(1) At each successive level of educational advancement, everyone has an inherent right to educational opportunities consistent with his individual needs and his ability to become a productive citizen.

(2) Education is essential to the survival of personal freedom and to the maintenance of national prosperity.

(3) Education in the United States is the responsibility of the people, and its legal control is the responsibility of the State and local school authorities, not the Federal Government.

After this introduction, Dr. Armstrong reported enrollments and expenditures in American education, and then presented statements in capsule about educational administration, organization, curriculum, teaching, and other developments in schools and colleges of our country during 1952-53.

This information, drawn from all divisions of the Office of Education, is pub. lished for use by SCHOOL LIFE readers.

In addition to Dr. Armstrong, the United States delegation included Anne Maloney, elementary school teacher from Gary, Ind., and an active member of the American Federation of Teachers; and George Willis Diemer, president, Central Missouri Col

lege, Warrensburg, Mo., a member of the United States National Commission for UNESCO. The Geneva Conference was sponsored by the International Bureau of Education and the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization. School Administration

School finance.-Although total education expenditures have increased notably, they have not kept pace with the 10-year rise in prices and with the rise in national income. Similarly, although teachers' salaries have increased somewhat during recent years, they have not increased proportionately with the increases of other professional groups.

Of the $6,100,000,000 spent in 1952-53 by local school districts for public elementary and secondary school operation, approximately 3 percent came from Federal sources; 42 percent from State sources, and 55 percent from local sources, chiefly from general property taxes.

School buildings.-School construction continued at a record pace during the past year. Contracts awarded for the construction of educational buildings during 1952 amounted to: $1,400 million for public elementary-secondary schools; $152 million for nonpublic elementary-secondary schools; and $248 million for colleges and universities.

Even at this rate new classrooms for the public schools barely kept pace with the increase in enrollments due to the continuing high birth rates which began during the latter part of the past decade.

School construction during the past few years has emphasized among other features the following: single-story buildings on large sites; well-lighted, well-ventilated rooms; homemaking and science laboratories; supplementary areas for library,

music, lunch, health, and recreation; and central sound systems.

American colleges and universities, according to the latest survey, needed 80 percent more residential space. One-fourth of the 1,386 institutions surveyed did not maintain any form of residential housing. To relieve the shortage, the Congress has provided a $300 million loan fund at a moderate interest rate. School Organization

Reforms or modifications introduced during the year.-There is no one organizational pattern for public education throughout the United States. The pattern in many individual States is not uniform either, and changes have been gradual rather than rapid over the years.

Public elementary education.-The Nation's 20,200,000 elementary school children go to approximately 128,225 schools of which 59,652 are one-room buildings housing several elementary grades, but enrolling only about 5 percent of the elementary school pupils.

Internally, 65 percent of American elementary schools are organized with a grade or class assigned entirely to an individual teacher who is responsible for the children's total experiences or subjects each day. Increasingly, grades 7 and 8 are becoming part of a junior high school organization in which teaching is generally departmentalized.

Public secondary education.-The Nation's 7,000,000 secondary school children

The traditional 4-year high school is being reorganized into junior, senior, and juniorsenior high schools, especially in city systems.

Vocational education. The comprehensive secondary school and the special vocational schools provide most of the lessthan-college-grade vocational education. This type of program continues to grow and the growth is most rapid now in areas of less concentrated population-areas where the vocational program was not previously organized.

Adult education. Currently, 3,165,900 adults are enrolled in some kind of vocational education program sponsored by public schools. About 3 million more adults participate in some type of evening or outside regular scheduled classes in community colleges, evening schools, adult education centers, and college extension The trend is upward, both overall and in 15 particular areas which were covered by a recent National Education Association survey. The two greatest increases occur in safety and driver education-up 535 percent; and in civic and public affairs education-up 428 percent.

courses.

Parents have opportunity to enroll in study groups, observe classroom activities under guidance, participate in committee work, and attend lectures and conferences all sponsored by elementary and secondary schools.

Higher education.-The Nation's 1,889 recognized institutions of higher education enroll 2,400,000 students, about evenly divided between public and private institutions. These institutions have a variety of organizational patterns and names. The most common type, however, is the liberal arts college offering a 4-year program leading to the bachelor's degree. The first 2 years of a liberal arts program and a program preparing students for occupations and trades requiring less than the 4-year degree are offered by the rapidly increasing community and junior colleges.

Two-thirds of all American colleges and universities are privately controlled and financed.

Changes in Curricula

During 1952-53 the American public. continued its lively consideration of what should be taught in the public schools. Professional organizations published yearbooks dealing with various aspects of the

curriculum problem. One, emphasizing that high-school students' needs should be the basis for secondary education, discussed these needs and suggested ways for teachers to set teaching goals for themselves. A second yearbook stressed that teachers must develop greater insight into children's needs and the needs of the society in which the children live; a third discussed the school curriculum's relation to home, community, and American culture; and a fourth was concerned with forces affecting American education. Contributors to these yearbooks for the most part advocated an educational program built upon society's everincreasing knowledge about how children. and youth develop.

Developments in Teaching Methods and Materials and Use of New Techniques

Increasing knowledge of child development has brought about two noteworthy results in American elementary schools: Subject matter is better fitted to the child's needs and better methods are used for teaching children in small subclass groups and individually. The increasing knowl edge has changed high-school curricula by introducing courses that cut across tradí tional subject-matter lines.

Schools in the 48 States.-A 212-year study by the Office of Education of outstanding school systems revealed many significant trends. For example, an increasing number of these schools in their dayto-day activities utilize community and regional resources. Pupils share in planning their experiences, teacher-pupil relationships are becoming more democratic, and parents and teachers work together not only through formal parent-teacher organizations, but also informally.

Foreign languages in the elementary school. Professional educators, parents, and lay leaders are all studying the problem of how the American people can better understand other nations. To achieve this end, it is well for more Americans to learn how to communicate directly with the people of these nations. Recognizing this need, the District of Columbia and 28 States offer foreign language study in one or more public elementary schools. In some cities the practice is, for all intents and purposes, citywide. Grade level, choice of language, children included, section of teaching per

sonnel-none of these factors falls into a uniform pattern.

A national conference attended by more than 500 leaders in this field provided an opportunity for the exchange of experiences and the exploration of new approaches.

Magnetic tape recorder as a new technique. More than 50 separate uses for magnetic tape recording in high schools were revealed by a spot check early in 1952-53. Some of these uses were for student self-evaluation in overcoming poor inflection and faulty pronunciation in both English and foreign languages. Other uses were for teacher recordings of vocal and instrumental music instruction.

Teaching Staff

A shortage of qualified teachers was again one of the great problems during 1952-53 for the elementary schools, but no immediate dearth of teaching personnel faced the secondary schools or the colleges. and universities.

The colleges and universities, which in 1952-53 had full-time and teaching staffs totaling about 200,000, should find enough qualified persons this fall. The same should be true of the secondary schools, which in 1952-53 were staffed by an estimated 375,000 supervisory and teaching personnel. The supply should be adequate despite an increased demand to meet a predicted increase in junior high school enrollment. So far, secondary school teachers have not been in short supply even though the number of persons preparing to teach at this level has been decreasing ever since 1947. During the 2 years, 1951-53, the decrease was 23 percent.

In the fall of 1953 an accentuation of the prevalent elementary teacher shortage is expected. The minimum need is for 116,000 new elementary teachers-46,000 to take care of increased enrollment (11⁄2 million), and 70,000 to replace teachers leaving the profession. Since only some 45,700 qualified graduates for the elementary field came out of the colleges this year, the net teacher shortage in September is about 70,000. Further elementary teacher shortages will develop in the fall of 1954 and of 1955, when the enrollment is expected to increase by 1,330,000 and 1,274,000, respectively. To staff the elementary and secondary schools adequately within the next 10 years would require an addition (Continued on page 12)

Future Unlimited

Student Art Project

"FUTURE UNLIMITED" is the title of a nationwide art project for school students in grades 4 through 12. The project is sponsored by the Treasury Department to start new thousands of students, and their families, on personal savings plans through United States savings stamps and bonds.

"FUTURE UNLIMITED" is not a contestit is an educational activity to develop habits of conservation and thrift for the advancement of personal and national financial security.

Students are asked to give free rein to their creative artistic ability to portray their hopes for the years to come. Students taking part in the project will depict what they hope stamp and bond savings will provide for them and their families-perhaps material goals such as a new camera, bike, tractor, funds for art or music school, or college, for setting one's self up in business, or for a long vacation-or perhaps idealistic goals such as scientific progress, national security, or world peace.

Participating schools may begin the project any time after the opening of the Fall 1953 school semester. The artwork may be done in whatever medium the student wishes. The work may be in poster illustration, cartoon, or any other type of presentation.

It is hoped that each school will have a community display of the student work before any is chosen for submission to the sponsor. After the local display, each school is invited to select not more than five pieces of representative work for submission to its own State savings bonds director, by February 2, 1954. Depending on their originality, appropriateness, and dramatic influence to aid in the promotion of the savings bonds program, selections of student work will be given publicity and display by State savings bonds directors. A representative national selection will be suitably recognized by the Treasury Department in Washington, D. C.

Write to Future Unlimited Art Project, United States Savings Bonds Division, Treasury Department, Washington, D. C., for additional information.

H

IGH SCHOOL PRINCIPALS interested in initiating a core program or in extending its development have long cited as their number 1 problem the difficulty of finding qualified teachers. Successful teaching of a core class, they say, requires a special type of preparation, which thus far the colleges preparing teachers have not provided. Local inservice programs they admit are helpful, but these should be supplementary to, rather than a substitute for, preservice preparation.

Professors of education in many, perhaps most, of the larger higher education institutions some briefly, others at lengthhave been discussing the core program with their classes in secondary school curriculum, high school methods, or adminis tration for quite a few years. Until the past year or two, however, probably not more than a half-dozen institutions offered

a

course explicitly in core curriculum. Even fewer had a program designed for the preparation of core teachers. By and large, educators in teacher-preparing institutions have taken the view that they must prepare teachers for the kind of teaching opportunities that await them. While recognizing merits in the core program, some of them have voiced the feeling that they could do no more than help students to see its possibilities until there was a sufficient demand for core teachers to warrant a course or a program.

Continuing spread of the core program in secondary schools, and acceptance of the core idea by a large number of teachers and administrators, now seem to merit a look at the extent to which the core concept has been incorporated into education courses. Accordingly, education offerings. of universities and teachers colleges which had sent their 1953 summer-session catalogs to the Office of Education were examined for references to the core program. Summer-session opportunities, rather than the regular fall-term offerings, were se lected for study in order to include courses which are offered experimentally as a test

of interest at a time when teachers in service may enroll.

In its annual request to the colleges for copies of current catalogs, the Office of Education does not ask specifically for summer session catalogs. Therefore these are not always received. Nevertheless, 85 (59 universities and 26 teachers colleges) of the 329 universities and teachers colleges in the United States, made their 1953 summer-session announcements available to the Office.1 Since these 85 do not, of course, constitute a representative sample, no firm conclusions can be drawn. It is believed, however, that since most of the

1 In the classification of institutions for statistical purposes, a university is defined as "an institution of changing and complex organization in which several professional schools and colleges (not exclusively technical) are incorporated within the framework of the institution"; a teachers college is **an institution devoted primarily to the training of

teachers."

larger institutions in the United States were included, the totals reported were closer to the actual totals than the approximately 25-percent coverage would suggest.

Ten of these 17 institutions also offered one or more other courses which, in their descriptions, stated that the core program is emphasized or that attention is given to it. Thirteen other institutions were in this same category. Thus, in the summer sessions of 1953, at least 30 institutions (25 universities and 5 teachers colleges) in 21 States and the District of Columbia provided a total of 46 courses which dealt entirely or in large part with the core program, according to catalog announcements.

Most of the 46 courses were of a general nature with such titles as "teaching the core curriculum," or "development of core cur

Of the 85 summer-session catalogs examined, 17 listed a total of 21 courses and workshops in the core curriculum or in a core-type program.

Institution

UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO__ GEORGE WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY. FLORIDA STATE UNIVERSITY__

EASTERN ILLINOIS STATE TEACHERS COLLEGE__ NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY__

UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS-

UNIVERSITY OF MAINE-UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND.

BOSTON UNIVERSITY_ WAYNE UNIVERSITY.

COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY__

NEW YORK UNIVERSITY.

OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY.

TEMPLE UNIVERSITY___
UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH CAROLINA__
GEORGE PEABODY COLLEGE FOR TEACHERS
WEST VIRGINIA UNIVERSITY___

*Offered for the first time this summer.

Core Curriculum.

Title of Course

Teaching the Core Curriculum.

Developing the General Education (Core) Program in Secondary Schools.

Development of Core Curriculum.

*Teaching Unified Studies and Core Curriculum in Secondary Schools.

*Seminar in Core Curriculum.

Core Curriculum, Special Fields of Study in Curriculum.

*Core curriculum in the Secondary School.

Materials and Procedures for the High School Core
Curriculum.

Core Course Including Group Guidance.
Introduction to Core Curriculum Concept.

Core Curriculum Concept and Its Implementation.
*Workshop on the Core Curriculum in Junior and
Senior High Schools.

Core Curriculum in the Secondary School. *Science in Core Programs.

*Teaching Language Arts in the Integrated Curriculum

of the Junior and Senior High School.

Teaching in the Core Program in the Secondary School.

Unified Curriculum.

*High School Core Curriculum.

Core Curriculum.

Workshop in Integrated Methods.

riculum." When core was only a part of the course, the title may have been "curriculum of the secondary school" or "modern methods in the secondary school." Eleven courses, however, related to a subject area or to a special area which is fundamental in core teaching: 3 were social studies, 1 language arts, 2 science, 2 music, 2 guid ance, and 1 community resources.

Worth noting is the fact that half of the 30 institutions stressing the core program in summer study for teachers were in States which in 1949 reported to the Office of Education 10 or fewer high schools having a core program. This may mean that professors of education are taking the initiative, believing that the program has become sufficiently well established nationally to warrant at least emphasizing it in a general course, or in some cases introducing a course devoted wholly to it.

Pertinent Information

Correspondence with professors or deans of education in the 17 institutions listed previously provides some pertinent information. In only five instances had there been an outside request for or expressed interest in such a course. On the other hand, in seven instances the core curriculum course was offered by the university solely on its own initiative in the hope of developing interest in the State-or Nation.

From available figures it is estimated that approximately 500 students were enrolled in the 21 courses of which 14 were open to graduate students only. Some of these were attended largely by leaders who are developing a core program or are interested in developing one in their schools.

Professors in several institutions volunteered comments as to reaction to the course in core curriculum. The following are examples:

Although few schools in the State have adopted a core program, the university has offered this course for several years and response to the class has been gratifying. We are hopeful for the future that we may enrich instruction in many schools through the core program or simply through expanding the use of sound teaching techniques.

Students come out of the course feeling that the core program has a great deal of merit, but that (a) we ought to work at it longer before we can use it, or (b) it is not practical for our school as conducted at present. A small percentage usually leave with the hope of using it next year.

Learning about core in a curriculum course or in a course labeled Core Curriculum does not automatically or necessarily transform a subject teacher into a core teacher. It does at the least, however, give him some knowledge of the meaning of core, its purposes, objectives, possible types, scope, and method. If the course is conducted as a cooperative endeavor, using core methods, it can provide the student an opportunity to participate in teacher-pupil planning, to serve as a group member in developing a unit of work, and to have firsthand experience with problem-solving techniques. In other words, the student can observe and participate in a course which is conducted in accordance with procedures he will use when teaching a core class in a secondary school.

Colleges of education offering a course in core curriculum also provide other courses which obviously contribute to the preparation of the core teacher. Among these are guidance for the classroom teacher, characteristics and problems of adolescents, group guidance, group development, group discussion, using community resources, and school-community relations. Others are building resource units, organizing units of instruction, the direct applications of audiovisual methods and materials to classroom situations, pupil-activity

Other OFFICE of EDUCATION Publications Relating to the Core Curriculum Order cost publications from the Superintendent of Documents, U. S. Government Printing Office, Washington 25, D. C. Core Curriculum in Public High SchoolsAn Inquiry Into Practices, 1949. Bulletin 1950, No. 5. 15 cents. Core Curriculum Development-Problems and Practices. Bulletin 1952, No. 5. 30 cents.

The Core in Secondary Schools: A Bibliography. Circular No. 323, November 1952. Free from the Office of Education. Supplement No. 1, 1952-53 References. Free from the Office of Education.

programs in the secondary school, and measuring and evaluating pupil growth in secondary schools. Competencies in these areas, invaluable for any teacher, are essential for the core teacher.

It should not be overlooked that besides professional preparation, the prospective core teacher needs a broad background of information and skills. He is a generalist rather than a specialist. In fact, some highschool principals are less concerned with a candidate's professional preparation for core teaching than with his general-education background, his understanding of life and people, and his interest in community activities. However, the extent to which colleges of education which have a program of preparation for core teaching draw upon the subject-matter areas is beyond the scope of this study.

In summary, a look at core-program offerings in 85 of the 329 universities and teachers colleges in summer sessions of 1953 reveals that:

1. Thirty institutions offered a total of 46 courses in core or emphasized the core program in their catalog announcements.

2. These 30 institutions were located in 21 States and the District of Columbia, all but 5 of the States being east of the Mississippi River.

3. Seventeen of these institutions offered a total of 21 courses and workshops in the core curriculum.

4. Approximately 500 students were enrolled in summer-session work in the 21

core courses.

5. Of the 21 courses, 13 were for graduate students only; 7 were offered for the first time this summer; 14 are or will be regular Education offerings.

For those who see the core program as a better way of providing for the generaleducation needs and interests of boys and girls in the high school, the situation in the universities at least is encouraging. Seventeen institutions, 15 universities and 2 teachers colleges, is not a large number to be sure; for the full story one must add such institutions as the University of Minnesota and the University of Florida, which offer core courses during the regular school year but which listed no such offerings during the summer. One must also consider that a complete review of summer sessions offerings would show more institutions among those pioneering in this area of teacher preparation.