This personal history record was’ developed jointly by the state de= partment of education and a committee of educators from the public schools and schools. of education, with advice from national agencies. Its use is optional but is recommended in order to assure continuity of records when a student moves from one school district to an- other. Most of the districts in the state are now using it. [324] classes, individwal instruction, and counseling, rather than by the mefficient method of requiring them to repeat whole grades or courses. 3. Meeting the Problem of Money for Personal Expenses “A public requirement that all youth must remain in school through high school carries with it a public obligation to provide all youth with means of earning the money which they need for personal expenses.” These words, quoted earlier from a statement by the superintendent of the American City public schools, well express the viewpoint of the entire school staff. The general principles governing student aid and part- time employment differ but little from those worked out by the Farmville staff and need not be repeated.”* But the application of these principles involves some practical prob- lems not encountered in the smaller community. In Farmville, only 300 students needed part-time jobs or scholarship grants. In American City, the number is around 4000. In Farmville, the counselors were personally acquainted with all the employers, knew the jobs and conditions of work. In American City, many of the private employers are unknown to the school staff and must be investigated lest students. be exploited. In Farmville, students worked near their homes. In American City, the largest number of students who need work live in the Lincoln High School area while most of the jobs are either in the business section or in other parts of the city. Then there has been the problem of scheduling school- work and employment, the solution to which we shall note in a few moments. | Obviously it was necessary to centralize the functions of locating jobs, listing calls for work, investigating employers and employment conditions, and placing the students. These tasks could not possibly be performed by dozens of advisers and. teachers. working in four different schools. "See pages 164-69. [325] Again the schools have been aided greatly by other agen- cies. The schools and the public employment service together operate a junior placement service to which are referred all calls for work that can be done by youth in high school or community institute. This service is also responsible for locating work opportunities for youth with both private and public employers and for making investigations of working conditions. In each high school and in the community insti- tute, there are advisers who act as local representatives of the junior placement service. As far as possible, students are placed in jobs related to their occupational interests. The 4000 jobs for students are the equivalent of about 1500 full-time jobs. If there were a shortage of work for adults, these jobs would go far toward relieving the situation. One of the questions considered long and seriously by the city occu- pational planning council was whether adults should have first claim on all jobs whenever there is a labor surplus or whether some jobs should be open to youth or even reserved for youth in times of general unemployment. Some pointed out that national defense and economic wel- fare required young men and women with both technical . training and good general education. They offered impressive estimates of the losses which the nation would suffer if young people in their teens should be allowed to drop out of school for lack of money at the very time when they were ready to be trained to be more productive workers and more efh- cient in the service of national defense. Others showed that if a public works program became nec- essary to give work to the unemployed, the developments which were most needed would require a large proportion of skilled or experienced workers. It would be better, they said, to put unemployed adults to work at regular wages on the public works we most need than to shape public works to suit a low-paid labor force of inexperienced youth. The outcome was that the occupational planning council (which includes representatives of the larger employers’ asso- [326] ciations) recommended to the employers of the city that they reserve certain beginners’ jobs for youth attending high school and community institute. Only after all the possibilities of private employment had been exhausted, they said, should public aid be called for. Some aid was nevertheless needed from public funds and agencies, and it has been forthcoming. Both the federal gov- ernment and the state have appropriated funds for student aid.” Most of the public funds, however, are provided lo- cally. The school system vigorously applied to itself the rec- ommendations of the occupational planning council. Several hundred new paying jobs for students have been developed in the schools—as assistants to teachers in laboratories, shops, and classes; as custodial assistants; as caretakers of grounds; and as workers in school offices, mimeographing rooms, lunch- rooms, libraries, and the printing shop. Students in metal, machine, and woodworking shops are employed to make and repair equipment for the schools. The residence halls for out- of-city community institute students are now operated al- most wholly by student employees. The city planning commission and its associated groups have also supplied considerable employment. Students become familiar with the work of the planning bodies during high school. Community institute classes frequently undertake in- vestigations for one or another of the planning groups as class projects. Many institute students are, therefore, well pre- pared to go into the planning offices and work on statistical studies, map-making, and drafting. Most of the “rush” jobs are done by students, and there are a number of full-time jobs held jointly by two students. The libraries, the city rec- reation department, and other public agencies also help. 4. Adjusting. Time Schedules to Individuals All this development of student employment and of work experience as a part of education has necessitated radical © See pages 166-69 and 381 for the principles governing the use of federal and state funds. [327] changes.in the: length, of the: school day and, in. the scheduling: of. classes. Much of the part-time work for expense money. can be: done: outside: the hours. of the. traditional school. day—not: all,. however, for most of this work is in private employment: and. students have to work when they are needed. Some of the best- part-time jobs for community institute students come during the business. day. The problem. of scheduling arises mone ha in connection with. the work experience projects.” Most of these jobs call. for work during the business; day, and in blocks. of: time of four hours or more. Two students frequently fill one. full- time job, and. in some cases, a student may work full time over. several. months. ; The educators of- American City had to face a difficult choice. They could say; “School, is in session from, 8:30 a. mz to 3:30 p. m. Those students- who. work will. either have. to: schedule their work outside these hours or miss- a. part: of. their educational program, however- important. that may be.” Or they could decide, “Since work. is considered: necessary for practically all our students. and since some of this work must be. done. during the hours. of the traditional school. day, we. will change. the hours. of- the school, day to make it- possible for. all students to enjoy the same-educational, opportunities.” They chose the- latter. alternative; and the school. day in senior high schools. and community institute: now- runs: from: 8:00 a. m. to 10:00 p. m. Most classes are still scheduled: be- tween 8:00 a. m. and. 4:00 p, m. All the tenth-grade classes come in. these hours. In eleventh grade, there are evening classes. in. “Common Learnings” and. in health and: physical education.”’ In twelfth grade and community institute, there are evening classes in practically all the courses of the day school save only the elective courses with small enrolments. ° Most work experience. projects. are means.of earning money for personal expenses. But only a part of the part-time work for personal expenses can meet the requirements of a. “supervised experience of productive work under employment conditions.” 7 «Pvening” includes all classes held between 4:00 p..m. and +10:00 p. m, [328] Since the schools would be open in the evenings for classes for adults and: employed youth, the additional expense of the fourteen-hour school day is not great.” The American City schools are also experimenting with a summer term of ten weeks. This has already yielded some promising developments, for some types of work experience are possible in the summer which could not easily be arranged during the regular school: year. For example, last summer three groups of students; each with its instructor, worked on construction and conservation jobs: in: state parks, and two other. groups, each: likewise accompanied by a teacher, worked in truck farming areas where there was a labor shortage during the harvesting season. : One high school now operates through the summer. It offers eleventh- and twelfth-grade courses in ““Common’ Learnings”’ and in most of the vocations for students who have unusual work schedules during the regular year. It offers electives in the sciences, mathematics, languages, literature, social studies, and the arts for students who want additional work in these- fields. Its health and physical/education activities are expanded in a summer recreational program: And it also provides in- struction in the basic skills of English language and mathematics for students who feel the need’ of strengthening these abilities. At the high-school level, the summer term is thought of, not as.a device for acceleration, but as a means for enlarging the educational experiences of those who choose to use this time for learning. . The summer term in the community institute, however, may be used for acceleration by those who so desire. Here a student will find courses in practically all the fields of instruc- tion of the regular school year. "There is no separation between “day high school” and “evening high school.” The same pfincipal, assistant principal, teachers, and counselors constitute the staff of the school from 8:00-a-m. to 10:00 p. m., and their hours of work-ate distributed over the longer day. No one, of course, is expected to work.continuously for fourteen hours. Evening classes for adults, held in high-school buildings, are part of the program of the community institute, which is responsible for adult education throughout the city. eer The American City School Camp Out of the summer program has developed the American City School Camp on Lake Winnewawa, thirty miles distant. This camp, started four years ago as an experiment in using the summer months for educational purposes, has now become a year-round institution. The educational values of camp experience have long been recognized. Leaders in the development of camps, of whom there were a number in American City, have pointed out that the camp offers unique opportunities for children and youth to learn about health, group life, self-government, and the obli- gations of the individual to the community. They have demon- strated the possibilities of camp life for instruction in geography and science, for nature study, and for a wide variety of recrea- tional activities. In some cases, too, they have shown that an unusually effective program of parent education can be de- veloped around children’s camping experiences. Yet, until re- cently, camping was largely a private matter limited to those children and youth whose parents were able and willing to pay the costs of attendance at private camps and to a few children from lower-income families who attended camps maintained by welfare agencies. The members of the commission on postwar education in American City became convinced that every boy and girl should have the opportunity to attend a camp at least once during his school years as a part of his school program. As a first step in this direction, they recommended that the school system lease a well-equipped camp, employ a competent staff, and operate the camp for one summer as an experiment. A camp with accommodations for 125 was secured. Boys and girls of various age groups were taken to camp for two-week periods through a twelve-week season—750 in all, during the summer. During this first season, one requirement for attendance was that the parents of each child should attend a series of precamp conferences and visit the camp once while their child was [330] there. The bureau of educational research endeavored to ap- praise the results of the experiment. On the whole, the reac- tions were decidedly favorable on the part of campers, their parents, and the teachers who had been members of the camp staff. A second summer yielded even more favorable outcomes. But the problem had not yet been solved as to how to pro- vide at least one camping experience for every pupil. To do that in the summers alone would have required camps with a capacity of 400. The cost of land, buildings, and equipment would have been excessive for only twelve weeks of use each year. The commission therefore proposed that the school system operate its camp for twelve months instead of twelve weeks. Smaller school systems had already shown that year- round camps were both feasible and educationally productive. The only obstacles to a similar program for American City were those of size and cost. The citizens’ advisory council proved very helpful in sounding public opinion and in interpreting the true educa- tional significance of the proposal. Warm support was found among most of those familiar with the first two summer camps. In the end, the board of education decided to approve the plan for a year-round camp, still, however, on an experimental basis. This is the second year of the experiment. Entire classes go to camp together, each class accompanied | by its teacher (in the case of a high-school class, by the ‘““Com- mon Learnings” teacher). A year-round camp staff has been selected with great’ care—counselors, instructors, business man- ager, nurse, and cooks. Students do practically all the work of the camp, save cooking, and each camping group makes its contribution to the permanent improvement of the camping property. Educational and recreational programs have been de- veloped for the fall, winter, and spring, which are proving quite as valuable as those of the summer. Parent education con- tinues to be an integral part of the camp program. Parents’ participation is now voluntary, but, thanks to cooperation from [331] the PTA’s and to the good work of the camp staff, over 70 percent of the parents of children in camp last year took part in the educational activities for parents. Under efficient management, it has been found that the total cost of operating the camp (including parent education and administrative costs in the central office) is around $2.50 per day per child. In other words, the two-week camping ex- perience is costing the American City school district only $35 for each pupil—and the returns are amply justifying the in- vestment. One important question which remains to be settled is this: Should the camping experience come at about the same time for all pupils—say in ninth or tenth grade—or should it come in different grades for different pupils? No clear answer has yet appeared. The schools are still experimenting with groups all the way from fifth grade to twelfth. Another question has often been asked: Is the two-week camping period long enough? To this question there is an almost unanimous answer of “No.” Four weeks, it is generally agreed, would yield larger educa- tional results per day and per dollar. But a four-week period will require a camp with a capacity of at least two hundred as well as a doubling of the operating expenditures, and it may be a few years before the additional funds become available. 5. Special Opportunities for the Gifted The strong sense of social responsibility which one finds in the American City schools is expressed again in the schools’ con- cern for students with superior abilities. One who lives in these fateful years of national and world reconstruction can hardly fail to reflect that the problems which people are now called on to solve threaten to outstrip the capacities of human intelli- gence. Never in history has the world so needed the full devel- opment of the talents of those most gifted by nature. The opportunities for students of unusual abilities are largely the product of skilful teaching, particularly in “Common [332] Learnings” and in college preparatory and vocational courses. ‘Here the teachers are certainly aware of a need, and by ‘dint of much ‘effort they are making themselves competent to meet that need. Within each -class, student’s work is planned and scheduled so that each one may work at a rate consistent with his abilities. Within the class purposes, each student is helped to ‘set up individual goals of achievement and individual plans for progressing toward these goals. Small-group and individual projects are frequently used. Mastery of all essential knowledge and skills is stressed. Students are supplied with all sorts of ob- jective tests of achievement which they can apply to them- selves. Every student is made to feel, if possible, that he is ‘en- gaged in a keen competition—not with his fellows, but with his ‘own potential achievements. The high schools have not attempted to accelerate their gifted students but rather to broaden and enrich their learning. There is so much which everyone should learn as a part of his general equipment for life that early acceleration toward specialized training can hardly be justified. 6. Special Services for the Handicapped In ahy community, small or large, there are ‘some children and youth who are blind, deaf, ‘crippled, or sufferers from chronic diseases, and there are some who are handicapped by low ability to learn. Opportunities for education are not equal unless the needs of these have been met as nearly as it is pos- sible to do ‘so. Some of the handicapped have to be placed in institutions equipped to care for them. Not many, however. Not more than 1 percent for physical and mental causes together. These place- ments have been made long before the children reach high school. Some are confined to their homes—a few permanently, others during long periods of treatment and convalescence. For those the schools supply home teachers. The great majority are able to attend the regular schools if [333] suitable services are provided for them. In American City, these services commence when the child first enters school, but here we shall refer only to those of the upper secondary schools. First, the physically handicapped®’—the blind, the partially- sighted, the hard-of-hearing, the severely crippled, and those who suffer from serious heart ailments—are all transported by bus to the Jefferson High School.*”’ This school is equipped with an elevator, a Braille library, a specially lighted study room for the partially-sighted, head phones in the auditorium for the hard-of-hearing, and a small gymnasium with equipment for physiotherapy and apparatus for exercise suited to the crippled. Individual instruction in Braille, begun in elementary school, is continued by the school system’s Braille teacher. There is com- parable service in lip-reading for the deaf and the hard-of- hearing. Student assistants are employed to read to the blind. Rest periods and special feeding are provided for those who need these services. Otherwise, there is no segregation of the physically handicapped. They take the courses in “Common Learnings” and in vocations within the limits of their abilities. Avocational interests—especially in manual arts and music— are particularly encouraged because of their value for the mental health of those who cannot be as active as their fellows. Students with speech handicaps are treated somewhat differ- ently. They usually attend regular classes and receive remedial treatment from a specialist in speech defects attached to the city staff. This specialist also advises the teachers and parents concerned so that experiences in classes and at home may sup- port the remedial program. With the mentally handicapped, problems are more difficult. Here also, however, the schools follow the policy of minimizing ” See: Hoyer, Louis P., and Hay, Charles K. Services to the Orthopedically Handicapped. Philadelphia, Pa.: Board of Education, 1942. 115 p. Tn Jefferson High School this year there are four blind children, eleven partially-seeing, three deaf, twenty-three hard-of-hearing, sixty-seven crippled, and forty-one with serious cardiac defects—a total of one hundred and forty-nine. [334] segregation. These youth, it is held, have the same needs as others. They too will work, earn money, spend their earnings, be members of families, be in good or ill health, vote in elections, be members of organizations, and use their leisure time wisely or otherwise. They are more likely to learn to do these things well, it is believed, if they work in association with other stu- dents. Slow-learning students, as well as their more gifted class- mates, benefit from the common practice of adapting work in classes to the learning abilities of individual students. The rate of progress expected of the slow-learning youth is suited to his capacities. A teacher of a class in “Common Learnings” or a vocational subject usually does not have more than two or three seriously handicapped children in a class. He soon comes to know them and adjusts their work to their limitations. Since he is not constrained to bring all his students up to a fixed standard for “passing,” he is satisfied if each proceeds accord- ing to his abilities. In vocational matters, the mentally handicapped are helped to find and encouraged to choose occupations in which they have a reasonable chance of holding a job and earning a living. This is first of all a matter of guidance and then of adapting vocational instruction to develop mastery of a few salable skills rather than partial learning of many. It sometimes hap- pens that a backward student, while still in high school, is able to find employment at as high a level of skill as he is likely to be able to attain. When this occurs, the student is usually encouraged to continue his employment through the remainder of this time in high school under supervision of a vocational teacher. This supervised work is counted as the student’s course in vocational preparation. Such a student, however, con- tinues to attend school for classes in ““Common Learnings,” health and physical education, and individual interests." *. This is made possible by the fact that classes are scheduled from 8:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. [335] Occasionally a slow-learning student has such ‘inadequate knowledge of language ‘and ‘numbers that his learning in ‘classes falls well below his ability. Then he must be given special assistance. Each teacher in “Common Learnings” has a ‘stu- dent assistant.’”’ Individual instruction by ‘his assistant ‘some- times clears up the difficulty. If it does not, the teacher ‘reports the need to the class adviser who arranges for attendance ‘at a remedial class for as long as may be ‘necessary ‘to bring the student to the place where he can profit from regular ‘classwork. 7. Continuing Services after Youth Leave Full-time School The schools’ responsibility does not end when a youth leaves high school or community institute. Young people often encounter some of their most urgent and perplexing problems during the first year or two after they leave full-time school. No counselor in American City will place a student’s name in the “inactive” file until he knows that the young man or woman is making satisfactory progress at the next stage of his career—whether it be on a job, in an institution of higher education, or in the home. The ‘comimunity institute, through its adult education divi- sion, offers free evening courses designed particularly for young people in their early twenties—courses in a wide variety of vocational fields—in homemaking, child care, and family rela- tions; in business management and labor leadership; in public affairs and avocational interests. Over 40 percent of those who leave high school at the end of the compulsory atténdance period enrol in one or more of these courses during the next five years. 3 | These continuing services are supplied not only to the youth of American City, but also to hundreds of young men and women from towns, villages, and farms who annually move 12 These are usually community institute students who are looking forward to teaching as a career. Their work as assistants constitutes their “work experience under employment conditions.” They are paid from student-aid funds included in the local school budget. [336] to the city in search of work and opportunity. There is also a small but steady incoming stream of young men who have completed enlistments in the Army, Navy, and Marine Corps and have decided to return to civilian life. One of the schools’ - counselors for out-of-school youth specializes in guidance for men returning from the armed services, and former service men may enrol without expense to themselves in either the regular program of the community institute or in part-time and evening classes for adults. TOWARD THE FUTURE So we conclude this report. We have told of the ways in which youth education in American City has changed in recent years. We have related the story of how those changes were brought about. We have described the main features of the cur- riculum in the three high schools and the community institute: the courses in ““Common Learnings” and science, the program of health and physical education, the preparation for employ- ment and for advanced study in universities and colleges, and the provisions for students to develop their personal interests. We have told how the program of these institutions is focused upon the particular needs of their thousands of individual stu- dents through guidance, flexible schedules and programs, finan- cial aid to students, special opportunities for the gifted, special provisions for the handicapped, and services following the youth from school into adult life. These things we have seen. But we have seen something more. We have seen that the people of American City—any Ameri- can city—have within and among themselves the resources for building the educational program for youth which the times demand. We have seen that great advances can be made in a remarkably short time when people resolutely set their minds and hearts to the task. We have seen that the processes through which these advances have come are sound, for they are the processes of democracy, making full use of leadership, yet en- [337] listing widespread participation among the rank and file of the people. We see now that these processes are still in full operation, that the earnest desire to progress has been nourished by each experience of growth, and that each new step forward has yielded a vision of other steps yet to be taken. So we may look to the future with confidence and be sure that the schools will continue to grow in service to all American youth. [338] @GHAPTER:V A State System of Youth Education (Written five years after the cessation of hostilities) * ARMVILLE AND AMERICAN CITY would have developed good F schools in any state. Educators like George Carlisle, Myron Evans, and their colleagues, and citizens like the dozens of unnamed men and women whose deeds have been chronicled in the last two chapters could be counted on to produce credit- able results under any state system of education. But the schools of Farmville and American City are far better than they might be otherwise because they are located in the state of Columbia. This state, in the course of the past seven years, has made a number of notable improvements in its state educational system and now has a system which gives strong, intelligent leadership and financial support to the local school districts and shares with them the responsibility for providing adequate education to all the young people of the state. A complete description of the state educational system would require a separate volume. In this chapter, we shall sketch briefly those features of the system which are most relevant to the education of youth. With a few minor exceptions, the state of Columbia does not itself operate educational programs for youth. That respon- sibility is delegated by the state to local school districts. The state, however, does determine many of the important con- ditions under which the local programs are operated. It decides the form of organization and control of the public-school system. It defines the minimum acceptable program of public ‘This date, five years after the cessation of hostilities, conforms to the Commission’s sense of urgency with respect to the measures to be described in this chapter. While some states may not be able to establish all fronts of the educational program by that time, the Com- mission believes that every state should seriously aim to accomplish the entire program set forth in this chapter within five years from the end of the war. [339] education and minimum standards for the certification of teachers, for school attendance, and for school buildings and equipment. It determines the system of financial support of public education and provides state funds to the end that all youth in the state may have access to an acceptable minimum of educational opportunity. It supplies professional leadership and counsel to local districts and to institutions for the education of teachers through the staff of the state department of educa- tion. It coordinates services which are statewide in character, such as guidance for youth and vocational education beyond the high-school level. These services of the state, all essential to the operation of effective local programs, are the subjects of the present chapter. When, as the end of the war approached, the people of Farm- ville and American City and dozens of other cities, towns, and villages in Columbia began to awaken to the need for more adequate programs of youth education, they soon found that some fundamental revisions in the state system of public edu- cation were greatly needed. Archaic practices, the results of tradition as well as of laws passed years ago, were entirely. too numerous. Laws, regulations, and practices which had been reasonably satisfactory a decade or two earlier now needed to be reexamined in the light of postwar conditions. Two striking examples were the law placing the end of the compulsory school attendance period at the sixteenth birthday and the law setting an upper limit on secondary education at the end of twelfth grade. A preliminary investigation of the state’s educational system brought to light a large number of problems most of which centered around educational finance, administration, and cur- riculum. The conclusion was reached that legislation should be passed which would not only supply adequate financial sup- port to the schools, but which would also stimulate the com- munities so to develop their schools as to insure excellent educa- tional opportunities to all children and youth. [340 ] Organizing a Legislative Program The first task was. to. organize. the forces. of the state so as to bring a.clear statement of needs and remedial measures before the people and the legislature. It happened. that an. interim committee. on education had recently been set up by the state legislature, largely as a result. of suggestions by the chief state school officer and officials of the state teachers’ association. This committee, with some. changes in. personnel, was continued through, several sessions. To. it. had: been. assigned the. general task of examining the public schools to.determine their merits and defects and: of proposing legislation designed to. insure the greatest returns for money invested in education. The committee soon called in public-school administrators for con- ferences. At first, of course, there were some disagreements. But the members of. the legislative committee and the school officials soon found common ground in their belief that the state was. financially able to support good schools and that it should: do so. Members of the legislative committee became convinced that if the schools were adequately to perform their duties they must have more.funds. They arrived at this con- clusion when they comprehended the scope of the enlarged program of public education which. would be required'in the postwar years. They were influenced, too, by the effectiveness of some of the educational programs. carried'on by the military forces with practically unlimited funds at their disposal. With- out aspiring to equal the per capita educational expenditures of the armed forces, they agreed that substantial increases in| amounts allocated to the schools were necessary. They also agreed that differences, among the districts in ability to finance schools should be removed and that legislation to that end should be passed. Having reached these conclusions, both groups set about informing the public and developing legislation. The chief state school officer, we should add, worked closely with the legislative committee and was an important factor in influ- 341] encing the legislators and the school officials to make common cause. The school administrators turned for support to a number of influential state educational organizations. Chief among these was the state teachers’ association which had become a powerful body in promoting legislation for the welfare of children and youth. This organization was highly effective in publicizing the need for a new system of school finance includ- ing both elementary and secondary education. The state secondary-school principals’ association and the association of public-school superintendents also gave invaluable assistance. Several years previously the principals’ association had developed a statewide organization which included a large number of local groups. Any secondary-school principal who belonged to the association was also a member of one of the local groups. Thereafter it had been the custom for representa- tives of the local groups to meet at the beginning of each school year to prepare a statement of issues and problems for con- sideration and discussion during the year. Each local group then met monthly throughout the year, building its program around the issues defined at the conference of representatives. The culminating event was an annual conference of secondary- school administrators at which the results of the year’s work were summarized and the main problems were considered by the entire association. Because of their close ties with parents’ organizations and with other groups of citizens interested in high-school youth, the secondary-school principals proved very effective in reaching the general public. The superintendents’ association was equally well suited to this enterprise and was equally potent in its influence. It also had been organized into local groups for the purpose of promot- ing the welfare of the schools. It also held an annual conference at which problems of general concern to school administrators were considered. Upon the initiative of the chief state school officer and the [342] state teachers’ association, the Columbia State Educational Council had been organized during the war to confer with and to advise the state department of education on educational policy. The council included representatives of the important state educational organizations, of the association of school trustees, the state congress of parents and teachers, farmers’ organizations, labor unions, the state chamber of commerce, taxpayers’ associations, the League of Women Voters, and other similar bodies. This council now helped to develop plans for legislation, informed the public, and prepared to support necessary changes in the school law. In 1943, the governor of Columbia appointed a committee on postwar planning, consisting of fifteen members—seven prominent citizens and eight heads of divisions of the state government. A staff was placed at the disposal of the committee to carry on research and fact-finding, to keep in touch with local committees of the same character, and to develop a state plan for the postwar period. The chief state school officer was a member of this committee and was chairman of the sub- committee on education. Main Points in the Legislative Program Complete agreement among so many committees and organi- zations was hardly to be expected. There was, however, sub- stantial agreement on the main points of the program which were deemed essential. There were eight such points in all: 1. A state school finance system which (with federal aid) would support an acceptable minimum program of education, available to all children and youth in the state, regardless of district of residence. 2. Consolidation of small, weak school districts into larger, more effective units. 3. Raising of the upper-age limit for compulsory school at- tendance to the eighteenth birthday or graduation from high school. [343] 4. Extension of the state system of free public. education upward to include general and vocational education in the thirteenth and fourteenth grades. 5. Free public education, both vocational and general, in part-time and evening classes for adults and youth who are no longer in full-time attendance at schools. 6. A state board of education, free from partisan political attachments, as a policy-making body. 7. A strong state department of education, likewise. removed from partisan political influence, with a professional staff com- petent to provide a high order of leadership in education throughout the state.. 8. A coordinated system of guidance and initial placement, under the public-school system, suited to meet the. problems growing out of youth migrations. In addition, there was agreement that federal financial sup- port, in the form of grants-in-aid to the state, would be needed for the full accomplishment of the proposed program. The members of the interested groups were determined to go ahead at once, making full use of the sources of revenue available to the state and local districts. At the same time, they undertook to convince their representatives in Washington that the federal government should act immediately to equalize the abilities of the states to maintain minimum educational services for children and youth. We shall not attempt to follow the fortunes of. the various legislative measures. Rather, we shall turn at once to the results of. this program of. legislative action and. describe the state system of. youth education in Columbia as we find it today, five. years after the end of the war. The description will be organized under the eight points listed above. THE STaTE SYSTEM OF SCHOOL FINANCE Practically every member of the state educational council was familiar with the state system of school finance. It was well known that the districts in the state of Columbia varied greatly in their ability to support education. For those unacquainted [344] with the situation, data were plentiful and incontrovertible. It could be shown repeatedly that a given tax rate in some districts would produce only a small fraction of the amount of money per child that thé same tax rate would raise in other districts. Contrasts were striking between districts containing much low- priced grazing land and districts which contained concentra- tions of business establishments, industrial enterprises, or natural resources. The most important task before the state educational planning bodies thus became the formulation of a system of educational finance which would enable all the local districts to maintain good schools. It soon became apparent that the amount supplied by the state to the districts for the support of education must be greatly increased. There had been some state funds, but they had given only small assistance. In order to develop a state school finance system which would equalize educational opportunity through+ out the state, five steps were taken. First, an acceptable minimum educational program was defined for which the state guaranteed support by means of state aid plus a required local contribution. This minimum pro- gram went well beyond the current practices in the education of youth since these were deemed inadequate for the postwar period. In particular, it provided for secondary education through the fourteenth grade and for enlargement of guidance services throughout the secondary schools. Second, the cost of the acceptable minimum program was calculated. Current cost of education, exclusive of transporta- tion, in communities of average wealth was used as the base to which were added the estimated costs of new or enlarged educational services in the upper secondary years. Costs per pupil were calculated for each of four levels:’ elementary ? Under the proposed new program, it was necessary to calculate costs separately for each of three levels within the secondary period. The enlargement of guidance services, of voca- tional education, and of the ‘‘work experience” program caused the cost of education in Grades X through XII to be considerably above that in Grades VII through IX. At the level of Grades XIII and XIV, the cost was further increased by the introduction of a large num- ber of specialized courses in vocational, technical, and semiprofessional fields. [345] (through Grade VI), lower secondary (Grades VII-IX), mid- dle secondary (Grades X-XII), and advanced secondary (Grades XIII-XIV). : Third, the need of each local administrative area for sup- port of the minimum program was calculated on the basis of the number of units of thirty pupils to be supported. During the closing years of the war and those immediately following, these “local need” figures rose sharply. The sudden decline in employ- ment for youth of high-school age was followed by the raising of the age for compulsory school attendance and the develop- ment of free public education in the thirteenth and fourteenth grades. As a result, secondary-school enrolments shot upward in nearly every district. Fourth, the ability of each local district to provide funds for the maintenance of schools was calculated by the application of a common minimum tax rate to equalize assessments of property throughout the state. Fifth, the state legislature appropriated sufficient funds to pay to each district the difference between its need for support of the minimum program and its ability to provide funds as calculated in the manner just described. In addition, the state provided funds to cover all costs of transportation, both in rural areas and in cities, in all cases in which need for transportation was demonstrated in accordance with the law and the regulations of the state department of education. As we shall see later, state funds were also supplied for the building of student residence halls and for a part of the cost of constructive and equipping buildings for com- munity institutes and, in newly consolidated districts, for elementary and high schools. Federal subsidies, it was agreed, should be reckoned as a part of the funds supplied to local districts by the state.* Under this system, each local district was free to develop its 3 An exception was made in the case of federal funds appropriated to provide financial aid to individual students. [346 ] educational program beyond the minimum acceptable program required by the state and was encouraged to do so. In comput- ing the ability of the districts to support education a relatively low minimum tax rate was employed. The maximum tax rate for school support, prescribed by state law, was much higher. Between the minimum and the maximum tax rates lay a wide area within which any local district might levy additional taxes for the support of educational services exceeding the state’s minimum program. The schools described in the Farmville and American City districts illustrate the freedom of action and flexibility of program which are possible. In a word, the state of Columbia adopted a state school f- nance system which equalized the tax burden between districts for a minimum educational program and provided ample lati- tude for each district to develop a maximum program in accord- ance with its resources and the vision and judgment of its citizens. REORGANIZATION OF SCHOOL DistTRIcTs In the course of these studies and discussions of the school finance system, most of the members of the planning groups became convinced that school-district reorganization must accompany, if not precede, efforts to establish a sound school finance structure. It was pointed out that many existing school districts, having been formed years ago to meet needs and condi- tions that no longer prevail, are limited in population and in territorial extent. It was shown that these districts cannot provide the educational facilities and services necessary in mod- ern society without unreasonable per capita expenditures. Many people questioned the wisdom of any school finance system which would perpetuate small districts that could be eliminated through district reorganization. It was therefore proposed that the number of small districts be reduced, thereby permitting stronger local tax bases, schools with larger numbers of teachers and pupils and more comprehensive curriculums. School offi- cials and representatives of the state congress of parents and [347] teachers, familiar with the prevailing unsatisfactory situation in many small school districts, were foremost among the sup- porters of these proposals. Representatives of most other groups soon came to share their convictions on the subject. An examination of the school laws showed that provisions for effecting the consolidation of school districts already existed. Why, then, had the accomplishments under this law been so meager? Were those consolidated districts, which had already been established, satisfactory as taxation and administrative units? These and similar questions called for answers. Studies revealed that the chief deterrents to consolidation were (a) the lack of public recognition of the urgent need for improvement in the school-district system, (b) the failure of the laws to fix the responsibility for preparing school-district improvement plans for submission to the people, and (c) the unwillingness of residents of local districts to vote for consolidation proposals, an unwillingness often grounded on sentiment or on a desire to retain some financial advantage inherent in the existing situa- tion. Investigations also showed that consolidation under the - existing law had done little to equalize per capita valuation and local district tax rates because wealthy districts tended to con- solidate among themselves, while poor districts merged their poverty or retained their original status. Because of the limited accomplishments under the existing law, a new law was enacted, establishing new procedures for effecting a reorganization of the school districts of the state. This law provided for (a) the creation of a school-district plan- ning committee in each county, charged with the responsibility of preparing plans for changes in the school-district organiza- tion of the county, (b) the review and approval of such plans by a state committee also created by the act, and (c) the sub- mission of an approved plan to a vote of the electors of the proposed new district with voting at large and not by the indi- vidual districts comprised within the new district. The county committee was to be chosen by the members of the boards of [348 ] education in the county, the state committee by the state board of education. Because of the experiences of other states with subsidies, especially for buildings and transportation, a financial stimulus to consolidation was immediately suggested. A state capital outlay fund was therefore established from which was sup- plied half the cost of erecting the buildings needed in newly consolidated districts after grants or subventions from federal and other ‘sources had been deducted. This assistance was to be given only to districts in which acceptable administrative units had been established and only when plans for consolida- tion had been approved by the state department of education. Such approval was regarded as necessary in order to prohibit undesirable consolidations. It was the consensus, however, that, as a long-range policy, local districts should be responsible for their own building programs, as well as for the operation of schools, subject only to such standards as might be contained in the school law and regulations of the state board of edu- cation. It was also decided that the state should pay all the costs of purchasing buses and operating them in all districts, rural and urban, when needs for transportation were demonstrated in accordance with state law and state regulations. Under these new laws, an intensive campaign for school-dis- trict reorganization has been carried on with leadership pro- vided by most of the agencies represented on the state educa- tional council. Leaders in the campaign have been able to marshal convincing evidence to show that the small rural high schools, with from four to eight teachers each, could not pos- sibly hope to meet the urgent and varied needs of rural youth in the postwar years. On the other hand, they have been able to point to some examples of recently consolidated schools, such as that at Farmville, as evidence of the way in which small rural districts can pool their local resources and their state and federal aid to provide educational services for children and [349] youth which compare favorably with the best that the cities have to offer. Under these conditions, the consolidation movement has gone on apace, until now the number of small and ineffective school districts is approaching the vanishing point. COMPULSORY SCHOOL ATTENDANCE UNTIL THE EIGHTEENTH BIRTHDAY Shortly after the end of the war, the state legislature changed the laws relating to required school attendance. Under the new law, attendance is required until completion of the twelfth grade or until the eighteenth birthday, whichever is the earlier.’ This change was deemed desirable chiefly because the major- ity of the secondary schools of the state, like those of Farmville and American City, were moving rapidly to serve the educa- tional needs of all youth. It was therefore held that the state was justified in requiring its young people to use the services provided. The change in the employment situation was also a factor. With the approach of the end of the war, the employment of sixteen- and seventeen-year-old boys and girls fell off sharply. Most of the youth who lost their jobs had only a single skill and were ill-fitted to compete in the labor market with return- ing veterans and the large number of older, more experienced workers who were laid off at the same time. Thereafter, there were but few jobs to be found for untrained, inexperienced youth in their middle teens, and these were chiefly of the “blind- alley” type. It was thought better by far, for both youth and society, to have young people in attendance at schools in which they could secure occupational training, work experience, and a well-rounded general education than to have them enter an already oversupplied labor market without training, experi- ence, or adequate educational background. * A student in Grades XI or XII, with his parents’ consent, may be absent from school in order to be employed on a job which is under school supervision and which is considered a part of the student’s educational program. [350] PuBLIC SECONDARY EDUCATION BEYOND THE HIGH SCHOOL The decision to extend free public secondary education up- ward so as to include general and vocational education in the thirteenth and fourteenth grades was reached after careful study of the conditions likely to develop at the close of the war. It seemed probable that many, perhaps most, young people would find it difficult to secure employment consistent with their abilities without more general education, vocational train- ing, and supervised work experience than could be supplied in the high schools alone. It was clear, moreover, that some public institution was needed to prepare young men and women to enter a large number of technical, commercial, and semiprofes- sional occupations, requiring education beyond the twelfth grade. And it was agreed that the needs of society for educated citizens would alone justify the continuation of a sound pro- gram of civic and general education for another two years. These and other considerations have already been discussed in the chapters on the schools of Farmville and American City.’ The development of junior colleges, public and private, dur- ing the score of years preceding the war gave evidence of public demand for institutions of this type. In the state of Columbia, the growth had been uneven. The law permitted school districts to levy taxes to support junior colleges, and it did not prohibit tuition. The results were a small number of well-developed public junior colleges in some of the wealthier and more populous areas and a larger number of high schools which offered a few postgraduate courses and often assumed the name of “junior college.” The large junior colleges charged fees while the small institutions charged both fees and tuition. The situation was one which proponents of free public educa- tion believed to be wrong. | New legislation, therefore, authorized both vocational and nonvocational instruction for two years beyond the conven- = See pages 66-67, 227, 245-46. [351] tional high school as an integral part of the system of secondary education. It abolished fees and tuitions for such instruction and placed financial support upon the same basis as that of elementary and high schools. The new laws ‘carried .a mandate to the state department of education to establish a ‘system of post-high-school institutions in order to serve the ‘educational needs of all the young people of the state. Two Types of Advanced Secondary Schools Two types of institutional service, well illustrated by the Farmville Secondary School and the American City Commu- nity Institute, have been developed. In'Farmville and many other small communities, two years of instruction, intended primarily for the young people who expect to live in these communities or others like them, have been added to the regular secondary schools. These schools of the Farmville type offer advanced training in the major local occupational fields, together with civic, cultural, and physical education appropriate to older youth. They do not give training in occupations not. well represented locally, nor do they undertake to offer courses com- parable to those of the junior colleges or four-year colleges and universities. Indeed, as we shall see, schools of this type are required to remain within the limits just mentioned as a condi- tion for receiving ‘state financial aid. In American City and ten other cities, new institutions of advanced secondary education have been developed, of which the American City Community Institute is an example. These institutions provide vocational education in many fields, each institution including the chief occupations of a large region as well as of the city itself. Together they cover practically all the occupations of the state which do not require education beyond the fourteenth grade. They also offer courses compar- able to those of the first two years of four-year colleges and universities. In common with secondary schools of the Farm- [352] ville type, they supply continuing civic, cultural, and physical education to all their students and are responsible for local programs of education for adults and out-of-school youth. The name “community institute” is used throughout the state for this second type of institution. The ‘term “junior col- lege” already had a variety of meanings because of the diversity of practices in institutions bearing that title. Therefore, it was deemed advisable to use a. name free from associations with past practices. Not all community institutes have the same organization. The state laws about community institutes refer to the thir- teenth and fourteenth grades of public education, but they do not prescribe how these two advanced secondary grades shall be related to the rest of the school system. In some communities, as in American City, the two upper grades constitute an ad- vanced secondary school which is housed and staffed separately from the senior high schools. In other cities, such as Three Rivers, the thirteenth and fourteenth grades have been joined with the eleventh and twelfth to form a four-year community institute, while the preceding four grades (VII to X, inclusive) constitute the lower secondary school, known locally as the “intermediate school.” . Whatever the particular form of organization may be, the program of Grades XIII and XIV is looked upon‘as an integral part of the eight-year structure of secondary education. A State System af Community Institutes The decision to authorize free public community institutes in the state of Columbia gave rise to a train of problems of state administration. First and foremost was the question, “Where should community institutes be located?” It was clear that some form of state control would be needed. Otherwise, most cities and many towns would almost surely move at once to establish the new institutions, especially since the law provided [353] that the state would pay a portion of the costs of operation.° It was not difficult to imagine the results or to see how undesir- able they would be. Within a few years, there would be dozens of community institutes in the state, presenting as mixed an assortment as had the junior colleges a few years earlier. Many of them would doubtless have inadequate staffs and equipment and curriculums quite unsuited to the postwar needs of youth. Too often their offerings would consist only of courses in lower division college subjects and training in a few vocations. State Aid Limited to Approved Institutions The laws were therefore framed to limit state aid to those community institutes approved by the state board of education and to give the state department of education one year in which to study the matter before any community institute should be approved. The division of research of the state department of educa- tion at once undertook a thorough study of the needs for ad- vanced secondary institutions, the distribution of youth popula- tion, and the abilities of communities to support such institu- tions. The staffs of several schools of education joined in the enterprise. The state superintendent of public instruction ap- pointed a large and representative commission on secondary education, including both educators and lay citizens, to con- sider the problem from the point of view of the state as a whole and to advise the staff of the state department of education. At the same time, the state officials sought to stimulate local interest and initiative, since it was recognized that these. would be essential to the successful operation of the kinds of com- munity institutes which were desired and which were to be under the control of local boards of education. Any school dis- trict wishing to be considered as a possible applicant for a com- ®See pages 357-58. [354] munity institute was invited to submit a prospectus of its plans. All such statements were reviewed and checked by the divi- sion of research. The outcome of the year’s work was that the state depart- ment of education, with the aid of the advisory commission, was able to formulate a tentative plan for a state system of community institutes so located as to bring the majority of the youth of the state within commuting distance of one or another of the institutes. Among the chief considerations in locating the institutes were these: (1) The community and its tributary area should have a sufficient number of young people of com- munity institute age to assure a relatively large enrolment, thus making it possible to offer education in a variety of vocational and cultural fields without excessive cost. (2) The community should have the financial resources to support the community institute when state aid and payments for students from other districts were taken into account. (3) The community, with its share of state aid, should be able to provide adequate plant and equipment. (4) The district should present a plan for cur- riculum and staff which would assure a program suited to the needs of the youth of the community and the surrounding area. (5) The proposed community institute should be so located as to fit into the state system. Allocation of Vocational Fields among the Community Institutes Early in the planning, it became clear that some division of labor among the community institutes would be not only advisable but necessary. There were many technical and semi- professional occupations in the state, each of which annually required only a small number of new workers. One or two community institutes could readily supply all the trained bakers, lens grinders, watch repairmen, and commercial photographers needed for beginners’ positions in the entire state. It would obviously be wasteful and inefficient if any large number of [355] community institutes: were to offer training in‘ such fields. In the new legislation, therefore, the state department of educa- tion was empowered to allocate vocational fields among the'com+ munity institutes in such manner that the annual supply of persons trained in the state would approximate the’ state’s de- mand for’new workers. Due account was to be taken, of course, of the facilities in the local communities for observation and supervised work experience. The Columbia State Department of Education has never had to exercise authority in this matter: It holds an annual conference of the administrators and curriculum officers of all the public community institutes in the state, and the alloca- tions of vocational fields are worked out in these conferences by mutual agreement. We have seen how the American City Community Institute serves as the state’s training center for the air-conditioning and refrigeration industry and for air transportation and as one of two or three centers for training in aircraft maintenance, baking, and printing. Each of the other community institutes in the state has its corresponding spe- cialties. There are many other occupations which have such: con- sistently high demands for trained workers that one-finds them represented in all or practically all of the community institutes. Office management, secretarial training,.accounting, retail sell- ing, metal trades, electrical trades; and’ building trades are examples. Operating and Capital Costs in — Cases of Interdistrict Attendance A youth residing ina district not maintaining a high school had long: been. permitted. to.attend high school in another dis- trict under regulations-which authorized the district of attend-. ance to collect the state and. federal subsidies: and to: charge the district of residence for the remainder of the cost of instruc- [356] tion. These authorizations were now made applicable to. com- munity institutes and secondary schools extending through: fourteenth grade. “Cost of instruction” was defined to include depreciation on plant and equipment and debt service as well as current expenditures. _ Safeguards were set up to prevent students from leaving one district for another merely because of whim. Before a student residing in a district maintaining a post-high-school program may attend a similar school elsewhere, an agreement regarding the transfer must be certified by the superintendents of the district of attendance and of the district of residence on a form developed by the state department of education. It was correctly anticipated that many students would leave the districts in which their homes were located in order to secure advanced vocational and technical education not avail- able locally. Such changes of residence occurred most frequently among young people from. rural areas who looked forward to living and working in cities. Improved transportation and judi- cious location of community institutes made it possible for. many students to commute to the institutes—but by no means for all. It was therefore decided that residence halls should be erected in connection with community institutes approved for this purpose by the state department of education and that the state should pay the costs of building and equipment. Resi- dence halls are operated:by the local districts on a nonprofit basis. Since each: community institute would serve an area larger than the district: in which it was located; it was considered only fair that the district should: not-bear the full cost-of construct- ing and equipping: institute buildings. After-careful study, the division of research developed:a formula for financial assistance from the state, based: on the ratio of high-school: graduates in the tributary area to the high-school: graduates in the: district operating the community institute, for the three years preced- ing the approval of the building program. This formula was subsequently incorporated. in the state school -code. [357] Consolidated Organization To Support Community Institutes Because of the distribution of population, it was foreseen that gaps might occur in the state system of community institutes. In certain sparsely settled rural areas it seemed likely that many years would pass before districts would be formed which would be able to support community institutes in addition to high and elementary schools. For a long time, it was expected, the high schools in these areas would continue to be small institu- tions dependent upon extensive transportation systems to serve their students. Consolidation of high-school districts would be limited to the areas which could be served by school buses. The law, therefore, provides that two or more high-school districts may combine to form a larger district to maintain a community institute with residence facilities for those students who live beyond the range of school buses. Such an institution is under the jurisdiction of its own community institute district board which operates in the same manner as other governing boards. State funds are distributed in accordance with the principles established for financing other public schools. Local Control of Community Institutes Some members of the state committees proposed that the new community institutes be operated as a part of the system of state-supported college and university education with the full costs paid from state funds. An argument of much weight was that such education.corresponds to the lower divisions of the state colleges and universities, the cost of which is borne entirely by the state. It would be unfair, so it was argued, for local dis- tricts to maintain a substantial part of the costs for community institutes while the state was wholly supporting comparable education elsewhere. While the inequity of the situation was admitted, the view [358] eventually prevailed that the advantages of local operation and control far outweighed the disadvantages. The community institute, it was asserted, is obligated to minister to all the edu- cational needs of all its students. One of its functions, to be sure, is to prepare a part of its students for admission to the upper divisions of standard colleges and universities. But that is only one among many. The total purpose of advanced sec- ondary education is much more comprehensive. It is to supply both liberal education and practical training to a large body of youth, many of whom may not be able to devote more than a few months or a year to post-high-school study and some of whom may be able to attend classes only on a part-time basis. Local responsibility and local control, it was urged, will keep a community institute close to the community and respon- sive to community demands. Remote control, exercised by a board operating upon a statewide basis, will become impersonal and sooner or later will limit the services which the school ren- ders to its community. Community control, moreover, will go far to assure con- tinuity in the programs of the community institutes and of the high schools from which their students come. The history of American education has demonstrated that units of the school system become isolated when separately administered. For exam- ple, a quarter of a century ago, separately administered high schools and elementary schools often pursued their courses in relative isolation from one another, and one of the chief argu- ’ ments in favor of establishing junior high schools was that they would help to “bridge the gap” between eighth and ninth grades. The history of the influence of college entrance require- ments on secondary schools shows how a separately organized, powerful educational unit can restrict desirable curriculum development in another unit. On the other hand, experience shows that these difficulties are largely overcome under unified administration and control. [359] Thirteenth and Fourteenth Grades in Other Secondary Schools There are now eleven community institutes in the’ state of Columbia, and it is not likely that the number will greatly increase. Further growth will probably take the form of en- largement of these institutions and development of additional courses within them. A great deal of public education beyond twelfth grade takes place quite apart from the community institutes, however. Any school district which does not have a community institute may now offer instruction at the thirteenth and fourteenth grade levels in its secondary school or schools if it meets the minimum standards set by the state department of education and if its vocational education is limited to the chief occupational fields represented in the local community. The Farmville Sec- ondary School is a good example of a secondary school embrac- ing the eight years from Grade VII through Grade XIV and offering advanced courses in agriculture, homemaking, retail trade, business education, and mechanics. Although Farmville pioneered in this field, one now finds comparable arrangements in most of the secondary schools which are not within com- muting distance of community institutes. A secondary school receives state aid for its thirteenth and fourteenth years on the same basis as a community institute. The law makes it clear, however, that the two upper years in such a school do not con- stitute a community institute. This suggests the question of the relationships of community institutes to the secondary schools in districts which do not have community institutes. Each such secondary school, it is believed, should be closely and permanently related to a com- munity institute, preferably the one most conveniently located with respect to transportation. For one thing, competition for out-of-town students among the community institutes is con- sidered highly undesirable. A more important reason is that a close relationship greatly facilitates the operation of a continu- [360] ous guidance program, bridging the transition from high school to community institute. The Columbia State Department of Education, with the advice of the commission on secondary education, has mapped out a tributary area for each com- munity institute and has adopted the regulation that a high- school graduate will normally attend the community institute in whose area his high school is located. Exceptions are made, of course, in the cases of students interested in vocations not represented in the curriculum of their local community insti- tute. We have already had occasion to observe many contacts and examples of cooperation in the case of the American City Community Institute and the Farmville Secondary School which lies in the tributary area of Amerian City. EDUCATION FOR OUT-OF-SCHOOL YOUTH AND ADULTS All these provisions, however, were not enough. The mem- bers of the state planning groups were quick to see that, even in the best of school systems, all the educational needs of youth could not possibly be met within twelve or fourteen years of school attendance. Some aspects of education must wait upon experience and maturity. When a youth takes his first full-time job; when he loses that job and has to find another; when he marries and establishes a home; when he becomes a voter; when he joins a labor union, a farmers’ organization, or a businessman’s association; when he finds that he has four hours of leisure time a day at his disposal—then he is likely to become keenly aware of educational needs which only a few months before had seemed dimly remote. Legal provisions were therefore made for the support of a comprehensive program of free public adult education which would be open to all youth not in full-time attendance at school. The law authorized but did not require districts to admit adults and out-of-school youth to regular classes in community institutes and in the thirteenth and fourteenth grades of secondary schools. It also authorized districts to [361] organize and maintain part-time and evening classes in any subject and to receive financial aid from the state for classes in subjects approved by the state board of education. The board’s approvals, we may add, have been broad enough to encompass practically the whole range of interests of adults and older youth—vocational, avocational, civic, cultural, fam- ily life, homemaking, and health. A satisfactory formula was developed for translating units of attendance in part-time classes into units of school population as a basis for distribut- ing state financial aid. In anticipation of the possible establishment of work camps for youth in public parks and forests and on public conserva- tion and construction projects, the law provides that state and federal aid may be applied to the support of educational programs in such camps. It further authorizes the state legis- lature to appropriate funds to pay for the difference between the total costs of such programs and the state and federal funds supplied under the regular plan of state aid. Since work camps are usually remote from the larger school districts, the state department of education is authorized to operate and control educational programs in camps, but it may contract with local school systems to carry all or part of this respon- sibility. THe StaTE Boarp oF EDUCATION The state board of education is composed of nine members, each of whom serves nine years. Terms are arranged so that one vacancy occurs each year. For purposes of nominating members of this board, the state is divided into nine “areas” approximately equal in population. One member of the state board of education is appointed from each of these “areas.” Whenever a position on the board is about to become vacant, the state superintendent of public instruction sends nominat- ing ballots to all the members of local boards of education in the “area” which the retiring member represents. Each local board of education member is allowed to nominate not [362] to exceed three candidates from the ‘“‘area” in which he resides. Ballots are returned to and tabulated by the state superin- tendent of public instruction. A second ballot is prepared, containing the names of the ten persons receiving the highest number of votes in the first election. This ballot is also sent to all members of local boards of education in the “area.” The names of the three persons receiving the largest numbers of votes on this ballot are then submitted to the governor of the state who must appoint one of these three to the state board of education. The appointment is subject to confirma- tion by the senate. Under this plan, no governor could appoint a majority of the board during one term of office except by reason of deaths and resignations. This organization of the state board of education is new in Columbia and was adopted after an extensive survey of existing and proposed practices. A plan for an ex officio board, composed of state officials, was rejected because of unsatis- factory experiences in other states. So also was a proposal for a board made up of professional educators. A board of lay citizens, interested in public education and free from partisan political controls, was preferred. - The state board of education’s position in relation to the state system of public education and the chief state school officer is similar to that of a city board of education in relation to the city schools and the city superintendent of schools.’ The board is a policy-making body. The chief state school officer is the executive officer of the board. The state board of education is empowered. to make such rules and regu- lations for the conduct and operation of the public schools as are not in conflict with school law. The state department ™We do not here consider the question of desirable organization for the administration of all aspects of education at the state level, since we are concerned only with secondary educa- tion in this report. For a discussion of over-all organization see page 90 in the Educational Policies Commission’s statement on The Structure and Administration of Education in Ameri- can Democracy. (National Education Association and American Association of School Ad- ministrators, Educational Policies Commission, Washington, D. C., 1938.) [363 ] of education, after consultation with representatives of the public schools, formulates proposals and recommendations for the board’s consideration. THE STATE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION The state department of education is headed by the chief state school officer (in Columbia, the superintendent of public instruction) who is appointed by the state board of educa- tion. All the members of the staff responsible for policy-making (associate superintendents, assistant superintendents, directors, and supervisors) are appointed by the state board of educa- tion upon nomination by the state superintendent of public instruction. Neither the chief state school officer or members of the staff are required to be residents of the state at the time of appointment. The laws were framed to enable the state to secure the ablest professional people available anywhere in the nation. Salaries of division chiefs compare favorably with those of superintendents of all but the largest city schools and with those of department heads in colleges. Under these conditions, a staff of persons of substantial professional ability has been developed. Employees in grades below those of policy- making officials are under civil service and have qualified for their positions through competitive examinations administered by the state personnel board. To enlist some of the best talent in the state in dealing with educational policies and problems, a plan has been developed for appointing temporary commissions to advise the staff of the state department of education on specific problems. Such a commission is appointed when a problem arises on which counsel is needed, and it is usually continued until the main steps have been taken toward the solution of the problem. For example, a commission on secondary education served in this capacity during the three years after the laws were passed authorizing free public education through the thirteenth and fourteenth grades. [364] The State Department and the Local School Districts The superintendent of public instruction and other mem- bers of the staff of the state department of education are thor- oughly committed to the principle that schools should be con- trolled chiefly by local governing boards and their chief execu- tive officers and staffs with only the necessary minimum of control by state officials. The department staff believes that if the community is relieved of responsibility for the operation of its schools, the schools will sooner or later lose touch with the life of the community. At the same time, the state department of education fol- lows the policy that minimum standards of education should be set by the laws of the state and by the regulations of the state board of education. Without minimum standards there will be erratic performances by some local boards of educa- tion, and in vital matters affecting the schools there will be failures which will seriously impair educational services. While advocating the maintenance of standards, the department of education recognizes that standards, as a rule, are more ef- fectively maintained through competent and inspiring leader- ship on the part of the state staff than through stress on enforcement of laws and regulations. Experience shows that there are few intentional violations of the laws and that violations become fewer as administra- tors are better trained and grow in experience and professional outlook. Indeed, administrators frequently suggest new or advanced standards which they believe are needed to improve the schools. Now and then, however, there are boards of education and school administrators who seek to evade the state’s requirements, and then the state must exercise its powers of enforcement. The state department of education takes the point of view that the success of its program is measured by the develop- ments which take place in the schools of the state. It seeks [365] to supply a high quality of professional leadership to the state’s educational forces, to take an active part in all educational councils, and to conduct research needed for statewide advance- ment of education. In all such matters it cooperates with the institutions of higher education in the state and particularly with teachers colleges, schools of education, and bureaus of educational research. It formulates its program from the prob- lems confronting the public schools, and for this reason it keeps in close contact with state and local professional organi- zations. Schoolhouse Planning Some years ago the legislature passed a law establishing a division of schoolhouse planning in the state department of education. This division has amply demonstrated its useful- ness. The law requires that, whenever a district expects to erect a new building, its plans must be submitted to this divi- sion for examination and approval. The division also offers consultative services to the local districts in matters pertain- ing to school plant and equipment. Minimum standards pertaining to such factors as heating facilities, lighting, sanitation, and construction must be fol- lowed in designing and erecting school buildings. These stand- ards would be readily accepted by any competent architect. Each community employs its own architect and is encouraged to go well beyond minimum standards in developing plans suited to the local situation. The staff of the division of schoolhouse planning has sup- plied advice to many districts on the organization of surveys as the bases for building programs, and it has visited many others to study and to give advice on plans that are fairly well matured. It has been particularly helpful in developing plans for community institute buildings and for community schools such as that in the Farmville district. Underlying all its work are the principles that program planning must pre- [366] cede the planning of buildings and that buildings must be fashioned to achieve educational objectives. At the suggestion of the division of schoolhouse planning, legislation was passed before the close of the war, enabling local governing boards to raise funds to be devoted to capital outlays. New construction had all but stopped during the war except the emergency construction in centers where the war had caused unusual population increases. As a result, many districts needed to undertake extensive building programs as soon as the war should end. By means of relatively small taxes over several years, these districts accumulated funds which have since been used to erect school buildings suited to the postwar needs and programs. Several of the newly consoli- dated districts, which faced the need for immediate erection of new school plants, were able to match the subsidies from the state capital outlay fund without resorting to bond issues. School administrators did not forget the lessons learned during the thirties in connection with the federal programs of public works. They remembered that many districts had been unable to take advantage of the offer of federal aid for school building construction because the districts lacked the funds required as the local contribution. Local governing boards now took the point of view that if federal money were again to become available following the war and if the local district were required to supply a part of the cost of new construction, the building fund would enable them immedi- ately to provide the district’s share of the expense. If the fed- eral government undertook no program, the local building fund could still be used as far as it would go. Certification and Education of Teachers For many years, the laws of the state of Columbia have empowered the state board of education to set the standards of educational accomplishment which teachers must attain [367] before being certified to teach in the schools, and to specify certain other requirements. The staff of the state department of education has been scrupulously careful to see that these standards are observed. One of its most difficult problems arose out of the large number of “emergency certificates” issued to persons who could not meet the minimum standards during the years of the war when the supply of certified teachers fell far short of the demand. The state department of education staff has worked untiringly to restore adherence to standards, either by revoking emergency certificates or by requiring that teach-. ers holding them shall complete the requirements for regular certificates within a specified time. Excellence of teaching cannot be assured by minimum stand- ards alone, however. The success of school programs like those - in Farmville and American City depends upon teachers whose competencies can never be reduced to legal formulas. For some years now, a large part of the state department of education staff, aided by an advisory commission, has been working with institutions for the education of teachers in a cooperative effort to improve the professional preparation of teachers well beyond the minimum required by law. At the same time, the staff has been conferring with administrators and super- visors in school systems throughout the state in joint endeavors to improve the methods of selecting teachers, the processes of inducting new teachers, and the programs of in-service teacher education. In all these undertakings, the state staff seeks to supply leadership, stimulation, and expert counsel rather than to prescribe. Its techniques are those of the con- ference and the “workshop.” Principles in Teacher Education and Selection Among the principles which have guided the state depart- ment of education, these are particularly worthy of mention: [368] 1. Every teacher should comprehend the purposes of public education in a democratic society and should clearly see how his own work contributes to the achievement of these purposes. 2. Every teacher should have both a liberal education and thorough preparation in the field in which he expects to teach. Specialization alone is not enough, for in the secondary school of today, the competent teacher must be able to see and teach the relationships of his particular subjects to the whole of education and the whole of life.* 3. Because of the prime importance of citizenship educa- tion in all schools and for all pupils, every teacher should be well prepared to assume his own obligations as a citizen and should also understand how the school may serve as an agency for developing civic responsibility. 4, Every teacher should have sympathetic understanding of boys and girls and should be familiar with scientific informa- tion regarding child development and the psychology of learning. 5. In view of the growing recognition of the importance of guidance, particularly in secondary schools, every teacher should understand the nature and purposes of guidance and should have had practical experience in individual and group guidance as a part of his training. 6. Every teacher of vocational courses and every teacher in other fields related to the world of work should have had some experience, as an adult, in work outside the teaching profession. 7. Every teacher should have had training and experience in studying community problems or in working with com- munity agencies other than the school. 8. Programs for the education of teachers should include supervised experience in dealing with actual problems rep- resentative of those which students are likely to encounter later as teachers, and the college records of candidates for teaching should include full reports of candidates’ perform- ances in these situations. Let us not suppose that no obstacles are encountered. Pres- sure must still be exerted against the influence of some mem- * For example, see the description of the course in “Common Learnings” in the American City secondary schools, pages 248-70. [369] bers of college and university faculties who are unacquainted with the needs of the public schools and who apparently believe that specialized training in subjectmatter alone is ade- quate to prepare a young man or woman to teach in a second- ary school. On the other hand, the state department of edu- cation must restrain the insistence of some instructors in college departments of education that professional courses be mul- tiplied until they require most of the prospective teacher’s time. Then, too, there are problems arising out of the desire of understaffed colleges to be accredited as institutions for teacher education and from the failure of even the better- equipped institutions to make adequate provision for observa- tion, apprentice teaching, and community experience. One might add pages to the list of problems. The important thing, however, is that encouraging progress is being made in meeting them, not so much by changing laws and regula- tions, as by supplying competent professional leadership and employing the methods of education and democratic group action.” The state department of education also administers, at the state level, the laws and regulations relating to teacher tenure and teacher retirement. The State and the Curriculum The law gives the state board of education authority to determine, in broad outline, the scope of the educational pro- gram to be provided in local communities. The board has consistently used its authority to define only the minimum ® The brevity of this treatment of education of teachers is deliberate. The Commission recognizes that so important a subject deserves far more space than is here given to it. How- ever, because of the fact that the Commission on Teacher Education of the American Coun- cil on Education is now publishing the reports of its four-year cooperative study, it seems advisable to refer readers to these thorough and authoritative treatments of the subject, rather than to attempt extended treatment of teacher education in this volume. For a list of publications of the Commission on Teacher Education, see footnote 4 on page 407. [370] essentials of the curriculum. Every district enjoys wide lati- tude to exceed the prescribed minimum, to adapt the curric- ulum to its local conditions, and to experiment with new fields and methods of instruction. The last ten years have seen more changes in the curricu- lums of secondary schools in the state of Columbia than any comparable period in the state’s history. In such a dynamic period, the state department of education has pursued the policy of leaving the statements of minimum essentials un- altered while seeking to encourage and guide those changes in curriculum which seem directed toward more adequate educational services for the youth of the state. Changes in prescriptions of minimum essentials, it is believed, should be the product of a period of experimentation. Only in a few extreme cases of ill-considered aberrations has the department employed its authority to restrain a local district. Most of the efforts of the state staff have been devoted to fostering interest, initiative, and resourcefulness on the part of local teachers and school administrators and of institutions for teacher education. The state department of education has sponsored or cooperated in a large number of conferences and workshops on curriculum improvement. It has advised the curriculum committees in many local school systems. It has kept in touch with most of the new curriculum develop- ments within the state and many of those.in other parts of the country and has disseminated information about the best of these to schools throughout the state. The research divi- sion has made a number of important studies of educational needs of youth and of the results of new curriculum prac- tices and has reported the results both to educators and to the public. Out of such experiments as those at Farmville and American City, a body of tested principles is emerging which can be used as guides by everyone. The state staff seeks to promote and aid such experiments, to evaluate their out- comes, and to make their results available to all the schools. [371] Work Experience Supervised work experience, we recall, has a large place in the program of secondary schools in Farmville and Amer- ican City, and under certain conditions school credit is granted for work in private or public employment. Such practice is now common throughout the state of Columbia. When educators began to propose that credit be granted for supervised work experience, it became clear that local districts were not free to act as they might choose. The state was involved, for the state regulations regarding credits, at- tendance, and the distribution of state funds had been framed without reference to supervised work experience. Local school administrators asked for a statement of state policy and of the basic principles involved. Such a statement, they believed, would help the local districts to develop sound practices and would go far to prevent careless administrators from bring- ing work experience into disrepute. The state department of education again turned for coun- sel to an advisory commission which included representatives of employers’ and labor organizations as well as educators. The department staff analyzed the school law to determine what restrictions, if any, the law placed on the crediting of supervised work experience. The staff report called attention to the fact that the essentials of the work experience program had been a part of the secondary curriculum for many years, appearing as office work or retail selling for pupils enrolled in business courses, as farm and home projects in agriculture or homemaking classes, and as shopwork in the trade and indus- trial program. Work in these fields was not only permitted but encouraged under existing laws and formed a basis from which extensions could be made to include other kinds of work experience. With the aid of the advisory commission, the staff prepared a statement of principles, in substance as follows: 1. The pupil must be reeititty enrolled in the school so [372] that the school can control his work experience to the end that the pupil may learn thereby. Credit can be given only when there is evidence that learning has occurred. 2. The work experience must be related to the pupil’s total educational program. The project in agriculture carried on by a pupil preparing to operate a farm and the work in an office by a pupil preparing for a business career illustrate the desirable relationship between work experience and the pupil’s purposes. It is not always possible, however, to achieve such a close correspondence between work and vocational plans. When that is the case, learning to work well at any job may properly be considered a part of a pupil’s education whatever his plans for a future occupation may be. Decisions in such matters should be left to the staffs of the local schools. 3. Work experience must be supervised by a member of the teaching or administrative staff of the school in which the pupil is enrolled as well as by the employer. Unless care is exercised to insure proper working conditions, the pupil may gain little from his experience. Credit for work experi- ence should, therefore, be contingent upon supervision which wil insure continued learning. 4. Work experience must be so organized as to produce con- tinuous growth in specific skills and knowledge. Repetition of a few simple processes which may be learned quickly must not be long continued if credit is to be granted. While the pupil should learn to report to work on time, to continue to. work at one job even though he may prefer to be elsewhere, and to give an honest day’s work for a day’s pay, he should not be left for long on a job after he has learned all the skills and knowledge which the job requires. 5. An evaluation of the individual’s work experience must be made and the evaluation entered upon the pupil’s record. As far as possible, objective instruments of appraisal should be used. This statement was submitted to the state board of educa- tion and adopted. College Entrance Requirements At the close of the war large numbers of young men and women returned to the colleges and universities to resume [373] their courses while even more sought entrance to collegiate institutions for the first time. In addition to the usual college- bound students among recent graduates from the high schools, there was a large number of young people who had entered military service or employment with no college experience and who now desired college education. Confronted with what was regarded in many quarters as a patriotic duty, collegiate institutions did not hold to the stringent entrance requirements which some of them had enforced in the past. Moreover, they agreed that a certain amount of credit might be given for special training in the Army and Navy and for correspondence courses completed through the Armed Forces Institute. These changed attitudes encouraged the Columbia State Department of Education to investigate the question of college entrance requirements in order to see if all the higher institutions might be willing to adopt some criteria of admission other than the conventional grades and patterns of subjects. This question had already been considered by some other groups, among them a state committee consisting of repre- sentatives of universities and colleges, of secondary schools, and of the regional accrediting association. This committee was called into consultation by the state department of educa- tion. Representatives of the state office and administrators of the secondary schools advocated freedom for the high schools to develop their own educational programs and asserted that this would not interfere with the work of the colleges. They © presented evidence to show that colleges could select students by other means which were equal, if not superior, to course grades and patterns of subjects. Their case was warmly sup- ported by some representatives of the colleges and universi- ties who had had experience in selecting candidates for the ASTP and the Navy V-5 and V-12 programs and who knew how inadequate the conventional system of grades and credits had been for that purpose. Much work and many conferences were. needed before the [374] proposals for change were generally accepted. Methods had to be devised for carrying the question to committees on en- trance requirements in individual colleges and universities and for getting members of these committees and representa- tives of the secondary schools to sit down together around conference tables. Comparable movements in the other states of the regional accrediting association had to be examined and working relationships established with other state departments of education. Differences were finally resolved with the results which we have observed in the cases of Farmville and Ameri- can City.” The important thing is not that the colleges and universities have changed their methods of admission but rather, that by making these changes, they have helped to make possible the kinds of educational programs found in the Farm- ville and American City schools. Community Youth Councils As one travels about the state of Columbia today, he finds that most communities have youth councils which have been of great assistance to the secondary schools and have performed many other useful services. Since the youth council in Farm- ville has already been described,” we shall tell no more about local councils at this time. We should point out, however, that the state department of education has played a large part in the development of these councils. The staff members of the department have told stories of the successful councils in their travels about the state and have consulted with local authorities about plans for starting councils in their commu- nities. . | Local councils normally include representatives of many interests which are found in the state government—educa- tion, health, recreation, social welfare, employment, industrial and labor relations, and the like. Several years ago the director ™ See pages 51-53, 323-25. See pages 158-59. [375] of the division of secondary education began to invite repre- sentatives of these state offices to meet at a monthly luncheon to discuss matters relating to the education and welfare of youth at the state level. These conferences proved quite valu- able and have been continued. Representatives of other agen- cies have been added—the state congress of parents and teachers; the Columbia State Education Association; the agri- cultural extension service; state organizations of employers, laborers, and farmers; and several group work agencies. This informal state council makes no attempt to operate a program of its own. It is concerned chiefly with the ways in which its members can be of greatest service to youth councils and youth agencies in local communities. It also undertakes ‘to see that the interests of youth are adequately represented in the coun- cils of state government. A STATE.SERVICE OF GUIDANCE FOR YOUTH The state plan of guidance, as it has developed five years after the war, is based on the conviction that the school’s obligation to its students is not discharged until each youth is launched on his adult career with a fair outlook for suc- cess suited to his abilities. The schools, therefore, have under- taken to provide an adequate counseling service to all youth during their years in school and also through the initial period of adjustment to full-time employment.” As far as possible, the responsibility for guidance lies with the staffs of the local schools. ! Many young people, however, do not remain in the same districts throughout their periods of schooling and initial em- ployment. They move from rural areas to cities and from one city to another, some to continue their education and some to seek work. The Columbia State Department of Education recognized that no collection of separate guidance systems ™ See pages 39-50, 309-23. [376] could give adequate service to these youth who migrate. Some plan of statewide guidance service was needed. The situation could be met either by the establishment of a system of guidance directly operated by the state depart- ment of education or by the cooperative efforts of the local schools and the department. Consistent with its philosophy of favoring local administration and control, the department chose to act through voluntary agreements to cooperate, worked out in conference, rather than by setting up a system of guid- ance to be operated by the state. It was generally agreed among the scheolGat Rar nrhenever a boy or girl moved from one community to another, whether he was going to another school or was seeking employment, the school counseling staff would promptly notify the staff in the community to which he was moving and would send a transcript of his records. The counseling staff in the new community would then assume responsibility. The community institutes, moreover, agreed that their counseling staffs would maintain contact with the smaller tributary schools in the surrounding areas to discover those young people who were planning to go to cities and to try to anticipate some of their problems. This entails consider- able field service on the part of the community institute counselors. Visits are made each year to all the “feeder” schools to inform students about educational opportunities and em- ployment conditions in the cities and to consult with them about their plans and needs. Personal History Records When the schools began to depart from the conventional methods of recording grades and credits, the need for some other system of reasonably uniform records became apparent. The admissions officers in the institutions of higher educa- tion wanted such records, and the guidance staffs of the sec- [377] ondary schools needed them in order to serve the young people who moved from one community to another. A system of records was developed jointly by the state department of education and a committee of educators from the public schools and the colleges with advice from national agencies. The research division of the state department of education helped to prepare the forms, studied their uses, and from time to time has proposed improvements. The use of these “‘per- sonal history records” is optional, but most of the districts in the state are now using them. The state department of education has other functions re- lated to guidance of which we shall mention two. It carries on research and cooperates with other state agencies—par- ticularly with the public employment service—in gathering information about occupational trends, opportunities, and requirements at the state level and in making this available to all the schools in the state. It also acts as the medium for communication between the U. S. Office of Education and the local schools and supplies the schools with information about occupational trends and outlooks received from na- tional sources. FEDERAL AID FOR PUBLIC EDUCATION During the period covered by this report, Congress for the first time voted large appropriations to assist the states and localities in the support of public education. Since all these funds are channeled through the state departments of educa- tion, a brief statement of their purposes belongs in this descrip- tion of the Columbia state system. General Aid Funds for Equalization of Educational Op portunities Grants for general aid to public education are allocated to states on an objective basis, the primary purpose of which is to make the states more nearly equal in ability to support [378] public education. The number of children to be educated and the financial ability of the state to support a system of public education are the basic criteria in calculating apportionments. Appropriations are made to the U. S. Office of Education for distribution to the several states. Each state in turn distributes the funds to its various districts in the same manner in which it distributes the state general aid funds. Earmarked Funds for Youth Education © As soon as the war ended, the nation was confronted once again by the problem of how to make the best use of the time and talents of its youth. Although most of the states and local school districts—like those in the state of Columbia— were ready with programs of educational service to youth, the needs developed with such speed and on such a vast scale that the states and localities would have been financially unable to match them had the federal government not supplied aid for this purpose. When the youth problem of the thirties demanded federal action, the government had chosen to try to meet the need through the federal youth agencies. In one year, it had appro- priated as much as $650,000,000 for the support of the CCC and the NYA. When the youth problem of the forties developed, the fed- eral government. chose to use its funds to aid the established agencies of public education to meet the needs of youth. Con- gress, therefore, appropriated funds to the U. S. Office of Education to be distributed to the states to aid in paying the costs of operating programs of vocational education, gen- eral education, and guidance for youth between fifteen and twenty-one years of age, inclusive. Funds were to be distributed according to a formula based on the number of young people, of the ages specified, in full-time attendance in public schools during the fiscal year. Provisions were added that none of [379] the federal funds should be used to replace any state or local funds hitherto expended for the education of youth of these ages. The federal funds were thus used exclusively for the enlargement of educational services to youth. In Columbia, and indeed in every state, the federal funds were more than matched by increased appropriations for youth education by the state and local districts. In order to make it possible for schools to plan continuous programs, the federal law appropriated funds for youth edu-. cation over a period of ten years and provided that, there- after, the funds earmarked for youth education should be absorbed into the general aid fund for the equalization of educational opportunities. Ten-years were regarded as a period sufficiently long for the demonstration and establishment of the new services. Aid to Individual Students It was not enough to appropriate funds to provide educa- tional services: The question also had to be considered whether all youth would be able to take advantage of these services. The answer was clear, that, under postwar conditions, many boys and girls would drop out of school unless they had some way of earning money to meet their personal expenses. Some would be unable even to pay for clothes, lunches, and carfare, and others, only slightly more fortunate, would feel at a social disadvantage without spending money. During the war this had been no problem, for then there were plenty of part-time jobs for boys and girls. But now the part-time jobs were scarce. The schools made strenuous efforts to de- velop their work-and-study programs, to find odd jobs, and to promote small productive enterprises by which students could earn money. They achieved notable results but not enough to care for all their students who needed money. The federal government, therefore, following its precedent [380] of the thirties, appropriated funds for aid to individual stu- dents in high schools, community institutes,’ colleges, and universities. These funds are appropriated to the U. S. Office of Education and are distributed to the states according to a formula which takes account of student population and employment conditions in each of the states. Funds for aid to students in secondary schools move through the state depart- ment of education. In Columbia, the department has devel- oped a few general principles for the use of these funds and a plan for distributing the money equitably within the state. Local school officials are responsible for the selection of boys and girls who are to be employed, the type of work they perform, and the supervision of their work. Normally student- aid money must be earned by the student through some form of productive work for a public or nonprofit agency. Local officials are allowed discretion, however, in assigning a small portion of the funds as scholarship grants. State and Local Control Retained The acts appropriating federal funds for education reserve to the federal government only the minimum of control necessary to assure the expenditure of the funds for the broad purposes for which they were appropriated. The federal gov- ernment exercises no control over educational policies and practices in the states and localities. Full authority and respon- sibility for the content and methods of education continue to reside in the states and their constituent school districts. Ww os Ww Such is the framework of state law, state administration, and state and federal financial support for the state of Colum- bia. Within that framework, eleven community institutes 18TIn some states, institutions of this type were called “junior colleges”; in others, “in- stitutes of applied arts and sciences.” [381] and close to two hundred high schools have developed pro- grams which are well advanced on the way to meeting the educational needs of all youth. Those which we have seen, in Farmville and American City, are fairly representative of the state as a whole. | [382] CHAPTER V1 The History That Must Be Written HE OPENING CHAPTER of this book contained an excerpt from an imaginary “history” of the future of American education. In that chapter we described the course which American education is likely to follow if state and local educa- tional agencies fail to plan creatively and adequately, and to act promptly and vigorously, to meet the emerging problems of secondary education. The Commission, of course, hopes that the local and state educational agencies will plan and act in this manner. It believes that they will do so. We conclude this report on the-education of all American youth, therefore, with a contrasting and more hopeful type of “history.” This chapter is a prediction of the kind of educational history which we think can, will, and must be written in the future.’ Here then, for the quarter century from 1925 to 1950 is: THE HISTORY THAT MUST BE WRITTEN “In 1925 the world was at peace. Armaments were limited by treaty. The League of Nations was meeting regularly. The nations of the world were soon, in the Pact of Paris, to ‘renounce war as an instrument of national policy.’ The United States was enjoying the benefit of an unprecedented and growing material prosperity. Production was high. There was work for nearly everyone. Shrewd or lucky investors could reap fabulous profits upon the rising stock markets. The national income was steadily rising to heights hitherto unimagined. Many Americans congratulated themselves that they lived in a golden era, marked by freedom from want and freedom from wer. Prosperity and Expansion (1925-1929) “The secondary schools of this era were in the very center of a tremendous program of expansion. Since 1880 their enrolments had doubled every 1 As in Chapter J, the hypothetical “history” will be marked by a distinctive type face. [383] decade. On the material side, it sometimes seemed as though the school architect and the construction industry could scarcely build the high schools fast enough to contain the ever-growing avalanche of young people seeking secondary education. Schools, built but a year or two before to house per- haps 2000 pupils, hastily readjusted their programs and went on double _ shifts with total enrolments of 5000 and 6000. The typical secondary-school building fairly bulged with the effort to find room for the incoming parade of youth. “The task of training teachers for this multitude was equally great. Uni- versities and teachers colleges flourished all year round with huge summer sessions and intersessions for teachers in service and with preservice train- ing for large enrolments during the rest of the year. “There was little time for anyone to stand aside and ponder what type of educational opportunity should be provided for these millions of new- comers to secondary education. It was a period of wild and almost violent expansion in education as it was in industry and economic life. Size was often regarded as a mark of prestige for a school as for a business. Although a few far-sighted educators saw that a new educational program was more urgently needed than a larger one, the citizens generally had neither the time nor the inclination to inquire into the deeper meanings of the great social movements which were occurring before their eyes. The energies of those directly concerned with education were devoted largely to just keep- ing up with the oncoming flood of new students. To be sure, a number of important and useful adjustments were made to adapt the old program more closely to the new needs. When we look back on the difficulties under which the schools then labored, we do not wonder why a more completely successful educational program was not evolved. Rather, we wonder how ° the harassed teachers and administrators were able to accomplish as “much as they did. Depression and Relief (1929-1940) “In November 1929 came the great depression which put a painful period to. the era of easy money. Investments and savings were wiped out; produc- tion and trade figures tumbled downward; the industrialist shut his factory; the workman left his bench; the banks closed their doors. Millions of men and women who had been self-supporting were now out of jobs and des- perately seeking employment that was nowhere to be found. The bread lines wound around whole city blocks; the sellers of apples appeared on [384] street corners; the bonus army marched on Washington; and the bitter little song, Brother, Can You Spare a Dime, became a national favorite. “War returned from its too brief banishment. Japan conquered Man- churia. Italy took Ethiopia. The League of Nations failed to act effectively in either case. Ihere were revolutions in Germany, Austria, Spain. The Pact of Paris became another scrap of paper. “In the United States a new administration launched a great campaign to end the depression and to accomplish social and economic changes through governmental action. The Blue Eagle screamed briefly in a million shop windows. The Agriculture Adjustment Act, the Social Security Act, the Securities and Exchange Act, the Labor Relations Act became the law of the land. Through a series of changing organizations, now remembered largely because of the bewildering rotation of their alphabetical symbols, the federal government tried to meet the needs of the unemployed. There were FERA, WPA, PWA, CCC, and NYA. For those who could not be given work on public projects, there was direct relief in the form of food, clothing, and small cash allowances. Now millions of American citizens, who only a few years ago had thought of themselves as economically secure, depended for daily bread upon the ‘security wage of some public works agency or the family budget’ of some relief agency. Stubbornly the depres- sion held on. Not until the end of the decade, when a war-created pros- perity made the nation an arsenal of democracy, did large-scale unemploy- ment disappear. “The secondary schools, and indeed the entire structure of American education, were severely and adversely affected by the depression. The enrolments in these institutions continued to gain. Indeed, in many communi- ties the depression merely gave a further boost to an already steep rate of enrolment increases. But these schools depended, for the most part, upon local revenues, aided by some grants from the several states. These local revenues, based largely on the general property tax, began to dwindle. Many owners of property were unable or unwilling to pay their taxes. Forced sales for tax delinquency increased at an alarming rate. A demand for tax reduction and for constitutional limitations upon local tax rates became effective in legislation in one state after another. Hundreds of schools closed their doors. Almost without exception, the salaries of teachers were sharply reduced to fit the Procrustean limits of diminished revenues. The teachers in many a one-room school and in many a rich American city went to their classrooms month after month without any pay at all. [385] Federal Emergency Action “As long as these conditions endured, the nation was faced by the dis- graceful and risky spectacle of millions of youth out of school and out of work. Many youth, ready and eager to work, could not get a first job. Their needs were urgent, insistent. The federal government had to act quickly, and it did so. It established two federal youth agencies, the Civilian Conserva- tion Corps in 1933 and the National Youth Administration in 1935. Through them, it spent in the next ten years well over $3,000,000,000. The concern which the national government thus showed for the welfare of the nation’s youth excited all but universal approval. It was often said that the youth services were the most popular of the many agencies created by the (New Deal,’ as the early years of the Roosevelt Administration were called. The President and the First Lady both took a lively interest in young people. The latter, especially, took pleasure in visiting the various federal youth centers, conferring with youth leaders, and generally giving the entire program the benefit of her untiring energy and abundant goodwill. “And yet, while this action by the federal government was good, it appears, as We now look back upon it, that it was not altogether the wisest course of action that might have been followed. “The Administration seems to have overlooked the great system of local public schools which the American people, over a period of more than a century, had developed to serve their youth. It overlooked the vast resources of 28,000 public high schools and 200 public junior colleges; 300,000 teachers, counselors, librarians, and administrators; and $2,000,000,000 invested in high-school plants and equipment. “It is true that the record of the schools included some faults and failures. Educators had sometimes been insensitive to youth needs and inept in meet- ing these needs. But, by and large, in the early thirties the educators of the nation were more aware of the youth problem and more eager to do something about it than any other organized group of people in the country. They lacked the financial resources for doing anything on the scale that was needed. Schools were not able to continue even their normal programs. Under the conditions of those days, only the federal government could sup- ply the funds required for a vigorous attack on the youth problem. “The prestige and power of the national government might have been used to strengthen the established agencies of public education and to lead them forward into greatly enlarged service to the nation’s youth. Hed this been done, the advancement of youth services as developed through the [386] thirties would have endured. But the Congress and the Administration did not choose to work through the state and local school systems, or perhaps it might be more accurately and more fairly said that the govern- ment had no definite and vigorous policy at all with respect to public edu- cation. Men and women of extended experience and insight with reference to the public-school system of the nation were seldom called into conference by the higher policy-making officials of the government. These educators were in daily contact with the nation’s youth. They had the welfare of youth at heart. They were eager to see youth served more adequately. They would have welcomed leadership from the federal government, for they knew that the problems which had to be met were nationwide. They wanted to regard their federal government as a collaborator, not as a competitor. But they were not thus recognized or encouraged. ‘Meanwhile, the two new federal agencies concerned with young people enjoyed expanding budgets. They began to add education to their employment and relief functions. At last, in 1939, the President himself gave official recognition to the educational function which the Civilian Conservation Corps and the National Youth Administration had assumed. These new federal agencies, liberally financed by the federal government, were able to develop ambitious educational and other programs for the youth of the country—programs which were quite beyond the means of the meagerly financed local and state school systems. “This development did not go unchallenged by those who felt that a federal system of education, by whatever name that educational system was called, was inimical to the best interest of the American democracy. For example, the Educational Policies Commission, an agency established in 1935 by the National Education Association and the American Association of School Administrators, created no small disturbance in the educational world when, in October 1941, it published a document entitled The Civilian Conservation Corps, the National Youth Administration, and the Public Schools.2 Herein it was recommended, among other things, that the National Youth Administration and the Civilian Conservation Corps should. be discontinued as separate youth agencies, that their functions as agencies of vocational training, general education, and guidance should be continued 2 National Education Association and American Association of School Administrators, Educational Policies Commission. The Civilian Conservation Corps, the National Youth Administration, and the Public Schools Washington, D. C.: the Commission, 1941. 79 p. [387] but transferred to state and local educational agencies; and that their func- tion as public works agencies should be located with the general agency or agencies of public works. “In this highly controversial report, the Educational Policies Commission was addressing itself to the basic issue in the relationship between the state and the federal government in matters of education. The Commission said that the federal government ought to provide money to help the state and local educational systems, strengthening and assisting them without exer- cising control over the processes of education. The Administration, on the other hand, supported by a small minority of educators, apparently felt that the best way to meet these national problems in the field of education was through direct federal operation and control of educational programs in- tended to meet the needs of youth. “Both those who favored the Commission's report and those who op- posed it agreed that many of the activities conducted by the federal youth agencies were in themselves desirable educational developments. They agreed that young people who hed finished their schooling and were unable to obtain private employment should be given employment upon public works. They agreed on the necessity of providing part-time work for young people in school and college so that they could earn enough money to meet all or part of their expenses in connection with education. They agreed that substantial: values had been derived from the CCC camps and the NYA resi- dent projects, although some thought that the educational values in the life of camps and resident centers had not been fully developed. They agreed as to the importance of work experience as an integral part of the educe- tional process. “It may seem, as we review this controversy and survey the large area of agreement, that the whole affair was nothing but a jurisdictional dispute between the schools and the federal bureaus. In fact, many of the people defending the federal programs in education did treat the whole matter in these narrow terms. “Furthermore, any criticism of the existing federal agencies was sure to be either misunderstood or misinterpreted. No matter how carefully the criticisms might be phrased, whoever argued for any other plan of adminis- tration than the existing one was almost sure to be tagged as a penurious reactionary who did not really want the youth of the nation to enjoy ade- quate educational and other services. “Actually, however, the discussion involved a fundamental federal [388] policy toward the local and state school systems. Would the federal govern- ment aid and support these institutions or would it establish competitive agencies? “The debate proceeded vigorously through 1940 and 1941. In 1942 the matter came before Congress in the form of the appropriations for the Na- tional Youth Administration and the Civilian Conservation Corps. After extended and, in the case of the former agency, bitter debate, Congress finally withdrew both appropriations. “The total effect of the rise and brief flourishing of the Civilian Con- servation Corps and the National Youth Administration was unquestionably wholesome. These agencies showed clearly that the federal government could actually operate educational programs with teachers, curriculums, and policies controlled from Washington. Thus they served to dramatize the possibilities and dangers of federal control of education. “Their positive values have already been noted. They established the principle that federal funds could be used to good purpose in order to enable students to remain in school. They explored and greatly enlarged the use of work experience in education. They demonstrated that youth em- ployed on public works projects could perform socially useful work. Un- doubtedly they saved many youth from idleness and worse and gave them opportunities which benefited both the individuals and the nation. “These agencies, moreover, gave a powerful stimulant to the work of the regular secondary schools. [hey showed that it was possible to provide educational service for many young people, who, for a variety of reasons, were not being served by the schools. Thus they helped to make school administrators and the general public more keenly aware of the needs of all American youth. They sharply called into question the adequacy of the traditional secondary schools. Indeed, their greatest value, over the long run, proved to be the challenge which they gave to the regular secondary schools of the country—a challenge which the public schools, under local administration and with federal aid, have now accepted and met so com- pletely that direct federal programs are no longer necessary. “The actions of Congress in 1942 did not settle the underlying issue. They removed the federal youth agencies, but they gave no assurance of federal support for an adequate program of youth education in the schools. The question remained: Would the schools be ready when the war was over to offer a comprehensive educational program for all youth with finan- cial helo from federal sources or would the federal government then re- [389] establish its youth educational agencies? Several events occurred during the war which helped to answer this question. “Undoubtedly, the most important of these events was the passage of the Federal Aid to Education Act. This legislation had been before Con- gress in one form or another for many years. As far back as 1931, President Hoover created a committee to advise him on the relation of the federal government to the states in matters of education. The Committee's report, drafted after two years of study, recommended a system of federal grants-in- aid to equalize educational opportunities among the states. However, no action was taken by Congress or by the President on this document. “The issue could not be thrust aside. A few years after President Roose- velt came into office, he decided to create an advisory committee of his own to restudy this question. This committee, composed like its predecessor of both educators and other citizens, made an extensive collection of evidence. In 1938 it offered recommendations asserting that equal educational oppor- tunity could not be achieved without action by the federal government to aid the state educational systems and proposing a modest experimental program of federal grants to education. This document was submitted to the President in 1938 and was subsequently published, together with no less than seventeen volumes of supporting evidence. Again, there was no defi- nite commitment by the Congress, although the President, in an address that summer at the opening of the World's Fair in New York City, told the Na- tional Education Association that he believed in the equalization of educa- tional opportunity through the use of federal funds. “Public and private agencies continued to study this problem and to reach substantially the same conclusions. The Educational Policies Commis- sion in 1937, the White House Conference on Children in a Democracy in 1940, the American Youth Commission in 1941, the Committee on Inter- governmental Fiscal Relations in 1942, and the National Resources Plan- ning Board just before it ended its work in 1943—all recommended federal aid to education. Indeed, careful study of the educational documents of the period has not revealed a single serious inquiry into the financing of public education in the United States between the years 1910 and 1940 which failed to conclude that a wider measure of educational opportunity was necessary for the security of the democracy, that certain sections of the nation were unable to finance such education through their own efforts, and that federal sharing in the support of education was a national necessity. [390] The Federal Aid to Education Act “As time dragged by without any action by Congress on the matter, the national necessity grew to be a national scandal. At last, the wartime neces- sity became so clear and the public pressure so overwhelming, that the skil- fully organized opposition of minority groups was thrust aside and the fed- eral government through appropriate legislation tardily recognized that it had definite and immediate responsibilities with respect to the education of its citizens. The law then enacted has been amended from time to time, but it still contains the original provision that no agent of the federal govern- ment shall in any way control the teaching methods, curriculum, or other aspects of the management of the local and state educational systems. This provision has been scrupulously observed. : “Since the basic provisions of this Education Act are still in effect, the two jpurposes of this legislation are well known to all who have contact with the administration and financing of our schools today. First, it provides that the federal government should allot funds to the states for the purpose of reducing the extreme inequalities in educational opportunity which had existed among the states. It puts a floor under an acceptable minimum pro- gram of education for all American youth. When any state, after making a substantial effort and sacrifice from the resources which it can reach by tax- ation, is still unable to support an adequate minimum program of education, the federal government uses its vast fiscal resources to make up the differ- ence. The federal funds for this type of equalization may be expended by the states for elementary, secondary, higher, or adult education; there is no earmarking at all as far as federal legislation is concerned. ‘‘A second purpose of the Federal Aid to Education Act has been to step up the national conception of the size, scope, and value of a complete and adequate educational. program for youth. Our modern programs of secondary education exceed the ability of all but the wealthiest states and localities to finance, tax structures and the centralizing flow of wealth being what they are. Local, state, and federal funds for the support of secondary education have all been considerably increased. The federal funds, other than those for equalization in general, were at first earmarked for secondary education and had to be spent by the states for this purpose only. More recently, these - earmarked funds have been added to the general equalization grant. “The education of American youth now costs between two and three times as much as did the secondary schools of 1940. The number of youth served has increased about 40 percent. Where about $800,000,000 [391]. @ year were spent tor secondary education in 1940, the nation now spends approximately $2,000,000,000. Congress, however, has not forgotten the days when it was spending upward of $500,000,000 a year merely to train and care for less than 10 percent of the nation’s youth through the CCC and the NYA. Nor have the American people forgotten that the entire annual cost of education would equal only a few days of the money cost of the second World War. “As already stated, the control of education has remained in the states and localities. During the debate on the Act, there were loud declarations from the opposition that such legislation would inevitably be accompanied by federal control. However genuine these fears may have been, they have been removed by the course of events. We know now that it is entirely possible to draft legislation which appropriates money to the states for edu- cation and at the same time forbids any officer or agency of the federal government to control the educational program. Other Federal Activities (Up to 1946) “The Federal Aid to Education Act was the cornerstone of a whole series of federal legislative and administrative decisions which have profoundly influenced the course of education. Within two years, the following further activities were begun. Since most of these are still in eect, substantially as enacted or inaugurated, only a listing of them with brief comment will be necessary: 1. A federal system of financial aid to help young people meet the expenses involved in attending high school and college. Funds are usually paid for useful work done by the youth, incidental to his education. The Funds are distributed to high schools, colleges, and universities through the appropriate state educational agencies and the U.S. Office of Education. The selection of students to receive aid and the direction of their work and educational experience are handled by the counselors and administrative staff of the local educational system, subject to minimum safeguards against abuse, formulated by the respective state departments of education. In the cases of youth who are unable to work, for reasons of health or other causes, the local school authorities have authority to grant necessary financial aid outright, without work requirements. 9. The systematic collection, evaluation, and distribution on a national basis of information concerning occupational trends. In our closely knit economic life, occupational information is inadequate precisely to the ex- tent that it is less than national in scope. Intelligent vocational guidance and. training are not feasible without such data. The use of such information is now so commonplace that it is difficult to realize that, less than a generation ago, millions of youth selected occupations and prepared for them without [392] any solid knowledge whatever about future employment probabilities. Although various government agencies have a part in conducting the neces- sary studies, the information that is of particular use to schools is adapted to their special educational requirements and sent to them by the U. S. Office of Education. 3. Expansion and strengthening of the U. S. Office of Education. All during the war the executive branch of the government was so organized and administered that the schools were badgered by materials, questionnaires, directions, requests, and directives froma score of different government agencies. In 1945, however, all federal educational services were brought together in the Office of Education, and that agency was staffed with enough capable people to do a good job. It has turned out that this practice costs far less than the total expenditures arising from the previous chaotic, wasteful, and dispersed federal efforts in educational leadership. And, what is at least equally important, it gets better results. ‘The recent history of the U.S. Office of Education exemplifies perfectly the power of professional leadership in a democracy to bring about de- sirable changes in education and to do so without the exercise of compul- sion. Foreign educators who have recently visited our country in such large numbers are always amazed to see the accomplishments of the Office of Edu- cation and even more amazed to learn that its powers are not conferred upon the Office by legislative orders but are achieved by reason of the compe- - tence of its staff, the sound and far-reaching research program on which its recommendations are almost invariably based, and the faith which the Office exhibits in the goodwill and good sense of the local and state educational authorities. “In 1945, the Commissioner of Education placed before the President, the Bureau of the Budget, and the Congress a comprehensive and com- pelling program of educational leadership, thoroughly supported by evi- dence. It required about a threefold increase in the staff and in the amount of the budget. The educational profession, through the National Education Association and various smaller organizations, gave valuable help in de- vising and supporting this program. The teachers and the other interested citizens of the nation saw to it that the program received a sympathetic and favorable hearing. “The principal elements of this new program may be summarized as follows: A. lt utilized all federal services that could contribute to the contin- uous research, basic to planning an educational program for all American youth. Among these cooperating agencies were those concerned with pub- lic health, public works, employment, social security, apprenticeship, child welfare, labor relations, agriculture, and commerce. The Office requested [393] the appropriate federal agencies to make such studies in the fields of popu- lation, migration, employment, industrial and agricultural trends, and other broad social problems as are necessary to a realistic educational program. These studies now go forward continuously. The pertinent results of such studies are made widely known to educators throughout the nation through a well-directed program of publications, conferences, research, field serv- ices, and experimentation. There was created within the Office of Education a strong division of secondary education to study and report the progress made by the states and localities in developing all aspects of a complete program of education for all youth and to render advisory service in this field. | C. Several studies of special importance to the immediate postwar situation were launched at once. One of these was concerned with con- verting the great war industry training program to peacetime needs and con- ditions. Another inquiry determined what demobilization policies were likely to be followed by the Army and Navy and studied the effect of these on the schools and colleges. Changes in employment opportunities and qual- ifications resulting from the increased mechanization of production were studied intensively. Experiences derived from the Army testing and educa- tional programs were thoroughly examined to see what useful conclusions might be found for application in the public schools. Methods of health education, foreign language teaching, citizenship education, safety educa- tion, and other fields were brought under constant review by the Office. Information concerning the findings was regularly channeled to schools at all levels and in all parts of the country. The technical services concerned with school buildings were strengthened. Many hundreds of new school buildings were built soon after the war. The Office of Education rendered service of inestimable value in helping local and state authorities to plan these buildings in terms of the educational programs of the years ahead. As a result, a* building program which might have frozen’ outgrown educational programs or out- moded systems of school organization for a generation or more has actually helped to bring about a more modern school by supplying a more modern school plant. State and Local Developments (1940 to Date) “This cooperation by the federal government, important though it was, could not have been effective without simultaneous action by many other public and private agencies. In one way or another, directly or indirectly, every citizen was involved. ‘In the years ahead, historians of American education will doubtless write many important monographs on the various phases of the great edu- cational awakening of the 1940's. This volume cannot attempt a full treat- ment of the subject, partly because we are living too close to the actual events to see them in good perspective, partly because the movement has not yet run its full course, and partly because the infinite variety of the forms [394] of state and local planning and action renders a complete discussion im- practical in a brief and general historical account. “We shall, however, mention five of the groups and agencies which have played, and are still playing, a major role in the sweeping educational changes that characterize recent times. These are: 1. The state education associations 9. The chief state school officers 3. The local educational officials 4. The principals and teachers in secondary schools 5. The teacher education institutions. “In addition to these professional groups, a special word should be said regarding the support of citizens’ organizations. The changes which have occurred in American education in the past few years could not pos- sibly have been achieved by the efforts of educators alone. Great credit is due to a number of important citizens’ organizations and to the devoted interest of their leaders and of members of lay boards of education. Organ- izations of parents have been particularly influential, notably the National Congress of Parents and Teachers and the state and local parent-teacher associations. These fathers and mothers have rightly felt that they have as much at stake in the schools as educators have, and they have made them- selves parties to and collaborators in all of the far-reaching changes that have been described. Many citizens who are not parents or who are not affiliated with the parent-teacher organizations have also been actively interested. Service clubs; various organizations of women; civic and patri- otic societies; organizations of labor, of business, and of farmers; and many of the church organizations might be mentioned and their work praised in detail, if space permitted. | “Neither the list of agencies, however, nor the following accounts of what they did are exhaustive. State Education Associations “By 1940 the state education associations had arrived at a position of great potential power in their respective areas. They included in their membership nearly 100 percent of the nation’s teachers. Through their journals, they could speak to these teachers every month in the school year. Through the planning and conduct of conventions and institutes they exer- cised great influence on the thinking and actions of the teaching profession. Their assistance in reorganizing secondary education was indispensable, and [395] it was given unstintingly. They saw to it that their Senators and Congress- men had a clear understanding of the needs in their respective states for federal aid to education and, what was equally important, of the most effective methods of meeting those responsibilities. They conducted un- flagging campaigns to secure state aid for education in amounts that would lift the entire educational service and remove dangerous educational in- equalities within each state. Several states had already adopted such sys- tems of support, even as early as 1930. In every case, these systems were enacted and defended largely because of the efforts of the organized teach- ing profession. ; “In addition to the support of sound state school finance legislation, the state education associations began a concerted drive to secure a well- staffed, professional department of education in each state. Even as late as 1944 most of the chief state school officers were dependent for their posi- tions on the ups and downs of partisan politics; their terms of office were too short for effective educational planning; the salaries attached to the positions did not, as a rule, properly reward a high type of leadership; their staffs were always small and often subject to political pressure. The state education associations became convinced that we should never have a secure and satisfactory educational opportunity for all children and youth until that situation was changed. ‘In a few states the professionalization of state educational leadership. had come in the twenties and thirties and even earlier. But the shortcom- ings of the majority of states in this respect tended almost inevitably to act as a drag on all the others. “Even today there remain a few states which cling to the old plan of a weak, politically-centered state department of education. But they are not likely to remain long in this category. The example of the majority of the states, with their new professional state education departments, is showing even the most skeptical citizen and legislator that the proposed reforms are in the interest of economy, efficiency, and good educational service. “In addition to championing the financial and administrative improve- ments, which have just been described, the state education associations were active in many other fields. In a few states, where the state depart- ments were unwilling or unable to initiate planning for youth education, the state associations took the lead. In all states, the associations have coop- erated closely with public officials in drafting the necessary legislation and in securing its enactment. [hey have been particularly useful in the bitterly [396] contested campaigns to raise the school-leaving age to the eighteenth birthday. State: SchoolOMicials “The chief state school officials themselves were active in improving their own status and possibilities of service. It happened that an unusually large number of the state school officials during the war years were of out- standing caliber. Whether this fact was due to greater public interest in the election of these officers because of the wartime problems of education, or to the influence of critical times in calling forth great educational leadership, or merely to a fortunate combination of circumstances, is a problem which requires further research. Whatever the cause may have been, these forty- eight men and women seemed to have realized keenly that, under the law, they were the directors of the destiny of American education. “While no fundamental change in the theoretical relationship between states and localities in the control of education was brought about, the state departments of education were greatly strengthened in order actually to perform certain functions (to be described later) which, until then, had been theirs only in theory. “The chief state school officers began by insisting that their offices were professional and not political. They acted that way; they reproved anyone else who did not act that way. They insisted that their staffs be professionally selected and paid. They asked that their own positions. be made profes- sionally secure and responsible. “In many states the necessary reforms required the tedious processes of amendments to the state constitutions. By now, however, almost all chief state schoo! officers are appointed by nonpolitical state boards of education for terms of at least four years. Political and residential requirements have been abolished. The salaries compare favorably with those of the superin- tendents of education in the larger cities. The budgets and staffs of the state departments have been made more nearly adequate to the duties incident to a modern program of public education. “In the past ten years, each of the state departments of education has developed certain minimum standards for the local school systems under its jurisdiction. These minimum standards include such matters as the qualifi- cations of personnel; a minimum salary law for teachers; the effort of the local district to support its schools; the safety, sanitation, and general adequacy of school buildings; length of school term; enforcement of attendance laws; [397] interdistrict transfer of students; and the establishment and consolidation of school districts. “All the state departments now contain two relatively new divisions. One of these gives special and continuous attention to studies in school finance and the organization of school districts. Upon the basis of such studies, recommendations have been made to many of the governors and state legislatures concerning changes needed in the financing and organization of education. The present program of secondary education would have been quite impossible without greater participation by the states in the support of education and without legislation which creates local school districts suited to modern conditions and needs. “The other new division keeps in close touch with the secondary edu- cation division in the U. S. Office of Education, surveys the occupational conditions and trends in the state, and plans a comprehensive secondary- school program. In some states this program had involved an extension of existing systems of junior colleges under the boards of local junior college districts; in others, the establishment and development of new types of schools for youth, sometimes with an agreed-upon specialization of certain institutions in certain vocational fields; in still others, the development of regional technical schools or institutes under state control. In every state, the program has included the development of a statewide system of guidance for youth, operated by local educational systems, but coordinated by the state department of education. Local Educational Officials “The history of the activittes of local boards of education and adminis- trators in developing our modern program of secondary education is com- plex. The outward events can be observed and recorded; the changes in loyalties and points of view which gave significance to these events are extremely difficult to define. “Two concepts which gained currency among local educational officials between 1940 and 1945 played a critical and perhaps a determining role in deciding their courses of action. | “One of these was the concept that organized public education is an expression of state policy even though its administration is handled locally. The provision and management of public education in the United States had always been primarily a responsibility of the state department. The federal Constitution clearly implies this; each of the states recognizes that responsi- bility in its constitution and statutes. [398] “Local school districts are creations of the state, and local officials have a legal and moral responsibility for the provision of educational oppor- tunity to all the children of the state who need the services of education which the local district can supply. Recognition of this fact did not lessen the responsibility of the local board member to the district whose citizens elected him to office, but it did throw a new light on the way in which that responsibility could be met. Local boards of education and school super- intendents began to talk less about the local freedom to manage their own educational programs and more about the local duty to assist in developing and conducting the over-all program of education in the state. This point of view had been in the making for a long time. There was nothing particu- larly novel about it when at long last it achieved rather general acceptance in the mid-1940's. Nor was it adopted on charitable or humanitarian grounds, for any local board of education could see that it had a direct interest in the education of youth everywhere in the state and, indeed, in the United States as a whole. “The second fundamental concept in the point of view of local school officials was the recognition that their job was not merely schooling, but education. The older conception, which is now being rapidly replaced, is well illustrated by the fact that, although most of the local boards were and are officially entitled board of education, the common language, up until very recently, used the expression schoolboard’ without regard to the legal title. Nowadays, however, the term board of education’ is coming into more frequent use both legally and in ordinary speech. Likewise, the term ‘superintendent of schools, although still commonly used, is gradually being replaced by the expression, superintendent of education.’ “As changes in vocabulary, these are neither important nor universal. They do represent a fundamental change in American thinking about what a local agency for education should be doing. In other words, local school- boards have become public educational authorities, offering a program which includes academic, vocational, and leisure-time activities for people of all ages who may profit by participation in it. They have broadened this program to adapt it to the needs of older youths and adults. They have devel- oped close coordination of schools, libraries, and recreational services under qualified and responsible leadership. They speak of ‘educational centers at least as often as they do of school buildings’ and they recognize that schooling is only one part of the total educational experience. [399] “These were certainly not novel ideas. They have been held by many a philosopher, statesman, and educator. It was in the years 1940-1945, how- ever, that they became the accepted currency in the interchange of thinking about the administration and purposes of American education. Not that the great majority of educational officials recognized that their theories were undergoing a profound change. It would be impossible to state in some cases whether the change in practice resulted from a change in theory, or vice versa. In any case, many of those who were quite active in the total program of planning for a better educational system for youth and in putting that program into effect remained largely unaware of the theoretical impli- cations of their own actions. Nevertheless, the climate of opinion was im- portant even though those affected were not fully conscious of it. “The preceding paragraphs may perhaps seem to resemble an educational philosophy rather than a sober account of events suitable to a history of education. However, the widespread acceptance of such new points of view is, in itself, a historical event of first importance. An understanding of these viewpoints is necessary if one is to follow what happened to our local school systems in the late 1940's. ‘The events themselves are not spectacular. Only when we understand that the developments in each local community were part of a great national revival in education do we sense the importance of the sum-total of a series of changes that were made in one educational system after another. ‘For instance, agitation for larger districts of administration in the rural areas had been going on in the United States for at least half a century. Progress had been slow. Suddenly, the acceptance of the principles enumer- ated above broke through the barrier of inertia and prejudice. It seems incredible now that even in 1940 there were over 100,000 independent administrative units for education in the United States. The 10,000 dis- tricts which we now have are the results of combinations and consolida- tions. So strong was the influence of example and of the new feeling of responsibility that, even in states where the law did not at first compel the local units to consolidate, much well-considered consolidation occurred. Local boards and educational officials began to see that, as state officers, they could not honestly continue to operate inefficient arrangements for education. Some states adopted the county as the unit of educational administration. In most states, however, natural community areas for educe- tional authorities were created to take the place of the old, arbitrary, polit- [400] ical subdivisions which often had little or no meaning for the service of education. ‘Many of the events and decisions in these local communities were so minor that one hesitates to mention them in a general history of American education. The decision of a local board of education in a small town to hold a special meeting every two weeks for the express purpose of planning youth education and youth service in the community does not in itself seem to be a world-shaking event. Yet such little acts, multiplied ten thousand times over, did much to give us the educational system we now possess. It does not seem nowadays that it would require profound insight and imagination for a local board of education to consult with employers, labor unions, business organizations, social agencies, farmers groups, parent organizations, voluntary youth groups, employment services, veterans groups, service clubs, professional societies, church organizations, and the local organizations of teachers in planning its educational program. Today we regard such communitywide consultation as a perfectly natural part of the democratic process. Yet only a few years ago such consultation was rare. When it occurred, it was marked by a certain self-consciousness and formality on the part of all concerned. Only a few years ago it would have seemed an exciting novelty for a superintendent of education to make a systematic collection of information regarding employment trends, occupa- tional opportunities, and educational qualifications for employment in the community it was serving. As long as the school was isolated from the life of the community, it would, of course, be natural for the school to be quite unconcerned with the vocational aspects of community life. ‘Another important result of the change in the thinking of the local educational officials was their attitude toward the financing of education. During the years of the depression, a certain habit had become rather firmly established in the thinking of educational administrators. Whenever they were confronted with a desirable new educational service, they usually asked, first of all, whether the money could be secured. When the answer to that question was not immediately available, the How of creative ideas was blocked. The experiences of the war, together with the changes in educa- tional theory which have already been described, fortunately broke that habit. The local officials turned the spotlight on the services to be rendered to the youth and on the economic, social, and other values to the com- munity which would accrue from these services. When a desired program seemed to have a cost which put it beyond the immediate reach of the com- [401] munity, that fact alone did not thwart their determination to proceed as far and as fast as possible. Of course, they did not allow themselves to float completely away from reality. Somewhere in the process of their planning, they always made careful estimates of the cost of various parts of the pro- gram. But these estimates were not allowed to become the initial or the chief consideration. “As a result of this general change in attitude, many boards of education found that funds were forthcoming for a bold and practical program that gave promise of squarely meeting widely recognized community necessities. They found that public reluctance to supply money for education often arose From a lack of vigorous leadership. They found that, if they spent all the money they had as wisely as they could and then asked for the amount required to finish the job, they could often obtain funds in amounts which had hitherto been quite unavailable. “The building program, of course, occupied a considerable part of their attention. Sites available for new school buildings were located and pur- chased during the war, or options were obtained upon them for later pur- chase. Plans for the new buildings were ready for use when the war ended, and these plans were definitely related to the type of educational program for the community which the best educational statesmanship of the time could devise. “One of the most difficult of the local problems, and one which is still far from a complete and satisfactory solution, is that of providing an oppor- tunity for youth to get an experience in the world of productive work. There has been considerable resistance to this idea on the part of both em- ployers and labor leaders. Provision for such experience has meant in some instances a slightly lower productive efficiency. It often requires modifica- tions of employment rules and customs. In spite of all the difficulties, how- ever, both employers and leaders of organized labor are coming to realize that they cannot shut off young people from vocational life without grave personal and social consequences. Some communities have had success with a plan which reserves certain areas of work in which youth should have first opportunity. Gradually, but surely, an adequate supply of work experience jobs, as well as of opportunities for civic experience and participation, is being found for youth in all local communities. “A final comment regarding the local educational leaders must mention the programs for improving the teachers in service. It is estimated that at least a third of our present secondary-school staff was employed in educa- [402] tional service during the second World War. In the cities the proportion is perhaps half. Consequently, fundamental alterations in the educational program would have been impossible without continuous improvement of those already on the job. Teachers have been given opportunity to vary from established procedures. Skilled and sympathetic supervisory leadership has been provided. Attendance at university summer schools, which was so general in 1920 and 1930, continued to be popular, but this is now less important in most high schools than the work of active curriculum revision committees and organized professional programs of reading, observation, and discussion. Practically all of the larger city-school systems, and some of the state school systems, have organized summer workshops on specific educational problems. “The institutions for the preparation of teachers have also been helpful. They turned with new vigor after the war to the task of in-service education. They made sure that the members of their own staffs were in constant and stimulating contact with the actual problems of teaching, administration, and research in the public-school systems of their region. They made, and are still making, constant effort to adjust their programs of in-service educa- tion to meet the problems which teachers and administrators actually face in the secondary schools. This has required in many institutions a rather drastic revision of existing courses and arrangement of schedules. Some insti- tutions have offered instruction off campus and at hours not commonly covered by the traditional school days. There has been a considerable ex- pansion of arrangements in many institutions whereby educational leaders offer instruction to prospective teachers on a part-time basis, and some teachers colleges have even assigned members of their staffs to half-time field work with the school systems in their vicinity. Secondary-School Staffs “Principals and teachers in the secondary schools constitute another group to which reference must be made in any account, however brief, of the history of American secondary education since 1940. During the war, the majority of these professional workers came to understand that they were privileged to be serving the nation in one of its great creative periods. They realized that if they resisted all change, that if they spent their energies defending traditional curriculum interests, they could not stop change from coming but could only stop it from coming their way. They decided not to allow the currents of history to by-pass them. [403 ] “One of the first activities in many secondary schools was a careful staff study of the occupational life of the community. The teachers realized that the dominant interest of the great bulk of the youth in their charge was getting a job and becoming economically independent. They therefore took pains to become informed about opportunities for employment in the com- munity, and the schools established definite arrangements whereby young people could secure part-time work experience which would yield both financial and educational returns and which might ultimately lead to gainful employment on a full-time basis. ‘Second, they became concerned about all the youth of the community— not merely about those who happened to be enrolled in the schools. This change of viewpoint can be illustrated by an example. In 1935, if a student came to a certain high school late some morning, he was asked for an excuse. But, if he did not come to school at all, and if he were beyond the com- pulsory attendance laws, nothing whatever happened. The school was much interested if he came late; it was usually entirely disinterested if he stayed away completely. Now, in this same school, the teachers make it their busi- ness to know why a young person leaves school. Merely to cross his name off the high-school register without further reflection, and perhaps even with a sigh of relief, would now be regarded as a distinct lapse of professional duty. “The third line of action was related closely to the second. It consisted of the inauguration of systematic methods for obtaining information about all former students of each high school. Ever since the establishment of the American high school, the typical institution had taken great pride in the college records of its graduates. It seems almost incredible to us today, but it is nevertheless a fact that, before the war, there was scarcely a single high school in the country which had reliable information about the vast majority of its former students who did not attend college. Whether such youth were well adjusted in their occupational and home life; whether they continued their own personal cultural development; whether they were reasonably active in the discharge of their civic duties—all this was absolutely unknown territory to the faculty and administration of the secondary school. Nowadays such information is collected as a matter of course and is used constantly as a key to individual guidance, curriculum adjustment, and public relations. “A fourth line of action, which has been widely developed in recent years, has resulted, in nearly all of our secondary schools, in the establish- ment of programs which seek to make education completely open and [404 ] available to all who can profit by it. Some city-school systems have special local endowments which are available for meeting the needs of those whose education might otherwise be terminated because of lack of funds. These endowments are, of course, powerfully supported by the federal and state systems of grants-in-aid to students. — “The origin of this line of action goes far back in American educational history, but the chief reason for its almost universal application at present is to be found, more than anywhere else, in the policies adopted by the fed- eral government with regard to the higher education of soldiers during the war and of veterans afterward. So great was the need for qualified and trained manpower in the war that the federal government established what amounted to a ‘system of federal scholarships for training young men for tech- nical and officer's work in the Army and Navy. Hundreds of colleges were enrolled in this program. The selection of students was made without refer- ence to the economic ability of the individual. If a young man could demon- strate his ability to profit by training in a field of national need, all of his college expense was paid for by the government. It was natural and fairly easy, therefore, to make a transition to a peacetime application of the same principle. In fact, this was done by the federal government during the war by the enactment of legislation to support the education of demobilized service men and women. “A fifth area of operation has been the achievement of a larger amount of unity and cooperation among teachers of the different subjects. If any of us could turn the flight of time backward in order to visit a high school of the early 1940's, he would probably be surprised to see the large amount of time given by members of the staff to the defense of ‘their respective subjects. One might even have found instances’ (not common, it is true, but nevertheless symptomatic) of schools which could not introduce necessary new subjectmatter. into the program because it was impossible to reach an agreement as to the department which should be responsible for giving the instruction. Only in comparatively recent years have the teaching staffs of our great secondary schools set themselves free from this bondage. For example, the close cooperation which now exists between vocational and nonvocational teachers wes rarely found, even as recently as ten years ago. False and harmful cleavages have now been largely overcome. A compre- hensive effort has been going forward to attach a sense of worthiness and dignity to all forms of socially useful labor. [405] “Along with this change, of course, came a departure from the tradition of the high school as a college preparatory institution. Here again, in order to sense the great shift that has occurred, it is necessary for us to imagine ourselves in what almost amounts to another educational era. It is literally true that, less than a generation ago, the American high school was dom- inated by the supposed requirements of the colleges, even though only a very small proportion of its graduates then went on to college. Long after most of the colleges had ceased to require detailed subjectmatter patterns for admission, the practice of giving only book-centered, academic instruc- tion to the great majority of high-school students persisted. We have recog- nized since the beginnings of higher education in America that the students who go on to college are an exceedingly important group whose education must be provided with great care. But we have more recently come to recognize that the larger group which does not take college education has a claim on secondary education equivalent to that of the minority who are college-bound. ‘ “Still another area of change in the high school has been the educator’s growing concern for the total welfare of the young people of the community both during school hours and when out of school. In 1940 the Educational! Policies Commission of the National Education Association, in a study of citizenship education, concluded that few, if any, schools have yet erected broad and permanent highways whereby they are inseparably united with their communities.? The Commission was able to find only a handful of schools in the entire United States which were not pedagogical islands’ cut off by deep channels of convention from the world which surrounded them. “One of the Commission's staff was amazed to hear the principal of one of these schools say: ‘In this*school, we are really concerned with the total experience of our students. If a student has an unsatisfactory home life, we do not just deplore it; we try to think of some way to help. If his health is bad, we try to arrange to have that improved, either through our school health services or in other ways. If the recreational life of our community is mean and tawdry, we try to provide a better kind of recreation for our young people. If we cannot do that ourselves, we do our best to persuade others to do it. We are not always successful. We have to avoid becoming unwelcome busy-bodies. But we are absolutely sincere when we say that 3National Education Association and American Association of School Administrators, Educational Policies Commission. Learning the Ways of Democracy. Washington, D. C.: the Commission, 1940. 486 p. [406] ‘what affects the happiness and welfare of the young people of our com- munity is of direct and vital concern to our staff.’ ‘That such a statement of policy could be regarded as at all unusual, even in 1940, indicates how rapidly our educational philosophy and pro- gram has developed in recent years. The Education of Teachers “The institutions for the education of teachers and their stafs were closely connected with the developing program of youth education. Before the war, the teacher education institutions and the public-school systems had found themselves caught in a circle which prevented rapid educational progress. [he boards of education and school administrators, who employed the graduates of the teachers colleges, declared that the institutions were preparing teachers only for traditional programs of education and that modern programs could not be developed because the teachers were not © available. To this the educational institutions retorted, and with some justice, that they could not be expected to prepare teachers for positions that did not exist. It was evident that this circle must be broken by simul- taneous action on the part of both the teacher-training institutions and the school systems in their vicinity. An important influence in this direction was supplied by the Commission on Teacher Education of the American Counci on Education, which was active from 1938 to 19444. : “The developments of in-service education for teachers have already _ been mentioned. Some of the changes that have occurred since 1940 in the preservice education of teachers may be summarized in the following terms: “First, there was a great strengthening of instruction in educational psy- chology, individual differences, human relations, adolescent psychology, human growth and development, and educational guidance and counseling. The institutions have recognized that the new secondary school must serve all American youth and that the teachers in that school need to understand all youth much better than the ordinary secondary-school teacher under- stood them, say in 1920 or 1930. The constant effort has been that this understanding should spring, not only from a general feeling of goodwill, 4 Commission on Teacher Education of the American Council on Education, Washington, D. C. 1944 and 1945. “Teachers for Our Times,”’ by the Commission on Teacher Education. “Evaluation in Teacher Education,” by M. E. Troyer and C. Robert Pace. “Teacher Education in Service,’”’ by C. E. Prall and C. L. Cushman. “The College and Teacher Education,”” by W. E. Armstrong and E. V. Hollis. “Helping Teachers Understand Children,” by the staff of the Collaboration Center in Child Development Other volumes dealing with the Commission’s all-state programs (by C. E. Prall), with the preparation of col- lege teachers (by E. V. Hollis), and with the Commission’s conclusions and recommendaticns. [407] comradeship, and sympathy, but also from the best insight which science can supply regarding the ways in which human beings differ from one another, the ways in which they grow toward maturity, and the methods by which the teacher can achieve understanding of the individual students in his charge. “Second, the study and teaching of school and community relations and of educational sociology were greatly strengthened. Prospective teachers were given more close firsthand contacts with other community institutions as well as with the schools. Since the great task of the new secondary school was seen as the development of good citizens, it was recognized that the teachers would not be effective in this task unless they themselves were active, informed, and effective members of society. Likewise, teachers who are to induct youth into occupational life through work experience should themselves have some work experience in employment other than teaching. Many school systems now give preference in employment to those teachers who have had such experience. “Third, the expansion of the school program in the fields of guidance and vocational training has resulted in a parallel expansion of the program for preparing teachers in these fields. Many teacher education institutions immediately after the war gave special types of training to men and women who hed been successfully teaching or doing personnel and counseling work in the various war industry training programs and in the Army and Navy. Many of these people have become excellent teachers and counselors in the school of today.’ So much for the “history” of what must happen in American education. : The Commission wishes to add a few words of comment. We address these words, not to the teacher, the labor leader, the businessman, the parent, the taxpayer, but rather to all of them in their common capacity as citizens of the United States. How Genuine Is Our Interest in Youth? In the building of our country’s future, the education of our youth comes first. The war has reminded us of many virtues and ideals that we had forgotten. One of them is the duty we owe to . [408 | our children in the provision of their education, not education merely in terms of books, credits, diplomas, and degrees, but education also in terms of living and of preparation for future living. | Look about you. See what we now, in wartime, find it neces- sary and proper to do for our young men and women in the armed forces. Every one of them is taught some specific occupa- tion, useful to him and to the nation. The health of all of them is zealously guarded by every resource of medical science. Their diet is ample and nutritious. There is useful work for each one of them. Opportunities for their recreation are provided every- where. They are well-clad and cleanly-housed, well-fed and carefully educated. We compete among ourselves to see to it that they have books to read, music to hear, space to play. We stay at home that they may travel. We deny ourselves that they may have abundance. Their morale and their civic loyalty are our constant concerns. The uniform which proclaims them Americans is the complete and sufficient guarantee everywhere of just and considerate treatment for all American youth. This all costs time, effort, sacrifice, thought, and a great deal of money. But we would be properly ashamed to consider conven- ience when their welfare is at stake. Shall these young people and their successors in the onward- moving generations be less precious to us when the firing ceases? Is our concern for their welfare, health, education, merely a selfish reflection of our desperate need for their youthful ener- gies and lives on the field of battle? Are we going to forget youth as soon as we no longer need them to fight in the war which we allowed to happen? Where we now teach them how to work, shall we later tell them that their services are not wanted? Where we now assure them that the future uf our nation lies in their keeping, shall we later tell young people, in effect, to keep out of civic affairs? Where we now provide college education for all persons qualified for leadership, shall we later return to college education as an economic privilege? Shall we, as soon [409 | as peace comes, declare an end to all hopeful cooperation for the welfare of our youth? Shall we then pinch the pennies for peace where we now deal out dollars for destruction? The program here proposed will cost much more than the inadequate education of the past. There is no doubt of that. But consider this—if we make our economic system work even reasonably well after the war, we shall have a national income of around 110 billion 1940 dollars. Experts who have studied such matters tell us that, with such an income, we will spend: 25 billion dollars for foodstuffs, as compared with 16 billion in 1936. 16 billion dollars for housing, as compared with 9 billion 13 billion dollars for household operations and equipment, as compared with 6.5 billion 8 billion dollars for automobiles, as compared with 4 billion 8 billion dollars for clothing, as compared with 4 billion 3 billion dollars for recreation, as compared with 1.6 billion. ‘Shall we, under such conditions, refuse to increase the 2.5 billion dollars which we have been spending for schools and colleges to educate children and youth of all ages? Shall we, with the highest per capita income of any nation in all history, use our increased wealth to feed, clothe, and house the adults in comparative luxury and neglect to spend any of our increase for the improvement of the education of our children and our youth? : Would you like your children to attend schools like those of Farmville and American City? They can, if you really want them to. Enough is known about how to operate such schools, there is plenty of timber and stone to build them, plenty of wealth to finance them. Your children, your community, your entire state and nation can have schools as good as, or better than, the schools described in this book as soon as you and enough other Americans demand them and do your own special but essential part in bringing them into existence. | [410] INDEX Acceleration of students, 299, 329, 333 Achievement, intellectual, 53, 74, 137- 43, 299 Adolescence, 111, 145-49 Adult education, 48, 152-56, 331-32, 336-37 out-of-school adults, of, 48, 152-56, 336-37 parents, of, 331-32 Advisers, class, 291, 310, 311-13, 316, 326, 336 See Guidance Advisers, vocational, 298, 311, 312, 315, 320 | Agriculture, 13, 27-28, 45, 48, 49, 60, 613 62573," 83,595, T17,:140 relation to economic security, 48, 95 scientific advances in, 27-28 teaching of, 45, 48, 49, 60, 61, 62, 73, 83, 117, 140 Algebra, 13, 45 See Mathematics American City community, 172, 174- 84, 188, 203-204, 282-86 depression, effects of, 174-76 occupational distribution in, 282-86 origin of, 172 population growth in, 174, 188 postwar period, effects of, 181-84 war, effects of, 176-79 war, school’s part in, 179-81, 203- 204 en. American City, schools in, 188, 229- 30, 231-40, 241, 242-43, 308- 309, 330-32 American City School Camp, 330-32 chart of public education, 241 curriculum of, 231-40, 242-43 enrolment in, 188, 241-42 organization of, 229-30 principles of, 308-309 scope of, 241 American Youth Commission, 390 Areas of learning, charts on, 151, 153 Le) Art, teaching of, 83, 96, 127, 245, 246. 26271329 See Literature and the arts Astronomy, 142 Athletic program, 111, 112-14, 124, 279-81 American City, 279-81 Farmville, 111, 112-14, 124 Attendance, compulsory age limit, 35, 35n, 48, 226-27, 285, 343, 350 Aviation, 142 Avocational interests, 123-26, 245 Basic skills, 68-69, 288, 289, 299, 329 Bible, reading of, 148 Biology, in schools, 73, 111, 141, 274, 298 Braille, 334 Building plans—public schools, 366- 67, 402 Building standards—division of school- house planning, 34n, 366-67 Bureau of Labor Statistics, 200 Bureau of occupational research, 253, 282, 283, 317 Business education, 45, 49, 60, 61, 83, 140, 297, 301 Centralized vs. decentralized educa- tional planning, 9, 218-20 Character education, 143-49 Chemistry, in schools, 62, 73, 111, 141, 142, 223, 235, 274, 298, 308 Churches and schools, cooperation be- tween, 148-49 Citizens’ advisory council on postwar education, 205, 207-209, 229, 28d neopel Citizenship education, 51-58, 75-100, 187, 193-94, 205, 207-209, 229, 251, 258-66, 285-331 American City, 193-94, 205, 207- 209, 229, 251, 258-64, 265-66, 285-331 common learnings, in, 251, 258- 64826 5U66 school program, place in, 193-94 [411] Farmville, 54, 57, 75-100 community study, part played by, 57-58, 81-83 diffusion of, 77 knowledge as tool of civic compe- _tence, 54, 89-97 need for, 76-77 political action, developing com- petence in, 87-88 principles of, 78-100 : public problems, study of, 84-87 relation to occupational prepara- tion, 57-58 scope of, 83-84 time allotted to, 100 City council on postwar planning, 202 City life and education, 253-55 City planning commission, 255, 261, 2820 SOA TINY O27 See Planning, comprehensive Civic competence. See Citizenship edu- cation Civic projects in schools, Farmville, 34, 4458s 81283 22 a1 23012 50126, 3 AE le o> community health center, 34 community library, 34, 122, 123, 1253455 community recreation center, 34, 126 extending student activities to local community, 81-83 health survey, 105-107 occupational-survey, 44, 58, 82, 159 Civilian Conservation Corps, 197-98, 38),.1386; 389 accomplishments of, 389 termination of, 197-98, 389 Civilian defense councils, 179 Class instruction, use of, 52, 62, 141, 142, 245 | . College-preparatory courses, 50, 51-53, 71, 74, 300 See Entrance requirements—colleges and universities Columbia, education in state of, 20, 339-82 Commission on postwar education, 205, 206-207, 209-40, 285, 286- 89, 293, 309-10, 330 action, proposals for, 226-29 educational needs, study of, 217, 224-26 membership of, 206 procedure and policy, questions of, 216-20 report, quotations from, 286-89 taking stock of the schools, 210-13 Commission on Teacher Education, 214-16, 407 Commissioner of Education, 393 Committee on economic development, 201 Committee on postwar planning, 201, 343 Common learnings, courses in, 234-38, 239, 243, 244, 248-51, 252-67, 267-70p29 easly ois community institute, in, 265-66 definition of, 252. description of, by grades, 252-67 how developed, 234-38. imperative educational needs, meet- ing, 239 methods in teaching of, 251, 267-70 purposes of, 248-51 teachers of, as counselors, 239, 268, 290, 3.105 time allotment, 243, 244 (chart) Community Council, Farmville, 29, 33, 34, 86, 97, 98, 106, 107, 148 Community festival, 119, 125, 151, 157-58, 161-62 See Farmville community Community Institute, American City, . 38, 38n, 48, 70, 227, 242, 245- 48, 3002303, (920221¢.33.6 enrolment in, 242, 245 financing of, 248 guidance in, 320-21 purpose of, 227, 245-46 reasons for attendance in, 70, 246-47 state training center for air-condi- tioning, refrigeration, and air transportation industries, 70, 247, 30:1e3.02.53:56 [412] students, origin of, 247-48 vocational education, in, 300-303 Community institutes, Columbia, 70, 352-60 allocating vocational fields among, 355-56 local control of, 358-60 name of, 353 number of, 70, 360 organization of, 352-53 state system, administration of, 353- 58 Community, school and, 44-45, 58, 81-83, 105-107, 159 program, systematic part of, 44-45 student participation in activities of, 81-83 student surveys of, 44, 58, 82, 105- 107, 159 Consolidation of school districts, 33- Pye LOU S LOS 15435," 347-30, 358, 400-401 Consumer education, 89, 256, 269 Cooperatives, 25, 61-62 Correspondence courses, 49, 51, Correspondence study bureau, 71 Council of social agencies, 224 Council on postwar planning, 202 Counselors, 40-41, 47, 73-74, 307-308, 5 115 A3-20,3.22-23 aeelaniae pereinel for, 322- 23 difficulties of, 313-20 duties of, 47 individual interests, in, 307-308 | professional guidance, in, 73-74 requirements of, 40-41 teachers as, 239, 310-11 vocational education, in, 311 County agricultural agent, 39, 73, 82 Cultural heritage, 126-28 Curriculum, 36-37, 50, 60, 71, 231-40, 241, 242, 244-45 American City, 228, 231-40, 241, 242, 244-45 flexibility of, 244-45 imperative educational needs, to meet, 228, 242 BLO 23 142 228, planning of, 231-40 schedule, chart of, 241 Farmville, 36-37, 50, 60, 71 differentiated, 36-37 flexibility of, 50, 60 individualized programs, 71 See Areas of learning Curriculum, part played in by state, 370-71 Delinquency. See Family life Democracy, 78-81, 97-100, 127, 128, 129 134 democratic living in ‘school, 78-81 developing understanding and appre- ciation of, 127 fostering loyalty to, 97-100 life. democratic way of, 128, 129, 134 Depression, meeting the, 156-57, 3.84- 86 Divorce. See Family life Economic processes, understanding of, 128, 129-30, 246 Economics, in schools, 89, 245 Education, 1, 8, 101n class distinctions in, 8 experiments in better, 220-24 future alternatives in, 1 purposes of, 101n Educational change, studying condi- tions leading to, 213-20 Educational leadership and finance, 401-402 Educational Policies 225, 387-88, 406 citizenship, on, 406 federal youth agencies, on, 387-88 Educational theory, Has in, 398- 407 local, 398-403 secondary-school staffs, attitudes of, 403-407 significance of, 401-402 Elective vs. required subjects, 53-54 Electrical trades, vocational training Inge 66s lai Employment, 3, 58-59, 70, 166, 191, 384-85, 386 . * Commission, 1, [413] part-time, 70, 166, 191, 325-27 trends in, 58-59, 317 World War I, after, 384-85, 386 World War II, after, 3, 181 youth, conditions affecting, 286-89 Employment, bureau of part-time, 191 Engineering profession, interest in, Tig 7 English, in schools, 12, 13, 45, 120, 140241, 222-0256) 25726851329 See Literature and the arts Entrance requirements—colleges and universities, 51-53, 373-75 Environment, importance of, 12S TAst6 differences in, 15-16 growth, in, 126 guidance, in, 314-16 Equalization, educational, 5, 16-19, 76, 164, 227, 344-47, 378-79, 390 conditions in, 164 federal and state aid, through, 5, 76, 3/ 8-7) BS0 financial problem of, 344-47 importance of, 16-18 planning, need for, 18-19 Ethical principles and ideals in adoles- cence, 145-49 Excursions, 27, 44-45, 68, 152, 258-61 American City, 27, 258-61 Farmville, 44-45, 68, 152 Experience, 99, 136 as roots of loyalty, 99 through literature, 136 Failure, treatment of, 56 Family life, 54, 89, 96, 110, 114-19, 1Y05 2229225, 20058) oce! American sG@ity,<222, 22350259, 2) ), 269 common learnings, in, 255 cooperative emphasis in, 222, 233 teachers, specially trained, 269 unit on, 223 Farmville, 54, 89, 96, 110, 114-19, 150 curriculum, in, 54, 150 personal development, in, 114-19 survey, in, 58 15-16, LL0; Far East, understanding of, 89, 96 Farm income, 24, 28, 30 Farmville community, 23-29, 29-34, 38-39, 156-59 depression, effect of, 23-25 farm family incomes, 24, 28, 30 organization of, 156-59 population, 23, 24, 26, 30-31, 32, 38-39 postwar period, effect of, 29-34 war, effect of, 25-29 Farmville community schools, 34-35, 159-69, 170 administrative organization of, 159- 69, 360 dissatisfaction with, 170 Farmville Emergency Council, 157 Farmville Secondary School, 33-35, 157, 160-64, 349-50 attendance of, 33, 35 consolidation of, 33-35, 160, 163, 349-50 organization of, 34, 160-62 plant of, 162-64 Federal activities, 392-94 Federal aid to education, 5, 76, 378-82, 387-92 apportionment, method of, 378-82 dispute over, 387-89 Federal Aid to Education Act, 390, 391-92 | | need for, 76, 379, 390-91- requests, early, failure of, 5 Federal Aid to Education Act, 390, 391-92 Federal control of education, 1, 5, 7, 8, 390-91 class distinctions in, 8 elimination through federal aid, 5, 390-91 loss of flexibility in, 7 meeting a need, 7 reasons for growth of, 1, 5, 7 Federal youth agencies, 3, 7-8, 197-98, © 386-89 educational character of, 387 Educational Policies Commission on, 387-88 establishment of, 386 [414] termination of, 197-98 total effect of, 389 wisdom of, 386-87 Finance—school, proposals for action on, 228 Finance—school, state system of, 342, 344-47 programs, maximum and minimum, 345-47 tax burden, equalization of, 344-47 Foreign languages, in schools, 238, 246, 298, 308, 329 common learnings, in, 238 community institutes, in, 246 Forestry, 142 Four-four plan, 304 Freedom and security, as theme of his- tory, 91-93 French, in schools, 142 See Foreign languages Friend of the court, 233 Friendship, courtship, and marriage, 111-12, 114, 118-19, 265 American City, unit on, 265 Farmville, course on, 111-12, 114, 118-19 Future Farmers of America, 158 Geography, 89, 330 German, in schools, 142 See Foreign languages Government controls, 288, 290 Government, 54, 76-77, 82, 87-88 citizenship, relation to, 76-77, 82, 87-88 special interests in, 54 Government, school, 268 Growth, 102-103, 126, 249-50 areas of, 102-103, 126, 249-50 organism and environment, interac- tion between, 126 Guidance, 39-43, 46-50, 73, 152-54, 195-96, 228, 309-23, 344, 376- 78, 398, 408 American City, 195-96, 228, 309-23 class advisers, 310, 311-13 common learnings, under, 310-11 community institutes, in, 320-21 continuing character of, 195-96, 228, 309 developing personnel for, 322-23 environment, need for knowing, 314-16 individuals, knowing students as, 313-16 military service, in, 319 occupational situation, need for knowing, 316-20 parents’ cooperation in, 315 program of, 309-23 teachers as counselors, 310-11, S455 Farmville, 39-43, 46-50, 73, 152-54, 309 counselor, requirements of, 40-41 counselors’ responsibility for, 42- 43 definition of, 39-40, 309 diagnostic testing, 46 school program, keystone of, 39 sharing responsibility for, 41 student planning, 46-47 teacher’s responsibility for, 41-42, 73 youth, for out-of-school, 48-50, 152-54 state service of, 344, 376-78 statewide system of, 398 teacher education in, 313, 323, 408 Guidance and pupil personnel service, ZOO 2a lie UI, 2a Oy come City Ollice OMe 2 71s Fe b3 ye _materials furnished, types of, 291, 24 Ws Woes Wea las) “Guides to the Teaching of Common Learnings,” quotations from, 267- 70 Habits, development of good, 68 Handicapped students, special services for, 333-36 Health, in..schools; 45, 83, 111, 117; | EDP Pa BY I Health and physical education, 34, 60, 103-10, 112,. 244, 269,- 271-74, Q76=77 Pe SAR onl nor 2a ko American City, 244, 269, 271-74, 27 6-7 73223 1, odillgeh 2,34) [415] community cooperation in, 269, 27 FRRL SoM examinations for, 271-74, 276 guidance in, 311, 312, 315 parents, education of, 276-77 program of, 271-81 time allotment for, 244 (chart), 281 war, effect on, 271 Farmville, 34, 60, 103-10, 112 health center in secondary school, 34, 107-10 health examinations, 103-105 rural health services, 102 survey of community health, 105- 107 Health and safety committee, 112 Health center, Farmville, 34, 60 History, 99, 142, 148, 235, 238, 245, BS 7) 26In62 298 citizenship education, as related to, 89-97, 261-62 common learnings, in, 238, 245, 257, 261-62, 298 community study, outgrowth of, 261-62 integration in, 235 methods in teaching of, 91-97 reasons for study of, 94, 99, 148 relationships in, 90, 261-62, 298 special interest in, 54, 142 world history, 96 History that must be written, 381-408 educational expansion, 383-84, 385 federal activities, other, 392-94 Federal Aid to Education Act, 390- A Wwe Be 19. federal emergency action, 386-91 leadership, program of, 393-94 state and local developments, 394- 408 U. S. Office of Education, 393-94 History that should not happen, 1-10 educational lethargy, reasons for, 3-7 National Bureau of Youth Service, 3, 7-8 planning, prevention by, 10 youth, effect of demobilization on, 2 Home demonstration agent, 39, 73, 82 Home economics, in schools, 45, 48, 49, 58, 60, 61, 62, 66-67, 83, 111, 117,418. 13 08dA0S 222. aagepes) ZAG: 26952742 ya Homemaking. See Home economics Housing, 177-78, 235, 283-84 comprehensive course in, 235 problem in American City, 177-78, 283-84 Hygiene. See Health; Health and physi- cal education Income and expenditure, Rie post- war, 410 ladeitnal’ learning respect for the, 78-80 | Individual differences, types of, 15-16 Individual differences and interests, 35, 36. 50-56) 112-1 41s Gao 408 43, 244, 245, 297, 307-36 adjusting schedules to, 327-29 athletics, in, 112-14 handicapped, of, 334-36 individual interests period, 244 (chart), 245 needs, education suited to, 35, 50-56, 242-43; 324 program for, 123-26, 307-308 slow learners, 334-3<¢ vocation, related to choice of, 36 vocational education in, 297 Individualized programs and records of progress, 323-25 Industrial and labor relations, standing, 221-22, 246 Intellectual curiosity, 141-42 Italian, 142 See Foreign languages Junior placement bureaus, system of, 69 Junior placement service, 312, 322, 326 Labor, 286-88 organizations in, 286-87 specialization of, 288 Labor relations, 209 Labor unions, need for study of, 286- 87, 289-90 Laboratory facilities, 62, 71 Language. See English Large-scale enterprise, 286 under- statewide [416] ‘Latin, 13, 142 See Foreign languages Latin America and hemispheric rela- tions, teaching of, 89, 96 Leadership, 54, 72, 87, 155, 156-59, 393-94 community organization for post- war, Farmville, 156-59 encouragement of, 54, 72, 87, 155 program for educational, 393-94 League of Women Voters, 343 among students, 266 Learning, 138-42 applied, 139-41 purposeful, 138-39, 142 relationships in, 139 self-direction in, 139, 142 Legislative action, state program of, ome 40341-44 ‘main points in, 343-44 need for, 227, 340 organizing program for, 341-43 Libraries, 25, 34, 45, 60, 71, 102, 111, P08 12 slots Literature and the arts, 83, 95, 118, 127, 128, 134-37, 148, 238, 245, 246, 257, 262, 264, 298, 308, 329 aims in teaching, 134-36 civic competence, as related to, 95 common learnings, in, 238, 245, 264 community institute, in 246 cultural birthright, part of, 127, 128 curriculum, part of, 83, 134-37 history, with, 95, 134, 262 personal problems, related to, 118, 134, 148, 257 Loyalty, 97-100, Machine shop. See Mechanics Machines, labor-saving, 27-28, 30, 285, 288-89 Marks—students’, 50, 55 Mathematics, 36, 45, 54, 73, 127, 130, Bsa 39, W140. 14 tors 29, 2a 25050 2O8h I246852579 297, pepo OL 3 29, Mechanics, 28, 45, 60, 61, 66, 130, 140, 246, 297 American City, 246, 297 Farmville, 28, 45, 60, 61, 66, 130, 140 Medicine and nursing, student help in, 58) Mental hygiene, importance in guid- ance, 40, 111, 146 Mentally superior students, 54, 71, 72, 299, 392233 developing, need for, 72 individualized programs for, 54, 71, 299 special services for, 332-33 Metal trades. See Mechanics Military service, as occupation, 308, 319 Motion pictures. See Visual aids Music, 36, 53, 96, 120, 127, 246 National Bureau of Youth Service, 3, 7-8 : National Institute on Education and the War, 203 National Planning Association, 201 National Resources Planning Board, 200-201 National Youth Administration, 197- DSP Obe OS Oe iO OIL effect of, 391 termination of, 197-98, 389 value of, 389 Needs, common vs. differential, 36, 37 Newspapers and magazines, unit on, Poel Nutrition. See Home economics Occupational interests, 15, 56-58, 398 differences in, 15 education, opportunity for, 58 state education department studies, through, 398 youth, of Farmville, 56-58 Occupational planning council, 253, F355 17570 2 One Ole: Occupations, field of, 44, 45, 57-58, Se 7 oo mls oe 6-20 8559 2-95. 398 American City, 316-20 city, survey of, 317 materials, types of, 318-19 organizations providing informa- tion on, 317-18, 392-93 [417] situation, knowing occupational, 316-20 Farmville, 44, 45, 57-75, 82, 159, 398 excursions, through, 44 groups in which Farmville youth fall, 59-75 motion pictures, 45 preparation for, 60-75 relation of citizenship education to, 57-58 surveys, 44, 58, 82, 159 U. S. Office of Education, infor- mation from, 45, 393, 398 Parental attitude and cultural back- ground, differences in, 16 See Environment Parent-teacher congresses, city, state, . and national, 209, 343, 347-48, 37 Of75.95 Phonograph recordings, 142, 262 Photography, 142 Physical education, 118, 120, 277-78, 281 See Athletics Physics, in schools, 62, 73, 142, 223, és) Planning, comprehensive, City, 184-88 city, 184-86 educational, 187 neighborhood and regional, 186-87 Planning, postwar educational, 1, 10, 18-19, 200-206, 383 board of education on, 204-206 immediate need for, 1, 10, 18-19, 383, 402 interest in, 200-203 material for, 18-19 school buildings, for, 402 Planning, student participation in. See Student participation in planning Political action, developing compe- tence in, 87-88 Preinduction courses, American City, 4, 203-204, 308 Principal, importance of, 291 Problem method, weaknesses of, 89 American Production, agricultural, Farmville, 23, 26, 27-28, 29-30, 32 figures for, 28 part played by education in, 27-28 postwar demand for, 29-30, 32 war need for, 26 Professions, entry into, 44-45, 72-75, 298 American City youth, 298 See Farmville Farmville youth, 44-45, 72-75 community, meeting needs of the, 72-73 excursion, 44-45 field work, in, 72-73 guidance in, 73-75 learning requirements of, 2nd Progress, 93-94 Psychology, 111, 246 Public affairs, course in, 155 Public employment service, 253, 303 Public problems, study of, 97 Public relations, spirit of, 211-12 Public school superintendents, associa- tion of, 342 Public works, postwar, 3, 7, 326 Radio, 96, 142, 262 Reading, 62, 68 Record, personal history, 41, 42, 46, 505-3:5256) 211 0;2273, 1310 315, 316, 324-25, 377-78 grades replaced by, 50, 55, 324-25, DL Gs guidance information from, 42, 56, 31031131 ake health on, 41, 46, 110, 273 optional character of, 378 Recreation, teaching of, 83 Recreational and leisure-time activities, Farmville, 119-26, 151 facilities for, 121-23 functions of school in relation to, 121-23, 125-26 personal development, 02, E27 L961 oA recreation center, 34, 126 student planning for, 122-23 observation through, related to, [418 ] Remedial instruction, 140, 151, 257, 32422503545 3016 Research, bureau of educational, 330 Residence halls, 247-48, 327, 357 Responsibility, school’s continuing, 152-56 See Youth, provisions for out-of- school Rural communities, Farmville, 23-29, 31-33, 136-37 importance of school in, 136-37 improvements in, 24-25, 31-33 problems of, 23-25 urban movement in, 24 war, effect of, 25-29 Rural youth leadership conference, 88, 159 Russian, 142 See Foreign language Schedules and sequences, 149-52 School districts, reorganization of, 347-50 School officials, local, 398-403 changes in thinking of, 400-403 two concepts, 398-99 School officials, state, 397-98 School trustees, association of, 343 Schools, postwar lethargy of, 3-7, 8-10 reasons for, 3-7 ° results of, 3, 7, 8-10 Science, 36, 45, 53, 54, 95,-110, 111, 118.9127,0130237,.139;-141,.224, 235 0,9 Loy 240.2 270592742 297, 298, 329, 330 civic competence, as related to, 95 common need for study of, 53, 130- A Pa! cultural aims of, 133 personal problems, resource for meet- ing, 53, 110, 111, 118 See Chemistry, Biology, etc. Scientific method and point of view, 5 d9127 $12 83:13 0-31 Scientific view of the world and of man, 131-33 Secondary education, extension upward of, 351-61 Secondary schools, postwar, 4, 6, 383- 90, 404-405 effect of depression on, 385 expansion of, 6, 383-84 federal youth agencies, challenge of, 386-90 needs of, 4 new areas, staff study of, 404-405 Sequences of learning, 54 Smith-Hughes program, 7 Social studies, 12, 72, 82, 89-97, 221, 222. 22481046" 299. 329 citizenship education, in, 89-97 community institute, in, 246 course at Farmville, outcomes of, 96-97 curriculum, in, 82, 222, 224 industrial and labor relations, unit on, 221 understandings to be developed in, 89-91 Society, study of as core of social studies, 90 Spanish, 12, 142 See Foreign languages Sports, program of. See Athletics Standards, minimum for education in state, 343, 345-46, 397-98 State and local developments in educa- tion, 394-95 State department of education, 162, 344, 364-76, 378, 398 college entrance requirements, and, 373-75 community youth councils, and, 375-76 curriculum, and, 370-71 division of schoolhouse planning, 366-67 guidance, in, 378 membership of, 364 school districts, relations with, 162, 365-66, 398 teachers, on, 367-70 work experience, and, 372-73 State education associations, activities, DAZ LG, 32) 97 State secondary-school principals’ asso- ciation, 342 State teachers’ association, 342 [419] “Statement of Standard Employment Practices To Be Followed in the Cooperative Work Program,” 305-306 Student aid, financial, 47, 165-69, 304-305, 312, 325, 380-82 American City, 304-305, 312, 325 employment through, 304-305 responsibility for, 312-325 Farmville, 47, 165-69 program, main features of, 166- 69 provision, methods of, 47, 165-69 federal provision for, 380-81 state, distribution through, 380-82 Student assistants, 119, 120, 123, 168, S21 SAO Student participation in planning, 54 $0, 96, 13545139. 25k Student’s Guide to Common Learnings, quotation from, 252-56 Subjectmatter organization, 256-57 Summer term, 329 Taxation, system of, 344-47 equalization between districts, 345- 46 rate, calculation of, 346-47 Teacher education and certification, 214-16,°275, 293,313, 325, 367- 69, 402-403, 407-408 guiding principles of, 368-69 in-service, 214-16, 275, 293, 313, 323, 402-403 legal standards, keeping to, 368 preservice education, changes in, 367-68, 407-408 Teacher placement, 268-71 Teacher selection, vocational, 292-93 Teachers, survey of, 210-11 Teaching profession, 53 Terminology, educational, changes in, 399 Testing, 41, 46, 50, 51, 252-53, 299, ‘370,312 college, as predicting success in, 50 counselor’s need for knowledge of, 41 diagnostic, 46, 252-53, 310, 312 for entrance into armed services, 51 grades, to supersede, 50, 51,299 + Time, teaching use of, 252 U. S. Office of Education, 319, 378, 392, 393-94 . expansion and strengthening of, 393 leadership program of, 393-94 Victory farm volunteer program, 27 Visual aids, 45, 45n, 68, 96, 262, 318 motion pictures, 45, 68, 96, 262, 318 television, 45n, 96 Vocation, guidance in choice of, 68, Bi 2 Vocational education, 60-75, 282-307 American City, 282, 283-85, 286, 289, 291, 293-94, 294-303, 305, 3034307. 9100312, 347 for youth who leave full-time school from high school, 294-98 for youth who leave school after community institute, 300-303 for youth who plan education be- yond community _ institute, 298-300 guidance in, 311, 312 knowledge and skills in, 284-85, 286, 293-94, 299 occupational trends, criteria of, 283-84 place of principal in, 291 representative advisory commit- teeson, 291,3305.5306-307, 317 schedule of, 243, 244 (chart) seven purposes of, 289-91 teachers in, 291-93, 311 work experience, 289, 292, 294- 95, 303-306) 6511 Farmville, 60-75 for youth who expect to live and work in cities, 67-70 for youth who expect to remain in Farmville, 60-67 for youth who plan to attend four-year colleges and profes- . sional schools, 71-75 projects in, 61-63, 68, 71 purposes in Grades XIII and XIV, 67 War Manpower Commission, 200 [420] War production training program, ef- fect of, 198-200 Woodland Park, 242, 301 Work-experience programs, 47, 63-66, 168, 192, 246, 303-306, 328- 29ST 2-734 389 American City, 192, 246, 303-304, 305-306, 328-29 community institute, in, 246 influence of war on, 303-304 scheduling, problems of, 303, 328- a7 school program, place in, 192 statement of standard employ- ment practices to be followed in the cooperative work pro- gram, 305-306 Farmville, 47, 63, 64-65, 168 definition of, 63 guidance during, 47 individualized plans for, 64, 168 mutual benefits from, 64-65 influence of federal youth agencies on, 389 principles of, 372-73 World at work, study of the, 43-46, TORE elo 5:2 World War I, 2, 3, 52, 203-204, 299 demobilization in war and industry, effect of, 2 schools and, 3, 52, 203-204, 299. workers, training of, 2, 3 youth education, turning point in, 2 Youth, all American, 11-19 common qualities in, 16-17 descriptions of, 11-14 educational differences in, 15-16 providing education for, 14, 17-19 Youth, changes in education of, 188- 240 conditions conducive to, 213-16 obstacles and resources, 210-13 planning for, 197-204 processes of, 188-240 types of, 188-96 Youth council, community, 148, 158- 59, 161, 375-76 Youth, cultural birthright of, 126-29 Youth, independence of, 48, 57 Youth, loyalties of, 97-100 Youth, needs of, 225-26, 230-31, 243 differential and common, 230-31, 243 imperative educational, 225-26 Youth, personal development of, 100- 49 Youth, provisions for out-of-school, 34, 48-50, 121-22, 152-56, 195- * 96, 247, 300, 321, 336-37, 344, 361-62 American: City; 195-96, 247, 300; 9216-57 Columbia, 361-62 Farmville, 34, 48-50, 121-22, 152- 56 1} } i : “ye SETS rr o Seek ¢ op + : a Ee Sar vase r Date Due = reid ~ oF — Pe i | i | \ } 1 i i 1 |i | ge st |S @ bat |. 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