SUMMARY

Our profession has come a long way since the founding of the first permanent school for the deaf in the United States in 1817. But there are many unanswered questions and much to be learned. There remain three large areas of need: (1) an adequate supply of fully trained classroom teachers of the deaf; (2) leadership training to provide administrative, supervisory, and special service personnel; and (3) research and demonstration projects.

Our profession supports part B, title V, of S. 580, since its provisions will make it possible for us to more adequately meet the needs of the deaf children of our country.

Dr. PRATT. We have; if you would, I would like to ask to have a statement by Dr. William McClure, who is the president of the Conference of Executives of American Schools for the Deaf and superintendent of the Indiana School for the Deaf at Indianapolis, included in the record.

The CHAIRMAN. We will be happy to have that inserted. (The statement referred to follows:)

PREPARED STATEMENT OF WILLIAM J. MCCLURE, PRESIDENT, CONFERENCE OF EXECUTIVES OF AMERICAN SCHOOLS FOR THE DEAF; SUPERINTENDENT, INDIANA SCHOOL FOR THE DEAF; AND MEMBER, COUNCIL ON EDUCATION OF THE DEAF Educators of the Deaf are most encouraged and well pleased with the operation of Public Law 87-276. The law is designed to recruit and train teachers for this highly specialized area of education. For the first time in many years, it appears possible that sufficient numbers of young people will be encouraged to enter this field, and thus alleviate the shortage of teachers of the deaf which has hampered the educational progress of deaf children throughout our country for many decades.

Under the provisions of Public Law 87-276, approximately 450 young people have received training during the 1962-63 school year. While this number will not, in any one year, alleviate the shortage to a great extent, the effects are already noticeable to those educators of the deaf whose fingers are on the pulse of the profession. Other young people are becoming aware of the field, and it is extremely likely that in the near future an even greater number will seek training. Because the shortage of teachers in this area has prevailed for many years, there is a tremendous backlog of need. Untrained or only partially trained teachers of the deaf have been accepted into the profession because no others were available. It will take many years for this caliber of teacher to secure training or to be replaced throughout the schools over our country.

One of the new teacher training programs established under Public Law 87-276 is a cooperative one between Ball State Teachers College in Indiana and the Indiana School for the Deaf. All 15 of the scholarships allocated to this newly established program were used, and as the graduates of this program are now accepting positions, it is evident that they will help reduce the shortage of teachers of the deaf in Indiana, Ohio, Michigan, and California. Other members of the class plan to go further into graduate work and to prepare themselves for positions for leadership and administration in the area of the deaf. As an educator of the deaf, and as president of the Conference of Executives of American Schools for the Deaf, I most sincerely urge passage of title V of Senate bill 580.

The CHAIRMAN. Mr. Greenberg?

STATEMENT OF BERNARD L. GREENBERG, ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR OF ENGLISH, GALLAUDET COLLEGE

Mr. GREENBERG. It is a privilege to be here, Mr. Hill.

My name is Bernard L. Greenberg and I am associate professor of English at Gallaudet College.

I would like to submit first a statement by Dr. Leonard Elstad, President of the college, for the record, in support of Public Law 87-276. (The statement of Dr. Elstad follows:)

PREPARED STATEMENT OF DR. LEONARD M. ELSTAD, PRESIDENT, GALLAUDET COLLEGE

Gallaudet College, for nearly a hundred years, has been the only institution in this country, and in the world, offering higher education specifically to the deaf. Our students are drawn from the graduates of schools for the deaf and of special public school programs for the deaf throughout the Nation. Conse quently we are in a favorable position to speak about the preparation for college that these students have received before we admit them.

As President of the college, I would like to indicate our strong support of Public Law 87-276, and any extensions of this law in any form that would continue to provide inducements to well-qualified persons to choose the education of the deaf as a career. That there is a serious shortage of trained teachers of the deaf has been well documented. It is apparent that Public Law 87-276 has begun to alleviate this shortage, and that if the law is extended, the education of deaf children will improve in quality through the addition of large numbers of better qualified teachers. With an improvement in lower levels of education, the college would find a firmer foundation for its own curriculums and would be able to extend the benefits of a higher education to a larger proportion of deaf students than can now qualify for admission.

Approximately 10 percent of the deaf students who graduate from secondary systems are now accepted by Gallaudet as qualified to pursue a liberal higher education. There is considerable evidence to suggest that they stand in the top 10 percent of their age group among all American youth in native intelligence and intellectual potential. But there is no question but that the great majority of them must be considered culturally deprived and educationally underprivileged to the point where 85 percent of our new students must spend a year in the college preparatory class before qualifying for admission as undergraduates. In this situation we mean no criticism of the schools: for they are laboring with an admittedly inadequate supply of trained teachers, especially at the secondary levels that are absolutely essential for continuing education. Furthermore, the schools generally do not have a large enough number of advanced students to justify a full senior high school education. Dr. James B. Conant points out in "The American High School Today" that a meaningful senior high school program is not financially possible for a graduating class of fewer than 100 students. The schools for the deaf today do not have graduating classes of anything approaching this number. Although we warmly commend them for the results they have achieved with inadequate resources, in a field not widely understood by the public, we believe that new means must be found to provide the same comprehensive senior high school education for all deaf students that is generally available to students with normal hearing. If deaf students are to surmount their handicap, they need more education, not less, than is provided the general population.

Further, the college hopes to see other kinds of higher education made available to the deaf. Gallaudet offers a liberal education in the arts and sciences. As a means of developing the full intellectual potential of its students, and as an avenue to the graduate schools for professional training in which a deaf person may make his full contribution to American society, the college will always-we believe-occupy a central place in the higher education of the deaf. But technical higher education should also be provided if our society is to be adequately served and if deaf people are to be employed at their full potential.

All these developments wait upon a strengthening of the present programs in the existing schools for the deaf. Public Law 87-276 has begun this strengthening; and we hope to see it continued and expanded if the deaf people in our society are to enjoy the privileges and accept the responsibilities of other American citizens.

Mr. GREENBERG. I would like also to submit a statement I have prepared for myself in support of the law and would like to comment briefly on our feelings, particularly my own, as a professor of English

I have been teaching English and the humanities at Gallaudet for more than 9 years and feel I have become fairly conversant with the language problems of the deaf. I am coauthor of a book on English composition problems for the deaf college student.

I have served on the Admissions Committee for over 3 years and prepared the English entrance exam.

GALLAUDET COLLEGE EXPERIENCE WITH DEAF STUDENTS

As you may know, we are a liberal arts college offering a broad program in the arts and sciences to deaf students capable of taking such a program.

Our admission standards are selective and we admit only such students as we feel will benefit from a liberal arts education. Because deafness interferes with normal language development, the normal process of acquiring a language, the normal problems we find are linguistic problems.

These language inadequacies, coupled with limited exposure to high school subject matter, leads to secondary deficiencies in most academic subjects.

One of the most worrisome problems we have is applicants who demonstrate high intelligence, they have a marked ability to handle quantitative material, but they have an urgent need for extensive remedial work in English.

We find a severe disability in reading and writing. Many such students are turned away. Others, because of limited exposure to high school subjects, because there is a limited number of high schools for the deaf, in all academic subjects, they are so deficient that failure is inevitable.

For those admitted, we must devote a large amount of time and effort to remedial programs to bring these people up to the level for facility in entering college.

This is not to be construed as a criticism of the devoted efforts of the educators of the deaf at precollege level. There are simply not enough well-trained teachers to provide the language training required, much less to permit schools to offer a full college preparatory program on a high-school level.

ROLE OF FEDERAL AID

We believe that through this public law, the necessary improvement in education of the deaf could be brought about by attracting more superior young men and women to the profession of educating the deaf. Through this means, more intensive language training could be provided and a broader curriculum offered. Regional high schools for the deaf, with strong academic departments, might eventually be established. If our students came to us thus soundly prepared, we could then direct our efforts more efficiently and effectively toward providing them with a liberal arts education. At Gallaudet, we feel that the program for participating in the first year has been effective. Our applicants, too, have increased both in number and quality and will continue to increase, we feel. We feel that the long-range impact on Gallaudet will be felt in about a decade.

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As a teacher of deaf college students, I never cease to marvel at the degree to which they profit from higher education.

Deprived culturally and educationally-such deprivation is the byproduct of deafness, and exposed to an unfamiliar environment, where they must come to grips with difficult materials, they suffer from the greatest of handicaps, and most of them succeed.

Avenues of higher opportunity will be open to a larger number of deserving students through this farsighted act.

Thank you, sir.

(The prepared statement of Bernard L. Greenberg follows:)

PREPARED STATEMENT OF BERNARD L. GREENBERG

My name is Bernard L. Greenberg. I am an associate professor of English at Gallaudet College and appear here as official representative of the college. First, I should like to submit a statement by Dr. Leonard M. Elstad, president of Gallaudet College, in support of an extension of Public Law 87-276.

I should like, also, to offer a brief comment regarding the need for and the anticipated benefits of extension of Public Law 87-276, based on my observations and experience. I have been teaching English and humanities at Gallaudet College for more than 9 years. During that time I have been extremely close to the problems relating to English education for the deaf in a liberal arts college. For more than a year I have been coordinator of preparatory English and have been a member of the admissions committee for 3 years. I am coauthor of a book on English composition for deaf college students and have for some time prepared the entrance examination in English composition used by the college. From my experience in these various capacities I feel I can speak with some knowledge about the ability and achievement of students at Gallaudet, As you may know, we are a liberal arts college, offering a broad program in the arts and sciences to deaf students throughout the Nation (and indeed to many foreign students). Provision of a broad liberal education has been the traditional purpose of our school. Our admissions standards are highly selec tive; we admit only such students as we feel will benefit from a liberal arts education. Though we select students whom we feel can do college work, the problems of many of these students are readily apparent. Because deafness interferes with the normal process of acquiring language, the fundamental problems are linguistic. These language inadequacies, coupled with limited exposure to high school subject matter, lead to secondary deficiencies in most academic subjects. One of our most frequent and most worrisome admission problems is that of the student who demonstrates high intelligence and marked ability to handle quantitative materials, but has urgent need for extensive remedial work in English. Typically, we find severe disability in both reading and writing. Many such students are turned away. Others, who also unquestionably have the innate intelligence to do college work, must be rejected because their level of education and preparation in all academic subjects is so deficient as to make failure inevitable. For the majority of those who are admitted, we must devote a great amount of our effort to this remedial program to bring them up to a level of facility with the language necessary for success in college and to attempt to bridge the subject matter gulf. This is not to be construed as a criticism of the devoted efforts of educators of the deaf at the precollege level; there are simply not enough well-trained teachers to provide the intensive language training required, much less to permit most schools to offer a full college preparatory program on a high school level.

We have been attempting for a number of years at Gallaudet to raise the quality of the curriculum we offer our students, both in breadth and depth, in order to train and discipline their minds; we have expanded our extra-curricular program to enrich their experience. The success of this effort has been manifested in many ways, among them accreditation of the college, and increased appeal to deaf graduates of public and private high schools. In the last 10 years. the proportion enrolled from this source has grown from a mere handful to 30 percent of the students admitted. Further, almost 60 percent of this group had sufficient background in high school subjects to bypass our preparatory training and undertake the college curriculum directly. Inclusion in the student body

admission standards as to severity of hearing loss, tend to raise the level of instruction and to underline the inadequacies of students who have not been exposed to an acceptable high school curriculum. Yet the public school system is not now geared to meeting the needs of the majority of the deaf. Many deaf students are lost in public school classes not designed to meet their special problems. We believe that the necessary improvement in education of the deaf should be brought about by attracting more superior young men and women to the profession of educating the deaf. Through this means, more intensive language training could be provided, and a broader curriculum offered. Regional high schools for the deaf, with strong academic departments, might eventually be established. If our students came to us thus soundly prepared, we could then direct our efforts more effectively toward providing them with a liberal arts education.

That the program provided for by Public Law 87-276 is beginning to have an effect, is already apparent at Gallaudet. In this, our first year of participation, we have had more and better applicants to our graduate program of teacher training. We anticipate even more improvement as information about the program reaches the colleges and universities. The long-range impact of the program on undergraduate applicants will begin to show up within the decade.

As a teacher of deaf college students. I never cease to marvel at the degree to which they profit from higher education. Deprived culturally and educationally-such deprivation is the byproduct of deafness-and exposed to an unfamiliar environment, where they must come to grips with difficult materials and subtle concepts, they struggle against one of the greatest of handicaps-and most of them succeed. Avenues of opportunity will be opened to a larger number of deserving students through this farsighted act.

The CHAIRMAN. As you gentlemen, of course, well know, the provisions for the teaching of the deaf in S. 580, the bill on which we are now having hearings, were embodied in the bill, S. 1576, which the Senate passed a little over 2 weeks ago, on May 27 last.

We are very hopeful-in fact, we expect that those provisions will remain in S. 576 as they were written by the Senate and as that bill is now before the House Committee on Commerce.

But we felt that in view of the fact that these provisions are also in a pending bill, S. 580, that it would be well to have you gentlemen come down and bring us these facts which you have so well done today.

You have made splendid statements. We want to thank you and express to you our deep appreciation.

Mr. GREENBERG. Thank you, sir.

The CHAIRMAN. Now Mr. John Fitzpatrick and Mr. James R. Cowen.

STATEMENTS OF JOHN J. FITZPATRICK, SUPERINTENDENT OF SCHOOLS, CHICOPEE, MASS., REPRESENTING MASSACHUSETTS SUPERINTENDENTS ASSOCIATION AND CITY OF CHICOPEE, MASS.; JAMES R. COWAN, SUPERINTENDENT OF THE SAN JUAN UNITED SCHOOL DISTRICT, CARMICHAEL, CALIF.; OSCAR ROSE, SUPERINTENDENT OF SCHOOLS, MIDWEST CITY, OKLA.; AND W. P. BUTCHER, MEMBER OF THE BOARD OF EDUCATION, MIDWEST CITY, OKLA.

Senator PELL (presiding pro tempore). I welcome you gentlemen here.

Mr. Rose will introduce the other two gentlemen of the panel.

I hope if Senator Mundt comes in in the course of your hearing, you will be willing to suspend for a few moments while he makes his state