The Assistant Commissioner for Vocational Education was made an ex-officio member of the Federal Committee on Apprenticeship. The Office participated in several Federal-State apprenticeship agency joint conferences called by the U. S. Department of Labor. Closer working relationships were established in the apprenticeship program in the matter of understandings of the respective responsibilities of this Office and these agencies in the gathering of statistics and the development of programs of related instruction for apprentices conducted by public schools.

A conference of State directors of vocational education was held to consider policy matters in the administration of the total program of vocational education. Areas studied included vocational guidance, distributive education, home economics, trade and industries, and agriculture. The recommendations of the conference will be used as a basis of future considerations of policy.

The Office also held a planning conference on research in agricultural education in which recommendations made by the National Committee on Research in Agricultural Education were considered. As a result, a comprehensive study is to be made of the Young Farmer Program and a publication on the subject issued for use by vocational leaders in agricultural education.

Staff members met with representatives of producers of both natural and synthetic fibers to plan a training program in textile fibers for salespeople employed in stores, including high school students enrolled in cooperative distributive education programs.

The shortage of teachers of home economics persists although 7,693 persons were enrolled in college courses in 1954 preparing for the teaching of home economics. The shortage is due to the facts that home economics teachers marry after a few years of teaching and leave the profession, and that programs of home economics are being established in many more schools each year.

The shortage of coordinators of local cooperative programs in distributive education and persons qualified for State level positions in the program has become acute. The shortage in this field is due in part to the fact that increased Federal funds were available for 1955 following several years of decreases in Federal funds which resulted in the curtailment of teachers and coordinator training programs in some of the States.

The shortage of vocational agriculture teachers has become more acute than at any time since World War II despite the fact that 3,479 persons were being trained by the colleges as such teachers. The shortage in this field is due largely to the fact that most of the vocational agriculture teachers are trained in the land-grant colleges where they take military training and become reserve officers. After serving several years, many go into other than teaching occupations.

Increased demand for agricultural college graduates by commercial concerns and State and Federal agricultural programs also contributes to the shortage.

LAND-GRANT COLLEGE AND UNIVERSITY FUNDS

Each year the Office of Education initiates certification as to each State and Territory (1) whether it is entitled to receive its share of the annual appropriations for the land-grant colleges and universities and (2) the amounts it is entitled to receive. The certification for the year ending June 30, 1955, for the Bankhead-Jones funds (annual appropriations) amounted to $2,501,500 and that for the MorrillNelson funds (permanent appropriation) amounted to $2,550,000, a grand total of $5,051,500.

COLLEGE HOUSING PROGRAM

The Office of Education provided advisory service to colleges and universities and the Housing and Home Finance Agency on new applications in the amount of $70,000,000 during fiscal 1955. These loan requests are anticipated to provide residential facilities for 20,928 single students, 1,020 married students, and 323 faculty members.

The prevailing interest rate of 3.25 percent deterred many applicants from completing loan requests and financing needed residential facilities. Privately operated institutions used the program to a greater extent than publicly operated institutions because the 3.25 interest rate is still favorable to the private college or university. Publicly supported institutions tended either to delay construction or, in some favorable instances, to secure loans at interest rates slightly under the College Housing Program rate. Associations in higher education continued to request lower interest rates, preferably under 3 percent, and a release of all remaining funds for immediate use.

Private investors continued to participate in the program. During Fiscal 1955, individuals and syndicates are reported to have purchased approximately $8,000,000 in college housing revenue bonds when opened to competitive bids under the College Housing Program. A few 40-year issues were sold to private investors, but the usual pattern was that only the earlier issues were purchased by private investors.

ADULT EDUCATION

During the year the Office of Education gave recognition to the rapidly growing movement of adult education by creating an Adult Education Section. Its purposes are to: (a) provide consultative services to State and local school officials, teacher-education institutions, professional and lay organizations, and Federal agencies on needs in and problems of adult education; (b) conduct and publish

studies in the field of general adult education, including the education of the aging and aged; (c) participate in conferences and workshops on the various phases of adult education; and (d) establish and maintain cooperative relationships with professional and lay organizations and voluntary agencies interested in the field.

INTERGROUP EDUCATION

The Office of Education cooperated actively with the National Education Association and the American Teachers Association in developing a packet of materials and a leader's guide on intergroup education for leaders of adult community groups. The purpose of the packet and leader's guide is to provide an overall orientation to the several aspects of the problems involved in achieving improved human relations. While the packet is concerned with the general subject of intergroup relations, it will be found useful to persons interested in the implementation of the Supreme Court's opinion on school segregation.

INTERNATIONAL EDUCATION

Education has an increasingly important role in international affairs. First, it is one of the best ways to help people to become acquainted with each other. Various cultural programs designed to promote understanding seem to grow in scope and effectiveness with each passing year. Secondly, education is a necessity for people who are learning new technical skills needed to improve their standard of living. Technical assistance to people less advanced mechanically than ourselves is an increasingly important component of our foreign policy, and is in fact a program of education.

Substantial funds of the United States and other governments are supporting international educational programs, both on the countryto-country and on the United Nations basis. Private organizations also are investing large sums in educational enterprises designed to increase international understanding, and to improve economic conditions.

The Office of Education has a growing part in supporting many of these programs, although it has direct operating responsibility for only a small part of the Federal investment in international education. The Office serves as adviser and agent for a number of Federal international activities, and also is frequently asked to provide advisory services to numerous private organizations and individuals.

One evidence of the growing importance of education in relations between nations is in the agendas of international conferences. The Office has an increasingly important responsibility in advising the Department of State concerning important educational issues, and

in preparing position papers for the guidance of American delegates to a variety of international conferences.

The new role of the United States in international affairs is reflected in schools and universities by the need for new courses, the revision of existing courses, and in a variety of research programs. Lay groups and organizations are carrying on related activities.

The Office is asked advice concerning curriculum development for children in elementary schools of the United States to help them become acquainted with the peoples and cultures of other countries. Secondary schools are experimenting with programs designed to stimulate in young people an interest in, and a better understanding of, current affairs. Teaching about the United Nations and its specialized agencies is another approach to international understanding. School systems, State departments of education, private publishing companies, and Government agencies are publishing bulletins, yearbooks, and articles to assist schools in developing programs of international understanding. The Office serves a useful function in helping educators to avoid propaganda, and to develop a sound approach to international education which is in harmony with our national interest. Both Government and business are turning to the universities for specialists in international affairs. Institutions of higher education are providing more area programs, more facilities for overseas research, and improved collections of source materials and training for scholars specializing in international relations.

Exchange of persons programs sponsored by the United States Government and by private organizations are bringing thousands of students and educators from other countries to the United States, and have greatly stimulated an interest in international education. Colleges and universities, State departments of education, thousands of schools, private educational organizations, as well as community groups and private citizens, have cooperated in providing for these visitors educational experiences and an insight into American life and culture. The opportunity to assist in this program has given countless citizens of our country an opportunity to obtain firsthand information about, and to develop a deeper understanding of, the people and lands from which these visitors came.

In cooperation with the Department of State during the year 1954–55 the Office of Education arranged exchange and one-way teaching assignments for 436 teachers and school administrators from the United States and cooperating countries. In addition, 305 visiting educators came on 6-month training grants under the Teacher Education Programs.

During the 1954-55 school year the Office of Education continued to work with the Foreign Operations Administration in the development

of technical assistance programs of education in 34 countries. One hundred thirty-four educators were recruited by the Office for appointment by the Foreign Operations Administration to serve in educational missions in these countries. Professional and technical consultation was provided by the Office, and the Foreign Operations Administration was advised on the development of university contracts for carrying out assignments in education overseas. Under this same program, 700 educators from more than 30 countries were brought to the United States for training in a wide variety of fields to promote their countries' economic, social, and educational development.

Assistance was continued to university and college registrars, State Boards of Licensure, and the U. S. Civil Service and other Federal agencies in the interpretation of credentials for study in other countries, totaling 2,900 requests. The Veterans Administration also continued to call upon the Office for recommendations regarding the level of instruction in certain courses offered by foreign schools for United States war veterans.

The Clearing House in the Office of Education, established at the request of the Department of State to maintain a file of information concerning persons entering and leaving the United States under the various Federal Government-sponsored exchange programs, including that of the Foreign Operations Administration, increased its list from 15,000 to 21,000 individuals this year. To date, some 80 different statistical studies have been prepared by the Clearing House for the Department of State.

The Office of Education, through its Educational Materials Laboratory, has provided an opportunity for visiting educators from other countries, as well as educators and laymen in the United States, to examine representative textbooks and materials used in schools in this country. In cooperation with specialists of the Office of Education, it has assisted FOA missions, the United States Information Agency, and Ministries of Education, in selecting texts and materials for use in other countries. The Laboratory also maintains a permanent exhibit of materials produced in the FOA missions and in connection with fundamental education programs around the world.

There is a substantial and growing interest among American educators in international education. The success of these programs, both governmental and private, results from the strong public support they are receiving both in this country and abroad. There is a growing belief that education is an effective means for achieving the foundation of international stability and peace.