from the NATIONAL EDUCATION ASSOCIATION 1201 SIXTEENTH STREET, N.W WASHINGTON 4, D. C. ADams 4-4855 For further information: Beatrice M. Gudridge or Virginia Warren FOR RELEASE IN CONNECTION WITH AMERICAN EDUCATION WEEK, November 6-12, 1960 Parents Flock to School During AEW As Education Makes Political Headlines WASHINGTON -- In the midst of the political debate on education which ranges all the way from the presidential to the local level, millions of mothers and dads will be drawing their own firsthand conclusions about schools during American Education Week, November 6-12, Teachers and students are rolling out the red carpet all over the country for some 30 million parents who will attend special open-house school events, panel discussions, PTA luncheons, "coffees," classroom visitations and school tours during the 40th observance of this anmual event. Visitors to some of the nation's schools will see such innovations as educational television sets in the classrooms...foreign language laboratories... even teaching machines being used experimentally. They'll hear about new methods being used to enrich the learning of gifted children, including advanced and accelerated classes, and after-school programs...they'll see demonstrations of elementary school children speaking French or Spanish...they'll examine shining new equipment in expanded science labs. Other parents, unfortunately, may find their schools substandard, with overcrowded classrooms, students going to school in shifts, and a shortage of good teachers. (more ) Parents Flock to School During AEW -2- One of the biggest observances will take place in Erasms Hall High in Brooklyn, New York, with a student body of 6,131 boys and girls. The smallest celebrations will be held in the nation's one-teacher schoolhouses (there are 23,695 in the United States). Large or small, America's schools put energy and imagination to work to direct parents' attention toward the achievements and problems of education. Some schools carry on classes in downtown store windows during the week. . .provide baby-sitting service for parent visitors...invite local citizens to view films on education...honor retired teachers...invite outstanding educators to speak to parent audiences. American Education Week, first observed in 1921, grew out of the revelation during World War I that a shocking percentage of Americans were illiterate and physically unfit. Its purpose now, as then, is to make every American aware of the important role education plays in a democracy. The event is sponsored by the National Education Association, the United States Office of Education, the National Congress of Parents and Teachers, and the American Legion. The theme this year is: "Strengthen Schools for the 60's." Under this main theme, these are the suggested daily topics: Sunday, November 6: "Serious Students -- Stronger Schools;" Monday, November 7: “Interested Parents -- Stronger Schools;" Tuesday, November 8: "Able Board Members -- Stronger Schools ;" Wednesday, November 9: "Quality Teachers -- Stronger Schools;" Thursday, November 10: “Ample Funds -- Stronger Schools;" Friday, November 11: "Challenging Curriculums -- Stronger Schools;" Saturday, November 12; "Lifelong Learners -- Stronger Schools." @ from the NATIONAL EDUCATION ASSOCIATION 1201 SIXTEENTH STREET, N.W. WASHINGTON 46, D. C. ADams 4-4855 For further information: Beatrice M. Gudridge, ADams 4-4848, Washington, D. C. Frederick Jacobi, PLaza 5-4640, New York City FOR RELEASE IN CONNECTION WITH AMERICAN EDUCATION WEEK NOVEMBER 6-12, 1960 TV Notables Plug American Education Week Under Chairmanship of Donna Reed of ABC-TV WASHINGTON--Television Actress Donna Reed will serve as chairman of the Television Committee for American Education Week, November 6-12, according to an announcement by Clarice Kline, president of the National Education Association. Miss Kline said that Miss Reed has been serving as volunteer consultant to the NEA in the formation of the TV Committee for American Education Week since last March. "We are delighted," Miss Kline added, “that through Miss Reed's efforts the TV Committee now consists of 22 distinguished performers and executives who will use the great impact of TV to promote the continuing purpose of American Education Week -- that of encouraging parents and citizens to visit their schools." Miss Kline noted that American Education Week is sponsored not only by the NEA but also by the American Legion, the United States Office of Education, and the National Congress of Parents and Teachers. Theme selected by sponsors for the 1960 observance is "Strengthen Schools for the 60's. (more) In addition to Miss Reed, who last June received the first annual Student NEA Notables Award "for her emphasis upon the worth of education 4s demonstrated personally and through television in The Donna Reed Show," the Television Committee for American Education Week now includes the following: Steve Allen; Leonard Bernstein; Pat Boone; Hugh Beaumont and Barbara Billingsley, who portray the parents in ABC-TV's popular "Leave It To Beaver" series, recent recipient of a School Bell Award; Commentators David Brinkley and Chet Huntley of NBC-TV; Walter Cronkite of CBS-TV; and John Daly of ABC-TV; Bob Cummings; John Forsythe; Dave Garroway; Andy Griffith; Ruth Hagy; Sam Lev- enson; Art Linkletter; June Lockhart; Lynn Poole; and Robert Saudek. Outstanding personalities from the three major networks have filmed one- minute and 20-second television spots urging citizens to visit their schools during AEW. They are Shirley Temple of NBC-TV; Dennis the Menace (with his TV mother and dad) of CBS-TV; and Donna Reed. HH @ from the NATIONAL EDUCATION ASSOCIATION 1201 SIXTEENTH STREET, N.W. WASHINGTON 6, D. C. ADams 4-4855 For further information: M. Ruth Broom, Convention Press Office Sheraton Hotel, Louisville, Ky. FOR RELEASE: A. M.. Papers, Friday, Oct. 7, 1960 Educators to Probe Problems Facing Rural Schools at National Convention, Oct. 7-12 LOUISVILLE, KY., Oct. 6 -- The children who live and go to school in the nation's rural areas and small commmities -- estimated at a whopping 40 percent -- will be the focus of attention during a three-in-one convention of the National Education Association's Department of Rural Education opening here tomorrow. The combined annual meetings of the Rural Department and its two divisions, ex~ pected to attract approximately 2500 teachers and administrators, will be held at the Sheraton Hotel, Oct. 7-12. Theme for the meetings is "Shifting Scenes in Rural Education." Following the Department's two-day convention, the Division of County and Rural Area Superintendents will begin its conference. The Division of Pupil Transportation also will be holding concurrent sessions. Kentucky's Governor Burt T. Combs will address a joint session of the groups on Monday evening, Oct. 10. Hosts to the meetings include the Kentucky Education Asso- ciation, the Kentucky Association of School Administrators, and the Department of Rural Education's state committee. Alvin L. Bertrand, professor of sociology, Louisiana State University, will open the first session on Friday, Oct. 7, with a discussion of "The Changed and Changing Socio-Economic Situation." Educators to Probe Problems Facing Rural Schools <-- 2 A panel will bring out what the changing socio-economic situation means to various groups, including a commercially successful farmer, rural industrialist, religious leader, low-income farm resident. A symposium on "Good Practices in Adapting Education to Changing Needs” will have discussion by a classroom teacher, an instructional super- visor, a school principal, an adult educator, and a teacher educator. Other speakers scheduled to address conference sessions include Alfred W. Beattie, superintendent of schools, Allegheny County, Pittsburgh, Pa. ; Shirley Cooper, assis- tant executive secretary, American Association of School. Administrators, Washington, D. C.; Ted Bass, assistant field service executive, California Teachers Association, Burlingame; Lee E. Campion, educational television consultant, and Mrs. Mickey Bloodworth, convention coordinator of the NEA Department of Audio-Visual Instruction, Washington, D. C. Others include R. S. Gilchrist, superintendent of schools, University City,Mo., and Robert M. Isenberg, assistant director NEA Department of Rural Education. Howard A. Dawson, director of the NEA Division of Rural Service and executive secretary of the Rural Department, will be the featured speaker at a banquet on Saturday evening, Oct. 8. His topic will be "An Overview of Rural Education." The NEA Rural Department, the leading organization in the field m rural education, works closely with NEA units and other organizations to seek solutions of distinctive problems in rural education. It has been an NEA department since 1907. ### CATION » cou As Ny / P 4 ate = 1201 SIXTEENTH STREET, N.W. Medion Cxtucation (Usociation > OQ WASHINGTON 6, D.C. ADAMS 4-4855 September 15, 1960 Dear Colleague: The “back-to-school” season this fall has hit a new peak in feature coverage by the nation's newspapers of stories related to the opening of school. Especially numerous, we have found, have been those stories aimed specifically at parents of school children -- to tell them what to expect of the new school year, or what may be expected of them. Several stories we have seen recently have been based on the booklet, How To Help Your Child Learn, published by the Department of Elementary School Principals and the National School Public Relations Association. We are enclosing samples of two such stories published early this month in the New York Times and the Pittsburgh (Pa.) Press. We have proof that these stories struck a responsive chord with parents who read them, for we are receiving hundreds of orders for the booklet as a result! It occurred to us that the parents of your immediate community may not yet be aware of the existence of this helpful book, and that the editor of your local newspaper might be interested in carrying a "back- to-school" feature based upon its contents. We have prepared such a feature which you may show to your editor, if you think he would be interested. The feature, of course, may be adapted as he wishes to fit the local situation. You may find the story of most interest to the neighborhood comm- nity paper (if you have one) which serves your school, or you may wish to touch base with the central office about a story for the paper which serves the entire city. Sincerely yours, ee 1.) Lay Roy K. Wilson, Director Division of Press and Radio Relations RKW :1g Enclosures @ from the NATIONAL EDUCATION ASSOCIATION 1201 SIXTEENTH STREET, N.W. WASHINGTON 4, D. C. ADams 4-4855 For further information: Beatrice M. Gudridge or Helen Graziano BACK-TO-SCHOOL FALL 1960 For Release at Will (900 words) World Is Classroom, You The Teacher For Today's Well-Travelled Student WASHINGTON, D. C.--Their transportation is often the school bus, their ticket, a permission slip from Mother. Destination can be around the world or around the corner. It all adds up to today's students becoming the best- travelled in history. Learning, educators say, is no longer confined to the pages of books or the four walls of a classroom. More and more students, with their teachers, are venturing outside the school to do their learning anywhere from the neigh- borhood dairy to the Champs Elysees. Last summer for example, 64 selected high school student council members and their faculty advisers spent almost seven weeks visiting eight European countries trying to learn as mich as possible about the European way of life. Serious travellers on a serious mission, they not only deepened their own inter- national understanding, but transmitted it to others when they returned home. In the past school year, these youngsters have made more than 1500 public ap- pearances before school and community groups, and have described their trip to a total audience estimated at almost 200,000 people. The whole effort with these "junior ambassadors of good will" was so successful that the sponsor, the National Association of Secondary-School Principals, a department of the (more) World Is Classroom, You The Teacher - 2 - National Education Association (NEA), intends to repeat it with another group of students in 1962. According to a recent travel survey, students make up the fastest-growing group of Americans abroad -- some 80,000 crossed the ocean this year, an all- time high. And the trend will continue. A new book published by the National Council for the Social Studies, another department of NEA, ‘foresees the day when the entire junior class will depart from their high school for three months of work and study in a foreign country, absorbing social studies first- hand. How do you - - the parent or private citizen - - fit into the act, espec- ially for trips in your commnity? If you're a businessman, it's quite likely students would be interested in visiting your place of business. If you're a city official, they may visit your office in city hall - - giving you an ideal opportunity to impress future voters with their responsibilities in civic affairs and political activity. A guide to field trips, published by the National Science Teachers Assoc- iation, another NEA department, suggest some steps the businessman can take to develop successful field trip programs -- with an eye to building good will. Among the hints: Set up a definite field-trip program, with one person in charge. Distribute maps and brochures of the company's history, purposes, and physical layout. Give “open houses" for local teachers, along with previews of proposed trips for their students. Develop evaluation sheets the students can fill out. Field trips range from the simple to the elaborate, but the students always come in contact with "real-life" situations. (more) World is Classroom, You The Teacher -3- The National Council of Teachers of Mathematics, another NEA department, mentions a walk around the block in which students list all measurements observed, or a visit to a bank, where youngsters follow the steps taken in processing checks. Units on "city helpers" in the elementary grades prompt trips to the fire and police stations, nearby farms and airports. For high school students, the field trip often serves as an introduction to possible careers. English classes profit from trips to newspaper offices and broadcasting studios. Social studies classes make tours of stock market and brokerage houses in the nearby city a highlight of their study of economics. As a parent, you play a part in the success of a field trip. First of all, you will sign a permission slip. Without this, no child is allowed to attend the event. The permit does not waive the responsibility of the school or teacher. It merely signifies that the trip is taken with your consent. You might be asked to accompany the group as an adult leader. You will then be provided with a copy of the study guide, a list of the children, and a description of the place to be visited. Even as a stay-at-home parent, you can contribute to the trip's success. The National Council for the Social Studies urges that "students be impressed with the fact that the trip is an educational experience, not a picnic. Parents can make things easier for the teacher by informing the child on proper manners and dress for the trip and basic safety precautions that he should take." ### from the NATIONAL EDUCATION ASSOCIATION 1201 SIXTEENTH STREET, N.W WASHINGTON 4, D. C. ADams 4-4855 For further information: Beatrice M. Gudridge or Virginia Warren BACK-TO-SCHOOL FALL 1960 For Release at Will (650 words) What Every Teacher Knows About Your Child WASHINGTON, D.C.-- If you are often baffled by your child's behavior, there is a practical "psychologist" as close to you as your child's school. It is his teacher. The average elementary teacher, during a 30-year career, will live with, work with, and love more than 1,000 children. How many parents can claim that amount of experience? Even before they start their teaching careers, teachers receive extensive training in child psychology. They learn to recognize the danger signals of potential delinquency. They learn that a reading difficulty may be the result of an emotional problem and how to recognize a gifted child hiding behind a smoke screen of apathy. They learn what characteristics a child reveals at different age levels. From their extensive knowledge of children -- a combination of their practical experience and broad training -- America's teachers, through the National Education Association, offer the following practical pointers to parents: Le you have a 2 to 5 year old . Teachers can usually "spot" those youngsters who have had few opportunities to play with children their own age. Pre-schoolers who play with other children before school starts adjust more quickly to school life. If your child has had (more) What Every Teacher Knows About Your Child few chances to play with others, invite children to your home.... or take him to parks and playgrounds. If your child is accustomed to being away from home and mother, he will find it much easier to adjust to school. Kindergarten and first-grade teachers suggest that you leave him with friends or relatives occasionally, before school starts - for several hours, a whole day, or overnight. Leaving home to go to school will come as a pleasant experience rather than a psychological shock. If you have a 6 to 10 year old . Teachers know that parents can increase their child's mental alertness, during the early elementary school years. You can do this by exposing your child to a rich variety of family activities. Take him on trips, to children's plays and concerts. Expose him to good art, surround him with many books and magazines. . Do not compare his behavior or school work with that of his classmates or his brothers and sisters. Children develop at different rates of speed. Each has his own rate of growth and maturity. Your child may be a slow developer. Look for ways to help and encourage him. If you have an 11 to 17 year old . Students in junior high school want to know the "why" of what they are learn- ing. Teachers advise parents to encourage family discussions on a variety of topics, and to make a point of tracking down the facts behind general statements. Your youngster will enjoy airing his opinions, and he will be learning to think critically, and to check facts. . Teen-ugers often discuss their life plans with teachers and friends, rather than with parents. Don't feel left out and resentful if this happens to you. (more) What Every Teacher Knows -3- Visit your youngster's teachers and counselors, and find out how you can help him make these important decisions. Turning to outsiders for advice is normal at these ages. 1201 SIXTEENTH STREET, N.W. WASHINGTON 4, D. C. For further information: Beatrice M. Gudridge or Virginia Warren BACK-TO-SCHOOL FALL 1960 For Release at Will (600 words) "Tricks of The Trade" Help Students Succeed In School WASHINGTON, D. C., ~- There are tricks to every trade -- even that of being a successful student. Success in school, according to the National Education Association, is the result of good planning, careful budgeting of time, knowing how to listen, and other tricks of the learning trade. Teachers in junior and senior high school have the following advice for students who want to improve their learning ability: . "Budget" your after-school hours. Make a chart, leaving a space for each free hour. Then schedule your time between study, sports, hobbies, out- side reading, social activities. Don't allow interruptions during study periods. . Make use of "odds and ends" of time. Study on the bus. Keep flash cards in your pocket for studying French verbs, chemical formulas, or history dates, while you wait in line or grab a quick lunch. . Train yourself to be a good listener. When your mind starts to wander in class, try listening "for use." This means looking for information you can pluck out. and use from what is being said facts that will help you under- stand a difficult part of the subject information that is not in your text- books. "Tricks of The Trade" Help -2- . Try the trick of “overlearning." After you have committed to memory a series of dates, a list of foreign words and their English meanings, or a poem that you have been told to memorize study them some more. Tests have proven that students who study material a while longer, after having learned it, will remember it longer than students who learn it and stop studying. - Ask yourself questions about what you are studying. To impress inform- ation forcibly on your mind, close your book from time to time and ask your- self questions about the page you have been reading. Write down the answers, and check them against the text. . Study in an organized way. Don't just plunge in and wade through the heavy material in your textbook. First read the summary of the chapter's contents. Then read headings and subheadings throughout the chapter. If you know “where the chapter is going," your concentrated study will roll along more smoothly. . Do something extra, "above and beyond the call of duty." Read a short story in the foreign language you're learning. Like math? Try a paperback book of mathematics puzzlers and problems. Read magazines and books about your favorite subject---whether it's biology or history. . Tough assignment? Give yourself a "reward" for doing it. When you have a series of complicated math problems to tackle, promise yourself a trip to the local “‘namburger heaven, or let yourself watch a good television program, after the problems are done. . Take an active part in classroom discussions. If you're not particularly interested in a certain subject, but know that you must get passing marks in it ---make yourself interested by chiming in on classroom discussions. The result may surprise even you! ttt 1201 SIXTEENTH STREET, N.W. WASHINGTON 46, D. C. For further information: Beatrice M. Gudridge BACK-TO-SCHOOL 1960 For Release at Will (550 words) The Case of the Everyday Report Card: Or How to Be a Parent Super-Sleuth WASHINGTON, D.C. -- It was the end of the first week of school. As the dismissal bell rang, the little first-grader caught her teacher's hand. "Please, Miss Brown," she said, "Will you tell me what I learned today? Every night, my Daddy wants to know!" Wanting to know what is happening to and for his child in the un- familiar world of school is the hallmark of every parent. It's written all over his crisp or cagey version of the question.... "and what did you do in school today?" Actually a child brings home a report card every day, according to the National Education Association. Sometimes, though, the parent has to turn sleuti to be able to read it. If he bursts through the door singing lustily, she can deduce that it's been a good day at school; and a little later, if she plays her cards right, she may find that he's going to read Amahl's lines in the puppet opera, or that he made A in a science test. Figuring out wny he's had a bad day -- or a series of them -- takes more than a "Spock" of genius, however. He may give it away in conversations with Report Card his friends ("I don't see why that old teacher gets so sore when a guy loses his spelling list"), or by the drawings and tests and written work he doesn't bring home, or by a chance remark that reveals he's floundering badly in some school subject. Schools nowadays realize that you want to know how Johnny's doing in relation to his own potential ("Is he working up to the top of his abilities?") and in relation to others at his grade level. They don't leave you sitting there, stunned, with a piece of cardboard in your hand, wondering how he's ever going to get into college with a report card like this. Schools go to a great deal of trouble to arrange face-to-face conferences with your child's teacher that will supplement the report card. You take to such a conference your own very special understanding of what Johnny is like at home. The teacher brings her insight into what he's like away from home. Everybody gains, particularly Johnny. You may be surprised to find how much the teacher knows about you, especially if your child is still in the primary grades. She knows whether you're getting a new convertible or a divorce or a visit from relatives, when you're going to move, and where you buy your hats. She'll want your advice. She may ask you such questions as: What school activities does Johnny talk about at home? What are his play materials? Does he have any home responsibilities? What kind of discipline does he respond to? What kinds of things does he enjoy at home with the family? What do you consider his real strengths? Honest answers to questions like these will enable her to plan her teaching of Johnny more effectively, and will provide clues for you to work with her to help him over any rough spots. These tips are drawn from a new book called ‘How to Help Your Child Learn published by two departments of the NEA. Single copies may be ordered for 50 cents from NEA, 1201-16th Street, N.W., Washington 6, D.C. # tt @ from the NATIONAL EDUCATION ASSOCIATION 1201 SIXTEENTH STREET, N.W. WASHINGTON 6, D. C. ADams 4-4855 For further information: Beatrice M. Gudridge or Virginia Warren BACK-TO-SCHOOL 1960 For Release at Will (900 words) "Realistic" Social Studies Help Your Child Face World As It Is WASHINGTON, D.C. -- The "wooden shoe-windmill-tulip" type of social studies is not adequate for today's modern child who gets his information, attitudes, and conduct signals from the far corners of the globe -- and who may soon be getting them from outer space. According to spokesmen for the National Council for the Social Studies (NCSS), a department of the National Education Association, social problems and their solutions, even if controversial, must be faced honestly at all leyels in school. "Sweetness and light -- the glossing over of filth, disease, prejudice, starvation, death -- can no longer be tolerated," said Dr. Harold Drummond of George Peabody College, Nashville, at a recent NCSS meeting. And a book pub- lished by the same organization forecasts profound changes in the teaching of social studies in the next 20 years. The book suggests that in addition to the present heavy history basis for social studies, more emphasis will be placed on the social sciences and economics in an attempt to contribute to the student's understanding of the contemporary world. What could this mean for your child? (more) "Realistic" Social Studies It may mean that he will start studying serious social problems, usually reserved for high school, at an earlier age. As he studies Hindu customs and folk art, he will also learn why millions of Hindus are starving, how this problem is being approached, and how important its solution is to world peace. Schools will put more stress than ever before on grim reality. Educators also urge:‘that your child learn more about the facts of economic life at a tender age, and continue to study them all through school. This economic learning would not be a new subject added to the already crowded curri- culum, but would develop naturally from subjects already being taught. Here's how it would work: In history, as your child learns about the frugality of the Puritans, he would also be taught the principle of capital formation. In reading about the controversies of Jefferson and Hamilton, he would learn the conflict between emphasis on economic growth and political freedom. He would learn how political expediency affects policies on world trade. In geography, he would discover that peoples, depending on their culture, develop different institutions and economic systems, through which they produce and distribute goods and services. The urgent need for more economic education in America's schools was set forth in a recent publication, Educating for Economic Competence, produced by the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development, another NEA department. "The high school graduate should be able," the book says, "to apply the tools of economic analysis to the issues of the day.” For your child, these issues will be very personal and practical ones: What career will have the best long-range future for him...Whether it is wiser (more) "Realistic" Social Studies -3- to spend his money or save it in an inflationary economy. Or they could involve matters of national importance on which he must help make decisions. How can you help spark your child's interest in social studies? Here are tips from teachers: If you're a faithful follower of news broadcasts and an inveterate reader of newspapers and news magazines, he'll get the idea you think it's important to keep up with current affairs. Discuss news at the dinner table, giving him opportunity to express his views. Discuss local candidates for public office, too, and the issues and problems of your community. . Keep an atlas, almanac, dictionary, globe, and encyclopedia conveniently close to the TV set for use during news and documentary programs, or simply to settle arguments. "Let's look it up" should be one of the most common phrases around your house. . Are foreign exchange students or professors attending or teaching school or college in or near your community? Perhaps you could invite these interest- ing visitors to family dinner some night to hear about their homes, foods, schools, games. . Help him to judge each person individually rather than by race, creed, or color. How? By curbing your own unthinking remarks about others. t## @ fom the NATIONAL EDUCATION ASSOCIATION 1201 SIXTEENTH STREET, N.W. WASHINGTON 4, D. C. ADams 4-4855 For further information: Beatrice M. Gudridge or Virginia Warren BACK-TO-SCHOOL FALL 1960 For Release at Will (500 words) Is Your Child Bright ..-But An “Underachiever"? WASHINGTON, D. C.--If your child is intelligent, but not as successful in school as he should be, he may be what educators call an "underachiever." As such, he and the thousands of others like him have recently been analyzed, sur- veyed, researched, probed, and conferred about by teachers, psychologists, curriculum supervisors, and guidance counselors. Their purpose? To discover why people of similar intelligence often differ widely in school achievement. The National Education Association has been con- ducting a special project on the Academically Talented for the past two years. These are some of the things the experts have discovered about the underachiev- ing child, and how he gets that way: . More boys than girls are underachievers. One researcher found that twice as many boys as girls fail to do the school work of which they are capable. . Lack of family interest in learning is sometimes the reason for scholastic underachievement in children of ability. Im one study, a group of children who had failed the first grade were put into a special room for the next year. During the period of investigation, teachers visited the home of each child. One of their obseryations was the lack of any kind of reading material in many of the homes. In others, they found these underachieving children had never visited the public library, only three or four blocks away. The children had Is Your Child Bright seldom traveled outside of the city. - Underachievement sometimes results from a child's serious emotional disturb- ances. . Underachievers are usually less mature, lack self-confidence and have fewer real and deep interests compared with high-achievement youngsters. - Underachievers have less drive or determination to achieve than the high- achievement group. Boys who succeed best in school have usually had early home training in independence, self-reliance, and self-direction. Many had been encouraged before the age of eight to find their way around the city, to try new things for themselves, to do well in competition, and to make their own friends. What can be done to help bright underachievers live up to their high potentials? Educators are working on that problem, one of the most important and difficult ones to solve in every school. They do say this: the under- achiever in high school should be taught the learning skills he failed to acquire in earlier grades. He will probably improve, too, if he has a teacher who is consistently interested in him as an individual, and who accepts him as a bright and able person with a need for special help. t## 1201 SIXTEENTH STREET, N.W. WASHINGTON 6, D. C. ADams 4.4855 For further information: Beatrice M. Gudridge or Virginia Warren BACK-TO-SCHOOL 1960 For Release at Will (700 words) Is Your Child a Poor Speller? You Can Help Him. Here's How: WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Poor spelling can pull down your child's grades in social studies, reading, science, and other school subjects, say the nation's elementary school teachers. Many teachers mark down book reports, project notebooks, and test papers because they contain spelling and grammatical er- rors. Why is spelling 50 difficult for many children? "Learning to spell English is hard work," according to the National Educa- tion Association, in its booklet How To Help Your Child Learn. "Johnny would have an easier time of it with Spanish or Finnish, which are far more consist- ent in their rules." Most schools concentrate on teaching children a list of about 3000 English root words that make up 98 percent of the words both adults and children use in written expression. About 20 percent of these words don't follow the regu- lar alphabetical rules, and these are probably the ones that are giving your child trouble. Here are ways, suggested by the NEA, in which parents can help their children improve in spelling: (more) Is Your Child a Poor Speller? First, make sure that your child has no physical handicaps which may be holding him back -- a speech defect, faulty hearing, or poor vision. If you suspect anything of the sort, have him examined immediately. Have him make his own dictionary of "demon" words that plague him. Get him a scrapbook and have him devote one page to each alphabetical letter. As he masters the "demon," he enters it on the proper page. Give your child the fun of adventuring with words. Encourage him to make a list of new and interesting ones he comes across. Play games with words. Oral riddles are fun. For example: "I'm thinking of a four-letter word that means sharp (keen). What is the word and how do you spell it?" Or ask him how many "happy" words he knows how to spell (gay, cheerful, merry, smile, jolly). How many "sad" words? How many "holiday" words? Encourage him to write frequent notes--to other children, to relatives-- as thank-you's for parties and gifts. Check with him to see that all words are spelled properly and that the note is legible. Observe how avidly your child watches television commercials, and turn this interest into a spelling game. Ask him to name the products he sees advertised, and to spell them. Aspirin, automobiles, bread, bottles, soap, shampoo, shave--the list is endless. Play word games with him, such as Ghost, Junior Scrabble, Anagrams, Hangman. Give him his own dictionary. He will use it faithfully, if you give him the good example of "looking up" the spelling of words. Avoid "baby talk" with your preschooler or first-grader. It may be great fun for parents and doting uncles, but it's no help to your child in the real life of school. Make sure he hears all words clearly and correctly pronounced at home. Is Your Child a Poor Speller? -3- The 32-page booklet How to Help Your Child Learn is available at 50¢ per copy from the National Education Association, 1201 - 16th Street, N.W., Washington 6, D.C. It was published by two NEA departments -- the Department of Elementary School Principals and the National School Public Relations Association. ### 1201 SIXTEENTH STREET, N.W. WASHINGTON 4, D. C. ADams 4-4855 For further information: Beatrice M. Gudridge BACK-TO-SCHOOL 1960 For Release at Will (600 words) How to Be Happy With Homework: Guide for Disbelieving Parents WASHINGTON, D.C. -- When school comes, can homework be far behind? It's a wise parent who prepares himself -- and his child -- for a school year that will surely include mich work at home designed to supplement and broaden work done in the classroom. Unfortunately, says the National Education Association, homework (kind, amount, frequency) too often is a fighting word to some parents. One mother says she "curses the day Sputnik flew." (She thinks her son is being overloaded with homework.) Another wants "my children to have home- work at least once a week so I can check their lessons and see how they're doing." A third (after struggling for an entire week end helping Jimny with a chart of the heavens) wonders wearily just who is being benefited by this homework; and a fourth confesses, "We want to help with homework, but we're afraid to!" If you're like most parents, however, you favor homework, provided it's reasonable in amount, geared to your child's abilities, really teaches him something, and is of a type that doesn't throw the whole household into a tizzy. (more) Homework 2- Most schools take these points into account, according to the National Education Association. You'll find teachers assigning children original research projects perhaps to answer questions that come up and can't be answered in busy class time. As one third-grade teacher said, "Research of this kind is like a game. We have acquired information on everything from kraals and cantilevered porches to butter molds and grinding stones. When a child turns up a bit of hard-to-find information and brings it to class, we all beam." Another frequent kind of assignment for the child is to collect informa- tion from you and the rest of the family. For example, one teacher asked the class to bring to school a list of all their family's arithmetic problems for one week (parents' eyes were opened on this one -- they didn't realize how much arithmetic they used every day). A third kind of homework turns up when children working on creative writing or written reports want more time than they have in class to elaborate on or revise their efforts. In other words, most schools feel that homework should be an extension, not of the school day, but of learning activity, with assignments that can be done better away from school. You can help by giving your child a quiet corner that can be his homework island of peace and concentration. You may need to be firm, too, in eliminating some of the distractions that interfere with getting homework done -- including TV ani little sisters. And if you don't understand the school's homework policy -- and why you can help on scrapbooks, but not on subtraction -- go have a talk with your child's teacher. She'll be glad to explain. These tips are drawn from a new book called How to Help Your Child Learn published by two departments of the NEA. Single copies may be ordered for 50 cents from NEA, 1201-16th Street, N.W., Washington 6, D.C. tt # 1201 SIXTEENTH STREET, N.W. WASHINGTON 4, D. C. For further information: Beatrice M. Gudridge BACK-TO-SCHOOL 1960 For Release at Will (550 words) How Does a Parent Talk To a Teaching Machine? WASHINGTON, D. C. -- All this talk about teaching machines and other mechanical monsters in the classroom leaves the average mother (who is often hard-put to fix a fuse) feeling a little faint. The mental picture of her Johnny learning reading or arithmetic or French from a "teacher" who looks more like Univac than Miss Jones is far from reassur- ing. She wonders if all education will be dehumanized in the next few years. The answer, according to the National Education Association, is an emphatic It is true that teaching or self-instruction machines are on their way to the modern child's classroom. Highly successful in armed services teaching units, they are now in production for general classroom teaching. The Department of Audio-Visual Instruction of the NEA recently published a bibliography which reveals that there are now 25 different machines in actual use. . Thirteen companies are manufacturing these machines, and more than 13 research and educa- tion groups are developing programs for the machines. According to these specialists, however, the teaching machine, far from making teaching less personal, will make it more so. The machines leave the teacher free for the more creative aspects of teaching -- including more individ- ual attention to students and more conferences with their parents. (more) How Does a Parent Talk -2- A machine, after all, cannot hold discussions, debates, conduct demonstra- tions, or diagnose a student's adjustment or learning problems. These are the things only a real live teacher can do -- and can do more effectively, when she is backstopped by a machine to take care of some of the repetitive or mechan- ical drill work which is a necessary part of all learning. "The teaching machine," writes William H. Allen, editor of the Audio- Visual Communication Review, "signifies a major breakthrough toward the emanci- pation of the teacher to fill his proper instructional role." Although mother may never have to talk to a teaching machine, she will want to be able to talk about them. Most machines have two windows which the student faces. The study problem or question appears in one window. The student punches out his answer. The machine then indicates whether or not the answer is correct. The student may not proceed to the next item until the correct response is given. The machine, unlike most human beings, has eternal patience, and can repeat an explanation over and over without signs of irritation. Among other advantages to automated learning, say some of the experts, are these: the student proceeds at his own speed; difficult tasks or materials can be broken down into easy progressive steps; errors are immediately made known to the student and he can correct them; the student becomes an active, rather than prssive observer -- he, and he alone must provide answers when he's face-to-face with the machine. WUCATION 4 Sg, ’ — - — s Fa 4 an 5 f — : + 1201 SIXTEENTH STREET, N.W. Netiondt Etucation Masociation > ‘y ay WASHINGTON 6, D.C. ADAMS 4-4855 + s\ Me UNITED August 26, 1960 Dear Colleague: The enclosed TV-Radiogram is designed to bring you news of back-to-school developments on the radio and television broadcasting front. Described here are three "repeat" television programs of special interest to teachers and parents which were aired originally last year over the networks of the American Broadcasting Company and the National Broadcasting Company. Saluting the back-to-school season in these re-runs will be Donna Reed, Loretta Young, and "Beaver" of the Leave it to Beaver program. Also described here in a special "Back-to-School" 15-minute radio tape which is being made available to radio broadcasters by the Division of Press and Radio Relations, beginning September 1. Its title is "Parents Ask About School....'' Some 2800 radio stations now receiving the Division's AIR LETTER service have already been advised about the availability of this tape upon request. You may want to confer with your local station representatives to dis- cover 1) whether they have received information on "Parents Ask About School..." and 2) whether they would like to have a tape for use any time in September. A form is attached which you may use to advise us about your station's interest in receiving the tape. Sincerely yours, [ Se I. WiLoey Roy K. Wilson, Director Division of Press and Radio Relations NEA Division of Press and Radio Relations 1201 16th Street, N.W., Washington 6, D.C. Please send to the radio station below one tape of "Parents Ask About School..." offered at no cost or obligation to the station: STATION CALL LETTERS ADDRESS CITY STATE Please print your own name and address below: YOUR NAME and TITLE ADDRESS CITY August 1960 UPCOMING SCHOOL SHOWS TV-RADIOGRAM PUBLISHED BY THE NATIONAL EDUCATION ASSOCIATION BACK TO SCHOOL RADIO TAPE FEATURES PARENTS' QUESTIONS Beginning September 1, the Division of Press and Radio Relations of the National Education Association will make available to the nation's radio broadcasters a special 15-minute "Back-to-School" radio tape for use any time inthe month when some 48 million youngsters resume classroom work. The tape, entitled "Parents Ask About School..." will be built on actual ques- tions parents are asking this fall about new teaching methods, school curriculum and routines, extracurricular activities, homework, report cards, I.Q. tests, school ex- penses, and a host of other topics. Questions were supplied by the National Congress of Parents and Teachers, and are based on queries received from their 12 million members. They include questions from parents of youngsters just about to enter kindergarten or first grade, as well as from baffled mothers and dads of junior or senior high school students. Samples: "Some friends have told me I shouldn't help my second-grader with reading and arithmetic. Is this good advice?" "When I was in school, I studied geography and history. Why hasn't my seventh-grader had these subjects?" "My son is planning to go to college, yet he has to take something called 'shop.' Does this make any sense?" "Besides bus fare and lunch money, what expenses will my child have in high school?" Serving as moderator from the Washington studios of the National Education Association, Executive Secretary William G. Carr will pose the questions to four specially-selected teacher-experts in both subject matter and child guidance who will be stationed in studios in Dallas, Texas; Trenton, New Jersey; Waukesha, Wis- consin; and Palo Alto, California. The self-contained tape runs 14:30 minutes with an open and close suitable for use as received... or "Parents Ask About School..." can form the basis of a longer program using parents and teachers of the local community. The 2800 radio stations now receiving Air Letter have been alerted to the fact that this tape will be available September 1. You may want to check your local radio station to discover whether they have received information about it. If not, and if the station wants to receive the tape, please use form to order. PLEASE TURN THE PAGE > THREE TV SHOWS HAIL BACK-TO-SCHOOL MONTH As 48 million children put away their bathing suits and take out their schoolbags for the big trek back to the classroom, two major television networks are planning to salute this gigantic parade with three popular half-hour programs that feature an education story line. DONNA REED will star in the He Sip itch Bees first show, a special repeat pro- : ~_ nya gram of her dramatic network series, eh nt: Of AE, RE 8 TG, tone entitled "Flowers for the Teacher." |: eI BLT ; It will be broadcast over the fac- ilities of the American Broadcasting Company network at 8:00 P.M. EDT, Thursday, September l. The second will feature LORETTA YOUNG in "The Twenty-Cent Tip," one of the most popular dramas of the NBC-TV television series, "The Loretta Young Show." It may be seen at 2:30 P.M., EDT, and at 12:30 Pacific Daylight Time, on Wednesday, September 7, over NBC-TV. The cast of "Leave It to Donna Reed confers with the teacher of her TV Beaver" will appear in "Wally's Orchid," son, "Jeff. a program that was broadcast for the first time during Teaching Career Month in April 1960. The “Leave It to Beaver" series received a School Bell Award this summer at the National Education Association's annual convention in Los Angeles for its distinguished interpretation of education aired over a national television network. "Wally's Orchid" may be seen on the ABC television network at 8:30 P.M. EDT on Saturday, September 10. 4 Donna Reed frequently Loretta Young, as she Barbara Billingsley, who appears in TV shows on appears as the teacher plays "Beaver's" mother school themes. in "Twenty-Cent Tip." in "Leave It to Beaver." tll from the NATIONAL EDUCATION ASSOCIATION 1201 SIXTEENTH STREET, N.W. WASHINGTON 6, D. C. ADams 4-4855 For further information: Beatrice M. Gudridge or Joséph Hanlon FOR RELEASE: Sunday Papers August 21, 1960 NEA Surveys New Trends For Coming School Year WASHINGTON, August 20 -- The proverbial "10 o'clock scholar" in the coming school year may turn out to be, not a late comer, but a hard work- ing student, still boning away at his homework at 10 p. m. A lengthening school day is one of the trends uncovered by a National Education Association survey, made public today, of school plans for the coming year. Television courses, before or after the regular school day, will of- ten serve to stretch the instruction period in some school systems, such as Columbus, Ohio. Miami, Fla. will have "early bird classes," starting in the schools at 7:30 a. m., offering msic, typing, and other subjects difficult to fit into the regular school day. Grosse Pointe, Mich. is one of the school systems putting a new stress on the need for homework which may require students burning the midnight oil. Washington, D. C. will have one elementary school, with city-wide en- rollment of selected pupils, offering a stiff curriculum in the basic sub- jects and a heavy emphasis on learning and competition. Following is a summary of the Fall 1960 trends uncovered in the NEA survey: NEA Surveys New Trends EAST New York City -- Large scale television workshop programs for teach- ers of science and English. Half hour TV programs will reach them at school before they leave for the day. Programs will be followed by 90- minute workshops for discussion. Syracuse, N. Y. -- Longer school day (8:45 a.m. to 3 p.m.) to permit additional classroom time, usually seven-period day, with half hour for lunch. White Plains, N. Y. -- New senior high school has six buildings on campus. "Home rooms" abolished in favor of "teacher-counselor" system. Groups of 45-55 students will have same teacher-counselor for three years. Longer school day -- eight instructional periods. Buffalo, N. Y. -- All teachers, kindergarten through grade 12, to at- tend series of meetings aimed solely at improvement of instruction. Top- ics for discussion at these meetings were developed out of preliminary se- ries of five meetings held last Spring. Hempstead, N. Y. -- Central resource library, supplementing class- room libraries, will deliver special books requested by teachers to meet curriculum needs. Yonkers, N. Y. -- New programs for non-English speaking children, gift- ed students, and the emotionally disturbed. Foreign languages to be in- troduced experimentally in elementary schools. Mineola, N. Y. -- Final year of controlled experiment to determine if able pupils, attending school 11 months a year, can do four years' work in three years. NEA Surveys New Trends -3- EAST Newark, N. J. -- Russian offered in two high schools, a three year course; accelerated mathematics course to offer college level work in fourth year for talented high school students. Ridgewood, N. J. -- High school students offered advanced work dur- ing summer in mathematics, history and languages; new algebra course, de- veloped through research at Illinois University, to be offered in eighth and ninth grades. Elizabeth, N. J. -- New arithmetic course, developed at Illinois Uni- versity, to be offered in all first grades, one grade to be added each year thereafter. Aim is to teach in six years what is now taught in eight, stressing logical concepts rather than memorization of number facts and processes. Erie, Pa. -- Special classes for 25 highly gifted senior high school students who will do college level work. Philadelphia, Pa. -- Ford Foundation grant of $94,500 makes possible special intensive program, using team teacher approach, for 4500 cultur- ally deprived pupils in four schools. Aim is to develop radically differ- ent program to discover talent as well as latent delinquency. (Similar Ford- sponsored programs in six other cities -- Pittsburgh, Cleveland, Detroit, Chicago, St. Louis, Milwaukee.) Pittsburgh, Pa. -- Ford Foundation grant of $128,400 for teacher- team approach in five neighboring schools where enrollment totals 4600. Program will offer additional opportunities for the able; broader scope for those progressing at normal rate; particular attention for those need- ing extra help. NEA Surveys New Trends abe EAST Scranton, Pa. -- Follow-up study of all 1959 high school graduates to be made at one and five-year periods. Purpose: to evaluate curriculum and guidance programs of the schools in the light of later educational and oc- cupational experiences of graduates. Washington, D. C. -- One elementary school, with city-wide enrollment, to offer to selected pupils a demanding curriculum in reading, writing, a- rithmetic, spelling, penmanship, speaking, grammar, science, history, geog- raphy, music, art, and physical education. Desired end product, according to spokesmen, is not a "spoon-fed protected individual" but a "self- disciplined personality interested in continuing his education." Baltimore, Md. -- Non-graded primary to be tested in many schools; fur- ther experiments with team teaching and supplemental teaching to meet indi- vidual needs. Wilmington, Del. -- New large comprehensive senior high school to of- fer expanded program of instruction particularly in modern languages, indus- trial arts, and business training; exploratory program in psychiatric nurs- ing and rehabilitation to be added to vocational high school courses in practical nursing. Greenwich, Conn. -- Curriculum and Instructional Materials Center in the Central Administration building will bring together textbook collections, professional library, and non-book instructional materials as a one-step resource available to teaching staff. Westport, Conn. -- New program for evaluating the district's 289 teach- ers on professional competence, as well as parent, professional, and staff relations. Teachers will evaluate themselves and, in turn, be evaluated by principals. (more) NEA Surveys New Trends -5- SOUTH East Baton Rouge, La. -- Junior and senior high schools to use newly developed mathematics materials of the School Mathematics Study Group on an experimental basis. Chattanooga, Tenn. -- Ungraded primary to be established in one ele- mentary school. Knoxville, Tenn. -- Pilot experiment for pupils with I.Q.'s between 80- 90 in junior occupational training school aimed at preparing them for such jobs as nurses' aides, waitresses, retail clerks, and shop workers. Miami, Fla. -- "Early bird" classes (7:30 a.m.) to offer students a seventh period for music, typing, and other subjects they may be unable to fit into their regular high school schedule; accelerated mathematics program to be offered to able students, beginning in junior high. Atlanta, Ga. -- Particular attention this year on the humanities. In- tention is to reestablish history, the fine arts, literature, and ethical and esthetic values generally to a position of "fundamental and basic importance." Savannah, Ga. -- In cooperation with State Health Department and National Congress of Parents and Teachers, system will undertake pilot health study on "Continuous Supervision of Children" from birth, through high school. Dallas, Tex. -- Series of 10 half-hour television shows before opening of school, aimed primarily at preparing the 13,000 six-year-olds due to enroll this year. San Antonio, Tex. -- Results of summer program offering two hours a day instruction in oral English for 1200 pre-school children from Spanish-speaking homes will be watched closely. Birmingham, Ala. -- Blind children to be taught along with those with normal vision in one elementary school. School has resource room for blind pupils where they will receive instruction in special aids and other help as needed. (more) NEA Surveys New Trends -6- MIDWEST Akron, Ohio -- Will begin a fully articulated eight-year foreign lan- guage program, starting with the fifth grade and continuing through high school. French and Spanish will be offered. Cleveland, Ohio -- Expects large increase in half-day sessions. Many teachers, with lay assistants, will handle two half-sessions a day. Columbus, Ohio -- Early morning television course in remedial reading to be offered at junior high level, with supplementary work in school under teachers trained in remedial reading. Youngstown, Ohio -- Experimenting with hand operated mechanical cal- culating machines in arithmetic classes for selected groups; new foreign language laboratories in two high schools; microprojectors ordered for each elementary school for science classes. Detroit, Mich. -- New text, "Labor-Management Dynamics," published by Detroit Board of Education, to be used as guide for teachers in social studies; television course of 16 half-hour programs on foundations of arith- metic will be offered as in-service training for elementary teachers. Grosse Point, Mich. -- New report card system continues A BC scale, but henceforth it will represent cumulative grade instead of work during current marking period; pamphlet prepared to educate parents on need for homework and what they should do about it. Milwaukee, Wis. -- City wide television courses for elementary school pupils, offered as additional resources for classroom teachers in follow- ing areas: art, foreign language, music, physical education, science. At secondary level, offerings in biology, general science, U. S. history. (more ) NEA Surveys New Trends -T- MIDWEST St. Louis, Mo. -- New course in social studies, kindergarten through grade 12, developed by a committee of six which worked full time on it last year; ungraded primary to be established in all schools; television courses at college level for gifted high school students. Kansas City, Kan. -- New educational TV station, to go into operation, with four hours a day programmed primarily for elementary grades; non-graded primary organization in elementary schools; differentiated high school dip- lomas to indicate nature of high school work done. Wichita, Kan. -- Preliminary steps toward establishment of non-graded primary; elementary school day to.be lengthened by a half hour; lay readers to be employed for high school English papers; language laboratories for all intermediate and senior high schools. Chicago, Ill. -- Undertaking major study of high school dropouts, seek- ing a program of studies that might keep these students in school. Highland Park, Ill. -- Teaching of Spanish to be started in kindergar- ten and continued through eighth grade. Winnetka, Ill. -- Will employ local residents who speak French fluently as "foreign language assistants," working with teachers to instruct elemen- tary pupils in French. Des Moines, Ia. -- One American literature class will have 420 pupils. Three teachers will work with the class during the day, individually and in small groups. NEA Surveys New Trends -8- FAR WEST Beverly Hills, Calif.:-- Daily instruction in French and Spanish to be offered in grades one, three, and five to all pupils. Grades two, four, and six language instruction will be added next year, followed by grades seven and eight in 1962. The entire program, when complete, will provide 12-year sequence of foreign language instruction. Oakland, Calif. -- Talented high school pupils will be offered advanced physics and electronics in specially equipped laboratory added to Chabot Observatory, owned and operated by Oakland School District. Aim is to develop total science center for Oakland public schools. Palo Alto, Calif. -- Pilot study on guidance in secondary schools aimed at meeting recommendations in Conant report. Sacramento, Calif. -- Enriched accelerated program offered to gifted in intermediate grades enabling them to complete three years work in two. Aim is not to speed the pupil through, but to enable him to use the extra year in college work later. San Francisco, Calif. -- New biochemistry laboratory established with National Defense Education Act and Miranda Lux Foundation funds will be used by high school classes during regular hours and after school and on Saturdays by students of grade five and up from around the school district. Latter will be offered progrems in astronomy, biology, bio-chemistry, geology, mathematics, and chemistry. Portland, Ore. <= Curriculum revision aimed at improving content and in- struction in language arts, social studies, science, mathematics, and for- eign languages for college bound and other capable students. Summer institutes and campus courses to step up preparation of teachers for this revision were held this summer and are scheduled for two following summers. (more) NEA Surveys New Trends FAR WEST Salt Lake City, Utah -- West High School to have ability grouping in English, social studies, science, and mathematics. Courses planned for slow learners, average, and gifted. Also new courses in arts and business education. Tacoma, Wash. -- Research project to determine effectiveness of elec- tronic foreign language laboratories installed last year in-three high schools; planning three new elementary schools to combine regular facilities and aids for the handicapped so that students who need physical, occupation- al, or other therapy may spend part of school day in regular classroom. Phoenix, Ariz. -- Local commercial television station has made avail- able a half hour segment five days a week for senior social studies course. Hawaii -- Asian language programs extended by employment of five spe- cialists who will teach Chinese, Japanese, and Hindi to classroom teachers as well as their pupils. Teachers, learning along with pupils, will get added help from specialists. New multi-purpose elementary school near Pearl Harbor is unique dome-topped structure with movable inner partitions for experiments in team teaching, television, small and large group instruction, etc. 1201 SIXTEENTH STREET, N.W. WASHINGTON 6, D. C. ADams 4-4855 For further information: Beatrice M. Gudridge or Myrtle Bonn FOR RELEASE AT WILL Teachers to Study Promising New School Practices At NEA Convention, June 25-30; 10,000 Expected ATLANTIC CITY, June 20 -- A series of promising new educational practices is expected to move out of the file cabinet and into the classroom when more than 10,000 educators and observers, here for the 99th annual meeting of the National Education Association, get a complete run-down on how these practices worked in schools where they have actually been tried. Of the 400 meetings, seminars, and study groups scheduled for the week-long sessions, at least 16 deal directly with the topic, "Promising New Practices In Education.” Among them are programs for the academically talented, foreign language teaching in elementary schools, the use of teaching machines, and new trends in the teaching of biology, mathematics, and other subjects. Though not all new practices are expected to be adopted wholesale, the nation's teachers will for the first time have an opportunity to review them, make comparisons, question educators who have had experience with them, and re- late them to their own school needs. For example, the superintendents of four large-city school systems -- Boston, Washington, Atlanta, Houston, and San Francisco -- will offer an analysis of pro- grams for academically talented students in large cities. Equally qualified per- sonnel will analyze a variety of other subjects ranging from team teaching to parent-teacher conferences. (more ) Teachers to Study Promising New School Practices at Convention In other sessions and in business meetings, the convention will reflect large social questions as well as specialized educational problems. Topics scheduled for discussion include "education for the disadvantaged American," "education in a credit-card society,” "understanding today's families,” and "what to teach the future Peace Corpsman." Major speakers include Peace Corps Director Sargent Shriver; Dr. Jonas Salk of the School of Medicine at the University of Pittsburgh; U. S. Commissioner of Education ‘Sterling Ms McMurrin; Sir Ronald Gould of England, president of the World Confederation of Organizations of the Teaching Profession; Senator Wayne Morse of Oregon; Congressman Frank Thompson of New Jersey; Senator Oren E. Long of Hawaii; NBC Newsman Martin Agronsky; and Daniel D. Mich, editorial director, Look magazine. An annual feature of the convention will be the presentation of "School Bell Awards" for distinguished interpretive reporting on education. This year there will be 23 awards in the fields of publishing and broadcasting. The awards are presented jointly by seven national educational organizations. Business before the convention includes a proposal, recommended by the NEA board of directors, to strengthen professional requirements for eligibility to NEA membership. The board has recommended that after August 31, 1964, active NEA membership be limited to those engaged in the profession who have earned at least a bachelor's degree and who are eligible to hold a regular legal teaching certificate. This requirement would not be applicable to those who were members of NEA before the effective date. The proposed change, according to NEA President Clarice Kline, is in accord with the long-range goal of NEA to elevate the standards of the teaching profession and the quality of education provided in the schools of the nation. (more) Teachers to Study Promising New School Practices at Convention Convention delegates will also be concerned with developing a statement of principles to guide local associations in their dealings with local boards of education. In some parts of the country there has been a movement toward collective bargaining between school boards and local associations. The NEA board of directors will propose, as an alternative, a resolution urging that the two groups should consider matters of mutual concern as a joint repponaiwidsty. The resolution suggests that professional educational organi- zations have the right, through democratically elected representatives, to par- ticipate in the determination of school policies, including s@lary and other conditions for professional service. This procedure, the resolution says, should preclude the use of the strike by teachers, and preclude also arbitrary, unilateral action by school boards. A new vice-president and president-elect is to be chosen at the conven- tion. This officer -- a woman this year by NEA tradition -- will assume the top office a year later at the organization's convention in Denver, Colorado. Announced candidates for the post are Mrs. Hazel Blanchard, an elementary school principal of Fresno, California, and Miss Lucille Carroll, English teach- er of Wooster, Ohio. The president-elect who will take office at the close of the Atlantic City Convention is Ewald Turner of Pendleton, Oregon, director of guidance and an industrial arts instructor at Helen McCune Junior High School there. Of the 10,000 persons attending the convention, 6000 will be delegates and 4000 will be observers. The NEA has a membership of 765,000 teachers and other educators. +t # # 1201 SIXTEENTH STREET, N.W. WASHINGTON 6, D. C. ADams 4-4855 For further information: Beatrice M. Gudridge or Joseph Hanlon FOR RELEASE AT WILL NEA Convention Expected to Draw 10,000 Teachers, Observers to Atlantic City WASHINGTON, June 9 -- Some 10,000 teachers and other educators are expected to attend the 99th annual convention of the National Education Association which opens June 25 at Atlantic City, N. Jd. In general meetings each day, and in almost 400 smaller gatherings of NEA departments, committees, and commissions, the delegates will explore the impli- cations of the convention theme set by NEA President Clarice Kline of Waukesha, Wisconsin: "A Charge to Keep." There will be 6000 official delegates and several thousand interested observers at the convention. Miss Kline's theme -- the "charge" she imposed on the profession when she took office a year ago -- has to do with faith and pride in the teaching pro- fession, a strong commitment to public education, and a determination to move the profession ahead. The NEA, with a membership of about 760,000, is the world's largest pro- fessional organization. A new feature of this year's convention will be a series of meetings under the heading of "Promising New Practices in Education," at which leaders in the profession will describe not some new theory of what ought to be done, but some- thing new that is actually being done in some one or more school systems. (more) NEA Convention Expected to Draw 10,000 wes Topics to be discussed at these meetings will range through such subjects as the teaching of the academically talented, foreign language teaching in elementary schools, the use of teaching machines, new trends in the teaching of biology, mathematics, and other subjects, and similar developments. Among the distinguished speakers who will be heard are Sir Ronald Gould of England, president of the World Confederation of Organizations of the Teaching Profession; Peace Corps Director Sargent Shriver; Dr. Jonas Salk of the School of Medicine, University of Pittsburgh; News Commentator Martin Agronsky, of the National Broadcasting Co.; United States Senators Oren E. Long (D-Hawaii), Wayne Morse (D-Ore.), Harrison Williams (D-N.J.), Rep. Frank Thompson (D-N.J.) and U.S. Commissioner of Education Sterling McMurrin. An annual feature of the convention will be the presentation of "School Bell Awards" for distinguished interpretive reporting on education. This year there will be 23 awards in the fields of publishing and broadcasting. The awards are presented jointly by seven national educational organizations. Business before the convention includes a proposal, recommended by the NEA board of directors, that would strengthen the professional requirements for eligi- bility to NEA membership. The board has recommended that after Aug. 31, 1964, active NEA membership be limited to those engaged in the profession who have earned at least a bachelor's degree and who are eligible to hold a regular legal teaching certificate. This requirement would not be applicable to those who were members of NEA before the effective date. F The proposed change, Miss Kline said, is in accord with the long range goal of NEA to elevate the standards of the teaching profession and the quality of education provided in the schools of the nation. (more) NEA Convention Expected to Draw 10,000 = Convention delegates will also be concerned with developing a statement of principles to guide local associations in their dealings with local boards of education. In some parts of the country there has been a movement toward col- lective bargaining between school boards and local associations. The NEA board of directors will propose, as an alternative, a resolution urging that the two groups should consider matters of mutual concern as a joint responsibility. The resolution suggests that professional educational organiza- tions have the right, through democratically elected representatives, to participate in the determination of school policies, including salary and other conditions for professional service. This procedure, the resolution says, should pidulwte the use of the strike by teachers, and preclude also arbitrary, unilateral action by school boards. A new vice president and president-elect is to be chosen at the convention. This officer -- a woman this year by NEA tradition -- will assume the top office a year later at the organization's convention in Denver, Colorado. Announced candidates for the post are Miss Lucille Carroll, an English teacher at Wooster, Ohio, and former president of the NEA Department of Classroom Teachers; and Mrs. Hazel Blanchard, an elementary school principal of Fresno, California. The president-elect who will take office at the close of the Atlantic City convention is Ewald Turner of Pendleton, Oregon,director of guidance and an indug- trial arts instructor at Helen McCune Junior High School there. tit @ from the NATIONAL EDUCATION ASSOCIATION 1201 SIXTEENTH STREET, N.W WASHINGTON 6, D. C. ADams 4-4855 For further information: Beatrice M. Gudridge or Joseph Hanlon FOR RELEASE: P.M. PAPERS Thursday, Feb. 11, 1960 New Preparation Program Proposed For Superintendents of Schools WASHINGTON, Feb. 10 - Each year about 2000 school boards in the United States choose someone to become their superintendent of schools -- the executive leader of the education program in the district, a program which is often also the district's largest business enterprise. Just as sidelines, the superintendent may be required to operate a bus system that transports more passengers than any other in the area and a lunch program that makes him the biggest restaurateur. The American Association of School Administrators, the professional organization of school superintendents, has taken a long and introspective look at the process of choosing school superintendents, and at the superintendents themselves -- how they became qualified for their jobs, how they keep them- selves proficient, how school boards go about the business of choosing from among them and, most importantly, what sort of professional training should go into the making of a superintendent. The commission which prepared this report, Professional Administrators for America's Schools, as the 1960 yearbook of AASA, a department of the National (more) New Preparation Program Proposed Education Association, came to the conclusion that there should be a very drastic overhauling of the professional preparation of school administratons. The book spells out the special and costly type of post graduate work AASA believes should be required for school administrators. The organization has amended its constitution to provide that after 1963 all new members must have completed two years of graduate study in university programs designed to pre- pare school administrators and approved by an accreditation body endorsed by the AASA executive committee. The book uses a hypothetical "State U." to describe the program of graduate study recommended because no single university now offers such a program, although some elements of it are found in a number of universities. At State U. likely prospects for educational administrators-to-be are spotted during their undergraduate work and encouraged to prepare themselves for that field. Ordinarily they are identified early enough so that they can tie in the preparation for administration along with the other work required for a master's degree. In such instances the requirement for a master's degree in school administration would include 15 semester hours of work in the liberal arts and 15 specifically related to competency in the candidate's teaching field. Having completed the liberal arts work and satisfied other requirements for admission, the prospective administrators are enrolled in a block-of-time pro- gram which occupies them full time during a nine-week summer session or all of the mornings of a regular semester. The central activity here is a comprehensive community study in which a group of the candidates gathers and analyzes all pertinent data on a community's historical background, geographical features, economic and political life, recreational facilities, power structures, religious and ethical influences, etc. (more) New Preparation Program Proposed -3- In this they have the guidance of professors from several departments of the university, particularly those in government, economics, sociology, and psychology. After completing the study and report, the group uses the raw material for further studies, such as the development of enrollment projections, class schedules, and budgets. In Phase 2 of the new program, the candidates revert to the more familiar three semester hour course of studies in such fields as economics, sociology, speech, and business management. Seminars on school administration, business administration, and public administration may be included. The final six “o nine hours of Phase 2 is aimed at specialization for prospective school superintendents, school business managers, or school principals. The third and final phase of the program takes place in the field and consists of either a full-time internship for one semester or a part-time apprenticeship for one school year, working with a capable superintendent or other administrator. A supervising professor from State U. has general responsibility for overseeing this program and holding weekly seminars for the interns. This type of preparation program, the book suggests, probably could not, or should not be provided in more than about 20 percent of the schools which now attempt to offer some sort of preparation for school administrators. It would be quite costly, relative to most of the programs that now exist, with heavy outlays required for libraries and laboratories, internships and other on-the-job learning experiences, significant research projects, and adequate fellowships and scholarships. Chairman of the AASA commission which wrote the yearbook is Hollis A. Moore, Jr., executive secretary of the AASA Committee for the Advancement of School Administration. (more ) New Preparation Program Proposed - } . Other members are: Superintendent Melvin W. Barnes, Oklahoma City, Okla.; President Elmer Ellis, University of Missouri, Columbia; John I. Goodlad, director of the Center for Teacher Education, University of Chicago; Daniel E. Griffiths, associate professor of education, Teachers College, Columbia University, New York City. Also, Warren G. Hill, state commissioner of education, Augusta, Maine; Superintendent S. P. Marland, Jr., Winnetka, I11.; Kenneth E. McIntyre, professor of educational administration, University of Texas, Austin; Superintendent Paul J. Misner, Glencoe, I1l.; and Assistant Superintendent Lawrence E. Toddhunter, Fresno, Calif. Copies of Professional Administrators for America's Schools may be ordered from the American Association of School Administrators, 201 Sixteenth Street, N. W., Washington 6,0. .Cs Single copy, $5. 1201 SIXTEENTH STREET, N.W. WASHINGTON 46, D. C. For further information: Roy K. Wilson or Beatrice M. Gudridge SPECIAL TO STATE JOURNALS There's No Quick-Mix for Quality Teachers Is Theme for 1960 Teaching Career Month WASHINGTON -- The third nationwide observance of Teaching Career Month gets underway this April with the warning that there's no "quick-mix" for producing quality teachers. The process for turning out the topnotch teachers needed in the 60's, says the National Education Association, coordinator of the month-long observance, is a slow one, involving careful selection and encouragement of qualified young people...who must then undergo four to five years of careful training. Teaching Career Month which is designed to focus national attention on the recruitment, preparation, and retention of top-quality teachers, has these objectives: to improve the schools by providing increasing numbers of fine teachers (in the fall of 1959, 227,000 new teachers were needed, but only 92,000 college graduates were expected to enter teaching). to encourage larger numbers of qualified young people to become teachers. to influence the most competent teachers to remain in the profession. to inspire teachers to speak up for their profession and encourage others to become teachers. to educate parents on the opportunities and rewards the teaching profession offers their: children. to show that for our country's survival, teaching mst be the pre-eminent profession in American life. There's No Quick-Mix Cooperating in the preparation of materials for Teaching Career Month are the following NEA groups: the Department of Classroom Teachers, the National Commission on Teacher Education and Professional Standards, the Student National Education Association, the Future Teachers of America, and the Division of Press & Radio Relations. Other agencies of the NEA will be helping to promote purposes of the month, as will such groups as the National Congress of Parents and Teachers, the National School Boards Association, and the American Association of University Women. Local observances of Teaching Career Month in 1958 and 1959 included special Teaching Career Month stories and features in newspapers; Future Teacher of America club luncheons for parents; PTA programs planned around the teacher shortage theme; special editions of school and PTA publications; business-sponsored advertising promoting Teaching Career Month; programs honoring older and retired teachers of the community; public library displays of educational materials; and radio and television programs dramatizing the importance of the teacher in American society. To assist school systems and teacher associations in planning local observance of Teaching Career Month, the NEA has prepared a special "Teaching Career Month Kit,” containing display and informational materials for students, parents, and other citizens. The Kit includes the following materials: The planning folder, "There's No Quick-Mix for Quality Teachers"; a parent's folder, "Wondering Whether Your Child Should be a Teacher?" a students' folder, "What Shall I Teach?"; a folder on teacher drop-out, "Stop Up That Sieve"; the 1960 revised edition of the 17-page booklet "Invitation to Teaching"; an aptitude quiz for students, "How's Your T.Q.?" and a four-color poster, "Teaching: Do You Measure Up?" Cost of the single kit is 35¢ with the following discounts: 2-9 Kits, 10 percent discount; 10 or more Kits, 20 percent discount. Order from and make checks payable to: Teaching Career Month, National Education Association, 1201 Sixteenth Street, N.W., Washington 6, D.C. tt _ from the NATIONAL EDUCATION ASSOCIATION 1201 SIXTEENTH STREET, N.W. WASHINGTON 46, D. C. For further information: Beatrice M. Gudridge or Joseph Hanlon Sunday Papers February 7, 1960 Study Urges School Buildings Planned To Translate Curriculum Into Facilities WASHINGTON, Feb. 6 -- How to design a school building so that it will reflect the educational program that is conducted there was the two-year task of a commission named by the American Association of School Administrators (AASA), & department of the National Education Association. This commission of seven distinguished educators and architects has just produced an illustrated 229-page report, Planning America's School Buildings, as a comprehensive guidebook for all who are concerned with meeting the nation's need for new classroom and laboratory space. Their basic premise was, as Dr. Finis E. Engleman, executive secretary of AASA writes in a foreword, that a school building should be a “translation into teaching facilities and space" of the school curriculum and all that it involves. "As such," Dr. Engleman adds, "well planned buildings assist teachers, administrators, and pupils in achieving the basic purposes of education. Thus the book is not only an aid to planning and building schoolhouses, but of inestimable value to the curriculum maker." Authors of the report maintain that the quarter century of most rapid growth for America lies immediately ahead, and that planning for school (mgre) 2 - Study Urges School Buildings buildings which will be suitable 25 or 30 years from now cannot be based on stock plans or inflexible designs. The cultural changes to be expected in the next 25 years, they say, will be even greater and more far reaching than those of the immediate past. As one example of how tomorrow's school of the future mst be adapted to meet new needs, the book points out that the future will demand a more penetrating, comprehensive, and far reaching guidance program. This will be reflected in a demand for more facilities for testing, for space to facilitate individual counseling, and for such specialized school personnel as psychologists, psychiatric workers, and social workers. Similarly, it may become necessary to redesign the facilities for teaching science in the elementary schools, as well as in the secondary schools, if we are to achieve the levels of excellence demanded by the times. Greater provision mst be made also, the book suggests, for adult education programs, which have been expanding rapidly and may be expected to contimue to do s0. Much more extensive use will be made in the future, the book points out, of mass commnication media, such as radio and television. In many instances, programs will be brought to large groups of students by outstanding teachers through the medium of the television screen. Already some buildings are being designed on the concept of a "school within a school," providing a large common area for such broadcasts, along with smaller units for more personally guided instruction. The trend toward the year-round school is another development cited by the authors as influencing school design in the years ahead. They look forward (more) 3 - Study Urges School Buildings to summer schools planned to offer increased opportunities for school children voluntarily enrolled -- perhaps one-third of the student body. Teachexs would be employed on a 12-month basis, they suggest, with perhaps one-third of them teaching during the summer and another third involved in instructional planning and curriculum improvement. The other third, through carefully planned programs, would be gaining first-hand experience in business, industry, and government, and so improving their qualifications as teachers. Copies of Planning America's School Buildings may be ordered from the American Association of School Administrators, 1201 Sixteenth Street, N. W., Washington 6, D. C. Single copy, $6. al from the NATIONAL EDUCATION ASSOCIATION 1201 SIXTEENTH STREET, N.W. WASHINGTON 6, D. C. ADams 4-4855 For further information: Beatrice M. Gudridge or Joseph Hanlon Sunday Papers February 7, 1960 Life Cycle of a School WASHINGTON, Feb. 6 -- School administrators have come to realize that in the course of the useful life of a school building, the neighborhood around it may house widely varying numbers of children. In planning schools, they mst realize that the average neighborhood, over a period of 60 years, goes through four cycles, each lasting about 15 years. In the beginning, about 80 percent of new urban dwelling units are occupied initially by couples in the first five years of their marriage. The initial impact of a new housing development on school enrollment, clearly is not its maximm impact. During the first 15-year period the birth rate rises, with maximm impact on the elementary school level. The second 15-year cycle is characterized by a declining birth rate, with the maximm enrollment impact at the high school level. Phase three is characterized by a sociological and economic change in the area. Older families tend to move out and are replaced by persons on a somewhat lower cultural and economic level. The incoming families tend to be younger, and the birth rate of the neighborhood begins to rise again. In the fourth and final phase, the property is deteriorating. Slums and blighted areas emerge. School enrollments tend to mishroom in a short period of time. (more) Life Cycle of a School -- 2 Consideration mist be given in the initial planning to all of these cycles, a recent study of school buildings says, because the school will be there to serve the neighborhood through all of them. The study, titled Planning America's School Buildings, was released today by the American Association of School Administrators, a department of the National Education Association. FOR RELEASE: Sunday Papers February 7, 1960 Local Man Co-Author of Book On School Buildings WASHINGTON, Feb. 6 - Mr. William H. Curtis, Supervising Principal, Central School District #4, Brookhaven, Bellport, New York is one of the authors of a new book intended as a guide for school administeators concerned with the design of new school buildings. Published by the American Association of School Administrators, & department of the National Education Association, Planning America's School Buildings is a 229 page illustrated volume based on the premise that the structure and facilities of a school building should be determined by the nature of the educational program it is intended to house. The book is the work of the AASA 1960 Yearbook Commission, consisting of distinguished architects and educators. Members of the Commission, in addition to Mr. Curtis were; Mr. Charles R. Colbert, Architect of New Orleans, Louisiana; Mr. Shirley Cooper, Chairman, Associate Executive Secretary, AASA, Washington, D.C.; Charles Gibson, Chief, Bureau of School Planning, State Department of Education, Sacramento, California; Robert S. Gilchrist, Superintendent of Schools, Vniversity City, Missouri; (more) Local Man Co-Author of John W. McLeod, Washington, D.C.; and Arnold S. Tjomsland, Director, School Plant Facilities, State Board of Education, Olympia, Washington. Serving as special contributors to the report were: William J. Ellena, Assistant Executive Secretary, AASA, Washington, D.C.; and George W. Holmes, III, School of Education, Peabody Hall, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginie. from the NATIONAL EDUCATION ASSOCIATION 1201 SIXTEENTH STREET, N.W WASHINGTON 6, D. C. ADams 4-4855 For further information: Beatrice M. Gudridge or Myrtle Bonn FOR RELEASE: A.M. Papers Monday, February 1, 1960 Curriculum Association Issues Study On Leadership for Improving Instruction WASHINGTON, Jan. 31 -- If democracies are to retain their world lead- ership, they must show competence and expertness -- not mediocrity -- in solving world problems. This and the premise that educators have more responsibility than others to develop such competence is the subject that concerns the more than 200 educational leaders who contributed to the 1960 Yearbook of the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development (ASCD), a department of the National Education Association. The book, titled Leadership for Improving Instruction, is a search through what is known about democratic leadership plus an analysis of how it can be applied toward instructional improvement. As the authors admit, the many complex factors which influence human behavior make application something more easily preached than practiced. Outstanding among the factors said to influence the educational leader -- whether it be superintendent or classroom teacher -- is what he believes is expected of him by the community, by his superiors, his co-workers, his students, and by the organizational structure of the school system. (more ) Curriculum Association Productivity bogs down when there is a conflict over what is expected. Among the many examples of such conflicts cited in the study is one con- cerning the overall concept of leadership. "The tradition of authoritarian leadership in business and the military, for instance, is often carried over to education. Frequently, the cul- tural stereotype of a leader is that of one who master-minds situations and through strong action works out solutions," says the study. The stereo- type held may, of course, be very different, but in any casej such con-= flicts tend to hamper effectiveness and achievement. "There is much evidence from studies in various areas that a consider- able measure of agreement regarding role perceptions is important to group morale, productivity, and the total success of any group operation," the study states The solution, it continues, lies in democratic group exploration with the goal of reaching some agreement. In a school situation, the study continues, many of the conflicts could be lessened if potential leaders were to be tested in actual school situations and if groups affected by the leadership position would parti- cipate in the selection. The educators’ concern with the question of leadership is summarized in this statement: "Today security and social justice are the first priorities of all mankind. The world is undergoing an era of rising expectations and a further turbulent expansion of the industrial revolution everywhere. Our task is to see to it that the new balance among these goals does not shift in the direction of conformity and security at the expense of freedom and individual responsibility." (more ) Curriculum Association The Committee responsible for the development of the Yearbook includes: Glen Hass, chairman, professor of education, University of Florida, Gainesville; Mary A. Adams, assistant superintendent of elementary educa- tion, Baltimore (Md.) Public Schools; Maurice R. Ahrens, professor and head, Department of Elementary Education, University of Florida, Gaines- ville; Vernon E. Anderson, dean, College of Education, University of Maryland, College Park; Herschel K. Bennett, deputy superintendent in charge of instruction, Dearborn, Mich.; Charles L. Boye, associate pro- fessor of education, Wayne State University, Detroit, Mich. (deceased); Harold D. Drummond, professor of elementary education, George Peabody College for Teachers, Nashville, Tenn.; Paul N. Johnson, assistant super- intendent in charge of instruction, Livonia (Mich.) Public Schools; Earl C. Kelley, professor of education, Wayne State University, Detroit, Mich.; Albert Klevan, assistant professor of education, Wayne State University, Detroit, Mich.; Margaret Lindsey, professor of education, Teachers College, Columbia University, New York City; Gordon N. MacKenzie, professor of education and head, Department of Curriculum and Teaching, Teachers College, Columbia University, New York City; Robert B. Myers, director, P.K. Yonge Laboratory School, University of Florida, Gainesville; Gertrude Noar, national director, Department of Education, Anti-Defamation League, B'nai B'rith, New York City; John A. Ramseyer, professor of education, Ohio State University, Columbus; Mary Neel Smith, principal, Ash Grove School, Denver, Col.; Harold M. Wilson, principal, Wakefield High School, Arlington, Va. Note: Copies of Leadership for Improving Instruction may be ordered from the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development, NEA, 1201 16th St., N.W., Washington 6, D.C. Single copy, $3.75. ttt from the NATIONAL EDUCATION ASSOCIATION 1201 SIXTEENTH STREET, N.W WASHINGTON 4, D. C. ADams 4-4855 For further information: Beatrice M. Gudridge or Joseph Hanlon FOR RELEASE: A.M. Papers Thursday, Jan. 28, 1960 Educators Form Council To Administer Research Funds WASHINGTON, Jan. 27 -- Formation of the Council for Research in Education, an organization which will seek and administer funds for educational research, was announced today by its newly elected chair- man, Kenneth E. Anderson, dean of the School of Education at the University of Kansas at Lawrence, Kans. Delegates from 21 national organizations participated in organ- izing the new group. The Council will not do research itself, but may publish reports of research, especially in instances where it obtains the necessary financial support. Officers named include the chairman, Dr. Anderson, who is also president of the National Association for Research in Science Teach- ing; vice chairman, Boyd Harshbarger of Virginia Polytechnic Institute, representing the American Statistical Association; secretary, Frank W. Hubbard, assistant executive secretary for information services, NEA; and treasurer, John Darley, executive secretary of the American Psychological Association. Those elected to the board of directors, in addition to the officers, were: Howard McClusky of the University of Michigan, repre- senting the Adult Education Association of the U.S.A.; Maynard Bemis, (more) Educators Form Council -- 2 executive secretary, Phi Delta Kappa fraternity, Bloomington, Ind., and Percival M. Symonds, professor emeritus, Teachers College, Columbia University, representing the American Educational Research Association. Dr. Anderson said there had been a notable increase in the amount of research on educational problems. The Council, he added, will coordinate interdisciplinary interests and capabilities in a scientific approach to educational research. The Council will seek funds for these purposes, he added, from foundations, business and industry, individuals and other sources. ttt 7 from the NATIONAL EDUCATION ASSOCIATION 1201 SIXTEENTH STREET, N.W WASHINGTON 6, D. C ADams 4-4855 For further information: Beatrice M. Gudridge or Helen Graziano FOR RELEASE: Sunday papers January 24, 1960 $18-Billion School Business Requires "Businesslike" Financing, NEA says WASHINGTON, Jan. 23 - One of our nation's biggest businesses is being financed in a decidedly unbusinesslike way. Education - an over $18-billion annual invest- ment. -.is financially dependent on those government sources least able to support it, states a booklet just released by the National Education Association. Entitled, What Everyone Should Know About Financing Our Schools, the booklet points out that the percentage of school revenue coming from the three levels of government is inversely related to their revenue raising ability. Local government, weakest in ability to raise tax revenue, is responsible for 56 percent of all school financing. Most of the remainder of school support -- 40 percent -- comes from the state, which is second in taxing ability. The most effective source of tax revenue, the federal government, contributes only four percent of public school money, although it raises 69 percent of all taxes. To operate public education on a level consistent with national survival and progress, the NEA Committee on Educational Finance which prepared the booklet, recommends that Federal support to education must supplement what states and localities provide. It points to the superior tax-collecting procedures inherent in the Federal government which has been able to support highways, housing, agriculture, hospitals, welfare, and a $46-billion defense budget. Probably more important than the current proportion of public school expenditures is the ability of each government to meet the estimated $10 billion increase in school costs before the end of the decade. Increased enrollments, particularly at the more expensive higher education levels, and mobility of population will add to the present acute shortage of classrooms and qualified teachers. According to the (more ) 16-Billion School Business Committee, "educational demands will not be met fully if the financing of education continues to rest solely upon local and state ability to raise tax revenues." The booklet ascribes the weakness of local finencing to its dependence on the property tax. Because of uneven distribution of property valuation, children in many communities are not enjoying "their full educational birthright." Also, the property tax is only a minor fraction of tax capacity. As a result, the typical school budget authorizes less than is needed to provide first-rate schooling for all pupils. States are also limited in their ability to adequately supplement local finan- cing efforts, the NEA booklet states. Becaus f interstate competition, many states hesitate to raise necessary taxes for fear of discouraging new residents end business concerns Since states also differ markedly in their ability to raise money, there is an inequality of educational opportunity in our nation. The Committee offers ea number of suggestions for improving local and state financing. There should be uniform assessment of property at full value, consolidation of excessively small school districts, and a lessening of unduly-restrictive limits on local property-taxing powers. By equalization methods and flat grants to districts, the state can support local efforts Hovever, the Committee on Educational Finance warns that "even though states and localities fully reform their procedures for raising school revenues, they will con- tinue to fall short of raising the amounts required." If the nation is to realize the full potential of its human resources, there must be “adequacy of the financlal. t ~ support of education at all government levels--local, state, and national," it concludes. one Should Know About Financing Our Schools. was written by John K. a Our 8 Note: Copies of the 63-page booklet, What Everyone Should Know About Financing chools, may be obtained from the National Education Association, 1201 loth St., N.W., Washington 6, D.C. Single copy, 50¢. 1201 SIXTEENTH STREET, N.W WASHINGTON 4, D. C. ADams 4-4855 For further information: Beatrice M. Gudridge or Myrtle Bonn FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Resignation of Indianapolis Superintendent Under Investigation by NEA Defense ommission WASHINGTON, Jan. 13 -- A study of the problems leading up to the recent controversial resignation of Herman Shibler as superintendent of schools in Indianapolis, Ind., was announced today by Dr. Earle W. Wiltse, chairman of the National Commission for the Defense of Democracy Through Education of the Nation- al Education Association. A special committee will begin interviewing individuals and groups in Indianapolis on Monday, Jan. 10, Dr. Wiltse said. He explained that the special committee to conduct the investigation was set up as a result of requests from individual citizens and organizations in Indianapolis, members of state education- al organizations, and national associations of school administrators. "Me Indianapolis school system ranks high among large city school systems in the nation," Dr. Wiltse noted. "Therefore, the suddenly requested resignation of a highly respected superintendent such as Dr. Shibler has national implica- tions for the entire profession." It is expected that the NEA special committee will be in the city for at least three days. A meeting has been requested with both the present and recently retired members of the Indianapolis Board of Education. Dr. Wiltse announced that will be glad to try to arrange interviews with individuals and groups committee believe they have information important to an understanding of the controversy. NEA special committee will be housed in the Sheraton-Lincoln Hotel. (more) Indianapolis Superintendent -- page 2 Members of the committee are: Dr. Lowell B. Fisher, chairman, member of the Board of Education, Urbana (321. ) School System; Mrs. H. M. Mulberry, honorary life member, National School Boards Association, and former member of the Chicago Board of Education; Dr. Dale K. Hayes, Department of School Administration, Uni- versity of Nebraska, Lincoln; Dr. William Jansen, retired superintendent, New York City Schools; Philip J. Hickey, superintendent of schools, St. Louis, Mo.; William R. Stover, member of NEA Committee on Tenure and Academic Freedom, and superintend- ent, Mainland Regional High School District, Atlantic County, Linwood, N.d.; and Miss Lois Edinger, member of NEA Defense Commission, and on-camera teacher, WUNC-TV, Chapel Hill, N.C. The committee will be assisted by members of the staff of the NEA Defense Commission. Dr. Wiltse explained that the NEA Defense Commission was established in 1941 purpose of helping to develop understanding of the important relationship between a better education for all people and the maintenance of the American way of Jife. One of the functions of the NEA Defense Commission, Dr. Wiltse continued, is to "defend teachers, schools and the cause of education against unjust attacks; to investigate controversies involving teachers, schools, educational methods and procedures, justly, fearlessly and in the public interest; and to issue appropri- ate reports of its activities." @ from the NATIONAL EDUCATION ASSOCIATION 1201 SIXTEENTH STREET, N.W WASHINGTON 6, D. C. ADams 4-4855 For further information: Beatrice M. Gudridge or Joseph Hanlon FOR RELEASE: A.M. Papers Wednesday, Jan. 13, 1960 NEA Estimates 400,000 Gifted Students are "Neglected"; Advises Administrators on Effective Programs for. Them WASHINGTON, Jan. 12 - The odds are there are only one or two in any classroom, but how to deal with them is one of the most challenging questions confronting any teacher. These are the "gifted" children -- the relatively small group with out- standingly superior intellectual and creative abilities. What the schools can do to improve their work with this group is outlined in a new publication of the National Education Association: Administration Procedures and School Practices for the Aeademically Talented Student in the Secondary School. How many "gifted" children there are depends on the definition and the criteria used to identify them. Acceptable measurements put the number at somewhat fewer than two million of an assumed school population of 30 million. Many of these, of course, are being adequately dealt with in school, but the National Education Association and the National Manpower Council figure that some 400,000 bright children a year are denied the full chance to develop all their potential. To aid school principals and superintendents in developing programs for the neglected 400,000, the National Education Association, through its Project on the Academically Talented Student has made the new publication available with the financial assistance of the Carnegie Corporation and in cooperation with the National Association of Secondary School Principals, an NEA department. The book indicates the administrative practices which have been found effective and the steps that must be taken before a program for the gifted students can function permanently and smoothly. (more) Gifted Students It is a bit disturbing to discover that one of the first obstacles to be over- come is, as the book reports: "to make high achievement acceptable." The diffi- culty here is compounded of many factors -- objections by parents because their children are not considered to be gifted; the inclination of children to "be like everybody else" which may lead the gifted to hide their talents; the higher esteem in which athletic prowess is held, and the notion that special programs for gifted students are "undemocratic." The book discusses the problem of early identification of the gifted students and the various procedures such as acceleration, enrichment, and grouping which may be employed in dealing with them. One section is devoted to an exposition of particular programs which have been undertaken in specific communities in a variety of situations. Some are concerned with individual schools, others with programs in typical cities, large and small, or in counties. There is an extensive bibliography and a directory of organizations which are concerned with the gifted child. Copies of Administration Procedures and School Practices for the Academically Talented Student in the Secondary School may be ordere@ from the National Education Association, 1201 Sixteenth St., N.W., Washington 6, D.C. Single copies, $1.25. @ fom the NATIONAL EDUCATION ASSOCIATION 1201 SIXTEENTH STREET, N.W WASHINGTON 6, D. C. ADams 4-4855 FOR RELEASE: Tuesday p.m. January 5, 1960 Teacher Report Card on Schools: Need Improvement WASHINGTON, Jan. 4 — The nation's teachers gave the nation's parents a report card on schools this week and some of the scores were low indeed. The message to parents is in the form of a 16-page pamphlet called "Will Your Child Get a Quality Education?", and is published by the National Education Association, representing some 700,000 teachers. Among the findings: Of every 10 pupils in the fifth grade, only 6 will finish high school; of every three who enter high school, one will leave without a diploma. Among the top quarter of the ablest high school graduates, 3 boys in 10 and 4 girls in 10 do not enter college. The chances are 1 in 14 that this year the child's elementary school teacher will not be a college graduate; 9 in 10 that at some time during a child's years in elementary school one of his teachers will not be a college graduate. Only one elementary school in five now has a library. Nearly a fifth of the high schools offer neither physics nor chemistry; nearly a fifth do not offer plane geometry; only half of the urban school systems offered either enrichment or remedial programs last summer. Many schools pose definite safety hazards. (In 1957 there were 4300 school and college fires). Teacher salaries, averaging $5025 this year, are fixed as though teachers were in oversupply; actually there is a current shortage of at least 135,000 qualified teachers. The booklet is being sent to every member of the National Education Association with the January issue of the NEA Journal. * # # #4 Note to Editors: This story is being released to Washington correspondents for their use January 5. However, because of the feature possibilities of the booklet, we thought you would be interested in having a copy for future reference and possible editorial comment. @ from the NATIONAL EDUCATION ASSOCIATION 1201 SIXTEENTH STREET, N.W. WASHINGTON 4, D. C. ADams 4-4855 For further information: Beatrice Gudridge or Joseph Hanlon FOR RELEASE: A.M. Papers Monday, January 4, 1960 NEA Secretary Calls on Congress To Make Right Choice of School Bills WASHINGTON, Jan. 2 — With action on education bills seemingly slated for early consideration in the session of Congress which opens Wednesday, the National Education Association today sought to rally support for the Murray-Metcalf bill which offered, it said, the best avenue of federal support for quality education. William G. Carr, executive secretary of the NEA, said indications that Congress was in the mood to act favorably on some type of federal support for schools made it imperative that the right choice be made among the pending bills. The Murray-Metcalf bill would provide federal grants to the states for use in school construction or teacher salaries, leaving the states free to decide for them- selves how to allocate the funds. A modified version of this bill has been approved by the House Education and Labor Committee and is now before the House Rules Committee. It would authorize federal grants of $1.1 billion a year for four years, on the basis of $25 a year for each school child. "It is important to realize," Dr. Carr said, "what $1 billion a year in federal funds would enable the schools to do. We have a shortage right now of 135,000 quality teachers and will need 400,000 new teachers by 1965. This bill would permit the em- ployment of 199,000 additional teachers at the present annual salary — if that many new teachers could be recruited at the wages offered. "Or the same amount of money could be used," Dr. Carr continued, "to raise the average salaries of the present 1,349,000 public elementary and secondary school NEA Secretary Calls on Congress teachers by $741 a year — and so proportionately increase the attractiveness and holding power of the teaching profession. The shortage of qualified teachers is complicated each year by the many thousands who leave the profession for more re- munerative careers and by the last minute decisions of many of those who have prepared for teaching careers to engage in some other line of work financially more rewarding. "If the $1 billion were to be used for classroom construction, it would provide 25,000 additional classrooms at today's prices and standards. When this school year opened, we were short approximately 130,000 classrooms, and by 1965 we will need 500,000 more. "The one pending piece of legislation which addresses itself directly and immediately toward meeting the established needs of our school systems,” Dr. Carr concluded, “is the Murray-Metcalf bill. We earnestly hope that all friends of federal support for the schools will back this measure." The Murray-Metcalf bill is pending in the Senate Labor Committee. That Com- mittee has approved an alternative bill which would provide $500 million a year for two years for school construction only. Efforts have been made in the House to agree on a compromise bill with the Administration which favors restricting federal aid to funds for paying principal and interest on school construction bond issues.