I am going to ask, before we hear the panel on Women's Educational Equity this morning, Dr. William H. Martin, Chief of the Ethnic Heritage Studies Branch, U.S. Office of Education, to come to the table. Without objection, your prepared statement will be inserted in the record. [The statement of Dr. Martin follows:] FOR RELEASE UPON DELIVERY Statement by William H. Martin Chief, Ethnic Heritage Studies Branch U.S. Office of Education Department of Health, Education, and Welfare Subcommittee on Elementary, Secondary, and Vocational Education House of Representatives Thursday, July 14, 1977 9:30 a.m. Dr. Martin is accompanied by: Dr. Harry L. Phillips, Deputy Assistant Commissioner for Legislation, Mr. Chairman and Members of the Subcommittee: I am pleased to appear before you to discuss the Ethnic Heritage Studies In response to conceptual changes in American society coupled with expressions of interest by various ethnic groups and organizations, Congressman Roman Pucinski of Illinois introduced H.R. 1499, to the House on January 22, 1971. The bill sought to amend the Elementary and Secondary Education Act by adding a new Title IX--Ethnic Heritage Studies. This title authorized the Commissioner of Education to arrange through grants to public and non-profit private educational agencies and organizations for the establishment and operation of a number of ethnic heritage studies projects, reflecting the readily identifiable ethnic groups in the population of the United States. Senator Richard S. Schweiker of Pennsylvania introduced on January 25, 1971, a similar bill known as S. 23, "The Ethnic Heritage Studies Centers Act of 1971." The program proposed by this Act would "afford students an opportunity to learn about the nature of their own cultural heritage, and to study the contributions of the cultural heritages of the ethnic groups of this Nation." The Pucinski bill was approved by the House Education and Labor Committee on September 30, 1971, as part of the House Omnibus Higher Education Bill. On November 4, 1971, the full House of Representatives voted 200 to 159 to delete the ethnic studies section from the education bill. The bill was referred to the Conference Committee to work out the differences between the Senate and House versions. The Schweiker bill was referred to the Senate Labor and Welfare Committee, which approved the bill as a part of S. 659, The Omnibus Higher Education Amendments of 1971. The bill, reported out of the Committee to the full Senate on July 15, 1971, was subsequently approved by the Senate August 6, 1971. As a result of negotiation, the section was put back in S. 659, the Education Amendments of 1971, with a change in title from Ethnic Heritage Studies Centers to Ethnic Heritage Studies Program, and was subsequently approved by the SenateHouse Higher Education Act Conference on April 13, 1972. The President signed the Education Amendments of 1972 (P.L. 92-318) on June 23, 1972. Section 504 of the new law amended the Elementary and Secondary Act of 1965 by adding at the end thereof a new Title IX. The new title following the Senate version also established a National Advisory Council on Ethnic Heritage Studies to be appointed by the Secretary, and to assist the Commissioner in coordinating the program. Funds under the Senate version were to be used for establishing, equipping, and operating centers, but not for construction. The House added the following modifications to the Senate provisions: 1. Deleting the authorization for fiscal year 1972 and reducing fiscal year 1973 authorization to $15,000,000. 2. Deleting the reference to "centers" throughout the amendment. Rather, grants will be made for "projects." The legislation, first of all, authorized the Commissioner to make grants to and contracts with public and private non-profit educational agencies, institutions, and organizations to assist them in planning, developing, establishing, and operating ethnic heritage studies programs. Eligible organizations include ethnic, community, and professional associations and local educational agencies, State educational agencies, and institutions of higher education. Authorized activities include developing or disseminating curriculum materials, providing in-service training of teachers and cooperating with persons and organizations with a special interest in the ethnic group or groups with which the program is concerned. The legislation also provided for determining the non-profit status of nonpublic educational organizations and agencies; for indicating funds which will be made available and for what purposes. It made it mandatory for an applicant to coordinate his or her efforts with other programs and sets forth the funding criteria. An initial appropriation of $2,375,000 in fiscal year 1974; a second and third appropriation of $1,800,000 have made possible the funding to date of 140 grants. For 1977, it is expected that 64 grants will be awarded from an appropriation of $2,300,000. The level of interest in the program has remained high, with some 1,000 applications submitted the first year and about 600 for each other year during the life of the program. A more detailed description of the funding history follows: During the first two years, about one-third of the projects concentrated on curriculum material development, another third on training, and about 15 percent in the area of dissemination, with the remainder of the projects representing a combination of these activities. As a result of the suggestions made by the 15-member National Advisory Council on Ethnic Heritage Studies, highest priority is now given to projects which concentrate on the training of teachers. The breakdown of projects over a three-year period is presented in the table that follows: The newness of the program, the issues which surround it, and the diversity of eligible applicants--who represent all levels of education and all types of educational enterprise from museums, historical societies, and ethnic groups to research associations, public and private schools, and institutions of higher education--all make for a diversified and multifaceted program. Proj Projects supported under the program provide, as indicated elsewhere, Federal assistance for developing curriculum materials for use in elementary or secondary schools and institutions of higher learning; for disseminating such curriculum materials; and for training persons using or preparing to use ethnic heritage curriculum materials developed under the program. ects funded under this authority should exhibit cooperation with persons and organizations which have a special interest in the ethnic group or groups with which the program is concerned to assist them in promoting, encouraging, developing, or producing programs or other activities which relate to the history, culture, or traditions of a perticular group or groups. For From FY 1974 to FY 1976, 140 grants totaling $5,995,000 were awarded in the three categories (curriculum development, training, and dissemination) covered by the program. Since the inception of the program, as shown in the table that follows, proposals have been received from every State except Maine, as well as from the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, and the Pacific Trust Territories. As elsewhere indicated, many of the proposals submitted and funded have been multi-ethnic in scope. example, in the first year of the Ethnic Heritage Studies Program, of the 39 projects launched, twelve focused on the experience of a single ethnic group; 23 explored the heritage of several (two to 20) ethnic groups; and four concentrated on issues relevant to all ethnic groups. During the first year of the program, each project was obliged to develop and disseminate curriculum materials, and train teachers in the use of these materials. The following products were developed: Curriculum materials for secondary social studies teachers, containing narrative reference material, teaching strategies, classroom activities, and bibliographies (38 projects). Multimedia learning packages (13 projects). The audiovisual components of these packages include films, videotapes, slides, filmstrips, slide/tapes, photographs, audiotapes, and records. Film, videotapes, audiotapes, and slide/tapes that are complete in themselves (10 projects). These tasks proved to be especially difficult to accomplish during a twelvemonth period and, thus, beginning with the second year of the program in 1975 only one of these three components was required at the elementary, secondary, or higher education levels. In the next two years, 1975-1976, the development of materials for curriculum was stressed and 50-55 percent of funding support was earmarked for this component. |