Educational screen & audio-visual guide (c1956-1971])

NDEA At Midpoint by Seerley Reid _ HE National Defense Education Act of 1958, enacted into law on September 2, 1958, has a life expectancy of approximately four years. Most of its provisions expire on June 30, 1962, so that we can say today that NDEA is at midpoint. What las been accomplished in terms of its overall purX)ses and goals? What have been its achievements in the developmental uses of audiovisual equipment and instructional materials in schools and colleges? And, perhaps most importantly, what is its future? These are not easy questions and there are no facile answers. Let me hazard a few professional guesses and personal hopes. First, I believe that NDEA is a most remarkable legislative directive toward the improvement bf U.S. education. U.S. Commissioner of Educaion Lawrence G. Derthick has called it "the chird milestone in the history of federal aid to Mucation" and has noted its special quality: that our nation's security in this age, wdth the |nost complex internal and international probems we have ever faced, requires the fullest de/elopment of the mental resources and technical kills of our students, and makes it imperative hat those inbalances identified in NDEA be peedily corrected." The National Defense Education Act, rightly >r wrongly, does not provide general aid to •ducation. Rather it is, in purpose and in fact, elective legislation aimed specifically toward trengthening certain weaknesses in our schools nd colleges which were most apparent to the "ongress in 1958. Viewed against this background of national concerns following the launchji ng of Sputnik, NDEA must be considered qualiy legislation directed primarily, as its title inicates, toward the national defense of the Jnited States. From such a viewpoint, the varius titles and parts of NDEA, seemingly dispa'^[ ate in intent and certainly separate in adminisation, do group under four major headings or urposes. It is helpful to me to view NDEA om such a perspective. I hope that such a view /ill be helpful also to you. a) Identification of and assistance to superior udents. Title V-A provides for academic and titude testing programs in secondary schools d for the strengthening of guidance and counling programs in these schools. Title V-B pro |Dr. Reid is assistant director, Educational ledia Branch, U.S. Office of Education. lis opinions voiced in this article are pergonal and do not necessarily reflect official ositions of USOE. vides for counseling and guidance training institutes to improve the qualifications of such counselors. Title II provides that special consideration shall be given, in the selection of college students to receive federal loans, to those with superior academic backgrounds. ( b ) Improvement of teachers and teaching. Title II provides tliat special consideration, in making federal loans to college students, shall be given to those who express a desire to teach in elementary or secondary schools; and, further, that up to 50 percent of such loans shall be cancelled at the rate of 10 percent per year, if borrowers serve as full-time teachers in public schools following their graduation. Title III provides for payments to state educational agencies for the expansion and improvement of supervisory services in the fields of science, mathematics, and modem foreign languages. Title IV provides for the establishment of new or expanded graduate programs in colleges and universities and for the award of fellowships to assist students to engage in graduate study in these programs with preference to be given to those interested in teaching in institutions of higher education. Title VI is focused almost entirely upon improvement of the teaching of modem foreign languages— through the establishment of language and area centers, research and studies, and language institutes. (c) Improvement of instructional equipment, materials and methods. Title III, as we all must know by now, provides federal funds for the "acquisition of laboratory and other special equipment, including audiovisual materials and equipment and printed materials (other than textbooks ) , suitable for use in providing education in science, mathematics or modern foreign language in public elementary or secondary schools." This provision in Title III is the "audiovisual heart" of NDEA. But provision for and utilization of instructional materials ( including audiovisual ) are also authorized in the Title VI programs of language and area centers, research and studies, and language institutes. In the last instance, the Act specifically states ". . . advance training, particularly in the use of new teaching methods and instructional materials, for individuals who are engaged in or preparing to engage in the teaching, or supervising or training teachers, of any modern foreign language in elementary or secondary schools." Also, Title VII is directed toward the improvement of instructional materials and methods, specifically new educational media, by grants for research and experimentation and projects for disseminating infomiation about the new media. (d) Jissistance to instructional programs in science, mathematics and modern foreign languages. Title II provides that special consideration shall be given to loans to students whose background indicates a superior capacity or preparation in science, mathematics, engineering or a modem IDUCATIONAL SCREEN AND AUDIOVISUAL GUIDE — JaNUART, 1961 13