must also be a guarantee that an employee will be reemployed and financial provision for the applicant's dependents, if any, must be made by the nominating government or employing agency while the trainee is in the United States.

Financial Provisions

Teachers selected for these 6 month fellowships may receive one of three types of grants. A type "A" grant provides the teacher with round-trip transportation to the United States, limited travel within the United States, and an adequate monthly maintenance allowance, the cost of which is borne by the United States Government. Type "B" grants are made solely from funds provided by one of the other American Republics to give their teaching personnel advanced training in this country. Under a type "C" grant, the teacher will receive financial assistance from both his home government and the United States Government. Not only the Office of Education but all governmental offices and agencies which are members of the Interdepartmental Committee on Scientific and Cultural Cooperation with the other American Republics have training programs operating under these three categories.

Typical Program of Study

A typical program was that arranged for Mrs. Mariana Rolando of Cuba. Mrs. Rolando is a nursery-kindergarten teacher and

editor of the official publication of the Kindergarten Teachers Association in her country. When she arrived in Washington, D. C., she received orientation before beginning her formal program of work. The Specialist in Nursery-Kindergarten Education, Division of Elementary Education of the Office, in consultation with other members of the staff, was primarily responsible for planning her program and itinerary. After preliminary conferences to determine particular needs and interests, it was decided to send Mrs. Rolando first to the Vassar Summer Institute.

At Vassar, she enrolled in courses in Child Development, Nursery School Education, and Parent Education. She also attended special lectures on the education of the hard of hearing, problem children, sex education, and juvenile delinquency. She particularly enjoyed the work in family relationships and reported an attendance of 150 parents and an equal number of children between the ages of 2 and 12.

Following her work at the Vassar Summer Institute, she attended interim courses at Teachers College, Columbia University, from August 12 to September 3. During this period, instruction was obtained in curriculum development. She found the courses given of much assistance and interest.

Mrs. Rolando then returned to Washing ton, D. C., for consultation with a view to analyzing experiences and conclusions and for the preparation of the first part of her

report. After 2 weeks in the Capital, she went to the National College of Education. in Evanston, Ill. There, she was given the privilege of auditing courses in Childhood Education, Parent Education, Literature for Young Children, Mental Hygiene of Childhood. Foods and Nutrition.

In each of the three areas to which Mrs. Rolando was assigned, she visited nursery and elementary schools. As an example, in the Chicago area, she observed the work in the Avery Coonley School of Downers Grove, the Hubbard Woods School and the Crow Island School in Winnetka, Ruggen School in Glenview, the Cradle in Evanston, and Saint Vincents' Orphanage, Mary Crane Nursery School, and Hull House in Chicago. In December, Mrs. Rolando returned to Washington for final conferences and for completion of the final report. Of course, she was furnished with many educational aids and materials to take with her to Cuba.

What use does she plan to make of her training and experiences in the United States? Briefly, it is this. Through the official publication for nursery-kindergarten teachers of which she is the editor, she hopes to bring to the attention of these teachers the applicable techniques of preschool education which she has learned in the United States. She will encourage the offering of new courses in her field and in the field of foods and nutrition in the teacher training institutions in Cuba. She also hopes to modernize the philosophy of preschool education and training in Cuba which was established in the island republic during the period of United States occupation, following the war for Cuban independence in 1898. An exhibit of equipment and teaching materials and a Book Fair are a part of Mrs. Rolando's plans. Mrs. Rolando has done an excellent piece of work here and we wish her success in her future endeavors.

There are many outstanding examples of training in different fields and of programs prepared by the specialists in the Elementary, Secondary, Vocational, Statistical, and Higher Education Divisions of the Office. For brevity's sake, however, I shall list only the names, countries, and fields of study of the trainees who have come under the Office of Education's program since its beginning in 1944.

Accomplishment

Although this is one of the smaller programs of exchange administered by the Office in point of numbers, it looms large in results. Those teachers who come to us

have already received training in their special fields and from week to week during their internship one can see them making unbelievably rapid progress. An effort has been made to see what they have done after returning to their respective countries in order to determine the ultimate values of such a program. Replies to question naires recently sent to former grantees emphasize the professional contributions made and the bonds of good neighborliness which have been established as a result of this teacher-training program.

Mr. Hector Gomez Matus of Chile studied graphic arts education in the United States in 1944-45 and is now director of the National School of Graphic Arts in Santiago and assistant director of the governmental publication, Review of Education. He has recently been appointed chief of the Information and Publication Service of the Ministry of Education. Since his return to Chile, he has twice been interviewed on the radio on these subjects, "Education and Life in the U. S. A." and "Graphic Arts in the United States." He has also made two speeches at University Hall of the National University of Chile on "Teaching for Democracy in the United States" and on "Vocational and Industrial Education in Chile and the United States." Mr. Gomez is an active member of the Chilean-American Cultural Institute, jointly sponsored by this and the Chilean Government. He has even found time to publish An English Course for SpanishSpeaking People under the pen name of Ektor Franco. In his reply to the questionnaire, he states that "the improving of plans and programs of study of the School of Graphic Arts, in my charge, is to a great extent, the fruit of the experience and training I received in the States."

Miss Esperanza Robles Dominguez of Mexico came to the United States in 1945-46 to study the methods of teaching. English as a second language. She had been an elementary-school teacher and taught 3 hours a week in a secondary school. After her return to Mexico, she became the general supervisor of the English Department of all the secondary schools in the Republic, with the exception of schools in the Federal District. She is also a member of the textbook commission which revises and approves books used in the secondary schools. Several speeches have been made to various groups of teachers of English on methods and techniques by Miss Robles. She corresponds frequently with the centers she visited, such as Wellesley, Michi

association, she values her membership in our own National Education Association and subscribes to the Journal of that organi

zation.

Mr. Enrique Salas from Chile worked in the field of vocational guidance in 1944–45. Since his return to his home country he has been appointed director of the Department of Guidance in the Ministry of Education. He writes that "Chilean teachers are rapidly becoming guidance conscious, which interest will no doubt be a decisive factor in the furtherance of our program for secondary education." Materials have been sent to him periodically to assist him in his work. He has recently prepared a program of vocational orientation in the secondary schools of Chile which has been adopted and is now

being implemented. In a recent bulletin, Vocational Guidance in Secondary Teaching, which was prepared by Mr. Salas, he was assisted by another former trainee, Mr. Mariano Rocabado, who came to the United States as a visiting teacher of English. This is an encouraging example of collaboration and indication that each trainee does not return to work alone or to go his separate way.

What have been the benefits accruing from this program of teacher training in the broader sense? These exchanges have served to implement the foreign policies of the United States in the field of the interchange of persons and information as expressed in the Good Neighbor Policy, the Convention for the Promotion of InterAmerican Cultural Relations to which this

Nation is a party, Public Law 402 of the Eightieth Congress, and President Harry S. Truman's recently proposed Program of Technical and Scientific Assistance to underdeveloped areas. Moreover, specialized training has been provided in certain fields of education considered as critical by the other participating governments. Individual teaching techniques and methods have been improved and the efforts of these teachers upon returning home have tended to raise standards of living and to advance the cause of human welfare in their countries. The efforts of these teachers also have contributed to mutual respect and understanding among the peoples of the Americas which in turn produce a climate conducive to world peace and security.

Voices of Yesterday. The actual voices of great historic figures of the past are now available for school use in social science classes, assembly programs, and libraries. William Jennings Bryan, Theodore Roosevelt, William McKinley, Grover Cleveland, Admiral Robert E. Peary, Thomas Edison, William E. Gladstone, and many others speak again in a series of 15-minute recorded programs called "Voices of Yesterday." Each program contains a dramatization of some important event in the life of a well-known figure and is climaxed by the actual voice.

Recordings are on 16-inch transcriptions playable at 333 r. p. m. If sufficient interest is shown, albums containing two 12inch unbreakable plastic records at phonograph speed of 78 r. p. m. will be processed.

For schools with magnetic tape recorders these programs are immediately available on a 15-minute tape recording. Educational Services, 1702 K Street NW., Washington 6, D. C., is the distributor. Forests and Forest Fires. Public ownership of the National Forests is the theme of a new U. S. Forest Service film entitled Everyman's Empire, which shows not only the relationship of forests to soil and water

and social changes of the last 150 years and their influence upon the countries of the world are portrayed in an animated color cartoon, Expanding World Relationships, of the Department of State. Prints of the film, 16-mm. sound and 11 minutes in

length, can be purchased from Castle Films. The price to schools is $48.78 less 10 percent discount. Neither the Department of State nor the U. S. Office of Education lends or rents this film.

Directory of 16mm Film Libraries. A directory of 897 16mm film libraries. that rent or lend films has been compiled and published by the Visual Aids Section

of the U. S. Office of Education. Copies of this publication, entitled A Directory of 897 16mm Film Libraries, can be purchased from the Superintendent of Documents, U. S. Government Printing Office, Washington 25, D. C., price 15 cents. Catalog of Forest Service Films.-Write to the Forest Service, U. S. Department of Agriculture, Washington 25, D. C., for a copy of the 1949 catalog, Forest Service Films Available on Loan for Educational Purposes. This catalog describes 29 sound motion pictures of the U. S. Forest Service and lists the regional offices of the Forest Service from which the films may be borrowed.

Art Slides and Filmstrips. The National Gallery of Art, Washington 25, D. C., lends 2- by 2-inch and 314- by 4-inch slides. to responsible organizations. Borrowers pay transportation and insurance costs and are responsible for loss or damage to the slides. Most of the works of art in the Gallery are available in color and in both size slides.

The Gallery also has for sale a black-andwhite filmstrip containing 300 representative pictures in its collection. The price of this filmstrip is $6.

THIS STATEMENT was prepared by Commissioner McGrath for the 1949 Annual Report of the Federal Security Agency, Office of Education. The report covers the year ending June 30, 1949.

A

MERICAN EDUCATION is now in the

most critical period in its history. Our people generally have held the firm conviction that it is in the interest both of the individual and of society that all youth regardless of race, color, sex, social or political conviction, or economic status should have equality of educational opportunity. This recognition of the importance of education combined with the rapid rise in the birthrate is, however, the root of many of the current difficulties in education in the United States. Devoted though we are to the conception of equal educational opportunity for all, we have not yet faced realistically the practical consequences of this philosophy-the cost in terms of teachers, buildings, textbooksdollars and cents.

Teacher Shortage

The available teachers today fall far short-almost entirely in in elementary schools of the number needed even to staff the classes assembling in the fall of 1949. Thousands of classes are taught by teachers who hold only emergency or temporary certificates. We have already delayed be yond the point where even the most drastic steps can quickly relieve the shortage of teachers in the elementary schools.

One of the most important factors in the present short supply of teachers is the relatively low salaries they receive in many communities. There is no reason why teachers, who are as able and devoted to their work as the members of other professions, should live from hand to mouth while others enjoy financial security. Only by facing this problem realistically now can the shortage of qualified teachers be materially reduced three, four, or five years hence. Only thus can the right of all

American children to a basic education for their own personal advantages and for the responsibilities of citizenship be guaran

teed.

Though income is a significant factor in recruiting and holding teachers in the profession, it is by no means the only factor. In too many communities teachers are required to adapt their own tastes, conduct,

and social activities to members of the school board or other prominent citizens. The attitudes of suspicion concerning the teacher's political and social views, increasingly common in recent years, likewise deprive the teaching guild of some of its most alert and enterprising minds.

We need more reliable evidence than we now have as to why some young people are attracted to teaching while others are driven from it. We do not know what makes some highly successful as teachers and others dismal failures. An adequate analysis of teaching will require the cooperative efforts of educators, social psychologists, economists, sociologists, psychiatrists, anthropologists, political scientists, and other specialists in human relations. Such a group should attempt to identify and study the intellectual and emotional characteristics of successful and unsuccessful teachers and the forces which determine the conditions of teaching in the United States.

School Building Needs

The present critical shortage of teachers is matched by an arresting lack of schoolhouses. If all the needed teachers were available today many would have no rooms in which to conduct their classes; that is, rooms fit for school use. The shortage of school buildings is in part the result of the depression of the thirties and in part the result of restrictions on construction during the war years. Many of the buildings which are physically sound are antiquated in terms of the functions of modern education. The school is now a living community in which children of varied ages engage in a great variety of activities, some of which now considered essential by com

By Earl James McGrath, L

petent authorities were unknown only a few years ago.

In attempting to determine the cost of the school building program for the entire country, plans for local reorganization must be taken into account. There is need, therefore, for a cooperative and comprehensive study of school organization and finance. Until such an investigation is made with the enthusiastic cooperation of State and local units, the sums needed to provide an adequate school plant for the entire nation can be only roughly estimated. Sampling studies made by the Office of Education and the National Education Association indicate that the cost of building the additional school structures needed to accommodate the increased enrollments within the next 10 years and for replacing obsolescent and dilapidated buildings would amount to at least 10 billion dollars.

Federal Action Essential

Careful students of the school system are convinced that the quality of education cannot be maintained without Federal financial support. Within even the wealthiest States, wide educational differences still exist. These same differences also exist among the several States. They stem largely from two economic and social factors. The wealth of the several States varies enormously and the States which have the least money have proportionately the most childdren. The need for Federal aid for elementary and secondary education is clear.

The report of the President's Commission on Higher Education showed also that the ability of the various States to support higher education varied considerably. Some of the States with the smallest annual income have the largest number of young people capable of profiting from higher education. It is in the interest of the national welfare that these young people have an opportunity to continue their education beyond the high school. If this is to be accomplished, some form of Federal scholarship program is absolutely essential.

| Commissioner of Education

Education for International
Relations

There is widespread agreement that edu cation is the best and perhaps the only means of preparing the peoples of the world to live together in harmony and prosperity. Normally the usual processes of education would be enough to guarantee international understanding and peace. For the minds and the hearts of men would be opened to the influence of other peoples and other cultures different from their own.

But this indirect route to the goal of amity among nations is too slow. The unstable international situation requires that a specialized program dealing with prob lems of international understanding and peace be made an integral part of the work of the schools and of informal educational agencies. It is urgently necessary that the people of all nations come to know something of their fellowmen in other areas of the globe. A vigorous campaign of educa tion is therefore needed, focused directly on problems of international understanding.

The United States National Commission for United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization has enlisted the cooperation of many cultural organizations in the crucial task of educating our people about the purposes of UNESCO and the part which they can play in it. Nevertheless. much yet remains to be done in making Americans conscious of the work of this important agency. All the various profes sional associations of educators from the elementary schools through the colleges and universities ought to devote a significant part of their annual conferences to a discussion of the ways and means by which they can assist in achieving the objectives of UNESCO.

It is encouraging to observe that many efforts are already being made to supplement the formal programs of educational institutions in the advancement of international understanding. The various programs for the exchange of persons fall in this category.

There are nations whose standards of living have never been high, whose natural and human resources have not been adequately developed, and whose skilled workers, scholars, and scientists do not exist in sufficient numbers to undertake a program of national development. In the develop ment of their own resources President Truman offered to these nations the knowledge and the skills of Americans. The exchange of such technical personnel will help greatly in maintaining international peace by reducing the economic and social differences between the "have" and the "have-not" nations, and by creating good will abroad.

American educators can render a lasting service by assisting foreign school systems. in establishing programs for the recruitment and training of their own people. Thus the technical leadership now supplied from beyond their own borders can eventually be provided through their own educational institutions. The educational institutions of the United States can make an enormous contribution to this program of technical help to other nations through the exchange of persons and also through advisory commissions.

Under the plan now in operation between England and the United States, the visitor has a regular teaching assignment which results in daily contact with the children of the community and with teachers and administrative officers in the school. The visiting teacher sees these people, so to speak, in their native habitat under normal conditions exhibiting their natural reactions. The members of the school community and of the home likewise have an opportunity to observe the behavior and the ideas of the visitor.

Declaration of Human Rights

The Declaration of Human Rights, prepared by the United Nations Commission on Human Rights, embodies the highest ideals of all people of good will throughout the world. The distribution of information about the Declaration and the organization

of activities leading to its adoption and implementation is in the hands of the United States National Commission for UNESCO. Educators and other citizens as well will wish to cooperate actively with the National Commission in acquainting our people with the Declaration and in working for the practical realization of its recommendations in the lives of all Americans.

Communism and the Schools:
The Real Dangers

In the present postwar period, as after World War I, there is a noticeable increase in internal tensions of the Nation. One expression of these tensions is seen in the widespread concern over communism. Many citizens feel, for example, that there is danger that communistic influences may operate through our educational systems. In the spring of 1949 the Educational Policies Commission of the National Education Association issued a report which deserves careful study, both by members of the teaching profession and by the public at large. Entitled, "American Education and International Tensions," the report analyzes the cross currents of world conflicts of ideology, their implications for education, and the consequent steps to be taken in American schools and colleges.

This much appears clear: While our constitutional guarantees rightly defend the privilege of every man to speak his mind. out freely, regardless of the truth or error of his utterance, trusting to the sifting processes of free debate and the integrity of an educated people, there is no justification, either in principle or in practice, for knowingly employing as teachers of our youth. those whose commitments are contrary to the foundation principles of freedom itself. But in our efforts to avoid one danger, we must not embrace another. The present period of hysterical concern must not betray us into adopting measures of censorship and control which are the essence of the police state. Some persons have the un(Continued on page 76)