U. S. OFFICE OF EDUCATION-ORGANIZATION U. S. Commissioner of Education JOHN W. STUDEBAKER ELEMENTARY EDUCATION BESS GOODYKOONTZ, Director Organization and Supervision MARY D. DAVIS, nursery-kindergarten-primary. HAZEL F. GABBARD, extended school services. HELEN K. MACKINTOSH, upper grades. Instructional Problems GLENN O. BLOUGH, Science. HELEN M. MANLEY, health instruction and physical education. Education of Exceptional Children and Youth ELISE H. MARTENS, Chief. SECONDARY EDUCATION GALEN JONES, Director. MARIS M. PROFFITT, Assistant Director. Organization and Supervision CARL A. JESSEN, Chief. WALTER H. GAUMNITZ, small and rural high schools. DAVID SEGEL, tests and measurements. Instructional Problems ROOSEVELT BASLER, Chief. HOWARD R. ANDERSON, Social sciences and geography. FRANK R. STAFFORD, health instruction, physical education, and athletics. PHILIP G. JOHNSON, Science. VOCATIONAL EDUCATION (Staff members for this Division will be listed as soon as the reorganization is completed.) RAYMOND W. GREGORY, Assistant Commissioner for Vocational Education. JERRY R. HAWKE, deputy assistant. W. P. BEARD, executive assistant. Agricultural Education W. T. SPANTON, Chief. Business Education B. FRANK KYKER, Chief. Home Economics Education EDNA P. AMIDON, Chief. Occupational Information and Guidance HARRY A. JAGER, Chief. Trade and Industrial Education LAYTON S. HAWKINS, Chief. Vocational Statistics and Research JAMES R. COXEN, Chief. HIGHER EDUCATION JOHN DALE RUSSELL, Director. HENRY H. ARMSBY, higher education. LLOYD E. BLAUCH, higher education. AMBROSE CALIVER, Negro education. BEN W. FRAZIER, teacher education. ERNEST V. HOLLIS, higher education. CENTRAL SERVICES KENNETH O. WARNER, Director and Executive Assistant to the Commissioner. RALPH C. M. FLYNT, Assistant Director. Research and Statistical Service FRANCIS G. CORNELL, Chief. EMERY M. FOSTER, head, reports and analysis. LESTER B. HERLIHY, city school studies. Information and Publications Service G. KERRY SMITH, Chief. OLGA A. JONES, editor in chief. WILLIAM N. THOMPSON, Supervisor, graphics. MARY A. WALKER, statistical draftsman. The Library RICHARD H. LOGSDON, Chief Librarian. Administrative Management and Services MARIE E. SCHUTT, budget and fiscal officer. INTERNATIONAL EDUCATIONAL RELATIONS HAROLD R. BENJAMIN, Director American Republics Educational Relations Ser M. GORDON BROWN, specialist in the tea of English. THOMAS E. COTNER, educationist. DELIA GOETZ, specialist on Latin Ame education. WILLIAM A. SHAMBLIN, educationist. PAUL E. SMITH, senior educationist. CHARLES T. STEWART, assistant special exchange of information on education evaluation of credentials. GLADYS A. WIGGIN, assistant specialist? change of information on education evaluation of credentials. European Educational Relations Section GEORGE J. KABAT, Acting Chief. ALINA M. LINDEGREN, assistant specialis exchange of information on educatic: evaluation of credentials. Near and Far Eastern Educational Relations Set C. O. ARNDT, Chief. JOHN BARROW, assistant specialist f change of information on education evaluation of credentials. AUXILIARY SERVICES RALL I. GRIGSBY, Director. Services to Libraries RALPH M. DUNBAR, Chief. NORA E. BEUST, school and children's librar W. O. MISHOFF, public libraries. Educational Uses of Radio FRANKLIN DUNHAM, Chief. R. R. LOWDERMILK, technical phases. GERTRUDE G. BRODERICK, Script and trans tion exchange. Visual Education FLOYDE BROOKER, Chief. SCHOOL ADMINISTRATION E. B. NORTON, Director. TIMON COVERT, school finance. E. GLENN FEATHERSTON, pupil transportst WARD W. KEESECKER, School legislation School Housing RAY L. HAMON, Chief. SURPLUS PROPERTY UTILIZATION (Tempor H. F. ALVES, Director. School Life Published monthly except August and September Federal Security Administrator_-----WATSON B. MILLER U.S. Commissioner of Education___JOHN W. STUDEBAKER Purpose The Congress of the United States established the United States Office of Education in 1867 to "collect such statistics and facts as shall show the condition and progress of education in the several States and Territories;" to "diffuse such information as shall aid in the establishment and maintenance of efficient school systems;" and to "otherwise promote the cause of education throughout the country." SCHOOL LIFE serves toward carrying out these purposes. Its printing is approved by the Director of the Bureau of the Budget. SECONDARY EDUCATION FOR A HE FOLLOWING address was given by John W. Studebaker, U. S. Commissioner of Education, at the University of Michigan, August 5, 1946. A New or Changing World I accepted an invitation to speak to you on the subject: "Secondary Education for a New World"-even though I am not exactly certain what connotation I should attach to that term "new world." Surely not a "new world" as meaning America and the Western Hemisphere in contrast with the "old world" of Europe and Asia. For we are all aware, I am sure, that we live today in "one world," not two worlds-one old, one new; a world in which we are so closely bound together by economic and social and political ties that "we cannot," in the words of Prime Minister Atlee, "make a Heaven in our own country and leave a Hell outside." Is it then a "new world" in the sense NEW WORLD that the applications of science and technology have already resulted in the change of many of our institutions, laws, and customs and challenged not a few of our beliefs? In this sense "new world" is synonymous with "changing world," and especially with the accelerated rate of change brought about by the war. In the words of Prof. Carl Becker's little book published during the war under the arresting title How New Will the Better World Be?-"Making a new and better world is something that is or should be always going on. In the present state of the world the task is far more complex, and therefore far more difficult, than it has been for some centuries past; our only advantage is that we have more knowledge and more power for doing what needs to be done. nothing good in our American high schools; nor is it to adopt the Pollyanna position of others who seem to believe that all is quite well in every department and level of educational activity in the United States. Education in our democracy, like many other aspects of our common life, is something less than perfect. It suffers from many ills; it is in some respects a concoction brewed by many well-meaning cooks. But we must have a care lest we toss out baby and bath together; lest in our zeal for improvement or reform we make the mistake of ignoring the good points and the successes of our educational programs. There is much in American education of which we can justifiably be proud. There is first of all the ideal of free and universal schooling: Schooling for the children of the rich and the poor; an ideal generally accepted, for all that it is still so largely unattained. Granted there are wide discrepancies between our educational ideals and our educational practices! Every effort should be made during the postwar years to eliminate these discrepancies. Special Problem of Rural High The first challenge to postwar effort must be secondary education for all American youth. We have come a long way in the last generation toward greater equality of educational opportunity! In 1890 only about 1 boy or girl in 10 attended high school; just before the war, 7 in 10 attended; and in some larger communities, 9 of every 10 were in high school. Yet, even now, in many rural areas fewer than half of the farm youth of high-school age are in high school. Special attention in the postwar world must be given to the problems of these rural high schools. The extension of free transportation to rural youth constitutes one of the major developments of recent years. Despite this development, and the appearance of an increasing number of consolidated rural high schools, thousands of rural youth must still travel long distances on their own, or board out, to reach a high school. Of those transported, many must leave home at daybreak to return at nightfall. The expense of high school attendance, both in actual cash outlays and in loss in productive services at home, is an additional deterrent to high-school attendance by farm youth. In the smaller rural high schools, dependent upon staffs of three to five teachers for all teaching, administrative and extracurricular services, a broad curriculum suited to the various needs of rural youth is a rarity, if not a practical impossibility. These small high schools can and do quite generally offer only the academic college preparatory staples of English, history, mathematics, science, and a foreign language plus some physical education. A relatively few larger rural high schools may perhaps be able also to provide a course or two in home economics for girls and in agriculture for boys. Curricular diversification, especially of a vocational preparatory character, in most of our States is tied up with problems of school organization and finance. No doubt something more could be done in many small high schools to provide a better balanced program of subject offerings than is being done. Yet there still remains the obstinate fact that the size of a school puts severe limitations upon the number and variety of specialized subjects it is possible to offer with requisite economy. These limitations can be relieved only as the States find it possible to consolidate more of their smaller rural high schools; and also to provide means by which many more youth are enabled to attend these larger and centrally located high schools. Educational Plant Facilities And that leads me to say a word about the building of educational plant facilities for the new world. No one doubts that during the next few years we shall witness a great program of schoolhouse construction. The cessation of such construction during the war has created. a backlog of need for new and modern educational plant facilities that we shall be many years in filling. Now it is obvious that school housing is housing for educational programs; and hence plans for the building of educational structures cannot be disassociated from plans for the curriculum and program of the schools-not the schools of a single community t of a State as a whole. Locating scho buildings of given types as a part of. general program of public works with out regard to more than local educ tional needs may commit not only t community but the State to an expensi and ineffective program for decades: come. It has the possibility of freezi for another century the present was ful and inefficient organization of a mu titude of little school districts each wit. insufficient wealth or population to pre vide a modern program of seconda education. Only by planning on State-wide basis for the location of ne educational structures to house the pr gram of secondary education for th new world can we hope to make ava able the diversified courses needed. Newer Aids to Instruction In the planning of new high school we would do well, moreover, to conside adequate provisions for some of the newer educational aids and devices su as radio, television, and motion p tures. The wide use of such instr tional aids in the training program the armed forces has resulted in ce vincing evidence of their important pe sibilities for postwar education. I these possibilities and others are to b realized we shall need to build into modern high schools several large classrooms equipped with these instrue tional devices, where, under the dire tion of master teachers, large groups of young people may be assembled f purposes of large-group instructi By breaking away from the stereoty notion that the high-school classro should accommodate not more the about 40 pupils, we can increase mat rially the efficiency of instruction at pay higher salaries to superior teac ers and do both without any une sonable increase in per pupil costs: such instruction. It has been customary to think th apart from the auditorium, the g nasium, the lunchroom, and the librar the high-school building should be up into rooms 22 feet wide and 32 fe long, each to accommodate about 35 p pils and to be served by a regular f time teacher. There inheres in this c tom the notion that practically all s jects should be treated uniformly a fa that the number of pupils in the various groups should be kept nearly equal. In general, the policies and programs of the schools have emphasized the need for teaching rather than the importance of learning. Schools of the future should reverse the emphasis. Before leaving this subject of means for making an improved high-school program available and effectively free to all youth, let me insert just a brief word about the need for scholarships to enable young people of ability to continue their education in high schools and colleges. Scholarships and Fellowships Before the war almost a third of the graduates of our high schools entered colleges. Both numerically and relatively that was a larger proportion than ever before had entered college in this or any other country. Yet, before the war fully half the youth who should have been in college could not afford to attend. Next year, with Federal provisions for financing veterans' education, more than 2,000,000 students will be crowding into these same colleges and universities. But, as I have said, in ordinary times about half of the young people who should and could profit society greatly by their continued education are denied college opportunities because of the expense involved. This is selling the Nation short with a vengeance. No investment we could make for a new world would bring greater dividends than would a generous investment in scholarships and fellowships for these capable youth. So much for a few of the quantitative aspects of educational improvements needed for postwar secondary education. But what of qualitative changes? Particularly, what of the curriculum of the high schools? Changes in the High-School One approach to the problem of needed postwar changes in the curriculum of the high schools is to ask what weaknesses, if any, the war disclosed in the human product of these schools, and then seek to strengthen education at these points of weakness. Such an approach discloses the need for improvement in the accomplishment youth to experience the health-producing activities of a well-conducted school camp for at least one month each year. Although school camping is not exclusively a health education matter, nevertheless, it is a major help in building health and physical vigor. At present, the opportunity to experience the benefits of a well-directed camp is limited educational program. Let me comment briefly on each of these objectives. largely to children from homes of com Health and Physical Education During the war the Nation was shocked to discover that almost 3 million of its youth were physically unfit for military service. Said a Senate Report in this connection: "A large number of these (Selective Service) rejections were preventable and would undoubtedly have been prevented had a health program in the public schools of the Nation been adequately supported during the two decades prior to the outbreak of the war" (Senate Report No. 1497). war. It is hoped that we may never need to prepare our young men to fight another But whether for war or peace we certainly need to give greater place in the educational program of the future to physical and health education. Time will permit me to mention briefly only a few of the planks in a platform of health education for the postwar years. First of these planks is the need for greater stress on a properly graded program of health instruction in the high schools where the students have a sufficient mental and physical maturity to understand and utilize the wealth of modern scientific information which is functionally related to healthful living. Second, every high school in America should be provided with sufficient gymnasium and playground facilities to permit a program of physical activities, games, and sports throughout the year. Third, provision should be made for an annual medical examination of high-school youth with a follow-up to acquaint parents with the results of the examination; and to provide encouragement and assistance in securing such reparative or remedial work as may be indicated. Fourth, I propose, as a plank in the platform of postwar health education, that the schools undertake to provide opportunities for older children and fortable economic circumstances and to a very limited extent to children from economically underprivileged homes. I believe it is properly a project for organized education to provide these opportunities for many more children, especially for children living in urban areas. Fifth, and finally, I would include provision for a well-balanced noonday meal for every school child in American elementary and secondary schools. The passage by the Congress, at the last session, of legislation providing for the National School Lunch Program should go far to implement this proposal. So much for improvement in the physical and mental health of students. Turn next to the need disclosed by the war for improvements in basic understandings, skills and attitudes. Critical Listening and Critical Improvement in basic skills in the field of language, i. e., reading, writing, listening, and speaking, is a perennial need which the war but served to accentuate. All communication skills are becoming increasingly important to the intelligent citizen, listening skills especially. Critical listening is an art to which the high-school curriculum may well give more attention in a world in which radio broadcasts are daily heard by multiplied millions. Critical thinking is our only democratic safeguard against the domination of our thinking and feeling by various organs of mass communication. Please do not confuse the idea of "critical thinking" with the idea of derogatory criticism of everything in American life. "Critical thinking" implies criteria or standards against which to compare and judge proposals. An understanding and acceptance by students of these criteria of judgment are an important responsibility of second |