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

romise In Oregon this program for the improvement of supervision through use of special consultants in each of the NDEA subjects and in the broad field of instructional materials. First activities of the new section were directed toward organizing the state's system for the acquisitions program, while personnel for the consultant activities were sought and plans matured for their functions. Since February 16, Title III affairs in Oregon have moved ahead rapidly. A comprehensive guide to the program was written, and the necessary application, record, administrative and financial systems and forms established by midMarch. Regional conferences on project planning and apphcation procedures were held in early April. Two application periods, covering 1958-59 and 1959-60 fiscal year fund allocations, have been completed and a third period is being held in December as a supplementary period for further 1959-60 allocations. Speed was necessary if Oregon schools were to make effective matching use of local funds for 1958-59 before the end of the school fiscal year on June 30. The '58-'59 application period was deadlined April 17; by late May all participating districts had received project approvals and acquisition ordering was in full swing. It was thus possible to double the effect of nearly $150,000 of '58-'59 local funds, resulting in total project expenditures of approximately $300,000 in less than five months. A second application period, for '59-'60 funds, was held immediately, deadlined May 29. This immediate second round provided evaluation of Oregon projects and early decisions for action by the school districts in late July and early August, thus allowing time for acquisition of project equipment early in tlie '59-'60 school year. Expenditures of $711,000 have been approved, with $83,000 more tentatively assigned. Many Oregon districts have already been reimbursed for '58-'59 project expenditures and a good many have received and are now using some of their '59-'60 acquisitions despite the inevitable procurement and shipping delays. Of the approximately $1 million in federal and local district funds so far approved for expenditure, science has received $631,000, mathematics $194,00, and modern foreign languages $184,000. Nearly $500,000 in federal funds for fiscal 59-'60 remains to be allocated to districts, since a supplementary allotment of nearly $330,000 for Oregon was contained in the NDEA '58-'59 supplementary appropriation passed by Congress in July. Since '58^'59 federal funds carry over for matching with local district money in the '59-'60 applications, much of the Oregon '59-'60 need is being met from '58-'59 federal funds. Thus there is a potential of nearly another $1 million for NDEA expenditures in Oregon during '59-'60, and any unexpended federal funds will again carry over to '60-'61. It is too early for any detailed analysis or evaluation of NDEA Title III eflFects in Oregon, but some important trends are becoming apparent. For the AV field, it can be said that there is: 1. A growing interest in cooperative regional or area instructional materials libraries. Increasing demands for more types of materials, in a broadened range of titles and topics, is emphasizing the need for combined efforts among school districts to establish such centers close enough to their classrooms to speed availability yet serve large enough areas to provide efficient utffization. 2. An increasing awareness among many school administrators, teachers, and principals that good provision for audiovisual media demands the aid of persons competent in the field, not only at the plarming stages but also for continuing in-service work with teachers. 3. Evidence that projects for the improvement of instruction in which AV persons have had a hand are much more effectively planned for the use of AV media than those projects lacking the guidance of a trained AV person. Generally, these outcomes, perhaps more sig Z-OI2.EC.R.ST Educational Screen and Audiovisual Guide — December, 1959 643