Why do boys and girls drop out of school and What can we do about it? AT THE REQUEST of superintendents of schools in cities of more than 200,000 population, a conference was arranged by Earl James McGrath, U. S. Commissioner of Education, to discuss the question of high school drop-outs, and what educators can do about them. The conference was held in Chicago, Ill., early in the year, and the report of the conference just issued by the Office of Education is attracting favorable attention. Because much of the infor mation in the published report is of such current interest to high-school administrators and teachers, as well as to youth and their parents, SCHOOL LIFE presents excerpts from it on these pages. The report itself is available as Circular No. 269, from the Superintendent of Documents, Government Printing Office, Washington 25, D. C. The title is, "Why Do Boys and Girls Drop Out of School, and What Can We Do About It?" The price is 35 cents. T The Curriculum as It Influences the School's Holding Power 'HAT BOYS and girls leave secondary schools in great numbers before graduation is symptomatic of curricular and other factors related to pupil adjustment. Early school leaving results, at least in part, from curricula which fail to provide sufficient flexibility and adaptability required by the needs, abilities, and interests of all youth. Although general agreement is developing with regard to curriculum principles 2. The secondary school has the responsi- 3. Learning experiences should be pro- and theory, there is a considerable lag provided in other ways than by adding to between curriculum principles and their application. This lag is believed to be responsible for a large proportion of early school leavers. It is believed that if the following principles are incorporated into curriculum planning and practice by individual schools, their observance will aid in reducing the number of school leavers by making school the number of courses. 4. Curriculum planning and the develop- 5. Teachers and administrators should be experiences so worth while that all youth encouraged to be always alert to the neces will want to remain in school. 1. The primary purpose of the secondary school is to continue the general education of all youth. sity for curriculum modification in terms of 6. School organization and curriculum. practices should discourage rather than encourage social stratification. 7. The emphasis in teaching and learning should be on effective community living and adjustment rather than on the contents of books. 8. Increased opportunity should be provided for school experiences which require "doing" and the demonstration of performance in real life situations. 9. Standards of achievement should be in terms of behavior and individual ability to learn rather than in terms of the mastery of subject matter. 10. Evaluation of student progress should be made on the basis of modified behavior, and teachers should seek meaningful ways of reporting student progress. 11. With individual achievement the basis of progress and evaluation, students will be able to progress from grade to grade with a minimum of repetition and failure. 12. More instructional materials must be adapted to the ability and maturity of students using them. 13. The relationship between teacher and students is particularly important. Each student needs to feel that at least one teacher knows him well, and is interested in him as an individual. Teachers should be selected for their ability to make a contribution to students rather than solely on the basis of their competency in a subject field. 14. Administrative procedures should be devised so that data and information on individuals and groups are made available to teachers, so that they can be used in individualizing instruction. 15. Opportunities should be provided pupils for the realistic consideration of vocational interests and for the special education required in advancing them. 16. Specialized vocational training should be deferred as long as possible so that it may come just prior to the student's leaving or graduating from school and actual employment. 17. The general education which is needed by all students as citizens, homemakers, and workers should begin sufficiently early in the secondary school so that it will reach all students before compulsory attendance laws permit them to leave. 18. Curriculum planning should be done by teachers and other school workers who are responsible for implementing and carrying out plans. 19. Curriculum planning and teaching procedures should be based on the increasing quantity of research on how children learn. 20. Increased attention should be directed to inform parents as well as students of what the schools are attempting to do. The Library of Congress Can Help You by Elinor B. Waters HE LIBRARY of Congress can sell you a photostatic copy of almost any book, manuscript, picture, musical score, or record in its collection. Sometimes you can borrow the material itself through your local library. Teachers will be glad to know that the material in the Library is not solely for advanced research and that a great deal of it can be used for elementary and secondary school purposes. As a general rule, anything in the Library can be reproduced which is not copyrighted or under restrictions placed upon it by the donors. The prints and photographs available have both decorative and informative value. The Prints and Photographs Division now has some five or six hundred separate and varied collections of illustrative material. For example, you may purchase pictures of historic American buildings, photographic portraits, engravings, etchings, early American photographs deposited for copyright, and pictures of American life taken largely during the 1930's by the Farm Security Administration. Many of these prints can then be reproduced in your publications. Music teachers can buy transcriptions of folk songs, instrumental music, and speech recordings. (You can obtain lists of available recordings from the Recording Laboratory, Music Division, Library of Congress.) In addition, recordings, scores, manuscripts, and books on music can sometimes be borrowed through interlibrary loans, or they can be photostated by the Library and then sold to you. The Recording Library also sells recordings of poets reading their own works. Interlibrary loans are one way by which the Library makes its resources available to people throughout the country. If you want to obtain material which is not available locally, and which your local librarian cannot obtain elsewhere, she may be able to borrow it for you from the Library of Congress. Such loans are granted when the purpose of the loan may be construed as a serious contribution to knowledge, and when the materials can be spared without depriving Congressmen or Government agencies of needed services. Researchers can also use library ma terials by having them reproduced in photo stat or microfilm form. If you need maps, manuscripts of historic significance, rare books, or musical scores, in the Library's collection, this is worth investigating. Costs for this service depend on whether or not the material has been previously photo graphed, and on the number of pages which can be photographed in one exposure, but the rates are generally moderate. The reference services of the Library are also helpful to out-of-town students. The Library can refer students to the location of rare research materials in libraries throughout the country. It also has prepared bib liographies on a great variety of subjects. liographies on a great variety of subjects. The Library sells to libraries, or to persons interested in a particular subject, printed catalog cards on all the books which it catalogs itself. You can borrow braille books and records for use on talking-book machines either directly through the Library or from any of the 27 regional distribution libraries. There is no charge for this service. The Library of Congress was created by an Act of Congress in 1800 providing for "the purchase of such books as may be necessary for the use of Congress at the said city of Washington, and for fitting up a suitable apartment for containing them." Since that time the Library's collections have grown until today it is the largest single library in the world, with more than 8,000,000 printed volumes and pamphlets, about 11,000,000 manuscripts, over 1,500,000 maps, nearly 2,000,000 volumes and pieces of music, and 500,000 fine prints, plus large holdings of phonograph records, newspapers, motion pictures, and microfilms. These materials are arranged on 250 miles of steel shelves. The Library is, as the name implies, the Library of Congress, and its services are primarily for Congressmen. But as the Library has developed, its services have come to include the entire governmental establishment and the public at large, so that it has become in effect a national service library. EDUCATION FOR HOMEMAKING (Continued from page 135 ) of carefully planned homemaking and family living courses than most people realize, but many more could profit greatly from some study in this area. With the recognition of the fact that edu cation for home and family living is needed by all youth have come an increasing num ber of new homemaking departments and attempts to plan student programs so that every high-school pupil will receive at least a minimum of home economics de signed to improve his ability to be a good family member. As adjustments are made to include home economics in the schedules of more high-school pupils, the attention of administrators and others has been focused upon problems of space, equipment, and teaching staff. The number of students to be served needs careful consideration in planning space and equipment, both in new buildings and in replanning use of space already available. The preparation for home and family living given in high school, through a special course or through better emphasis on the subject in many high-school courses, can be strengthened if the training and experience of the homemaking teacher is used most effectively. Since her schedule allows time for visiting homes, she can contribute information needed for better counseling, guidance, and schedule-making for individual students. Her experiences in using group techniques and informal, pupil-centered planning should be shared with other teachers who want to make their classrooms less academic and more realistic in their programs of preparation for home and family living. The homemaking teacher may suggest interesting teaching procedures such as demonstrations, use of various types of illustrative materials and visual aids, and activities and projects which can be used to supplement class discussion. In doing so she will be contributing to a more effective total high-school program. B Education of Crippled Children- EYOND the boundaries of continental United States, two conferences were recently held which dealt with the edu cational needs of crippled children-a matter of increasing interest in the world today. This interest in the crippled is, of course, a part of the deepening interest of the general public in all types of physically handicapped children. A UNESCO-sponsored conference of experts convened in Geneva, Switzerland, February 20, 1950, to study (for 1 week) the educational problems of orthopedically handicapped children. The conference was held under the auspices of the International Union for Child Welfare and was attended by 59 experts from 16 different countries. Representatives from the United Nations, the World Health Organization, and UNESCO also contributed to the conference, making a total of approximately 75 participants. The Office of Education was represented by Dr. Romaine Mackie, specialist, schools for the physically handicapped. Others attending from the United States were: Dr. John I. Lee, dean of the graduate school at Wayne University, Detroit, Mich.; Mr. Lawrence J. Linck, executive director of the National Society for Crippled Children and Adults; Mr. Eugene Taylor of The New York Times, New York City; Miss Bell Greve, secretary general of the International Society for the Welfare of Cripples; and Dr. James F. Garrett, of the Institute of Rehabilitation and Physical Medicine, New York City. The purpose of the conference was to consider the needs of war-handicapped children in Europe, but attention was given also to the other crippled and physically handicapped who have similar needs. The members of the conference agreed that edu cational plans must be flexible enough to meet the needs of children with various physical conditions. This means that the school must serve the child wherever he is in the day school, the hospital, the convalescent home or the sanitorium, or in his own home when no other plan is feasible. The American delegates emphasized the The program of the conference was built Another conference took place in Puerto the State Insurance Fund of Puerto Rico in It was the purpose of this institute to in the residence schools for the deaf and the blind, is now employed to teach physically handicapped children. There are a few other teachers in the island qualified by training to work with physically handicapped children. Among those from continental United States who participated in the conference were: Mr. Michael Shortley, Director of the Office of Vocational Rehabilitation, Federal Security Agency, Washington, D. C.; Mr. K. Vernon Banta, Special Assistant of the Chairman of the President's Committee on National Employ the Physically Handicapped Week, Department of Labor, Washington, D. C.; and Miss Bell Greve and Dr. Romaine Mackie, both referred to in connection with the Geneva conference. WAR SURPLUS PROPERTY (Continued from page 133) those agencies as it becomes available. The State agency for surplus property and the field representative will assist in the preparation of the necessary applications and in providing such information as is desired. The flow of surplus personal property to educational institutions is continuing at an average monthly rate of more than $8,000,000 in terms of acquisition value and includes all items used by Federal agencies for which there is an educational need and use. It is estimated that surplus real property with an acquisition value of well over $300,000,000 will be available for disposal during the next 12 months, and is widely distributed as to location. Costs involved in transferring such property must be paid by the institution acquiring it but the benefits possible are reflected in a recent statement by one county school superintendent that he had saved his county $100,000 in 12 months through acquisitions of surplus property. Such savings will be reflected in extensions and improvements of the educational program which otherwise would have been impossible. In Higher Education MAJOR ARTICLES appearing in the March 15 issue of HIGHER EDUCATION, Office of Education semimonthly publication, are "Regional Education: A Case Study," by Albert Lepawsky, professor of public administration, University of Alabama, and "Radio Curriculums Questioned," by Harry M. Williams, professor of speech, Miami University, Oxford, Ohio. The Office of Education-Its Services and Staff Division of International Educational Relations THE PROGRAM of the Division of International Educational Relations is designed to help the schools of this country understand the life and culture of other nations and to make our own civilization understood and appreciated abroad. This it accomplishes through services which include the preparation and publication of basic studies of foreign educational systems, the evaluation of credentials of foreign students who wish to enter educational institutions in this country, the operation of exchange programs for students and teachers, the maintenance of a roster of teachers in this country seeking positions in foreign schools, the preparation and exchange of materials for use in schools, the promotion of extracurricular activities designed to develop understanding among students of the various nations, assistance to visiting educators from abroad, and cooperation in carrying out the educational projects of UNESCO. For general purposes, the Division is organized in three geographical sections-American Republics, Europe, and the Near and Far East; in practice, however, many of the programs cut across geographical lines to use the abilities of specialists in certain broad functions. Staff, International Educational Relations Division KENDRIC N. MARSHALL, Director. THOMAS E. COTNER, Specialist for Exchange of RAYMOND NELSON, Assistant Specialist for Exchange of Information on Education and Evaluation of Credentials. CORNELIUS R. MCLAUGHLIN, Research Assistant. NANCY M. STAUFFER, Research Assistant. European Education HELEN DWIGHT REID, Chief, European Educational Relations. J. H. GOLDTHORPE, Specialist for the Exchange of Professors, Teachers, and Students. ALINA M. LINDEGREN, Assistant Specialist for Exchange of Information on Education and Evaluation of Credentials. MARGARET L. KING, Research Assistant. Near and Far Eastern Education ABUL H. K. SASSANI, Assistant Specialist for Exchange of Information on Education and Evaluation of Credentials. Division of School Administration THE DIVISION of School Administration makes studies, furnishes information, and provides advisory and consultative services. regarding State and local school organization and administration; financing of public schools; school housing; pupil transportation; education of school administrators; legal provisions relating to the administration, financing, and related phases of the public-school system. Through its Surplus Property Utilization Section, it makes available to the schools and colleges surplus federally-owned personal and real property usable for educational purposes or adaptable for such use. This Division also cooperates with other Federal Government agencies in their educational programs affecting the public schools. Its staff members, working closely with State departments of education and local educational agencies, are called upon for leadership through conferences, workshops, committee and commission membership, surveys, addresses, and writings, to promote better school organization and direction. A number of studies made by these staff members are carried on in cooperation with THIS IS THE THIRD in a series of statements appearing in School Life on the work of the Office of Education. Services and staff members of the Divisions of International Educational Relations and School Administration are reported in this issue. the National Council of Chief State School Officers and other educational organizations and groups. Top emphasis is helping America plan for its children the best possible school systems and lending cooperation in trying to bring about the most efficient management and administration of schools throughout the Nation. School Administration Division H. F. ALVES, Director. General Administration E. GLENN FEATHERSTON, Acting Chief. FRED F. BEACH, State school administration. WARD W. KEESECKER, school legislation. JOHN LUND, school administrator education. School Finance E. L. LINDMAN, Chief. CLAYTON D. HUTCHINS, school finance plans. School Housing RAY L. HAMON, Chief. NELSON E. VILES, school plant management. Surplus Property Utilization CLAUDE HIRST, Head, real property. THE COMMUNITY COLLEGE (Continued from page 130) counterparts for young women, could be so adapted under local administration that youth not otherwise employed could be provided with useful work under educational auspices. Employment conditions might make a period of youth service-tothe-community very desirable. |