Education & Pedagogy

The document contains the verbatim reports of nine hearings held on H. R. 14454, the bill to extend the authorization of appropriations for the Vocational Education Act of 1963 until Fiscal Year 1980, including the full texts of all prepared statements and exhibits of various kinds. The statements were made by a wide variety of people, including State and local school superintendents; program directors and teachers from all branches of vocational education, special education, Indian education, and other areas; vocational teacher educators; and representatives from State departments of education, student organizations, the farm bureau, State and national advisory councils, various professional organizations and businesses, and students involved in correctional education programs. Some statements are of considerable length and contain detailed information about State, local, and special programs. A 116-page section is devoted to a draft of legislative proposals for vocational education based on a study carried out by the American Vocational Association and a 101-page section contains exhibits presented by the American Association of Community and Junior Colleges. The annual reports of the State Advisory Councils on Vocational Education are summarized and the text of H. R. 14454 is included. (SA)

Initial proposals for creating an education program for the European Community are presented in this report. These proposals are limited to broad areas which the Commission has delineated in this first program for a council to work with. The main themes identified as starting points are (1) mobility in education, including the mobility of students, teaching and research staffs, and education and youth administrators; (2) the education of the children of migrant workers; (3) movement toward a European dimension in education which involves the learning of foreign languages, the study of Europe, collaboration between institutions of higher education, and the idea of the European Schools; and (4) relations with the Council of Europe, Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), and UNESCO. The draft resolution of the Council of the European Communities and of the Conference of Ministers of Education, meeting within the Council for cooperation in the field of education, and the draft decision of the Council relating to the setting up of a European Committee for Educational Cooperation are given as the institutional framework recommended for enactment of the themes. (ND)

Research for Better Schools, Inc., a regional educational laboratory, is proceeding to develop an employer-based career education model in order to provide further definition and meaning to the concept. The model will be a private academic school, the Academy for Career Education, and will serve 100 11th grade students from Philadelphia. It will involve major elements of management, instruction, guidance and counseling, and evaluation; the central model element will be the instructional program, with more than half of the instruction to be conducted by employers. Presently 33 employers have been committed to participate in the program. Instructional activities will be included under three major educational themes: (1) general education (basic skills, core curriculum, and electives); (2) explorative education (career and life skills); (3) specialized education (career and life skills). The preliminary model version is now operational at the Philadelphia site. Employer-based career education, an experiment to determine employer willingness and ability to contribute to education, involves intensive study and active participation in the world of work as well as employer participation in determining educational policy and providing instruction. (A discussion of nine current propositions related to employer-based career education is included in the paper.) (EA)

The Wisconsin State Plan is presented in two parts (1) administrative provisions and (2) annual and long-range program plan provisions. Part one sets forth detailed procedures for the administration of vocational education in Wisconsin and the legal basis for these procedures. It describes the State board and its organizational structure; fiscal procedures; and program administration in the areas of: State programs; the disadvantaged; research and personnel training; exemplary programs and projects; residential vocational education schools; consumer and homemaking education; cooperative vocational education programs; and work-study programs for vocational education students. Part two is primarily a numerical presentation of aspects of vocational education in Wisconsin, relating vocational education to the occupational needs of the State. It translates the goals of the agency into objectives and projected outcomes. A detailed analysis is offered of present and projected manpower needs and job opportunities; availability of vocational education; population characteristics relating to vocational education needs; annual and long-range planning and budgeting; enrollment projections; estimates of funds needed; construction projects; and the demand, funding, financial planning, and enrollment projections for personnel preparation and development. The 11 recommendations made by the Wisconsin Advisory Council on Vocational Education are appended. (Author/NH)

The Sub-committee on Legislation of the Committee on Education of the Community Service Society (CSS) focuses on education law at the local, state and federal levels. It reviewed 617 bills on education submitted to the New York State Legislature. Committee on Education of CSS reviewed only those bills which were of special interest. The Committee was particularly interested in bills relating to bilingual education. Similarly, the Society's support of school decentralization prompted interest in legislation pertaining to the governance and administration of public schools of Community School Boards. Previous policy positions in regard to education for the handicapped, students' rights, integration, pre-kindergarten and other compensatory education programs, continuing education and church-state issues in state aid to non-public schools, provided additional guidelines to the selection of bills for analysis and action. The bills on which the Committee took action are listed in the final section of this report. Included in the table of bills are brief descriptions, introductory numbers for Senate and Assembly bills, the names of legislators who introduced the bills, the type of CSS action and the final outcome. The bulk of the report describes highlights of action on education bills in the 1974 session. (Author/JM)

Forty-three vocational education programs funded under Part B of the Vocational Education Amendments of 1968 served 67,310 post-secondary students in 16 area districts of Wisconsin. Adult-vocational programs showed enrollment increases; adult-agriculture program enrollments decreased. Special education programs and services were designed to aid 10,571 disadvantaged persons in achieving vocational-technical objectives; similar programs and services were designed for 1,744 handicapped persons. Occupational instructional areas were: agriculture, distributive education, health, office education, technical education, trades and industry, and home economics. The programs were offered at the post-secondary and adult levels. In addition to agriculture, adult programs in home economics and distributive education showed declining enrollments. Federal funds were used for two categories of projects: non-continuing projects (construction and equipment) in the north and western portions of the State, and continuing projects in the southeast. Nine construction projects are described briefly, and activities in special programs (research, exemplary, and consumer and homemaking) are summarized. Highlights of exceptional or model programs are included in the report, as are comments on the organization of vocational youth organizations. Career education and agriculture programs need more attention. The 30-page appendix lists each program by title with a brief description. (AG)

Beginning with a biographical sketch of L. T. White and comments by his contemporaries, the volume goes on to provide a collection of his writings and speeches on distributive education emphasizing the value of cooperative activity between the marketing and educational communities. Practical suggestions are offered for improving educational programs for marketing and management. The section entitled "The Importance of Distribution" emphasizes the importance of education and business "teaming up" to continue a system of free choice and competition. The readings in the section, "The Need for Education in Distribution," present L. T. White's thought on education in business, better salesmanship, and the role of the government. It concludes with a report of the first Distributive Education Committee. In the section, "The Role of Distributive Education," articles reflect the challenges of the businessman, the need for good salesmanship, and the role of distributive education in the community and the economy. The concluding section, "The Development of Education for Entrepreneurs," stresses the need for education and business to work together more closely in order to better educate more persons for business. (MW)

The state of continuing education for physicians was examined by a World Health Organization Expert Committee. The study touched on five major areas: (1) the motivation and stimulation during basic medical education and during the physicians professional career; (2) the definition of objectives, selection of instructional methods, and evaluation of educational impact as they relate to the application of modern pedagogy; (3) interprofessional education programs; (4) qualitative and quantitative organizational requirements; and (5) resource requirements in the areas of personnel deployment, training staff for continuing education programs, facilities, and funding. Recommendations suggest: (1) The development of national systems of continuing education for the health professions with clearly defined central and regional administrative authority and responsibility, and the integration of such programs with the national health care system. (2) The development of mechanisms for determining the local health needs and deficiencies of practitioners. (3) The identification and development of more realistic incentives and rewards for physicians to encourage them to engage in continuing education. (4) The development of discussion among specialists with the purpose of delineating jointly the specific objectives and processes or continuing education for the health professions. (5) The development of demonstration projects in interprofessional education. Additional recommendations are included. (MJM)

The first half of this document deals with the nature of needs for higher quality in teacher education. The substance of quality in teacher education is discussed in light of the relationship between social reality and the schools. The second half develops the following outline of recommendations for a new program: 1) A National Teacher Education Foundation should be established immediately to devote itself to a) the promotion of basic inquiry, in cooperation with other national educational agencies, directed toward improvement and reform of schools and school systems; b) recommendation of priotities in teacher education program development; and c) implementation of projects directed toward the improvement of quality in teacher education. 2) General federal financial aid should be provided for undergraduate teacher education. 3) A federal grant program should be established for physical plant and equipment for teacher education. 4) A federal grant and contract program should be launched to stimulate the development of consortia of universities and public agencies in the preparation of teachers. 5) A federal support program should be provided for faculty and staff development in professional schools of education. 6) A federal project-based program should be undertaken for course content improvement in teacher education. 7) A federal project grant program should be provided for exemplary programs in teacher education. (JS)

The reported failure of urban schools has been well documented by various government commissions. To remedy this situation, quality and equality of education must be insured. Research and development on disadvantaged populations has increased in an effort to reverse the effects of traditional pedagogical methods. Numerous programs for early intervention show that changes can be effected but that these effects have little long-term stability. But that does not mean that compensatory education is not a promising method; rather, that adequate methods and understanding are still to come. Various strategies and models for improving urban education are compensatory education, desegregation, model subsystems, parallel systems, total systems reform, and new systems development. In addition, some programs attempt to change the student himself, his family, and the schools in new ways. College programs for disadvantaged youth try to prepare students for advanced study. The greatest policy problem is desegregation. Increase in federal aid raises the hope that urban education will receive not only more funds but also more attention. This paper was prepared for a book entitled "Urban Education in the 1970's," edited by A. Harry Passow, to be published by Teachers College Press, Fall 1970. [Not available in hard copy due to marginal legibility of the original document.] (JW)

Presenting an historical review of American Indian education, this document includes the following: (1) Introduction (identifies the educational anthropologist as one who investigates the learner's and the educator's cultural orientation to better facilitate the continuity of educational content and method); (2) Definition of Terms (culture, anthropology, and education); (3) Historical Background to Indian Education (the initial philosophy of assimilation and the General Allotment Act; the turning point in Indian education via the Meriam Report of 1928 and the Indian Reorganization Act of 1934; the reactionary movement of the 1950's and the Federal Termination Act; and the activities stimulated by the "War on Poverty" in the 1960's); (4) Indian Education: 1965 to the Present (the Equal Opportunity Act of 1964; the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965; the Indian Education Act of 1972; the Coleman Report of 1965 and the concepts of cultural alienation and middle class values; the MacLean Review of 1972 and the statistics of deprivation; the role of the Bureau of Indian Affairs); (5) Cultural Identity in Representative Indian Groups (Hopi and Papago); (6) Anthropology and Indian Education; (7) Conclusion (anthropological concepts should be included in all curricula to a far greater degree). (JC)

The evaluations of 26 career education programs which operated in the Philadelphia, Pennsylvania school district from July 1, 1975 to June 30, 1976 are contained in this report. Generally the projects achieved their objectives, with only a few exceptions. Indications are that the career development programs currently in progress in Philadelphia are well adapted to the environment in which they are expected to function, and have been developed in accordance with the actual needs of the students they are intended to serve. Of the 26 projects evaluated, eleven of these were primarily concerned with classroom or shop instruction, six with curriculum development, and five with guidance activities. The other four projects involved staff development, job placement, and the development and refinement of a computer management system for the skills centers. Information is presented for each program separately and includes budget, project description, project history, objectives, project implementation, and project outcomes: evaluation questions, discussion, and conclusions and recommendations. (RC)

Four hundred eighty-five postsecondary institutions reported to have liberal arts cooperative education programs were surveyed to: (1) identify institutional type and size, (2) obtain data on program type, scale, and scope, (3) obtain data on administrative structure, and (4) secure opinions regarding program success. A 52% response rate was achieved. Results indicated that of the 223 two- and four-year institutions with cooperative education programs, 72 did not have liberal arts cooperative education. Of the remaining 161 institutions, 115 reported fewer than 40 student participants during academic year 1974-75, 104 judged their programs successful, and 21 felt their programs were failures. Among factors identified by the respondents as affecting program success were faculty involvement/cooperation, flexible program operation, institutional commitment, high quality job placements, and academic credit for work experience. Included in this report is a general discussion of the state of the liberal arts. Additionally, interviews with the cooperative education leaders of eight selected institutions are presented. Recommendations are made for strengthening liberal arts cooperative education and for further research in the liberal arts cooperative education area. A bibliography is included and the survey instruments are appended. (JDS)

Phase IV of the project entitled Occupational Education Administration Project (OEAP) presents the results of a comprehensive assessment to evaluate the effects of OEAP with respect to achievement and subsequent administrative performance of participating students. (OEAP, as a total project, was designed to (1) field test the model performance-based Occupational Education Administrator Program under typical graduate education conditions, (2) write and refine affective performance indicators, (3) conduct followup and revalidation of the identified occupational education administration performance statements, (4) provide all program participants with the education necessary to obtain Illinois Level I Administrative Endorsement for Certification, and (5) place program participants in occupational education administrative positions commensurate with their acquired abilities and credentials by a specified date.) It was concluded that a great deal of learning did occur during participation in OEAP and that OEAP alumni exited the project with substantial cognitive and affective proficiency in the 159 competencies which comprise the Occupational Education Administrator's professional role. The document includes further discussion of project conclusions, and suggestions for further research. Appendix A, Occupational Education Administration Project: Competency List with Cognitive and Affective Sample Indicators, covers the majority of the document (78 pages). Four additional appendixes provide other information related to OEAP. (HD)

The Colorado State Board of Education allocated Title IV-V funds in 1975 for a study of the status of early childhood education in Colorado. The purposes of the study were to: (1) gather data relevant to early childhood education on the status of all children from birth through age 5; (2) identify needs of children of this age within the state; and (3) identify and suggest possible approaches to meeting the needs of Colorado children in this age group. This study is intended to furnish basic data that can be used to design plans to serve the educational and child care needs of children from birth through age 5. This study focuses mainly on the situation of children, outside the home, that is, in prekindergartens in public schools, public and privately operated day care homes and centers, and Head Start programs. The health and nutritional status of children in Colorado is also investigated. Included are chapters on prekindergarten public school programs (including those for children with special needs), child care, Head Start, health care, parent education and involvement and higher education. Detailed appendices include data on prekindergarten programs, child care, Head Start programs, health care, higher education and demographic data.(Author/MS)