CHAPTER 13

Recommendations

T

'HROUGHOUT THIS REPORT an attempt has been made to translate experience obtained in the 1959 summer institutes into suggestions for their improvement in subsequent years. We shall sum up here recommendations that apply particularly to the planning of future institutes. They are directed both to representatives of training institutions who are formulating institute proposals and to representatives of the U.S. Office of Education who determine policy and help institutions transform their proposals into plans of operation.

First, contracts for institutes should be awarded as early as possible. Every effort should be made to close these contracts by January 1 of the year the summer institute is to be held, or even earlier if possible.

Second, training institutions should place special emphasis on the first stage of the process of contract negotiation, the determination of needs. Every effort should be made to find out the most salient needs of an area, and the proposals submitted should show how these needs have been determined,

Third, training institutions should attempt to limit the number and scope of their objectives as appropriate for a short session. Fewer courses should be offered and more time allowed for each. A lower student-staff ratio than is usually required for college courses should be maintained.

Fourth, adequate provision for individual differences should be made by introducing some flexibility into institute programs.

Fifth, a standard application blank should be prepared for the use of all the institutes. It should include the items by which eligibility is determined, and the other items that all or most of the 1959 institutes found useful. In each locality, this can be supplemented by whatever additional information the local committee wishes to use as a basis for selection.

Sixth, a resource file of materials and forms used in the different institutes should be set up in a central place. Much of this material is

included in the final reports of the directors of the 1959 summer institutes. The reports include objective test items, appraisal forms, reading lists, and many other specific materials. It would be an advantage to institute directors to have access to these materials.

Seventh, attention should be directed each year to the geographical distribution of institutes and the enrollees they serve so that inequities appearing in any one year's distribution can be corrected in the next. Eighth, special attention should be given to the kinds of knowledge and experience that will equip enrollees for counseling able students.

APPENDIX A

Pertinent Portions of the National Defense Education Act of 1958 to the Counseling and Guidance Training Institutes Program

(Reprinted below in the language of the National Defense Education Act of 1958 are the "Findings and Declaration of Policy" of the Congress from Title I, and Title V in its entirety.)

TITLE I-GENERAL PROVISIONS

FINDINGS AND DECLARATION OF POLICY

SEC. 101. The Congress hereby finds and declares that the security of the Nation requires the fullest development of the mental resources and technical skills of its young men and women. The present emergency demands that additional and more adequate educational opportunities be made available. The defense of this Nation depends upon the mastery of modern techniques developed from complex scientific principles. It depends as well upon the discovery and development of new principles, new techniques, and new knowledge.

We must increase our efforts to identify and educate more of the talent of our Nation. This requires programs that will give assurance that no student of ability will be denied an opportunity for higher education because of financial need; will correct as rapidly as possible the existing imbalances in our educational programs which have led to an insufficient proportion of our population educated in science, mathematics, and modern foreign languages and trained in technology.

The Congress reaffirms the principle and declares that the States and local communities have and must retain control over and primary responsibility for public education. The national interest requires, however, that the Federal Government give assistance to education for programs which are important to our defense.

To meet the present educational emergency requires additional effort at all levels of government. It is therefore the purpose of this Act to provide substantial assistance in various forms to individuals, and to States and their subdivisions, in order to insure trained manpower of sufficient quality and quantity to meet the national defense needs of the United States.

TITLE V-GUIDANCE, COUNSELING, AND TESTING; IDENTIFICATION AND ENCOURAGEMENT OF ABLE STUDENTS

Part A-State Programs

APPROPRIATIONS AUTHORIZED

SEC. 501. There are hereby authorized to be appropriated $15,000,000 for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1959, and for each of the three succeeding fiscal

years, for making grants to State educational agencies under this part to assist them to establish and maintain programs of testing and guidance and counseling.

ALLOTMENTS TO STATES

SEC. 502. From the sums appropriated pursuant to section 501 for any fiscal year the Commissioner shall reserve such amount, but not in excess of 2 per centum thereof, as he may determine for allotment as provided in section 1008. From the remainder of such sums the Commissioner shall allot to each State an amount which bears the same ratio to the amount of such remainder as the school-age population of such State bears to the total of the school-age populations of all the States. The amount allotted to any State under the preceding sentence for any fiscal year which is less than $20,000 shall be increased to $20,000, the total of increases thereby required being derived by proportionately reducing the amount allotted to each of the remaining States under the preceding sentence, but with such adjustments as may be necessary to prevent the allotment of any such remaining States from being thereby reduced to less than $20,000.

STATE PLANS

SEC. 503. (a) Any State which desires to receive payments under this part shall submit to the Commissioner, through its State educational agency, a State plan which meets the requirements of section 1004 (a) and sets forth—

(1) a program for testing students in the public secondary schools, and if authorized by law in other secondary schools, of such State to identify students with outstanding aptitudes and ability, and the means of testing which will be utilized in carrying out such program; and

(2) a program of guidance and counseling in the public secondary schools of such State (A) to advise students of courses of study best suited to their ability, aptitudes, and skills, and (B) to encourage students with outstanding aptitudes and ability to complete their secondary school education, take the necessary courses for admission to institutions of higher education, and enter such institutions.

(b) The Commissioner shall approve any State plan and any modification thereof which complies with the provisions of subsection (a).

PAYMENTS TO STATES

SEC. 504. (a) Payment under this part shall be made to those State educational agencies which administer plans approved under section 503. For the fiscal year ending June 30, 1959, such payments shall equal the amount expended by the State in carrying out its State plan, and for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1960, and for each of the two succeeding fiscal years, such payments shall equal one-half of the amount so expended; except that no State educational agency shall receive payment under this part for any fiscal year in excess of that State's allotment for that fiscal year as determined under section 502.

(b) In any State which has a State plan approved under section 503 and in which the State educational agency is not authorized by law to make payments to cover the cost of testing students in any one or more secondary schools in such State to determine student abilities and aptitudes, the Commissioner shall arrange for the testing of such students and shall pay the cost thereof for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1959, and one-half of the cost thereof for any of the

three succeeding fiscal years out of such State's allotment. Testing of students pursuant to this subsection shall, so far as practicable, be comparable to, and be done at the same grade levels and under the same conditions as in the case of, testing of students in public schools under the State plan.

Part B-Counseling and Guidance Training Institutes

AUTHORIZATION

SEC. 511. There are hereby authorized to be appropriated $6,250,000 for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1959, and $7,250,000 for each of the three succeeding fiscal years, to enable the Commissioner to arrange, by contracts with institutions of higher education, for the operation by them of short-term or regular session institutes for the provision of training to improve the qualifications of personnel engaged in counseling and guidance of students in secondary schools, or teachers in such schools preparing to engage in such counseling and guidance. Each individual engaged or preparing to engage in counseling and guidance in a public secondary school, who attends an institute operated under the provisions of this part, shall be eligible (after application therefor) to receive a stipend at the rate of $75 per week for the period of his attendance at such institute, and each such individual with one or more dependents shall receive an additional stipend at the rate of $15 per week for each such dependent for the period of such attendance.