The Impact Of The War Upon American Education

127771

THE IMPACT OF THE WAR
UPON AMERICAN EDUCATION

THE IMPACT OF THE

WAR UPON AMERICAN

EDUCATION

By
I. L. KANDEL

CHAPEL HILL
THE UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA PRESS

1948

'Copyright, 1948, by
THE UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA PRESS

Printed in the United States of America

The William Byrd Press, Inc.
Richmond, Virginia

The publication of this volume
was aided by a subsidy from the*

A-VCERICATsT COUNCIL OF LEARNED SOCIETIES

PREFACE

THE accompanying book is one of a series of reports,
planned by the Social Science Research Council, the
American Council of Learned Societies, and the National
Research Council, to record the impact of the war upon various
phases of our national life. A general account of these plans was
presented by Dr. Shepard B. Clough in an article on "Clio and
Mars: The Study of World War II in America," Political Science
Quarterly, Vol. LX, No. 3, September 1945, pp. 425 if. The
present volume was prepared under the auspices of the Com-
mittee on War Studies of the American Council of Learned
Societies. No attempt was made in this report to discuss the edu-
cational activities in the armed services or what might be learned
from them, since this task was undertaken by the special com-
mission under the chairmanship of Dr. Alonzo Grace, appointed
by the American Council on Education. The author desires to
express his indebtedness to the American Council of Learned
Societies for the opportunity of recording the history of "The
Impact of the War upon American Education" "while it was
hot."

I. L. KANDEL
New York,

CONTENTS

CHAPTER PAGE

L Introduction 3

II. Leadership in Time of Crisis 12

III. Educational Deficiencies Revealed by the War . . 41

Mental and Physical Deficiencies 41

The Care of Children 45

Child Labor 52

Juvenile Delinquency 55

Exodus of Teachers 61

Federal Aid for Education 66

IV. Secondary Education for All 77

Adjusting the High Schools to the War Effort .... 77

Exodus of High School Students 85

Acceleration 88

High School Victory Corps 90

New Emphases in the Curriculum 93

The Unrest in Secondary Education and Proposals for

Reform 101

V. Higher Education 123

Students and Selective Service 123

Higher Educational Institutions in Counsel . . . . 128

Training Courses for Specific Activities 145

Acceleration 148

Army and Navy Specialized Training Programs . , . 151

The Record of the War Years 156

Higher Education of Women and the War .... 165
vii

Vlil CONTENTS

VI. Liberal Education and the College Curriculum . . 172

The Unrest in Higher Education 172

The Search for Values and Liberal Education . . . . 188

College Teachers 193

The Cult of the Immediate 197

Planning Postwar College Education 200

New Interests and New Directions 231

VII. Education and the Armed Forces 240

Plans for the Education of Veterans 240

Accreditation and Prospective Enrollments .... 245

Post-hostilities Education Program 254

VIII. International Cultural Relations 260

IX. Lessons of the War 274

Index 279

THE IMPACT OF THE WAR
UPON AMERICAN EDUCATION

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

EDUCATION is a social process which derives its meaning and
purposes from the culture of a people whether organized
as a community or as a nation. In the past, when wars were
fought with professional or volunteer armies, the effects upon the
normal life of a people or upon the progress of education were
not felt either directly or immediately. Nevertheless some con-
nection between education and victory in war began to be noted
from the beginning of the nineteenth century. Thus the Battle
of Waterloo was won on the playing fields of Eton and the
Battle of Sedan by the Prussian schoolmaster. As wars have
become global and all the resources of the nations engaged in
them must be drawn upon, it is inevitable that the normal life
of all, whether in the combat services or far from the fighting
fronts, should be completely disrupted. Under such conditions
the normal progress of education is seriously affected. The call
of patriotism, the demand for man power, the urge to service of
any kind that may contribute to victory produce first uncer-
tainty and unrest before measures are devised to adapt the na-
tional organization to the national crisis. Aggressor nations enter
into war with all their plans ready made; there is a place for
everybody and everybody is in his assigned place.

In a country like the United States, which was relatively un-
prepared and which hoped until the last minute not to be drawn
into war, plans had to be improvised and adjustments had to be
made as and when the occasion arose. This was true even though
Hitler's early successes stimulated a movement to promote "Edu-
cation for Defense." That movement, however, was directed
not so much to preparation for war as to arousing the nation to
the dangers that threatened the preservation of the democratic
ideals of the American people. It took some time after Pearl
Harbor before plans were drafted for the continuance of the
machinery of education or its adjustments to the new needs
produced by the crisis. If any lessons had been learned from

3

4 THE IMPACT OF THE WAR UPON AMERICAN EDUCATION

World War I, they had either been forgotten or were regarded
as inadequate for a war which demanded new weapons and new
methods. Even after the enactment of Selective Service, which
was to affect institutions of higher education directly, no steps
were taken to relieve them of the uncertainty about their im-
mediate future. There was never any doubt about the readiness
of all concerned with higher education to place all their resources
and all their efforts at the disposal of the government as they
had done in World War I. For some time, however, neither the
institutions themselves nor the students of selective service age
were given the lead for which they were waiting.

The impact of World War II on education was more general
and widespread than during World War I. It affected not only
institutions of higher education, including institutions for the
preparation of teachers, but also primary education to some
degree and secondary education to a great degree. Because of
the large numbers of mothers who entered war industries, provi-
sion had to be made for the care of their children. Because of
the disruption of home life, a result of this as well as other causes,
the care of children m general and the increase in juvenile delin-
quency gave rise to another set of problems. Finally, a serious
and growing crisis was caused by the withdrawal of teachers
from schools for war service or for war industries.

The war imposed new demands upon educational institutions.
The normal programs of secondary schools had to give way to a
large extent, if not wholly, to programs of "Education for Vic-
tory" and to vocational preparation. Colleges and universities to
the degree that they were capable were Called upon to devote
their resources and efforts to the preparation of their students
not only for service in the armed forces but for technical services
in war industries and other occupations created to meet war
needs. Both secondary schools and institutions of higher educa-
tion found themselves threatened with the disappearance of the
traditional academic studies, except those which appeared to be
needed for winning the war.

The impact of a great national crisis, is, however, more far-
reaching than the immediate effects that it Has on its social and
cultural institutions. A crisis like World War II challenges every
aspect of a nation's political, economic, social, and cultural or-

INTRODUCTION

ganization. It throws a flood of light on the strong and weak
points of that organization. In the United States that evaluation
or self-survey had already begun before the country actually
entered into the war. The process of self-examination had already
been started during the years of the depression, it was further
stimulated by the challenge of totalitarian ideologies to the ideals
of democracy. World War II served as the culminating test in
a process which had already been begun. The nation's system
of education, no less than other social institutions, was subjected
to searching inquiry. The issue was not only whether the system
could meet the test of war, but whether it was adequate to meet
the demands of the peace that would follow the war.

American education has never suffered from a lack of criticism.
Since the opening of the twentieth century the system has been
in a constant state of readjustment and readaptation. The only
aspect that has been stable has been the faith of the public in
education. The war revealed anew the ability of the American
people to meet a great crisis, an ability fostered by its cultural
tradition in general and by its educational aims in particular. But
the war also focussed attention on certain deficiencies in the
educational system, which, though known vaguely in times of
peace, were given such publicity that they could no longer
be ignored.

A public which had always prided itself on its educational
system and on the amount of money spent on it was informed
that large numbers of young men had to be rejected by the
Selective Service either because of illiteracy or because of physi-
cal deficiencies. While there was at no time any fear about the
morale or the patriotism of the American people, there -were
some who * expressed alarm lest a somewhat easy-going educa-
tional theory which had been dominant for two decades might
have made the problem of discipline difficult. The word disci-
pline, which had virtually disappeared from the literature of
education except to be derided, was again seriously discussed.
Despite the constantly increasing enrollments in high schools and
colleges since World War I, when the hour of trial came, it was
found that the supply of personnel adequately prepared in mathe-
matics, sciences, and the foreign languages which these institu-
tions professed to teach was inadequate. Although federal funds

6 THE IMPACT OF THE WAR UPON AMERICAN EDUCATION

had been available for vocational education since 1917, the num-
ber of workers with the skills needed both in the armed services
and in war industries was not large enough to meet the demands.
For this situation, however, the responsibility could not wholly
be placed upon the schools, first because the skills needed for the
conduct of the war were so varied and numerous that they could
not have been anticipated, and secondly because many who had
been trained had not used their skills owing to unemployment
during the depression.

One of the most serious effects of the war was uncertainty as
to the direction to be followed by educational institutions. It
was not clear whether the high schools should prepare youth
directly for some form of war service or whether they should
bend their efforts to maintaining the academic tradition as far
and as long as possible. The issue was solved for the education
authorities by the students themselves who were only too ready
to leave school for industry with or without the necessary pre-
paration and despite Go-To-School Drives. Institutions of
higher education ceased to be their own masters and were vir-
tually compelled, if they were to exist at all, to provide the pre-
paration demanded for the armed services and for the technical
fields. In both cases the academic subjects suffered, and while
leaders of thought on secondary education seemed to be ready
to allow them to disappear, those concerned with higher edu-
cation felt it to be their obligation to do all that could be done
to preserve a place for the humanities; the sciences, pure and
applied, needed no special pleading.

Colleges and universities at any rate recognized their dual
obligation first, to contribute to winning the war, and second,
to prevent a "blackout" of liberal education if the future of
American culture was to be protected. The contribution to
winning the war these institutions were called upon to make
and were able to make; how to preserve liberal education and
promote the study of the humanities was recognized to be a
major problem of the postwar reconstruction of higher educa-
tion.

The pooling of the resources of the nation for the war effort
directed attention to one aspect of the educational system which
had been taken too much on faith the extent to which the

INTRODUCTION 7

ideal equality of educational opportunity had been translated
into practice. The question was not new; it had been raised at
the time of the national crisis caused by World War I. It was
recognized then that the provision of equal educational oppor-
tunity was still an ideal which was far from being achieved.
This realization led to proposals for federal aid for education
in order to reduce the existing inequalities. Since that time numer-
ous committees have reported strongly in favor of federal aid.
World War II brought the country to a clearer realization that
education is a national concern and that, if the faith of the Ameri-
can people in education and in the ideal of giving every potential
citizen a chance for his fullest development is to continue, the
resources of the nation must be pooled. Unlike other countries
which were faced with the task of replacing their dual systems
of education one for the masses and the other for the select
minority by a broad highway, the United States had built
up an educational organization which leads from the kinder-
garten to the university. The task in the United States is two-
fold to remove the inequalities resulting from the maldistri-
bution of taxable wealth and of population, and to improve the
quality of education.

During the war the realization of the existing inequalities was
sharpened by the reports of the Selective Service on the number
of young men who had to be rejected on account of mental and
physical deficiencies. The figures on illiteracy only helped to
confirm the reports of the census of 1940 on the subject. Short-
ages were discovered in many areas of study which high schools
and colleges professed to teach. Finally, the large numbers of
teachers who, whether for patriotic or other reasons, left the
profession to enter the war industries, directed attention to the
fact that salaries paid to teachers were not commensurate with
the great ideal of education for American democracy which had
so long been professed by the American public. Schools were
closed or were conducted for short terms; many subjects in-
cluded in the high school curriculum had to be abandoned for
lack of adequately prepared teachers; the enrollments in institu-
tions for the preparation of teachers fell off sharply, and short
courses leading to emergency certificates began to be offered
throughout the country to the detriment of acceptable standards

8 THE IMPACT OF THE WAR UPON AMERICAN EDUCATION

of teacher qualifications. All these facts, combined with increased
amount of funds provided by the federal government to main-
tain the fabric of education during the depression years and to
meet the needs of trained personnel for the armed forces and for
war industries, although in both instances emergency measures,
helped to bring the proposals for federal aid for education nearer
to realization than ever before. Fear of federal control of educa-
tion was abated as a result of the methods adopted for the dis-
tribution of federal funds to meet emergency conditions.

Education began to be recognized as a national concern if the
ideal equality of opportunity was to be implemented effectively.
The war and the years immediately preceding it introduced an-
other note into American education the realization that the
United States cannot exist in an internationally interdependent
world without disseminating knowledge and understanding of
the cultures of other peoples and without adequate preparation
of men and women to assume leadership in the conduct of inter-
national affairs whether political or economic. National interest
alone would in any case have pointed in this direction. More
than national interest, however, was the recognition that the
peace of the world depends upon the development of interna-
tional understanding and cooperation. While it is possible to ex-
aggerate the influence of the experience of service by members
of the armed forces in different parts of the world, there can be
no doubt that this experience can in some measure be relied upon
to support the advancement of international studies in American
education.

Leadership in this movement was assumed by a number of
agencies of government and was an expansion of the Good
Neighbor Policy sponsored by President Roosevelt. The creation
in the Department of State of the Division of Cultural Relations,
intended to promote cultural cooperation with all parts of the
world but limited by the outbreak of war to the Latin American
Republics, marked a new trend in American politics. This trend
was further indicated by the establishment of the Office of the
Coordinator of Inter- American Affairs and by the expanded ac-
tivities of the U. S. Office of Education in the field of interna-
tional educational relations. Further expansion of activities in
this area was promised as the war drew to a victorious end, and

INTRODUCTION

the promise was fulfilled when the United States accepted mem-
bership in the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cul-
tural Organization, in the creation of which American educators
played an outstanding part.

Governmental activities in the field of international cultural
relations, however, supplemented and in many ways strengthened
the activities already developed by private, voluntary agencies
and local school systems. One of the striking movements in
American education in the years immediately preceding and
during the war was the widespread introduction in educational
institutions at all levels of courses on the cultures of other peo-
ples. Beginning first with courses on Latin America, the move-
ment expanded to include other areas of the world. To this move-
ment may be added the interest aroused in the study of those
foreign languages which had not in the past been included in the
curricula of high schools, colleges, and universities. This interest
was stimulated by the reports on the intensified methods of lan-
guage instruction given to selected personnel of the armed forces.
Although the reports of the success of these methods were too
frequently misinterpreted by both the public and professional
educators, it was thought that the methods could be revised for
general use in normal programs of instruction. More important
perhaps than the contribution of the army and navy methods to
language instruction was the emphasis placed upon the fact that
language is not only a means of communication but a tool by
means of which knowledge and understanding of the culture of
the people who use it can be acquired.

In the general evaluation which was stimulated by the crisis of
the war, attention was directed to one defect in American educa-
tion the lack of a sense of direction in schools and institutions of
higher education. American education since the beginning of the
twentieth century has been experimental, a quality of undeniable
value, but one which can only be afforded if the experiments
are directed to some attainable goal. That goal appears to have
been lacking. The criticism of education which was general
during the war years was that inadequate attention had been
paid to the spiritual values which give the ideal of democracy its
meaning. To correct this defect some advocated more attention
to religious instruction; others, and particularly those concerned

10 THE IMPACT OF THE WAR UPON AMERICAN EDUCATION

with the reconstruction of the college curriculum, stressed the
importance of the preservation of the humanities and the values
for which they stand. In an age when the contributions of
science and technology have impressed themselves upon the
minds of the public, it is felt that a proper balance must be main-
tained between the values inherent in the sciences and the values
that can be found in the humanities.

Even before the outbreak of the war the challenge of totali-
tarian ideologies to the ideals of democracy had already caused
some concern about the effectiveness of American education at
all levels in inculcating the meaning and values of that ideal.
Democracy, it was felt, was taken too much for granted. It was
for these reasons that President Roosevelt stressed the importance
of instruction in the ideal of democracy. At the celebration of the
tercentenary anniversary of Harvard University the President
took occasion to say, "Love of liberty and freedom of thought is
a most admirable attribute of Harvard. But it is not an exclusive
possession of Harvard or of any other university in America. In
the name of the American nation I venture to ask you to cherish
its traditions and to fulfill its highest opportunities." And at the
Congress on Education on Democracy, held at Teachers College,
Columbia University, in August, 1939, President Roosevelt stated
in his message that "Education for democracy cannot merely be
taken for granted. . . . That the schools make worthy citizens is
the most important responsibility placed upon them." The assess-
ment of American education which was made during the war
years only helped to confirm the importance of devoting greater
attention than ever jbefore to inculcating the meaning and values
of the ideal of democracy which the nation was called upon to
protect and preserve.

Every aspect of American education was subjected to scrutiny.
The tempo of critical discussion did not slacken during the war
years. Suggestions for the reconstruction of education poured
forth in a body of literature larger even than in a corresponding
number of peace years. How soon the fruits of these discussions
and suggestions will appear depends on a large number of forces.
One point is clear the blueprint for the next advances in Ameri-
can education has been drafted. Whether all the details of that
blueprint will prove acceptable or even practicable is not so clear.

INTRODUCTION 1 1

Whatever the development in the years ahead may be, it will be
within the framework of the General Purpose defined in a pam-
phlet issued in 1944 by the National Education Association,
Proposals for Public Education in Post-war America^ A Sug-
gested Basis for Planning at the Local, State, and Federal Levels:

To provide for every child, youth and adult attending a public
school, college, or university the kind and amount of education
which (a) will cause him to live most happily and usefully accord-
ing to the principles of American democracy, and (b) lead him to
contribute all he can to the development and preservation of a peace-
ful, cooperative, and equitable world order.

CHAPTER T \V O

LEADERSHIP IN TIME OF CRISIS

A THOUGH the United States did not enter the war until
December, 1941, the threat of impending war in Europe
exercised a strong influence on the trend of educational
thought for several years before its actual outbreak. There was a
widespread realization that what was taking place in Europe was
a direct challenge to the ideals and institutions of democracy.
While there was no expectation that the United States would
not be drawn into a war, it was recognized that the supreme task
of education was to direct its attention to disseminating a fuller
concept and a richer appreciation of the meaning of democracy.
Nothing better illustrates the strength of democratic institutions
than the fact that voluntary organizations, without waiting for
direction from governmental authorities, can assume leadership
in times of crisis. That leadership was assumed by the Educational
Policies Commission of the National Education 'Association for
Elementary and Secondary Education, by the American Council
on Education for higher education, and by the United States
Office of Education. All organizations addressed themselves to the
task of promoting education for national defense, which before
the country was drawn into the war meant education to
strengthen the foundations of democracy and after Pearl Harbor
meant the utilization of the country's educational resources to
promote the war effort.

The Educational Policies Commission 1 directed its attention
to the problems of education for democracy as one of its major
activities a few years before the war began in Europe. In a series
of reports and pamphlets the Commission made outstanding con-
tributions for the enlightenment of all concerned with the mean-
ing of education in a democracy. Although these publications
were addressed to the American scene, it was clear that they
were inspired by the challenge of ideologies which threatened

i. The leadership of the American Council on Education is discussed
in Chapter V.

12

LEADERSHIP IX TIME OF CRISIS 13

the existence of democracy. The five reports The Unique
'Function of Education in American Democracy (1937); The
Structure and Administration of Education in American Democ-
racy (1938); The Pttrposes of Education in American Democ-
racy (1938); Education and Economic Well-Being in American
Democrary (1940); and The Education of Free Men in Ameri-
can Democracy (1941) together constitute a survey of the
meaning of democracy and a blueprint for that education which
is designed to preserve and perpetuate it. They served at once
as an answer to the challenge of totalitarian ideologies and as
a much-needed expression of what was to be defended.

The defense of democratic ideals and institutions was, indeed,
the major preoccupation of American educators as the clouds of
impending war began to overshadow Europe. In August, 1939,
a Congress on Education for Democracy was held in New York
under the auspices of Teachers College, Columbia University.
The Congress was attended by representatives from the leading
American national organizations, lay and professional, and from
the democratic nations of Europe. The following topics were
discussed at the congress: "Democracy and Its Challenge/ 1
"Democracy in Other Lands/' "The Contribution of Religion
to Education for Democracy," "Present Educational Opportuni-
ties for Rural Youth in a Democracy," "The Contribution of
Higher Education and Adult Education in a Democracy/' "De-
mocracy at Work/" "Democracy Moves Forward," and "Look-
ing Forward."

The keynote of the congress was sounded in a letter to Dean
William F. Russell from President Franklin D. Roosevelt in
which the President wrote:

Everyone knows that democracy can not long stand unless its
foundation is kept constantly reinforced through the process of
education. What is not so universally understood is that colleges
and universities have a responsibility to imbue prospective teachers
with a clear appreciation of the part they must play in this process.

Education for democracy can not merely be taken for granted.
What goes on in the schools every hour of the day, on the play-
ground and in the classroom, whether reflecting methods of control
by the teacher, or opportunities for self-expression by the pupils,
must be checked against the fact that the children are growing tip to

14 THE IMPACT OF THE WAR UPON AMERICAN EDUCATION

live in a democracy. That the schools make worthy citizens is the
most important responsibility placed upon them.

May I congratulate you and express the hope that as a result of
the Congress on Education for Democracy, a great wave of inter-
est will spread over the land out of which will grow more and more
effective methods of bringing to pass our cherished ideal of democ-
racy. 2

The congress had hardly come to a close when Hitler's armies
were already on the march and the defense of democracy passed
the stage of discussion and became a reality. The United States
sought to preserve neutrality, but intellectual neutrality could
not be maintained. On September 8, 1939, the President of the
United States declared that a limited "national emergency exists."
In October, 1939, the Educational Policies Commission issued a
pamphlet on American Education and the War in Europe, pref-
aced by the following statement on "Education for a Day of
Peace":

Those who are commissioned by society in the service of educa-
tion should be the last to capitulate to the forces of hatred, greed,
and fear. With the darkness of war falling upon half the world, the
United States becomes more than ever a reservoir of hope for a
humane and democratic order among men. When peace comes
again, as come it must, the people of the United States ought to be
prepared to play their part sanely, bravely, and generously, in the
process of rebuilding a world order from which the threat of war
and violence may be removed. Those who are to fulfill that mis-
sion can approach the task best if their hands are unstained by
blood, their spirits uncorroded by hatred, and their minds un-
crippled by months or years of wartime regimentation (p. ii) .

Much was to happen before this high expression of hope could
be fulfilled. For the time, however, the position of the American
people was defined as follows:

All elements of the American public, including the teaching pro-
fession, are seeking eagerly for means whereby the interests of the
American people and of humanity may be safeguarded in the period
of strain through which the world is passing.

The policies recommended here rest upon the fact that the

2. For a report of the proceedings of the Congress see Education for
Democracy, New York, 1939.

LEADERSHIP IN TIME OF CRISIS 15

United States is at present a neutral nation. It is the conviction of
the Commission that under present conditions the American people
will make their greatest contribution to the protection and survival
of democratic values by refraining from military participation in
Europe (p. iv).

The nation politically was neutral and was expected to remain
neutral, but the study and discussion of problems relating to the
war was a responsibility of education that could not be escaped.
The Commission offered the following suggestions on this issue:

Probably no events in the past quarter-century have so pro-
foundly stirred the American people as those concerned with the
present European war. Youths and adults are eager to share in ap-
praising the significance of those happenings, anticipating their out-
comes, and developing a policy for the American people with ref-
ence to them.

In such circumstances there are several courses of action open to
those in charge of the educational program. One possibility is to
forbid discussion of such issues in the school and in other activities
under the control of the teacher. Another possibility is to give free
rein to the discussion of this question with neither guidance nor
stimulation on the part of the teacher.

An adequate sense of responsibility will not approve of either of
these extremes. Neither repression of discussion nor abdication of
responsibility is an appropriate policy for American education. At
such a time as this, the schools should serve as centers of community
deliberation with reference to the pending issues. They should not
evade any question which is pertinent to a better understanding of
the international situation and of America's relation to it. The edu-
cation of a free people should know no undebatable propositions.
Confusion, ignorance, and indifference are not the same as impar-
tiality (p. i).

American educators should, by word and deed, give assurance to
their colleagues in* all countries of the world, belligerent as well
as neutral, that whatever dark days may lie ahead for hujnanity as
a result of the international conflict, they will do their part in keep-
ing the torch of culture and civilization alight (p. n).

The changes in the war situation were reflected by the publi-
cations of the Commission, which in turn reflected the attitude
of the American public. As the "phony" war ended and country

1 6 THE IMPACT OF THE WAR UPON AMERICAN EDUCATION

after country fell before the onslaught of the Nazi hordes, it
began to be realized that more was needed for national defense
than the study and discussion of problems relating to the war. It
was clearly recognized that the destinies of this country were
involved. In Education and the Defense of American Democracy
(July, 1940) the Commission directed the attention of educators
to the danger which threatened the world dominated by military
might and becoming hostile to the ideal of a common humanity.
This danger was all the greater as Britain was fighting in the last
ditch. Recognizing this, the Commission stated:

If the British Empire should be destroyed and the United King-
dom shorn of its power or reduced to a condition of vassalage, the
outlook will be yet more critical. Unprotected by the British fleet
and without many of the powerful friends of the past, America
must assume vastly increased responsibility for the defense of de-
mocracy alid human freedom. The present generation must rise to
the intellectual and moral stature of the men and women who
founded the Republic. The age demands nothing less of them.

The situation calls for a bold and comprehensive program for the
defense of American democracy. This program must assume three
aspects military, economic, and moral.

Without the loss of a single day the Amencajn people should
move to achieve the greatest possible military strength in the short-
est possible time (pp. 4 f .)

To the development of this program the contribution of the
education system was defined as follows:

The Educational Policies Commission knows that in the defense
of American democracy our system of education must play a cen-
tral role. A true product of that democracy, from the kindergarten
to the university and from the smallest rural district to the United
States Office of Education, it stands ready to throw its resources
into the balance. It can share in laying the physical and mental
groundwork for effective military service. It can take a large part
in providing the vocational and technical training which the con-
duct of modern war requires. It can help to achieve a national unity
by clarifying national goals and by inculcating loyalties to the values
basic to a society of free men. It can assist in releasing and organiz-
ing productive energies. It can aid adult citizens to reach sound
conclusions on the urgent questions of national policy (p. 7).

LEADERSHIP IN TIME OF CRISIS IJ

The school system could contribute to military preparation by
fostering intellectual development through general education,
by providing health and physical education with periodic health
examinations, by emphasizing training in basic military skills, and
by inculcating abiding loyalties to American ideals. The promo-
tion of moral defense would require education to foster under-
standing of the nature and goals of democracy, to inculcate deep
loyalties and devotion to building a better America, and to main-
tain conditions conducive to national unity. Every resource of

education should be used for the defense of democracy. The call

/

of the hour was for unity of aims and cooperative action.

A month before Pearl Harbor, in November, 1941, the Com-
mission issued a pamphlet on Education and the Morale of a Free
People. Morale was defined as "a state of mind characterized by
confidence and courage, a well-founded confidence in the value
of one's ideals, a steel-cold courage which, over the long pull,
makes victory for those ideals certain 77 (p. 3 ) . The elements of
morale included health, economic security, psychological secu-
rity, confidence in associates, and loyalty to a common purpose.
The Commission accordingly recommended that the work of
the schools and colleges should be strengthened in health,
safety, and physical education, that inequalities in educational
opportunities should be lessened and sympathetic understanding
of economic questions should be developed, that feelings of con-
fidence and self-assurance should be created in the young, that
attention should be devoted at all levels of education to the de-
velopment, appreciation, and application of ethical standards and
moral values, and that public understanding of the responsibility
of the citizenry for good government should be strengthened and
the values of democracy taught with honesty and enthusiasm.
The pamphlet concluded with the statement that

The basic means for the development of morale in the United
States, the only means that gives promise of success, the only means
that is worthy of a free people, is the means of education. A morale
thus created will not only withstand the totalitarian threat today
. but it will also endure to broaden and strengthen the growth of our
democracy in the long pull ahead (p. 28).

In February, 1942, two months after Pearl Harbor, the Com-
mission attacked the problems which confronted the educational

1 8 THE IMPACT OF THE WAR UPON AMERICAN EDUCATION

system in a pamphlet, A War Policy for American Schools,
which opened with the following statement:

When the schools closed on Friday, December 5, they had many
purposes and they followed many roads to achieve those purposes.
When the schools opened on Monday, December 8, they had one
dominant purpose complete, intelligent, and enthusiastic coopera-
tion in the war effort. The very existence of free schools anywhere
in the world depends upon the achievement of that purpose.

It is already clear that many educational adaptations are required.
Many aspects of education will need to be strengthened and ex-
tended. Other aspects, very important ones in time of peace, may
be redirected or otherwise modified in order that the total expanded
efforts of wartime education may be applied at the points of great-
est need (p. 3).

A choice must accordingly be made between the school activi-
ties of those that were of the first importance and to establish
priorities among them. A guide to the selection of the educational
priorities was presented in the following statement:

The responsibilities of organized education for the successful
outcome of the war involve at least the following eleven groups of
activities. Each of these services should be given serious considera-
tion by all school boards and educational workers. Without aban-
doning essential services of the schools, appropriate war duties of
the schools should be given absolute and immediate priority in time,
attention, personnel, and funds over any and all other activities.
Training workers for war industries and services
Producing goods and services needed for the war
Conserving materials by prudent consumption and salvage
Helping to raise funds to finance the war
Increasing effective man power by correcting effective deficien-
cies

Promoting health and physical efficiency
Protecting children and property against attack
Protecting the ideals of democracy against war hazards
Teaching the issues, aims, and progress of the war and the peace
Sustaining the morale of children and adults
Maintaining intelligent loyalty to American democracy (pp. 4 f.)

In addition to these priorities which were not listed in the order
of their tel&ttve importance, the Commission directed attention

LEADERSHIP IN TIME OF CRISIS 19

to the importance of adult education as a central responsibility,
to the need of maintaining the supply of competent teachers, and
to the desirability of articulating education with Selective Serv-
ice and war industries through counseling youth with reference
to employment in the war industries, to volunteering in the armed
forces, and to continuing their education. To achieve unity and
direction of purpose without governmental compulsion the Com-
mission urged, on the one hand, cooperation between all public
and private agencies and clear assignment of functions among
them in order to avoid duplication or conflicting efforts, and, on
the other, leadership by a single strong agency in the federal
government to furnish "reliable information and guidance, es-
pecially in those educational fields to which the schools are least
accustomed." The agency recommended by the Commission was
the United States Office of Education. To meet educational
needs that would be national in scope and beyond the powers of
the states to meet unaided, federal financial support would be
required. So far as the schools were concerned, students and
teachers should be encouraged to participate 'In the formation of
local programs and policies on matters in which they are, or may
learn to be, competent." The pamphlet concluded with a call
to the teaching profession, for

Never was there a time when the profession of education carried
such a heavy responsibility, never a time when its members might
feel a greater pride in the significance of their work, never a better
opportunity to serve the nation. Let our profession but answer boldly
the call of the crisis and we shall fashion, even out of the harsh
necessities of war, a school system more fit for the education of free
men (p. 42).

In a foreword to the pamphlet, The Support of Education
in Wartime, issued by the Commission in September, 1942, Presi-
dent Roosevelt paid a tribute to the work already undertaken by
the teachers of this country: "Teachers as a group are perform-
ing a great service to their country. Children must not be allowed
to pay the cost of this war in neglect or serious loss of educational
opportunity. I know the teachers will find deep satisfaction in the
contribution they are making" (p. i ) .

The shortage of teachers, which was to prove to be the most
serious consequence of the war, was already beginning to be

20 THE IMPACT OF THE WAR LTOX AMERICAN EDUCATION

noted. The pamphlet, addressed to teachers, parents and tax-
payers, stressed the contributions which education was making
and could continue to make in helping to win the war. It was
providing a steady flow of skilled workers into the war industries;
it released and directed the energies of nearly thirty million chil-
dren and young people to contribute to the war eif ort through
various forms of personal service, summer and odd- job work,
salvage campaigns, collection of funds, building morale, and shar-
ing in recreational community services. Education supported
medical and other services necessary for physical fitness and could
develop "the knowledge, loyalty, discipline which will maintain
our ideals against the hazards of war and reconstruction." Edu-
cation, it was urged, was "one of the essentials, both for its war-
time value and for its long-run economic and social results." In
its call to the teachers of the country the Commission stated that
"Now is the time to adapt, expand, and improve the educational
services to our embattled nation"; in its appeal to parents the
Commission made the point that "Now is the time, the only pos-
sible time, to provide good education for your children." In its
statement to the taxpayers the Commission emphasized the im-
portance of maintaining and strengthening the schools for the
following reasons:

Your schools must be kept going during the war. Will they be
maintained on a penny-wise basis or stepped up in efficiency so that
they may increase their contributions to victory? Reductions in the
school budget would not materially reduce your tax burden; they
could, however, impair the morale and efficiency pf the whole edu-
cational service.

Education, health, arid cultural services use little or no goods that
are critically needed in war production. Keep your sense of pride
in the opportunities your committee offers to young people. Now
is the time to spend money for the services that will make American
youth skilful and strong enough to win the war and wise enough
to build a lasting peace.

What the Schools Should Teach in Wartime was the theme
of the pamphlet issued by the Commission in January, 1943. At
the elementary level schools were urged, in addition to develop-
ing skills and habits of accuracy in the usual subjects, to "main-
tain the greatest possible amount of security, courage and self-

LEADERSHIP IN TIME OF CRISIS 21

confidence," to promote good health, to "provide many oppor-
tunities for community service, both of a wartime and peacetime
nature," to "expand and improve the teaching of cultural and
physical geography," to "emphasize the ideals of freedom and
equality for which we are fighting," and to "enrich the artistic,
literary, and musical experience of the children and the commu-
nity." At the secondary school level the work would inevitably
be affected by the war conditions since "every young person
must be regarded as a reservist in preparation for the armed forces
and for the war industries." The Commission emphasized the im-
portance of occupational guidance and counseling, of preinduc-
tion training to meet the needs of the armed forces, and occupa-
tional training to meet the growing demands for man power in
war industries. For the usual academic subjects mathematics,
science, and languages the Commission, in view of the fact that
the nation in wartime did not need a large number of specialists,
recommended the selection of students who by tests or other
methods showed aptitude in these subjects. Special attention
should be given to health services and health and physical educa-
tion, to home economics "adjusted to take cognizance of the
many special responsibilities placed upon homemaking by the
war," and to the arts music, art, and literature to promote
morale and unity. The schools should provide opportunities
during the summer vacations for pupils to engage in community
service, industrial or farm work whenever an emergency requir-
ing their services arose, and such work and work experience
should be regarded as an integral part of the educational program.
A serious responsibility was imposed upon the schools by the war
conditions to devote attention to character education and to edu-
cation for citizenship. Although the Commission recognized
"fully that the problems of the peace are not unrelated to those
of the war/' the schools tended to pay more attention to the
latter than the former. By following the Commission's suggestion
that "long-irange" values, for them [the great 'majority of stu-
dents] , must be subordinated to the lif e-and-death needs of today
an,d tomorrow," may indirectly* have helped to swell the numbers
who left school for wage-earning-occupations without complet-
ing 1 their courses. Go-To-School and Back-To-School Drives
p, , t * * , . ^

came too late "to save the situation. At no "time did long-range

22 THE IMPACT OF THE WAR UPON AMERICAN EDUCATION

values deserve more special consideration than during the war
years. 3

The Educational Policies Commission performed an invalu-
able service through its publications in the years immediately
preceding the entrance of the United States into the war and
during the war years.

The suggestion made by the Commission in its pamphlet, A
War Policy -for American Schools, that leadership should be
assumed by a strong agency in the federal government had al-
ready been anticipated soon after Pearl Harbor, when Paul V.
McNutt, Federal Security Administrator, in a letter to Dr. John
W. Studebaker, United States Commissioner of Education, urged
him to "Effect such an organization in connection with his office
as will make possible the most direct and workable contacts both
with government agencies on the one hand and educational insti-
tutions and organizations on the other."

The purpose of the proposed organization was defined as
follows:

The object is (i) to facilitate the adjustment of educational agen-
cies to war needs, and (2) to inform the government agencies di-
rectly responsible for the war effort concerning the services schools
and colleges can render, and (3) to determine the possible effects
upon schools and colleges of proposed policies and programs of
these government agencies.

Following this letter the U. S. Office of Education Wartime
Commission was established, consisting of fifty-eight members
who represented educational associations with headquarters in
Washington. Under the chairmanship of Dr. Studebaker the com-
mittee was organized into two divisions, one whose primary in-
terest was in state and local administration, and the other whose
primary interest was in higher education. The chairman of the
first committee was Willard E. Givens, executive secretary of the
National Education Association, and the chairman of the second
was George F. Zook, president of the American Council on
Education, both of whom were co-chairmen of another coordi-

3. The report of the Educational Policies Commission on Education
-for All American Youth was, in fact, a rationalization of wartime educa-
tional experience plus the accumulation of theories of secondary educa-
tion which began to be discussed during the depression years. See pp.
109 ff.

LEADERSHIP IN TIME OF CRISIS 23

nating agency, the National Committee on Education and
Defense. 4

The first meeting of the Wartime Commission, which was
organized in such a way as to make frequent meetings possible,
was held in Washington on December 23, 1941. The Commis-
sioner of Education presented a list of problems concerning
higher education, elementary and secondary schools, and educa-
tion at all levels, which served as illustrations of the issues which
the Commission would be called upon to deliberate. In a letter of
December 26, 1941, to Dr. Studebaker, the Federal Security
Administrator stated that his principal anxiety was "that schools
and colleges may not move as rapidly as they should to render
the most effective service to the nation in the immediate future."
The Wartime Commission was requested to submit proposals and
recommendations as promptly as possible on the problems: (i)
The supply of trained personnel in engineering, physics, chem-
istry, and production management in order to provide adequate
supervision of production programs. This would involve some
program of acceleration in colleges and universities and possibly
in high schools. (2) The need of making adjustments so that chil-
dren would "not suffer unduly when mothers or other caretakers
are called into occupations essential to winning the war." Here
the task would be to provide care and education for young chil-
dren, the necessary supervision for older children after school
hours, and cooperation in other ways with the homes while
mothers were at work in industry. The second problem involved
what was to become the crucial educational issue during and
after the war the maintenance of an adequate supply of teachers.
Of equal importance was the problem of developing "improved
plans for an intelligent understanding of the war purposes and
program," in order to implement and strengthen the work of the
School and College Civilian Morale Service which had already
been inaugurated several months before Pearl Harbor. To these
problems the Wartime Commission devoted its attention through
its two division committees and sections in each committee. 5

4. Seepages i28ff.

5. See the report of Fred J. Kelly on "The Office of Education War-
time Commission," in Higher Education and the War, pp. 72 F. American
Council on Education Studies, Washington, D. C, 1942.

24 THE IMPACT OF THE WAR UPON AMERICAN EDUCATION

On March 3, 1942, the United States Office of Education be-
gan the publication of Education for Victory, an official bi-
weekly, replacing School Life for the duration of the war. The
publication was to serve as a valuable record both of the problems
and of the purposes of education during the war years. In an
introductory statement, which was to serve as the keynote of
education during the war, Paul V. McNutt wrote as follows:

Education has been ever in the Nation's service. But in these days
of total war that service has a new significance. "You're in the
Army now" is no cliche it is an expression of national necessity.

The schools have mobilized, magnificently. Defense training
projects have helped man American industry. Reorganization of
curriculum and the time table of the school year have enabled us to
add speed and precision to the work of education. The schools and
colleges have cooperated in the administration of the rationing and
selective service registration programs. The Office of Education
Wartime Commission has been set up to serve as a clearing house
on all matters relating to educational facilities and programs.

To keynote this service, it is only fitting that the official publi-
cation of the United States Office of Education should be converted
to a war basis to match the essential conversion of the educational
program. 6

To this statement the Commissioner of Education added the
following:

As the U. S. Office of Education turns its full effort toward sac-
rifice, toward every new demand, toward every bit of teamwork to
help win this war, it also faces squarely the continuing and grave
responsibility of doing its utmost to speed sound educational pro-
grams for time to come. Both war and peace must be won. Victory
must be so complete this ti?He that peace will abide and endure
throughout the world.

Successful victories by the allied nations in war front battles are
vital to any constructive future. Adequate planning for the post-war
period is vital to any constructive future. The education and train-
ing today, this year, next year, of all children and youth for effec-
tive democracy and for useful and needed work are vital to any
constructive future. These children and youth must be qualified to
carry on and forward the peace we seek through victory. 7

6. Education for Victory, March 3, 1942, p. i.

7. Ibid.

LEADERSHIP IN TIME OF CRISIS 25

To meet the increasingly heavy responsibilities which the
government would place upon organized education and to effect
a closer relationship between the government and education the
Wartime Commission was appointed. At its first meeting the
Commission undertook to work on the following problems: (i)
Training teachers for noncurricular activities, such as civilian
air protection. (2) Volunteer, out-of -school services by school
children. (3) Adaptations to be suggested for the curricula of
elementary and secondary schools. (4) Advancement of voca-
tional training, including training for war industries. (5) An
attack on shortages of teachers and community service workers
in adult education, nursery schools, etc., on adjustment and place-
ment services for teachers, on acceleration of teacher-training,
and on refresher courses for teachers and community-program
workers. (6) Promotion of physical fitness among college and
university students. And (7) problems of women students and
the war, including services that women can render.

The Commission received new proposals and problems almost
daily. Among these were the following: (i) The supply of
county agents, 4-H club leaders, home demonstration agents, and
other leaders of rural life. (2) Articulation of academic calendars
of secondary schools and colleges to facilitate acceleration. (3)
Applicability of the cooperative plan of study to the various
types of colleges and universities. (4) Conservation of adequate
personnel on all levels of education to provide a continuous sup-
ply of trained men and women. (5) Latest military develop-
ments and their implications for higher education. (6) Policies to
be established regarding education and training of returned
soldiers. (7) The best land of military training for high school
students. 8

At its meeting on January 28, 1942, the Commission adopted
a set of "principles relating wartime objectives to permanent ob-
jectives in education," - all of which served as a guide for the
conduct of education during the war years, but the first of which
was to receive the greatest attention. The first principle in the
list adopted was stated as follows: "War service comes first. In
every instance where it can be shown that the successful prose-
cution of the war will be advanced by adjustments in educational

8. Ibid., pp. 5 f .

26 THE IMPACT OF THE WAR UPON AMERICAN EDUCATION

purposes or organization, these changes should be made by the
responsible educational authorities promptly and cheerfully."

In carrying out this principle the Commission pointed out
that many of the peacetime objectives of education, such as prep-
aration to do useful work, were equally applicable in time of war,
that war service required certain new emphases, and that some
time should be devoted "to that part of the war effort which is
concerned with solid and enduring peace and reconstruction."
The Commission endorsed the program proposed by the Educa-
tional Policies Commission in its pamphlet on A War Policy -for
American Schools. 9

^At its meeting on March 25, 1942, the Wartime Commission
"went on record as recommending the fullest possible use of
school and college personnel, plan, and equipment during the
summer months as a part of education's all-out contribution to-
ward winning the war." On the question of "The Best Kind of
High School Training for Military Service" the Commission ap-
proved a report, the essence of which was stated in the following
recommendation which was approved by the Commission and
the designated officers in charge of training in the United States
Army and the United States Navy:

Without prejudice to courses in military training already in exis-
tence, it may be stated that no one should be disappointed over lack
of opportunity to take military drill before he enters the Army or
the Navy. The armed services are equipped to give him the nec-
essary drill in a short time after he enlists or is inducted.

For some of his training in other respects, equally important to
his military efficiency, the Army and Navy prefer to rely upon the
schools. Because of deficiences of many of those that come to them,
the armed services, however, are constantly compelled to instruct
recruits in areas and subjects in which the schools are entirely com-
petent to supply the training. In the pages which follow an effort
is made to indicate in broad outline the contribution which schools
can make to preinduction training. The courses proposed are not a
substitute for military framing; they are military training in as real
a sense as in military drill.

The Army and Navy need competent, alert, loyal, brave, and
healthy men who are able both to give orders and to obey them.
No amount of technical or military skill can be considered a sub-

9. Ibid., p. 6.

LEADERSHIP IN TIME OF CRISIS 2J

stitute for these essential qualities. They are produced through
study and discipline, contact and association, competitive games and
sports, and observance of the laws of health. The best agency avail-
able to American democracy for developing these characteristics in
all youth has been and continues to be the schools, public and pri-
vate.

Schools should accordingly emphasize health and physical
fitness, and training in skills and information needed: good health,
physical fitness, endurance, safety from war hazards; fundamental
information and patriotic motives through basic subjects such as
mathematics, science, English, and social studies; and specialized
knowledge and vocational skill. 10

In a report on "Activities of School Children Related to the
War Effort," approved at this meeting, it was recommended that
the school program, curricular and extracurricular, should be
looked upon as a whole with close and active cooperation be-
tween the schools and all other local agencies, public and private.
The general principle to be followed was stated thus: "In all
activities, emphasis should be placed on the conservation of all
resources, human and material, and on the efficient utilization of
these resources at all times in the productive war effort." Such
activities would include conservation of material and human
resources and voluntary contributions to the war effort in money
or materials or in services. Preparation should be given for later
services in employment in war industries, for summer employ-
ment, and in superior workmanship. Emphasis should be placed
upon the care and improvement of health through the develop-
ment and preservation of health habits that would insure physical
stamina to perform extra tasks in an emergency and by correcting
physical defects as quickly as possible after they were discovered.
And, finally, the schools should develop a sense of the responsi-
bilities in a democracy at war by giving an understanding of the
background, status, and problems of the war and of the privileges
and responsibilities of American citizenship, by practicing the
principles of democracy in school, and by knowing and serving
the community. 11

10. Education for Victory, April 15, 1942, pp. 3f. Since this report
concerned high school students, it is further discussed in Chapter IV.

11. Ibid., pp. 5 ff.

28 THE IMPACT OF THE WAR UPON AMERICAN EDUCATION

In a statement on "Educational Policy Concerning Young
Children and the War" the Commission sought "with other re-
lated agencies to guarantee for all children adequate protection^
intelligent participation, and balanced perspective" 1S

A brief "Preliminary Statement on Vocational Training and
the War 55 dealt with the adjustment of public vocational schools
which began in July, 1940, to meet emergency defense and war
production training needs, and the further adjustments needed
under war conditions for industrial production, for the "Food
for Freedom" agricultural war production program, for home
economics training services, and training for business occupations.
For industrial production it was stated that

The vocational schools are ready to extend this retraining [of
workers dislocated from non-defense industries] on short notice
wherever tools and housing can be provided for the purpose. The
vocational war production training program should be expanded
to the extent of carrying the training still further into industry for
the purpose of utilizing more of the facilities of industry itself in a
war production training program.

All vocational school equipment should be used to capacity so
that every training station which will contribute to training for
wartime production shall be in total use. 13

The last recommendation was put into actual practice and the
equipment of vocational schools was used for twenty-four hours
a day for seven days a week.

The contribution that teachers could make to the war effort
were discussed in a report on "Noncurriculum Tasks for Mem-
bers of School Staffs." The professional and specialized training
of teachers and school administrators could be utilized for the
following reasons and in the following ways:

The training and experience of school staffs are of special value
in influencing, directing, and leading groups as well as in other serv-
ices where specialized knowledge and skills are essential. To use
teachers for services that can be rendered without such training is a
waste of ability. In planning teacher participation, school admin-
istrators should distinguish between assigned duties on the one
hand and volunteer work on the other.

12. I bid., pp. 8f.

13. Ibid., p. 9.

LEADERSHIP IN TIME OF CRISIS 29

Such activities would include service on community or neigh-
borhood planning council or committee; teacher training; tempo-
rary professional service in registration and classification; leader-
ship in children's activities centering in the school; and com-
munity organization and leadership. 14 Paradoxically, at the same
meeting that the Commission discussed suggestions of noncur-
riculum war tasks in which teachers might engage, it was also
confronted with the problem of the supply and demand of
teachers, and the increasing shortage which was already begin-
ning to be recognized as one of the crucial issues in education
during the war. 15

At its meeting on April 24, 1942, the Wartime Commission
issued a call to school authorities to keep schools open during the
summer and to consider how personnel, plant, and equipment
might be used to contribute to war service training courses.
Among the activities recommended was the provision of day and
evening summer training courses for pupils of secondary school
and adult levels, in such areas as the following: mathematics,
science, English, and social studies adapted to the specific needs
of the armed forces and war production; aviation education;
courses to train girls and women in business, trade and clerical
occupations to replace men drawn into the armed forces; courses
in home nursing, nutrition, first aid, and other fields related to
civilian defense and other war needs; courses in physical fitness;
training in cooperation with the Office of Civilian Defense for air
raid wardens, auxiliary fire and police officers, and such other
personnel as might be needed.

In addition to these training courses, the school authorities
were urged to consider the following services that might be rend-
ered to their communities:

i. To set up information service offices in certain strategic
school buildings in urban and rural communities to provide in
collaboration with the Office of Civilian Defense and other Govern-
ment agencies information in reference to such aspects of the war
effort as selective service, opportunities for training, recreation. This
office might be operated by volunteer personnel recruited from
qualified persons.

14. Ibid., p. 10.

15. The issue is discussed in some detail on pp. 61 ff.

30 THE IMPACT OF THE WAR UPON AMERICAN EDUCATION

2. To carry on programs of salvage and conservation during the
summer months under the direction of school personnel.

3. To continue the promotion and sale of war savings stamps and
bonds.

4. To establish additional provision for nursery schools, kinder-
gartens, playgrounds, or other informal groups in areas where
mothers are employed and small children are neglected. Programs
for this purpose may be worked out cooperatively with P. T. A. or
recreation and child guidance departments and may involve the use
of volunteer student personnel under competent direction.

5. To make buildings available through the cooperation of ap-
propriate community organizations for social events and entertain-
ment for service men and war workers.

6. To make buildings available for housing youth engaged in
farm work and other groups of war workers, and for housing serv-
ice men on leave.

7. To make buildings available to organizations such as the Red
Cross, defense groups, to carry on training activities essential to
war effort.

8. To make available play facilities, particularly swimming pools,
gymnasiums, and playgrounds for community use.

9. To make school buses available, where regulations permit, for
all types of transportation necessary to the war effort.

10. To cooperate with the National Government in rendering
services such as registration for selective service, and commodity
rationing.

1 1 . To organize groups of young people to continue the cultiva-
tion of victory gardens under proper supervision.

12. To make school kitchens and cafeterias available for canning
and preserving of fruits and vegetables.

13. To make school library service available to pupils and to the
general public for recreational reading and war information.

14. To cooperate with the U. S. Employment Service and other
agencies in guiding students of work age to engage in some occu-
pation during the vacation period that will help the war effort,
especially to assist in recruiting, training, and supervising young
people for war work.

15. To organize musical, dramatic, and other talent from the per-
sonnel of the school and community to provide entertainment and
recreation for service men and the general public.

1 6. To encourage a program of medical examination and correc-
tion for boys and girls of high school age with a view to preparing

LEADERSHIP IN TIME OF CRISIS 31

them for war services. This service should be extended especially
to those who are likely to enter war services during the ensuing
year.

17. To make preliminary preparation for converting school build-
ings in exposed areas as required for use as first aid or hospital cen-
ters in the event of air raids or epidemics. 16

Further reports and recommendations on the problems which
faced education in wartime were presented and discussed by the
Wartime Commission at the meeting held on July 22, 1942. The
Commission's committee on secondary education recommended
the "substitution of war programs for usual peacetime programs,
school control of student organization activities, and establish-
ment in every high school of an overall war service organization
enrolling all pupils contributing to civil defense, war savings,
salvage, conservation, or preparing for service in the armed forces
or war related occupations." The general principle to guide such
activities was stated as follows:

Education must help individuals to prepare for participation in all
phases of the war effort and must not emphasize one aspect of par-
ticipation to the exclusion of, or out of proportion to other phases.
Victory will come as a result of giving each element in the prosecu-
tion of total warfare, whether in the sphere of military combat, of
production, or of ideas, its proper place and emphasis. 17

The Commission approved recommendations for extending
federal, state, and local policies for the care and education of
young children of working mothers and for the guidance of
mothers.

In order to promote closer cooperation between federal agen-
cies and the states, state wartime commissions began to be organ-
ized soon after Pearl Harbor. Among the functions to be under-
taken by state wartime commissions were the following:

i. Implementing, in the States and local communities, requests
from national emergency wartime agencies for assistance through
the schools, such as: rationing, by the Office of Price Administra-
tion; salvage, by the War Production Board; defense activities, by
the Office of Civilian Defense; sale of stamps and bonds, by the
Treasury Department.

1 6. Ibid., May 15, 1942, p. 6.

17. Ibid., August 15, 1942, p. 6.

3 2 THE IMPACT OF THE WAR UPON AMERICAN EDUCATION

2. Carrying out suggestions from national sources involving
changes in the school curriculum and schedules, such as those re-
lating to preflight aviation training, health education, and nutrition
education.

3. Serving as a clearing house for national, State, and local poli-
cies and activities as these affect education.

4. Dealing with dislocations caused by the impact of the war on
social and educational conditions, as the teacher supply, transporta-
tion, farm and industrial labor, and enlistment of high-school stu-
dents.

5. Cooperating with States and local agencies and groups engaged
in the war effort when they are confronted with problems that have
educational implications.

6. Assuming leadership in sponsoring or urging appropriate agen-
cies to sponsor publications, conferences, institutes, and other pro-
motional activities that relate education to wartime conditions and
needs. 18

In general, the state wartime commissions were expected to
serve as links between the U. S. Office of Education Wartime
Commission and wartime educational activities in their respective
areas, to suggest problems to be considered and to discuss recom-
mendations made by the central agency. It was intended to spread
throughout the country a network of organizations reaching
from Washington to the local education authorities to concen-
trate all activities on the adaptation of education to war needs.
After the middle of 1942 little more appeared about the central
or local commissions.

On the occasion of the Seventy-fifth Anniversary of U. S.
Office of Education, March, 1942, the National Education Asso-
ciation issued a statement, "The U. S. Office of Education, Fed-
eral Security Agency, Its Wartime Services," which listed the
following activities:

( i ) Training skilled workers for industrial production through
regular trade courses, emergency defense training, and stimulat-
ing the provision and use of school plants by state and local au-
thorities. (2) Training engineers, chemists, physicians, and pro-
duction managers under the Engineering, Science, and Manage-
ment Defense Training Program authorized by Congress. (3)

1 8. Ibid., July 15, 1942, p. 7.

LEADERSHIP IN TIME OF CRISIS 33

Administering and subsidizing a vocational agricultural educa-
tion program, operated through state boards for vocational edu-
cation to increase the production of "food for freedom" and to
provide training in the repair of farm machinery. (4) Training
for business, especially in distributive occupations, to supply
trained civilian personnel to replace those drawn into the armed
forces as well as for the needs of the Army and Navy. (5) Train-
ing for homemaking with special emphasis on better nutrition,
school lunches, consumer problems arising from rationing, and
instruction in home nursing, health, and child care. (6) Voca-
tional rehabilitation. (7) Creation of the Wartime Commission.
(8) Production of teaching films to speed up training for war
industries. (9) Coordinating the efforts of schools, colleges, uni-
versities, and libraries through the Civilian Morale Service to help
citizens understand "what this war means to us and our future."
(10) Cooperation with the State Department and the Coordi-
nator of Inter- American Affairs in promoting better understand-
ing of our Inter-American neighbors through the exchange
of students and teachers, organizing demonstration centers for
experiments in courses of study and teaching, and organizing
traveling school exhibits and loan packets, (n) Certifying the
need of funds for emergency school buildings and costs of opera-
tion in "boom towns" created by the expansion of war indus-
tries. (12) Cooperation with the Treasury Department in pre-
paring materials for use in schools on defense savings stamps and
related education. (13) Assistance in the development of plans
for training policemen, firemen and other volunteers for com-
munity service. ( 14) Cooperation with the Civil Aeronautics Ad-
ministration and a Joint Advisory Committee "to coordinate
aims, review plans and proposals, and promote rapid progress in
aviation education throughout the American schools. (15) Estab-
lishment of a school garden service in cooperation with the pro-
grams of the Office of Defense Health and Welfare Services and
the Department of Agriculture to promote victory gardening.
(16) Development and promotion of a program on nutrition and
school lunches. (17) Preparation of radio scripts and transcrip-
tions bearing mainly on the war emergency, supplied on request
to local schools and stations. (18) Administration of a program
for building model airplanes by pupils in public and private high

34 THE IMPACT OF THE WAR UPON AMERICAN EDUCATION

schools according to plans and specifications printed by the U.
S. Navy. (19) Collection and distribution of packets of pam-
phlets, courses of study, outlines, etc., intended to disseminate in-
formation on education and the war and to keep educational
planning abreast of latest developments. (20) Planning for post-
war readjustments based on programs of the National Resources
Planning Board and the Public Works Reserve. (21 ) Publication
of Education -for Victory. Publication of a series on education
and national defense as practical guides for meeting the crisis.
The series included pamphlets on teaching and practicing democ-
racy and problems of democratic living in school and com-
munity, the protection of children against war propaganda and
needless strain, the proper feeding of school children, precautions
against possible air raids during school hours, effective .use of
school facilities in community organization, evacuation pro-
cedures, if such became necessary, of school children and other
problems. The list of war services of the U. S. Office of Edu-
cation, issued by the National Education Association, concludes
with the following general summary:

Practically the entire Office of Education staff has been shifted to
wartime duties. Facilitating the Government rationing program,
study of problems involved in possible evacuation of school chil-
dren, accelerated training of doctors, dentists, and pharmacists, and
many other projects are being prosecuted with energy and success
by the Federal service arm for education.

This analysis of the war services of the U. S. Office of Educa-
tion furnishes the most revealing illustration of the effects of
total war on a nation's education. "You're in the Army now"
was a slogan which affected every educational institution of the
country at every level as well as all citizens at all ages. In the at-
mosphere created by total war the normal process of education
could not be continued. Nevertheless, at some stage of the edu-
cational organization some thought might have been given to the
postwar needs of the nation and to the maintenance and preser-
vation of some of the normal objectives of education. Indirectly
perhaps, the constant emphasis on the adjustment of the schools
to the exigencies of war, although it was not the only cause, may
have contributed to swell the numbers of youth and teachers

LEADERSHIP IN TIME OF CRISIS 35

who left the schools. The Back-to-School Drives came too late
to impress youth with the importance of remaining in school in
the interests of themselves and of the nation. The exodus of
teachers from the schools was to create problems, the serious-
ness of which was to be felt acutely in the years immediately fol-
lowing the war.

The emphasis on immediate and direct adjustment of educa-
tion to war needs was not limited to the U. S. Office of Educa-
tion alone. It was endorsed by seven hundred directors of the
national war effort and leading educational officials from the
forty-eight states when they met in a four-day National Institute
on Education and the War, which was held in Washington,
August 28 to 31, 1942. In a statement on "The Work of the
Schools in Relation to the War" a committee appointed by the
president of the Chief State School Officers stated that

Education must make its special and particular contribution to
the struggle. Fighting with learning is the slogan of victory. . . .
Never was there a time when educational workers faced heavier re-
sponsibilities for adjusting the school program to a great national
need. Never was there a time when these workers might take greater
pride in the significance of their work, never a better opportunity
to serve young children, and the nation. . . . There is not time to
be overly strict in definitions regarding the functions of education. 19

It was accordingly agreed that school programs must be modified
to provide opportunities for curricular and extracurricular activi-
ties, for health service, and community service programs in order
to prepare the high school student body to meet the demands of
the armed forces, industry, and the community. The modifica-
tions recommended followed in general those already discussed
and suggested by committees of the U. S. Office of Education
Wartime Commission:

The curricular pro grains should, it was proposed, provide for
(a) courses in arithmetic, algebra, geometry, general mathematics,
and, in some cases trigonometry, drawing problems from avia-
tion, navigation, mechanized warfare, and industry; (b) courses
in industrial arts related to war needs and special application to

19. National Institute on Education and the War. Handbook on Edu-
cation and the War. Washington, D. G, 1942, p. xiii.

36 THE IMPACT OF THE WAR UPON AMERICAN EDUCATION

the operation of tools; (c) courses in auto mechanics with par-
ticular emphasis on the repair and operation of trucks, tractors,
and automobiles; (d) practical courses in home economics, espe-
cially home care of the sick, nutrition, child care, cooking, sew-
ing, and home management to assist home living under war con-
ditions; (e) courses in physics, especially mechanics, heat, radio,
photography, and electricity; (f) unit on health; (g) revised
social study course on war aims and issues and including actual
experience in community undertakings; (h) one or more units
of study on the armed forces to provide general understanding
and to lessen the time required for induction; (i) preflight courses
in larger schools; (j) instruction to develop an appreciation of the
implications of the global concept of the present war and of post-
war living.

In the extracurricular activities provision was to be made for
(a) school lunches and proper nutrition of children; (b) assembly
programs to give children appreciation of the fact that they have
a definite part to play in the defense of the country; (c) coopera-
tion with such organizations as the Girl Scouts, Boy Scouts,
Campfire Girls, 4-H clubs, Junior Red Cross, and Future Farmers
of America; (d) student councils and similar organizations to
train through active participation in the American way of life.

Health services were recommended to provide for (a) correc-
tion of physical defects as early and as often as possible; and (b)
physical fitness programs to increase the bodily vigor of youth.

The Community Service programs suggested included provi-
sion for (a) promoting salvage drives, home assistance, farm
labor, home gardens, and other community undertakings; (b)
cooperation with other community agencies engaged in lessening
juvenile delinquency due to homes broken or disrupted through
army service, employment "changes, and other causes; (c) utili-
zation of every opportunity to give parents an appreciation of the
schools serving youth; (d) developing a feeling of security by
teachers and others in American ideals; (e) cooperating with
existing defense agencies; (f) assisting and promoting under-
standing in consumer buying; (g) using library facilities to make
available materials and services to enable the people to reach
intelligent decisions on war and postwar issues.

Finally, it was recommended that Guidance 'Services should

LEADERSHIP IX TIME OF CRISIS 37

provide, (a) information as to all opportunities and demands for
the sendees of youth in the war effort; (b ) an inventory of the
abilities, aptitudes, and present training of youth to enable them
to gauge their best field of service; (c) counseling to aid youth
in deciding on their most useful participation in the \var effort
and consequent choice of training. 20

How schools, colleges, and teachers responded to the sug-
gestions and recommendations which came from their represent-
ative professional organizations and leaders was presented in the
following statement, "Education's Part in the War Effort,'* issued
by the National Education Association. 21

The schools and colleges of the United States made indispensable
contributions to the nation's war effort. Among other things they

1 i ) Laid the foundations upon which a citizens' army was quickly
built. In World War I only 20% of the members of the armed
forces had more than an eighth-grade education; in World War II
almost 70% had more than an eighth-grade education.

(2) Gave at least 70,000 teachers to the armed services. The edu-
cational and visual instruction programs of the military forces were
largely manned by former teachers.

(3) Provided facilities and personnel for training officers and
specialists. The Army's college training programs graduated 64,332
men between April 1943 and December 1945. The Navy's college
training programs graduated 219,150 persons.

(4) Carried through a training program designed to increase in-
dustrial production and the supply of food. Pre-employment course*
were given to 2,667,000, supplementary vocational courses to 4,800,-
ooo, and agricultural training to 4,188,000 students.

(5) Registered millions of men for the Selective Service. In mosi
communities school buildings were used and thousands of teacher!
voluntarily gave time as registration clerks.

(6) Registered citizens and distributed 415,000,000 ration books
Many teachers served on the rationing boards in August 1945, oj
the 126,000 board members nearly 7600 were educators.

(7) Participated in the drives to collect waste paper and metal
Out of 25,000,000 tons of paper collected, it is estimated by authori
ties that the schools collected at least 2,500,000 tons.

(8) Sold two billion dollars worth of war bonds and stamps. It

20. Ibid., p. xiv.

21. Public and Education, Vol. i, No. 6, March 21, 1946; also in th<
Journal of the National Education Association, May, 1946, p. 250.

38 THE IMPACT OF THE WAR UPON AMERICAN EDUCATION

1945 more than 25,000,000 pupils were participating in school sav-
ings plans as compared to 2,500,000 in 1941.

(9) Provided headquarters for civilian defense activities. Partial
reports from city school systems indicate that one in ten teachers
participated in such activities.

(10) Assisted the Junior Red Cross produce over 35,000,000
comfort and recreational articles for the armed forces. In addition,
medical chests, dried milk, and educational gift boxes were sent to
children in the war zones.

(n) Gave thousands of hours to war-supporting agencies.
Among these were the United Service Organizations, American Red
Cross, war relief drives for our Allies, book drives of the American
Library Association, and nursery schools and child-care programs.

The country could be proud of the contributions made by
schools, colleges, and teachers to the war effort. There was, how-
ever, another side to the picture. From the nature of the state-
ment no reference could be made to the tribulations of teachers
in high schools who saw their classes in those subjects which
were not regarded as directly contributory to the war effort, that
is, the academic subjects, gradually deserted in favor of more
immediately practical subjects, and who found themselves as-
signed to teach subjects for which they had no preparation. Nor
is there any indication in these records of the educational and
physical deficiencies revealed by the Selective Service, or of the
growing seriousness of the teacher shortage during the war years.

The teachers of the country responded nobly and willingly
to the pledge of the American Association of School Admini-
strators at its meeting in San Francisco in February, 1942, of "full
support to the all-out effort of our nation to defeat the enemies
of free people and free institutions." They carried out fully the
call made by Paul V. McNutt, Administrator, Federal Security
Agency, to the teachers in American schools and colleges, which
read as follows:

From my point of view, the maintenance of a sound program of
education during this war period is exceedingly important in the
interest of national welfare. Furthermore, in connection with such
a program, an almost endless number of essential wartime* services
can be rendered to the pupils and to the community by the teachers.

Teachers who utilize their positions to help pupils and adults in

LEADERSHIP IN TIME OF CRISIS 39

the community to develop and maintain vigorous health, to possess
skills essential to wartime production and services, to understand the
issues involved in the war, and to exemplify determination to co-
operate in all the efforts to win the war and to establish a lasting
peace at its close, have a right to feel that they are engaged in one
of the most important wartime services available to any citizen of the
United States. 22

In an address before the National Education Association's As-
sembly, Indianapolis, June 29, 1943, the U. S. Commissioner of
Education, John W. Studebaker, paid a tribute to the members of
the teaching profession at all levels.

Today, he said, the schools of democracy are indeed the citadels
of citizenship, front line redoubts in the fight for the preservation of
freedom. And being such, the contribution of the schools and col-
leges of America to the war effort has been, is now, and will con-
tinue to be a magnificent source of strength to the Nation in its time
of mortal trial. 23

Schools and colleges had provided "the basic underpinning for
the competence of a democratic people." Compared with World
War I, when only 4 per cent of the members of the armed forces
were high school graduates, the percentage in World War II
was 25 per cent. The speedy training of huge armies had been
made possible by the trained intelligence, resourcefulness, and
adaptability cultivated by the schools, while the development of
technical education had produced the high level of competence
and skills of millions of workers and the professional and scienti-
fic knowledge which made possible the mobilization of the whole
economy of the nation in support of the war effort. From 1940
on, new contributions had been made through the training of
other millions of workers for defense and war production,
through preinduction training founded on basic general educa-
tion in mathematics and natural sciences, English, history and
other social studies, physical education, art, music, and languages,
and through postinduction training. Certain adjustments had to
be made "in the curriculums pursued by young men who are
destined in a short time for service in the armed forces to better
prepare them for the responsibilities which will soon be theirs."

22. Education -for Victory, May i, 1942, p. i.

23. Ibid., July 15, 1943, p. i.

40 THE IMPACT OF THE WAR UPON AMERICAN EDUCATION

Sincere and earnest discussion of the kind of postwar world
should be encouraged; the immediate demands, however, should
not be ignored, since

Education dare not during the exigencies of war neglect the pres-
ent for the future. In our concern to descry the features of the po-
tentially free and peaceful postwar world of the future we must
not relax the doing now of those things that are imperative if we
are to win the war, the winning of which will alone make that
future world possible. 24

After listing the contributions of teachers to the war effort in
the daily work of the schools, in community services, and in
civilian defense activities, Dr. Studebaker emphasized as the most
important of all contributions made by schools and colleges the
building of firm intellectual and spiritual foundations of Ameri-
can democracy, love of country, knowledge of our history and
traditions, integration of common knowledge and attitudes, and
instilling a deep appreciation of the nation's heritage. They con-
tributed "the faith and fortitude which are the distinguishing
characteristics of fighting Americans."

Faith and fortitude these make up morale; a morale based on
understanding and shot through with the moral dynamic of a belief
in righteousness, justice, and equality of opportunity among men.
In our homes and churches and schools was born and nurtured the
spiritual compulsion to sacrificial action in the common cause. 25

This and other tributes to the teachers and the educational
system of the country were well deserved. Nor in view of the
post-war unrest in the teaching profession could the opportunity
of directing the attention of the public to their contributions
both in the years preceding and during the war be overlooked.
Nevertheless, there was some danger that the emphasis on "What
is right with the schools" might overshadow some of the educa-
tional deficiencies which were revealed during the war. Among
these the most glaring deficiencies were the percentage of illite-
racy, the number of rejections under the Selective Service System
for mental and physical disabilities, the shortage of trained per-
sonnel in certain academic subjects essential for war needs, the
failure to provide equality of educational opportunities, and the
low economic status of teachers.

24. Ibid., p. 3. 25. Ibid., p. 4.

CHAPTER THREE

EDUCATIONAL DEFICIENCIES REVEALED
BY THE WAR

MENTAL AND PHYSICAL DEFICIENCIES

THE most startling deficiency revealed during the war years
was the existence of large numbers of American citizens
who were illiterate in the sense that they could not read or
write, or who were functionally illiterate in the sense that they
were unable to understand what they read. The census of 1920
showed that 7.1 per cent of the population over twenty-one years
of age were "unable to write in any language, regardless of their
ability to read"; by 1930 the figure had dropped to 5.3 per cent.
The question on literacy was replaced in 1940 by a request for in-
formation on "the highest grade of school completed." Of
73,725,819 persons over twenty-five years of age 2,799,923 or
3.8 per cent had not completed even one year of school, while
7,304,689 or 9.9 per cent had completed from one to four years,
giving a total of 10,104,612 or 13.7 per cent of those twenty-five
years of age or over with less than five years of schooling. The
distribution of the population in the country with only one to
four years of school completed was as follows: New England
States, 10.3 per cent; Middle Atlantic States, 12.4 per cent; East
North Central States, 9.2 per cent; West North Central States,
7.5 per cent; South Atlantic States, 23.4 per cent; East South
Central States, 25 per cent; West South Central States, 21.7 per
cent; Mountain States, n.i per cent; and Pacific States, 7.5 per
cent.

Reports from the Selective Service revealed that 676,000 men
were rejected for mental or educational deficiencies, which
meant that they had less than the four years of schooling which
was set up as the standard of functional literacy. Of the regis-
trants for the draft, 350,000 signed their names with a mark. In
addition to those rejected, large numbers were drafted into the
army with such meager education that training had to be pro-

42 THE IMPACT OF THE WAR UPON AMERICAN EDUCATION

vided for them in the basic literary skills. According to a report
of the Development and Special Training Section, Training
Branch, Adjutant General's Office of the War Department, spe-
cial training had to be provided for five groups of men: (i) For
the largest group of English-speaking men who were literate or
semi-literate training was provided to make them proficient in
the three R's to succeed as soldiers. (2) A non-English-speaking
group, illiterate in their own native languages, was taught in
special training units, although some were of such low-grade
ability that it was not expected that they would be successful in
the army. (3) Another non-English speaking group with almost
negligible ability to read and write English but literate in their
own languages was given a carefully graded program. (4) A
group, which, although literate, had a capacity less than that
required in regular training units had to be taught in special
training units. (5) A group with minor physical defects was
trained for useful work. The problem demanded the careful
selection and preparation of instructors in a special training unit
organized by the Armed Forces Institute, the construction of
tests to facilitate accuracy in the selection and grouping of the
illiterates, and the preparation of textbooks and other materials.
The majority of those who needed training completed the re-
quired course in eight weeks; others needed the maximum of
thirteen weeks. A small number, lacking the qualifications for
military service, received honorable discharge.

Equally serious was the number rejected on account of physi-
cal deficiencies. The gravity of this situation was summarized
in a statement in Our Children, Annual Report of the Profession
to the Public by the Executive Secretary of the National Educa-
tion Association (Washington, D. G, 1946), as follows:

As many men were lost to the U. S. military services in World
War II on account of physical unfitness as our country had under
arms in all theaters of World War I. These physical and educational
inadequacies were as much a handicap to war production as they
were to military efficiency. They are as great a liability in peace as
in war (p. 5).

According to a report by Colonel Leonard G. Rowntree,
Chief, Medical Division, Selective Service System, one million

EDUCATIONAL DEFICIENCIES REVEALED BY THE WAR

43

out of two million registrants were rejected on account of physi-
cal deficiencies; and at the time of the report the figures had not
fallen below 30 per cent, while the rejection rate even in the
eighteen-nineteen year-old group was 25.4 per cent. 1 Almost
two years later Colonel Rowntree stated, in a paper presented
at a meeting of the Chief State School Officers, that .

The greatest internal national problem of the American people,
after complete victory in World War II, concerns the health of the
American people, their physical and mental fitness for their present
and postwar responsibilities. This extends to the whole population
but, with an eye to the future, it concerns particularly the children.
This involves the question of early training and education. The fact
is we cannot begin too early. The home and the school must both
take their places in laying the foundations of the program.

This applies to the mental hygiene as well as to the physical hy-
giene of the individual. More and more we see how the mind and
body are closely interdependent. We are coming to realize more
and more this mental element in physical fitness. 2

The war had uncovered some hitherto unheeded weaknesses,
including not only the numbers rejected for physical unfitness
but also the high rate of discharges from military service on cer-
tificates of disability. To these facts must be added the cost of
setting up programs for rehabilitation and physical conditioning
of those inducted. The principal cause of rejection of 4,458,000
registrants (3,588,000 white and 870,000 Negro), eighteen to
thirty-seven years of age in class 4-F and classes with F designa-
tion as of December i, 1944, were given in the following table:

Principal causes
for rejection

Total

Number
White

Negro

Per Cent
Total White Negro

Manifestly disqualifying

defects ^

469,300

405,800

63,500

10

5

ii

3

7

3

Mental diseases.

759.6oo

671,000

88,600

17

I

18

7

10

2

Mental deficiency

620,100

340,700

279,400

13

9

9

5

32

I

Physical defects

2,542,000

2,116,600

425,400

57

9

59

o

48

9

Nonmedical .

67,000

53,900

13,100

i

5

i.

5

i

5

The nation, concluded Colonel Rowntree, had failed to recog-
nize the importance of health and physical fitness, and the sit-

1. Education for Victory, June i, 1943, p. 3.

2. Ibid., January 20, 1945, p. 5.

44 THE IMPACT OF THE WAR UPON AMERICAN EDUCATION

nation which he described was the result of indifference and
apathy on the part of the public, the government (federal, state,
and municipal), parents, teachers, churches, the medical and
dental professions, and of youth itself. A Joint Committee on
Physical Fitness, created in 1944 by the American Medical As-
sociation, recommended the initiation of a health and physical
fitness program to include the following:

(1) Preadmission physical examination at 5 years.

(2) Periodic examination at 2- to 3-year intervals thereafter.

(3) Education in the principles of healthful living.

(4) One hour daily for physical training.

(5) Credits for satisfactory progress.

(6) Accumulative health and physical fitness records.

(7) Provision for adequate personnel facilities and time for such a
program. 3

The conditions of illiteracy and physical unfitness revealed
during the war years aroused considerable consternation in both
public and professional circles. It is characteristic of American
education, however, to push forward and to ignore weakness
revealed in the educational fabric. That many pupils somehow
are advanced into the high schools with only fourth or fifth
grade ability in reading and arithmetic was a fact known to
educators for some years before the war. Further, there is the
anomaly that more research studies on the teaching of reading
and the correction of reading disabilities have been published in
this country than anywhere else in the world. There is, however,
a complacency which, resulting from the increasing enrollments
in high schools and colleges, leads to a tendency to overlook the
weaknesses in the educational system. The same situation pre-
vailed in the matter of health and physical fitness. The discus-
sions at the White House Conference on "Child Health and
Protection," 1930, showed that inadequate attention was devoted
to these important aspects of individual and national well-being
on the part of parents, schools, and the medical profession, and
especially to children who had already begun to attend school.
Instruction in health has been given an important place in the
curriculum, both of elementary and secondary schools during

3. Ibid., pp. 6 f.

EDUCATIONAL DEFICIENCIES REVEALED BY THE WAR 45

the past twenty-five years. The fact is that the United States in
the matter of school medical inspection lags far behind many
other countries; while the provision of medical treatment, as the
essential counterpart of a sound system of school medical in-
spection and of public policy, is virtually nonexistent.

A program of physical fitness through physical education to
meet the wartime needs of young people and plans for the
preparation of teachers to carry out the program was prepared
under the direction of the U. S. Office of Education by a com-
mittee of educators in collaboration with the U. S. Army and
Navy, the U. S. Public Health Service, and the Children's Bu-
reau. The statement was further amplified in a report prepared
by the National Science-Teachers Organizations in cooperation
with the U. S. Office of Education and the Pre-Induction Train-
ing Branch of the War Department. The report dealt not only
with the health needs of prospective soldiers but with a program
for postinduction health provisions. This was followed by a
statement issued by the U. S. Office of Education on "Minimum
Standards on Equipment and Supplies for Physical Fitness in
Schools and Colleges" to meet "All-time Needs for Good Health
and Fitness." 4

THE CARE OF CHILDREN

Two urgent problems arose directly out of the war conditions
as they affected the care of children and youth. The withdrawal
of men to the armed services and of men and women to war
industries had a serious effect upon the American home. .Provi-
sion had to be made for the care of young children of preschool
age and of children and youth out of school hours in homes
where the mothers were engaged in war work.

The Wartime Commission of the U. S. Office of Education
directed its attention from its first meeting on to the statement
of an educational policy concerning young children and the
war. The policy, defined by a subcommittee of specialists rep-
resenting the National Commission for Young Children, the
U. S. Office of Education, the American Association of Uni-
versity Women, and the Association of Childhood Education,

4. See Education for. Victory, June 15, 1943, pp. i ff.; January 3, 1944,
pp. 9 ff.; January 20, 1944, pp. n ff.

46 THE IMPACT OF THE WAR UPON AMERICAN EDUCATION

emphasized the importance of providing adequate protection of
children, intelligent participation in activities related to the war
effort, and a balanced perspective on the meaning of the war
for American democracy. 5

It was early recognized that young children (two to five years
of age) in defense areas were "gravely in need of a happy, well-
ordered place to play, regular food and rest, and the security
and well-being that result from well-planned programs con-
ducted by trained personnel." There were not enough nursery
schools or kindergartens to meet the needs, which became more
acute with the increasing employment of women in industries.
Nor was there an adequate supply of trained teachers for the
work that was demanded. In order to concentrate all the forces
of the country concerned with the care of young children, the
National Commission for Young Children was formed early in
1942, sponsored by the National Association for Nursery Edu-
cation, the American Association of University Women, the
Association for Childhood Education, and the Progressive Edu-
cation Association. One of the first tasks undertaken by the new
Commission was to stimulate the extension of existing provisions
for young children through the assistance of volunteer aides
trained in short-term programs and teaching under the super-
vision of trained teachers. Programs for the registration and
training of volunteer aides were immediately developed through-
out the country. The short-term courses were offered by col-
leges and universities, public school systems, or organizations
concerned with the education and welfare of children and their
families. The courses included general orientation into nursery
school practice, physical growth and development of children,
nutrition, play, habit formation, types of emergency situations,
community responsibilities and services, and observation and
practice. 6

In the summer of 1942 conferences for workers with young
children were organized in many colleges and universities, in
which three essentials were emphasized:

First, that the guidance and protection of young children is a joint
responsibility of education, health, and welfare agencies, and oppor-

5. Education for Victory, April 15, 1942, pp. 8 f,

6. Ibid., pp. 25 f., and p. 32.

EDUCATIONAL DEFICIENCIES REVEALED BY THE WAR 47

trinities should be provided for workers in these fields to exchange
ideas. Second, that preparation opportunities should be included for
parents and volunteer workers who offer to serve as nursery aides
in nursery schools, kindergartens, and primary school programs.
And, third, that workers are responsible for helping the community
understand children's needs for guidance and care in both peace-
time and wartime, and for helping to provide adequate programs to
meet the needs. 7

The effects of war conditions upon the development of the
program for young children were revealed in reports for June,
1942, received from 1,067 nursery schools and privately sup-
ported kindergartens. The conduct of the program was seriously
affected by transportation difficulties due to gas and tire ration-
ing, by the difficulties of adjusting time-schedules to those of
working mothers, by increases in enrollments requiring larger
buildings and more playground space, by the lack of competent
personnel and of funds for paid directors, and by changes in
the home conditions due to restlessness, unguarded conversations
about the war, and long separation of children from parents
during the day. The last of these imposed upon the teachers a
responsibility "to exercise special care in maintaining routines
and giving children a feeling of 'belonging' and of security." 8

One of the serious difficulties in meeting the urgent need of
providing for the care of children of working mothers was
financial. Not only was the supply of child care centers inade-
quate, but of 1,013 reporting in the middle of 1942 two-thirds
charged tuition. At its meeting on July 22, 1942, the Wartime
Commission approved recommendations for extending federal,
state, and local policies for the care and education of young
children and for the coordination of federal activities dealing
with the care of children of working mothers. It was urged
that federal funds be provided for the protection and guidance
of two- to six-year-old children whose mothers were doing war
work. The need for further study of the problems affecting
young children in war-affected areas was emphasized. A section
had already been created in the Office of Defense, Health, and
Welfare Services to integrate and coordinate the day-care activi-

7. Ibid., June 15, 1942, p. 9.

8. Ibid. r ]uly 15, 1942, p. 24.

48 THE IMPACT OF THE WAR. UPON AMERICAN EDUCATION

ties of various federal agencies interested in the care of children
of working mothers. The plans of the section included requests
for grants-in-aid to states for the day-care program and the
allocation of the funds on the basis of certification of the federal
agency concerned with the specific program proposed. At the
same time the Wartime Commission urged state wartime com-
missions to encourage local communities, particularly in defense
areas, to provide care for preschool children and children of
school age, the U. S. Office of Education coordinating the pro-
grams and furnishing materials and advisory field service. 9

By the end of 1942 it had become increasingly apparent that
the provision of extended school services for children and youth
was an urgent need. By that time four and a half million mothers
were engaged in war work, and it was expected that the number
would increase to six million. The prior concern was for the
preschool children; extended school services for older children
after school hours was to become a concern as juvenile delin-
quency increased. In addition to the normal aims of the nursery
schools, their need became particularly urgent during the war,
when it was realized that "To the working mother the nursery
school offers peace of mind concerning the welfare of her young
children, thus freeing her to work efficiently. So it is that nursery
schools for young children have become a matter of hard com-
mon sense, a practical war necessity." 10 According to a directive
issued by the War Manpower Commission, it should be noted,
no women with children were to be encouraged to work "until
after all other sources of labor supply have been exhausted, but
that, if such women are employed, adequate provision for the
care of such children will facilitate their employment." 11

On August 24, 1942, President Roosevelt allocated $400,000
from his emergency fund to the Office of Defense, Health, and
Welfare Services of the Federal Security Agency to provide
"for administrative services necessary for ascertaining needs,
developing and coordinating day-care services, and administer-
ing state or local day-care programs, not including personnel for
the operation of nursery schools or day-care centers or cost of

9. Ibid., August 15, 1942, pp. 5 f.

10. Ibid., September 15, 1942, p. 70.
n. Ibid., November 16, 1942, p. 13.

EDUCATIONAL DEFICIENCIES REVEALED BY THE WAR 49

maintenance of children in nursery schools, day-care centers, or
foster-family day-care homes. "The administration of the fund
was assigned to the U, S. Office of Education, working through
state welfare departments. The fund was to be used to encourage
the care of children two to five years of age in nursery schools
and kindergartens, and school children five to fourteen years of
age through extended school programs for ten to twelve hours
a day, every day in the week. Where local or state funds were
not available for these purposes, they could be obtained under
the Lanham Act upon the certification of need by the U. S.
Office of Education to the Federal Works Agency which ad-
ministered the Act. 12

The emergency fund was effective in stimulating nationwide
interest in the problem of the care of children. Not only did
departments of education and welfare departments in most of
the states of the country apply for aid, but state legislatures in
1943 provided additional funds to secure personnel to advise
and counsel, to purchase food, to finance maintenance services,
and for capital outlays. Provision for the care of children was
regarded as urgent in order to release women for essential war
work and to prevent children of working mothers becoming
casualties of the war. 13

The progress of the movement to provide for the care of young
children and extended school services for older children was
carried on under certain difficulties. Classes were too large;
schools were conducted for half-days only without suitable
arrangements for the supervision of children out of school
hours; failure to adapt programs to the experiences of the chil-
dren was noted; and a dearth of adequately prepared teachers
and a draining of teachers from rural areas to the cities created
other problems. To meet the need of teachers, in-service and
refresher short courses and institutes were sponsored by colleges
and school systems with aid from state education departments.
School lunch programs were operating in many communities and
through the extended school services the idea of the schoolhouse
as a community center was being developed. As part of the ex-
tended school services there had been an increase of teen-age

12. Ibid., October 15, 1942, p. i.

13. Ibid., September 15, 1943, p. 13.

50 THE IMPACT OF THE WAR UPON AMERICAN EDUCATION

canteens and special supervised programs in libraries, museums,
and parks. On the other hand "neglected children, truancy, and
delinquency," it was reported, "make a mounting problem of
great proportions." 14

At a conference of representatives of the Association for
Childhood Education with staff members of the U. S. Office of
Education, held in Washington, D. C, on April 18, 1944, re-
ports on the progress of extended school services were presented.
The following points were emphasized in the reports: Programs
for children were reaching only a small proportion of the chil-
dren in the community who need the services. Community re-
sources, such as the use of libraries, museums, and other local
services were not sufficiently tapped. Extended school services
were being operated in some instances apart from instead of
being coordinated with the regular school organization and pro-
gram. No pattern had been developed for the extended school
programs with an overemphasis on some activities (arts, crafts,
games and athletics) almost to the exclusion of other activities
(hobbies, sciences, dramatics, and clubs). Since teachers were
recruited from regular teaching staffs, the load of the extra
services in the regular school year and summer sessions proved
too heavy a burden for them. Extensive publicity devices had
been developed to enlist the interest of parents and community
groups. 15 In-service training had been provided for teachers and
courses organized for volunteers, both adult and high-school
youth. "Special emphasis was laid on the need for immediate
planning and organizing of summer programs for children in
the community, and for extending the service." 16

The importance of extended school services for children of

14. Ibid., May 20, 1944, p. 7.

15. Among these should be mentioned the "School Children and the
War Series," prepared and issued in 1943 by the U. S. Office of Educa-
tion. The series included the following "leaflets": (i) "School Services
for Children of Working Mothers"; (2) "All-Day School Programs for
Children of Working Mothers"; (3) "Nursery Schools Vital to America's
War Effort"; (4) "Food Time a Good Time at School"; (5) "Train-
ing High-School Students for Wartime Service to Children"; (6) "Meet-
ing Children's Emotional Disorders at School"; (7) "Recreation and
Other Activities in the All-Day School Program"; (8) "Juvenile Delin-
quency and the Schools in Wartime."

16. Ibid., May 20, 1944, p. 8.

EDUCATIONAL DEFICIENCIES REVEALED BY THE WAR 5 1

preschool as well as of school age in a permanent national scheme
of education was recognized in a resolution adopted by the Na-
tional Council of Chief State School Officers at its annual meet-
ing in Baltimore, Maryland, December 1-4, 1944, in which it
was recommended that the federal government should "stimu-
late states to prepare and develop comprehensive state plans for
educational programs, and it should participate, when necessary
in the financing of such programs." Following a conference of
nine national organizations in programs of education, health,
and welfare of children, held in Washington, D. G, September
19-21, 1945, a summary of the findings of the conference was
presented to President Truman. The organizations represented
at this conference included the American Association for Health,
Physical Education, and Recreation, American Association of
University Women, Association for Childhood Education,
American Home Economics Association, General Federation of
Women's Clubs, National Association for Nursery Education,
National Congress of Parents, and the National Education As-
sociation. Support was pledged for the following policies:

To meet their basic needs, children must have food of the quan-
tity and quality that makes physical growth possible, clothing and
shelter adequate for comfort and self-respect, recreation and care
that guarantees the maximum physical and mental health.

Constructive planning for children is one of the most important
tasks which can be undertaken.

The financial cooperation of the Federal Government with the
States and communities a principle well established in Federal law
is necessary in order to obtain the services that will satisfy these
needs.

All the children of all the people at all levels of development from
conception to maturity should be included in community, state, and
national programs of action regardless of race, color, creed, pa-
tionality, or place of residence.

Programs for children should be coordinated.

American family life will be strengthened and enriched by serv-
ices that assist the home in providing for the needs of children. 17

The provision of nursery schools on an optional basis was in-
cluded in all plans for the postwar reconstruction of education.

17. School Life, February, 1946, p. 10.

52 THE IMP ACT OF THE WAR UPON AMERICAN EDUCATIOX

Interest declined, however, in the first postwar years or was
directed to problems of teacher shortage and salaries, and federal
aid fo'r education.

CHILD LABOR

That conditions of a total war tend to disrupt the normal con-
duct of education was clearly brought out by the difficulties in
keeping older children in school and in the satisfactory admin-
istration of child labor laws. These difficulties increased as the
war continued and as the supply of man power decreased, and
became acute in 1944. The situation was described in the report,
"Adjustments in School Attendance and Child Labor Provisions
to Meet Wartime Needs," presented by a special committee of
the Study Commission on State Educational Policies of the Na-
tional Council of Chief State School Officers. Child labor stand-
ards were being lowered or violated. Large numbers of children,
particularly above the ages of fourteen or sixteen depending upon
the state, tended to drop out of school. In many areas school
attendance became increasingly irregular and unsatisfactory.
Juvenile delinquency was increasing at an alarming rate. These
conditions were due to man power shortage and wartime
psychology. 18 While it was recognized that the schools should
help in every reasonable way to win the war, it was also realized
as "shortsighted to permit the education of youth, which con-
stitutes the bulwark of that democracy for which we are fighting,
to be needlessly handicapped or weakened." More adjustments
were needed than had been made, and a statement of principles
to guide those responsible for local school programs was desir-
able. Among the most important of these principles were the fol-
lowing:

i. A primary objective of every school should be to encourage
all students who can profit from further education to continue in
school if at all possible, at least through the twelfth grade. To that
end:

1 8. To this may perhaps be added the constant emphasis by the U. S.
Office of Education on the participation of schools in the war effort and
on vocational preparation, which was not balanced by an appropriate
emphasis on the importance of all-round education for the postwar
period.

EDUCATIONAL DEFICIENCIES REVEALED BY THE WAR 53

(a) Needed adjustments should be made in the curriculum
particularly in the upper grades to help to prepare youth for
more constructive participation in the war effort.

(b) Adjustments should be made in school schedules, when
necessary, to permit older youth who need to do so, to help
meet emergency labor needs.

2. The value of desirable types of work-experience should be
recognized and plans made to correlate work-experience more closely
with the regular school program.

3. Demands for adjustments in school schedules or for children
to discontinue their regular school work should be carefully eval-
uated, and decisions should be reached in light of all factors in-
volved. The schools should be willing and ready to make adjust-
ments, when necessary, but the necessity should be shown rather
than taken for granted. 19

The Children's Bureau reported that in the fiscal year 1942
there had been an increase of 132 per cent in the number of
minors found illegally employed, and of these 75 per cent were
under 16, 37 per cent under 14, and 12 per cent under 12, while
u many were 10, 9, 8, and even younger." There had been a
tendency to modify or ignore child labor laws in many states.
The report recommended that the standards of the Federal Fair
Labor Standards Act of 1938 (the Wage and Hour Law) be
maintained with emergency adjustments carefully evaluated.

School attendance was irregular, and children were losing
interest in school or dropping out. Here, too, school authorities
were urged to maintain standards of attendance except where
emergency adjustments were absolutely necessary. It was sug-
gested that certificates of exemption should be granted only in
emergency cases and never to pupils under fourteen. Limited
credit for work experience might be given to pupils in senior
high schools, but only if the work were carefully supervised and
correlated with the school program. The demand for labor might
be met by modifications of the school program to permit pupils
to engage in emergency agricultural work, or by change of
schedules with schools open on Saturdays or with shorter vaca-
tions or shorter school days at harvest time. No permits to work

19. Education -for Victory, February 19, 1944, p. 2.

54 THE IMPACT OF THE WAR UPON AMERICAN EDUCATION

should be granted to elementary school pupils or pupils below
a certain age, or to those not physically able or interested in
farm work. 20

In November, 1944, in a plea to plan the employment of boys
and girls in advance of the Christmas holidays, Katharine F.
Lenroot, Chief of the Children's Bureau, took occasion to appeal
for the strict observance of the child labor provisions of the
Fair Labor Standards Act and urged the cooperation of mer-
chant and other business groups in the nation-wide Go-to-School
Drive. Interest in this drive should be used, said Miss Lenroot,
"to hold the line against the employment of school boys and
girls at the expense of their health and schooling throughout the
Christmas rush season. Good school and work programs for these
youngsters should be worked out in advance by employers'
groups and the schools." 21

The Christmas rush season, however, provided the occasion
for but was not the cause of the appeal. Child labor and viola-
tions of child labor provisions had been a matter of concern for
some time. On January 3, 1944, a manifesto on child labor had
been issued by thirty-four representatives of twenty-seven na-
tional organizations interested in educational and health prob-
lems affecting children and young people. The manifesto sug-
gested nine lines of action:

1. Establishment of a local advisory council on child labor.

2. Organization of a stay-in-school campaign.

3. Initiation of action to extend vocational counseling services in
schools.

4. A survey of the work school children are doing outside of school
hours.

5. The development of cooperative programs of school supervised
work.

6. Efforts to secure an adequate appropriation for child labor in-
spection and enforcement.

7. Conferences of employers, school officials, and social agencies to
consider methods of dealing with child labor in specific indus-
tries, such as bowling alleys, that are especially serious in the
community,

20. Ibid., pp. i if.

21. IHd., November 20, 1944, p. 31.

EDUCATIONAL DEFICIENCIES REVEALED BY THE WAR 55

8, A study of the adequacy of health examinations given to minors
entering employment.

9. Organization of discussion groups for employed young people. 22

JUVENILE DELINQUENCY

The disruptive ejff ects of conditions of total war on social life
were nowhere more clearly illustrated than in the increase in
juvenile delinquency, which aroused considerable concern dur-
ing the war years. The statistical evidence of this increase does
not tell the whole story, however, since the available information
presented only the numbers of children and youth who were
brought before the juvenile courts. The total number of cases
brought before such courts and reported to the Children's Bu-
reau by eighty-two courts serving areas of 100,000 or more
population showed an increase from about 64,000 in 1940 to
74,000 in 1942, an increase of about 16 per cent. 23 Unofficial
statistics showed an increase of from 9 to 15 per cent in Chicago,
New York, Washington, D. G, and Los Angeles" in 1942 as com-
pared with 1941, and 11 per cent in Connecticut. 24

The number of cases brought to the juvenile courts continued
to increase. In 1944 the number of such cases for the whole coun-
try had increased to 118,626 (95,827 boys and 22,799 girls), of
which 105,105 (84,951 boys and 20,154 girls) were in areas with
populations of 100,000 or more. The corresponding figures for
1945 were respectively 122,851 (101,240 boys and 21,611 girls)
and 108,469 (89,322 boys and 19,147 girls). Because of varia-
tions in the administrative practices of the juvenile courts, the
Children's Bureau in reporting these statistics warned that they
did not provide a reliable index of delinquency in each com-
munity or a basis for comparison between one community and
another.

The types of delinquency for which juveniles (under ten to
over sixteen years of age) were referred to the courts both in
1944 and in 1945 were stealing, acts of carelessness or mischief,
traffic violations, truancy, running away, being ungovernable,

22. School and Society, January 15, 1944, p. 38.

23. Controlling Juvenile Delinquency, U. S. Children's Bureau, Pub-
lication 301, 1943, p. 2.

24. Education for Victory, March 15, 1943, p. 25.

56 THE IMPACT OF THE WAR UPON AMERICAN EDUCATION

sex offenses, injury to person, and other reasons. The majority
of the boys appeared before the courts for stealing and acts of
mischief, the majority of the girls for running away, being un-
governable, and sex offenses. More than half of the cases involved
boys and girls over fourteen years of age. The sources of refer-
ence included police (in the great majority of the cases), school
departments, probation officers, other courts, social agencies,
parents or relatives, other individuals and sources. 25

It must be noted that the statistics reported by the Children's
Bureau include only cases actually referred to the courts. That
there was a progressive increase in juvenile delinquency is borne
out by the statistics, but whether the situation was as alarming
as newspapers reported cannot be established. The situation was
probably described more accurately by the Children's Bureau
in the following statement:

Whatever the exact figures of the extent of juvenile delinquency,
we know that every year thousands of American youngsters "get
into trouble." We cannot say with certainty whether juvenile de-
linquency is increasing or decreasing throughout the country as a
whole because of the absence of reliable and comprehensive data
over a period of years. Such statistics as are available have shown no
alarming tendency to increased "juvenile crime," as newspapers
perennially claim.

There is indication, however, that the war is bringing about in-
creased concern regarding juvenile offenders. Newspaper reports
from scattered localities draw attention to delinquency, especially
among girls. They say: "The number of young girls on the streets,
in the parks, and on bridges with soldiers late at night is increasing '
alarmingly;" or "an increased number of boys are running away
from home . . ." All that the available figures indicate, however,
is that in some communities juvenile delinquency has increased and
generally the rate of increase is greater for girls than for boys,

Our Nation may face the prospect of a rich harvest of juvenile
misconduct if we fail to take care of our children. 26

In view of the conditions that were potential factors in con-
tributing to juvenile delinquency, it is surprising that the situa-

25. See Juvenile-Court Statistics, 1944 and 1945, supplement to The
Child, U. S. Children's Bureau, November, 1946.

26. Understanding Juvenile Delinquency, U. S. Children's Bureau, Pub-
lication 300, 1943, p. 6.

EDUCATIONAL DEFICIENCIES REVEALED BY THE WAR 57

tion was not worse than the available statistics actually revealed.
The conditions were described by the Children's Bureau as
follows:

Fathers are separated from their families because they are serving
in the armed forces or working in distant war industries.

Mothers in large numbers are engaged in full-time employment
and are therefore away from home most of the day.

Lack of consistent guidance and supervision from their parents
give children opportunity for activities that may lead to unaccept-
able behavior.

An increasing number of children are now employed, in many
instances under unwholesome conditions that impede their growth,
limit their educational progress, or expose them to moral hazards.

The widespread migration of families to crowded centers of war
industry has uprooted children from familiar surroundings and sub-
jected them to life in communities where resources are overtaxed by
the increased population.

Dance halls, beer parlors, and other "attractions" that flourish in
industrial centers and near military establishments, unless kept under
community control, frequently exert a harmful influence on youth.

The general spirit of excitement and adventure aroused by war
and tension, anxiety, and apprehension felt by parents or other adults
are reflected in restlessness, defiance, emotional disturbance, and
other negative forms of behavior on the part of children and young
people. 27

To these contributory causes may be added the general dis-
turbance of school routine, the increasing shortage of teachers
and the employment of teachers with substandard qualifications,
and the early difficulties in providing school facilities, combined
with inadequate housing facilities, in the industrial "boom
towns."

Whether the newspaper reports on the increase of juvenile
delinquency were accurate or not, they did perform an important
service in directing attention to the serious need of preventive
measures to meet the needs of children and youth. The federal
program for the care of young children of working mothers and
of children of school age both before and after school hours has
been dealt with earlier. There was obvious need for increased

27. Controlling Juvenile Delinquency, U. S, Children's Bureau, Pub-
lication 301, 1943, pp. i f.

58 THE IMPACT OF THE WAR UPON AMERICAN EDUCATION

facilities for recreation, for the provision of school lunches, and
for other supervisory activities. In-service courses were organ-
ized for teachers, supervisors, and administrators in order to
promote a better understanding of maladjusted children. Efforts
were made through the schools to redirect the energies of chil-
dren and youth to constructive ends by a variety of activities
which provided opportunities for working together for common
purposes in such war-related activities as gardening, scrap and
stamp drives, preinduction training, and pre-aviation and nurse
training courses, which were included in the program of the
High School Victory Corps (see pages 90-93). All activities of
this type were designed to engage youth in services which they
themselves would recognize as an integral part of the war
program.

At its meeting in Indianapolis, June 27-29, 1943, the Rep-
resentative Assembly of the National Education Association
passed the following resolution on the subject of juvenile
delinquency:

The National Education Association urges that the schools, in
cooperation with other agencies, develop a constructive program to
counteract these forces which are contributing to juvenile delin-
quency. To assist in making this program effective the Association
strongly recommends:

a. The adequate enforcement of all laws designed to protect the
interests of youth, and

b. The guidance necessary to enable youth to serve their country
in the capacities for which they are best qualified. 28

Juvenile delinquency, however, whether in war years or in
times of peace, is not primarily a school problem; it is rather a
symptom of prevalent social conditions. Most of the forces that
contribute to these maladjustments which in most cases lead to
juvenile delinquency had in fact been discussed at the White
House Conference on Children in a Democracy, which was held
in January, I940. 29 Cooperation between all social agencies,
which is always essential, became more urgent during the war.

28. Education "for Victory, July 15, 1943, p. 6.

29. See White House Conference on Children in a Democracy, U. S.
Children's Bureau, Publication 272, Washington, D. G, 1940.

EDUCATIONAL DEFICIENCIES REVEALED BY THE WAR 59

The importance of such cooperation was strongly emphasized
by the U. S. Office of Education in the following statement:

The schools cannot stand alone, with a program isolated from
those of other community agencies. There are clear indications of
a growing realization of this fact. Over and over again the reports
that have come from school administrators point to cooperative en-
deavor on the part of several community agencies, including the
schools, in their attack upon juvenile delinquency. A number of
projects already mentioned in preceding pages could not have been
carried on except through a joint enterprise of this kind. Local de-
fense councils, child-care committees, churches, recreation depart-
ments, social agencies, service clubs, parent-teachers groups, juvenile
courts, coordinating councils, youth and youth-service organiza-
tions, industry and labor groups are among the many types of agen-
cies which are joining hands with the schools in these precarious
days. 30

The importance of cooperation between schools and social
agencies was stressed by Katharine F. Lenroot, chief of the Chil-
dren's Bureau. She advocated the extension of school services,
keeping youth in school, provision of good housing, adequate
enforcement of school attendance and child labor laws, develop-
ment and strengthening of guidance and counseling services,
provision of wholesome recreation, control of harmful influences
. within a community, and strengthening services "for the child
showing a behavior problem, for he is the most vulnerable of
all." An ounce of prevention is worth more than a pound of care:

The majority of children in trouble might not have gotten into
serious difficulty if social services had been available early. For those
who come to the attention of police and to the juvenile court,
special services must be given. Further provision should be made
for institutional and foster family care in few communities is it
adequate. Child-guidance services should be strengthened or, when
not available, they should be established. They can play an im-
portant part in preventing further trouble. 31

30. Juvenile Delinquency and the Schools in Wartime, School Children
and the War Series, Leaflet No. 8. U. S. Office of Education, Washing-
ton, D. C., 1943, p. 18.

31. Education for Victory, August 21, 1944, pp. i f.

60 THE IMPACT OF THE WAR UPON AMERICAN EDUCATION

Youth, however, during the war as during the depression
years 32 presented the best explanation of their needs. Referring
to the development of "youth centers" under the sponsorship
of the Recreation Division of the Office of Community War
Services, teen-agers indicated the needs which they met in the
following statements:

There aren't any places to go to chew the fat. We've got things
to talk about, even if we are lads. We like to be together. If you sit
around in the drug stores, they shove you out. Stand on the street
corners and the cop comes along and tells you to move on.

The sidewalk in front of the movie is the only youth center in
our town. Sure, you can go to the show but there's no chance for
visiting there. Shows cost money and so do bowling alleys and other
places that are open to us. A youth center is a place where you can
have fun the way you want it.

We have fun at school, too, but school is our job, and we like
to go somewhere else to have fun. It's just like a business man who
wants to get away from his office to play golf, or the woman who's
been home all day and wants to go in the evening part of the
time at least. You can't paint pictures and slogans on the walls of a
school That's what makes the center our own. 33

While youth centers, "canteens for teens," "teen taverns," or
"teen-age night clubs" were not the whole answer to the problem
of juvenile delinquency, their development did throw light on
one aspect of the problem the need of providing carefully
planned and supervised centers for recreation where young
people can meet and organize their own activities. For the rest,
"only as all citizens develop a sense of civic responsibility and
participate with others for the common good can we hope to
achieve the kind of community life in which delinquency will
have small chance to flourish." 34

32. See H. M. Bell, Youth Tell Then- Story, American Youth Com-
mission, Washington, D. C., 1938.

33. Youth Centers, Division of Recreation, Office of Community
War Services, Washington, D. C., 1945, p. i.

34. Understanding Juvenile Delinquency, U. S. Children's Bureau,
Publication 300, 1940, p. 52.

EDUCATIONAL DCMCIENCIES RHXEALTO BY r l HE WAR 6 1

EXODUS OF TEACHERS

Of all the weaknesses in the American education system
revealed by the war none was more serious than the unsatis-
factory and unstable character of the teaching profession. The
American public has always professed a strong faith in educa-
tion and has provided generously for its provision and main-
tenance. The country from one end to the other has been filled
with a network of schools and institutions for higher education,
which have provided educational opportunities for its children
and youth without parallel in any other country in the world.
Even though the ideal of equalizing educational opportunities
has not been attained as completely as might be desired, it has
always been kept before the attention of the public. The one
factor, however, perhaps the most important factor, that gives
meaning to education the teacher, was revealed by the war to
have been neglected. The gravest problem in education during
the war was the exodus of teachers from the schools and the
consequent shortage of teachers.

That a shortage of teachers would occur was anticipated soon
after Pearl Harbor. A study made by the Bureau of Labor
Statistics, the service agency of the Office of Production Man-
agement, indicated possible shortages of high school teachers
which might "impair the effective operation of secondary
schools." As quoted in a memorandum issued on January i, 1942
by General Lewis B. Hershey, director of the Selective Service
System, and transmitted by Dr. Studebaker, U. S. Commissioner
of Education, to chief state school officers, the results of this
study anticipated that the major shortages were to be expected
in vocational education, industrial arts, vocational agriculture,
and physical education for men, fields in which teaching positions
were filled by men who could not be replaced. Lesser shortages
were expected in the teaching of physical science and mathe-
matics; but even here, where the teaching could be done by
women, the reserves of women teachers were being rapidly
depleted. Referring to the Selective Service draft, General Her-
shey made the following statement:

In determining in each individual case the classification of teach-
ers, it should be realized induction would not necessarily create
vacancies as replacements may be available. However, where quali-

62 THE IMPACT OF THE WAR UPON AMERICAN EDUCATION

fied replacements are not available, an impairment of the level of
education will result. This is more likely to be true in less pros-
perous communities where compensation and conditions are less at-
tractive. The obligation of an individual for training and service
should be carefully weighed against the national interest involved in
the maintenance of the level of secondary education. 35

The shortages began to accumulate not only in the subject-
matter fields which were anticipated but also in rural and other
areas where salaries were far below those paid in war industries. 30
Efforts to meet the situation were made by employing women
teachers who had left the profession to be married, by engaging
substitutes and less experienced teachers, by lowering standards
and granting emergency certificates, by increasing the load of
teachers who remained in their positions, and by dropping cer-
tain courses. Salary increases or bonuses, without bringing salaries
up to the cost of living, were granted to retain teachers, but this
method was not widely adopted. A serious factor in the situation
was the fall in enrollments in institutions for the preparation of
teachers in the three years preceding the war. It was quite clear
that the chief cause of the shortages was the attraction of better
pay in war-related activities; the shortages were most marked at
first in those states which had the largest rural areas. Although
there were surpluses of teachers of certain high school subjects
(English, social studies, and foreign languages) , efforts to facili-
tate the flow of teachers failed even after a national teacher
placement service was established and the cooperation of the
U. S. Employment Service was secured.

The methods employed by state, county, and city school of-
ficers, according to a report prepared by the Committee on
Teacher Supply and Demand of the Wartime Commission, in-
cluded the following:

Survey and publicize conditions of teacher supply and demand.

Canvas, register, and retrain former teachers, and potential teach-
ers not now in preparation.

Encourage more students to enter teaching.

Accelerate progress of prospective teachers through college.

35. Education for Victory, March 3, 1942, p. 29.

36. See Willard E. Givens, t It Should Not Happen Again," Higher
Education and the War, American Council on Education Studies, Wash-
ington, D. C, 1942, pp. 84 ff.

EDUCATIONAL DEFICIENCIES REVEALED BY THE WAR 63

Guide students in their choice of majors, minors, and courses
from fields in which surpluses of teachers exist, to shortage fields.

Liberalize teacher-certificate requirements and practices.

Extend, improve, and coordinate the services of public teacher-
placement and registration offices.

Liberalize teacher-employment practices, extend search for can-
didates to additional sources of supply.

Administer teacher personnel to secure maximum economy in
utilizing and conserving teaching services; liberalize tenure and re-
quirement practices.

Increase salaries and improve working conditions in teaching.

Keep local selective service boards fully informed concerning the
employment situation with respect to men teachers of critical occu-
pations and activities essential in prosecuting the war; when teach-
ers are replaced, consider men not likely to be inducted; and restore
inducted men to their positions when they return from service. 37

None of these methods was effective to stem the tide; teachers
who left the profession were in the main replaced by inexperi-
enced young people who were granted emergency certificates.
By the middle of 1943 it was realized that the teacher shortage
was a threat to the generation then in school. It was expected
that it would take ten years to make up the deficiency of teach-
ers created not only by the numbers who had left the profession,
but also by the serious drop in the enrollments of teacher-educa-
tion institutions. In a number of states campaigns were started
to recruit prospective teachers. The State Department of Educa-
tion of Michigan issued a pamphlet, Should I Consider Teaching?
Is It the Career For Me? In the state of Washington a poster,
You Are Needed to Teach, was widely distributed. Field agents
were appointed to recruit candidates for the. profession; special
courses, intensive training, or refresher courses were instituted in
some states. What was not given the attention that it deserved
was the fact that the larger city school systems which paid ade-
quate salaries and provided tenure and retirement schemes were
not facing a serious shortage.

The educational situation was well summarized in the follow-
ing excerpts from an editorial in the American Federationist,
quoted in Education -for Victory, September 15, 1943, p. 2:

37. Ibid., July i, 1942, pp. ii f.

64 THE IMPACT OF THE WAR UPON AMERICAN EDUCATION

A democracy depends upon the education of its citizens. Educa-
tion, of course, means something more than formal schooling, but
schooling facilitates education. The rapid drop in high-school at-
tendance is therefore of grave concern to the whole nation.

While teachers have been leaving the schools, young students
have also been lured from their desks by the war-made opportunity
to obtain lucrative employment. Emotional patriotic appeals in
which the manpower shortage is cited often serve as a cloak for ex-
ploitation of the young.

The best development of children requires that they have op-
portunities for education and healthful recreation during their for-
mative years. Only as a last resort in an extreme labor shortage
should we deny them these rightful privileges of youth.

Not only should we enforce school attendance requirements, but
we should make sure our school curriculum is properly organized
to prepare boys and girls for the responsibilities of post-war living.
Our children will live in a civilization in which the most distant
parts of the earth are only hours away and in which all nations will
be neighbors. Future peace and welfare depend upon our ability
to live together, with respect for one another's differences, a respect
founded on a real knowledge of the history and literature of our
neighbors.

If the break-down in our educational opportunities interferes with
our preparation for these new responsibilities, it will be the most
fateful consequence of the war.

According to a report issued by the U. S. Office of Education,
there were 864,300 teaching positions in the elementary and
secondary schools of the country in October, 1942. During or
at the close of the school year ending June, 1943, of these posi-
tions 191,5 became vacant, had to be filled, left vacant or
abandoned before the school year opened in September or Octo-
ber, 1943. About 37,600 teachers who had left returned, pre-
sumably to better jobs. Of the remaining 154,900 positions,
132,100 were filled by persons who had not taught in the previ-
ous year (recent graduates or former teachers), while 15,100
positions were abandoned entirely for 1943-44 and 7,700 re-
mained unfilled on October i, 1943. Of the 132,100 new teachers
about 56,900 had substandard training and were employed on
emergency certificates good for one year. 38

38. Education'for Victory, January 20, 1944, p. 8.

EDUCATIONAL DEFICIENCIES REVEALED BY THE AVAR 65

At the end of the war it was estimated that more than a third
(350,000) of the competent teachers employed in 1940-41 had
left teaching, the majority to accept higher paying positions in
business, industry, and government services. According to esti-
mates of the U. S. Office of Education, 109,000 teachers were
employed on emergency certificates in 1945-46. Approximately
50 per cent of the teachers in elementary and secondary schools
in 1945-46 were receiving less than $2,000 a year; nearly 16 per
cent or 136,000 were paid less than $1,200 a year; and 2.4 per
cent or about 21,000 received less than $600 a year. 39 Nor were
the prospects of an improvement in the situation brighter in
1946-47, for, although enrollments in teachers colleges began
to increase, the majority of the students were returned veterans,
unable to secure admission to liberal arts colleges and univer-
sities, who did not plan to enter the teaching profession. Whether
the widespread campaigns, including teacher strikes, for the im-
provement of the economic status of teachers and the consequent
increases in salary in 1946-47 would result in attracting more
men and women into the teaching profession could not be antici-
pated in 1947. While the increases bring salaries approximately
to the increased level in the cost of living, they were still regarded
as inadequate for the purpose of recruiting able candidates. At
the same time it began to be realized that low salaries were not
the only reason which made teaching unattractive and that other
factors, such as tenure, retirement provisions, the character of
administration, prospects of promotion, and ultimate salaries at-
tainable, enter into the consideration of young persons choosing
a career.

If any lesson is to be learned from the war years, it is that the
public as well as leaders in education have not paid sufficient
attention in the past to the status of teachers. Since positions are
evaluated by the economic rewards which they offer, teachers
and the teaching profession have not enjoyed the prestige com-
mensurate with the faith of the American public in education.
The American public and the responsibility rests with adminis-
trators of education has not been made to realize that expendi-
ture on buildings, however imposing they may be, is not a

39. National Education Association, "The Continuing Crisis in Edu-
cation" (mimeographed report).

66 THE IMPACT OF THE WAR UPON AMERICAN EDUCATION

sufficient guarantee of good education. There is, of course, an-
other reason to explain low salaries, the inadequate provision of
equality of educational opportunities, and the wide variations
of educational standards. That reason is the uneven distribution
of wealth through the country, which during World War II, as
during World War I, has emphasized the need of federal aid
for education.

FEDERAL AID FOR EDUCATION

The defects of American education revealed by the war had
been well known to the leaders in the field. That they were ob-
jectively proved in the greatest crisis in its history through which
the country was passing directed the attention of the public to
the fact that, however they may be administered, whether by
the state or by local authorities, the quality and standards of
education are the concern of the nation as a whole. Americans
are a mobile people and the fact that the industrial areas, where
the birth rate is declining, must draw their man power from the
more backward areas, where the birth rate is high, has empha-
sized the importance of cooperation at all levels of the nation's
administrative organization federal, state, and local in order
to secure a reasonable standard of education in all parts of the
country. To this was added a legitimate demand that access to
educational opportunities should not be dependent upon the
accident of residence. The depression years had already shown
that without federal aid many communities were unable to main-
tain schools at all or for only a few months in the year, and that
many young persons were unable for economic reasons to con-
tinue their studies in school or college. Federal funds alone
made possible the continued operation of the educational system. 40

The situation almost on the eve of the outbreak of World
War II was described in the following statement in a summary
of findings and proposals by the Advisory Committee on Educa-
tion, which had been appointed by President Roosevelt in 1936
to make a study of the experience under the program of federal
aid for vocational education then in existence:

The public school system in the United States greatly needs im-

40. See Federal Activities in Education, Educational Policies Commis-
sion of the National Education Association, Washington, D. C., 1939.

EDUCATIONAL DEFICIENCIES REVEALED BY THE WAR 6j

provement. Glaring inequalities characterize educational opportuni-
ties throughout the Nation. The education that can be provided at
present in many localities is below the minimum necessary to pre-
serve democratic institutions. Federal aid is the only way in which
the difficulties in this widespread and complex situation can be ade-
quately corrected. 41

The inequalities affected every aspect of education: the
amount of money spent per pupil in average attendance; the
length of school year; the number of pupils of the appropriate
age in high school; the value of school property; expenditures
on equipment and instructional materials; the provision of health
and welfare services; the cost per classroom unit; and teachers'
salaries. Not only were there variations between states but varia-
tions existed within each state on each of these items of expendi-
ture. The inequalities were particularly marked in the low-income
states and in rural areas, where the largest number of children
and youth had to be educated. The situation, as already stated
earlier, was known before the war; it was brought home in a
much more spectacular way when it could be pointed out that
the number of men rejected for mental and physical deficiencies
was the equivalent of several battalions of soldiers.

During the war years, however, action could be taken only
to meet the immediate demands created by the rise of new de-
fense areas ("boom towns") and to provide vocational training
for war industries. During the fiscal year ended June 30, 1942,
the funds provided by the Federal Government for education
amounted to a total of $286,401,164.35, distributed as follows:

Regular -funds:

More complete endowment and support of land-grant

colleges $ 5,030,000,00

Agricultural experiment stations 6,926,207.08

Cooperative agricultural agricultural extension serv-
ice . . 18,956,918.06

Vocational education below college grade 21,768,122.03

Vocational rehabilitation 3,030,000.00

Total $ 55,711,247.17

41. The Federal Government and Education. Washington, D. G, 1938,
p.i.

68 THE IMPACT OF THE WAR UPON AMERICAN EDUCATION

Emergency funds:

College and high school student aid (NYA) $ 16,180,391.55

School building (WPA) 25,846,520.00

Education program (WPA) 18,785,939.00

Defense training in colleges 15,878,189.42

Defense training in secondary schools 99,704,280.21

Educational facilities for war work areas . . . 54,294,597.00

Total $230,689,917.18

The emergency funds included grants made during the de-
pression years, which were shortly discontinued. In 1941 the
77th Congress appropriated (Public Law 146) $116,122,000 to
the U. S. Office of Education to provide training and education
for national defense workers, to be distributed as follows:
$52,400,000 for vocational courses of less than college grade
conducted under plans approved by the U. S. Commissioner of
Education; $20,000,000 for the purchase of equipment to carry
on defense training courses; $17,500,000 for short courses of
college grade to meet the shortage of engineers, chemists, etc.;
Si 5,000,000 for vocational courses of less than college grade for
out-of-school youth over 17; $10,000,000 for vocational courses
for young people on work projects of the National Youth Ad-
ministration; $1,222,000 for general administrative expenses.

To meet the unexpected needs of the increased populations
in defense areas the same Congress appropriated, under the
Lanham Act (Public Law 137), $150,000,000 for public works
necessary to carry on community life substantially expanded by
the national defense program, including schools. In January,
1942, an additional appropriation of $150,000,000 was authorized
(Public Law 409).

For purposes of comparison with the figures given in the
preceding table the allotments of Federal Government funds for
the fiscal year ended June 30, 1945, are given in the following
table: 42

42. Based on Federal Government Funds for 1944-4$ and 1945-46, U. S.
Office of Education, Leaflet No. 77, Washington, D. C., 1946,

EDUCATIONAL DEFICIENCY RR\ LALED BV 1HE WAR 69

Regular funds:

More complete endo\vment and support of land-grant

colleges .5 5,030,000.00

Agricultural experiment stations . . 7,001,207.08

Cooperative agricultural extension .... . 22.996,840 06

Vocational education below college grade . . 21,768,122.03

Vocational rehabilitation ... ... . 11,672,112.27

Total $68,468,281.44

Emergency funds:

Vocational defense training in secondary schools $ 48,770,467.40

Food production, war training, in secondary schools 1,587,923.63

Defense training in colleges . . 6,878,078.00

Educational facilities for \var work areas . . 13,812,029.00
School lunches . 47,844,050.00

Total $118,892,548.03

Grand total $187,360,829.47

This sum does not include the allotments for extended school
services (child care) under the Lanham Act, October 14, 1940,
and amendments, which amount to a total from their initiation
to February 28, 1946, of $52,750,672.

The data on the existing inequalities in education throughout
the country, accumulated during the depression and war years,
helped to intensify the efforts of the advocates of federal aid
for education. Bills were introduced in Congress to provide fed-
eral aid and, although they failed of enactment, the resistance
to such a measure was gradually diminished. At its meeting in
December, 1944, the National Council of Chief State Officers
reiterated its stand on federal aid and issued the following state-
ment:

The National Council of Chief State School Officers reiterates its
previous stand for S. 637 and H. R. 2849 and announces its unaltera-
ble determination to press with renewed vigor for the enactment of
this proposed legislation which would provide Federal financial aid
to the public schools of the Nation with adequate safeguards to
preserve the local control, supervision, and administration of public
education.

The Council holds that that nation which does have, should have,

70 THE IMPACT OF THE WAR UPON AMERICAN EDUCATION

and must have the right to reach into the most poverty stricken
home in the remotest part of the poorest State in this Union and
draft the young manhood of that home to face the battle line for the
protection of democratic ideals and institutions must find some way
to dedicate a reasonable portion of its resources in order that every
child in every home throughout the land may have a reasonable
opportunity to develop his intelligence, his skill, his talents, his ideals,
and his attitudes in such way as to make him fit to serve a democ-
racy in time of peace. 43

In March, 1945, the Problems and Policies Commission of the
American Council on Education and the Educational Policies
Commission of the National Education Association issued a
pamphlet on Federal-State Relation in Education (Washington,
D. C.) which not only gave a resume of the known facts on the
inequalities in education, but, profiting from the experience dur-
ing the war, emphasized the importance of a clear pattern to
govern the cooperation of federal, state, and local authorities in
education. In place of the great variety of federal appropriations
for special aspects of education, whether under regular or emer-
gency provisions, the report recommended general grants in
order to enable the states to provide a national minimum of
financial support for education. It was also recommended that
federal funds be distributed on an objective basis such as the
number of children and youth to be educated and the financial
ability of each state. In view of the large number of federal
agencies concerned with education, it was suggested that the
number of such agencies be reduced and better coordination be
established between those that remained.

The movement for federal aid for education, which began
during World War I, was intensified by the deficiencies revealed
during World War II. Although the data on which arguments
for such aid were based had been known for a long time, new
studies were undertaken during World War II which reinter-
preted existing data and strengthened the arguments in favor of
federal participation in education as a national interest. In 1942
the National Education Association issued a pamphlet on Federal
Aid -for Education: A Review of Pertinent Facts. Further light
was thrown on the situation in a study sponsored by the National

43. Education for Victory, January 3, 1944, p. 3.

EDUCATIONAL DEFICIENCIES REVEALED BY THE WAR Jl

Education Association and the American Council on Education
and published in 1946 under the title Unfinished Business in
American Education: An Inventory of Public School Expendi-
tures in the United States, which was prepared by Professors
John K. Norton and Eugene S. Lawler.

The study reviewed the extent of illiteracy as shown in the
census of 1940 and in the number of rejections for educational,
mental, and physical deficiencies. While large numbers of chil-
dren were taught by poorly prepared and poorly paid teachers
in one-room shacks with inadequate equipment and instructional
materials, others were educated in spacious buildings and were
taught by competent teachers with access to excellent equipment
and instructional materials. The annual cost per classroom unit,
which included salaries, books, equipment, and maintenance,
showed a range from less than $100 to $6,000 in 1939-40. The
median annual cost per classroom unit was $1,600, but 1,401,605
children were in schools where the cost per classroom unit was
$4,000 a year and 1,175,996 were in schools with a unit cost of
less than $500 a year. The cost per unit was lowest in areas where
the largest number of children had to be educated. Variations
existed in the ratio of the number of children of school age
per 1,000 of the population, in the per capita income for each
child to be educated in the different states, and in the financial
effort needed for the support of schools. States with the lowest
expenditures for education devoted a larger percentage of their
incomes to education than those with the highest expenditures.
Where dual systems of schools were provided, the expenditure
for the education of Negro children was nearly one-third of the
expenditure for white children.

The inequalities existed not only in the states with low incomes
but in rural schools in general. The problem of education in rural
areas could not be isolated from the general problem of educa-
tion throughout the nation, since the quality of education in
rural areas ultimately affected the quality of citizenship in the
urban areas, to which the rural population was migrating in in-
creasing numbers. This special aspect of American education
was the subject of discussion at the White House Conference
on Rural Education, when "A Charter of Education for Rural
Children" was drafted. It was the consensus of opinion at the

72 THE IMPACT OF THE WAR UPON AMERICAN EDUCATION

Conference that rural children should be provided with all the
services needed for a modern education (adequate opportunities
for elementary and secondary education; better prepared teach-
ers, supervisors, and administrators; library facilities; health
services and recreational activities; school lunches and transpor-
tation facilities; vocational guidance; and greater cooperation
between the school and community life). To guarantee these
provisions, however, demanded the use of the tax resources of
the local community, the state, and the nation. 44 Rural schools
were more seriously affected by the war conditions than urban
schools. Teachers left the rural schools in larger numbers; and,
where pupils had to be transported to schools, difficulties arose
because bus drivers entered the armed forces or war industries
and because tires and gas were rationed.

An important contribution to the whole problem was made
by a report on Education an Investment in People, issued by
the Committee on Education of the United States Chamber of
Commerce in 1945. The report reviewed all the available data
on the existing inequalities in the provision of education through-
out the country and on the educational deficiencies discovered
by the Selective Service System. Pointing the report to emphasize
the relation between the volume of economic activity and the
various states and the level of educational expenditure, the Com-
mittee showed that there was a direct correlation between cur-
rent expense for education, median years of education completed,
and the rate of educational deficiencies revealed by the Selective
Service System on the one hand, and the per capita sales in 1940,
rent paid for homes, the number of telephones per 1,000 of
population, and the circulation of national magazines on the
other.

On the basis of its enquiry the Committee reached the follow-
ing conclusions:

That education is an essential investment for the advance of agri-
culture, industry, and commerce.

That every community should ascertain its own education status
and economic condition and set to work to utilize education as a
lever for itS own advancement.

44. See The White House Conference on Rural Education, Wash-
ington, D. G, 1944.

EDUCATIONAL DEFICIENCIES REVEALED BY THE WAR 73

That the cost of adequate education is an investment \vhich local
citizens and business can well afford in increased measure.

That education programs must be made to apply more directly
to the needs of the people.

That cultural education must accompany technical training to
develop the desire for better living.

That to maintain a representative republic, business must dis-
cover sound methods for the expansion of our dynamic economy.

Education, as an essential instrument in that expansion, is a chal-
lenge to American business. Business must determine if its spon-
sorship of expanded education as a means of economic improvement
will answer the maximum demands for a fuller participation in the
larger life that the American scene promises in the postwar era. 45

Although the Committee made no pronouncement in favor
of or against federal aid, the data contained in its report brought
the whole problem of the national interest in the adequate provi-
sion of education to the attention of a larger public than was
normally reached by the publications of professional educators.
Whether intended or not, this and other reports were probably
effective in the organization of a bipartisan committee* in Con-
gress (Committee for the Support of Federal Aid for Public
Schools) in November, 1945. In his Annual Message to Congress
on January 21, 1946, President Truman proposed "that the Fed-
eral Government provide financial aid to assist the states in
assuring more nearly equal opportunities for a good education."
He concluded his message on this subject with the statement that
"The Federal Government has not sought, and will not seek,
to dominate education in the states. It should continue its historic
role of leadership and advice and, for the purpose of equalizing
opportunities, it should extend further financial support to the
cause of education in areas where this is desirable."

It is to be noted that fear of federal domination of education
in the states had been countered in recent bills to provide federal
aid by definite provisions prohibiting the exercise of any direc-
tion, supervision, or control over or prescription of any require-
ments with respect to any school or any state educational institu-
tion or agency to which funds would be made available. Such

45. Education an Investment in People, United States Chamber of
Commerce, Committee on Education, Washington, D. G [*945] P- 3-

74 THE IMPACT OF THE WAR UPON AMERICAN EDUCATION

provisions were needed and salutary, since, although the federal
appropriations for education, whether under regular or emer-
gency legislation, had in fact encouraged the development of
specific types of education, chiefly vocational, at the expense of
other types. Properly interpreted, these provisions should lead
to general or block grants for the all-round improvement of the
quality and standards of education.

The extent of the educational needs of the country was in-
dicated in the proposals for a postwar program of education,
published in 1943 by the National Resources Planning Board.
The program was to include education for health and safety;
vocational training; education for leisure, home and family living,
national security and citizenship; social and economic education;
and provision for the education of veterans and others whose
education had been interrupted by the war. The Board estimated
that the cost of the program would be 6,100,000,000, distributed
as follows:

Preschool, elementary and secondary schools $3,000,000,000

Junior colleges 400,000,000

Colleges,* universities, professional and technical insti-
tutions 1,000,000,000

Adult education 300,000,000

Student aid 300,000,000

Public libraries 200,000,000

Improvement of buildings 2,380,000,000

The total cost of the proposed program would be slightly
more than twice as much as the total amount $2,817,000,000
spent on education by all public agencies in 1940. The same
estimate of the cost of providing an educational system appro-
priate to the needs of the country was reached in a statement in
Our Children, Annual Report of the Profession to the Public by
the Executive Secretary of the National Education Association,
Washington, D. C, 1946:

The welfare of our children and the internal security of our na-
tion, to both of which education is fundamental, are matters of
great importance to us. We should be willing to pay for them.

Our national income is evidence of our ability to pay for educa-
tion. In 1929 the national income was 83 billion dollars. We spent
2.7 per cent of that sum to maintain the public schools. When, in

EDUCATIONAL DEFICIENCIES REVEALED BY THE WAR 75

the depression year of 1932, the national income dropped to 40 bil-
lion dollars, school expenditures were a little more than 5 per cent
of the total national earnings. When the war year 1943 brought a
national income of 149 billion dollars, the proportion used for school
support was 1.5 per cent. We have never had a national policy gov-
erning our outlay for education.

Estimates of the national income of the United States for the
postwar years range from 120 billion dollars upward. It is unlikely
that a minimum defensible educational program for our children can
be supported at any less than 5 per cent of the postwar national
earnings. This per cent of the national income would be no higher
than that made available to schools in the depression year of 1932.
It would provide a better system of education than this country
has ever known. It would entail a much smaller sacrifice on the part
of the taxpayer than was involved in providing 5 per cent of the
national income of 40 billion dollars for the starved schools of 1933.
. . . We can afford to educate our children (pp. 15 f.).

Nothing stands out more clearly from these discussions and
the data accumulated to support them than the fact that many
children and youth of the country are educationally disfranchised
both by accident of residence and by economic circumstances
of their parents. The war focussed attention on education as a
national concern and on the need of a clear-cut policy. Out of the
debates which have continued since World War I there has
slowly been evolved the principle that the adequate provision
of education demands the cooperation of local, state, and federal
governments. As recent bills for federal aid have shown, there
need be no fear lest federal aid would mean federal control.
There is, however, one aspect of the problem which has not
received the attention that it deserves, and that is that increase
in the amount of education provided is not necessarily a guar-
antee of its quality.

In general, the issue for the country as a whole was clearly
stated in 1940 in a broadcast by President Roosevelt on the oc-
casion of the White House Conference, held in Washington,
D. G, January 18-20, on "Children in a Democracy," when
he said:

All Americans want this country to be a place where children
can live in safety and grow in understanding of the part they play
in the Nation's future.

7 6 THE IMPACT OF THE WAR UPOX AMERICAN EDUCATION

I believe with you that if anywhere in the country a child lacks
opportunity for home life, for health protection, for education, for
moral and spiritual development, the strength of the Nation and its
ability to cherish and advance the principles of democracy are
thereby weakened. 46

In an address to the members of the Conference, Mrs. Franklin
D. Roosevelt presented a broad statement on the meaning of
educational opportunity for and in a democracy:

Democracy is being challenged to-day, and we are the greatest
democracy. It remains to be seen if we have the vision and the
courage and the self-sacrifice to really give our children a chance
all over the nation to be really citizens of a democracy. If we are
going to do that we must see that they get a chance at health, that
they get a chance at an equal opportunity for education. We must
see that they get a chance at the kind of education which will help
them to meet a changing world. We must see that as far as possible
these youngsters when they leave school get a chance to work and
get a chance to he taken in and feel important as members of their
communities. . . .

I hope that from this Conference there will come a knowledge
throughout the country of the needs of young people and willing-
ness to take a national point of view and a national sense of re-
sponsibility for the young people of the nation who will some day
make the Nation. 47

46. School Life, March, 1940, p. 181.

47. Ibid., p. 182.

CHAPTER FOUR

SECONDARY EDUCATION FOR ALL

ADJUSTING THE HIGH SCHOOLS TO THE WAR EFFORT

THE HIGH SCHOOLS were faced with more serious difficulties
during the war than either the elementary schools or the
colleges. The majority of the college students were near
or at the age limits of Selective Service and were certain to be
inducted into the armed forces; it was for them to mike the
most of the brief opportunity for education that they might
have before being called up. The high school population con-
sisted of an age group of which the older boys would almost
certainly be called up, while the younger boys might be, depend-
ing on the length of the war. Another cause of unrest and uncer-
tainty arose almost immediately after the country entered the
war as a result of the demand for man power in the war indus-
tries. It was difficult for the four-fifths of the students boys and
girls who did not plan to go on to college to continue with the
regular routine of their studies when they were able-bodied and
ready, from patriotic motives or the attraction of high wages, to
take up some activity that would contribute to the war eff ort. .
Education could not be conducted as usual, nor did there appear
to many to be any sense in pursuing academic studies which
seemed to be remote from the immediate needs of the day. There
was still another cause of unrest; the raising of the requirements
of compulsory attendance in the years between the two wars
kept in the high schools a large number of students who saw
no reason or purpose in continuing their education, and who
were restrained from leaving school only by child labor laws.
To these factors which made for unrest may be added another;
the pattern of secondary education was not so clearly estab-
lished as to have produced a definite and generally accepted
philosophy. The uncertainty about secondary education had
begun in 1890 and became more aggravated as enrollments in-

77

7 8 THE IMPACT OF THE WAR UPON AMERICAN EDUCATION

creased at such a rate that they had doubled every ten years
between 1890 and 1940. Committees of inquiry followed each
other in rapid succession, and in the decade preceding the war
the problems of secondary education and of youth were the sub-
jects of reports by a National Survey of Secondary Education
and the American Youth Commission, appointed by the Amer-
ican Council on Education in 1935 to consider the needs and
problems of youth and to suggest methods and resources to meet
them. In 1940 a subcommittee of the latter issued a brief report
on What the High Schools Ought to Teach, which was followed
four years later by a report of the Educational Policies Com-
mission of the National Education Association on Education for
All American Youth. The general trend of these reports was to
place an emphasis on practical and vocational education, the
development of which had been stimulated since 1917 by the
provision of federal aid under the provisions of the Smith-
Hughes Act and the George Deen Act.

There had thus developed a conflict at the secondary level
between academic and vocational education. The urgent demands
of the war for increased production, industrial and agricultural,
and the unrest of youth threw the balance in favor of vocational
education. Statistics are not available, but there was enough evi-
dence during the war not only that enrollments in academic sub-
jects declined but that teachers of academic subjects, who could
not be dismissed under tenure regulations, were assigned to teach
subjects for which a new demand arose and in which the teachers
were themselves not prepared. 1 The trend toward the provision
of instruction that appeared to be more practical in character and
more contributory to the war effort, as well as to the maintenance
of student morale, was hastened by the war training program of
the U. S. Office of Education and the introduction of preinduc-
tion courses encouraged by the armed forces.

The keynotes for education during the war were sounded by
Paul V. McNutt and John W. Studebaker in the first issue of
Education -for Victory, March 3, 1942. In the statements which
are quoted in full on p. 24, the former stressed the fact that
"You're in the Army now" and the latter emphasized teamwork

i. See I. L. Kandel, "Interchangeable Parts in Education," School and
Society, November i, 1941, pp. 385 f.

SECONDARY EDUCATION FOR ALL 79

and the urgency to speed sound educational programs for time
to come.

At the fourth meeting of the U. S. Office Wartime Commission
a report was presented by Carl A. Jessen, senior specialist in
secondary education, U. S. Office of Education, in cooperation
with representatives of secondary education and of the training
divisions of the Army and Navy, on "The Best Kind of High
School Training for Military Service." The question regarding
the introduction of military drill in high schools, raised by many
high school leaders, was answered by a report that the Army
found it impossible to supply equipment or to detail officer per-
sonnel for this purpose, an answer which was "far from being a
satisfactory answer to young and enthusiastic patriots who want
to do their bit." The armed services were prepared to give the
necessary drill after enlistment or induction. As pointed out
earlier, they relied upon the schools for training in other respects
equally important to military efficiency.

Because of deficiencies of many of those that come to them, the
armed services, however, are constantly compelled to instruct re-
cruits in areas and subjects in which the schools are entirely com-
petent to supply the training. In the pages which follow an effort is
made to indicate in broad outline the contribution which schools
can make to preinduction training. The courses proposed are not
a substitute for military training; they are military training in as
real a sense as is military drill.

The Army and Navy emphasized "the need of competent,
alert, loyal, brave, and healthy men who are able both to give
orders and obey them." Hence health and physical education to
produce "robust toughened bodies not required in ordinary
civilian pursuits" assumed a position of paramount importance.
Pupils should be given periodic health inspection to be followed
up, where necessary, by medical and dental care, the correction
of physical defects, and the provision of nutritious foods. Beyond
this the schools could give instruction in certain skills and infor-
mation useful in the armed forces and in civilian life. Three
groups of activities were recommended for all students, both
boys and girls: (i) Those important for survival under war
conditions (air raid and fire drills with adequate instruction

80 THE IMPACT OF THE WAR UPON AMERICAN EDUCATION

about the protection of themselves and their homes, first aid,
home hygiene, and life-saving instruction). (2) Activities and
skills useful in the armed forces, particularly in physical educa-
tion (hard-driving competitive sports and games involving physi-
cal contact, swimming, tumbling, boxing and wrestling, strenuous
"setting-up" exercises, hiking and pitching camp, jumping and
running, and skiing). (3) Areas of information useful in the
armed forces, with changes of emphasis in the established high
school courses as follows:

More of the English for use, especially practice in understand-
ing directions, dispatches, and accounts, whether orally or in writ-
ing; in social studies why \ve are at war, the historical background
and the current changes in the war situation, what we must do to
win the war, and the moral obligation of each one to serve coun-
try and community; in mathematics a nearer approach to 100 per
cent mastery of fundamentals; in science the elements of physics
and chemistry these are knowledges and informations which the
Army and Navy especially desire that their personnel should have.

In addition to a thorough knowledge in the basic areas men-
tioned, each recruit should have specialized knowledge in one
or more areas: international Morse Code; radio and telephone
operation and repair, including transmission and receipt of mes-
sages; automobile and airplane maintenance and repair; machine
shop work; factory work; photography; map reading; personal
hygiene and nutrition; home nursing (especially for girls), the
area to be selected on the advice of the guidance service set up
by the school. 2

This report served as the basis for the introduction of pre-
induction courses in the high schools of the country, the number
and organization depending on the availability of equipment and
teachers. The lack of an adequate supply of teachers was felt
very early in the war in the fields of physics and mathematics.
To meet the need the U. S. Office of Education announced on
July 15, 1942, the provision of war courses for teachers of these
subjects under the Engineering, Science, and Management War
Training Program (ESMWT) which it was administering.

The importance of preinduction training was further empha-

2. See Education for Victory, April 15, 1942, pp. 3 f.

SECONDARY EDUCATION' FOR ALL 8 1

sized in the following letter, of January 15, 1943, to 'The High
School Educators of the Nation" from the Chief of Naval Per-
sonnel, Rear Admiral Randall Jacobs:

1. It is of first importance that young men (and young women)
expecting to enter the various branches of the Naval Service should
come well prepared to fit into the Navy's system of special skills
in the shortest time possible. The Navy Department, therefore, ap-
preciates this opportunity to tell you what types of educational
programs are of most value toward this end.

2. In general, high schools should continue to improve instruc-
tion in such basic courses as physics, mathematics, the other sciences,
and English. These subjects are fundamental to advanced instruc-
tion in the technical phases of naval activities and should not be
supplanted by courses in aeronautics, radio, navigation, and other
similar specialized subjects. The established training agencies of the
Navy Department are well qualified to teach the advanced special-
ized courses.

3. There is no reason, however, why high-school students should
not be brought more directly into contact with matters relating to
their possible future activities in the U. S. Navy. This can be ac-
complished in two ways by illustrating the general principles in
the fields of science, mathematics, and other subjects with naval
situations and by employing such courses and extra-curricular ac-
tivities as are recommended for the High School Victory Corps.
The Navy Department favors programs of technical or semitech-
nical instruction so long as they do not impair the basic educa-
tional preparation in<the high school upon which the Navy expects
to base its specialized training. 3

The Navy had already begun to be concerned about deficiencies
in mathematics among candidates for commissions. In reply to an
inquiry addressed to him on October 30, 1941, by Louis I. Bred-
void, member of the University of Michigan Advisory Com-
mittee on Military Affairs, Admiral Chester W. Nimitz gave the
following facts and figures: In an examination for entrance to
the Naval Reserve Officers' Training Corps, given to 4,200 fresh-
men at twenty-seven of the leading universities, 68 per cent of
the candidates were unable to pass the arithmetic reasoning test;
62 per cent failed the whole test, which included also arithmetical

3. Ibid., February i, 1943.

82 THE IMPACT OF THE WAR UPON AMERICAN EDUCATION

combinations, vocabulary, and spatial relations. "The majority
of failures were not merely borderline, but were far below passing
grade." Only 10 per cent had already taken trigonometry in their
high schools, and only 23 per cent had taken more than one and a
half years of mathematics. The same lack of fundamental educa-
tion was found in the selection and training of midshipmen for
commissioning as ensigns, V-y. Of 8,000 applicants, all college
graduates, some 3,000 had to be rejected because they had had
no mathematics, or insufficient mathematics at college, while 40
per cent of the applicants had not taken plane trigonometry in
the course of their education. In attempting to teach navigation
in the Naval Officers' Training Corps Units and in the Naval
Reserve Midshipmen Training Program (V-y) it was found that
75 per cent of the failures in the study of navigation were due
to lack of adequate knowledge of mathematics, a subject also
necessary in fire control and in many other vital branches of the
naval officer's profession. In order to enroll the requisite number
of men at one of the training stations it was found necessary to
lower the standards in 50 per cent of the admissions. In the Gen-
eral Classification Test the lowest category of achievement was
in arithmetic. On a geographical distribution it was found that
proficiency in arithmetic in the eastern part of the country was
strikingly greater than in the Middle West and West. "The
lowest average mark East of the Mississippi was equal to the
highest average mark West of the Mississippi. The three highest
average attainments in arithmetic were achieved by the recruiting
stations in Troy, Brooklyn, and Buffalo all in New York
State." 4

It was no doubt as a consequence of this letter and the dis-
cussions that followed that the U. S. Office of Education, in co-
operation with the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics,
appointed a committee, in December, 1942, "to make a survey of
the mathematical needs of the armed forces and upon this basis
to make a report concerning what the schools can do for the
emergency." The report of this committee was published in
Education for Victory, April i, 1943. Similar action was taken

4. "The Importance of Mathematics in the War Effort," The Mathe-
matics Teacher, February, 1942, pp. 88 f .

SECONDARY EDUCATION FOR ALL 83

to furnish guidance in preinduction orientation to promote
"understanding of the background of the war" and "understand-
ing of the nature of military life." A report on these two areas
of understanding was prepared by the National Council for
Social Studies with the cooperation of the U. S. Office of Edu-
cation and the Pre-Induction Training Branch, Military Division,
Headquarters, Army Service Forces. The report, published in
Education -for Victory, December 15, 1943, discussed the need
of a preinduction orientation program, the Army's postinduction
orientation program, understanding the war (what is at stake,
background of the Second World War, the United States and
the Second World War, campaigns of the Second World War,
understanding our allies and our enemies, resources of the United
States, geography in world affairs), understanding the Army
(our new Army, organization of the Army, Army training, spe-
cial characteristics of the Army, suggested activities), entering
the Army, Selective Service, induction, reception center, the sol-
dier's pay and privileges, and typical problems of military group
living. Reference materials were cited for students and teachers.
The issue of Education for Victory, November 15, 1943, dealt
more specifically with material on "Guiding Youth for Army
Service," prepared by the Occupational Information and Guid-
ance Service, Vocational Division, U. S. Office of Education,
and the Civilian Pre-Induction Training Branch, Industrial Per-
sonnel Division, Headquarters, Army Service Forces. The ma-
terial presented details on army needs in wartime: the common
needs of all soldiers; the Army's specialized needs (eligibility
requirements for the Army Specialized Training Programs, for
the Air Corps Enlisted Reserve Corps, and for voluntary induc-
tion into the Army Air Forces; range of jobs in the Army and
the competencies needed; work of the various arms and services;
factors which determine assignment and classification) . A section
on "What the Schools Can Do" contained the following sug-
gestions:

To guide boys so that they are able to meet these specialized
Army needs, schools can give both information and training.

In many schools information on Army specialized needs can be
provided through classes in occupations, orientation courses, senior

84 THE IMPACT OF THE WAR L POX AMERICAN EDL'CAI IOX

class meetings, senior problems courses, homeroom discussions, and
other similar group situations. English classes and social studies
courses can also be vehicles for conveying this information. 5

Schools were urged to give prospective recruits an "Educational
Experience Summary Card," on which preinduction training
could be recorded.

The schools were mobilized for the war effort not only to
provide the necessary orientation for the future members of the
Armed Forces but also to furnish vocational training to meet the
growing demand for manpower in industry and agriculture.
Under the direction of the U. S. Office of Education a program
to meet the emergency defense training needs had been launched
in June, 1940. The program was extended and intensified after
Pearl Harbor, when it was adapted to meet war production train-
ing needs. Vocational schools were called upon to train not only
high school students but also workers who were dislocated from
nondef ense industries and needed retraining to fit them for service
in war-production industries. Classes were held at all hours of
the day for all types of men and women. So far as high school
students were concerned, the demand for admission to courses
in vocational training was greater than the schools could accom-
modate. There was, in fact, a pronounced shift of interest from
academic studies to vocational training. Even those studies, whose
importance in preinduction training was generally emphasized,
were seriously affected by the shortage of teachers of mathe-
matics, physics, and physical education.

On June 28, 1940, Congress appropriated $15,000,000 for the
purpose of training persons for employment in occupations essen-
tial to national defense. By a succession of appropriating acts
between 1940 and 1945 a total of $326,900,000 was made avail-
able for the training of defense and war-production workers in
trade and industrial occupations, and $63,000,000 for training in
agriculture through the rural and food production war training
programs. In this period over 11,500,000 enrollments were re-
ported in these exclusively war-connected training programs.
The regular program of vocational education in the schools,
under the Smith-Hughes and George Deen Acts, was adjusted

5. Ibid., November 15, 1943, p. 12.

SECONDARY EDUCATION FOR ALL 85

to meet the changing conditions. Vocational agricultural pro-
grams u \vere adjusted to provide for additional production of
farm crops and to emphasize the care and maintenance of farm
machinery/' while teachers of vocational agriculture "organized
and supervised programs of food conservation and preservation."
In trade and industrial training programs younger students were
enrolled as the older ones were drawn into the armed services.
The home economics programs placed "greater emphasis on food
conservation and home gardening, nutrition, child care, home
care of the sick, conservation of clothing, home furnishings and
home equipment, and cooperation with community agencies in
the many problems of family and community life." 6

The demand for man power and the attraction of high wages
created a serious problem in the high schools of the country.
That many high school students should enter wage-earning oc-
cupations during the school vacation was in the accepted tradi-
tion. Some concern was caused, however, lest the child-labor
provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act (the Wage and
Hour Law) of 1938 might be violated, and young employees be
exploited at the expense of their Health. Because of war condi-
tions and the greatly increased opportunities, boys and girls ac-
cepted employment outside school hours while schools were in
session. Attention was drawn by the Children's Bureau, U. S.
Department of Labor, to the child labor regulations which pro-
hibited the employment of young persons under sixteen in manu-
facturing establishments, and limited employment outside school
hours, while schools were in session, to three hours a day, and,
when schools were not in session, to eight hours a day and forty
hours a week. 7

EXODUS OF HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS

The situation became progressively more serious during the
war years. Many high school students who were employed dur-
ing vacations did not return to school; many worked longer

6. See Vocational Education in the Years Ahead, A Report to Study
Postwar Problems in Vocational Education, U. S. Office of Education,
Vocational Division Bulletin No. 234, Washington, D. G, 1945, pp. n S.

7. "Protect Classroom Interests of Teen-Agers," Education for Vic-
tory, November 20, 1944, p. 1 1.

86 THE IMPACT OF THE WAR UPON AMERICAN EDUCATION

hours than the law permitted while schools were in session. It
became increasingly difficult to keep students in school; com-
pulsory school attendance laws were violated and the require-
ment of work permits was ignored. The situation was met in the
larger centers by the organization of "work-study" programs
under which students attended school for part of the day and
worked for part of the day. The normal program required four
hours of school attendance and four hours of work each day,
"the four-four plan." Arrangements were made to give credits
for work exeperience, which counted toward graduation. The
situation which had to be met was described as follows in a cir-
cular, "Importance of Completing One's Education," issued by
the New York City superintendent of schools:

The number of vacation work permits issued to high school stu-
dents has increased tenfold since the outbreak of the war. The num-
ber of permanent work permits has tripled. There is serious danger
that many of the holders of these permits will be tempted by high
wages to continue in their jobs rather than return to school. It is
incumbent upon us as educators to do all in our power to persuade
them that such a course would do them irreparable harm. . . .

When hostilities have ceased we shall probably have a larger
number of college-trained people available for employment than
at any other time in our history and it is not difficult to see how un-
fortunate will be the position of the young man or woman who has
not even completed high school. 8

The gravity of the situation had begun to be realized in 1943,
when in a statement, "Back to School," issued by the U. S.
Office of Education in cooperation with the Children's Bureau,
U. S. Department of Labor, educators were informed that they
held "a solemn responsibility to guide youth to right decisions."
The number of work permits given to youth between fourteen
and eighteen had shown a rapid increase. The right and obliga-
tion of every child to pursue an educational program were em-
phasized in the following arguments:

We must not permit this war to become a children's crusade.
While it is recognized that children have responsibilities, corre-
sponding to their age and maturity, for contributing to the general

8. Ibid., February 3, 1944, pp. i S.

SECONDARY EDUCATION FOR ALL 87

welfare of the Nation, it needs also to be recognized that their re-
sponsibilities must not be determined solely on the basis of iimne-
diacy. Rather these should be decided largely on the assumption
that this Nation 'will survive the war and will have an honorable
future. This assumption calls for the education of all our children
in order that they may be qualified to carry forward our demo-
cratic form of society in the future.

Their education and their contribution to present-day wartime
needs, therefore, should be considered as a total problem, not two
separate and independent problems. Also each child of working age
constitutes an individual case for study and counseling. For many
of these youth their greatest contribution to national welfare will
be full-time school attendance; for some a combination of school
and work, carefully planned to suit the needs of the individual, will
constitute not only a desirable welfare contribution, but the best
educational experience; and for still others full-time employment,
in accordance with the individual's abilities, will offer a maximum
opportunity both to earn and also to serve the country's welfare
and, at the same time, to make adjustments for adult life.

It should be borne in mind by the general public, by parents of
school children, and by pupils themselves that the present school
program has been determined after years of development and ex-
perimentation in efforts to establish a minimum for educational op-
portunities deemed necessary to meet the requirements for citizen-
ship in our democratic form of government. The completion of this
program, including the level of secondary education, either by full-
time school attendance or by a combination of school and w r ork
activities is important for both the child and school and work ex-
perience, uninterruptedly and free from distracting conditions, is
both the right and obligation of every child. 9

These exhortations were followed in the next year by Go-to-
School Drives, in which the U. S. Office of Education, the Chil-
dren's Bureau, the War Manpower Commission, and the Office
of War Information cooperated. In an urgent request directed
to youth under eighteen to continue their education the follow-
ing facts were presented. Since 1940-41, when the high schools
had the highest enrollments in their history, a sharp drop of
1,000,000 students had taken place. It was urged that the nation-

9. Ibid., September r, 1943, p. 2; see also "Back to School: A Statement
by the Commissioner" (Dr. John L. Studebaker), ibid., September 15,
1943, p. i.

88 THE IMPACT OF THE WAR UPON AMERICAN EDUCATION

wide Go-to-School Drive be supported by the organization of
local committees, which in turn would use the press, board of
education's publications, principal's letters to students, coopera-
tion with employers, school counseling, parent-teacher com-
mittees, and other devices to encourage youth to remain in school
either part- or full-time. 10 The drive was taken up seriously
throughout the country, as reported in the following statement:

The "Go-to-School Drive" has captured the attention of the peo-
ple of this country. Not since the height of the battle for the enact-
ment of compulsory" educational laws, a half century ago, has any-
thing occasioned such a re-manifestation of the assumption of our
founding fathers that an education is the rightful heritage of every
child. 11

ACCELERATION

The enrollments in high schools dropped from 6,713,913 in
1940-41 to 5,553,520 in 1943-44, a drop which could not be
wholly accounted for by the decline in the birth rate in the pre-
ceding years nor by the lowering of the draft age to eighteen,
which had hardly had time to affect the enrollments. Nor could
the adoption of a modified form of acceleration have exercised
any serious influence. A scheme of acceleration was adopted in
high schools in 1942 to enable competent students to enter col-
leges at an earlier age than they would normally have done. But
the scheme was carefully restricted by a number of criteria. In
the first place, acceleration had to be justified for the following
reasons:

1. To take Engineering, Scientific and Management Defense
Training work.

2. To save time in preparing for other equally important profes-
sional or semiprofessional services requiring degrees or other long
courses of study.

3. To assist individuals to secure or advance as far as possible
toward their college degrees before selection for or enlistment in
the armed forces.

In identifying individual students for acceleration, it was urged
that the following considerations be borne in mind:

10. Ibid., August 3, 1044, pp. i ff.; September 4, 1944, pp. i f.
n. Ibid., September 20, 1944, p. i; see also October 3, 1944, pp. 13 f.;
October 20, 1944, p. 2.

SECONDARY EDUCATION* FOR ALI 89

Is the individual

1. Old enough chronologically to be legally employed after ac-
celeration-

2. Strong enough to work on the job or to attend school on a
lengthened schedule-

3. Suitable with respect to personal characteristics, including
maturity for objectives^ (The term "objective" is to be interpreted
as a college course, specific job training, or specific job, as the case
may be.)

4. A quick enough learner to justify faster instructional methods-

5. Endowed mentally to the degree required for the specific ob-
jectives?

6. Able to arrange his personal needs, including finances, so as to
devote more time per week or year to his educational program^

7. Specially apt, able, or skillful for specific objectives?

8. Planning to leave school anyway on his own initiative for work,
\ 7 E-ND study, or enlistment? 12

High school principals were advised to submit detailed reports
about the qualifications of students for earlier entrance to college.
It was recommended that such reports should include:

1. A description of the student, indicating qualities of character,
habits of work, personality and social adjustment.

2. The results of the use of instruments of evaluation by the
schools: (a) Such standardized tests as are applicable to the school's
work, (b) Other types of tests appropriate to the objectives of the
school, (c) Scholastic aptitude tests that measure characteristics es-
sential to college work and are independent of particular patterns of
school preparation.

The high school should state what the student is competent to do
in college. 13

At no time was it suggested that a policy of acceleration similar
to that adopted by the colleges should be introduced in high
schools. The earlier transfer of students to college was to be made
on an individual basis. The following resolution of the Educa-
tional Policies Commission of the National Education Associa-
tion represented the general opinion reached on the subject of
acceleration in high schools:

12. Ibid., March 3, 1942, p. 7.

13. Ibid., April 15, 1942, pp. 4 f.

90 THE IMPACT OF THE WAR UPON AMERICAN EDUCATION

We urge that, during the war emergency, selected students who
have achieved senior standing in high school and who will, in the
judgment of high school and college authorities, profit from a year's
college education before they reach selective service age, be admitted
to college and, at the end of the successful completion of their
freshman year, be granted a diploma of graduation by the high
school and full credit for a year's work towards the fulfillment of
the requirements for the bachelor's degree or as preparation for
advanced professional education. 14

The National Association of Secondary School Principals and
state departments of education were opposed to any change. The
former believed that "the many war-time curriculum offerings of
the high school provide for youth 'not yet 18 years of age the
best preparation and training for future services in the armed
forces and for the production of essential war-time materials and
foods." The state departments wished to limit the number of
students selected for advancement to college by such qualifica-
tions as "superior," "exceptional," "of unusual ability," "of social
maturity," and "of emotional stability." 15

HIGH SCHOOL VICTORY CORPS

In the middle of 1942 the war activities of youth in high
schools were brought to a focus by the organization of the High
School Victory Corps. Official responsibility for the Federal
Government in developing this organization was delegated to
the U. S. Office of Education. The plan in general was approved
by a National Policy Committee consisting of representatives of
the War and Navy Departments, the Department of Commerce,
the U. S. Office of Education Wartime .Commission, and the
Civilian Aeronautics Administration. The plan was endorsed by
Paul V. McNutt, Chairman, War Manpower Commission;
Henry L. Stimson, Secretary of War; Frank Knox, Secretary of
the Navy; and Jesse H. Jones, Secretary of Commerce.

A national pattern, rather than a national organization, was
recommended for the Victory Corps, which was "basically an
educational plan to promote instruction and training for useful

14. Ibid., June 15, 1943, p. 10. The issue presents (pp. 10 ff.) a summary
of the action by associations on admission of high school seniors to college.

15. I bid., p. 11.

SECONDARY EDUCATION FOR ALL 91

pursuits and services critically needed in wartime." The pur-
pose of the plan was defined as follows:

We are engaged in a war for survival. This is a total war a war
of armies and navies, a war of factories and farms, a war of homes
and schools. Education has an indispensable part to play in total war.
Schools must help to teach individuals the issues at stake; to train
them for their vital parts in the total war effort; to guide them into
conscious personal relationship to the struggle.

Students in the Nation's 28,000 secondary schools are eager to do
their part for victory. To utilize more fully this eagerness to serve,
to organize it into effective action, to channel it into areas of in-
creasingly critical need, the National Policy Committee recom-
mends the organization of a Victory Corps in every American high
school, large or small, public or private.

The Policy Committee urges the organization of the Victory
Corps as a high school youth sector in the all-out effort of our total
war, a sector manned by youth who freely volunteer for present
sendee appropriate to their experience and maturity, and who
earnestly seek preparation for greater opportunities in the sendee
which lies ahead. 16

The two objectives of the wartime programs of the high
schools to which the Victory Corps was related were as follows:

(i) The training of youth for that war sendee that will come
after they leave school; and (2) the active participation of youth in
the community's war effort while they are yet in school. The first
seems closer to what goes on in school classrooms and shops; the
second to the out-of-school activities of students. The Victory-
Corps organization takes account of both. 17

To give a list of the activities included in the Victory Corps
program would be to repeat the activities presented earlier in
the account of the preinduction training program. All students
were eligible to membership, provided they participated in a
school physical fitness program appropriate to their abilities and
needs in the light of their probable contribution to the nation's
war effort. TJiey were required to be pursuing studies of prob-

16. High School Victory Corps, U. S. Office of Education, Pamphlet
No. i, 1942, p. i.

17. Ibid., p. 5.

92 THE IMPACT OF THE WAR UPON AMERICAN EDUCATION

able immediate and future usefulness to the war effort and to
be participants in at least one wartime activity or service. 18

The Victory Corps was designed as much for promoting and
maintaining the morale of youth as it was to provide training.
The wearing of insignia, a simple uniform (a white shirt with
dark trousers for boys and a white waist and dark skirt for girls),
initiation ceremonies with rituals of induction into membership,
participation in parades and other community ceremonies all
these were elements in developing consciousness of participation
in the war effort. To link youth and adult in this effort the for-
mation of a Victory Corps Advisory Committee in each com-
munity was recommended. In January, 1943, Captain Eddie
Rickenbacker became chairman of the Victory Corps Policy
Committee.

The Victory Corps was organized in six divisions, each with
its own insignia: general membership, production service divi-
sion, community service division, land service division, air service
division, and sea service division. In addition to the specialized
work of each division, members participated not only in the com-
munity activities listed earlier but also in selling war savings
stamps and bonds, in salvage campaigns, and in collecting waste
paper. Perhaps an added inducement to activities of an extra-
curricular and community nature was the fact that credits could
be obtained for participation. This was recommended by those
responsible for the organization-

College entrance requirements, as well as requirements for grad-
uation from high school, need adjustment in wartime. The substitu-
tion of war service, war production, and other forms of partici-
pating work experience in critically needed occupations for class
attendance may be encouraged, at least during the period of the
war emergency, without lasting damage to the student's education.
State and regional accrediting associations must adjust their require-
ments. A campaign of community education to break down the

1 8. This was defined as "air warden, fire watcher, or other civilian
defense activity; U.S.O. volunteer activities; Red Cross services; scale
model airplane building; participation in health services, such as malaria
control; farm aid, or other part-time employment to meet man power
shortages; school-home-community services, such as salvage campaigns,
care of small children of working mothers, gardening, book collection,
etc." (Ibid., p. 15.)

SECONDARY EDUCAHOX TOR ALL 93

existing prejudices in favor of the strictly academic college pre-
paratory types of high school course is also required. Naturally
such a campaign will require the vigorous leadership of the pro-
fessional educators. 19

The preinduction training program, the Victory Corps pro-
gram, and the funds available for the promotion of vocational
training all combined to produce a new emphasis in the high
school curriculum. This was not accidental but was deliberately
designed. Thus it was urged that "The High Schools Should
Prepare Youth for War Production and Essential Community
Services" for the following reasons:

A realistic appraisal of our need for trained manpower, both in
the armed forces and in war production, makes it evident that the
high school can't go on doing business as usual. High school youth
are impelled by patriotic considerations to point their training to
preparation for war work, to tasks requiring skill of hand and
strength of body, coupled with intelligence and devotion. The
28,000 high schools of the Nation with their 6,500,000 students
should speedily undertake the adaptation of their curricula and of
their organizations to train youth (and adults, also) to do their part
in the victor} 7 " effort. 20

It is difficult to estimate the contributions of the Victory Corps.
The organization and its plans received a great deal of publicity
for a year or so, but no general report to indicate the extent to
which it was adopted by the high schools or its effectiveness
was published.

NEW EMPHASES IX THE CURRICULUM

A survey of the educational literature of the war years raises
the question whether the appeal" to youth to do their part in the
victory effort was not directed too much toward the immediate
demand for man power. That this demand was inescapable cannot
be questioned. Nevertheless, in view of the fact that for most
of the war industries short-term schemes of vocational training
had been developed, greater emphasis might well have been
placed on the importance of the long view of education in the

19. Ibid., pp. 22 f.

20. Ibid., p. 4.

94 THE IMPACT OF THE WAR UPON AMERICAN EDUCATION

lives of youth. Strongly influenced by the constant appeals to
contribute to the war effort and attracted by high wages, youth
could hardly be blamed for "jumping the gun" and leaving school
without completing the high school courses. The Go-to-School
Drive came only after thousands of boys and girls had already
left school. How successful this drive was it is impossible to say;
the large number who left school and never returned were to
create a serious problem in the years immediately following
the war.

It could not be expected, of course, that education could be
conducted as usual. Nevertheless, something might have been
learned from Great Britain and Canada. In both countries the
emphasis in secondary education was not transformed; the nor-
mal programs were carried on and pupils were prepared for the
regular examinations. Both teachers and pupils participated ener-
getically in all types of war activities outside school hours. The
English Board of Education urged in a circular, issued in the
early days of the war, that the fundamentals must be retained:
"This means in elementary schools 'the three RV and class teach-
ing of various subjects such as history and geography; and in
secondary schools it means something similar with the addition
of languages and mathematics." The effect of participation of
Canadian pupils in war-related activities selling war certificates,
raising war funds, collecting contributions and making garments
for the Red Cross, and collecting salvage, taking courses in first
aid and nursing, and assisting in farm work in summer was de-
scribed as follows by the Minister of Education of Ontario in
his report for 1941:

Pupils generally have applied themselves more zealously to 'their
school work, and have come to realize the direct bearing of much
of their studies on the practical affairs of life. The events of the
war from day to day have been used quite frequently by both teach-
ers and pupils to give an added interest to various subjects, and un-
doubtedly these young people have now acquired a clearer under-
standing of the issues involved in the war. All these efforts must, in
turn, help determine every pupil's ideal in life and his choice of a
vocation.

The situation was not exactly parallel in this country, in which
some 70 per cent of youth between fourteen and eighteen were

SECONDARY EDUCATION FOR ALL 95

enrolled in secondary schools, as contrasted with a far smaller
percentage in Great Britain and Canada, where the majority
of adolescents were already engaged or employed in wage-
earning occupations. Nevertheless, the difference in emphasis
is worth noting.

The nonvocational program of the high school was not com-
pletely ignored. Attention was frequently directed to the im-
portance of English, social studies, mathematics, and science, in
which serious deficiencies had been revealed. The emphasis on
the study of Latin- American relations in the schools, which had
already been begun before the war, was actively promoted by the
U. S. Office of Education and the Office of the Coordinator of
Inter-American Affairs. An important contribution was made
in this area by the American Council on Education which, in

1943, appointed a Committee on the Study of Teaching Ma-
terials on Inter-American Subjects. The Committee directed its
attention to an analysis of the inter- American content in educa-
tional programs and publications with a view to promoting ac-
curacy and objectivity. In a foreword to the report of the
Committee, published under the title Lathi America in School
and College Material, Dr. George F. Zook, president of the
American Council on Education, stated the problem of teaching
materials about foreign countries in its larger setting:

Observation of trends in organized social life today leads inescapa-
bly to the conviction that education in this country must give all
citizens sensitive understanding of other lands and peoples. Today
more than ever before it is necessary for us as a people to be cor-
rectly and adequately informed about other national groups. With
them we share a common destiny; about them we must be widely
and deeply informed. 21

When the attention of the country was turned by the war to
the Far East, the U. S. Office of Education undertook to provide
study materials on China, India, Japan, and the East Indies for
the use of schools and appointed a specialist, Dr. C. O. Arndt,
to develop plans to promote Far Eastern studies. Interest in these
studies spread rapidly and was stimulated by a number of or-

21. Latin America In School and College Material, Washington, D. C,

1944, p. vii.

96 THE IMPACT OF THE WAR UPON AMERICAN EDUCATION"

ganizadons, such as the East and West Association and the
American Association of Teachers Colleges. 22

The war inevitably stimulated a quickened interest in the pro-
motion of education for international understanding, which be-
came still further intensified by the deliberations at Dumbarton
Oaks and San Francisco on the creation of the United Nations
and the work of that organization in New York City in 1946.
At the Twenty-fourth Representative Assembly of the National
Education Association, held in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, on July
6, Dr. John W. Studebaker, U. S. Commissioner of Education,
emphasized in an address the long-term responsibility for "Youth
Education for International Understanding." Since they indicate
the outlines of a program which may be organized for high
schools and colleges. Dr. Studebaker's analysis of the subject
matter of education for international understanding is quoted
herewith:

This subject matter seems to me to fall under four broad headings.
First, there is history with its account of the experiences of the race
in the long straggle for freedom and self-government.

A second major field of subject matter deals with contemporary
problems. Here the student must come to understand the forces
economic, political, social, scientific, and ideological which help
to mould the pattern of events in our time. I might add parenthet-
ically that the schools have more often failed to make students
*

aware of these forces of contemporary life than they have to ac-
quaint them with historical facts.

A third subject-matter heading is political economy. Through
education our young people should become well informed con-
cerning the instruments which men have devised, their political
forms and their social and economic systems, for protecting the
rights of the individual and for increasing his freedom through self-
government.

And, finally, there is knowledge concerning the different re-
sources, customs, peculiarities, and cultures of other peoples, the
possession of which will help to temper our judgments and to
broaden our sympathies toward our associates in the enterprise of
world peace and good will. It is with educational activities in this

22. For examples of contemporary practices in teacher-education pro-
grams on the Far East see Education for Victory, June 20, 1945, pp. 1 1 f .

SECONDARY EDUCATION" I OR ALI 97

last category that "education for international understanding" has
been commonly concerned.

And yet I submit that all four of the categories I have mentioned
constitute the necessary subject matter of education for interna-
tional understanding. With appropriate adaptations for the ma-
turity of the student these various bases for an intelligent under-
standing of the world should be taught in elementary schools, in
the high schools and colleges; sometimes in courses in English and
in history or in other social-studies, and sometimes as separate
"courses".

The particular organization of the subject matter for teaching
purposes, whether in terms of history of geography or political
economy or cultural areas or some other principle of organization
is relatively unimportant so long as all American boys and girls
now and in the years ahead become informed concerning the facts
and see their implications for international understanding, peace, and
good will. 23

The introduction of courses on Latin American relations and
on Far Eastern relations, and a program of education for inter-
national understanding at once raises the question where time can
be found for such studies in the curriculum of the high schools.
In view of the deficiencies which were revealed in those sub-
jects English, mathematics, sciences, and foreign languages
which the high schools profess to teach, there is always the dan-
ger that the introduction of new- courses may result in a smatter-
ing of knowledge and superficiality. How serious the problem is
was brought to the attention of the country by the results of an
American history test conducted by the New York Times in
1942. The report of the survey revealed the widespread existence
among the 7,000 students in thirty-six colleges who took the test
of lack of knowledge and much misinformation about the history
of their country. Even admitting the fact that the test itself was
open to serious criticism, the results did indicate that something
was wrong with the status and teaching of American history.
The conclusion of the Ne*w York Times investigator that the
subject was not taught in high schools was proved to be incor-
rect. An inquiry conducted by the U. S. Office of Education
showed that the subject was required to be taught in thirty-eight

23. Education for Victory, July 20, 1944, p. i.

98 THE IMPACT OF THE WAR UPON AMERICAN EDUCATION

states and was established by practice in all others. 24 Neverthe-
less, the report of the Neiu York Times did arouse grave con-
cern and led to the appointment by the American Historical
Association, the Mississippi Historical Association, and the Na-
tional Council for the Social Studies of a committee to survey
the situation.

The Committee, under the chairmanship of Dr. Edgar B.
Wesley of the University of Minnesota, \vas intrusted with the
task of promoting the improvement of the teaching of history in
schools and colleges, of investigating teaching and textbooks, and
of discovering the number of students in elementary and high
schools who were studying the subject. The Committee did not
find that the subject of American history was neglected in the
schools but attributed the inadequacy of the results to the inade-
quate preparation of teachers and poor methods of instruction,
a conclusion that would have been reached if any other subject
had been investigated.

The Committee strongly advocated the teaching of history as
history and not under some label which might substitute con-
temporary problems for the continuity of approach. It stated
its belief that

There are values in the study of systematic and organized bodies
of materials; fat an understanding of society and its problems the
study of the slow evolution of institutions and nations is necessary.
The careful study of history will result in an understanding of
chronology, continuity, cause and effect, and of trends, forces, and
movements.

The Committee therefore recommends (i) that United States
history continue to be offered in the middle grades, in the junior
high school, in the senior school, and in college, and (2) that
the use of history as an approach be emphasized in all social studies
courses. This study of national history should not be isolationist in
tone or outlook, since our students will be affected by world events
as well as by those which take place within our borders. American
history should, therefore, be taught with continuous awareness of
the relations between the United States and the rest of the world.
Moreover, the history of the United States cannot be fully under-
stood without knowledge of the history of other countries. The

24. Education for Victory, May i, 1943, p. 3.

SECONDARY EDUCATION" FOR ALL 99

Committee therefore recommends that all high school students take
a course in world history. 25

The same point of view had already been stressed in a State-
ment of Wartime Policy adopted by the National Council for the
Social Studies and issued in 1942 under the title The Social
Studies Mobilize -for Victory. Here the Commission on Wartime
Policy recommended that "a three-year sequence in history and
contemporary problems should be a 'constant' in the senior high
school," and that "in the study of United States history special
attention should be given the world relations economic, social,
and political of the United States." History was definitely
recognized as a subject distinct from the courses labelled as
"social studies," but contributory to them. In a report by the
Advisory Commission on Postwar Policy of the same Council,
The Social Studies Look Beyond the War, Washington, D. C,
1944, the importance of the historical approach to the under-
standing of postwar problems was again stressed:

We strongly endorse the increase in attention, stimulated by the
war, to the long story and to the traditions and ideals of democracy,
together with efforts to provide experience in its practice in class-
rooms and in school life . . . Specifically, the Commission recom-
mends that the history of our freedoms and rights, of the develop-
ment of government of the people, by the people, and for the people
should be included in world history and American history at each
grade level where they appear (p. 20).

The Commission not only recommended the study of the his-
tory of the United States in the setting of world history, but
directed attention to the need of Americans to be familiar with
the history and civilization of other peoples:

Other countries and peoples have long been studied to a consid-
erable extent both in our elementary and secondary schools, whether
in terms of courses in history and geography or of major themes
relating to human and social development or major areas of human
living. The Commission strongly endorses such study, believing
that it grows in importance as peoples and nations grow more in-
terdependent and as American national interests widen. The war

25. Edgar B. Wesley, director of the Committee, American History in
Schools and Colleges^ New York, 1944, pp. 62 f.

100 THE IMPACT OF THE WAR UPON AMERICAN EDUCATION

has directed attention not only to the existence of a dangerous
amount of prejudice and intolerance in the world but to related
gaps and deficiencies in our school program for building knowl-
edge and understanding of peoples in other Americas, in the Far
East and the Pacific area, and in the Soviet Union. The current in-
terest of many educational and other organizations and groups in
the school program as it relates to these areas and groups, and to
intercultural education, should hasten desirable curriculum changes,
the production of needed materials, and the improvement of teacher
preparation. The Commission urges.

continued and, where necessary, increased attention to the
history, geography, and life of other countries and peoples at
both the elementary and secondary levels

systematic presentation of the elements that make up civiliza-
tion and of the story of the development and inter-relationships
of civilization in the West and the East

inclusion, in both elementary and secondary schools, of atten-
tion to neglected areas and peoples, particularly in the other
Americas, the Far East and Pacific area, and the Soviet Union,
and of minority as well as majority groups in Europe and
America

recognition that while the story of nations as political units
cannot be ignored, the story of democracy, of changing eco-
nomic life, of institutions concerned with human welfare and
individual development, and of religion, literature, music, art,
and science should be included in any adequate program for
the development of effective citizenship

recognition that the school programs in literature, music, art,
and science, as well as in social studies have important responsi-
bilities for developing knowledge and understanding of other
peoples and of world civilization, and that whenever prac-
ticable, joint planning should be undertaken (pp. 26 f.).

Emphasized as strongly as the study of history qu& history
and contemporary problems, made intelligible through the study
of history, was the study of world problems as almost inseparable
in modern life from the study of domestic problems. The Com-
mission pointed out that

Experience in the war has reminded us forcibly of the need for
emphasis, throughout the programs of the school and the social
studies, on the interdependence of all nations and peoples, on de-

SECONDARY EDUCATION FOR ALL IOI

mocracy as the way of Me \vhich we have fought to preserve and
extend, and on the need for integrity and morality not only in the
individual and in national life but in international relations (p. 16).

THE UNREST IX SECONDARY EDUCATION AND PROPOSALS FOR REFORM

As was pointed out earlier, dissatisfaction and unrest have pre-
vailed in secondary education for many decades. While in the
elementary schools this period had seen considerable experimenta-
tion with methods of instruction, in the high schools experimen-
tation had been more concerned with matters of the curriculum
and content. The serious obstacle to successful experimentation,
however, was the absence of a recognized and accepted philos-
ophy of education, as Dr. Thomas H. Briggs had frequently
pointed out. The result was a conglomeration of traditional sub-
jects, which were under constant criticism, and innumerable
subjects added periodically to meet the supposed needs of stu-
dents as individuals and to prepare them for the immediate re-
quirements of practical life. In a scheme of things in which any
subject taught for the same length of time was as good as any
other subject, educational values disappeared. The war revealed
the serious deficiencies which had accumulated deficiencies in
English, mathematics, science, and history, to which foreign lan-
guages might have been added. It did not need the war, however,
to reveal these deficiencies. Attention had already been drawn
to the absence of recognizable standards in the work of the high
schools, first by Dr. Thomas H. Briggs in The Great Investment
(1930) and then by Dr. John L. Tildsley in The Mounting
Waste of the American Secondary School (i936). 26

Little attention was paid either to these criticisms or to the
deficiencies revealed during the war years. One argument for
ignoring the criticisms was that it was not the function of the
schools to anticipate war needs. Another was based on the magni-
ficent showing of the G.L's, whose average educational level
was two years of high school as contrasted with about six years
of elementary education in World War L The conclusion drawn
from this fact, -post hoc propter hoc, was that all was right with
education. Little attention was paid to the fact that those subjects

26. Both books were published in the Series of Inglis Lectures in
Secondary Education, Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Mass.

102 THE IMPACT OF THE WAR UPON AMERICAN EDUCATION

in which deficiencies were revealed were the same subjects
which in the years before the war had been attacked as
"academic" or "traditional" or good only for college entrance
but not for life. Those who assumed responsibility for the re-
construction of secondary education apparently refused to learn
anything and proceeded blithely with their plans as though the
criticisms could be ignored once the crisis was over.

The task which the United States has undertaken in the move-
ment to make secondary education as universal as elementary
education is as formidable as it is unprecedented. This move-
ment is not only inevitable but is warranted from the social
point of view. But if the theory that education yields dividends 27
in men and women better prepared for work, citizenship, and
life in a democratic society is to have any real meaning, the high
school curriculum must consist of something more than a con-
geries of accretions and improvisations or of innovations to meet
immediate needs of the moment. One result of these accretions
was that the high schools of the country were offering more
than two hundred courses, all of them of equal value as measured
by the quantitative standard that any subject is as good as any
other taught for the same length of time. Such a measure meant
the disappearance of educational values. The .expansion of the
curriculum was "more in the nature of patchwork additions than
fundamental reforms in the instructional program." 28 Unlike the
secondary school 29 in other parts of the world, the American high
school has become the school for all adolescents. It represents the
attainment of a great democratic ideal. It has an obligation both
to the society which provides and maintains the schools and to
the students who enjoy the privilege and opportunity offered to
them. The issue today is how that obligation can be met.

In the latest pronouncements on secondary education the
pendulum swung from the alleged rigidity of the traditional
academic curriculum and its formal organization by subjects to

27. See Will French, Education and Social Dividends, New York, 1935.

28. What the High Schools Ought to Teach , American Council on
Education, Washington, D. G, 1940, p. 10.

29. In the postwar reforms in England, Scotland, Northern Ireland,
and France, where it is proposed to provide some form of secondary
education for all up to the age of fifteen or sixteen, the traditional char-
acter of secondary education will also be changed.

SECONDARY EDUCATION FOR ALL 103

a curriculum adapted to the assumed needs of all youth and of
contemporary society. In a pamphlet on What the High Schools
Ought to Teach, prepared by a special committee for the Amer-
ican Youth Commission and Other Cooperating Organizations
and published by the American Council on Education, the rec-
ommendations were based on the following general statement:

The change in pupil population is compelling secondary schools
to modify their curricula. The pupils of today come from every
level of society and have every possible expectation with respect to
their future careers. The program of instruction which may possibly
have been appropriate when the pupils were few and selected does
not fit at all the needs of the great majority of those now in second-
ary schools. . . . Since many prospective citizens do not continue
their education beyond the secondary schools, it seems evident that
instruction with regard to society cannot be postponed to the period
of college attendance. If the general populace is to be intelligent
about the issues that confront communities and the nation, there
must be instruction in the secondary schools with respect to these
issues (p. 7).

The secondary schools, it was urged, must accordingly provide
an education which is to be preparatory for all contingencies of
life. The use of the school years as a preparation for self-educa-
tion apprendre a ctpprendre as French educators put it is
ignored, and the promise and prospects of adult education, whose
paramount importance in a democracy is beginning to be appre-
ciated more than ever, are not even mentioned. A few years ago
it was the fashion to reject the traditional curriculum because
its values were "deferred" and to insist that it should be replaced
by a curriculum that possessed immediate and affirmative value
for the students. Education, it was then claimed, is life and not
a preparation for life. But even this theory seems now to be dis-
carded, and the young adolescent is to be given a capital endow-
ment while in secondary school, which will enable him as a
member of the general populace to be intelligent about the issues
that confront communities and the nation. The assumption seems
to be made that the current issues which confront communities
and the nation will always remain the same, or that they can be
anticipated.

The Committee was of the opinion, which cannot be disputed,

104 THE IMPACT OF THE WAR UPON AMERICAN EDUCATION

that the present curriculum of secondary schools is in the nature
of patchwork additions, and proceeded to urge fundamental
reforms in the instructional program. Accordingly, the Commit-
tee recommended that

while it would be a mistake to make sweeping charges as to the in-
effectiveness of all secondary education, it is legitimate to urge
fundamental reconsideration of the curriculum, particularly in view
of the fact that there are a great many pupils in secondary schools
for whom the courses now administered in these schools are not ap-
propriate. Even where particular courses and certain parts of other
courses are entirely defensible, the complete curriculum must be
described as inappropriate, because of its emphasis on items that do
not accord with the ability or the outlook on the future of the ma-
jority of the pupils (p. n).

This statement is surprising in view of two facts. The first is
that the high schools of the country have been offering more
than two hundred courses, which should have provided sufficient
flexibility for the selection of courses appropriate to the needs
and abilities of all pupils. The second is that so little seems to
have been achieved as a result of the innumerable commissions
and committees which have studied the problems of secondary
education in general and of secondary school subjects in par-
ticular during the past thirty years. The general tenor of the
reports of these commissions and committees has been to stress
individual differences and the provision, in a sufficiently flexible
array of subjects, of programs adapted to the varying needs,
interests, and abilities of the pupils.

The report on What the High Schools Ought to Teach recom-
mended that secondary education should be "adjusted to the
needs of all young people;" those who have the ability to pursue
the academic studies are apparently to be denied that oppor-
tunity. Greater attention is in fact given to pupils of low ability
and to slow learners than to the able, because, one may infer, "it
has been found that a great many pupils in these [secondary]
schools have reading abilities of the fifth or even of the fourth
grade level." That the progress of slow learners may be due to
lack of interest in a particular subject or lack of proper motiva-
tion for study was admitted in the report, but it was also admitted
that "if devices can be found for appealing to pupils in such a

SECONDARY EDUCATION FOR ALL 1 05

way as to stimulate them to maximum endeavor, they very fre-
quently show capacity that was covered up by lack of interest
or lack of proper motivation." This, however, is the only sug-
gestion in the report that pupil failures may possibly be due to
inferior or incompetent teaching, or to the fact that, as a result
of the rapid increase in enrollments, many teachers were giving
instruction in subjects which they had themselves never studied.
Apart from the somewhat complacent and defeatist acceptance
of the condition that the high school curriculum must be adapted
to the abilities of fourth and fifth grade readers, the report con-
tinued to follow the tendency, well marked in all reports on
secondary education in the past thirty years, to attribute the
causes of pupil failure to the subjects of instruction rather than
to incompetent teaching.

The Committee stressed the importance of "books as means
of education" and was critical of "a strong disposition in some
quarters to decry the use of books as means of education."

Curiously enough [the Committee continued] those who criticize
books are among the loudest in their demand that illiteracy should
not be tolerated in the land. "All people ought to read" is a slogan
which is universally accepted as valid. Why, then, is there neglect
at the higher levels of the land of instruction which would make it
possible for pupils to take advantage independently and fully of
the recorded experiences of the race? Why have schools left many
of their pupils only partially trained, confused because they are
incompetent, unable to interpret what would be of great advan-
tage if understood, and victims of verbalism which is in some cases
the fault of books, but more commonly the fault of untrained
minds? (p. 14).

Here, if anywhere, the Committee had an opportunity to dis-
cuss fully the place of the recorded experiences of the race, the
cultural heritage, in a sound concept of education. The Com-
mittee did not seize it, but suggested as a corrective of the con-
fusion, incompetence, inability to interpret, and verbalism that
"what the schools need is a widespread emphasis on library
methods, by means of which pupils will be introduced to interest-
ing materials that appeal to their individual tastes and curiosities
and given the training which will make them independent read-
ers." And yet the very deficiencies which the Committee noted

106 THE IMPACT OF THE WAR L~PON AMERICAN EDUCATION

may well be the result of the corrective which it recommends
hasty skimming of many books, "book reports," "research activi-
ties/' "creative writing" and "creative self-expression," all of
them devices adopted to make both the academic and the prac-
tical subjects interesting and to provide the right kind of motiva-
tion, but none of them directed to removing "the fault of
untrained minds" or initial inability to read.

The traditional curriculum, it is again alleged, as has been
alleged for many decades, has failed; the reasons for that failure,
it is claimed, are among others the changing character of the
secondary school clientele, the great variety of abilities, the wide
diversity of outlook as to future careers, and the lack of suitable
devices to secure proper motivation and to stimulate interest.
The constant shift and uncertainty of the aims of secondary
education and the accumulation of innumerable objectives, which
prompted a recognized leader in the field, Dr. Thomas H. Briggs,
to state a few years ago that secondary education was being
developed without the guidance of a philosophy of education,
and the diversified and equally uncertain standards of certifica-
tion for high school teachers, which accounts for the presence
in high schools of large numbers of teachers ignorant of the
subjects which they are assigned to teach these are conveniently
ignored. From the failures of pupils the transition to the claim
that the subjects of instruction have failed was easy, and still
another effort was made to adjust the curriculum to the needs of
the pupils and to the demands of contemporary society.

The result of the effort to reconsider the secondary school
curriculum was a proposal to replace the traditional subjects by
reading, work experience, and social studies. The Committee
advocated work experience in order to meet a natural urge of
young people to give expression to their energy. The educational
value of work experience rests apparently on the acquisition of
ability to work steadily for eight hours a day, an ability which
is not a natural possession. Work experience is not designed to
develop vocational skill but to cultivate habits of steady work.
Vocational training as such is differentiated from work experi-
ence, since "the fact is that a large proportion of the workers in
America are engaged in routine jobs that require little skill or
training." Besides developing habits of steady work, it is assumed

SECONDARY EDUCATION FOR ALL 1 07

that from the inclusion of work experience tw greater enthusiasm
for school education may result." The Committee further as-
sumed, but also without evidence, that "there is no factor of
general education which is more important to consider than
work. This statement should not be thought of as applying
merely to a few marginal cases but should be accepted as a prin-
ciple of the widest possible application." No one would deny the
importance and value of work, but whether it contributes and
how it contributes to general education might well have been
discovered from the w^ork experience of the vast majority of
American youth in the past as well as in the present. Further
proof is needed for the assumption that "a pupil gains, through
the constructive handling of tools and materials, insight into the
nature of things and insights with regard to his environment that
he cannot gain in any other way."

The first two fundamentals recommended for inclusion in the
reconsidered curriculum of the secondary schools are reading and
labor as education. The third fundamental course is to consist of
social studies.

A long list of topics which should replace some of the material
now used in many history and chics courses can be set down on
which young people should be able to form wise judgments based
on knowledge of the facts. A few examples of such topics may be
given: housing, conservation of natural and human resources, com-
munity planning, cooperatives, pressure groups and their methods
of influencing legislation, the stock exchange, corporations, labor
organizations, the industries of the nation, various forms of municipal
government, governmental services such as those of the Departments
of Agriculture, Commerce, and Labor, the origin and nature of
money and systems of exchange, international relations, consumers'
needs, and investments (p. 23).

To assess the value of this program it is essential to remember
the background against which it is advocated the inability of a
large proportion of high school pupils to read, the fault of books
and the fault of untrained minds, and the failure to invent suit-
able devices to provide proper motivation and to stimulate in-
terest. The topics are to be arranged

so as to correspond to the maturity of pupils. While controversial
topics can with propriety be discussed with older pupils, it would

IOS THE IMPACT OF THE WAR UPON AMERICAN EDUCATION

be disquieting to younger pupils to attempt to understand some of
the intricate and frequently unsolved problems of social life about
which violent disagreements exist (p. 23)-

The conventional subjects, it was urged, should be "reexamined
and criticized with a view to injecting into them the same liberal
spirit as that which is exemplified in the new courses" which are
advocated. In English pupils should have "contact with writings
that are at once intellectually stimulating and adapted to their
mental and reading abilities" those of fourth and fifth grade
readers. Courses in mathematics should concentrate on certain
fundamentals understanding of equations, translation of a table
of figures into a graph, and knowing something about functional
relations. "If attention were concentrated on these fundamentals
and others of like type which are indispensable to general mathe-
matical thinking, it would be possible to eliminate from the sec-
ondary school curriculum some of the abstruse refinement and
highly specialized methods of mathematical manipulation which
now confuse pupils," but which teachers, who have specialized
in mathematics, and parents, who are wedded to the tradition,
ignorantly or narrow-mindedly insist on retaining, and the mas-
tery of which was to be found, soon after the report appeared,
so essential in the country's greatest crisis. Foreign languages, ac-
cording to the report, consume too much time, much of which
could be better spent on the newer courses. "Courses in natural
sciences are now far too often mere encyclopedic lists of the
findings of scientific research. They often fill the memory with
facts rather than stimulate pupils to scientific thinking." The sep-
aration of facts from thinking is itself interesting. The Committee
admitted that "competent teachers here and there succeed in
making these courses means of vital, effective thinking" but
failed to pursue the logic of its own admission, that competent
teachers are the only guarantee of successful instruction in this or
in any other subject. The Committee clearly considered the tra-
ditional curriculum to be bookish, nasty, and long. Had it but
been as sympathetic to the academic subjects as it was enthusi-
astic about work experience, the Committee might have urged, as
oped as much in academic as in other aspects of the school pro-
of equal importance, that habits of steady work need to be devel-

SECONDARY EDUCATION FOR ALL 1 09

gram and might have disposed of the notion that effort can be
dispensed with if studies are adapted to the needs, abilities, and in-
terests of the pupils. Finally, after thirty years or more of tinker-
ing or "reconsideration" of the secondary school curriculum,
there is no guarantee whatever that new plans for reform will
succeed until the American public is convinced that it must se-
cure teachers of the ability and competence commensurate with
the great ideal which it has accepted the education of all youth.
"Devices" alone and "curriculum reconsideration" alone will not
save the situation.

The Committee which prepared the report on What the High
Schools Oughr to Teach concluded with the statement:

Some central agency seems, however, to be necessary to bring the
issues of curriculum revision more prominently to the attention of
the general public and of teachers. There has long been some rec-
ognition of the problems with which this report deals and there
have been promising innovations in the curriculum introduced at
various centers. What is required now is a vigorous effort on the
part of central agencies . . . and energetic classroom teachers to
produce the changes in secondary school programs that are long
overdue.

One such agency, the Educational Policies Commission of the

National Education Association, issued a report in 1944 on Edu-
cation -for All American Youth. In the opening chapter on "The
History that Should Not Happen," which purports to consist of
"quotations that may possibly be found in the concluding pages
of some standard history of education published some twenty
years from now" the statement is made that the schools were
unprepared for the war 30 but showed ability to react to a national
wartime crisis, and that "no one seems to have .noted that the
familiar (prewar) pattern, too, was shattered beyond repair;
that the end of the war was the end of an epoch to which there

30. Dr. James B. Conant, president of Harvard University, however, in
an address delivered at the fiftieth anniversary convocation at Teachers
College, Columbia University, on November 15, 1944, said, "If one asks
what the schools of this country have accomplished in the last fifty years,
one need only refer for answer to the American Army and Navy in these
days of triumphant battle,"

1 10 THE IMPACT OF THE WAR UPON AMERICAN EDUCATION

could be no return, in education or in any other aspect of life"

(p-4). S1

The Committee responsible for the preparation of the report
on What the High Schools Ought to Teach concluded its work
in 1940, before the outbreak of the war, and could not at that
time anticipate the difficulties of the Army, Navy, and other
services in securing personnel adequately equipped in mathe-
matics, sciences, and foreign languages parts of "the familiar
prewar pattern of education." The Educational Policies Commis-
sion, however, must have been fully informed of these difficulties
as well as of the widespread fear lest the Army and Navy educa-
tional program would result in an over-emphasis on vocational
and technical training, a fear which at the college level resulted
in appointment of local and national committees to discuss meas-
ures to preserve the ideal of a liberal education. Looking back-
ward from 1946 the Educational Policies Commission claimed
that "the reason for the incapacity of education during the post-
war years was the tremendous pressure of the traditional edu-
cational program," forgetting that the traditional pattern of
education began to be shattered some thirty years ago, when the
quantitative measure of education the units, credits, points
system was adopted and any subject began to be considered as
of equal value with any other subject taught for the same length
of time, and when the doctrine of formal discipline was assumed
to have been "exploded." The result for a long time had, in fact,
been the absence of any pattern, whether in high schools or col-
leges, other than the completion of the requisite number of
units or points.

The Commission recommended the organization of curricula
and courses which would take into consideration the major types
of educationally significant differences among American youth,
the significant characteristics common to them all, and the pro-
vision of educational programs to meet the common needs of all
youth and the special needs of each individual. The point of view
of the Commission was that

Every youth in these United States regardless of sex, economic
status, geographic location, or race should experience a broad and

31. This was written after an extensive literature had already appeared
on the meaning of a liberal education and the place of the humanities in it.

SECONDARY EDUCATION FOR ALL III

balanced education which will (i) equip him to enter an occupa-
tion suited to his abilities and offering reasonable opportunity for '
personal growth and social usefulness, (2) prepare him to assume the
full responsibilities of American citizenship; (3) give him a fair
chance to exercise his right to the pursuit of happiness; (4) stimu-
late intellectual curiosity, engender satisfaction in intellectual
achievement, and cultivate the ability to think rationally; and (5)
help him to develop an appreciation of the ethical values which
should undergird all life in a democratic society (p. 21),

The education of the majority of youth was expected to con-
tinue from the seventh to the fourteenth grade, the last two years
in the community institutes which were to be provided more
generally in the future. In Grades VII, VIII, and IX, the period
of common secondary education, a common program was to be
provided to help the pupil

to grow in knowledge and understanding of the world in which
he lives; in ability to think clearly and to express himself intelligently
in speech and writing; in his mastery of scientific facts and math-
ematical processes, and in his capacity to assume responsibilities, to
direct his own affairs, and to work and live cooperatively with other
people (pp. 35 f.).

Through a wide range of experiences in "intellectual, occupa-
tional, and recreational fields" the pupil was to have "a broad base
for the choices of the interests which later he will follow more in-
tensively." In the later grades the curriculum, organized into
three fields occupations, intellectual pursuits, and recreational
interests was to be differentiated to suit the needs of each indi-
vidual; while the common fields education in the responsibilities
and privileges of citizenship, family living, health, and under-
standing and appreciation of the cultural heritage would be
continued. The cultural heritage is nowhere further defined,
nor are any designated fields or sequences to be followed as pre-
requisites for admission to higher educational institutions until
the student enters the community institutes. Teachers would be
expected to suggest "tailor-made" learning experiences adapted
to the interests and abilities of each pupil in the common inte-
grated courses which would form the bulk of the curriculum.
Through the integrated courses pupils would acquire such

1 1 2 THE IMPACT OF THE WAR UPON AMERICAN EDUCATION

knowledge as they may need of history, language and literatuic,
sciences and mathematics, with the provision of remedial work
for the backward and of extra time for the able pupils to pursue
their special interests in these fields. What would happen if a
pupil fails to recognize the needs of these subjects is not indi-
cated.

The traditional organization of the curriculum by subjects
would be discarded in favor of "areas of learning," and the course
itself would be an adventure for all, pupils and teachers alike.
The "areas of learning" proposed for Grades X to XIV of a rural
high school and community institute are as follows:

Preparation for Occupations

Study and practice related to occupational preparation (including
work in science, mathematics, social studies, English, or foreign
language preparatory to advanced study in college or university,
as well as education for agricultural, mechanical, commercial, and
homemaking occupations)

Education -for Civic Competence

Community studies and civic projects, extending into larger areas
(including "The World at Work' 7 )

Historical study of Man's Efforts to Achieve Freedom and Se-
curity"

Investigation of current political, economic, and social problems;
study of their historical backgrounds; and civic projects

Personal Development

Family life, health, and mental hygiene (including the domestic,
personal, and health aspects of consumer economics)
Recreational and leisure-time interests, including physical educa-
tion

Understanding and appreciation of the cultural heritage
"The Scientific View of the World and of Man"
Historical study of "Man's Efforts to Achieve Freedom and Se-
curity"

Literature and the arts

Elective studies or individual projects, or (in Grades X-XII) re-
medial instruction in English or mathematics, if needed (p. 153).

Apparently the so-called subjects would be taught incident-
ally as the need for them arose. According to the time-distribu-
tion given for the program, about 1 3 per cent of the total num-

SECONDARY EDUCATION FOR ALL IIJ

her periods for the five years are to be devoted to "Understanding
and appreciation of the cultural heritage" and then only in the
first three years. And even if a pupil felt disposed to devote all
the time assigned throughout the course to elective studies or
individual projects in this "area of learning," the time allotment
would still be only 25 per cent of the total.

The "areas of learning" would be designed with an emphasis
"on the present living of youth, on the improvement of commu-
nity life, and on such practical matters as competence in occupa-
tions, citizenship, and family living." These, it is assumed, would
"develop the discipline of sustained intellectual effort needed for
success in advanced academic and professional study." The argu-
ment is as follows: "For one thing, most of a student's learning
at Farmville (where the rural high school and community
institute are located) is directly related to his purposes. The
student 'wants to do something, either as an individual or as a
member of a group. He applies himself diligently to learn the
things needed to do what he wants to do, and thereby develops
habits of application and industry." This is the progressive
theory that children and youth can embark on an educational
exploration or adventure without any idea of their destination
or a preliminary study of the map, 32 The teachers would serve as
guides and counselors and participate with their students in org-
anizing the content of the "areas of learning." In the end the stu-
dent would presumably emerge with such knowledge, ideas, and
values as are related and suited to his purposes and wants.

The same general principle of integrated "areas of learning"
in terms of vocational and civic needs, adapted in turn to indi-
vidual interests and abilities would be followed in the urban
high school and community institute. Here the program con-
sists of the following "areas of learning":

Individual Interests

Elected by the student, under guidance, in fields of avocational, cul-
tural, or intellectual interest.

Vocational Preparation

Includes education for industrial, commercial, homemaking, service,

and other occupations leading to employment, apprenticeship, or

32. "Then it doesn't matter which way you go," said the cat. "So long
as I get somewhere," Alice added as an explanation.

1 14 THE IMPACT OF THE WAR UPON AMERICAN EDUCATION

homemaking at the end of Grade XII, XIII, or XIV; education for
technical and semiprofessional occupations in community institute;
and the study of sciences, mathematics, social studies, literature, and
foreign languages in preparation for advanced study in community
institute, college, or university. May include a period of work under
employment conditions, supervised by the school staff. Related to
the study of economics and industrial and labor relations in "Com-
mon Learnings."

Science

Methods, principles, and facts needed by all students.

Co77tmon Learnings

A continuous course for all, planned to help students grow in com-
petence as citizens of the community and the nation; in understand-
ing of economic processes and of their roles as producers and con-
sumers; in cooperative living in family, school, and community; in
appreciation of literature and the arts; and in use of the English lan-
guage. Guidance of individual students is a chief responsibility of
"Common Learnings" teachers.

Health and Physical Education

Includes instruction in personal health and hygiene; health exami-
nations and follow-up; games, sports, and other activities to promote
physical fitness. Related to study and community health in "Com-
mon Learnings" (p. 244).

In the discussion of the curriculum there appears to be some
uncertainty as to values. On one page the Commission is of the
opinion that the first of "the imperative educational needs" of
youth is to be equipped to earn a living in a useful occupation; on
the next page the statement is made that education in family
living is according to some teachers "second to nothing in im-
portance;" and a few pages later education in community com-
petence is declared by the Commission to be "paramount in im-
portance." The possible objection that the traditional subjects of
the secondary school curriculum have been neglected is met
by the following statement:

There were some who feared quite mistakenly, as it turned out
that this course would put an end to the systematic study of bodies
of knowledge, such as the sciences, mathematics, history, and lan-
guages. This objection was withdrawn, however, when it was

SECONDARY EDUCATION FOR ALL 1 1 5

shown that there would be ample time in the total program for any
student who wished to do so, to complete all the courses in the
subject fields required for admission to college or university, even
by those institutions which still hold to their pre-war require-
ments. Moreover, it was asserted, the conventionally required sub-
jects would appear in the new course, insofar as they were needed
to meet the common needs of all youth. English language, literature,
history, and science would certainly be found among the "Com-
mon Learnings," though possibly in unaccustomed settings (p. 238).

The Commission also anticipates the criticism that the organi-
zation of the proposed course is loose and might result in aimless
shifting from point of transient interest or need to another with-
out sustained intellectual effort. The criticism is countered with
the statement that "the needs to be met would be clearly defined
by the staff for each year of the course. There, to be sure,
the planning-in-advance-for-everybody would end. Within the
broad outlines of each year's work, each teacher and class would
be free to plan and organize its own learning. But planning
and organization, in itself, is an act which requires no mean in-
tellectual effort." The Commission offers no evidence whatever
to support its claims and assertions. The objection, which is
founded on experience, that the proposed program would result
in superficiality and that classes would "gallop off in all direc-
tions at once" is met with the reply "that here, as everywhere,
the quality of learning would depend upon skilful teaching."
Neither this Commission nor any other committee which has
devoted attention to the revision of the secondary school cur-
riculum has ever entertained the notion that failure in the past
may have been due to the absence of an adequate number of
competent teachers and of skillful teaching. It is always assumed
that the quality of learning and teaching will be improved by
the magic of curriculum revision. Onme ignotum pro magnifico;
the latest innovation is always the best until the next one is in-
vented. The systematic study of bodies of knowledge is not re-
garded as of ahy value in a general education, but is set aside as
one of the vestigial remains sanctioned by requirements for ad-
mission to college or university.

There is a confusion, in the Commission's report, between
training and education training in and for the immediately con-

Il6 THE IMPACT OF THE WAR UPON AMERICAN EDUCATION

temporary problems of living and education for life and for self-
direction. The school years are to be devoted to acquiring all the
equipment of knowledge and information which it is assumed
that the students will need through adult life rather than a body
of ideas, principles, and values which will not only inform that
knowledge but also cultivate interest to pursue it further. One of
the major blocks of the course is to be devoted to preparation for
a useful occupation, despite the admission that "Most workers in
factories and many workers in offices, stores, and maintenance
shops perform a relatively small number of operations a great
number of times-. Workers can be trained for most repetitive jobs
after they have been employed and in a comparatively short
time. Furthermore, the training often requires specialized and
expensive equipment which is not now available in our schools."
Again, "the high-school counselors recognize that, unfortunate
though it may be, many workers in routine jobs will have to find
their chief enjoyments and satisfactions during their leisure time."
Nevertheless the major part of the students' time is to be devoted
to vocational preparation, while "the development of avocational
interests which will endure and expand through the years of
adult life" is to be left to elective periods, for which only a small
fraction of the time schedule is assigned.

In discussing principles of teacher education and selection the
Commission warns against "the influence of members of col-
lege and university faculties who are unacquainted with the
needs of public schools and .who apparently believe that special-
ized training in subject matter alone is adequate to prepare a
young man or woman to teach in a secondary school." It there-
fore recommends that "every teacher should comprehend the
purposes of public education in a democratic society," should
be "prepared to assume his own obligations as a citizen," and
should understand "how the school may serve as an agency for
developing civic responsibility." Professionally educated to un-
derstand boys and girls, and familiar with scientific information
regarding child development and the psychology of learning,
"every teacher should have both a liberal education and thorough
preparation in the field which he expects to teach. Specialization
alone is not enough, for in the secondary school of today, the
competent teacher must be able to see and teach the relationship

SECONDARY EDUCATION FOR ALL 117

of his particular subjects to the whole of education and the whole
of life." A fuller and more detailed definition of the meaning of a
liberal education, to which the Commission refers, would have
been desirable. It would also have helped to clarify the function
and place of the teacher with a "thorough preparation in the
field which he expects to teach" in a course made up of occupa-
tional, social, and recreational studies which are stressed through-
out the report.

In the historical retrospect, "The History that Must Be Writ-
ten," no further reference is made either to a liberal education
or to preparation in a special field. Instead, the changes which
are expected to have taken place since 1940 are as follows:

First, there was a great strengthening of instruction in educational
psychology, individual differences, human relations, adolescent
psychology, human growth and development, and educational
guidance and counseling. . . . Second, the study and teaching of
school and community relations and of educational sociology were
greatly strengthened. Prospective teachers were given more close
firsthand contacts with other community institutions as well as
with the schools. . . . Third, the expansion of the school program
in the fields of guidance and vocational training has resulted in a
parallel expansion of the program for preparing teachers in these
fields (pp. 407 f.)

There is an apparent discrepancy between the principles of
teacher education as defined in one place and the anticipation of
the historian of what is more likely to happen.

The National Association of Secondary School Principals
published a summary of Education -for All American Youth in a
pamphlet, Planning for American Youth, with suggestions for
implementing the proposed program. It was proposed that super-
intendents of public schools appoint Commissions on Postwar
Education to recommend improvements in the high school pro-
gram. Such Commissions should consist of school people (elemen-
tary and high school principals and teachers), laymen represent-
ing citizens' and vocational advisory committees, and directors
of research, curriculum, and instruction. It is significant that the
inclusion of representatives of college education is not suggested.
In the past the high schools protested, not without justification
perhaps, against the dominance of college entrance requirements.

1 1 8 THE IMPACT OF THE WAR UPON AMERICAN EDUCATION

In the new dispensation the pendulum swung to the opposite ex-
treme. In the past the nonacademic students were the forgotten
youth; in the future the position, according to the recommenda-
tions of the report on Education for All American Youth, is to be
reversed, and the forgotten youth may be those who have both
the ability and interest to pursue academic studies. Provision for
such studies will be made "though possibly in unaccustomed

settings."

The Report of the Harvard Committee, General Education in
a Free Society, which appeared only a year later than Education
for All American Youth, dealt in part with the same problems
but in the larger setting of their relation to American democracy
and to college education. The Committee deliberately sought to
avoid those social divisions which might result from an educa-
tional program limited in its objectives to the average or below
average and differing in quality and quantity from the needs of
those likely to continue their education beyond the high school.
The question to be answered, according to the Committee, "is
how can general education be so adapted to different ages and,
above all, differing abilities and outlooks, that it can appeal deeply
to each, yet remain in goal and essential teaching the sawe for
all?" 83 The Committee, indeed, did not ignore differences in
social and cultural backgrounds or in intellectual abilities, or in
vocational or professional needs. It considered the importance of
both general and special education, although it discussed in detail
only the former. At the same time, the fact that vocational prep-
aration may vary in range from a few weeks of training to the
longer period required for professional studies was not ignored.
The major premise of the Report was stated as follows:

Taken as a whole, education seeks to do two things: help young
persons fulfill the unique, particular functions in life which it is in
them to fulfill, and fit them so far as it can for those common
spheres which, as citizens and heirs of a joint culture, they will
share with others. Obviously these two ends are not wholly sep-
arable even in idea much less can preparation for them be wholly
separate (p. 4).

33. Italics in the original, p. 93.

SECONDARY EDUCATION FOR ALL 119

The high school, according to the Committee, has ceased to be
a preparatory school in the 'old sense of the word, but

In so far as it is preparatory, it prepares not for college but for
life. The consequences of this transformation for every phase of
the high school are incalculable and by no means yet fully worked
out. This mighty and far-reaching fact in itself gives rise to one of
the main themes of this report . . . how, given this new character
and role of the high school can the interest of three-fourths who go
on ro active life be reconciled with the equally just interests of the
one-fourth who go on to further education? And, more important
still, how can these two groups, despite their different interests,
achieve from their education some common and binding under-
standing of the society which they will possess in common? . , .
The ideal is a system which shall be fair to the fast as to the slow, to
the hand-minded as to the book-minded, but which, while meeting
the separate needs of each, shall yet foster that fellow feeling be-
tween human being and human being which is the deepest root of
democracy (pp. 8 f.).

The Committee recognized the danger of too early differen-
tiation in the education of those who would enter on a wage-
earning career upon leaving high school and those who would
continue to college, and for this reason emphasized the import-
ance of common education:

Democracy, however much by ensuring the right to differ it may
foster difference particularly in a technological age which further
envisages division of function and hence difference of outlook
yet depends equally on the binding ties of common standards . . .
For- to the degree that high schools try to prepare the majority for
early entrance into active life by giving them all sorts of practical,
immediately effective training, to that degree something like a chasm
opens between them and the others whose education is longer. And
in this chasm are the possibilities of misunderstanding and class dis-
tinctions (p. 12).

The Educational Policies Commission report sought to find
a solution "in striking a dull average, satisfactory to neither the
quick nor the slow;" the Harvard Committee aimed to recognize
individual differences and at the same time to provide a common
background for all students on the principle that

120 THE IMPACT OF THE WAR UPON AMERICAN EDUCATION

democracy is not only opportunity for the able. It is equally better-
ment for the average, both the immediate betterment which can be
gained in a single generation and the slower groundswell of bet-
terment which works through generations. Hence the task of the
high school is not merely to speed the bright boy to the top. It is at
least as much (so far as numbers are concerned, far more) so to
widen the horizons of ordinary students that they, and, still more,
their children will encounter fewer of the obstacles that cramp
achievement (p. 11). . . . The hope of the American school sys-
tem, indeed of our society, is precisely that it can pursue two goals
simultaneously: give scope to ability and raise the average. Nor are
these two goals so far apart, if human beings are capable of com-
mon sympathies (p. 35).

The important difference between the two reports under con-
sideration is that, while both emphasize the importance of edu-
cation in "common understandings" or "common standards," or
"general education," the Harvard report rejects a differentiation
in quality between secondary and college education, for

The root idea of general education is as a balance or counter-
pose to the forces which divide group from group within the
high school and the high school from the college. But in so far as
general education is also conceived as an organic strand running
through the successive years of high school and college, then it
should play the same binding, unifying part for the individual as
well. Certainly it will fail unless it does so (p. 14).

For the high school as for the college the Harvard Committee
recommends a program of general or liberal education, a term
which in Edtication for All American Youth is mentioned only
in connection with the preparation of teachers but is not further
defined. The Harvard Committee advocates the same common
strand of education for all students in high school and college,
without excluding the demands for special education or that
part of education "which looks to the student's competence in
some occupation." General education is defined as follows:

Clearly, general education has somewhat the meaning of liberal
education, except that, by applying to high school as well as to
college, it envisages immensely greater numtiers of students and
thus escapes the invidium which, rightly or wrongly, attaches to
liberal education in the minds of some people. But if one cling to

SECONDARY EDUCATION FOR ALL 1 2 1

the root meaning of liberal as that which befits or helps to make
free men, then general and liberal education have identical goals.
The one may be though of as an earlier stage of the other, similar
in nature but less advanced in degree (p. 52).

The important contribution of the Harvard Report lay in the
attempt to introduce some order and sequence into what had
become a chaotic collection of subjects. The Educational Poli-
cies Commission, it is true, attempted to do the same thing but
recommended a catch-all, called "common understandings," with
academic studies taught "possibly in unaccustomed settings." At
the center of the program of general education, at school and
again at college, the Harvard Committee placed three areas of
man's life and knowledge "the physical world, man's corporate
life, his inner visions and standards" or natural sciences, social
sciences, and humanities. The three areas will be discussed in
connection with plans for the reorganization of the college cur-
riculum.

The success of this or of any other program, however, "de-
pends finally on the teacher's quality of mind and spirit." Other
conditions affecting the teacher's status salaries and freedom
from direct political control must also be safeguarded. The
central issue as much social as it is educational. For, to quote
the Report,

Surely the hope of a sound general education is in teachers who
are themselves generally educated.

But, as was said, these hopes will not be fulfilled automatically,
and the conditions of teaching will not improve until more and
more qualified people embark on it in a spirit of devotion. One of
the tragedies of our times has been the change of teaching from a
calling to something like an industry. The fault, as has been argued,
is at once with the colleges, which have turned their backs; with
the schools of education, which have taught everything except the
inevitable thing, the love of knowledge; and with American so-
ciety itself, which has tolerated the conditions under which many
students and their teachers still labor. The remedy is a joint con-
cern both of the public and of the people who so believe in the
importance of high-school teaching as the floor and foundation of
democracy that they will go into it as a calling (p. 26).

122 THE IMPACT OF THE WAR UPON AMERICAN EDUCATION

Here is the real challenge to American education, more im-
portant perhaps than curriculum revision to secure a body of
teachers who in quality of mind and spirit are competent to give
reality to the great ideal of American democracy. Innumerable
efforts have been made to revise the curriculum, to adapt it to the
needs and interests of boys and girls, to adjust it to changing
social demands, but while a library of books has been written
on the subject, the comparable amount of space devoted to the
teacher as the most essential element in the process of education
would hardly take up more than a few pages. Postwar develop-
ments have proved the fact that the American public has not
recognized the key position of the teacher in giving reality to the
great ideal of equality of educational opportunity for all.

So far as the function of secondary education is concerned,
an examination of the facts revealed during the war justify the
conclusion that they point to the type of education advocated in
the Harvard Report rather than to that proposed by the Educa-
tional Policies Commission.

CHAPTER FIVE

HIGHER EDUCATION

STUDENTS AND SELECTIVE SERVICE

HIGHER EDUCATION, including colleges, universities, profes-
sional schools, teachers colleges, normal schools, tech-
nical institutes, was more seriously affected by the war
than any other branch of American education. That these insti-
tutions could not escape the dislocation that inevitably results in
wartime was to be expected. It was clear, however, that there was
no concerted plan to deal with the problems of higher education
when the Selective Service System was introduced in 1940. Nor
was there any disposition, for obvious reasons, to make special
provisions for students as a class. The only concession made in
the early years was to permit the deferment of the induction of
students into the armed forces until they had completed the aca-
demic year in which they received their call, and then draft
boards were authorized to deal with each case individually, with
such recommendations as the institution attended by the appli-
cant would submit. It was some months before the need of main-
taining a continuous supply of trained men in fields directly re-
lated to the "national health, safety, or interest" was recognized
and a definite program of occupational deferment of students in
training and preparation in such fields was adopted. Despite the
measures that were adopted, acute shortages in many areas in
which trained personnel was needed for the war effort did
develop.

The uncertainties faced by the institutions of higher educa-
tion were matched by the uncertainties of youth who were faced
with the question whether patriotic duty demanded that they
enlist voluntarily or that they continue their programs of study
until their call came. The issue was clearly stated on two occa-
sions by President Roosevelt. In a letter quoted in the Washington
Post of August 15, 1940, the President wrote:

123

I 24 THE IMPACT OF THE WAR UPON AMERICAN EDUCATION

Reports have reached me that some young people who have
planned to enter college this fall, as well as a number of those who
attended college last year, are intending to interrupt their educa-
tion at this time because they feel that it is more patriotic to work
in a shipyard or to enlist in the Army or Navy, than it is to attend
college. Such a decision would be unfortunate.

We must have well-educated and intelligent citizens who have
sound judgment in dealing with the difficult problems of today.

We must also have scientists, engineers, economists and other
people with specialized knowledge to plan and to build for national
defense as for social and economic progress. Young people should
be advised that it is their patriotic duty to continue the normal
course of their education unless and until they are called so that
they will be well prepared for greatest usefulness to their country.

They will be promptly notified if they are needed for another
patriotic service.

Almost a year later, on July 22, 1941, the President, in a letter
addressed to the American College Publicity Association, again
emphasized the same position:

The message I would emphasize to you this year is that America
will always need men and women with college training. Govern-
ment and industry alike need skilled technicians today. Later we
shall need men and women of broad understanding and special
aptitudes to serve as leaders of the generation which must manage
the post-war world. We must, therefore, redouble our efforts dur-
ing these critical times to make our schools and colleges render ever
more efficient service in support of our cherished democratic insti-
tutions.

The President's point of view was shared in general by the
administrative authorities in the institutions of higher education,
as may be illustrated by the following excerpts from a letter ad-
dressed to members of the student body by Chancellor H. W.
Chase of New York University, April 10, 1941:

I would urge all our students who had planned to continue their
work in the University next year, or who have been in doubt as
to their plans, not to interrupt their training unless it is imperatively
necessary.

We shall need in this country, as never before, all the trained
personnel that can be mustered to cope with problems that will in-

HIGHER EDUCATION 1 25

evitably follow in the train of current world-wide stress and dis-
order. You young people now in college are the nation's most val-
uable reserves. We must not unnecessarily deplete this reservoir.
Far better, for your own good and the country's, that the training
you are now receiving be carried forward assiduously and without
interruption, now, to logical objectives, than that it be thrust aside
for some more immediately appealing pursuit. . . .

We must not permit tension of the times unnecessarily to disrupt
normal procedures. We are moulding the University program at
every turn to national defense needs, without abandoning, however,
fundamental studies, and we ask the cooperation of our students and
their parents in the pursuance of this policy.

So far as students of draft age were concerned, their status
under Selective Service regulations had by this time been clearly
defined. Those already enrolled in an institution of higher educa-
tion were required to register for the draft and were permitted
at first to continue their programs until the end of the academic
year and later to the end of the semester or quarter in which they
were enrolled. Students preparing for the ministry in theological
or divinity schools were required to register but were exempted
from training and service from the start. Some nine months
passed, however, before a formula for occupational deferment
was developed. On March 18, 1941, a formula was reached under
which local boards could grant occupational deferment to "any
registrant found to be a 'necessary man' in any industry, busi-
ness, employment, agricultural pursuit, governmental service, or
any other service or endeavor, or in training or preparation there-
for, the maintenance of which is necessary to the national health,
safety, or interest in the sense that it is useful or productive and
contributes to the employment or well-being of the community
or the nation." A month later the areas for the individual occupa-
tion deferment of students were defined as chemistry and engi-
neering (civil, electrical, chemical, mining and metallurgical,
mechanical) in which a dangerously low level of man power was
found to exist.

To these areas the following were added, as soon as shortages
were discovered in them, engineering (agricultural, sanitary),
dentistry, medicine, pharmacy, physics, biology and bacteriology,
and geology (geophysics, metereology, hydrology, cartography).

126 THE IMPACT OF THE WAR UPON AMERICAN EDUCATION

Later in 1941 veterinary medicine, osteopathy, naval architec-
ture, and marine engineering, teachers in secondary schools,
industrial engineers, and students in preparation for production,
operation, and maintenance of airplanes were added to the list
of areas which draft boards could consider for occupational de-
ferment. When the new registration of men twenty to forty-
four years of age inclusive took place on February 16, 1942,
occupational deferment for potentially necessary individual stu-
dents in fields necessary to the national health, safety, and in-
terest and war production was continued.

The results of a survey undertaken by the American Council
on Education on 'The Supply of Professionally Trained Man-
power" in Higher Education and National Defense, Bulletin No.
26, April 10, 1942, showed serious shortages in a number of areas
not included in the lists submitted to the draft boards. The survey
was undertaken at the request of the National Roster of Scien-
tific and Specialized Personnel on behalf of the National Re-
sources Planning Board, which had been requested by the Execu-
tive Office of the President of the United States to make "a sur-
vey of the nation's needs for professionally trained manpower
and of the resources of the nation to meet these needs." The re-
port of the American Council on Education was based on replies
to questionnaires received from 1,280 of the 1,799 colleges, uni-
versities, professional and technical schools, and teachers colleges
to which questionnaires had been sent. The results showed ( i )
the number of students graduating with their first general or
special degrees, and trained for 104 categories listed under man-
agement and administration, agriculture and biology, medicine
and related fields, engineering and physical sciences, social sci-
ences, arts and languages, and clergy; (2) the number of students
completing postgraduate work and available for full-time em-
ployment; (3) a report on faculty personnel; and (4) a record of
the facilities and resources of the institutions available for training
increased numbers of students.

The issue of student deferment was not stabilized, however,
until the beginning of 1944, and after the system of specialized
training for the Army and Navy had been established in colleges
and universities. Activity and Occupational Bulletin No. 33-6,
first issue on March i, 1943, amended on January 6, 1944, and

HIGHER EDUCATION 127

effective on February 15, 1944, announced a charge of policy
whereby students occupationally deferred were "limited to a
number sufficient to meet civilian needs in war production and
in support of the war effort." National quotas were determined
under which occupational deferment could be granted to under-
graduates in certain scientific and specialized fields or in profes-
sional courses of study. For undergraduates certified as compe-
tent and giving promise of the successful completion of a course
of study by July i, 1944, could be deferred in the following
areas: aeronautical engineering, agricultural sciences, automotive
engineering, bacteriology, chemical engineering, chemistry, civil
engineering, electrical engineering, forestry, geophysics, marine
engineering, mathematics, mechanical engineering, meteorology,
mining and metallurgical engineering (including mineral tech-
nology), naval architecture, optometry, petroleum engineering,
physics (including astronomy), radio engineering, and sanitary
engineering. The competence and promise of students were to be
certified by the institution attended, and by the National Roster
of Scientific and Specialized Personnel of the War Manpower
Commission.

For undergraduates expected to graduate after July i, 1944,
the number of areas for occupational deferment was reduced to
chemistry, engineering, geology, geophysics, and physics. Stu-
dents in recognized professional schools (medicine, dentistry,
verterinary medicine, and osteopathy), internes and preprofes-
sional students in these fields of study and theology could be con-
sidered for occupational deferment. A national quota of 10.000
students was established for students eligible for occupational de-
ferment in chemistry, engineering, geology, geophysics, and
physics; for students in preprofessional schools the quota was not
to exceed 50 per cent of the total average number of students in
schools of medicine, dentistry, veterinary medicine, osteopathy,
or theology.

The uncertainties affecting both students and institutions of
higher education were not relieved when the plans for establish-
ing Enlisted Reserve Corps in the Army, Navy and Army Air
Forces, under which a certain number of college students pos-
sessing superior qualifications would be permitted to enlist and
"remain for the time being in an inactive status in order to con-

128 THE IMPACT OF THE WAR UPON AMERICAN EDUCATION

tinue their education." Students who enlisted in Reserve Corps
were subject to call at any rime and were in no better position
than students who did not enlist but were eligible for occupa-
tional deferment, if they were found to be "potentially neces-
sary men." The decision was still left to the individual

In the middle of 1942, Congress appropriated funds to provide
loans to students in order to maintain the supply of technically
trained men and women. The loans were to be granted to assist
students participating in accelerated programs in colleges and
universities in engineering, physics, chemistry, medicine (includ-
ing veterinary), dentistry, and pharmacy, provided that their
technical or professional education could be completed within
two years. The number of students to be assisted was to be deter-
mined by the chairman of the War Manpower Commission,
which had been created by the President's Executive Order of
April 1 8, 1942. Appropriations for such loans, amounting to
$5,000,000 to the National Youth Administration and $5,000,000
to the Federal Security Agency, were allotted. Loans could be
made in amounts not exceeding tuition and fees plus $25 per
month, and not exceeding $500 to any one student during any
twelve-month period. Interest at the rate of 2 % per cent was to
be charged. Indebtedness was to be canceled if a student were
ordered into military service, or who suffered total and perma-
nent disability or death.

HIGHER EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS IN COUNSEL

The uncertainties of the situation, created as soon as a state of
emergency was announced by President Roosevelt in 1939 and
the Selective Service Act was passed in 1940, affected the insti-
* nations of higher education more seriously even than it did the
students. Only one point was clear that the experiment of
World War I with the Student Army Training Corps (SATC)
did not justify a repetition, even if the Army had had a sufficient
supply of officers to distribute to the colleges and universities.
Ready to place all their resources at the disposal of the govern-
ment, the authorities in institutions of higher education waited
for leadership and guidance. These were provided when in 1940
the National Committee on Education and Defense was organ-
ized under the auspices of the American Council on Education

HIGHER EDUCATION I 2 9

and the National Education Association. The American Council
on Education, established in 1918 as a coordinating agency in the
field of higher education, had in the twenty years preceding the
outbreak of World War II gradually assumed a strategic position
in all matters concerning higher education, while the National
Education Association could speak with authority for all branches
of education. Cooperating in many ways with the Wartime Com-
mission, which was set up in December, 1941, by the United
States Office of Education and in which both organizations were
represented, the interests of all aspects of education in the coun-
try were covered. When the Joint Army and Navy Committee
on Welfare and Recreation was appointed by the Secretaries of
War and the Navy, the Executive Committee of the National
Committee was designated as its Subcommittee on Education,
with Dr. Francis J. Brown, a member of the staff of the American
Council on Education, as its secretary.

The National Committee on Education and Defense was made
up of one representative from each of sixty national organizations
under the joint chairmanship of George F. Zook, president of
the American Council on Education, and Willard E. Givens,
executive secretary of the National Education Association. The
purposes of the National Committee were defined at its first meet-
ing on August 5, 1940, as follows:

1. Immediate and continuous representation of organized educa-
tion for effective cooperation with the National Defense Council,
the Federal Security Agency, and other Governmental divisions.

2. Stimulation and coordination of the efforts of educational or-
ganizations and institutions in projects related to the national de-
fense.

3. Dissemination of information regarding defense developments
to educational organizations and institutions.

4. Maintenance and improvement of educational opportunities
essential in a long-range national program.

The activities of the National Committee were carried on
through an Executive Committee of eighteen members and
through the following subcommittees: Military Affairs, Educa-
tion, Women in College and the National Defense, Pre-Service
Education, Vocational Training, and Pan American Relations.

130 THE IMPACT OF THE WAR UPON AMERICAN EDUCATION

The Subcommittee on Military Affairs had been created in April,
1940, by the Committee on Education and Defense of the Am-
erican Council on Education before the National Committee was
organized. The American Council, through the publication of a
series of bulletins, Higher Education and National Defense, initi-
ated on August i, 1940, provided an important medium of infor-
mation and interpretation on all matters concerning the relations
of colleges and universities to national defense, and particularly
on regulations affecting the status of students under the Selective
Service regulations.

On February 6, 1941, the National Committee on Education
and Defense held a conference in Washington, D. G, which was
attended by approximately 500 persons, representing 361 colleges
and universities and 42 states. Every aspect of the situation con-
fronting the country and the institutions of higher education was
discussed: the organization of defense councils, counseling stu-
dents on courses for defense needs, assisting students in filling out
Selective Service questionnaires and making requests for defer-
ment, potential services of the institutions in defense activities,
community services (caring for children of needy families, assist-
ing in recreational activities, tutoring high school pupils, and con-
ducting adult education classes), and promoting education for
democracy and study of current issues. The immediate challenge
was clearly stated by Dr. Francis J. Brown as follows:

The fourth function of defense committees is that of seeking to
maintain a sane balance between immediate and long-range defense
needs. This is no easy task. The colleges and universities desire and
seek in every way to render the greatest possible service to the im-
mediate needs of the defense program. Yet they are also the reposi-
tory of the rich heritage of knowledge, of research and research '
techniques, and of culture in a chaotic world bent upon destruc-
tion of the learning of the ages accumulated by the intellectual
labor of centuries of patient effort and brilliant insight. These skills
and knowledge cannot be conserved in libraries and documented
records alone. They must remain vital and realistic through the in-
culcation of this living heritage in the endless stream of young
men and young women who pass through our institutions of higher
learning. We must develop in each an alertness of mind and sound-
ness of judgment, based upon a depth of knowledge and a breadth

HIGHER EDUCATION 131

of understanding. This is a responsibility to future generations of
which the colleges should not and must not lose sight. 1

This challenge all the colleges and universities were prepared
to meet. Their chief concern, however, was with the immediate
statu$ of students and enrollments which would enable them to
carry on the program. They did not request nor was it the inten-
tion of the authorities to treat students as "a privileged class."
To quote a statement made at the conference by Brigadier Gen-
eral Lewis B. Hershey, Director of Selective Service:

The World War taught us that regardless of the apparent neces-
sity it was decidedly demoralizing to relieve any occupational class
from liability to serve in the armed forces. This fact must be borne
in mind in any consideration of selective service and college per-
sonnel. The prospective leaders of our future are today in colleges.
Every care must be exercised to prevent a condition in which the
personnel of colleges would appear to the general public as a group
which has special privileges. ... I do not believe that the colleges
can afford to be accused of demanding privileges which appear to
be for the benefit of the individuals concerned. 2

Colleges and universities were urged by General Hershey to
make the necessary adjustments demanded by the situation, but
while the issues were stated, little guidance was to be found in the
principle that consideration would be given to students and fac-
ulty members. One of the serious obstacles to the formulation of
a general principle or formula lay in the fact that the nature and
demand for man power in the armed forces, in government and
war industry could not be anticipated and, as events proved later,
were subject to fluctuations. General Hershey suggested the fol-
lowing questions for consideration by institutions of higher edu-
cation:

What can the colleges do to adjust their organizations and meth-
ods of operation to fit in with the operation of the Selective Service
Act? What can be done by them to permit a student to remain in
school until his induction time arrives? Is the educational system
sufficiently flexible to train a student until he is inducted and to re-

1. Ame'rican Council on Education Studies. Organizing Higher Edu-
cation for National Defense (Washington, D. C, 1941), p. 37.

2. Ibid., pp. 23 f.

I 3 2 THE IMPACT OF THE WAR UPON AMERICAN EDUCATION

ceive other students immediately after they are discharged from
the service? To what extent can the rigidity of semesters and quar-
ters be varied to permit individual adjustments of men entering or
leaving the service? To what extent will the administrative staffs of
the colleges be willing to differentiate between students in order to
aid local boards in the decisions which they must make? Will the
local board be confronted with the request from the colleges for a
deferment of each member of the faculty and each student, or will
it be possible for discrimination to be used by the leaders in the col-
leges and thereby lighten the task of the local boards and perhaps
insure the deferment of the worthy and the non-deferment of the
others? 3

The fundamental issues facing the country rather than the
colleges and universities were discussed in sectional meetings.
Speaking for state universities and land-grant colleges, Dr. Guy
Stanton Ford reported that there was agreement on two points,
namely:

First, in the troubled days ahead, both internally and externally,
there is an intensified obligation upon universities to maintain with
courage upon their campuses the atmosphere of free discussion and
teaching characteristic of institutions of. higher learning in a de-
mocracy and the first to be suppressed in a totalitarian state. It was
recognized that in times of war or intense defense activity we can
with confidence appeal to our faculties and student bodies to main-
tain these functions upon a level which will make them defensible.
This is vital to the preservation of democracy against the many
groups who, with a narrow intolerance and an unconscious totali-
tarian philosophy that they do not realize, seek to press upon all who
think and teach the simple solutions derived from their narrow
views, their prejudices, and their intolerances.

Second, the great ongoing task of service, teaching, and research-
focussed in state-supported institutions and in all institutions of
higher learning must proceed with as little disturbance as possible
and with a consideration throughout all readjustments for the ade-
quate performance of these traditional duties.

By making o,urselves responsible upon these two points we con-
tinue and magnify our services to democracy and justify ourselves
as a bastion in the ramparts that we defend, 4

3. Ibid., p. 26.
4.

HIGHER EDUCATION 1 3 ^

As if in answer to Dr. Ford's statement, Dr. Raymond Walters
pointed to the obstacles to carrying out "the great ongoing task
of service, teaching, and research," when he stated that in the
discussions of the section of private and municipal universities

It was brought out in one of the talks from the floor that defer-
ment of service for college students, which General Hershey ques-
tioned, does not mean exemption from service and cannot, if viewed
in the light of the whole situation, be regarded as special privilege.
The successful operation of colleges and universities of the country
depend vitally upon the maintenance of student enrollment during
a given year. Assurance to the student of completion of the year is,
in peacetime, a great factor toward stabilized enrollment. The edu-
cational and scientific preparedness which colleges and universities
supply is an indispensable part of national preparedness. 5

This section proposed that the War and Navy Departments or
some other federal authority should designate certain areas of
professional and technological training, such as medicine, engi-
neering dentistry, chemistry, and advanced physics, in which
properly certified students should receive deferment not for one
year but for the entire period of their professional education. As
indicated in the earlier discussion in this chapter of the deferment
of students, this proposal was ultimately put into effect.

The fundamental question on which institutions of higher edu-
cation were waiting for enlightenment was clearly stated by
President Edward C. Elliott in his "Commentary and After-
thought" on the conference when he said, "While listening to the
many wide-ranging discussions today there came to my mind,
time and again, the disturbing question: Has education yet been
given a proper place in the massing and organization of the
powers of the nation for defense? 6

Some time was yet to elapse before this question was answered.
It was not available when another Conference of Government
Representatives and College and University Administrators was
held in Washington, D. C. on July 30-31, 1941, under the spon-
sorship of the Subcommittee on Military Affairs of the National
Committee on Education and Defense. The purpose of the Con-
ference, according to Dr. Zook, was

5. Ibid., p. 49.

6. Ibid., p. 66.

I 34 THE IMPACT OF THE WAR UPON AMERICAN EDUCATION

To help give direction to the earnest feff orts of colleges and uni-
versities to cooperate in the national defense, and to find those ways
in which they can effectively serve the nation, primarily in this
period of great emergency, but also for the eventual time of re-
construction after the present emergency is over. 7

The colleges and universities were represented by delegates
from each of the following national organizations: American
Association of Junior Colleges, American Association of Teachers
Colleges, American Association of University Professors, Asso-
ciation of American Colleges, Association of Land-grant Col-
leges and Universities, Association of Urban Universities, Na-
tional Association of State Universities, and National Catholic
Educational Association. The position of the War Department
with reference to colleges and universities was reported by Lieu-
tenant Colonel W. A. Burress as follows:

In the first place, the War Department has felt, and still feels,
that a good schooling of mind and body is a positive source of
strength in any event; that the college world, in carrying out its
normal role, is making a most important and necessary contribu-
tion to national defense; in other words, it favors education as such
as a part of national defense. It, therefore, favors the continued op-
eration of educational institutions with as little disruption as possible,
and it has not attempted in any way to advocate or sponsor a re-
orientation of college courses. 8

This report on the attitude of the War Department was encour-
aging, but, as will be pointed out later, the work of colleges and
universities was disrupted by force of circumstances. The Con-
ference succeeded in defining the task ahead of the institutions,
but the institutions were still waiting for something more than
statements from the authorities that they favored education and
hoped that their operation would be continued without disrup-
tion. The state of affairs in the middle of 1941 was clearly in-
dicated in the following statement contained in the summary of
the proceedings of the Conference:

It was increasingly apparent that all governmental agencies rec-
ognize that education as such is national defense; that it is of vital

7. American Council on Education Studies. Higher Education Co-
operates in National Defense (Washington, D. C, 1941), p. iv.

8. Ibid., p. 5.

HIGHER EDUCATION 135

importance to maintain a continuous supply of men and women
trained in mind and body; and that the college, through more ef-
fective instruction and guidance, can make a most important and
necessary contribution to national defense; and that government
agencies favored "the continued operation of educational institu-
tions with as little disruption as possible and have not attempted in
any way to advocate or sponsor a reorienting of college courses."
The mechanization of military defense and the expansion of in-
dustry require increasing emphasis upon mathematics, science, and
technical skills, but it was continuously emphasized that this should
be accomplished without losing sight of the basic importance of a
liberal education. "The needs of total defense require that the in-
dividual student maintain a balance between technical-scientific
training and a knowledge and appreciation of basic social and eco-
nomic life." 9

At its meeting on November 6, 1941, the Executive Committee
of the National Committee on Education and Defense still found
it urgent to recommend the preparation by the National Com-
mittee of "a forceful statement emphasizing the necessity of
maintaining education at a high level of effectiveness during the
present emergency" and its wide circulation through govern-
mental agencies and educational institutions. And after the at-
tack on Pearl Harbor and the entrance of the country into
World War II the same questions and the same issues that had
been discussed in the almost two years preceeding December 7,
1941, were again raised. In the issue of the Bulletin No. 19 (Dec-
ember 20, 1941) of Higher Education and National Defense of
the American Council on Education appeared the following
statement:

War changes values for the nation and for the individual. Some
immediate goals become more urgent than long-range objectives.
Traditions are less binding upon policies. Only one question is now
uppermost in the minds of administrators, teachers and students in
our colleges and universities "How can this institution, how can I,
as an individual, best serve the nation^"

The answer calls for calm judgment and deliberation, for
prompt though never ill-advised action. It entails cooperative plan-
ning on a national basis between institutions of higher learning and
many agencies of the government. The answer calls for a careful

9. Ibid., p. 32.

136 THE IMPACT OF THE WAR UPON AMERICAN EDUCATION

appraisal of the courses and activities of institutions to determine
their value to the individual both in the immediate and the long-
range view. It requires the making of essential adjustments to speed
up the educational process but without loss of eifectiveness of the
training. It demands the consideration of modifications of require-
ments to meet the needs of men leaving the service. Flexibility must
characterize every aspect of the institution, but changes should be
governed by known needs of the nation and of the individual. Basic
training programs should be maintained at the highest possible level.
Special programs should be added as needs may demand.

This same calm judgment should govern the decision of students
and faculty. For many the immediate urge is to enlist, to make
whatever sacrifices such service may imply. For some this may be
the means through which they can best serve. For the majority, the
more difficult because the less dramatic task will be to continue their
education, to develop qualities of leadership or technical knowledge
or professional skill and thereby utilize their abilities to the fullest
degree.

This attitude of judgment has characterized the policy of Selec-
tive Service. There have been no changes in the regulations and
procedures regarding occupational deferment for students or post-
ponement of induction. As the need for manpower increases, some
changes will inevitably result but not without adequate considera-
tion of the need for maintaining a continuing supply of trained per-
sons in the necessary occupations and professions.

How to compromise "between the urgency of present train-
ing needs and the established future needs for professionally
trained men and women in the social order" was still a pressing
issue which was discussed at the so-called Baltimore Conference
on Higher Education and the War, held on January 3-4, 1942.
The Conference of college and university presidents was spon-
sored by the National Committee on Education and Defense and
the United States Office of Education, and provided an oppor-
tunity for an explanation of national policies and needs by offi-
cials of the government and for an exchange of experiences
among administrators of higher institutions of education. The
Conference, attended by one thousand college and university
executives from forty-six states, Puerto Rico, and Canada, was
the largest of its kind ever held in the United States. Again the

HIGHER EDUCA1ION 137

Conference was informed by a representative of the War De-
partment that

The War Department believes in the continuation of the educa-
tional processes with as little disruption as possible. It does not feel
that we should temporize with the situation. The demands made
upon the colleges and universities by the War Department will be
to meet only the established needs of the army. 10

And in the same vein the representative of the Navy Department
stated that

The future of our democratic institutions rests upon the con-
tinuance of the highest and best types of education for the youth
of our country who will be necessary for the attack upon post-
war problems of industry, of labor, and of government. . . .

You have in your colleges just the type of young man we need
to officer our two-ocean navy. So also do you have the precise type
of leader required by our army for their even more greatly ex-
panded force. Some interference with the normal college programs
is therefore inevitable, but I can assure you that, in so far as we can,
we will minimize such interference. As the exigencies of war vary,
so also will the degree of necessary 1 - interference vary. 11

After nearly two years of conferences and discussions, the
United States Commissioner of Education, John W. Studebaker,
could still define the problem before colleges and universities in
the following terms:

If we can evolve out of this conference and out of some others
in smaller groups within the next few weeks some very definite,
workable, and necessary proposals to keep this country well stocked
with the necessary ability to prosecute this war to a successful con-
clusion, I have confidence that our government will support us and
will respond to our requests. The problem is to get what we really
want that will join the interests of the educational interests of the
country with the necessities of the government in carrying for-
ward this war effort. It remains with us to demonstrate whether or
not we have the wit, the sagacity, and the courage to think out

10. American Council on Education Studies. Higher Education and the
War (Washington, D. C, 1942), p. 29-
IT, Ibid., p. 32.

138 THE IMPACT OF THE WAR UPON AMERICAN EDUCATION

the policies for programs that American education can carry out.
... I have great confidence, on the basis of the experience of the
last eighteen months, that if we crystallize our thinking as American
leaders of education on the concrete proposals that need to be
made, the proposals will certainly be given very favorable consid-
eration. And I think they will be accepted. . . . Now let's find
out how we can present a constructive program. 12

The bewilderment and confusion that spread through insti-
tutions of higher education after Pearl Harbor was clearly illus-
trated in a series of telegrams which were addressed to the Office
of Education and read at the Conference. The time had obviously

come for that concerted action which had been honorably men-

j ^^

turned for two years but had not been put into operation. The
Conference, after pledging "to the President of the United States,
Commander-in-Chief of our nation, the total strength of our
colleges and universities our faculties, our students, our admin-
istrative organizations, and our physical facilities" recommended:

A. ALLOCATION OF TOTAL MAN POWER

1. Institutions of higher education cooperate to the fullest ex-
tent with the National Resources Planning Board and other federal
agencies responsible for surveys (a) to determine the immediate
needs of man power and woman power for the essential branches
of nation service military, industrial, and civilian, (b) to deter-
mine the available facilities of colleges and universities to prepare
students to meet these needs, and (c) to appraise the ultimate needs
in professional personnel for long-term conflict and for the post-
war period, in order that a continuous and adequate supply of men
and women trained in technical and professional skills and in lead-
ership to meet both immediate and long-range needs shall be main-
tained;

2. There be brought to the attention of the President the neces-
sity of issuing a statement of national policy which will avoid com-
petitive bidding for faculty and students by government agencies
and by industry and will conserve adequate personnel on all levels
of education to assure the effective instruction of youth and adults,
in order to provide a continuous supply of trained men and women;

3. The United States Office of Education Wartime Commission

12. Ibid., pp. 59 ff.

HIGHER EDUCATION 1 3 9

be requested to study and develop appropriate plans for the solu-
tion of the problems of (a) how to meet the teacher shortage in
elementary and secondary schools and the shortage of workers for
community programs, and (b) how to supplement the training of
present and potentially available teachers and other workers for
new and changing responsibilities;

4. The United States Office of Education Wartime Commission
offer its service for cooperation with the United States Department
of Agriculture, the Executive Committee of the Association of
Land-Grant Colleges and Universities, and the Conference of Negro
Land-Grant Colleges to assure an adequate supply of county agents,
4-H club leaders, home demonstration agents, and other leaders in

B. ACCELERATION OF EDUCATION PROGRAMS

5. All institutions of higher education give immediate consid-
eration to ways and means for accelerating the programs of students
through such extension of the annual period of instruction and such
adjustments of curricula as may be consistent with national needs
and with educational standards, and as may be possible with avail-
able resources.

6. Desirable acceleration of programs of higher education should
be accomplished without lowering of established standards of ad-
mission.

7. An immediate study be made by the National Committee on
Education and Defense and the United States Office of Education
Wartime Commission of desirable articulation in the academic
calendars of the secondary schools and the colleges to facilitate
acceleration of total educational progress.

8. An immediate study be made by the National Committee on
Education and Defense and the United States Office of Education
Wartime Commission as to the needs for and bases of federal finan-
cial assistance to higher education (including junior colleges), for
the duration of the emergency, in order that the training of students
for national service may be accelerated.

C. EXCHANGE OF INFORMATION

9. The National Committee on Education and Defense and the
United States Office of Education Wartime Commission be requested
to assemble and publish accounts of changes made by educational
institutions in the interest of war service.

140 THE IMPACT OF THE WAR UPON AMERICAN EDUCATION
D. CREDIT FOR MILITARY SERVICE

10. Credit be awarded only to individuals, upon the completion
of their sendee, who shall apply to the institution for this credit
and who shall meet such tests as the institution may prescribe. In
cases in which degrees are of distinct advantage to students in the
service, it is recognized that some departure from this practice, or
an individual basis, may be justified.

E. HEALTH

11. All colleges and universities take such steps as will be nec-
essary to bring each individual student to his highest possible level
of physical fitness.

F. MILITARY SERVICE

12. The general application of the principle of selective service
promises the most effective means for the placement of the individual
in accordance with his capacity to serve national needs and with
the least disturbance of basic social institutions.

13. The Selective Service System be requested to make adequate
provision for the deferment of bona fide premedical students in
colleges whose tentative admission to an approved medical school
has already been assured on the basis of the completion of not less
than two years.

14. The Selective Service System be requested to make similar
provisions for the deferment of bona fide predental students in
colleges whose tentative admission to an approved dental school has
already been assured on the basis of the completion of not less than
two years of college.

15. The Selective Service System be requested to make provision
for the deferment of bona fide pretheological students in colleges
or universities who have been approved by their appropriate eccle-
siastical authority.

1 6. The Selective Service System be urged to issue a directive
calling attention of state directors and local selective service boards
to this need and the constant necessity of providing occupational
deferment for selected individuals pursuing graduate work. 13

The implementation of these recommendations, except for
those on health and acceleration, could not be effected by the
colleges and universities without both the cooperation of the

13. Ibid., pp. i54ff.

HIGHER EDUCATION IJ.I

relevant government authorities and regulations issued by them.
The situation six months after the first Baltimore Conference was
described in a statement issued after a second Baltimore Confer-
ence held on July 15-16 and attended by small groups of approxi-
mately seventy-five officers from various types of institutions and
organizations of higher education. After reaffirming the declara-
tions of the first Conference, the statement read as follows

1. We deplore the continuing lack of any adequate, coordinated
plan for the most effective utilization of higher education toward
the winning of the war, and we urge the establishment of such a
coordinated plan at the earliest possible moment.

2. The government is not utilizing institutions of higher educa-
tion to capacity and is, therefore, impeding the flow of highly
trained manpower essential to victory in a long war.

3. Through the provision of year-round instruction and many
other recently adopted changes, higher education has demonstrated
its readiness to devote all its facilities and energies to the war effort.
However, the lack of any adequate, coordinated plan has given rise
to widespread confusion among governmental agencies, educators,
students, and the general public. This confusion constitutes a serious
barrier to the full wartime utilization of higher education and hence
to the successful prosecution of the war.

4." We believe that the full utilization of higher education is es-
sential to the winning of a long total war because: (a) the war can
be won only if a continuous flow of highly trained manpower is
prepared for participation in the war effort; and (b) the institu-
tions of higher education are the only institutions staffed and
equipped to provide many essential types of advanced training.

5. To insure more effective utilization of the facilities of higher
education through the establishment of a coordinated plan we rec-
ommend to the Secretary of War, the Secretary of the. Navy, the
Director of Selective Service System, and the Chairman of the
War Manpower Commission that immediate steps be taken to as-
sure effective and continuing cooperation between the agencies they
represent and higher education.

6. Among the premises upon which such a coordinated plan
should be based are the following:

(a) the function of higher education is to provide the nation
with broadly educated and highly trained men and women.
This permanent function must be continuously performed
lest the health, safety, and welfare of the nation be endan-

142 THE IMPACT OF THE WAR UPON AMERICAN EDUCATION

gered; but in the present grave crisis the winning of the war
must have right of way in higher education as well as in all
other national undertakings.

(b) To develop breadth of understanding, stamina, and quali-
ties of leadership is a major function of higher education.
These are essential characteristics of good officers in the Armed
Forces. It is significant that although only 12 per cent of the
men alreadv inducted into selective service have had college
training, 80 per cent of the men selected for officer training
in the army have been chosen from this group of college men.

(c) The year-round instruction which has been established by
colleges and universities to serve the war effort creates new
financial problems for students. Present plans for the voluntary
enlistment and training of college students provide only for
those young men who can finance a college education or who
can secure assistance without existing financial-aid programs.
Large numbers of qualified young men are therefore barred
from special types of training. Such a situation limits the sup-
ply of broadly educated officer material and denies to many
young men equal opportunity for training. Economic status,
race, or creed should not be alloxved to restrict the training of
adequate skilled manpower at the college level for the war pro-
gram.

(d) Present plans for the enlistment and training of college
students are inadequate also because (i) they fail to provide
clearly defined avenues of training and service for those male
students who are physically unqualified for military service but
who are intellectually fitted to contribute to the winning of
the war through industrial and other civilian pursuits, and (2)
they fail to include women, who, as shown in other countries,
have a vital part to play in the national effort.

(e) The institutions of higher education stand ready to make
such further adaptations of their programs and facilities as may
be necessary to meet the objectives set up by the federal agen-
cies concerned with the training of college students for war
service.

7. The proposed coordinated wartime plans for higher educa-
tion should be established at once so that with the opening of the
fall term in 1942 the institutions of higher education of the coun-
try can throw their entire resources into the war effort.

HIGHER EDUCATION 143

8. We recommend that the American Council on Education,
which was established during the first World War to represent all
the organizations of higher education, be recognized as the appro-
priate non-governmental agency to take such steps as may be nec-
essary to implement the proposals herein stated and to serve in a con-
tinuous capacity for facilitating cooperation between higher educa-
tion and government. 14

Although a coordinated plan for the effective use of colleges
and universities had not yet been evolved by the middle of 1942,
some progress had been made. There were in existence the two
organizations already mentioned the National Committee on
Education and Defense and the United States Office Wartime
Commission which had a Divisional Committee on Higher Edu-
cation; the National Defense Research Committee had been
established; the National Roster of Scientific and Specialized
Personnel had been created; short courses of college grade in engi-
neering, science and management defense had been provided in
colleges and universities; and accelerated programs had been in-
troduced or their introduction was planned following the recom-
mendations of the first Baltimore Conference.

Historically, the National Defense Research Council was the
counterpart of the National Research Council established, under
the National Academy of Sciences, by executive order of Presi-
dent Wilson in World War I as the channel through which the
greater part of civilian scientific contribution to the war effort
was made in 1917 and 1918. During the depression emergency
President Roosevelt, in 1940, established the Science Advisory
Board under the auspices of the National Academy of Sciences
and the National Research Council "to handle problems of scien-
tific operation and organization in the governmental bureaus
which were referred to it by those in authority over the bureaus."
In 1940 the National Defense Research Committee was estab-
lished by President Roosevelt's executive order and was "charged
with the duty of organizing research dealing with instrumentali-
ties, materials, and mechanisms of warfare in fields which were
not adequately covered by existing organizations such as the
National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics." There were

14. American Council on Education. Higher Education and National
Defense, Bulletin No. 31, July 24, 1942.

144 THE IMPACT OF THE WAR UPON AMERICAN EDUCATION

thus three organizations the National Academy of Sciences, the
National Research Council, and the National Defense Research
Committee with overlapping membership engaged in advising
the government or administering projects in the field of scientific
research for defense.

The National Defense Research Committee consisted of Van-
nevar Bush, chairman, Conway Coe, James B. Conant, Frank B.
Jewett, Richard G Tolman, Karl T. Compton, and two high
ranking officers of the Army and Navy respectively. The opera-
tions of the Committee were divided among four divisions: Com-
munications and transportation; chemistry and chemical engi-
neering; armor and armament; and detection devices and micro-
wave radio, fire control, instruments, and infra-red radiation.
Operating sections under each division, consisting of representa-
tives of universities, engineering schools, and industry, formu-
lated proposals and recommendations for research projects for
the consideration of the main Committee. Upon favorable action,
the Committee authorized contracts and appropriated funds for
the prosecution of the project. Contracts were placed with indus-
trial organizations or educational institutions or with indivi-
duals. 15 In 1940-41 the Committee placed 269 contracts with 47
different universities and technical schools, and 153 contracts
with 39 industrial laboratories. On June 28, 1941, the Committee
was subordinated to the newly created Office of Scientific Re-
search within the Office of Emergency Management with ex-
panded functions, including:

Giving advice to the President with regard to the status of scien-
tific and medical research; serving as a center for the mobilization
of scientific personnel and resources; coordinating, aiding, and sup-
plementing the research of government agencies; developing broad
and coordinated plans for scientific research; initiating and sup-
porting scientific research; and serving as a liaison for research
with countries included within the framework of the Lend-Lease
Act. 16

15. See American Council on Education Studies. Organizing Higher
Education for National Defense (Washington, D. C, 1941), pp. 16 ff.

1 6. American Council on Education Studies. Higher Education Co-
operates in National Defense (Washington, D. C., 1941), p. 23.

HIGHER EDUCATION 145

The National Roster of Scientific and Specialized Personnel
was established in 1940 to draw up a register of individuals of
different qualifications to meet emergency needs in government
service. The Roster was administered jointly by the United
States Civil Service Commission and the National Resources
Planning Board. The Roster cooperated with the Selective Serv-
ice system and institutions of higher education, particularly in
determining whether a registrant was a "necessary man" be-
cause specially trained in a field in which a shortage existed. The
National Roster was represented by its chairman, Leonard Car-
michael, on the National Committee on Professional Man Power,
which was organized for two principal tasks: "first, to find out
as quickly as possible the needs of highly trained men and women
in defense fields; and second, to suggest the best procedures pos-
sible to meet these needs." The National Roster built up relation-
ships with the National Defense Research Committee, the Office
of Scientific Research and Development, the Office of Scientific
Personnel, the American Medical Association, and the Procure-
ment and Assignment Service of the Federal Security Agency.
There was thus covered a variety of trained personnel in such
fields as physics, mathematics, sciences in general, and medicine.
Surveys were conducted "of the immediate needs of man power
and woman power for the essential branches of national service"
and of changing man power needs. The purpose of the National
Roster cooperating with the other organizations was defined in
the following statement by its chairman:

Any personnel needs disclosed by these surveys will be called to
the attention of all government agencies, the Selective Service Sys-
tem, and defense industry, in order that, by planning, everything
possible will be done to provide a continuous and adequate supply
of men and women trained in technical and professional skills and
in leadership to meet both immediate and long-range needs. 17

TRAINING COURSES FOR SPECIFIC ACTIVITIES

Colleges and universities were called upon directly to provide
training in specific fields for the defense and war efforts in Octo-
ber, 1940. The number of institutions utilized for this purpose,

17. American Council on Education Studies. Higher Education and the
War (Washington, D. C, 1942), p. m.

146 THE IMPACT OF THE WAR UPON AMERICAN EDUCATION

however, was never more than slightly over two hundred. In
October, 1940, authorization was given for the provision in
degree-granting colleges and universities of short courses in Engi-
neering, Science and Management Defense Training (ESMDT) .
The purpose of these courses was "to meet the shortages of engi-
neers, chemists, physicists, and production supervisors in fields
essential to national defense." The general administration and
supervision of the courses was placed in the hands of the United
States Commissioner of Education, who was advised on policies
and procedures by a National Advisory Committee consisting of
representatives of the four fields concerned. The institutions
selected to provide the short courses were required to draw up
their own programs and to submit them for approval to the Com-
missioner of Education, who did not, however, have authority to
direct the programs. The functions of the Office of Education
were defined as follows in an address presented by Roy A. Seaton
at the first Baltimore Conference:

A small central administrative staff in the Office of Education
handles the general administration of the program; approves the
plans and the proposals for individual courses; certifies the funds
to the institutions; assists the institutions through its field staff in
exploring the needs for courses and in organizing programs of study
to meet those needs, and makes general over-all surveys of the needs
of the defense agencies of the government and conveys informa-
tion with respect to such needs to the institutions. 18

The country was divided into twenty-two regions with a staff
member, usually the president or dean of one of the participating
institutions, in each region as adviser. The regional advisers con-
ferred frequently with the Washington staff to exchange infor-
mation, clarify procedures and policies, and help in the solution
of each other's problems. In each region a committee was organ-
ized consisting of representatives from the participating institu-
tions and of other agencies interested in or affected by the pro-
gram, such as the United States Employment Service, the Civil
Service Commission, state boards for vocational education, the
Training Within Industry Branch of the Office of Production

1 8. American Council on Education Studies. Higher Education and
the War (Washington, D. C., 1942), p. 64.

HIGHER EDUCATION 147

Management, labor supply committees, local defense commit-
tees, and other similar organizations. The function of each re-
gional committee was "to explore the needs for defense training
in its particular region and to organize programs of training in
the institutions of the region for meeting these needs."

The colleges and universities could qualify for participation
in the program if they gave at least eighteen semester hours or
the equivalent of junior-senior major work in one or more of
the four designated fields, but they were not expected to offer
short courses in all of them. Participation was limited to public
or tax-exempt degree-granting institutions. Funds provided under
the Act authorizing the program could not be employed to equip
additional colleges but could be used, up to 20 per cent of the
sum allotted to each, for additional equipment. In other words,
only such institutions as were already well equipped to give the
relevant courses were eligible to participate in the program. They
could, however, utilize the facilities of ineligible institutions,
"provided that such facilities are more suitable or more eco-
nomical than other facilities available to meet the need for train-
ing." Under this provision the facilities of the local industrial
establishments were utilized.

To be admitted to the short courses students were required to
be high school graduates as a minimum, which in some institu-
tions was raised to several years of college work, college gradu-
ates, or holders of the Ph.D. degree. Women were eligible in all
fields except one which was added later to train junior engineer-
ings aids in aircraft radio for the Signal Corps. The program was
carried out in part-time and full-time courses; in practice the
large majority of students took the courses as a form of in-service
training; in 1943 this group rose to 87 per cent, an obvious indi-
cation of the interest of employers as well as of the shortages of
trained personnel. Some courses were, in fact, established at the
request of local industries. The participating institutions selected
their own students, except for the Signal Corps course, for which
candidates were selected by the Civil Service Commission. The
students were given free tuition but had to provide for their own
subsistence and the purchase of necessary supplies for their
studies.

By the end of 1943 it was reported by the United States Office

148 '1H IMPAC1 OF THE WAR UPON AMERICAN EDCCAliOX

of Education that the number of short courses offered was 12,500,
distributed in 1,000 towns and cities and given in over 200 col-
leges. The students enrolled were distributed as follows: 356,000
in engineering; 14,000 in chemistry; 9,000 in physics; and 120,000
in production management; about 21 per cent of the students
were women. The cost of the enterprise was about $21,000,000
for the fiscal year. At the time of the report (January 20, 1944)
more than 1,300,000 men and women had been trained, since the
program had been launched in October, 1940, in short courses of
twelve to sixteen weeks' duration. The aim of the short courses,
whose designation was changed after the country entered the
war to Engineering, Science, and /Management War Training
Program (ESAiWT), was described as follows in the general
summary which appeared in Education -for Victory, issued by
the United States Office of Education, of January 20, 1944 (p. 6) :

While none of these programs has been intended to educate en-
gineers, chemists, physicists, or production managers, they have
been successful in meeting their established goals which are, first,
to give professional engineers and scientists instruction in those
specialties important to the national defense with which they have
not had previous experience; second, to afford training which will
make it possible for war production employees to prepare them-
selves for more difficult and responsible work assignments; and third,
to enable men and women without previous technical training or
experience to become assistants to fully qualified technical and man-
agerial officers; and through training in fundamental techniques and
principles, to function as subprofessional engineering, chemistry,
physics, or management technicians.

ACCELERATION

Following recommendations from the United States Office of
Education and the Baltimore Conference, Colleges and uni-
versities began early in 1942 to make adjustments to the situation
imposed by the need for man power and by the Selective Service
System through the introduction of accelerated programs. The
recommendations on the subject made at the first Baltimore Con-
ference are given on p. 1 38. On the basis of the following reasons,
namely, that

HIGHER EDUCATION' 149

It is important to retain as far as practicable a degree of uniform-
ity among colleges and universities in such matters as calendar
changes and credits, while making adjustments in the interests of
acceleration. Recognizing the increasing demand for men and
women trained in technical skills and in professions essential to total
war and the consequent need for preparing them for such service
at the earliest possible time and further recognizing that basic edu-
cation should be completed prior to induction through Selective
Service at the age of zo, 19

the Conference recommended all institutions of higher education
to consider ways and means for acceleration, the needed adjust-
ment of curricula without lowering the standards of admission,
and desirable articulation of calendars of secondary schools and
colleges to facilitate acceleration of the total educational program.

Returns from one thousand colleges and universities, reported
in Education for Victory for May 15, 1942, showed that a four
quarter plan had been adopted in 178 institutions; a three quarter
or term plan in 137; three semesters in 28; two semesters or terms
plus a 1 2 -week summer session in 157; and elimination of the
spring vacation in 275 institutions. These plans not only involved
a forty-eight week year in most cases but also a six-day week of
instruction. The general result was to make graduation possible
in two and two-thirds or in three years.

In June, 1942, the Council on Medical Education and Hospi-
tals of the American Medical Association, the Association of
Medical Colleges, and the Federation of State Medical Boards of
the United States approved acceleration in medical education
provided the quality of instruction was protected. Of the medi-
cal schools, forty-nine adopted accelerated programs under which
students were accepted and a class graduated every nine months,
and eleven schools graduated classes at the same intervals but ad-
mitted entering classes once a year. The general length of medical
preparation was reduced to three years.

By the middle of 1942 a nation-wide pattern of accelerated
programs had been developed which made earlier graduation
possible. It was reported that students devoted more serious atten-
tion to studies and less to extracurricular activities. In all cases,

19. American Council on Education Studies. Higher Education and the
War (Washington, D. C, 1942), p. 156.

1 50 THE IMPACT OF THE WAR UPON AMERICAN EDUCATION

special emphasis was placed upon wartime needs and training
for physical fitness. Nevertheless, the system involved hard-
ships for both students and faculty members; for students who in
many cases had made their financial plans for a normal academic
year and depended upon their earnings during vacations; for
faculty members whose teaching load was increased with little or
no increase in their salaries. Institutional budgets were also af-
fected by additional costs involved for maintenance, supplies, and
Custodial care.

Changes in college calendars produced the necessity of articu-
lation with secondary schools. The policy generally adopted was
that acceleration in secondary schools should not be compulsory,
but that each case should be considered individually on the basis
of physical, social, and intellectual maturity. It was recom-
mended, for example, in Education -for Victory, April 15, 1942,
that high school reports to colleges should include:

(i) A description of the student, indicating qualities of char-
acter, habits of work, personality, and social adjustment. (2) The
results of the use of instruments of evaluation by the schools:

(a) Such standardized tests as are applicable to the school's work.

(b) Other types of tests appropriate to the objectives of the school.

(c) Scholastic aptitude tests that measure characteristics essential to
college work and are independent of particular patterns of school
preparation.

The Association of American Colleges adopted a resolution in
December, 1942, recommending the admission by means of tests
and reports of high school students not yet graduated. The Edu-
cational Policies Commission of the National Education Associ-
ation a few months later passed the following resolution:

We urge that, during the war emergency, selected students who
have achieved senior standing in high school and who will in the
judgment of the high-school and college authorities, profit from a
year's college education before they reach selective service age, be
admitted to college and, at the end of the successful completion of
their freshman year, be granted a diploma of graduation by the
high school and full credit for a year's work towards the fulfillment
of the requirements for the bachelor's degree or as preparation for
advanced professional education. 20

20. Quoted in Education for Victory, June 15, 1943, p. 10.

HIGHER EDUCATION 15!

The whole question of the acceleration of secondary school
pupils into college was given careful consideration by the leading
accrediting associations of the country. There was general agree-
ment that desirable educational standards should be maintained,
that "unrestricted admission to college of students who have not
completed the secondary school program cannot be justified on
educational grounds;" that each case should be considered on its
individual merits, having regard to age, social and physical ma-
turity, and scholastic standing in the senior year of high school;
and that the usual data on credits earned in high school should
be supplemented with information collected through the employ-
ment of other measures of educational growth. It was urged that
close cooperation be established between the appropriate guid-
ance officers of the secondary schools and colleges concerned,
and that proper guidance and direction be provided the students
admitted to the colleges. 21 The whole issue ceased to have any
importance, however, when the Selective Service age was lowered
to eighteen in November, 1942, and the Army and Navy Spe-
cialized Training Programs were introduced a few months later.

ARMY AND NAVY SPECIALIZED TRAINING PROGRAMS

The lowering of the draft age to eighteen served to increase
the difficulties of the colleges in particular. It meant that only a
small number of students, liable to Selective Service, could enter
college; and for only a minority of these could deferment be
claimed as "potentially necessary men." The recommendations
on deferment ceased to be applicable in the majority of cases, and
even then could only be considered for students at the end of the
first semester of their freshman year. After August, 1942, it ap-
peared from negotiations which were then proceeding that plans
were being formulated to relieve colleges and students of the
prevailing uncertainties. Such plans were finally issued on Decem-
ber 12, 1942, by the War and Navy Departments and were
based on consultation with the staff of the War Manpower Com-
mission, the Navy Advisory Council on Education and the Com-
mittee of the American Council on Education on Relationships of
Higher Education to Federal Government, formed in August,

21. Ibid., p. 10 f.

I J2 THE IMPACT OF THE WAR UPON AMERICAN EDUCATION

1942. It had been hoped that over-all plans would be formulated
for the utilization of colleges and universities in the training of
men for the Army, Navy, war industry, and essential civilian
services. When published, the plans dealt only with the education
of selected enlisted men for specialized training to meet the needs
of the Army and Navy.

The plans were determined by the need of larger numbers of
men requiring specialized educational and technical training to
meet the demand of mechanical warfare and the steadily growing
forces in the Army, Navy, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard. To
this end the resources of colleges and universities were to be uti-
lized to the maximum extent. Selected candidates were to be
placed on active duty, be in uniform, receive pay, and be under
military discipline, while the selected institutions were to pro-
vide instruction in curricula prescribed by the services, and
furnish the necessary housing and messing facilities. The col-
leges and universities were to be selected on the basis of their
ability to provide the necessary instructional and other facilities
under rules and regulations prescribed by the War Manpower
Commission after consultation with the Secretaries of War and
the Navy. The institutions were to be selected by a joint com-
mittee of nine representatives, three each from the Army, Navy,
and the War Manpower Commission. The plans of the Army and
Navy were to be the same in fundamentals, with such variations
as would be necessitated by the needs of each Service.

The objective of the Army Specialized Training Program
(ASTP) was to meet the need of the Army for the specialized
technical training of soldiers on active duty for certain army tasks
for which its own training facilities were insufficient in extent or
character. To provide such training for selected soldiers, the
Army would enter into contracts with selected colleges and
universities for the use of their facilities and faculties. The selec-
tion of qualified young men would be on a broad democratic
basis without regard to financial resources.

The selection of soldiers for ASTP training was to be made
from enlisted men who had completed their basic military train-
ing and applied for selection. The plan for the selection, limited
to men under twenty-two, was to be the same as for the selection
of enlisted men for Officer Candidate Schools, with such addi-

HIGHER EDUCATION 153

rional methods of ascertaining qualifications as might be deemed
appropriate after consultation with the American Council on
Education. The methods were to include such tests as would
reasonably assure that the selected individual was intellectually,
temperamentally, psychologically, and educationally capable of
attaining standards of academic proficiency which were to be
formulated for the course of training.

In the selection of institutions, specific consideration was to
be given to (i) standards and equipment for the required in-
struction; (2) adequacy of housing and messing facilities; and
(3) minimum army overhead. Curricula for the specialized train-
ing needed for the various Services were to be prepared in con-
sultation with the American Council on Education, and, varying
with the nature of the tasks for which training would be pro-
vided, the curricula would call for varying lengths of the period
of training. They would also vary according to the stages basic
or advanced in any particular course of training. At the ter-
mination of specialized training, whether as a result of screening
or the completion of a course, the soldier would be (i) selected
for further training in an Officer Candidate School; (2) recom-
mended for a technical noncommissioned officer; (3) returned
to the troops; (4) in exceptional cases, detailed for very ad-
vanced technical training; and (5) in very exceptional cases,
be made available for technical work to be done out of the Army
but deemed to be highly important to the war effort.

The Navy College Training Program (NCTP) was virtually
the same in principle as that of the ASTP, but differed in the
specific provisions as result of differences in the types of services
to which training was to be directed. The plan was intended
"to permit selection of the country's best qualified young men
on a broad democratic basis, without regard to financial resources,
and thus permit the Navy to induct and train young men of
superior ability for officers and specialists.*' High school graduates
or students' having equivalent formal education who attained
their seventeenth but not their twentieth birthdays at the time
of enlistment or induction were to be eligible for selection for
the program. Enlisted or inducted men between the ages of
seventeen and twenty-three were to be eligible to apply for the
program if recommended by their commanding officers. Sue-

154 THE IMPACT OF THE WAR UPON AMERICAN EDUCATION

cessfui candidates were to be permitted to indicate their prefer-
ences as to the colleges to which they wished to be assigned, and
to express a preliminary choice of the branch of service Navy,
Marine Corps, or Coast Guard, but final assignment was based
on demonstrated ability and counseling during the first two
semesters. The same procedures were to be followed in the
selection of institutions and prescription of curricula as for the
ASTP. On completion of college training all students were to
be assigned to the appropriate specialized training in the Navy,
Marine Corps, or Coast Guard.

The first task that had to be undertaken under the plans for
the ASTP and NCTP was the selection of the institutions pos-
sessing the necessary facilities to carry out the programs of train-
ing. This task was performed by the joint committee of nine.
The first list of selected institutions was published on February
6, 1943, and included 281 institutions 249 for the ASTP and
51 for the NCTP; of these 19 were used for both programs.
The principles of the contracts entered into with a selected in-
stitution were that the institution should be left in no worse
position by reason of the use made of its facilities for the train-
ing program. According to a statement approved by the Joint
Army and Navy Board for Training Unit Contracts, "this does
not mean that all of the institutions will be maintained by the
program, nor that the total over-all costs will be prorated on the
basis of the ratio of service trainees and civilian students." Pay-
ments were made on a "budgeted cost basis," that is, "upon a
budget of expected costs predicated upon current (latest fiscal
report) facts of operation, reviewed at sufficiently frequent inter-
vals as to permit such adjustments as will correct differences
between estimated costs and actual costs."

In addition to the provision of the particular type of training
contracted for, an institution was expected to provide supple-
mentary services, such as personnel and guidance services; facili-
ties for medical care anH physical education instruction under
general regulations and supervision of the War and Navy De-
partments; provision of religious services; and recreational
activities.

The curricula for the ASTP were prepared by panels of
national authorities in each field recommended by the United

HIGHER EDUCATION 155

States Office of Education and the American Council on Edu-
cation, those for the NCTP were prepared by the Navy's Ad-
visory Committee on Education and special consultants from
colleges and universities. Both included educational programs
and programs to meet the special needs of the respective Services.
The basic program for the ASTP included college mathematics,
physics, and chemistry; the advanced programs included work
in such fields as the premedical and medical, predental and
dental, preveterinary and veterinary, all branches of engineer-
ing, and special courses in mathematics, physics, chemistry, area
studies, and personnel psychology. 22 Each program was organ-
ized in a series of twelve-week terms, varying in number accord-
ing to the requirements of the respective field of training. The
weekly schedule included approximately 24 hours of class and
laboratory; 24 hours of preparation and study; 6 hours of physi-
cal conditioning; and 5 hours of military instruction.

The NSTCP curricula provided the same courses for all stu-
dents in the first two sixteen-week terms or the equivalent and
emphasized fundamental college work in mathematics, science,
English, drawing, and physical training, and instruction up to
three class hours per week in naval organization and general
naval orientation.

Although the details of the plans for the ASTP and NCTP
were published on December 12, 1942, and lists of selected in-
stitutions began to be issued in the following February, the assign-
ment of students was so long delayed that it was feared that the
program would not be in full operation until January i, 1944.
The Army-Navy test for the selection of high school students
throughout the country was held on April 12, 1943, but it was
feared that their assignment to colleges and universities would
not be made for some time. The situation was clearly described
by Dr. Edmund E. Day, chairman of the Committee on Relation-
ships of Higher Education to the Federal Government in a letter
to Secretary Stimson, dated April 10, 1943, in which he wrote:

The Committee on Relationships of Higher Education to the
Federal Government ventures to express its deep concern with the
present status and apparent prospects of the major section of the
Army Specialized Training Program. The testimony from educa-

22. See Chapter VI for a discussion of the Intensive Language Program.

156 THE IMPACT OF THE WAR UPON AMERICAN EDUCATION

tional institutions throughout the country reveals the great difficul-
ties under which the program is operating. Evidence accumulates
that under present procedures it will continue to be extremely dif-
ficult to secure an adequate number of competent men from those
now in the armed forces. The colleges have been selected and many
of them notified of the part they are to pay in the Army Specialized
Training Program. Many of them have retained or even assembled
staffs and have made arrangements for plant facilities adequate to
take care of the proposed training.

The Committee recommended that selected high school grad-
uates be assigned immediately to colleges and universities for
training. Such a proposal implied a departure from the existing
plans requiring thirteen weeks' basic military training before
assignment, a departure which the Army authorities refused to
sanction. The program did get under way by the middle of the
year, and on October i, 1943, the situation was as indicated in
the following table: 23

Program

Number of
Institution^

Number of
Trainees

Army Specialized Training
Army Air Forces
Xavy College Training
Navy Air Force

216

I5i
244

17

129,080
66,512
9,193
7,743

Toial 628 212,528

Total number of institutions, eliminating duplications, 440

The peak was reached in December, 1943, when 380,000 trainees
were enrolled for specialized training in 489 institutions. The
numbers then began to be reduced until the basic phase of the
ASTP was terminated in April, 1944, and the other programs
a few months later. The place of the ASTP was taken by the
Army Specialized Training Reserve Program (ASTRP), which
had been begun on August 9, 1943.

THE^RECORD OF THE WAR YEARS

The story of the relationships between the Federal government
and the institutions of higher education in the country in the

23. American Council on Education. Higher Education and National
Defense, Bulletin No. 61, December 9, 1943.

HIGHER ED CCA LION 157

years immediately preceding and during the war is one of con-
fusion and uncertainty. The blame for this situation does not
rest with the colleges and universities or with its representative
organizations the American Council on Education, the As-
sociation of American Colleges or the division of higher edu-
cation of the Wartime Commission of the United States Office
of Education, or the committee appointed by this office in the
middle of 1942, with Dr. W. H. Cowley as chairman. The
cynic may say that the institutions and organizations were
animated by selfish interests. The cynic nevertheless would be
wrong. The records of the deliberations and recommendations,
particularly of the American Council on Education and its
special committees, furnish convincing evidence that they were
inspired by concern for the national interests both for the win-
ning of the war and for the future of the country in the years
to follow the war. Even before the following statement was pub-
lished, they had recognized the need of an over-all plan which
was implied in the pronouncement issued by the War Manpower
Commission on August 19, 1942, and which read as follows:

All able-bodied male students are destined for the armed forces.
The responsibility for determining the specific training for such
students is a function of the Army and Navy.

For those students, men and women, who are not to serve in the
armed forces there should be developed through the War Man-
power Commission plans of guidance which will help the students
where they can make the most effective contribution to the war ef-
fort, including essential supporting activities. The War Manpower
Commission should also make plans for the instruction of those for
whom further training is necessary to enable them according to their
qualifications to make their most needed contributions to the sup-
port of the armed forces. 24

It was inferred from this statement that an over-all plan would
be developed, which would make possible the fullest utilization
of the resources of colleges and universities and training for
civilian needs in the war effort as well as for the armed force.
Instead, piecemeal plans were made for an Enlisted Training
Corps, for the ESMWT, for a pilot training program under the
Civil Aeronautics Administration, and for specialized research

24. Quoted in The Education Record, July, 1943, p. 192.

158 THE IMPACT OF THE WAR UPON AMERICAN EDUCATION

each of them important but together not constituting an over-all
blueprint which would have relieved the colleges and universities
of their uncertainties. There was, of course, one justification for
the failure to develop an over-all plan, and that was the dif-
ficulty of anticipating the needs of the armed services under
war conditions which were constantly fluctuating. It may be
argued that criticism after the event is easy, but the records
provide ample evidence to prove that vision and insight were
not lacking on the part of the leaders in institutions of higher
education. 25

The critical situation that threatened higher education was
recognized from the start by those directly charged with its
administration and became a matter of grave concern during
the war years. It was not until 1944, however, that the situation
was brought to the attention of Congress, and not until 1945
that an inquiry was actually undertaken. On June 21, 1944, the
House of Representatives unanimously approved a resolution
(House Resolution 592, ySth Congress) introduced by Repre-
sentative McCormick; the resolution was renewed on January
8, 1945 (House Resolution 63, 79th Congress). The original
resolution authorized the Committee on Education (the Honor-
able Graham A. Barden, chairman)

(a) To make a study of the effect upon colleges and universities
throughout the United States of (i) reduction in enrollment and
faculties as a result of service by students and faculty members in
the armed forces of the United States or in other war activities, and
(2) recent curtailment and prospective further curtailment of Army
and Navy training programs in such colleges and universities; with
a view to determining means by which such effects may be alle-
viated.

(b) To formulate, as soon as possible, for the consideration by the
House, such legislation as the Committee deems appropriate for
alleviating such effects. 26

25. See the files of the American Council on Education's Higher Edu-
cation and National Defense; and George F. Zook, "The President's An-
nual Report," and Carter Davidson, "Blueprints on Trial and Error in
College Wartime Program?" in The Educational Record, July, 1943.

26. Effect of Certain War Activities Upon Colleges and Universities.
Report from the Committee on Education, House of Representatives.
(Washington, D. Q, 1945). House Report No. 214, p. 15. The discussion

HIGHER EDUCATION 159

An advisory committee, representing the various types of
higher educational institutions, was appointed in 1944 with Dr.
Francis J. Brown as director of the investigation. The study
revealed only what was already well-known a serious disloca-
tion of "one of the basic forces in American life the colleges
and universities' 7 ; the efforts of these institutions to adjust them-
selves to the emergency created by the transfer of approxi-
mately three-fourths of their men students into military service;
and the threat of the collapse of many of them from the pro-
longation of the war beyond the winter of 1944-45. That the
problem affected the whole national interest and welfare was
clearly brought out in the following passage:

Serious as this situation may be from the standpoint of individual
institutions, it may develop into a national crisis by drying up cer-
tain of the sources from which streams of mental power have flowed
into every phase of our common life throughout the years and
during the present war. Furthermore, we cannot ignore the fact
that returning veterans, both now and after the close of the war,
will expect to find colleges and universities available from which
they can secure the education which the Government has generously
provided for and which they need for peacetime pursuits. In addi-
tion, America will turn to its institutions of higher education to
replenish its supply of scientific and professional men, and to fur-
nish a broad understanding of economic, social, and international
matters in order to meet the complex problems of the post-war
world. 27

Colleges and universities had contributed extensively to the
war effort a majority of the officers in the armed forces, a
highly trained personnel to the Medical Corps, scientists trained
for research work in all aspects demanded by the war and the
war effort, chaplains for the armed forces and civilian clergymen
who upheld civilian morale, experts in the various phases of inter-
national relations, teachers in schools and colleges, the leaders
in the unprecedented conversion of peacetime to wartime in-

of the effect of the war on higher education is based on this Report. See
also "Higher Education and the War," The Annals of the American
Academy of Political and Social Science, January, 1944.
27. Ibid., p. 12.

1 60 THE IMPACT OF THE WAR UPON AMERICAN* EDUCATION

dustries, and young men and women trained in the specialized
war-training programs.

The effect of the war upon the finances, enrollments, and in-
structional staffs of the colleges and universities varied with the
opportunities for engaging in activities directly contributing to
the war effort through specialized training and research. The
larger institutions, because they had the necessary facilities, were
not as seriously affected as the smaller institutions; while women's
colleges were able to maintain almost normal enrollments. On the
financial side, the majority of the institutions were able to balance
their budgets through the first three years of the war, but gen-
erally this was made possible through the absence of faculty
members in military, government, or other war service and
through the reduction of the salaries of those who remained.
The enrollment of civilian students in all of the higher educa-
tional institutions of the country in 1943-44 and 1944-45 was
54 per cent of what it had been in 1939-40. The average, how-
ever, does not tell the story of the uneven distribution of the
enrollment, which in some men's colleges and teachers colleges
fell to only 10 per cent of the 1939-40 enrollment. The number
of faculty members declined in 1943-44 to 97 per cent, and in
1944-45 to 90 per cent of the number in 1939-40; while the
number of men decreased to 92 per cent in 1943-44 an d to 84 per
cent in 1944-45, the number of women increased to 1 10 per cent
in 1943-44 and to 108 per cent in 1944-45 as compared with 1939-
40, as a result of replacement of men by women teachers. The
decline in the number of faculty members was not as great as
the student enrollment, because they were retained to teach both
civilian and noncivilian students.

On the financial status of colleges and universities the effect
varied with the types of institutions. The reduction of income
from student fees was not as serious, for example, in publicly
supported institutions as in private institutions. In the 702 in-
stitutions that replied to the questionnaires sent out by Dr.
Brown, income from this source was 67 per cent in 1943-44 and
64 per cent in 1944-45 as compared with 1939-40. Army and
Navy contracts in 1943-44 accounted for 50 per cent or more
of the income of certain men's colleges, and to a lesser but still
substantial amount in many coeducational institutions. The cur-

HIGHER EDUCATION l6l

tailment of the specialized training programs had a serious effect
on the income of the colleges and universities concerned in 1944-
45. Income from other sources, such as grants for the ESMWT
courses or for research under the control of the Office of Scien-
tific Research and Development, while important to the institu-
tions receiving it, was unevenly distributed. Thus, of the 105
institutions participating in the research program, eight alone
were allotted 90 per cent of the funds. The only reasonably stable
source of income was derived from federal and state funds by
publicly maintained institutions.

The financial situation was further aggravated by the increase
in expenditures for current operations. This was due to a num-
ber of causes: increase in the year-round teaching load con-
sequent on acceleration; competition with government employ-
ment and wages paid in industry; rise in the cost of living; and
increased personal taxes. The total expenditures for educational
and general purposes in 713 institutions that reported for 1943-44
and 1944-45 '(estimated) were 126 per cent and 115 per cent of
the base year 1939-40. Institutions with military programs
showed a greater increase for 1943-44 over 1939-40 than in-
stitutions without such programs. The average increases in ex-
penditures for instruction for 1943-44 and 1944-45 (estimated)
were 1 10 per cent and 104 per cent as compared with 1939-40.
Efforts were made to meet the situation by adjustments and
economies which only served to pile up an accumulation of
deferred needs, with serious results on the continuous effective
operation of the colleges and universities. Faculty members were
granted or were encouraged to seek leaves of absence for service
in the armed forces, government, and war industries and were
not replaced; or else their places were filled by part-time in-
structors and temporary appointees of lesser training and teach-
ing experience than usually required. If they were not replaced,
their remaining colleagues were assigned to give their courses
even though they were not in their own fields of specialization.
Other adjustments and economies were effected by reducing
the number of courses, and consequently the opportunities for
students to choose their courses. In many instances appropriations
for library and health services were reduced, as well as expendi-
tures for replacement and repair of permanent equipment and

1 62 THE IMPACT OF THE WAR UPON AMERICAN EDUCATION

physical plant. Special drives for funds, the use of unrestricted
endowment funds or of funds set aside for buildings or other
current needs, and loans from banks and other sources to meet
payrolls and other costs of operation were methods employed
to make the financial adjustments. The accumulation of these
effects of the war is described as follows:

In view of these circumstances, and (i) the prospect of eventually
larger demands on institutions of higher education when demobili-
zation is under way; (2) the rapidly growing shortage of qualified
teachers, especially in the technical and scientific fields; (3) the de-
mand that will be made by government, industry, and institutions
of higher education for highly trained research workers in the nat-
ural and social sciences; and (4) the greatly increased responsi-
bility that is expected of colleges and universities by local and
regional areas as well as society as a whole to provide a far greater
measure of adult education in many forms, college officials wonder
whether their institutions will be even reasonably well equipped
from the point of view of personnel, plant, and equipment to meet
the postwar educational needs of the country.

Colleges and universities must be ready to meet the unprece-
dented demand made by the increase in the number of students.
Existing facilities for higher education will prove inadequate for
the task. The number of veterans and war workers who will go to
colleges and universities will remain small during the period of high
war production. When reconversion begins, and progressively in
proportion to the resulting unemployment, the numbers will in-
crease. Institutions of higher education should be maintained in
such condition that they may meet financial and other contingen-

The Committee made the following recommendations: ( i ) The
reestablishment of student deferment for those majoring in fields
which are essential to the national welfare and for which ex-
tended periods of training are necessary, such as medicine,
dentistry, engineering, physics, chemistry, divinity, and others.
(2) Preferential discharge of former students preparing in fields
essential to the national welfare. (3) Deferment of faculty mem-
bers teaching in essential fields to meet the educational needs of
veterans and others. (4) Giving priority in release from military

28. Ibid. , pp. 31 f.

HIGHER EDUCATION 1 63

duty or other government positions for faculty members whose
services are requested by institutions of higher education. (5)
Facilities for the acquisition by higher educational institutions,
by gift or purchase, of surplus commodities no longer needed
by the armed forces or other government agencies. (6) Increased
exemptions for gifts to higher educational institutions in the
provisions of corporation and individual income tax laws. (7) The
appointment of a nonpartisan Commission on Emergency Fed-
eral Aid to Higher Educational Institutions to look into the whole
question of federal contracts and the financial status of higher
educational institutions and to consider methods for allocating
contracts, for which Congress should appropriate a sum of
$25,000,000 for the fiscal year beginning July i, 1945. (8)
Grants-in-aid to higher educational institutions for repair or
replacement of permanent equipment and repairing or remodel-
ing and construction of buildings, if provision were made by
Congress for a program of public works. (9) The establishment
or designation by Congress of a federal research agency directed
to use, on a contractual basis, higher educational institutions for
developing and conducting of research and the training of re-
search workers. (10) The preparation by a committee represent-
ing educational institutions and the armed services of a unified
plan, to be revised periodically, for effective utilization of col-
leges and universities in declared emergencies. And (n) the
appointment by the Committee on Education and Labor of the
Senate and the Committee on Education of the House of Rep-
resentatives of an advisory committee representing all phases
and levels of education to assist them, on request, in the formula-
tion of needed legislation. 29

To carry out the seventh of these recommendations the Barden
Bill (H.R. 3116) was introduced on May 3, 1945, for the reason
stated in Section i of the bill:

The Congress recognizes that the present war has already caused
impairment of the effectiveness of higher educational institutions in
the United States, and it is the purpose of this Act to provide for
compensating in part for this impairment and to prevent the present
crisis in higher educational institutions from becoming so acute as
to undermine seriously the whole structure of higher education.

29. Ibid , pp. 7 ff.

1 64 THE IMPACT OF THE WAR UPOX AMERICAN' EDUCATION

The bill proposed the creation of a Commission on Emergency
Aid to Higher Educational Institutions, consisting of seven mem-
bers, to administer an emergency fund of S 2 5, 000,000 to be
disbursed through contracts for stand-by and other services.
The award of contracts was to be determined on the basis of
a review of the financial status of the institutions applying for
aid. The need of such aid would be presumed to exist when full-
time resident enrollment, military and civilian, of an institution
dropped for three consecutive quarters or two semesters below
60 per cent of the average enrollment for the academic years 1937
to 1940. The amount of contract was to be computed on the
basis of loss of income from student fees resulting from the drop
in enrollment below 60 per cent of the base years. The whole
program was to be for the emergency only and aid was to cease
within six months after the cessation of war. Nothing further
was heard of the bill after several Committee hearings.

The future of higher education continued to be a matter of
grave concern even after the veterans began to return to the
colleges and universities in constantly increasing numbers. On
July 13, 1946, President Truman appointed the President's Com-
mission on Higher Education to "re-examine our system of
higher education in terms of its objectives, methods, and facilities,
and in the light of the social role it has to play," and to examine
"the functions of higher education in our democracy and of the
means by which they can best be performed." In appointing
the Commission, President Truman expressed confidence that
"the combined efforts of the educational institutions, the States,
and the Federal Government will succeed in solving the im-
mediate problems." The questions to be considered by the Com-
mission included: "Ways and means of expanding educational
opportunities for all able young people; the adequacy of cur-
ricula, particularly in the fields of international affairs and social
understanding; the desirability of establishing a series of inter-
mediate technical institutes; the financial structure of higher
education with particular reference to the requirements for the
rapid expansion of physical facilities." The Commission's in-
quiry, however, was not limited to these questions.

Dr. George F. Zook, president of the American Council on
Education, was appointed chairman; and Dr, Francis J. Brown,

HIGHER EDUCATION 165

Staff Associate of the Council, executive secretary of the Com-
mission; Dr. John R. Steelman, director of War Mobilization
and Reconversion, was designated as liaison officer between the
Commission and the executive agencies to coordinate their work.
The Commission, consisting of thirty members representing civic
and educational interests, held its first meeting on July 29-30 in
Washington, D. C. and identified the following major areas for
the future work of the Commission: ( i ) The responsibilities of
higher education in our democracy and in international affairs.
(2) Ways and means of providing higher educational oppor-
tunity for all in terms of the needs of the individual and of the
nation. (3) The organization and expansion of higher education.
(4) Financing higher education. And (5) Providing personnel
for higher education. 30

HIGHER EDUCATION OF WOMEN AND THE WAR

Colleges and universities for women were not as seriously
affected by the war as were the colleges and universities for men.
Their problems were -not concerned so much with enrollments
and financial conditions as they were with advising and coun-
seling students on types of activities and services in which they
could be most useful, first in national defense and later for the
war effort. In 1943-44 the enrollment of women in colleges
and universities was 88.3 per cent, and in 1944-45 rose to 93.1
per cent of the base figures in 1939-40. The most serious de-
cline took place in teachers colleges, where the enrollment was
67.1 per cent in 1943-44 and 69.4 per cent in 1944-45; and in
the normal schools, where the decrease was far more significant
and fell to 51.6 per cent in 1943-44 and 46.6 per cent in 1944-45,
as compared, in both cases, with the enrollment in 1939-40. Tak-
ing colleges, universities, and professional schools alone, the
enrollment in 1943-44 was 95.3 per cent and 101.4 P er cent ' m
1944-45, using the same basis for comparison.

For some time after the state of emergency was announced,
the leaders in the field of higher education for women were
faced with the difficulty of making adjustments because of in-

30. See United States Office of Education, Higher Education, Septem-
ber 2, 1946, pp. i f.

The Commission published its report in six volumes at the end of 1947.

1 66 THE IMPACT OF THE WAR UPON AMERICAN EDUCATION

ability to determine the national demands for the services of
college trained women. Accordingly, the principle was adopted
that education is national defense; later, that education is war
training, and that women who continued their general educa-
tion were preparing themselves for long-time service. In report-
ing for the section on Women in Colleges at the conference
called by the National Committee on Education and Defense
of the American Council on Education, held in Washington,
D. G, on February 6, 1941, President Meta Glass stated that:

The Committee emphasized the need for the liberal arts colleges
to continue to give the fundamental liberal arts education. They
should keep on with this ancient work of intellectual discipline
and enlightenment, but do it even better than in the past. Should
the stream of youth passing through this discipline be stopped, the
nation will lack in the future a sufficient number of workers in the
vitally important professions which need the foundation of college
training, and will lack also citizens with knowledge, vision, under-
standing, and power of leadership.

The Committee recognized that colleges would wish also to turn
their students to ways of useful service for the present needs of
their country. In suggesting lines of service, colleges should point
to the students the importance of using the training they have had
and of preferably choosing fields of work where their education
can count instead of turning, short of demonstrated need, to man-
ual labor. They noted that services of both immediate and long-
range value have to do with intelligent and devoted citizenship.
Ability for such service is fostered by everything that develops
knowledge, understanding, disciplined emotions, and wills; every-
thing that leads to reasoned and unfrightened adjustment to change;
and everything that contributes to making persons able to guide
others in these paths. Students now in college will spend the larger
part of their lives in forming and carrying on a new order. As they
strengthen their country in defense they will be training themselves
in this long-time service. . . .

The session came to a close with an understanding that women
In colleges must be fitting themselves to carry on their usual work
in society, prepare themselves also in some generally useful skills
more needed in defense than normally, and await the proper time
for entrance into work normally done by the men of the country
in accordance with calls put upon them by the government. Their

HIGHER EDUCATION 167

present defense activities are preinduction orientation to their part
in selective service. 31

The fundamental aim of education was not lost sight of during
the next few years. Thus a "Survey of War Training Programs
for Women in Colleges and Universities," published in 1943 by
the Committee on College Women Students and the War, which
was created in 1940 as one of the subcommittees of the National
Committee on Education and Defense of the American Council
on Education, concluded with the following words:

The Committee recognizes that no general pattern for colleges and
universities enrolling women students can or should be laid down.
Each institution should make only such adaptation as its own fa-
cilities and local need make -desirable. Initiative and resourcefulness
are prime requisites in order that colleges may give such education
as shall make it possible for its students to render maximum service
to war and yet, at the same time, be prepared for effective living in
the postwar world. 32

Between the dates of the two quotations circumstances changed
as the students themselves began to manifest a strong desire to
make a contribution to the national interest and welfare and as
the demand for the services of women began to increase progres-
sively in the armed forces (the Women's Army Auxiliary Corps
WAAC, Women's Reserve of the Naval Reserve WAVES,
Women's Reserve of the Coast Guard SPARS, and Marines),
in government services, in industry, and in community activities.
Since these demands were not exclusively for women college
students or graduates, but created important opportunities for
them, it was not felt that it was either necessary or desirable to
change the programs of the women's colleges and universities
generally. It was, however, decided that new emphases were
needed in the existing courses.

The Committee on Women in College and Defense undertook
and continued as its major task the study of the extent and types
of demands for the services of women that were developing and

31. American Council on Education Studies. Organizing Education for
National Defense (Washington, D. C, 1941), pp. 60, 62.

32. American Council on Education. Higher Education and National
Defense, Bulletin No. 53, May 6, 1943.

1 68 THE IMPACT OF THE WAR tfPOX AMERICAN EDUCATION

disseminated the information as it was gathered to the colleges
and universities as the basis for advising and counseling students.
After the United States had entered the war, the women's col-
leges and universities recognized that the programs of accelera-
tion must be adopted if women were to engage in further special-
ized training. At first acceleration was achieved by giving credit
to students who attend summer sessions for eight or twelve
weeks; later the majority of the women's institutions adopted
the same plans as the institutions for men. The demand for
women's services began to make itself felt early in 1942 for work
as junior draftsmen; as chemists for testing materials and for all
kinds of analysis; as physicists and mathematicians; as account-
ants, statisticians, and economists; as stenographers, typists, and
secretaries; for pretraining in the air force; and particularly as
nurses.

The occupational opportunities continued to expand in other
directions in the health fields, in diplomatic services and special
investigation, in scientific research, in business and industry, and
in schools and colleges. At the same time, there was the con-
tinuing opportunity for community services, for voluntary activi-
ties, for training in health and physical fitness, and for a great
variety of activities for the maintenance and preservation of
morale. These, it was considered, could be provided for in extra-
curricular organizations or in short courses open to the students
and public alike. By October, 1942, a change could be noted, as
was indicated in the following passages from a report of the
Committee on College Women Students and the War:

College women will be needed at the earliest possible moment
are needed now in many fields to meet the emergency resulting
from the increasing shortage of manpower on the technical and pro-
fessional level. The year-round program must be continued re-
gardless of the absence of Federal aid and made equally available
to all students. Women as well as men should be urged to assume
their responsibility for preparing themselves for employment at the
earliest possible time.

To a much greater degree than for men, colleges and universities
have tended to retain the "education as usual" attitude for "women
students. Large numbers of women are still continuing to major in
the arts and humanities. These are vital in the total cultural pattern

HIGHER EDUCATION 1 69

and will be preserved, but only if the war is won. In 1942-43
knowledge of the sciences, of mathematics, and of social studies are
vitally important for the effective participation of college women
in the war program and must temporarily take first place.

As every able-bodied man is "destined for the armed forces," so
every able-bodied woman should likewise sense the obligation to en-
ter some form of war service in the necessary social service fields
such as nursing or teaching, in industry, or in the Armed Forces.
To continue to pursue cultural subjects may leave the individual un-
prepared for effective participation in any of these fields. To shift
to subjects definitely leading to essential occupations may enable
the college women to find employment in the type of position
where her ability can be utilized effectively.

Many women students still think in terms of a leisurely four-year
course. Production cannot wait. It should be emphasized that under
present conditions, women students should plan their individual
programs to equip them to fill a position at the end of any semester
in case the crisis becomes so acute that the national interest demands
their services. 33

At the beginning of 1943 the Committee on College Women
Students and the War issued "A Statement of Policy for Col-
leges of Arts and Sciences." The statement expressed the Com-
mittee's belief that the basic curricula were essential in the na-
tional crisis, and that the courses normally given could produce
workers immediately useful in the following fields: chemists,
mathematicians, physicists, statisticians, economists, research
workers, administrative assistants, psychologists, and bacter-
iologists, as well as linguists, geologists, and geographers. Fur-
ther, the colleges could provide the necessary foundations for
professional training in the most urgently needed professions:
medicine, the nine responsible positions in nursing; engineering,
social welfare including a great variety of services, such as child
care, important for the war effort, and teaching. The basic
courses essential for all or most of these activities included: Eng-
lish, mathematics, chemistry, physics, biology, foreign languages,
history, government, economics, sociology, and psychology.
Many institutions combined liberal arts and sciences with tech-
nical or professional training for social work, physical education,

33. Ibid., Bulletin No. 35, October 17, 1942.

170 THE IMPACT OF THE WAR UPON" AMERICAN EDUCATION

home economics, or secretarial work. The Committee recom-
mended acceleration of the graduation of good students under
guidance and advice. The importance of developing qualities of
mind and character, adaptability and leadership, greatly in de-
mand for many phases of the war effort uniformed, govern-
ment, industrial, and social services was emphasized. Colleges
were urged to devote special attention to the adequate coun-
seling of students so that each individual student's abilities might
be used where they will count most in the war effort. 34

The Committee continued to provide information on the
greatly expanded needs and opportunities for women. Some col-
leges organized "war majors" in mathematics, physics, chemistry,
biology, bacteriology, and home economics; or "war minors" as
electives to prepare for a great variety of occupations, some of
which, particularly in engineering and allied fields, had not been
open to women before the war. A few institutions established
emergency short courses of one, two, three, of four semesters,
leading to immediate sendee in shortage areas such as account-
ing, aeronautics, day nursery teaching, dental hygiene, dietetics,
engineering fundamentals, engineering inspection, meteorology,
foreign sendee, laboratory aid, language, map reading, medical
entomology, medical secretarial training, military training for
students intending to enter the armed services, recreational leader-
ship, secretarial work, and statistics. Provision was everywhere
made for sound physical fitness programs and extracurricular
programs in Red Cross training in first aid, home nursing, nutri-
tion, motor mechanics, canteen work, and surgical dressings.
These activities were found to be of real psychological value,
in helping young people to recognize the community needs and
in the actual training offered; but it was suggested that they
should not be considered important enough to constitute a war-
training program. 35

From the middle of 1943, the colleges and universities for
women had made their adjustments. There were definitely recog-
nized fundamental principles; each institution, however, had to
make its own adjustments in accordance with the interests of
their students, the local community needs, and the variety of

34. Ibid., Bulletin No. 44, January 23, 1943.

35. Ibid., Bulletin No. 53, May 6, 1943.

HIGHER EDUCATION 17 1

opportunities for service afforded in each locality. But, although
there was no uniform concerted plan or program, there was also
an absence of that bewilderment and confusion which prevailed
in the corresponding institutions for men, dependent upon direc-
tives from government. It is interesting that in the continuing
reports on higher education, issued by the American Council on
Education during the national defense and war years, no re-
ports appear on problems or activities in women's colleges and
universities after May 6, 1943. The situation at that time was
described by the Committee on College Women Students and
the War as follows:

The Committee recognizes that no general pattern for colleges
and universities enrolling women students can or should be laid
down. Each institution should make only such adaptations as its own
facilities and local need make desirable. Initiative and resourceful-
ness are prime requisites in order that colleges may give such edu-
cation as shall make it possible for its students to render maximum
service to war and yet, at the same time, be prepared for effective
living in the post-war world. 36

36. Ibid.

CHAPTER SIX

LIBERAL EDUCATION AND THE
COLLEGE CURRICULUM

THE UNREST IN HIGHER EDUCATION

THERE has been no period in the history of higher edu-
cation in the United States when such widespread uncer-
tainty and confusion prevailed as during the war years.
That the war should dislocate and disrupt the work of insti-
tutions of higher education was inevitable, but the disruption
and dislocation were far greater than they need have been
as a result of the uncertainty in the policies of the government
with regard to the utilization of the resources of higher edu-
cation and the status of students and faculties under the Selec-
tive Service regulations. Nevertheless, the period from 1940 to
1946 will probably stand out as one of the most significant and
Fruitful periods in the history of colleges and universities because
Df the nation-wide discussion and the extensive literature on the
meaning of a liberal education and the methods for achieving
it.

The unrest which stimulated the concern about the status
and future of higher education antedated the outbreak of the
war by several years; but it was brought to a head by a reali-
sation that the postwar era would demand serious reconstruc-
don and adjustments at all levels of education. In 1936 a sym-
Dosium on the organization of humanistic studies in American
iniversities was held at the annual meeting of the American
Council of Learned Societies. At the annual meeting in the
Allowing year resolutions were presented from the Philological
\ssociation and the Linguistic Society, calling upon the Coun-
:il to make a study of the status of humanistic studies in edu-
:ation and to arrange a conference on the subject with the Na-
ional Research Council, the Social Science Research Council,
ind the American Council on Education to consider a joint
tudy of educational trends as they affected the scientific and cul-

172

LIBERAL EDUCATION AND THE COLLEGE CURRICULUM 173

tural disciplines. Although the proposed conference was not
held, the Council proceeded with the subject and a symposium
was organized and papers were read by Howard Mumford
Jones, representing the Modern Language Association; by
Henry Grattan Doyle, representing the National Federation
of Language teachers; and by A. Pelzer Wegener, chairman
of a special committee of the Classical Association of the Mid-
dle West and South. At the close of the discussion the Coun-
cil voted "To authorize the Executive Committee to appoint a
Committee on Educational Trends and the Humanities, of
which one member should be a scholar in close touch with
the problem of secondary education."

Following this meeting, the Permanent Secretary of the
Council drafted a Memorandum on the Humanities in American
Education, in which he proposed an extensive study covering
the entire range of education. After these preliminaries, the Ex-
ecutive Committee of the Council at its meeting, January 26,
1939, appointed a committee, consisting of Theodore M. Greene,
chairman, Charles C. Fries, Henry M. Wriston, and William
Dighton, "for the purpose of drafting a detailed plan for a
study of educational trends and the humanities." The chairman
presented a first report on December i, 1939, and in 1940 made
an extensive trip through the South and West, where he dis-
cussed the scope and character of the proposed study with in-
dividuals and groups in many colleges and universities. A draft
of the report, when completed, was submitted to criticism and
discussion, then revised and published in 1943 under the tide
Liberal Education Re-examined: Its Role in a Democracy by
Harper and Brothers. The interest of the American Council
of Learned Societies helped to focus attention on the subject of
liberal education and the preservation of the humanities through-
out the country.

Dissatisfaction with the elective system, the failure ot col-
leges to provide a balanced education and a common back-
ground to students, the growing demands for vocational or
professional, at the expense of general, education, the status of
graduate education, and the preparation of college teachers
were all factors which had begun to cause unrest for some time
before the war. The new economic conditions, the conflicts

174 THE IMPACT OF THE WAR UPON AMERICAN EDUCATION

between the ideals of democracy and other forms of govern-
ment, the new role of the United States in international af-
fairs, the new intellectual interests which resulted from this
situation, and the spectacular development of the sciences and
technology, the consequent conflict between the claims of the
humanities and the sciences in education, and the new vistas
opened up to the millions of young men and women who saw
service in all parts of the world all combined to emphasize
the urgent need of a new direction and orientation for edu-
cation at the college and university level. To these forces will
probably have to be added, although it may yet be too early to
judge, the influence of the large numbers of veterans who
crowded into the institutions of higher education. From what-
ever point of view the situation might be considered, it was
clear that a new era in higher education was in prospect.

In a culture in which there had always existed conflicts be-
tween liberal or academic education and the demands for prac-
tical studies, between a type of education which has continued
to be described as "aristocratic" even down to the present and
the education of the common man, between the study of the
past and the study of the immediately contemporary, a recon-
ciliation was long overdue. Since the days of Benjamin Franklin,
liberal education has been regarded as a luxury or "ornamental,"
and has been contrasted with an education that is "useful."
More recently Franklin's distinction between the "ornamental"
and the "useful" has been replaced by the distinction between
the "static" and the "dynamic" types of education. Increasingly,
educational theory emphasized the importance of adapting
education to the divergent abilities and interests of the students
and their adjustment to the social, political, and economic needs
of the day.

Viewed in the light of the history of American culture
since the founding of the Republic, the problems not only in
higher but also at other levels of education are not new. What
is surprising is that the reconciliation between the two aspects
of American culture the intellectual and the practical was
not made earlier. Emerson in The American Scholar had already
noted the distinction between the intellectual and the man of
affairs when he wrote: "There goes on in the world a notion

LIBERAL EDUCATION AND THE COLLEGE CURRICULUM 175

that the scholar should be a recluse, a valetudinarian as unfit
for any handiwork or public labor as a penknife for an axe.
The so-called 'practical men' sneer at speculative men, as if,
because they speculate or see, they could do nothing." And de
Tocqueville at about the same time said of the Americans
that "general ideas alarm their minds, which are accustomed
to positive calculations, and they hold practice in more honor
than theory."

The clash between the contending aims in education the
liberal and the practical began a century ago, although it
was already inherent in the proposals for an education "adapted
to the genius of the Government of the United States" in the
last two decades of the eighteenth century. 1 In his Report to
the Corporation of Brown University on Changes in the Sys-
tem of Education (1850), President Francis Wayland deplored
the fact that the colleges were not making their proper contri-
bution to the economic needs of the country. "With the pre-
sent century," he wrote, "a new era dawned upon the world.
A host of new sciences arose, all holding important relations
to the progress of civilization." The colleges, which were suf-
fering from a decline in enrollments, might appeal for funds
to enable them to continue in their traditional ways, or they
might "adapt the article produced to the wants of the com-
munity." The first method had been tried and failed. "We are,
therefore, forced to adopt the supposition that our colleges
are not filled because we do not furnish the education desired by
the people. ... Is it not time to inquire whether we cannot
furnish an article for which the demand will be, at least, some-
what more remunerative?" Accordingly, Wayland proposed
that the work of the university be adapted "to the wants of
the whole community" by providing courses in the science of
teaching, principles of agriculture, and the application of science
to the arts. "Selling education to the public" and "fitting the col-
lege to the student" are not ideas born of the technological
and business civilization of the twentieth century.

President Henry P. Tappan of the University of Michigan
was also concerned at the same time about the low enrollments

i. See A. O. Hansen, Liberalism and American Education in the Eight-
eenth Century, New York, 1926.

THE IMPACT OF THE WAR UPON AMERICAN EDUCATION

in college, which he sought to explain in his University Edu-
cation (1851) as follows:

We inspire no general desire for high education, and fail to col-
lect students because we promise and do not perform. Hence we
fall into disrepute, and young men of ability contrive to prepare
themselves for active life without our aid. In connection with this,
the commercial spirit of our country, and the many avenues to
wealth which are opened before enterprise, create a distaste for
study deeply inimical to education. The manufacturer, the mer-
chant, the gold-digger, will not pause in their career to gain in-
tellectual accomplishments. While gaining knowledge, they are
losing the opportunities to gain money. The political condition of
our country, too, is such that a high education and a high order of
talent do not generally form some guarantee of success. The tact
of the demagogue triumphs over the accomplishments of the scholar
and the man of genius.

While deploring this situation, Tappan nevertheless put for-
ward a strong plea for the cultivation of pure scholarship, but
without neglecting education of a practical nature.

The question in education, as in religion, is not what men desire,
but what they need. This must govern us in determining the form
and quality of our educational institutions. Now when it is asked,
What we need in the way of education? we may reply, either that
we need to fit men well for professional life, and for the general
business of the world in the mechanical arts, in agriculture, in com-
merce; or, we might reply, that we need all in due order and pro-
portion. The last reply would, unquestionably, be the correct one.

The trend was, however, already set in favor of electives
and expanding the college curriculum to meet the desires of
a wider clientele, what Tappan referred to as "the idea of fitting
our colleges to the temper of the multitude/' Twenty years
later President F. A. P. Barnard of Columbia College stated that
electives were "evidently well adapted to catch at this time the
wind of the popular favor." The curriculum had, in fact, be-
come overcrowded by the addition of new subjects to the old
without any relaxation in requirements resulting in a sacrifice
of standards of scholarship and thoroughness. Tappan's de-
scription of the situation as "an immense and voracious deglu-
tition of knowledges where mental digestion is estimated accord-

LIBERAL EDUCATION AND THE COLLEGE CURRICULUM 177

ing to the rapidity with which subjects are disposed of" may
not have been exactly accurate in his day; but it was a pro-
phetic anticipation of what was to happen, when out of the
elective system the quantitative dosage of education in terms of
points, units, and credits was developed. From the middle of
the nineteenth century on, the American college assumed a
character of its own.

The American college is a unique institution. Unlike institu-
tions of higher education in other parts of the world, the col-
lege overlaps at one end with what is elsewhere regarded as
secondary education, and with the first years of university
education at the other. From this situation arise some of the
difficulties of defining the purposes and aims of college educa-
tion, since it has the responsibility for continuing the general
or liberal education of the students and of giving them some
form of professional or occupational preparation. The confu-
sion becomes still more aggravated when the college is called
upon to provide specific preparation through premedical, pre-
law, and preengineering courses. Building on the uncertain
foundations of high school education, the college is called upon
to provide preliminary and introductory courses in subjects
which students should have completed before entrance. Able
and well-prepared students consequently find themselves in
classes with students who are less able, and either less well-pre-
pared or entirely unprepared, for the courses, with discouraging
effects on the former. Nor is there sufficient difference between
the methods of instruction, daily assignments, quizzes, and ex-
aminations in college and high school to challenge students
to become intellectually independent and to assume some re-
sponsibility for their own education.

In European universities students are technically in statu
pupillari in the sense only that their conduct is more or less
governed by certain regulations; in their studies, however, they
enjoy complete freedom, restricted only by their own know-
ledge that at some time at the end of their course an account-
ing will be expected of them. The American student is com-
pletely free to regulate his life and his extracurricular activities
as he pleases; in the main purpose which should bring him to
college to get an education he continues to.be kept in lead-

iy8 THE IMPACT OF THE WAR UPON AMERICAN EDUCATION

ing-strings, which are held almost as tightly as they are in high
school. The system itself stands in the way of his education.
And here there is another paradox. In the past twenty-five
years or so the theory has been widely disseminated that over-
protection of children by their parents is detrimental to the
proper development of their personality. In the same period
there have been organized in the interest of guidance elaborate
systems of deans, subdeans, counselors, tutors, and advisers,
whose responsibility it is to find out and record everything
that can be known about a student (and often about his pa-
rents) in order to guide him not only in the choice of courses
suited to his abilities but to foster the growth of his personality
in the right direction. Undoubtedly a system of advising and
counseling students is desirable, but there is something ominous
in the use of phrases like "human engineering" and "processing
the student" which are occasionally found in this connection.

"What is a student?" is as grave a question in the present
period of transition as "What is education?" The late Professor
Carl Brigham, discussing the admission of students to college,
stated a. few years ago that "An organization set up for the
sole purpose of collecting tickets at the gate is now asked to
show people to their seats." He might have continued to say
that the organization is now expected not only to see that the
seats are comfortable, but that the ticket-holders are made as
comfortable as possible in them. The effect in the long run is
to absolve the student of any responsibility for educating him-
self. The development of initiative, self-reliance, and resource-
fulness is among the cherished aims of education in a democracy;
but the recent trends in theory and practice seem to point in
the direction of prolonging the intellectual dependence of the
student.

To this dependence the internal organization of college edu-
cation has in no small measure contributed. The adoption of the
elective system helped to destroy any commonly accepted con-
cept of a college education, and with it the meaning of an edu-
cated person. The arguments for the elective system, when it
was first introduced, were that it would provide free play for
individual differences of interests, and, to quote a statement
made by Dean Briggs of Harvard University in his Annual Re-

LIBERAL EDUCATION AND THE COLLEGE CURRICULUM 179

port, 1901-02, that "of any two subjects efficiently taught for
the same length of time, one is about as good as another and
deserves equal recognition in a scheme of examinations." It
was based on the assumption that the college student was suf-
ficiently mature and had sufficient understanding to plan his
own curriculum, and that the subject chosen was unimportant,
provided the same amount of time was devoted to it as to any
other.

The elective system, described by Professor S. E. Morison,
the historian of Harvard University, as "the greatest crime of
the century against American youth depriving him of his
classical heritage," spread throughout the country. Criticisms
began to be heard early in the twentieth century. Thus, Charles
Francis Adams, in a Phi Beta Kappa address delivered in 1906,
said: "So far as I have been able to ascertain through twenty-
five years of the discussions of the Harvard Board of which I
have been a member, the authorities are as far apart as ever they
were. There is no agreement, no united effort to a given end."
In his Annual Report, 1906-07, President Jacob Gould Schurman
of Cornell University referred to the same absence of direction:
"The college is without clear-cut notions of what a liberal edu-
cation is and how it is to be secured. . . . and the pity of it is
that it is not a local or special disability but a paralysis affecting
every college of arts in America."

The era of free electives spent itself early in the present
century and was succeeded by a period in which efforts were
made to secure some order out of the chaos. These efforts were
in the direction of organizing programs in terms of majors and
minors, or of concentration and distribution, permitting elec-
tion but within certain groups of studies. Few institutions, how-
ever, adopted the practice of defining in advance what a stu-
dent might be expected to cover during his four college years
or of rounding out his studies by a comprehensive examination.

The efforts to correct the vagaries of free elective system
failed to meet the situation. By the time they were undertaken
another system had been adopted which militated against any
possibility of viewing education as a whole. This system was
the organization of education in terms of credits, units, or points.
Hence the student on entering college is expected to open a

l8o THE IMPACT OF THE WAR UPON AMERICAN EDUCA1IOX

noninterest bearing account with the registrar and, when that
account shows the accumulation of one hundred and twenty
points in a currency which itself is variable and unstandardized,
he becomes entitled to his degree. The account is built up in
instalments which may or may not be sequential or articulated,
but which consist of packages of courses, each with its desig-
nated number of points. The organization of the courses and
of instruction with their respective assignments, exercises, and
quizzes, is such as to stand in the way of continuity of an edu-
cational program and of the assimilation of ideas and meanings.
Even the corrective, adopted in some colleges and curiously
hailed as an important innovation the provision of a "read-
ing period" is no guarantee that the main end of an education
will be achieved. President Tappan's criticism, made nearly a
century ago, could be applied to the college scene today al-
most without change. The conception of education in his day,
wrote Tappan, was "not the orderly and gradual growth of
the mind according to its own innate laws, fixed by God him-
self, but an immense and voracious deglutition of knowledges
where the mental digestion is estimated according to the ra-
pidity with which subjects are disposed of." What was in
Tappan's day an object of criticism has since that time become
a matter of organization on the basis of quantitative measures
and interchangeable parts.' It is not without significance per-
haps that the average American student, when asked whether
he knows a subject, will never answer by a direct affirmative or
negative; his answer will normally be that he has or has not
"had" it. A college degree is, in fact, evidence only of four
years of attendance at college and the successful completion of a
certain number of courses recorded in .a transcript; it is rare
to find two transcripts that contain an identical list of courses.
Evidence of the insecurity and absence of any cumulative
effect of a college education was provided in the report of the
Carnegie Foundation on The Student and His Knowledge
(1938), based on a survey of Secondary and Higher Education
in Pennsylvania. The existence of variability between the col-
leges of the state and between students in the same college, which
was revealed by the survey, was not nearly a$ important as the
uncertainty of the students' knowledge which was discovered

LIBERAL EDUCATION AND THE COLLEGE CURRICULUM l8l

as the result of tests in general culture. The tests were not in-
tended to cover all the results of a college education; they were
definitely constructed to find out how much general knowledge
students had acquired and retained. The tests were criticized as
tests of "mere knoweldge," but the critics rarely indicated what
they meant by an education without knowledge or how the
"intangibles," assumed to be the concomitants of an education,
can be attained without knowledge. The fact remains that when
submitted to the same general tests, many students with college
degrees were no better informed on the subjects tested than were
a large number of pupils still in high school; about one-sixth of
the students tested over a two-year period showed that they had
even lost ground academically. In general, the results indicated
unevenness in the amount of knowledge retained as well as a lack
of balance in the program of studies.

Further evidence of this lack of balance has been produced
by the Graduate Record Examination, developed after the Penn-
sylvania survey by the Carnegie Foundation with the coopera-
tion of a large number of colleges and universities throughout
the country. The tests employed in this examination are con-
structed on the same general principles as those used in the
Pennsylvania survey, but are being constantly improved in the
light of further experimentation. The normal result of the graphs
produced for individual students on the basis of the Graduate
Record Examination is to reveal intensive specialization in some
one field of study, and a high degree of variability in others. It
is rare to find a graph which indicates a broad all-round educa-
tion, such as might be expected if colleges devoted themselves to
providing the kind of general education adapted to the needs of
modern society. The results are cumulative; and with still further
specialization in the graduate school, the complaint frequently
heard that holders of advanced degrees are illiterate outside of
their chosen field of special studies should not cause surprise.

The implications of the report on The Student and His Knowl-
edge do not appear to have been recognized; the further develop-
ment of the meaning of the Graduate Record Examination may
be postponed until the colleges assume their normal functions in
the postwar years. The rapid expansion and proliferation of
courses, a result not only of the expansion of knowledge itself

l82 THE IMPACT OF THE WAR UPON AMERICAN EDUCATION

but also of the effort to fit the college curriculum to "the temper
of the multitude," had already begun to cause some concern in
the years following World War I. It was this concern which
led to a variety of experiments to integrate knowledge by means
of orientation courses, survey courses, and "general education,"
which resulted in courses offering a little of everything in related
fields of knowledge and nothing in particular. The notion that
intellectual integration could be promoted by the mechanical
process of substituting disjecta membra of a variety of fields of
knowledge for the fields themselves was fallacious from the start.
Integration is an intellectual process, which should come from a
grasp and understanding of meanings and of the interrelation of
ideas; it is a function of good teaching as it is of sound learning.
The integrated course may spread a somewhat diffuse panorama
before the student, but it fails to convey the idea that areas of
knowledge have been developed as tools and methods for under-
standing the world; as disciplines, in short. The parts and frag-
ments which are put together to form an integrated course begin,
in the long run, to constitute a new and different course, wholly
unrelated to the areas from which they are drawn.

From whatever point of view the problems of college educa-
tion are approached, the only conclusion that can be reached is
that there is no sense of direction or any genuine definition of
aim. There are innumerable statements of innumerable objectives
which, when added together, still fail to give a clear sense of
direction. The period between the two wars has been marked
by a number of experiments, but these on the whole have been
mechanical and external devices, too often to enlist public in-
terest and support; and, as the late President Walter A. Jessup
wrote, "common to other, competitive social and economic
processes. Just now," continued President Jessup,

we are in the mood to follow the new. Not only do we like to buy
a new model of motor car or a new radio; we are attracted by the
"new education." In bidding for favor we are streamlining the job
our current models glitter with gadgets that smack of the factory
and the salesman. Perhaps a college can gain by adopting sixteen
cylinders, hydraulic brakes, and air-flow design. Perhaps so. Or it
may be that a college should be organized with multiple tubes and

LIBERAL EDUCATION AND THE COLLEGE CURRICULUM 183

high-fidelity loud speaker. But certainly the college which rests its
case on doing something new or adopting some gadget of the mo-
ment would do well to consider the long road it must travel. It might
well recognize that the institution must be administered with a
view to its whole task not a temporary task of exploitation or
publicity of news releases or reorganization on a current pattern,
whatever it may be, but a task to be measured ultimately by the
effect of the college upon the student himself. 2

The problems confronting the American college are many
and varied. Some arise from the struggle for survival and the
consequent competion for funds and students. Some arise from
the increase in enrollments, which is itself not open to criticism
but becomes serious when the standards of preparation in the
high schools are uncertain and variable, and when the theory is
propounded that students will do well in college irrespective of
what they may have chosen to study in high school. Other prob-
lems can be traced back to the traditional conflict, which has
been discussed earlier, between cultural and practical education.
Those who decry the current trend toward vocational prepara-
tion in college fail to realize that the provision of such preparation
is an obligation. The issue is not whether vocational preparation
should or should not be provided, but rather at what stage in the
student's career it should come, and whether it cannot be organ-
ized in a mold better adapted to it than the academic organization.

There is, however, another problem which has not received
the attention that it merits. Largely as a result of the standards
set up by accrediting agencies, the practice has grown up of
requiring teachers at the college level to hold the Ph.D. degree.
Introduced originally to promote the advancement of scholar-
ship and research, this degree has in the main become a license
to teach. Valuable as the training for the degree may be, no
provision is made to prepare the future college teacher for the
work that he is to undertake. There is, however, another and
more serious defect which may militate against effective teach-
ing. The tendency in the requirements for the Ph.D. is in the
direction of increasing and more intensive specialization, with

2. "The American College," in Educational Yearbook, 1943, of the
International Institute of Teachers College, Columbia University, edited
by I. L. Kandel. New York, 1943, pp. 180 f.

184 THE IMPACT OF THE WAR UPON AMERICAN EDUCATION

the result that what the student may gain in depth of scholarship
and research he may lose in breadth of understanding the relation-
ship of his field of specialization to the needs of the college stu-
dent. The next consequence is a type of compartmentalization
which leads to failure to see the aims and purposes of education
as a whole. Evidence of this situation is most clearly provided
in the inability of specialists in the various branches of the sciences
to organize courses that will interpret for the general student
the meaning and place of science in a modern liberal education.
On the other hand, the study of the humanities, strongly in-
fluenced at first by the standards of German scholarship and
research and later in an effort to meet the competition of the
sciences and technology, has in large measure come to be de-
voted to a process of refined fact-finding, and has run the risk
of losing a sense of its main purpose.

The application of scientific methods to research in the humani-
ties no doubt has its place, and a valuable place, for the advance-
ment of scholarship; but it is an inadequate preparation for those
whose task as college teachers will be to introduce the student to
the real meaning of the humanities. No one has more accurately
and more succinctly described the situation than Henry Seidel
Canby. In an address on The American Scholar and the War,
prepared for the Modern Language Association of America, Mr.
Canby wrote in 1943:

Has literature for us been the articulate tradition of civilization,
or has it been, sometimes, often, a set of test tubes, a collection of
samples, a program of experiments upon which the chemist sets to
work? What has been the relation between literary research and
that teaching of literature which should the primary training and
extension and uplifting of the imagination? I submit that the exten-
sive literary research of the last quarter-century has made teaching
more accurate, has trained new researchers in better methodologies,
and beyond that has almost completely failed to insure in the teach-
ing of literature the growth, the fervor, the taste, the insight, the
assimilation of what can only be assimilated and can never be di-
rectly taught, which alone justify eminence and perhaps pre-emi-
nence for- literature among the humanities. The great teachers of
literature have not got their power over literature as such, over
poetry as such, in their work for the doctor's degree, no matter how
useful that may have been.

LIBERAL EDUCATION AND THE COLLEGE CURRICULUM 185

The charge may be disputed, but the prevalence of handbooks
or cram-books in the humanities is at least some indication of the
standards that students expect to meet in their examinations.
They read about books but not into them.

It would be difficult, even if it were desirable, to distinguish
in graduate schools between those students who intend to devote
themselves to college teaching and those who plan to engage in
research and the advancement of scholarship. Frequently the
two careers are inseparable, and the graduate school should as-
sume responsibility for giving the future college teachers some
insight into the work in which they will engage. This respon-
sibility would mean more than offering courses on principles
of teaching in college. It should result in a sweeping reform of
the system which too frequently prevails of course require-
ments, which become progressively narrower and more inten-
sively compartmentalized. The current movement in the direction
of "area" or "regional" studies should help to break down de-
partmental barriers. Even more drastic reforms may be needed
to promote an intelligent understanding of the forces which have
in the past contributed to the development of the culture and
civilization of the world, and which are exercising such potent
influences on a world in transition.

Under the conditions which prevail at present, the young
teacher, trained in the methods of scholarship and research, enters
upon his career as more or less the master of a special field, with
a penumbra of such comprehensive requirements as he may have
had to meet, but with little understanding of the value of his field
as a contribution to education in general. If he looks for promo-
tion, he will discover that generally merit is acquired in the eyes
of administrative authorities not for teaching ability but for
more research, which means preempting a still narrower plot in
his special field in the hope that it may become the basis of still
another course. Only in rare instances are problems of teaching,
which include not only methods of instruction but the appro-
priate organization of content, the concern of college faculties;
they can, it is assumed, be left to the department on the other
side usually the far side of the campus.

At the first International Conference on Examinations, the late
Professor G. Delisle Burns remarked that "One of the worst

1 86 THE IMPACT OF THE WAR UPON AMERICAN EDUCATION

troubles in the examination system is that it has been devised by
professors, and the best thing that professors can think of is them-
selves; they therefore test candidates by what are tests of com-
petence for professors, but not for bankers and other persons." 3
For "examinations" it is only necessary to substitute "education"
to make this statement applicable to present conditions in col-
lege teaching. From this arises the frequent gibe that college
teachers live in ivory towers, a gibe which may or may not have
some justification, but which threatens the foundations of educa-
tion when it is transferred from the professors to the subjects
that they profess. For it is this kind of gibe which leads to the
introduction of courses that are more "practical" or more "func-
tional" and initiate the student into the facts of life in his ever-
changing environment, and to contempt for those areas of intel-
lectual endeavor which have been distilled from the experience
of man through the ages. Scholarship is important; appreciation
of the techniques of research is important; and both must be the
possession of the teacher. More important than either, however,
is the ability to inspire in the student a feeling that a course is
more than a requirement to be met for academic purposes, and
that it is intended as one way of contributing to his understanding
of man and his world. In other words, it is not the "subject" nor
"books" (not even the selected "best books") that impart a liberal
education, but the teacher. The influence of a mechanized civil-
ization on the organization of education has already been men-
tioned. It is perhaps significant that in the years of crisis the
emphasis was placed upon "acceleration" the completion of the
same quantity of requirement in a shorter time; "ignition" seems
to have been overlooked entirely.

Unrest and uncertainty are not new phenomena in higher edu-
cation. The conflict of aims began a century ago; it began to
become more marked as the elective system spread throughout
the country and began to be subjected to criticism in the early
years of the present century. The rapid increase in the number
of students enrolled in colleges after World War I gave rise to
the question whether the traditional college curriculum, even
with the latitude offered by the elective system, was adapted to
the abilities, needs, and interests of the students. Attention was

3. Conference on Examinations, New York, 1931, p. 226,

LIBERAL EDUCATION AND THE COLLEGE CURRICULUM 187

focused on this question by the growing percentage of students
who dropped out of college for other than financial reasons. The
unrest in higher education, however, was only a part of the
mounting unrest in American education and of conflicting edu-
cational theories generally which marked the years following
World War I.

On the one hand, there were those who continued to maintain
their faith in traditional cultural values, a point of view intensified
by the highly specialized and at the same time somewhat narrow
training given in the graduate schools from which college teach-
ers were recruited. On the other hand, there were those who
advocated the adaptation of education to the interests and needs
of the individual student and to the rapidly changing culture.
In a world which, they claimed, was becoming increasingly com-
plex, in which new interests were rapidly developing through
the rapid expansion of the sciences and technology and their
effects upon economic life and organization, education cannot
stand still without running the risk of broadening the "cultural
lag." Education must have relevance and meaning for the stu-
dents in the world in which they live and are to play their part.
Both groups were equally concerned with the question of what
knowledge is of the greatest worth both to the individual and
to society.

The answers of both groups differed, as they had done in the
days of Wayland and Tappan. They differed, however, for an-
other reason, and that was the vast accumulation of knowledge
in the century that had elapsed. While the traditional practices
were continued in most colleges, and a college education con-
tinued in the main to consist in the accumulation of a number
of points required for a degree, in others an attempt was made
to provide a common foundation for all students in survey or
orientation courses, which were also designed to help students
in the choice of some area of specialization. Out of this attempt
to bring some order into the program of college education, there
developed the movement for what was known as "General Edu-
cation." It is significant that the use of the term "liberal educa-
tion" was avoided. There was, however, no general consensus
either about the concept of general education or about its content

1 88 THE IMPACT OF THE WAR UPON AMERICAN EDUCATION

except some vague idea that experimentation was needed as
much in education as in other areas of cultural activities.

THE SEARCH FOR VALUES AND LIBERAL EDUCATION

The general education movement cannot be entirely dismissed
as an effort to solve the complex problems which had been ac-
cumulating in college education. It may, indeed, have contributed
in some respects the plans which were developed for the re-
organization of the college program in the postwar period. It
lacked, however, that broad sense of direction implicit in the
concept of a liberal education. The only values with which it
was concerned were adaptation to the needs of the students and
immediate relevance to the contemporary scene. But even while
the movement and the different experiments under its aegis were
being discussed, another serious challenge to all concerned with
education for democracy began to manifest itself. The ideal of
democracy and of democratic institutions was threatened by the
rise of totalitarian forms of government, which, though they
varied among themselves, were united in decrying the democratic
ideal. The "war of ideas" and the outbreak of war helped to
concentrate attention on the urgent need of considering the
values which democracies were fighting to preserve.

The literature on college education, which began to appear as
soon as the war broke out in Europe and which mounted in vol-
ume as the war progressed, attacked the absence of a sense of
direction and purpose in education; and, in emphasizing the im-
portance of liberal education in general and of the humanities
in particular, sought to re-emphasize the urgent need of the
guidance of values if education was to make its contribution to
the preservation of the democratic ideal. This was all the more
necessary in an atmosphere in which the popular demand was
for practical training or training in specific skills and theory
insisted that education must be "functional" or "instrumental" or
"meaningful" in the sense that it gave instruction in facts of im-
mediate relevance in everyday life. Moral, cultural, or spiritual
values, if they were mentioned at all, were referred to with deri-
sion or dismissed as "static" or "authoritarian" in a society which
was "dynamic," and in which values were constantly being recast
to meet the needs of a rapidly changing culture. Those, how-

LIBERAL EDUCATION AND THE COLLEGE CURRICULUM 189

ever, who decried moral, cultural, or spiritual values as intan-
gibles, and who claimed to derive their notions of functionalism
or instrumentalism from the philosophy of pragmatism appear
to have overlooked Dewey's statement that "Some goods are not
good for anything; they are just goods. Any other notion leads
to an absurdity. For we cannot stop asking the question about an
instrumental good, one whose value lies in its being good for
something, unless there is at some point something intrinsically
good, good for itself." 4

Two points stood out clearly in the critical analysis to which
college education was subjected in the extensive body of litera-
ture which was published from 1940 on. The first point was that
the values to be achieved through education had been ignored
or neglected. The second point which was emphasized through-
out was that the essence of a sound concept of liberal education
lies not so much in the subjects studied but in the acquisition of
values through contact with significant ideas and significant
minds. The failure to realize that subjects qua subjects are not
in themselves liberalizing led to a conflict between those who
espoused the* claims of certain subjects as inherently liberal in
themselves and those who emphasized the importance of cater-
ing to the particular needs and interests of students as individuals.
Knowledge, facts, information can be acquired; but more im-
portant, if education's to be liberal, is the effect upon the in-
dividual. A liberal education is far more than the acquisition of
knowledge; its aim should be to give meaning to life and a guiding
philosophy for action. The Nazis were not lacking in knowledge
and especially such knowledge as was directed to their immediate
aims; what led to their destruction was the deliberate rejection
of humanism and moral and spiritual values. Information, facts,
and knowledge are essential; but they are vehicles only for de-
veloping a sense of values, a sense of the good, the true, and the
beautiful. But together with a standard of values there must also
be standards of evaluation and discrimination. One reason for
the futile attempt to promote creative activities has been that
creativity was aimed at directly without being preceded by that
assimilation and reflection from which standards of value, could
be developed. A liberal education has failed unless it has cul-

4. J. Dewey, Democracy and Education, New York, 1916, p. 283.

THE IMPACT OF THE WAR UPON AMERICAN EDUCATION

tivated in the student ability to think clearly, with judgment,
taste, understanding, imagination, and critical-mindedness. It is
concerned as much with the development of feeling as with in-
tellectual training; with the cultivation of the emotions as much
as of reason. It does not ignore the importance of meaning or
relevance; but, since its focal point is or should be life, it can be
broader in range and perspective than an education concerned
with immediate application. In the wholesome trend to restore
the genuine meanings and purposes of a liberal education and to
abandon the practice of labeling certain subjects as liberal, those
who sought to place an emphasis on values stressed the fact that
the most important among these values are the moral and spiritual,
and never so important as at a rime when men were struggling
against the forces of evil to preserve the worth and dignity of
the human being. Inherent in this struggle was the assertion of
the rights and freedom of the individual as over against the
dominance of force and authoritarianism. At the same time, the
critics of recent tendencies in American educational theory pro-
tested against the confusion which had arisen between freedom
and license and the divorce between rights and obligations. The
only sure guarantee of both rights and freedom lay, it was argued,
in the reference of both to values.

There was, however, in the earlier contribution to the sub-
ject of values a tendency to array the humanities over against the
sciences. Values, it was argued, could only be derived from the
study of the humanities; the sciences as such were neutral and
were not concerned with values. The sciences were concerned
with the objective search for truth; the humanities were con-
cerned with the discovery not only of the truth but also of the
good and the beautiful. The antagonism between the two arose
from the notion that sciences were at the root of the latter-day
spread of materialism and from the fear that in education they
were crowding out the humanities. For this fear there was some
foundation, as there was for the fear lest the study of the human-
ities was abandoning the aims inherent in humanism by imitating
the methods of the sciences. Many words were wasted in the
effort to deny the possibility of deriving values from the sciences,
and in the claim that the true source of values was to be found in
the humanities. Greater progress began to be made when it was

LIBERAL EDUCATION AND THE COLLEGE CURRICULUM 191

admitted that the values of the sciences and the values of the
humanities, since they dealt with different aspects of the universe,
were complementary to each other.

The antagonism was particularly futile, first because in the
narrow, specialized approach to the humanities their values were
neglected, and second because the leading scientists had already
begun to admit that the sciences could not answer all the ques-
tions of life. This admission provided a salutary challenge to the
advocates of the humanities to put their own house in order.
"The scientist," said Robert A. Millikan, "provides us with ex-
tensive enough information regarding what is, but unless we
have those among us who tell us what wakes for, and what does
not make for, our fundamental well-being, we are lost." So too
Einstein, after stating that science can never give us our aims,
said, "Once the aims exist, the scientific method provides means
to realize them. But it cannot furnish the aims themselves. . . .
Perfection of means and confusion of aims seem, in my opinion,
to characterize our age." And, finally, Raymond B. Fosdick
stressed the same point when he wrote, in the Annual Report
of the Rockefeller Foundation, 1942, that

The economists and political scientists must help, but so must
the physicists and the biologists. And particularly we must rely on
the humanists the historians, the philosophers, the artists, the poets,
the novelists, the dramatists all those who fashion ideas, concepts,
and forms that give meaning and value to life and furnish the pat-
terns of conduct. It is they who really construct the world we live
in, and it is they who with sensitive awareness to human perplexity
and aspiration, and with the power of imaginative presentation can
speak effectively to a distracted world. 5

The antagonisms in the learned world were not due to the
bewilderment and confusion which prevailed in the world gen-
erally. They were the symptoms of a disease which had for some
time been spreading in the world of learning. That disease was
intense specialization, so that scholars in neighboring areas of
knowledge ceased to understand each other or became some-
what self-assertive. Great as have been the contributions to
scholarship, the very specialization which had made it possible

5. The three statements are quoted in Norman Foerster, editor, The
Humanities at War, Princeton University Press, 1944, p. v.

192 THE IMPACT OF THE WAR UPON AMERICAN EDUCATION

to produce them helped to undermine any general concept of
culture or liberal education. Nowhere has the situation in the
modern world of learning been so clearly and so accurately de-
scribed as in the following statement by Ortega y Gasset:

The most immediate result of this unbalanced specialization has
been that to-day, when there are more "scientists" than ever, there
are much less "cultured" men than, for example, about 1750. And
the worst is that with these turnspits of science not even the real
progress of science itself is assured. For science needs from time
to time, as a necessary regulation of its own advance, a labor of re-
constitution, and, as I have said, this demands an effort toward uni-
fication, which grows more and more difficult, involving as it does
ever vaster regions of the world of knowledge. 6

The humanists, strongly entrenched in schools and universities
for centuries, were disposed to decry the rising place of the
sciences. Had they not lost their historical perspective they might
have recalled that the revival of humanism and the birth of the
sciences both had their origin in man's desire to learn more about
himself and the world in which he lived. They might have re-
called also the reciprocal interplay between the sciences and
philosophy which began in the seventeenth century, having been
neglected since the classical period of Greece and Rome. At the
same time, scientists were to blame in cutting themselves off from
all concern with the humanities on the plea that all the answers
about the meaning of life could be provided by the sciences alone.
The scientists at any rate have surrendered their claim, but, with
a few notable exceptions, they have made little or no attempt to
define the meaning of sciences in the life of man. The same trend
is to be found in the so-called social sciences, which, adopting
the objective methods of the sciences, engage in fact-finding and
collection and analysis of relevant data but without any sugges-
tion of the standard of relevance by which the facts or the data
are to be evaluated.

The literature on liberal education which appeared in the past
six years was on the whole devoted more to a defense and a
campaign for the preservation of the humanities. It was not until
the time came for the definite planning of the postwar college

6. Jose Ortega y Gasset, The Revolt of the Masses, New York, 1932,
p. 125.

LIBERAL EDUCATION AND THE COLLEGE CURRICULUM 193

curriculum that an effort had to be made to reconcile differences
between different areas of learning and to find a place for each
in a well-rounded program of liberal education. The search for
values did have one healthy, perhaps an unanticipated, result. It
began to be realized that no subject is in itself "liberalizing;"
that a liberal education can only be achieved by liberally minded
teachers and students in contact with significant ideas. What
T. S. Eliot said in an address on The Classics and the Man of
Letters on subjects as "disciplines" applies equally to the claim
that some subjects are more liberal than others. "I think," he said,

that the defense of any study purely as "discipline" in the modern
sense can be maintained too obstinately. . . . The defence of "dis-
cipline" in the abstract, the belief that any "mental discipline" car-
ried out in the right way and far enough will produce an abstract
"educated man," seems to have some relation to the egalitarian ten-
dencies of the nineteenth century, which extended to subjects of
study the same equality held for the human beings who might
study them. 7

COLLEGE TEACHERS

The liberalizing influence of a subject depends in the main on
the competence of the teacher, and many a subject which in the
past has been claimed to be essential for a liberal education has
been taught illiberally. It is the competent teacher who can arouse
visions of greatness in students. While references to the impor-
tance of competence and breadth in teaching in contrast to the
narrowness and even the parochialism of the specialist did appear
here and there in the extensive literature on liberal education,
there still remained a sort of special pleading for certain subjects
as more liberal than others. The fundamental issue was raised,
however, by John Herman Randall, Jr., in a notable article,
"Which Are the Liberating Arts?" 8 Before this question can
be answered, the aims to be achieved must first be considered.
Education should produce free men able to use opportunities
to make the most of themselves, to develop their powers and
capacities as free citizens and responsible members of society.
Liberal education is the process of making men fit for freedom.

7. T. S. Eliot, The Classics and the Man of Letters, Oxford, 1943, p. 19.

8. American Scholar, Spring, 1944, pp. 135 ff.

194 THE IMPACT OF THE WAR UPON AMERICAN EDUCATION

Subjects in themselves are not necessarily liberal; whether they
liberalize depends upon the way in which they are taught. Ran-
dall then proceeds to raise the fundamental issue of contemporary
education and to provide an answer:

Since all the arts and sciences can be taught illiberally, and usually
are, what is the way out? Well, we have found by experience that
there are various ways of teaching them liberally that is, in such
a fashion as to reveal their place in the universe of knowledge, and
not leave them mere "specialties," isolated and unrelated, with no
relevance to anything else. There are many ways in which a liberal
teacher can make them part of the education of a whole man, who
through them may come to understand himself and his powers, his
world and his relation to it. There are many roads to freedom, to
the achievement of perspective, toward making the arts instruments
of liberation from the insistences of the moment so that the student
can see where these insistencies fit into the picture, and why they
are so insistent. Unlike most of those arguing about liberal educa-
tion to-day, I can see no single panacea, and cannot hitch my wagon
to any one of the schemes so plentifully proposed. That is a large
part of the trouble in this whole business there are so many drugs
on the market, excellent specifics in themselves, which are being
dubiously promoted as nostrums and specifics. . . .

To be a nation of competent technicians does seem to be our
American destiny. But we can resolve not merely to train com-
petent technicians; we can also educate them as free men and free
minds. If our education succeeds in producing free minds, men of
understanding and vision, then these men can go on in that liberal
spirit to be men of power. And in the marriage of knowledge and
power they can become whole men, men who have found some-
thing of humanitas?

The major value of the discussions of the reform of the col-
lege curriculum lay, in Randall's opinion, in stirring up the teach-
ers and shaking them out of their ruts. Teachers everywhere
were enlisted in discussions of the curriculum reforms needed in
American colleges. Whether they were shaken out of the ruts
into which specialists tend to settle and acquired the compre-
hension and vision of a liberally-minded teacher it is as yet too
early to say.

9. Ibid., pp. 146-148.

LIBERAL EDUCATION AND THE COLLEGE CURRICULUM 195

Since accrediting and other organizations began to attach the
importance which they did to the Ph.D. as one of the standards
for evaluating colleges, the emphasis shifted from teaching to
research. When to this is added an all-to-common practice of
promotion in the faculty ranks on the basis of research publica-
tions more than on the quality of teaching, the interests of col-
lege teachers have been diverted from their primary obligation.
In the rapid expansion of graduate schools the training has been
mainly on methodology and techniques of research, despite the
fact that the majority of graduate students look to college teach-
ing as their careers and the established fact that only a minority
of those trained to engage in research rarely continue to produce.
In a discussion of the college faculty, the late President Walter A.
Jessup of the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of
Teaching referred to the situation as follows:

In the struggle for academic respectability in which many insti-
tutions have engaged, much emphasis has been placed upon external
trappings of scholarship that are all too frequently specious. The
possession of a doctorate or the multiplication of trivial publications
has often tended to blind those who are responsible for selecting,
promoting, and making comfortable the teaching staff to the fact
that personality is still an indispensable element in an institution's
effectiveness. Standardizing associations meant well in their pres-
sure on colleges to increase the number of doctors on their staff.
This has resulted all too frequently in an accumulation of color-
less, superficial scholars, who were quick to recognize that the like-
liest road to promotion lay in the direction of "publication." It is
to be hoped that more institutions will recognize that their future
is largely dependent upon the skill with which they select, pro-
mote, and make happy the right persons on their staff. Life's one
institution most whole-heartedly devoted to the development of the
individual as a unit in society the college can ill afford to per-
mit the mechanics of administration, of promotion, of teaching, or
what not, to interfere with the full and free development of high
personal quality. The freedom that flourishes where sympathy and
respect prevail is a priceless asset to an institution of learning. In the
attempt to solve the problem of education intelligently and simply
we frequently fail to provide a place in our scheme of things for
the teacher who is an artist. Fortunate is the college which has as

196 THE IMPACT OF THE WAR UPON AMERICAN EDUCATION

its central aim the desire to recognize, liberate, and preserve this
essential, personal element in its teaching staff. 10

Professor Fred B. Millett, after discussing the encroachment
of scientific method into the field of the humanities, the impres-
sive quantity and the questionable quality of the scholarly pro-
duction, describes the effects of graduate study on the future
teacher in the following words:

What is shocking is what the graduate school does to the human
material with which it works. On the whole, I should be willing to
defend the proposition that most of the men who complete their
work for the Ph.D. degree are less vital, less broadminded, more nar-
row in interests than thev were when they entered the graduate
school. Anyone who has observed the passage of students through
the graduate school will have noticed how frequently there takes
place a slow drying-up of the personality and its movement in the
direction of narrowness and pedantry.

The effects of scientific method on humanistic studies in the
graduate school and its effects on the victims of the academic tor-
ture-house are less serious than the effects upon undergraduate edu-
cation in the field of the humanities. For the objective of training
in the American graduate school is allegedly preparation for the
teaching of undergraduate students. It is problematical whether any
graduate training could be devised that is less calculated to produce
the kind of teachers humanistic studies demand at the undergrad-
uate level. These studies call for teachers with vitality, with broad
esthetic and cultural interests, with sharpened critical faculties, with
far-ranging intellectual curiosity. Graduate education in the hu-
manities is much more likely to send into undergraduate teaching
men with low vitality, narrow interests, naive esthetic and critical
judgments, and an intellectual curiosity that is either nonexistent or
is limited to a narrow corner of the field the teacher has been tilling.
The results on the undergraduates that are submitted to the instruc-
tion of such men can easily be imagined. 11

Although Professor Millett restricts his discussion to the
preparation of teachers of the humanities, the same criticisms
could probably be made of the preparation of teachers of the

10. "The American College" in the Educational Yearbook, 1943,
pp. 185 f.

11. Fred B. Millett, The Rebirth of Liberal Education, New York,
1945, PP- * if-

LIBERAL EDUCATION AND THE COLLEGE CURRICULUM 197

natural and social sciences. Graduate schools have encouraged
intense specialization, which is undoubtedly important for the
advancement of knowledge, but which may become so narrow
and dogmatic as to produce a certain myopia which in the end
results in failure to see the relations of a special area of study
to the larger whole. Profoundly trained though the specialist
may be in his own narrow field, he tends too often to be igno-
rant of other areas of learning, even those that impinge on his
own. From the point of view of student interests, efforts began
to be made soon after World War I to break down departmental
barriers by the introduction of "integrated courses." This is a
doubtful remedy for the disease, since integration of ideas or
areas of learning cannot be produced by mechanical organization.
Integration of ideas must result from training in a habit of mind,
and this training the specialist concerned only with his own
narrow interests fails to provide. Only the student who is edu-
cated to see the relationships of different parts of human experi-
ence can successfully integrate what he learns.

THE CULT OF THE IMMEDIATE

Because there has been a failure to provide this type of training
and because a standard of relevance seems to be needed, there has
been a tendency to stress the novel, the modern, the contem-
porary, and the changing scene. There has thus resulted what
T. S. Eliot describes as "a division between those who see no
good in anything that is new, and those who see no good in any-
thing else; the antiquation of the old, and the eccentricity and
even charlatanism of the new, are both thereby accelerated." 12
On the other hand, there is always the fear of being out of date
or even a desire to be out on the frontier of thought, both of
which result in futility unless they are checked by a sense of
historical perspective. As Professor T. M. Greene points out, too
frequently the desire to be modern results in being merely con-
temporary 13 and in cultivating the novel merely because it is
new without any measure of value other than personal bias. On
the other hand, those who worship the past merely because it is

12. Op. cit. y p. 14.

13. "The Realities of Our Common Life," in The Humanities after the
War, edited by Norman Foerster, p. 35.

198 THE IMPACT OF THE WAR UPON AMERICAN EDUCATION

the past and refuse to see any meaning or relevance in it for the
present are equally guilty of prejudice. For, in the words of
Professor Ralph Barton Perry,

A prejudice for the novel is as enslaving as a prejudice for the
past. Nearsightedness and farsightedness are equally blind. The
true humanist will not face merely to the past and the distant and
the eternal; he will face toward the future, the near, and the tem-
poral. He will face all ways. He will be aware of all parts of the
circumference and all horizons up to that moving center where he
stands. 14

There is, however, another danger in this tendency to immer-
sion in the immediately contemporary and changing to which
Professor Greene has also drawn attention: "Our students who
lack historical perspective achieve not modernity of outlook but
only contemporaneity; and this means that since the immediate
present quickly slips into the past, they are forever getting out
of date." 15

The conflicts between the new and the old, the modern and
the past have been characteristics of American culture since the
founding of the Republic, or even earlier. They were the inevi-
table results of the effort of a people to adjust themselves to new
conditions in a new environment. Thus Carl Russell Fish tersely
pointed out the contrast when he wrote that "whereas Wash-
ington devoted attention to bringing his gardens to an exquisite
perfection, the men of the thirties and forties sought novelty
rather than perfection." 16 At about the same period William
Ellery Channing wrote: "Our age has been marked by the sud-
denness, variety, and stupendousness of its revolutions. The
events of centuries have been crowded into a single life. Over-
whelming changes have rushed upon one too rapidly to give us
time to comprehend them."

The conflicts raise the question whether it is the function of
educators to adapt their work to the mentality of the common
man or to raise his intellectual sights so that he can understand
the meaning of the past in the present and of the present for the

14. "A Definition of the Humanities," in The Meaning of the Human-
ities, edited by T. M. Greene, Princeton, 1938, p. 30.

15. Op. tit., p. 35.

16. The Rise of the Common Man, p. 105.

LIBERAL EDUCATION AND THE COLLEGE CURRICULUM 199

future. Education cannot be founded on the "movie habit of
mind," which flits from one event to another, from one idea to
another without any other measure of value than immediate per-
sonal satisfaction. Having no standard of values from the past
by which to measure the present, and no convictions except in
a kind of spurious scientism, an individual may confuse scepticism
and cynicism for open-mindedness and substitute reliance on
objective analysis of data for the use of reason.

To reject the past on the plea that conditions of contemporary
life are changing rapidly is to abandon all sense of perspective
by which the present can be measured and interpreted. To deny
that the cultural heritage has anything to teach is to deny the
accumulation through the ages of a fund of knowledge and
wisdom garnered through human experience. That there has too
frequently existed a tendency "to teach from the safe distance
of the historical past or predicted future rather than from the
living present" may be true, but it is not an argument for reject-
ing the past. It means rather that education cannot be divorced
from the immediate needs of life in the present, and that it must
have relevance to and meaning for the present. "But the law is
inexorable," wrote A. N. Whitehead, "that education to be
living and effective must be directed to informing pupils with
those ideas (i.e., of the past), and to creating for them those
capacities which will enable them to appreciate the current
thought of their epoch." 17 Or, in the words of President H. M.
Wriston, "Beneath to-day lies yesterday; beneath techniques lie
principles." 18

The general failure to impart a liberal education in the Amer-
ican college can be traced to a great variety of causes the elec-
tive system, the specialization of teachers, the emphasis on so-
called research and publication rather than on the quality of
teaching, the American temper and climate of opinion, which
demands immediate results or rejects tradition in favor of the
novel, to some extent the tendency to imitate scientific techniques
in areas of learning where their use stands in the way of their
more genuine aims, and, finally, a failure to reinterpret and re-
adapt the meaning of a liberal education to promote an under-

17. Aims of Education, New York, 1929, p. 116.

1 8. The Nature of a Liberal Education, Applcton, Wise., 1937, p. 133.

200 THE IMPACT OF THE WAR UPON AMERICAN EDUCATION

standing of the world in which we live. Although he does not
carry out the promise of his own definition, Professor Jacques
Maritain has succinctly defined the aim of modern education as
follows:

Of course the job of education is not to shape the Platonist man-
in-himself, but to shape a particular child belonging to a given na-
tion, a given social environment, a given historical age. Yet before
being a child of the twentieth century, an American-born or Euro-
pean-born child, a gifted or a retarded child, this child is a child of
man. 19

PLANNING POSTWAR COLLEGE EDUCATION

The literature on liberal education began with an assertion
of the claims of the humanities for a definite place in the college
curriculum. A sharp distinction was drawn at first between the
values of the humanities and the values of the sciences, and only
gradually was the importance of the sciences in education given
some recognition. Following the lead of the American Council
of Learned Societies, a number of local and regional conferences
were held in different parts of the country in 1943 and 1944
devoted to the consideration of the place of the humanities in
the college curriculum. Of these conferences the most notable
were those held at Stanford University with delegates from the
western states, at the University of Denver with representatives
from the Rocky Mountain states, and at Vanderbilt University
with representatives from the southern states. Important as were
these conferences in re-emphasizing the role that the study of
the humanities should continue to play in American life, it was
not until the institutions of higher education began to organize
committees of their own faculties that patterns for the reorganiza-
tion of the college curriculum in the postwar era began to appear.
While the literature on the humanities and liberal education
might be open to the criticism that only one aspect and that an
important aspect of liberal education was presented and dis-
cussed, the committees appointed in the several colleges were
inevitably compelled to discuss the claims of all areas of learning
for their legitimate place in the college curriculum. For the
future of college education the discussions of the issues involved
19. Education at the Crossroads, New Haven, 1943, p. i.

LIBERAL EDUCATION AND THE COLLEGE CURRICULUM 2OI

had the advantage of breaking down departmental barriers, of
compelling the departmental representatives to view the prob-
lems of education at the college level as a whole, and of shifting
the emphasis from the special claims of each department to a
consideration of the major aims that should govern the education
of college students. Compromises and adjustments had inevitably
to be made,, but a general pattern did emerge. Nevertheless, much
was gained from the challenge to each department to define the
contribution that it could make to the total concept of a liberal
education. To cite one example out of many: In the program
organized in 1943-44 f r Humanities Division Meetings at Ober-
lin College, the humanistic values in liberal education were pre-
sented from the points of view of the humanities, social sciences,
and natural sciences.

Of only one group of reformers can it be said that they claimed
to have a complete answer to the problems which had arisen not
only in American education but in education throughout the
world. About the reform which this group advocated there was
an assurance and a dogmatic certainty which left no possible
room for doubt in the minds of its members. The criticisms of
American education by the group which rallied round President
Robert M. Hutchins and Professor Mortimer Adler of the Uni-
versity of Chicago, Professor Mark Van Doren of Columbia
University, and President Stringfellow Barr and Professor Scott
Buchanan of St. John's College, Annapolis, were on the whole
sound and did not differ from the host of other criticisms which
appeared at the same time. Nor was there much difference be-
tween this group and others in the definitions of the aims of a
liberal education. The members of the group advocated the
study of man and the world. They stressed the importance of
the training of free and responsible citizens for democracy. They
emphasized the values of critical thinking, disciplined imagina-
tion, intellectual skills and interests, and familiarity with impor-
tant bodies of literature.

In an address to the graduates of the University of Chicago,
President Hutchins stated that

The task of education is to try, even in the midst of disorder and
catastrophe, to isolate the permanent and abiding, to help the ris-
ing generation acquire the permanent and abiding characteristics of

202 THE IMPACT OF THE WAR UPON AMERICAN EDUCATION

men and citizens, so that whatever the circumstances under which
they live, whatever the new problems they have to face, they may
strive to lead the good life and to be good citizens of the good state.
The educational task is always the same because man is always
the same. Since man is always the same, what is good for man is al-
ways the same. The educational task is the formation of good habits;
and the cardinal virtues are still fortitude, temperance, prudence, and
justice. The aim of the good citizen is still the good state, which is
still founded on justice, equality, and law. 20

In addition to their publications, which attracted widespread
attention if only because they were stridently different, the
group organized as "Education for Freedom, Inc." broadcast
thirteen weekly addresses, from December 13, 1943, to March
6, 1944, on the aims and meaning of a liberal education. In one
of the addresses President Hutchins declared that

What we need to make the shifting environment intelligible is
ideas, standards, and principles; ideas, the instruments of knowledge;
standards, to judge objectively the problems that present them-
selves; and principles of conduct which transcend the particular
problems of the day. Our graduates must have above all the capacity
to face new situations. This means that they must know how to
think. If we can help them learn this, we have done the most that
we can do for them. 21

Equally disarming was the thesis of Mark Van Doren,

that if liberal education is, it is the same for everybody; that the
training it requires, in addition to being formal, should be homo-
geneous through four years if the best is known, there is no stu-
dent whom it will not fit, and each should have all of it.

The search for a curriculum is the search for one that is worthy
to be uniform and universal. Such a curriculum is the end of any
serious thought about liberal education. Liberal studies are by def-
inition studies which we "are not at liberty to omit." An educated
society is one whose members know the same things and have the
same intellectual powers. The search of the educator should be
for these things, and for the comprehension of these powers. 22

20. Quoted in School and Society, July 4, 1942, p. 1 1.

21. Mutual Broadcasting System, December 20, 1943.

22. Liberal Education, New York, 1943, pp. no f.

LIBERAL EDUCATION AND THE COLLEGE CURRICULUM 203

The search of the "educators for freedom" was neither long
nor intensive. They found the answer where it might have been
least expected in the seven liberal arts of the middle ages. In
order "to establish for the country and the educational system
the ideal of the common good as determined in the light of rea-
son," President Hutchins stated his convictions as follows:

I suggest again that the primary object of institutions with this
aim will be the cultivation of the intellectual virtues. I suggest that
the cultivation of the intellectual virtues can be accomplished
through the communication of our intellectual traditions and
through training in the intellectual disciplines. This means under-
standing the great thinkers of the past and present, scientific, his-
torical, and philosophical. It means a grasp of the disciplines of
grammar, rhetoric, logic, and mathematics; reading, writing, and
figuring. It does not, of course, mean the exclusion of contem-
porary materials. They should be brought in daily to illustrate, con-
firm, or deny the ideas held by the writers under discussion. 23

Expressed somewhat differently, Van Doren's concept of the
Great Tradition is virtually the same:

The medium of liberal education is that portion of the past which
is always present. It consists of the liberal arts, literary and math-
ematical, because they control thinking whenever thinking is done;
and equally it consists of the great works in which meaning has
been given to the ideal statement that human life is itself an art.

If this is true, the curriculum for any college may be simply de-
scribed. The four years of every student will be devoted to two
principal and simultaneous activities: learning the arts of investi-
gation, discovery, criticism, and communication, and achieving at
first hand an acquaintance with the original books, the unkillable
classics, in which these miracles happened. 24

More specifically Van Doren defines the liberal arts in an-
other passage:

But what are the liberal arts by name? Tradition grounded in
more than two millenniums of intellectual history, calls them gram-
mar, rhetoric, and logic; arithmetic, music, geometry, and astron-
omy. As names they may be disappointing; some may sound nar-
row, others remote. And the objection might be offered that it is

23. Education -for Freedom, Baton Rouge, La., 1943, p. 60.

24. Op. cit. } pp. 144 f.

204 THE IMPACT OF THE WAR UPOX AMERICAN EDUCATION

not the names that matter so much as the essential operations. Even
then, however, the operations would have to be named if they were
to be kept clear of one another, and their natures understood. And
no new names have been found. So the old ones, numbering seven,
must be saved until such time as their meaning can be transferred
without loss to another set. 25

Having agreed by the use of one of the major intellectual
virtues, reasoning, that educational salvation is possible only
by a return to the seven liberal arts, the educators for freedom
by a curious unanimity also agreed that these arts could be cul-
tivated through the study of the same list of one hundred or one
hundred and ten great books, few of which appeared later than
1 800, when presumably the ages ceased to distil wisdom and man-
kind ceased to develop any new ideas. It is curious that of the
"unkillable classics," which presumably make up the "great
books," a fairly large number had to await resurrection by the
educators for freedom. The list, in fact, represents a conglomera-
tion of works in literature, philosophy, science, and mathematics.
Those in the last two fields may be of interest to the historians,
but have little value for the modern student of these subjects. To
use a distinction made by Maritain, of the great books many
may be worth "knowing about" but only a few are worth
"knowing into." Certainly not all the books consist of "that
portion of the past which is always present," nor do they "con-
trol thinking whenever thinking is done," whatever may be
meant by "control"

The fact is that the authors of the new liberal education for
freedom have completely misread the intellectual history of
Europe (the culture of the rest of the world is ignored) or they
could not have suggested a return to the educational canons of
of the middle ages. It is significant that when men began to show
an interest in studying man and the world they discarded the
seven liberal arts and returned to Greek and Roman culture for
guidance, and in their awakening the early humanists excoriated
the type of learning cultivated in the middle ages. It is unneces-
sary to discuss the premise that the education of all should be
the same, a concept which characterized education in the total-
itarian state. In days to come the cult of the great books or "the
25. Ibid., p. 81.

LIBERAL EDUCATION AND THE COLLEGE CURRICULUM 205

gospel according to St. John's" will appear to have been a piece
of arrogant futility at a time when there was an urgent call for
the reconstruction of education. The study of the history of edu-
cation and of cultural history would have convinced the advo-
cates of a return to the seven liberal arts that, in the words of
A. N. Whitehead, "any serious fundamental change in the in-
tellectual outlook of human society must necessarily be followed
by an educational revolution." 26

The suggestion of a return to the medieval liberal arts and the
study of certain great books, based as it also was on a concept of
mental discipline and transfer of training no longer supported
by modern psychology, was too easy and simple a formula for
the solution of the many-sided and complex problems of con-
temporary education. Several phases of these problems were dis-
cussed in a series of articles on "The Function of the Liberal
Arts College in a Democratic Society,'.' which appeared in The
American Scholar, Vol. 13, No. 4, Autumn, 1944, pp. 391 ff. The
only point of agreement among the six contributors was, accord-
ing to a summary by the late President William A. Neilson in
the same issue, as follows: "... a common recognition that liberal
education is to be found less in a prescribed list of studies than
in the spirit in which these studies are taught. But after this view
has been accepted there remains the harder question of how to
find teachers capable of transmitting this spirit."

After dismissing the notion that certain subjects have some-
thing liberal inhering in them and the conflict between the liberal
and the useful, between the cultural and utilitarian, and between
literary studies and scientific or technological studies, Dr. John
Dewey proposed a synthesis between these dualisms by giving
technical or vocational subjects, which are now socially neces-
sary, a humane direction. There should be an interfusion of
knowledge of man and nature, of vocational preparation and a
sense of the social consequences of industry on contemporary
society. A liberal education should enable one to appraise his
surroundings and the course of events. Dr. Alexander J. Meikle-
John pointed out that in modern society every citizen has two
parts to play, and that society needs two sets of education

26. Op. cit.y-p. 1 1 6.

206 THE IMPACT OF THE WAR UPON AMERICAN EDUCATION

vocational preparation and an education which does not vary
from man to man as a preparation for the same responsibilities
and the same problems, with training in ability to make common
decisions with a common passion for common truth and for
common welfare. Liberal and vocational education are not identi-
cal, but a liberal education should cultivate an understanding of
the place of science and technology in life today. President Scott
Buchanan, on the premise that "liberal education is the same for
everybody everywhere always," advocated the study of the great
books. Professor Arnold S. Nash urged that the study of the
humanities should be carried on not as an addendum to but
within the context of a student's professional studies to give them
meaning and an understanding of man, his place in society, and
his relation to the universe. President Kenneth C. M. Sills urged
that the function of liberal education is to free the mind, and
that the experience of the race seems to demonstrate that for
this purpose certain subjects (mathematics, English, foreign lan-
guages, and fine arts as the core) are more suitable than others.
The function of education is to teach how to live and to make
a living. Finally, Professor Ernest Earnest, in an article the title
of which, "Even A.B.'s Must Eat," indicates his point of view,
maintained that the liberal arts college fails to relate its work to
the world which the students must face, and that a program of
liberal education should be integrated with the vocational fields
since "a member of a democratic society functions in that society
chiefly through his occupation," and it is through an occupation
or a profession that knowledge or a lack of knowledge chiefly
affects society.

The Association of American Colleges, in view of the danger
of a "black-out" of liberal education and a trend toward voca-
tional training in the colleges, directed its attention to the con-
sideration of the picture of college education in 1942. At a meet-
ing of the Association held in Philadelphia on October 29, 1942,
it was resolved that:

Whereas the vigor and continuity of liberal education are impor-
tant to the health, welfare and safety of the Nation, be it resolved
that a commission of the Association ... be immediately ap-

LIBERAL EDUCATION AND THE COLLEGE CURRICULUM 207

pointed to keep continuously before the American people the wis-
dom of maintaining liberal education during and after the war. 27

It was agreed in the Commission that the conception of liberal
education was not at all clear in the public mind, that during
the past years there had been "less and less vigorous propagation
of faith in liberal education on the part of educators and more
and more adjustment of the college to fit the conception of what
people think they want/' and that "the colleges have lost sight
of the value of liberal education and their curricula have deter-
iorated into a hodge-podge of training in technical skills." Fol-
lowing a conference which was held at Princeton, February
12-14, 1943, it was decided to appoint a Committee on the Re-
statement of the Nature and Aims of Liberal Education. The
Committee, consisting of the following members: President
Harry D. Gideonse, Brooklyn College, chairman; President W.
H. Cowley, Hamilton College; Father Farrell, assistant executive
director, Jesuit Educational Association; Professor Theodore M.
Greene, Princeton University; Professor Charles W. Hendel,
Yale University; and President James P. Baxter, III, Williams
College, presented its report to the Commission on Liberal Edu-
cation of the Association of American Colleges in April, 1943.
The report was devoted to a discussion of "The Post-war Respon-
sibilities of Liberal Education." 28

The Committee based its report on the conviction that col-
leges and universities

have responsibilities beyond those of answering the call of war in-
dustry or the military program of the Government. They are the
custodians of a rich human heritage which they are bound by their
own vows of trusteeship to keep sound and true even to enrich by
intellectual inquiry, research and teaching. Along with the Gov-
ernment itself, the press and the churches, colleges stand among the
free institutions which make up the democratic social structure of
the American Commonwealth. They have their own particular
duties in this free society. They owe a unique service to the indi-
vidual, that he may be prepared in mind and spirit to live the demo-
cratic way of life. They can never neglect the maintenance of this

27. James P. Baxter, III, "Commission on Liberal Education Report,"
Association of American Colleges Bulletin, May, 1943, p. 269.

28. Ibid., pp. 275 ff.

208 THE IMPACT OF THE WAR UPON AMERICAN EDUCATION

service, even though the world at large is suffering under the vicissi-
tudes of war and reconstruction. The need of the nation at all times
is that this work of liberal education shall be done and that men
and women shall be prepared to become self-reliant and responsible
citizens (pp. 275 f.).

Recognizing the general acceptance by the Princeton confer-
ence that "the contemporary problems of education cannot be
solved merely by resuming the old routines at the close of the
war," the Committee declared that

The solution of these problems will call for a fresh empirical ap-
proach, envisaging realistically the character, the past experience, the
needs and interests of the men and women who will want such edu-
cation after the war, as well as the social and economic conditions
obtaining in American society at that time. Above all, a more vital
concept of liberal education is required, which will serve as a guid-
ing principle for the colleges as they strive to make higher educa-
tion for the future more adequate to the needs of man in the mod-
ern world. The present critical times demand new, well-considered
decision as to aim and principle and the courageous execution of
the policies that are thus arrived at (p. 276).

Admitting the existence of widespread disagreement as to the
nature of a liberally educated man, the Committee put forward
a definition on which most people would agree; namely,

That anyone who is illiterate and inarticulate, uninformed and
ignorant of the ways in which knowledge can be acquired, insensi-
tive to man's highest values and provincial in his outlook and orien-
tation is not a liberally educated person. This would suggest that
men and women are liberally educated to the degree that they are
literate and articulate in verbal discourse, in the languages of the
arts, and in the symbolic languages of the sciences; informed con-
cerning their physical, social, and spiritual environment and con-
cerning their relationship thereto as individuals; sensitive to the
values that endow life with meaning and significance; and able to
understand the present in the perspective of the past and the future,
and to decide and act as responsible moral beings (pp. 284 f.).

The purpose of a liberal education should accordingly be

to help man to acquire certain human qualities that manifest them-
selves in characteristic habits and attitudes. It is possible to stim-

LIBERAL EDUCATION AND THE COLLEGE CURRICULUM 209

ulate and inspire the student to develop these qualities in himself.
The final test of any pattern of education is the kind of men and
women it produces. "What you are," said Emerson, "speaks more
loudly than what you say" (p. 287).

The qualities which a liberal education should develop are
freedom, self-reliance, a sense of responsibility, intellectual
curiosity, fair-mindedness, open-mindedness, ability to think
critically and independently, and a generous spirit in all human
responses together with a readiness to recognize the worth of
other persons and to deal with them in a spirit of equality. "The
education of the free citizen is, in the first and largest sense, an
education for both personal liberty and social responsibility."
Liberal education should contribute to the development of the
whole man mind and body, character and spirit.

How these ends are to be met is answered by the Committee
as follows:

The individual can best achieve this cultivation of character,
mind and spirit by studying what is already known to have most
worth. Civilized mankind has treasured and passed on to succes-
sive generations a precious cultural heritage. It is the capital with
which men have won their way increasingly to the freedom we are
still striving for today if only to preserve it. In this heritage is a
fund of proven knowledge and well-tested opinion concerning man
himself and his physical and spiritual environment. It provides the
long perspective of history that enables him to understand his pres-
ent social and political order in the light of the past. It is also the in-
exhaustible many-sided record of man's persistent striving to shape
historical events to his own ends the expression of human aspira-
tions, ideals and spiritual faiths in the forms of art, literature, ethics,
philosophy and religion. These are the things man first needs to
know in order to see and solve his contemporary problems. By
learning what other men have thought and believed he is started on
the road to his own discovery of truth, justice and good. Contact
with great minds elicits the original spark of independent thought
and makes him ask his own questions and solve them for himself.
Thus he advances not only in learning but in the power to take care
of himself in a troubled world.

The ultimate objectives of liberal education are ideals toward
which man can strive but which he can never completely attain
(pp. 289 f.).

210 THE IMPACT OF THE WAR UPON AMERICAN EDUCATION

The Committee elaborated a program of education in terms
of specific skills and abilities, areas of knowledge, and types of
integration as follows:

Skills and Abilities: Some of the most important skills and abili-
ties which liberal education helps men and women to develop and
which, in turn, are essential to the pursuit of liberal studies are the
following:

a. To speak one's language correctly and effectively; to read
significant documents and to write clearly.

b. To use at least one other language with facility.

c. To recognize and organize facts of different types, and to
interpret them coherently.

d. To understand and appreciate great documents of art,
morals and religion, and to evaluate them with imagination
and wisdom.

e. To use intelligently and with a sense of workmanship some
of the principal tools and techniques of the arts and sciences.

f. To live with others, with imaginative sympathy and under-
standing, and to work with them cooperatively and justly.

Areas of Knowledge: Some of the most important areas of knowl-
edge which a person must explore to be liberally educated, and
which therefore constitute the subject matter of a liberal educa-
tion, are the following:

a. The world of nature the data, methods and achievements
of the physical and biological sciences, the historical devel-
opment of these sciences, their technological value, and the
philosophy of science.

b. Human society and man's interrelated social, political and
economic institutions their historical development, under-
lying principles and respective values for human life.

c. American Civilization and its European background its his-
torical origin, its relationship to European culture, its own
distinctive character and contemporary tendencies.

d. Other cultures primitive and advanced, oriental and occi-
dental, and their significances.

e. The arts and crafts man's artistic achievements in their his-
torical setting, and the mediums and form of artistic expres-
sion, past and present.

f. Man himself as a biological, psychological, moral and spiri-
tual being; and as a member of a family and of a local, na-
tional and international community.

LIBERAL EDUCATION AND THE COLLEGE CURRICULUM 211

g. Man's attempt, through the ages, to understand (in art and
literature, philosophy and religion) what life means and how
to be a responsible and useful human being (pp. 285 f.).

Types of Integration: A liberal education demands more than
knowledge of a good many facts and responsiveness to various kinds
of value; it requires an understanding of these in relation to one an-
other. One type of integration is through the cultivation of an his-
torical perspective, since "Neglect of history condemns an individual
to historical provincialism; it robs him of all that he might learn
from past human endeavor and compels him to plan blindly for the
future." History alone is not enough. A liberal education must help
man to discover those forces, peculiarly embodied in the arts and
literature and in philosophy and religion, which "enable him to
transcend and control history and thus to be a judge of it."

The power of such human achievements raises man's conscious-
ness to the direct and critical appreciation of those values which
are above the flux of the time process and which make a being capa-
ble of responsible judgment. A great work of art or literature, a
great philosophical insight or religious belief, do not "date" or be-
come old-fashioned, although produced in a particular time. With
their aid man can achieve the essential core of a liberal education
a capacity to judge wisely and become a free and responsible
agent.

A student's studies must therefore be so organized that their re-
lations can become clear and their unity effective. For they are all
one study the study by man of man in the world in which he finds
himself. A heterogeneous lot of studies, without order or sequence,
produces distraction instead of comprehension. Education, to be
liberal, must be cumulative and integrative. It must enable the stu-
dent to achieve a sense of real accomplishment by relating the
whole of reality to himself and himself to the whole. Then, and
only then, will he take the responsibility for his judgments as a con-
scious and educated man (pp. 286 f.).

The Committee recognized, however, but only in a footnote
reservation (p. 287) that "The fact that education, to be liberal,
must be integrated, does not lessen the value of isolated studies."
Nevertheless, it is the responsibility of sound teaching to help
the student to recognize the broad relevances of whatever he
studies, for, as the Committee states, the value of heterogeneous
interests and studies "is greatly enhanced if they can be inte-

2 I 2 THE IMPACT OF THE WAR UPON AMERICAN EDUCATION

grated by the student into a coherent pattern of interpretation
and conduct."

It was inevitable that in a proposal to revitalize the concept of
liberal education, to develop new programs of instruction with
new emphases, and to recognize "the perennial need of re-
examination and reform" of the concept, that the Committee
should concern itself with the problem of the teaching personnel.
For it is the teachers who "make or unmake the best designed
systems. They are the ones who apply the principles of instruc-
tion, and if they lack interest and vision, or fail to appreciate the
ideas that should constantly inspire their activities, they will
prevent the program from attaining its ends." The weakness of
college teaching in the past has been that the advanced study
of the teachers "has consisted largely of following some single
departmental curriculum, as if they were solely research special-
ists in one line and never participants in an educational enterprise
where their own subject is but one element in a balanced whole
of studies." The Committee contented itself, however, with an
emphasis on the importance of research, study, and scholarship
to enrich teaching, but offered no suggestions for the reform of
graduate study as a preparation for college teaching. It merely
stated that "A discriminating choice of those who are truly
qualified to carry on the postwar work of the colleges is one of
the outstanding responsibilities of colleges and universities." In
view of the recommendations of the Committee, it might have
been more to the point to insist that this responsibility is not
only an outstanding but the most important one, if education,
to be liberal, is to be cumulative and integrative and not a hetero-
geneous lot of studies without order or sequence.

While this Committee was engaged in its deliberations and
the preparation of its report, colleges throughout the country
had already organized their own faculty committees to consider
plans for the postwar reconstruction of the college curriculum.
The same issues were considered by all the committees. Of these
the first was the relation between the college and the high
school, and the degree to which the former was compelled by
the varying standards and requirements of the high schools to
make up for the deficiencies of the entrants in what were con-
sidered to be the basic skills needed for college study, particularly

LIBERAL EDUCATION AND THE COLLEGE CURRICULUM

in mathematics and foreign languages. The second issue was to
solve the relationship between general and specialized educa-
tion. The third was the whole question of introducing order and
sequence into the program of a college education, which had be-
come chaotic as a result of the laissez-faire or elective system,
and which earlier efforts at reform had failed to correct. The
fourth issue was the consideration of the type of program which
would provide a common background and a common language
of discourse needed by educated persons in the world in which
they live, and at the same time would permit the election of some
studies to meet individual interests. And, finally, attention was
devoted to methods of integration whether by means of survey
or orientation course, or by the adoption of such methods of
instruction in each course as would help each student to see the
interrelationships between the various areas of learning. To these
issues no common or standard was or could be given. All that
can be said is that there was agreement on general principles, but
that each institution developed its own plan. The years ahead
promise, unless the colleges are diverted from the intentions pro-
fessed during the war years by the pressure of numbers alone, to
be years of fruitful experimentation. Here it is possible to present
general summaries of the plans adopted in a few institutions.

On April 5, 1944, the faculty of the College of Liberal Arts
at the State University of Iowa approved a new curricular pro-
gram for the college, based on more than two years of delibera-
tion by numerous committees and subcommittees. Accepting the
general principle that "the test of liberal education is the total
personal growth of the individual the richness and effectiveness
of his life in all its aspects," the faculty agreed that

The primary function of the College of Liberal Arts is to pro-
vide a liberal education, that is, to encourage the student in the
fullest possible development of his capacities as a person and as a
member of society. The fundamental goal is the well-rounded de-
velopment of the individual intellectual, spiritual, physical, emo-
tional, and aesthetic.

To promote these objectives the faculty recommended the fol-
lowing goals:

First, to assist the individual in the continued acquisition of cer-

214 THE IMPACT OF THE WAR UPON AMERICAN EDUCATION

tain abilities such as (a) the ability to speak, write, and read; (b) the
ability to solve problems involving counting and calculation, (c) the
ability to secure and maintain physical fitness;

Second, to guide the student toward a mastery of the leading
ideas, the significant facts, the habits of thought and the methods of
work in several fields such as the sciences, the social sciences, lan-
guage and literature, the fine arts, history, and philosophy so that
he may (a) better understand the world and the society in which
he lives; (b) appreciate more fully the basic values upon which
civilization and culture rest and through which they may be im-
proved; (c) perceive and accept his responsibilities as an active
participant in social groups the family, the occupation, the com-
munity, the democratic state, and the world;

Third, to aid the student in the development of a resourceful and
independent mind, the ability to use as well as to accumulate knowl-
edge, and the awareness of his mental strength and weaknesses; and

Fourth, to provide the student with experiences which will be
conducive to the development of strength of character and a sense
of personal responsibility including such personal qualities as self-
reliance, perserverance, integrity, cooperation, and reverence.

The requirements for graduation, totalling 126 semester hours
with a satisfactory scholarship average include: (i) Demonstra-
tion of ability, either at entrance or after enrollment in a four-
semester-hour course called "Communication Skills," in basic
skills of reading, writing, and speaking the English language with
a degree of competency established by the staff. (2) Demonstra-
tion of ability, at entrance or by course instruction, to read or
speak a foreign language. (3) Physical education (four semesters)
and military science for men (four semester hours). (4) Core
courses with a minimum of thirty-two semester hours required,
eight each from approved core courses in (a) science; (b) social
science; (c) literature; and (d) historical and cultural studies.

(5) Area of concentration including (a) courses in a major
department; (b) courses related to and supporting the major
studies; (c) courses selected primarily for liberalizing values;
no more than fifty semester hours may be from one department.

(6) Elective studies up to thirty semester hours, subject to col-
lege and , departmental regulations and the adviser's approval;
under this provision students may combine work in dentistry,
education, engineering, law, medicine, or nursing with liberal arts

LIBERAL EDUCATION AND THE COLLEGE CURRICULUM 215

and so reduce the total time required to complete general, liberal,
and professional education.

The new program is flexible and "places a maximum of respon-
sibility on intelligent personal judgment and a minimum of reli-
ance on rules and regulations . . . For this and other reasons, the
advisory program is extremely important to the success of the
new plan." Accordingly, each student will be assigned an adviser
at the time of his first enrollment in the College and will retain
the same adviser throughout his undergraduate years unless his
major changes. 29

In Spring, 1945, the faculty of Yale College adopted the Re-
port of the Committee on the Course of Study, which the Com-
mittee had been in process of developing since 1940. The purpose
of the Committee was to strike a reasonable balance between the
successive experiments which had been tried over the last sixty
years ("first, elective opportunity; second, planned breadth and
distribution; and finally, concentration in the major field"), and
to bring order to a situation which had been in danger of becom-
ing chaotic. The general aims of the Committee are stated as
follows:

Through its long and persistent labors, the Committee has en-
deavored to provide for the Yale undergraduate seeking the Bach-
elor of Arts degree programs of stu4y which will equip him to live
magnanimously and intellectually in the modern world. We have
tried to provide curricula which will be as adequate for our times as
the famous curricula of Greece, the Middle Ages, and the Renais-
sance were for their times. We have tried to avoid the reactionary
curricula which have been publicly proposed and have gained some
suffrage. We have, on the other hand, tried to strike order into the
chaos of the free elective system which still finds its most notable
support at the place of its origin. We have not been ashamed to take
good ideas where we have found them. Our programs owe some-
thing to Mr. Hutchins, something to Mr. Stringfellow Barr, some-
thing to the so-called Progressive Colleges Bard, Bennington, Con-
necticut College for Women, Sarah Lawrence, and other places. We
owe ideas to such different people as President Eliot, Professor
Whitehead, and Professor Dewey. But it must be insisted upon that
the programs here offered are not eclectic, but are the natural de-

29. The New Program in Liberal Arts, University of Iowa Publica-
tion, New Series No. 1350, January i, 1945.

2l6 THE IMPACT OF THE WAR UPON AMERICAN EDUCATION

velopments, as we see them, of the main traditions of Yale College.
An idea has not been adopted unless it could be at home in New
Haven, and a most useful citizen of our town. Finally, it must not
be supposed that the Committee imagines its work done for all time.
It knows, none so keenly, that the law of change operates here as in
everything, and that only constant care and attention will keep the
College curricula abreast of the best educational process. The Com-
mittee does believe, however, that its work has laid the foundations
for a truly distinguished and distinctive program of studies, one
worthy of the great traditions of Yale College. 30

The Committee's recommendations are strikingly different
from those in other reports in that three different types of courses
are suggested: (r) The Standard Plan for perhaps 85 per cent
of the students; (2) The Scholars of the House Program, an
honors plan for juniors and seniors only; and (3) an Experimen-
tal Program which would apply to the student from his entrance
to his graduation. Of these the first was adopted to apply to
freshmen entering Yale in' the fall of 1946; the second will begin
to operate when these freshmen reach the junior year; and the
third would become operative, possibly in 1947, when there is
a full, normal freshman class to draw from.

The cardinal principle of the Standard Plan is

to provide the student, in school and College, with the fundamental
studies, to acquaint him with the great fields of knowledge, to make
him a reasonably competent person in a limited field, and to bring
him to that maturity which ought to distinguish the young grad-
uate of Yale. The plan naturally falls into four phases, which we
have called Basic Studies, Program of Distribution, the Major, and
Summer Reading. 31

The Basic Studies include English, modern language, and sys-
tematic thinking. The last of these studies, designed to meet "the
need of the student for the ability to think clearly and correctly
in symbols and abstractions" may be selected from courses in
mathematics, philosophy, and linguistics as media for training
in mathematical reasoning, logical reasoning, and linguistic rea-
soning respectively. The Program of Distribution is an "attempt

30. Yale College, Report of the Comwttee on the Course of Study,
mimeographed, pp. 4 f.

31. Ibid.,ip.$.

LIBERAL EDUCATION AND THE COLLEGE CURRICULUM 217

to introduce the student to the great fields of knowledge which
make up modern learning" and includes six requirements: New
science courses for "the increase of human understanding"; social
sciences to impress on the student "his duty and his responsibility
as an active member of a democratic society"; the classics "to
provide, among other things, the historical perspective which is
the enemy of temporal provincialism"; literature, music, and art
to bring the student "to an awareness of himself, his tastes and
beliefs, his desires and satisfactions, and, above all, his connection
with other men, past and present"; and philosophical, historical,
and synoptic courses "to pull together the student's learning and
to show him how syntheses may be made in the modern world
of to-day."

In the junior and senior years the student will, as heretofore,
spend half of his time in his major subject, with some time in
the senior year for independent work. Finally, as an additional
feature of the Standard Program is the requirement of summer
reading throughout the student's career in the College.

The Scholars of the House Program "will allow the excep-
tionally mature and able student to set up a plan of study which
will largely free him after the sophomore year from formal re-
quirements and will permit him to work steadily at a project
which he, with the help of an adviser, has planned," and which
"will culminate, if he is successful, in an essay in the field of his
studies which should be mature and distinguished."

Finally, -the Experimental Program, elected by the student
before beginning his freshman year, will be an experiment in
controlled and integrated education; some thirty or forty stu-
dents, a cross-section of a normal class, will be admitted to the
program. "In the first year the emphasis is upon the laws and
principles which operate in our natural world. In the second year .
the emphasis is upon the social and moral laws which bind to-
gether the individual and society." At the end of the sophomore
year the student will select one of five field majors in which the
work will be largely prescribed. At the end of the Experimental
Program there will be a general examination on the field of the
major and a senior essay will be required.

If properly qualified, students may, especially at the end of
the sophomore year, pass from one program to another,

2 1 8 THE IMPACT OF THE WAR UPON AMERICAN EDUCATION

The revised plan of study for the bachelor of arts degree was
adopted by the faculty of Princeton University in November,
1945, following three years of deliberation by faculty com-
mittees. The revised plan, which was to be put into operation in
September, 1947, is an effort to answer the question of the proper
relation between general education and academic concentration
in a liberal arts program at the college level. The older emphasis
had been on free choice and concentration; the newer is upon
guidance and direction. Three sets of requirements are estab-
lished, corresponding

to the three major stages of an undergraduate's progress toward the
degree of bachelor of arts: (r) Certain requirements concerning the
general education of students in their freshman and sophomore
years; (2) requirements concerning divisional concentration during
sophomore and junior years; and (3) requirements concerning de-
partmental concentration during junior and senior years. The over-
lapping of these three phases is deliberately designed to foster closer
union between the general and specialized aspects of undergraduate
education. 32

The entrance requirements include among the normally re-
quired fifteen course units: (i) four years of English; (2) two
years of one foreign language, ancient or modern; (3) elementary
and intermediate algebra and plane geometry. Before the end of
the sophomore year students will be required to reach a prescribed
level of achievement in either a foreign language or mathematics.
Both subjects are stressed as important aspects of a liberal edu-
cation and as basic to advanced work, but students will be per-
mitted in the first two years of college to choose one or the other
according to their academic interests or future career. This pro-
vision was adopted in order to leave each student time for other
important aspects of a liberal education, such as the exploration
of the major fields of learning and preliminary concentration of
interests in one of the academic divisions.

During the first two years students will be required to distrib-
ute course selections so as to complete two one-term courses in

32. E. Harris Harbison, "New Plan of Study for the Bachelor of Arts
Degree at Princeton," Higher Education, U. S. Office of Education,
March i, 1946, p. i.

LIBERAL EDUCATION AND THE COLLEGE CURRICULUM 219

each of the four following areas by the end of the sophomore
year:

1 i ) Natural science (two courses in a single science of which one
shall be a laboratory course).

(2) Social science (two courses in the social sciences other than
history) .

(3) Arts and letters (two courses in one or two of the following
subjects: art, architecture, music, and literature, ancient or mod-
ern). . . .

(4) History, philosophy, religion (two courses). The historical
courses satisfying this requirement will include courses in the fol-
lowing fields: (a) political, economic and cultural history, (b) his-
tory of scientific thought; (c) history of ideas as reflected in lit-
erature. 33

In the freshman year a student will select his program with
the advice of a university representative and in the sophomore
year with the advice of a divisional representative. In the sopho-
more and junior years each student will be required to elect one
of three divisions humanities, natural sciences, and social sci-
ences or an interdepartmental program of study in American
Civilization, and to devote about half his selections to a divisional
program of study culminating in a divisional examination at the
end of the junior year. Each program at this stage is intended to
focus the student's intellectual interests without fostering pre-
mature specialization, to acquaint him with the major problems
of his chosen division, and to build a broad and firm foundation
for departmental concentration.

During the junior and senior years each student will elect a
department within the division already chosen and will devote
his time to departmental courses, independent work, and prepara-
tion for the departmental senior comprehensive examination.
Two new features of the plan are the senior seminars for high-
stand men and a reduction in the normal course-load for all
seniors three courses plus independent work.

The Princeton plan was developed on the principle that the
general education of the first two years should not be split from

33. Princeton's Ne<w Plan of Study in the Liberal Arts and Sciences,
Official Register of Princeton University, Vol. XXXVII, No. 7, January
i, 1946.

220 THE IMPACT OF THE WAR UPO.N AMERICAN EDUCAliON

the preprofessional concentration of the last two years. The
student should be impressed with "the intimate relationship be-
tween general and special education, between common heritage
and individual interest, between faculty guidance and student
initiative." The faculty should offer clear and sometimes com-
pelling guidance to the immature student in planning his vrork,
but the student, as he grows in maturity, should preserve "the
freedom of choice which is essential to the development of a
sense of responsibility about their own education." Comparing
these plans in which the two underclass years are split off from
the upperclass with the Princeton plan, Professor Harbison
writes:

If the educational structure resulting from these other tenden-
cies may be compared to a broad, flat building surmounted by a
skyscraper, the aim of the Princeton plan is to build an educational
pyramid with lower-class distribution as the base, divisional con-
centration as the converging sides, and departmental concentration
as the apex. 34

Of all the books, articles, and reports which appeared during
and immediately after the war, the most comprehensive was the
report on General Education in a Free Society, prepared by a
Harvard University faculty committee appointed in 1943 by
President James Bryant Conant and published in 1945. What
gives the report its unique place in recent educational literature
is not the plan for the reorganization of the undergraduate cur-
riculum at Harvard University. The proposals had already been
in operation at Columbia University for more than two decades
and were similar to many others which were being recommended
elsewhere. The unique feature of the Harvard Report is that it
presents a philosophy of education for American democracy at
least from the secondary school through college. While in other
reports some reference is made to the inadequate preparation of
college entrants in many cases, with suggestions of the need of
remedial or "repair" courses, the Harvard Report devotes spe-
cial attention to the problems both of the secondary school and
of the college.

The terms of reference of the Committee appointed in 1943

34. Loc. cit.y p. 3.

LIBERAL EDUCATION AND THE COLLEGE CURRICULUM 221

are stated in President Conant's Annual Report to the Board of
Overseers on January i r, 1943, as follows:

In the meantime I am taking the liberty of appointing a Univer-
sity Committee on "The Objectives of a General Education in a
Free Society." This Committee, composed of members of several
faculties, including Arts and Sciences and Education, I hope will
consider the problem at both the school and the college level. For
surely the most important aspect of this whole matter is the general
education of the great majority of each generation not the com-
paratively small minority who attend our 4-year colleges. . . ,

As has been brought out so often in discussions of this Board, the
heart of the problem of a general education is the continuance of the
liberal and humane tradition. Neither the mere acquisition of in-
formation nor the development of special skills and talents can give
the broad basis of understanding which is essential if our civiliza-
tion is to be preserved. No one wishes to disparage the importance
of being "well-informed." But even a good grounding in mathema-
tics and the physical and biological sciences, combined with an abil-
ity to read and write several foreign languages, does not provide a
sufficient educational background for citizens of a free Nation. For
such a program lacks contact with both man's emotional experience
as an individual and his practical experience as a gregarious animal.
It includes little of what was once known as the wisdom of the ages,
and might now be described as "our cultural pattern." It includes
no history, no art, no literature, no philosophy. Unless the educa-
tional process includes, at each level of vttaturity, some continuing
contact with those fields in which value judgments are of prime
importance, it must fall far short of the ideal. The students in high
school, in college and in graduate school must be concerned, in
part, at least, with the words "right" and "wrong" in both the
ethical and the mathematical sense. Unless he feels the import of
those general ideas and aspirations, which have been a deep moving
force in the lives of men, he runs the risk of partial blindness.

There is nothing new in such educational goals; what is new in
this century in the United States is their application to a system of
universal education. Formal education based on "book learning" was
once only the possession of a professional class; in recent times it
becomes more widely valued because of social implications. The re-
stricted nature of the circle possessing certain linguistic and his-
torical knowledge greatly enhanced the prestige of this knowledge.
"Good taste" could be standardized in each generation by those who
knew. But, today, we are concerned with a general education a

222 THE IMPACT OF THE WAR UPON AMERICAN EDUCATION

liberal education not for the relatively few, but for a multitude.
The primary concern of American education today is not the de-
velopment of the appreciation of the "good life" in young gentle-
men born to the purple. It is the infusion of the liberal and humane
tradition into our entire educational system. Our purpose is to cul-
tivate in the largest possible number of our future citizens an ap-
preciation of both the responsibilities and the benefits which come
to them because they are Americans and are free. 35

The Harvard Committee wisely recognized that the founda-
tions of education for membership in a free society must be
laid as early as possible, and that college education itself must
fail in the long ran unless the principles upon which it is based
are applied equally to the education of all to the degree that they
are capable of profiting thereby. Thus the Committee ventured
"into the vast field of American educational experience in quest
of a concept of general education that would have validity for
the free society which we cherish."

The Committee in entering upon this venture took into con-
sideration most of the issues 'which have been accumulating in
American education since the beginning of the century and more
particularly in the past twenty-five years the changing char-
acter of the high school and college clientele, the vast develop-
ment of knowledge, the danger of intense specilization, and the
complex problems of American society.

Discussing the question of equality of opportunity, the Com-
mittee boldly attempted to reconcile the Jeffersonian and Jack-
sonian principles in the American tradition. Realizing that the
function of the high school is no longer to prepare for college
but for life, the Committee declared that

democracy is not only opportunity for the able. It is equally bet-
terment of the average, both the immediate betterment which can
be gained in a single generation and the slower ground-swell of bet-
terment which works through generations. Hence the task of the
high school is not merely to speed the bright boy to the top. It is at
least as much (so far as numbers are concerned, far more) so to
widen the horizons of ordinary students that they and, still more,

35. The above analysis, with some modifications, appeared as a review
of the report in School and Society, Vol. 62, December i, 1945, pp. 356 ff.

LIBERAL EDUCATION AND THE COLLEGE CURRICULUM 223

their children will encounter fewer of the obstacles that cramp
achievement (p. H).

[For] whether you interpret democracy as political democracy pro-
tecting the rights of the individual or as economic democracy pro-
tecting opportunity for the mass, there is a point at which the two
views meet: namely, that opportunity means nothing unless it is
opportunity for good, which in turn depends on some experience
of the good ... (p. 22).

[Hence] we understand by democracy the interworking of two
complementary forces, the Jeffersonian and the Jacksonian, the one
valuing opportunity as the nurse of excellence, the other as the guard
of equity (p. 33),

The main task, then, of the American education system is "to
nurture ability while raising the average," for "leadership is in-
separable from its following, and both from common standards."
Here is the answer to those who argue that secondary education
should concern itself wholly with the 80 per cent of students
not proceeding to college and who would leave the 20 per cent
to fend more or less for themselves. The Committee presents still
another answer when, by way of general summary, it states:

It was remarked democracy, by broadening the basis of govern-
ment to include all the people, ideally demands of all the education
formerly reserved for the privileged class. The distinction has
ceased between inferiors trained only for practical tasks and su-
periors broadly trained for government. The Renaissance collegiate
education was, in effect, precisely an education of governors men
rounded and supple enough to make decisions and sufficiently well
educated to do so with perspective and a sense of standards. It is
the mantle of this tradition which has descended on the modern
college even to some degree on the modern high school. Since the
governor is now the citizen and no longer merely the gentleman
and the aristocrat, then this "gentleman's education" has become the
citizen's education. The Puritan influence mentioned above was a
step in this direction. It is an education which looks first of all to
general responsibility and competence among an increasingly large
group (p. 244).

Accordingly, "the task of modern democracy is to preserve
the ancient ideal of liberal education and to extend it as far as
possible to all members of the community" instead of rejecting
it because at one time it "went with the structure of the aristo-

224 THE IMPACT OF THE WAR UPON AMERICAN EDUCATION

cratic ideal." In the light of these statements it is difficult to under-
stand why the Committee preferred to publish its report under
the title "General Education . . ." rather than "Liberal Education
in a Free Society." Liberal education has a tradition which has,
it is true, too often been misinterpreted, but "general education"
of the kind recommended by the Committee lends itself too easily
to confusion with that "general education" which was the slogan
a few years ago and was so "general" as to be nothing in par-
ticular.

The function of education, then, is to "help young persons
fulfill the unique, particular functions in life which it is in them
to fulfill, and fit them so far as it can for those common spheres
which, as citizens and heirs of a joint culuture, they will share
with others." Some provision must be made for differences of
interests and abilities, yet democracy "depends equally on the
binding-ties of common standards. It probably depends more
heavily on these ties than does any other kind of society precisely
because the divisive forces within it are strong." The program of
education must provide for unity and diversity, for special and
general education, "for these subjects which divide man from
man according to their particular functions and for those which
unite man and man in their common humanity and citizenship."
An3 the latter is of greater concern today because of the stag-
gering expansion of knowledge, the growth of the educational
system, and the ever-growing complexity of society itself. The
major issue is to find the desired unity, "the binding, integrative
working of general education to check and countercheck its [the
educational system's] inevitable divisiveness."

The Committee examined and rejected four plans to promote
intellectual unity: religion which "is not now for most colleges
a practicable source of intellectual unity;" "the tradition of West-
ern culture as embodied in the great writings of the European
and American past;" concentration "on actual problems and
questions which young people may be expected to meet in mature
life health, vocation, family, social issues, private standards, and
the like;" and the pragmatist solution which "sees in science and
the scientific outlook this saving unity." The Committee stated
its own views as follows:

LIBERAL EDUCATION AND THE COLLEGE CURRICULUM 225

Thus the search continues and must continue for some over-
all logic, some strong, not easily broken frame within which both
college and school may fulfill their at once diversifying and uniting
task. This logic must be wide enough to embrace the actual rich-
ness and variegation of modern life a richness partly, if not wholly,
reflected in the complexity of our present educational system. It
must also be strong enough to give goal and direction to this sys-
tem something much less clear at present. It is evidently to be
looked for in the character of American society, a society not
wholly of the new world since it came from the old, not wholly
given to innovation since it acknowledges certain fixed beliefs, not
even wholly a law unto itself since there are principles above the
state. This logic must further embody certain intangibles of the
American spirit, in particular, perhaps, the ideal of cooperation on
the level of action irrespective of agreement on ultimates which
is to say, belief in the worth and meaning of the human spirit, how-
ever one may understand it. Such a belief rests on that hard but
very great thing, tolerance not from absence of standards but
through possession of them (p. 40 f.).

There must, accordingly, be developed through education a
sense of heritage, for our culture

depends in part on an inherited view of man and society which it
is the function, though not the only function, of education to pass
on. ... To study either past or present is to confront, in some
form or another, the philosophic and religious fact of man in his-
tory and to recognize the huge continuing influence alike on past
and present of the stream of Jewish and Greek thought in Chris-
tianity. There is doubtless a sense in which religious education,
education in great books, and education in modern democracy
may be mutually exclusive. But there is a far more important sense
in which they work together to the same end, which is belief in man
and society that we inherit, adapt, and pass on. ... [For] it is im-
possible to escape the realization that our society, like any society,
rests on common beliefs and that a major task of education is to
perpetuate them (pp. 45 f.)-

To those who would object that to cultivate the tradition of
culture would militate against change and experiment, the Com-
mittee's reply was that

226 THE IMPACT OF THE WAR UPON AMERICAN EDUCATION

an axiom of that tradition itself is the behef that no current form
of the received ideal is final but that every generation, indeed every
individual, must discover it in a fresh form. Education can therefore
be wholly devoted neither to tradition nor to experiment, neither to
the belief that the ideal in itself is enough nor to the view that
means are valuable apart from the ideal. It must uphold at the same
time tradition and experiment, the ideal and the means, subserving,
like our culture itself, change within commitment (p. 51).

It follows from these principles that general education must be
viewed as "an organic whole whose parts join in expounding a
ruling idea and in serving a common aim. And to do so means
to abandon the view that all fields and all departments are equally
valuable vehicles of general education. It also implies some pre-
scription." The key question, therefore, is "how can general edu-
cation be so adapted to different ages and, above all, differing
abilities and outlooks, that it can appeal deeply to each, yet re-
main in goal and essential teaching the same for all?"

General education, therefore, in both secondary school and
college should be built up on three areas of learning natural sci-
ence, social studies, and the humanities as three different meth-
ods of knowledge to direct "the students' attention to the useful
truth that man must familiarize himself with the environment in
which nature has placed him if he is to proceed realistically with
the task of achieving the good life." The reconciliation of the
conflicting views which have agitated American education for
the past generation is to be found in the Committee's belief

that our society and culture have indeed laid hold on common truths,
knowledge of which is necessary for anything like a good and use-
ful life, yet that, since our hold on truth is incomplete, we must
forever look to new insights leading to change. Our argument,
then, is that knowledge is dangerous and illiberal if it does not em-
brace as fully as possible the mainsprings of our culture (p. 106).

The Committee did not ignore that aspect of the whole prob-
lem which is fundamental to the success of a theory of education,
however sound it may be. It recognized that "everything finally
depends on the teacher's quality of mind and spirit," that "surely
the hope of a sound general education is in teachers who are
themselves generally educated;" and that one of the needs of

LIBERAL EDUCATION AND THE COLLEGE CURRICULUM 227

schools and colleges is "above all, perhaps, a more rounded,
longer, more continuing education of teachers." But only the
problem and the conditions for its solution were stated, and
then only for high school teachers; no suggestions were offered,
except by implication, of a new scheme for teacher preparation.
If general education at the college level is to succeed, the problem
of preparing college teachers will also become serious. To this
problem the Committee referred only indirectly; first, in stating
that "the difficulty in designing a course in great literature for all
students" lies in the fact that "the modes of treatment proper to
the specialist are a distraction to those who are not to be become
experts;" and second, repeating the idea in still another form,
"Yet the fact remains that the present system favors a specialism
which only the strong teacher breaks through." If the result of
intense specialization in graduate schools is "that each subject,
being taught by an expert, tends to be so presented as to attract
potential experts," then this fact points only in one direction
that the current requirements for the Ph.D., which are respon-
sible for the specialism, are everywhere due for revision. The
Committee might have gone further and emphasized the fact that
in the long run it will not be the curriculum which it suggested,
nor any other curriculum, which will produce free men in a
democracy, but teachers who are fully aware of the purposes
which the areas of their responsibility are intended to serve. An
authoritarianism which some critics of the program of general
education may profess to find in the report can only be avoided
to the degree that teachers at all levels of education recognize the
abilities to be developed. These the report defined as abilities "to
think effectively, to communicate thought, to make relevant
judgments, to discriminate among values." The Committee, aware
that it might lay itself open to criticism because of its emphasis
on intellectual abilities and the sway of reason, protected itself,
but perhaps too mildly, against another school of thought, with
the statement that

while traditionally man has been viewed as a rational animal, recent
thinking has called attention to his unconscious 'desires and senti-
ments which becloud and sometimes sway his reason. To be sure,
classical philosophers recognized the existence of passions, but they

228 THE IMPACT OF THE WAR UPON AMERICAN EDUCATION

tended to regard the latter as alien intrusions and an unwanted
complication. Yet, passions, although dangerous because primitive
and even savage, are a source of strength if properly guided; they
supply the driving forces for achievement (p. 168).

The theory of general education expounded by the Committee
led it to recommend three areas of learning natural science,
social studies, and the humanities each of which is defined as
follows:

The study of natural sciences looks to an understanding of our
physical environment, so that we may have a suitable relation to it.
The study of the social sciences is intended to produce an under-
standing of our social environment and of human institutions in gen-
eral, so that the student may achieve a proper relation to society not
only the local but also the great society, and, by the aid of history,
the society of the past and even of the future. Finally, the purpose
of the humanities is to enable man to understand man in relation to
himself, that is to say, in his inner aspirations and ideals (pp. 58 f.).

A rigid separation between the first and last two years of the
undergraduate course is not contemplated, since "General educa-
tion is the appreciation of the organic complex of relationships
which gives meaning and point to the specialty. To some degree
it should suffuse all special education." The Committee recom-
mended that of the sixteen courses required for the bachelor's
degree, six courses in general education should be required, of
which at least one shall be in the humanities, one in the social
sciences, and one in the sciences. In the first two of these areas
courses will be prescribed to "furnish the common core, the
body of learning and of ideas which would be a common experi-
ence of Harvard students as well as introductions to the study of
the traditions of Western culture and to the consideration of
general relationships." In the sciences alternative courses would
be established to meet individual differences of interests and com-
petence in dealing with mathematical and scientific material The
three further courses required for general education may be se-
lected from a wide range of courses approved by the Committee
on General Education proposed in the report. The courses se-
lected should not be in the student's particular department of con-
centration. The courses designed to meet the general education
requirements would not be "mammoth introductory, and cer-

LIBERAL EDUCATION AND 1HE COLLEGE CURRICULUM 229

tainly not survey courses." Of the two groups of requirements
the Committee recommended that two be taken in the freshman
year and the third in the second year, with the idea that "The
broad scope of these courses would be particularly helpful to the
student who is preparing to choose a field of concentration." The
second group need not be taken at any particular time, but it is
proposed that they be taken in the junior and senior years, "when
the student is more mature, in command of a larger vocabulary
and a greater body of learning, and is able to appreciate on a more
advanced level some of the principles, values, and relationships
which are of special importance in the promotion of the aims with
which we are concerned. General education should not be con-
fused with elementary education."

The Report on General Education in a Free Society is a con-
tribution not only to the reorganization of the undergraduate
course at Harvard, but a reasoned philosophy of education ap-
propriate to American democracy. The Committee did not fail
to consider plans and suggestions that had already gained a great
deal of notoriety; but of its own efforts the following statement
is the best appraisal:

An extreme and one-sided view easily calls attention to itself and
gains fervent adherents; but a balanced view is apt to be less im-
mediately striking. Reasonableness does not lend itself to exciting
conclusions because it aims to do justice to the whole truth in all
its shadings. By the same token, reasonableness may legitimately
hope to attain at least to part of the truth (p. 176).

The general theory underlying proposals and plans for the re-
organization of college education had already been adopted at
Columbia College for twenty-five years. Continued discussion
and experimentation resulted in the development of three courses
Contemporary Civilization, Humanities, and the Sciences re-
quired to be taken by all freshmen and sophomores. In A College
Program in Action, A Review of Working Principles at Colum-
bia College, published in 1946, the Committee on Plans, which
prepared the review, states that "We have a warrantable pride in
the fact that the 'new plans' that are opening before many of
our best-known colleges are paths that we have first explored
and then traveled with familiarity" (p. 4).

230 THE IMPACT OF THE WAR UPON AMERICAN EDUCATION

At Columbia College there is a sharp division between the
underclass and upperclass courses, which the Committee justifies
as follows:

There is much room for debate whether the line of division be-
tween the first two and last two years should be so sharp as to bring
about two distinct types of study and academic life. Even though
with us a "required course" does not imply standardized indoctrina-
tion, but only a common body of readings and topics for discussion,
still there is no reason to doubt that a senior should be doing a
work of greater maturity in type, range, and imaginative appeal
The present Committee is in accord with that view. It also supports
the conclusion of the former committee that the pattern of gen-
eral conformity in the work of the first two years should be re-
placed in the last two years by reasonably free election, and that
this free choice should follow no uniform plan of synthesis, arbitrary
unity, specialization, or other prescribed principle, but should be
worked out in the best possible understanding of the particular stu-
dent's needs and capacities (pp. 5 f.).

There is no doubt that the deliberations of the war years rep-
resent an important stage in the reform of the college curric-
ulum. 36 Whether the plans can be put into operation successfully
in view of the preoccupation with the needs of veterans and the
shortage of teachers is a serious question. The years ahead will
undoubtedly be years of experimentation and, while the funda-
mental theory of general or liberal education will probably be
established, different patterns for implementing it will be elabo-
rated. Not the least important problem that still remains to be

36. The only opposition to the new programs appears to have been
expressed in a Report of the Curriculum Committee Adopted by the
Faculty of the College of Arts and Sciences of Buffalo. The Committee's
statement of the Objectives of the College of Arts and Sciences does not
differ from other statements on the same subject. The Committee, how-
ever, reaffirmed the principle of free electives and, since it considered
prescription of courses in any form as authoritarian, was led "to prefer the
apparent confusion of freedom to an imposed order" (p. 22). The Com-
mittee stated further that "In all of this, we feel that the psychology of
the student is important. However much one may protest that he should
be humble and follow the direction of his elders and betters, it is a fact
that omnibus and sumptuary requirements of any sort make him feel
cornered, and add to his effort of learning the burden of putting a restraint
upon his sense of injustice" (p. 24). See The University of Buffalo Studies,
Vol. i8,June, 1946, No. i.

LIBERAL EDUCATION AND THE COLLEGE CURRICULUM 23!

solved is concerned with the type of preparation that should be
given to future college teachers. The answer may perhaps be
found in a reduction of the emphasis on research and the advance-
ment of knowledge which conduce to specialization and more on
scholarship, which should imply breadth and a comprehension of
the interrelationship of various areas of learning. An important
contribution to this end may be found in the development of
areas of study and of interdisciplinary courses. In addition, the
fact that the majority of graduate students intend to enter the
teaching profession may lead to the provision of some plans to
initiate them into the problems that they will have to face as
teachers.

NEW INTERESTS AND NEW DIRECTIONS

The urgent need of the armed forces for officers with a mas-
tery of foreign languages to deal not only with prisoners of war
but also with the people in occupied areas, and the new role that
the United States is destined to play in international affairs ex-
ercised an important and profound influence on the development
of new interests and new directions in education both at the
secondary and at the higher levels. The study of foreign lan-
guages, not only the usual languages found in the curricula of
high schools, colleges, and universities but also "unusual" lan-
guages in which instruction was provided only rarely or not at
all, was recognized both during and after the war as of great im-
portance both for the promotion of international understanding
and for the advancement of international relations whether in
politics or in business.

The search for candidates with an oral mastery of foreign
languages threw a flood of light on the inadequacy of the instruc-
tion given in high schools and colleges in the usual languages such
as French, German, Spanish, and Italian. There were a number of
reasons to explain the situation. The emphasis in language teach-
ing, based on the recommendations of the Modern Language In-
quiry of the twenties had been on the development of reading
ability. In the competition for students in a rapidly expanding
list of subjects offered both in high schools and in colleges, in-
terest in the study of languages declined. The promotion of the
Good Neighbor Policy in the thirties resulted in an increase in

232 THE IMPACT OF THE WAR UPON AMERICAN EDUCATION

the number of students who studied Spanish, but too often this
was at the expense of other languages included in the curriculum.

In a search for candidates with ability to speak a foreign lan-
guage with a view to appointment as intelligence officers, Major
Francis Millet Rogers, after interviewing fifteen officer candi-
dates at Quantico, found that none of them could speak German,
although they had studied the language for two years in high
school and three years in college. After interviewing 120 en-
listed men whose records indicated possible language skills, and
of whom some held the MA. or Ph.D. degree, Major Rogers se-
lected fourteen interpreters who were refugees, immigrants, or
the children of immigrants, who had heard a foreign language
spoken at home. 37 The situation was, of course, still worse when
interpreters had to be found for Russian, Japanese and Chinese,
and a host of unusual languages. The situation demanded the de-
velopment of new methods and new techniques to meet new and
wholly unforeseen requirements.

The inadequate provision of instruction in the lesser known
languages had, however, not been ignored. Mortimer Graves,
administrative secretary of the American Council of Learned
Societies, had for some years sought to promote through the
Council the teaching of languages not usually found in American
curricula not only Chinese, Japanese, and Russian, but Oriental
languages in general. In 1940 Mr. Graves and others planned the
creation of a National School of Modern Oriental Languages. On
the approval of the plan by the Executive Committee of the
Council and the formation of a Committee on the School of Mod-
ern Oriental Languages and Civilizations, grants were secured
from the Rockefeller Foundation and a start was made with the
development of teachers and teaching materials for intensive
instruction in modern languages not usually taught in American
schools and colleges. In the summer of 1941 two institutes were
held, one at Cornell University on Chinese and Japanese, and
the other at Princeton University on Arabic and Islamic Studies.
As a result of discussions held at Cornell University, Navy Lan-
guage Schools were established at Harvard University and the

37. "Languages and the War Effort: a Challenge to Teachers of Mod-
ern Foreign Languages," The Modern Language Journal, May, 1943,
pp. 299 ff.

LIBERAL EDUCATION AND THE COLLEGE CURRICULUM 233

University of California, later concentrated at the University of
Colorado. It was early recognized that there was a great need to
provide tools for the study of the languages which were already
or would be in demand textbooks, reading materials, recordings,
and dictionaries.

It was decided from the start that the emphasis should be on
oral mastery of the languages taught, and that the method de-
veloped by Professors Franz Boas, Edward Sapir, and Leonard
Bloomfield for learning and teaching American Indian languages
would lend itself best for purposes of what came to be known as
the "Intensive Language Program." The method involved the
cooperation of trained linguists with native speakers, kter referred
to as "informants." Although developed for learning and teach-
ing languages in which textbooks and other materials were not
available, the method was later applied to other languages in
which such materials existed but which were not adapted to the
immediate purposes of the Intensive Language Program. The
method was described briefly by Dr. Mary R. Haas, who herself
undertook to apply it to learning and teaching Thai, one of the
earliest undertakings of the Program. Answering the question,
"Is there then no method for learning a difficult language with-
out adequate textbooks and trained teachers?" Dr. Haas wrote
as follows:

The answer is an inspiring one: any language can be learned,
quickly and correctly, by a trained linguist working with a native
speaker, whom he treats not as a teacher but purely as a source of
information. The linguist is thoroughly trained in phonetics and in
grammatical analysis; in the most favorable case he has already
analyzed one or more languages before he approaches the one to
be learned. His method is simple. He persuades his informant (the
native speaker) to talk in the foreign language; he listens care-
fully, and writes down what the informant says in a phonetic alpha-
bet which he converts as soon as possible into a practical orthog-
raphy (phonemic transcription); he compares and analyzes the
forms of the new language; and classifies them in terms of its own
grammatical system, without reference to the ^grammar of English
or of any other language previously known to him. Moreover, the
linguist imitates everything the informant says, and keeps on imi-
tating until the informant is completely satisfied with his pronuncia-

234 THE IMPACT OF THE WAR UPON AMERICAN EDUCATION

tion; it is by this means that he learns the language not by asking
the informant how he makes this or that sound, or why he speaks
a sentence in this way and not in that. 38

Work on the development of the Intensive Language Program
was undertaken in 1941-42 with a grant from the Rockefeller
Foundation. It was administered under the auspices of the Am-
erican Council of Learned Societies, by two committees of the
Council the Committee on the National School of Modern
Oriental Languages and Civilizations and the Committee on In-
tensive Language Instruction jointly and was under the general
supervision of Mortimer Graves, chairman of the first committee
and secretary of the second. In April, 1942, J. M. Cowan, pro-
fessor of German at the University of Iowa and secretary of the
Linguistic Society of America, was appointed director in charge
of the operation of the Program. Of the two committees the first
was more concerned with the scientific features for implementing
instruction in the languages, and the second more with the pro-
vision of courses of instruction; but there was no rigorous divi-
sion of functions between the two committees.

An intensive language course was defined as a course which
occupied the full-time of the students, generally computed at
fifteen hours of classroom instruction, fifteen hours of drill in-
struction with native speakers, and twenty to thirty hours of indi-
vidual preparation a week. It was found that the best results were
achieved in the shortest time by two or three six-week sessions,
separated by short intervals of rest.

The major task for those in charge of the Intensive Language
Programs was to provide an adequate personnel for instruction
and materials for instruction grammars, textbooks, phonograph
recordings, dictionaries, etc., which were not available for the
large number of languages in the program, and when available,
as, for example, in Chinese, Japanese, Russian, and Portuguese,
were not suitable for the particular method of instruction
adopted. Another serious difficulty was the dearth of native
speakers or informants in some of the lesser known languages. By
diligent search, however, some were discovered. Experiments

38. "The Linguist as a Teacher of Languages," Language, July-Septem-
ber, 1943, pp. 203 if.

LIBERAL EDUCATION AND THE COLLEGE CURRICULUM 235

were begun with the method described above and proved to be
successful. Two manuals were prepared for the use of teachers
and students: An Outline Guide to the Practical Study of For-
eign Languages by Leonard Bloomfield, and Outline of Linguistic
Analysis by Bernard Bloch and George L. Trager.

From this point on the teaching of foreign languages was by
the new methods, the novel features of which promised "when
employed by competent scholars with imagination and critical
reserve who are not mere adepts at a technique, to yield quite
revolutionary dividends, particularly with respect to instruction
in those languages not already well studied and well known." 39
The scope of the program was gradually extended and included
instruction in the following languages: African (Swahili, Fanti,
Haussa, Moroccan Arabic, Pidgin English, Amharic, Somali, and
Afrikaans) ; Arabic (Moroccan, Egyptian, Syro-Palestinian, and
Iraqui) ; Burmese; Chinese (Cantonese, Sino- Japanese, and Man-
darin); Modern Greek; Hindustani; Hungarian, Iranian; Jap-
anese; Korean, Kurdish; Malay; Pashtu; Pidgin English (Melan-
esian); Portuguese; Panjabi; Russian; Thai; and Turkish.

Referring to the reluctance on the part of university adminis-
trators to depart from the traditional arrangement in offering
language courses and the criticism that the new courses were
"practical" and "non-academic," Graves and Cowan wrote:

To the extent that this intensive work is designed to provide tool-
competence in languages to be used by specialists in disciplines other
than languages, linguistics, and literature, the criticism, if it be one,
is valid. The sponsors of the Program, however, see no mutual ex-
clusiveness in the terms "practical" and "scientific." They believe
that (i) a practical tool-command of a language is the best foun-
dation of scientific or academic work in it, (2) that such practical
command can be secured most efficiently in the intensive course, and
(3) that all instruction which is not based on scientific analysis of
the language question is inefficient. They are willing to contend,
consequently, that their operations are not only "practical" and
"scientific," but even "academic." Recently there seems to be a
swing of attitude in the direction of favoring sound experimentation

39. Mortimer Graves and J. M. Cowan, Report of the First Year's
Operation of the Intensive Language Program of the American Council
of Learned Societies, 1941-1942, Washington, D. C., 1942, p. 6.

236 THE IMPACT OF THE WAR UPON AMERICAN EDUCATION

with intensive language instruction in French, Spanish, German, and
Italian. 40

After Pearl Harbor the immediate practical need for training
language specialists predominated, and it was fortunate that the
experimentation with the Intensive Language Program had pro-
ceeded far enough to provide a ready method to meet this need.
Numerous departments of government Office of Strategic Serv-
ices, Board of Economic Warfare, Department of Justice and
of the Army, Navy, and Marine Corps turned to the officials in
charge of the Program for advice and cooperation. The method
was adopted by the Army Specialized Training Program, by the
Navy, and by the Civil Affairs Division of the Provost Marshall's
Office in its Civil Affairs Training Schools (CATS). The ex-
perience of the Program gradually led to its development into a
Program of Regional Studies. The combination of language and
regional studies was indicated particularly in the adoption by
the CATS of the Foreign Area and Language Study Curriculum
(FALSC) . Another development which emerged from the Pro-
gram resulted from a Conference by Mr. Graves with the Joint
Army-Navy Committee on Recreation and Welfare, when it
was decided to produce teaching materials available to troops for
learning in their spare time the principal first phases which a sol-
dier might need in a foreign country. Small booklets with two
double-faced phonograph recordings of their content were pub-
lished in about fifty languages by the Education Branch, Special
Supply Division, Services of Supply of the U. S. Army in co-
operation with the U. S. Armed Forces Institute (USAFI).

Two important contributions were made by the Intensive Lan-
guage Program. The first of these was "the increased experiment
with and advertising of intensive methods, improvement of im-
plementation, and scientific study of linguistic phenomena; much
of this last not only for the first time in America but for the first
time anywhere in the world." The second contribution was the
extension of the Program in some centers to include regional
studies as well as language instruction, thus described:

For example, instead of developing a centre for the study of
Turkish, we should develop a centre for the study of Turkey. In

40. Ibid., p. 23.

237

such a development, obviously, language is the central core, but it
should be surrounded by the disciplines of history, the social and
natural sciences, and those studies which deal with the human be-
ing and his relation to his environment, physical and social. 41

The Intensive Language Program aroused widespread interest
throughout the country, both among the lay public and among
professional teachers of languages. Public imagination was
aroused by sensational accounts in the press and magazines of the
discovery of a miraculous method whereby languages could be
learned in a hurry. Those responsible for the development of the
Program never made any other claim for it than that it was in-
tensive and required concentration of time and effort. Profes-
sional language teachers resented the implication that they had
failed to produce results and pointed to the fact that teachers
in the Program were drawn from their own group and succeeded
not only because of concentration of time and effort, but because
of small classes and availability of materials too expensive to be
used under normal conditions. There were also technical criti-
cisms that insufficient attention was devoted to grammar, reading,
and writing, but on the whole such criticisms were a result of
misunderstanding what was actually done.

A special committee appointed by the Commission on Trends
in Education of the Modern Language Association published a
report in 1944 of "A Survey of Language Classes in the Army
Specialized Training Program." The committee, after describing
the various aspects of the methods involved, came to the follow-
ing conclusions:

For the purpose of this report the results of language teaching in
the ASTP may be considered fairly only for those trainees who had
had no previous recognizable experience in hearing or speaking the
foreign language which they were studying.

Regarding the achievements of the trainees on this basis, the sur-
vey staff found that for a very considerable number of trainees the
results, while by no means miraculous, were definitely good, very
satisfactory to the men in charge of the program, and very gen-
erally gratifying to the trainees themselves. Wherever the staff
found careful and appropriate organization and coordination of
teaching procedures, capable senior instructors and drill-masters,

41. Ibid., p. 32.

238 THE IMPACT OF THE WAR UPON AMERICAN EDUCATION

adequate supervision and control of the work, and skill and re-
sourcefulness in the construction and adaptation of teaching ma-
terials, encouraging and worthwhile results were achieved. In short,
a considerable per cent of the trainees did acquire the ability
to express themselves with fluency and reasonable accuracy in the
foreign language which they were speaking for the first time, in-
cluding a good pronunciation, and a high level of ability to under-
stand the spoken language as employed by different native speakers
under circumstances representing normal speaking conditions.

There is considerable evidence, too, that the consistent and inten-
sive use of the oral approach by no means eliminated the oppor-
tunity to acquire reading ability. In view of the great amount and
variety of printed materials actually used by the trainees in pre-
paring for oral practice of one kind or another, as well as for extra-
curricular and purely recreational purposes, silent reading ability,
while it was not an announced objective of the program, undoubt-
edly was generally acquired to a very appreciable extent. This im-
pression on the part of the survey staff was supported quite gen-
erally by the university men in charge of the language programs at
the institutions visited, as well as by deans and faculty members
from other departments. 42

The Intensive Language Program, if it demonstrated nothing
else, did prove that American students do not lack the aptitude
for learning to speak foreign languages, even allowing for the
special motivation of preparing for a greatly needed service. It
also demonstrated that oral mastery of a foreign language de-
mands concentration of time and effort. Whether some of the
methods and devices developed by the Program itself and its ap-
plication to the needs of the armed forces can be employed under
the conditions of a normal academic program, and what modi-
fications must be introduced, was made the subject of investiga-
tion immediately after the end of the war. Three institutions,
Yale University, the University of Chicago, and Cornell Univer-
sity, undertook to experiment both with the application and the
necessary modifications. Undoubtedly important contributions
will result for the teaching of foreign languages in the future.

42. A Survey of Language Classes in the Army Specialized Teaching
Progra?n, Modern Language Association of America, New York, 1944,
pp. 25 f. See also "Army Specialized Training Program Issue," The Ger-
man Quarterly, November, 1944 .

LIBERAL EDUCATION AND THE COLLEGE CURRICULUM 239

For specialists in this field a solution may perhaps be found in the
organization of intensive programs in an extended summer ses-
sion, a suggestion made by the Columbia College committee in its
report on A College in Action, or as offered for some years at
Middlebury College.

Of equal importance with the method of language teaching is
the recognition that the study of a foreign language should lead
to an understanding of the culture of the people who speak it.
The development of regional or area language studies may stimu-
late modern language departments to broaden their courses along
the lines indicated on pp. 236 f.

The new emphasis had, in fact, already begun to be recognized
as a result of new interest which has been aroused by the role of
the United States in international affairs. To Latin American
studies, which had already secured an established position in the
years preceding the war, there began to be added Chinese, Jap-
anese, and Russian studies and courses in international relations,
all of which have been organized in the larger universities and
some in smaller colleges.

One unanticipated result of the idea of regional or area studies
in the study of foreign languages has been the more rapid devel-
opment of courses in American civilization and culture, which
had already been introduced at the graduate level before the war
at George Washington University in 1936, Harvard University
and the University of Minnesota in 1937, and the University of
Pennsylvania in 1939. By the end of 1946 no standardized pro-
grams had been elaborated. In some institutions the program
sought to combine American literature and history; in others it
was organized in the form of departmental majors and minors
with or without an integrating course or seminar. Experiments of
different kinds will continue to be tried out.

The ultimate success of the programs of regional or area
studies in American or any other civilization and culture will
depend upon the development of a system of interdisciplinary
studies at the graduate level, but in this development only faint
beginnings have been made. Departments are still too strongly
entrenched to make the coordination and selection of content for
such courses feasible.

CHAPTER SEVEN

EDUCATION AND THE ARMED FORCES

PLANS FOR THE EDUCATION OF VETERANS

A FEW WEEKS after the attack on Pearl Harbor the respon-
sibility of the government for establishing opportunities
for the continued nonmilitary education of men and
women in the armed forces was recognized. A few months later
the equally important responsibility for providing opportunities
for education to prepare the military personnel for readjustment
to civilian life or for further education after the end of the war
began to be discussed.

Plans to carry out the first responsibility were adopted in Dec-
ember, 1941, by the War Department through the organization
of a recreational and educational program for military personnel
during periods free from military duties or off-duty time. The
task was assigned to the Morale Service Division, which was
activated in December, 1941, and whose name \vas changed in
March, 1942, to the Special Service Division of the War Depart-
ment. The Division was placed under the charge of Brigadier
General (later Major General) Frederick H. Osborn, who had
been chairman of the President's Advisory Committee on Selec-
tive Service (1940) and chairman of the Joint Army and Navy
Committee on Welfare and Recreation (1941). Colonel Francis
T. Spaulding, dean of the Graduate School of Education, Har-
vard University, was appointed chief of the Education Branch of
the Division.

In order* to provide opportunities for continued nonmilitary
education of men and women in the armed forces after complet-
ing the period of basic training, the Army Institute, later known
as the United States Armed Forces Institute (USAFI) , was estab-
lished in Madison, Wisconsin. The Institute administered cor-
respondence courses directly and entered into contracts with
extension divisions of colleges and universities to make their own
courses available to military personnel. Courses were provided

240

EDUCATION AND THE ARMED FORCES 241

for those who desired high school or college credit. The only
charge to soldier students taking the courses of USAFI was a
registration fee of $2.00. For correspondence courses taken
through colleges and universities the government paid half of the
tuition fees not exceeding $20 for any one course. Applications
for the latter courses had to be cleared through USAFI. By the
middle of 1944 USAFI offered 275 courses and the 83 colleges
and universities which entered into contracts with the Institute
offered about 7,000 courses. Of those enrolled 75 per cent took
the Institute courses and 25 per cent the courses made available
by colleges and universities. USAFI prepared self -teaching text-
books and issued special paperbound editions of standard text-
books. In September, 1942, the services of USAFI were extended
to the navy, marine corps, and coast guard. By February i, 1946,
in the education program offered during off-duty time, approxi-
mately 800,000 service men enrolled for correspondence and self-
teaching courses and 1,000,000 enrolled for classes organized and
conducted on Army installations.

The objectives of USAFI were defined, when the Institute was
established, as follows:

a. To provide continuing educational opportunities to meet the
requirements of the command; in particular, (i) To furnish as-
sistance to personnel who lack educational prerequisites for assign-
ment to duty which they are otherwise qualified to perform, and
(2) To assist individual soldiers in meeting requirements for pro-
motion.

b. To enable those whose education is interrupted by military
service to maintain relations with educational institutions, and thus
increase the probability of the completion of their education upon
their return to civil life. 1

Upon the completion of each course a certificate of proficiency
was sent to the soldier student through his commanding officer
and entered on the "Soldier's Qualification Card." In order to
provide high schools and colleges with data on the military train-
ing and experience for purposes of evaluation in terms of aca-
demic credit and to provide employers accurate descriptions of

i. Education for Victory, January 15, 1943, p. 19. See also issues for
April 15, 1942, p. 15, and August 3, 1944, p. 9.

242 THE IMPACT OF THE WAR UPON AMERICAN EDUCATION

the skills acquired and training received by service personnel,
USAFI set up an accreditation service. Reports were made avail-
able to servicemen who filled out a form, "Request for Report
on Educational Achievement." The Institute, however, did not
itself assume responsibility for evaluating, recommending, or
granting credit. The examination staff of the Institute prepared
three types of examinations as follows:

1. The "end-of-the-course examination," specially designed for
use with a particular course correspondence, self-teaching, or
group instruction, and administered to the men while they are in
the service.

2. The "field" or "subject" examination, designed to fit as closely
as possible the content of a standard elementary school, high school,
or college course. These examinations will be standardized on na-
tion-wide samplings, and these norms made available.

3. "Tests of general educational development," designed especially
to provide a measure of the general educational development result-
ing from all the possibilities for informal self-education which
military service involves as well as the general educational growth
incidental to military training and experience. 2

Accreditation proved to be an important service when vet-
erans began to return and to seek admission to high schools, col-
leges, and universities.

The second problem, that of developing programs for the
education or adjustment to civilian life of returning veterans,
began to be discussed a few months after the United States had
entered the war. On April 10, 1942, the Institute of Adult Edu-
cation, Teachers College, Columbia University, appointed a
Commission on Postwar Training and Adjustment which pub-
lished a Statement of Principles Relating to the Educational Prob-
lems of Returning Soldiers, Sailors, and Displaced War Industry
Workers. 3 In July, 1942, following informal discussions of the
postwar education of veterans by a group representing govern-
mental and private agencies in the offices of the American Coun-
cil on Education, President Roosevelt appointed a Conference on
Postwar Readjustment of Civilian and Military Personnel com-
posed only of representatives of governmental agencies. In June,

2. Ibid., August 3. 1944, p. lo,

3. New York, 1942 ,

EDUCATION AND THE ARMED FORCES 243

1943, the Conference submitted a report, Demobilization and
Reconversion, to the President, urging the development of a
program of vocational training, the planning of special courses
by colleges and universities, the appropriation of funds by the
Federal Government to assure adequate educational services,
and the cooperation of community, state, and national agencies
to provide suitable opportunities for the education of veterans.
In November, 1942, the President appointed another committee
of educators, under the auspices of the War and Navy Depart-
ments, "for the taking of steps to enable young men, whose edu-
cation has been interrupted, to resume their schooling and afford
equal opportunity for the training and education of other young
men of ability after their service in the armed forces comes to
an end." In a report issued on October 27, 1943, this committee
recommended a plan which became the basis of legislative pro-
visions for the education of returning veterans.

At the same time attention began to be directed to the prob-
lem of providing for the adequate rehabilitation of disabled vete-
rans and of workers injured in war industry. Separate legislation
was enacted for the three groups veterans, disabled veterans,
and workers disabled in war industry.

On March 24, 1943, President Roosevelt signed the Vocational
Rehabilitation Act (Public Law 16, later amended by Public
Law 268). On June 22, 1944, he signed the Servicemen's Read-
justment Act (Public Law 346, later amended by Public Law
268), which came to be known as the G.I. Bill of Rights. Both
laws were to be administered by the Veterans Administration.

The G.L Bill provided that all veterans, discharged under con-
ditions other than dishonorable, who had served 90 days on active
duty on or after September 16, 1940, would be eligible under its
provisions to "receive such course of education or training, full-
time or the equivalent thereof in part-time training, as he may
elect, and at any approved educational or training institution in
which he chooses to enroll." The studies that might be elected
ranged from elementary subjects to postdoctoral work, and they
could be pursued for one year plus the time in active service be-
tween September 16, 1940, and the termination of the war but
not to exceed four years. An institution must accept or retain a
veteran entitled to the benefits of the bill "as a student or trainee

244 rHE IMPACT OF THE WAR UPON AMERICAN EDUCAIION

in any field or branch of knowledge which such institution finds
him qualified to undertake or pursue, while the conduct or prog-
ress of the veteran must be satisfactory according to the regularly
prescribed standards and practices of the institution."

Under the provision of both Public Law 346 and Public Law
1 6 courses could be pursued in any school or college or, if on-
the-job training was selected, in industry or on farms. Institutions
selected by veterans under Public Law 346 had to be approved
by state agencies appointed or designated by the governor; dis-
abled veterans under Public Law 1 6 could select the institution in
which they wished to study or be trained only after counseling
and on approval by the Veterans Administration.

The payments to veterans, originally fixed at $50 a month for
those without dependents and $75 a month for those with one or
more dependents, were raised to $65 and $90 respectively by the
amending act (Public Law 268) of December 28, 1945. Disabled
veterans were entitled to pension, retirement, or military com-
pensation plus subsistance allowances of $105 a month if without
dependents, and $1153 month if one dependent, plus $10 for one
child, $7 for each additional child, and $15 for a dependent
parent. At this time there was no limitation placed on the amount
the veteran could earn and still receive his subsistance allowance
from the government. By 1947* however, the total amount a vet-
eran married or single could earn above his government al-
lowance without having it cut was $110 a month. This allowed
the single veteran a total income of $175 a month and the married
veteran a total income of $200 a month if both were receiving
full government subsistence. The disabled veteran was not limited
as to the amount he could earn while in school, but if he was
working he was limited to a journeyman's wage in excess of his
government subsistence.

Institutions approved for the education or training of veterans
were to be paid established fees or cost of teaching and instruc-
tional supplies up to a maximum of $500 for an ordinary school
year for each veteran student.

Measures began to be taken by a variety of agencies (local,
state, and federal) to bring the benefits of the G.I. Bill to the
attention of members of the armed forces and to establish centers
to counsel returning veterans. A Guide to Colleges, Universities

EDUCATION AND THE ARMED FORCES 245

and Professional Schools in the United States was prepared to
assist education officers and others in answering the questions of
military personnel. Assistance and information were given by
the Army Separation Counseling Service and the Navy Civilian
Readjustment Program to help the veteran in his return to civilian
life. The Veterans Administration prepared and distributed a
blaimal of Advisement and Guidance, and conducted regional
institutes to interpret counseling procedures. 4

The nationwide interest in the provision of some recognition
to a generation to which the nation owed so much is indicated by
Dr. Francis J. Brown in the concluding paragraph of his book:

The people, through the Congress, have extended the opportunity
of education and training to each of the 15 million who have served,
or are still serving, in the armed forces. They have indicated that
the provision of such education and training is a responsibility to
be shared by the local community, by the state, by the federal gov-
ernment, and by the veteran himself. Through their cooperation,
the hopes and aspirations running deep in the hearts of the Ameri-
can people can, and will be realized. 5

ACCREDITATION AND PROSPECTIVE ENROLLMENTS

Two issues immediately had to be taken into consideration
after the enactment of the G.I. Bill. The first was the number of
returning soldiers who would be likely to avail themselves of its
benefits; the second was the question of accreditation for military
experience and education while in service and for educational
level reached before entry into the service.

A study of army personnel before plans for their postwar
education began to be made showed that only 7 per cent of en-
listed men intended to continue with further education or train-
ing. After the G.L Bill had been enacted, 8 per cent of the army
as a whole (officers and enlisted men) had definite plans and 4
per cent had tentative plans for full-time education, while 19
per cent were planning to pursue part-time education; 69 per
cent had no plans for further education. Of the enlisted men who

4. A detailed account of the whole subject and many of the problems
involved is presented by Francis J. Brown, Educational Opportunities for
Veterans, Washington, D. G, 1946.

5. Ibid., p. 99.

246 THE IMPACT OF THE WAR UPON AMERICAN EDUCATION

planned to attend school full-time, 76 per cent expected to go
to a college or university, 6 per cent to an academic high school,
1 2 per cent to a trade or vocational school, and 5 per cent to a
business school, while the rest had other plans or were unclassi-
fied. 6

When the problem was approached from the point of view
of an estimate of the numbers eligible for admission to the colleges
and universities, the picture statistically was different. It was
found that nearly four World War II veterans were eligible to
undertake graduate study as compared with one veteran of World
War I. While only 7 per cent of the men who fought in World
War I were ready to enter college, the figure for World War II
veterans was 36 per cent. With the enactment of the G.I. Bill of
Rights it was expected that 46 per cent of the army personnel,
whose formal education was between the fifth grade and the com-
pletion of two years of high school, might avail themselves of the
opportunity to continue full-time or part-time education in vo-
cational, technical, and trade schools, whereas little was done to
encourage further education and retraining by the 65 per cent of
the soldiers of World War I who had received the same amount
of formal education. On the basis of estimates, published in
November, 1944, it was expected that 12 per cent of the eleven
million men and women in the armed forces might return for
full-time education in schools and colleges. 7

The educational level of army enlisted men in World War II
was considerably higher than in World War I. An analysis of
the educational level of 7,144,401 men showed the following dis-
tribution of the men who were 25 years of age or under (3,789,-
545 or 53 per cent):

Grade schools i to 8 years 899,127 23 7 per cent

i 2, 3 years of high school . 1,233,304 32 5

4 years high school and i, 2, 3 years of college 1,551,800 41 o

4 years college and up .. . 105,314 2 8

The distribution of a national sample of male army officers
and enlisted men was as follows:

6. Ibid., pp. 43 f.

7. Education for Victor y, November 3, 1944, pp. 13 f.

EDUCATION AND THE ARMED FORCES

Officers Percent Men Percent

Grade schools i to 8 years*

10,794

i 5

2,045,187

28 6

I, 2, 3 years high school

87,159

12 O

2,328,537

32 6

4 years high school

162,116

22 2

1,973,321

27 6

i, 2, 3 years college

191,019

26 2

585,758

8 2

4 years college

158,160

21 7

146,263

2 I

Graduate work

H9,945

16 4

65,335

9

Total . 729,193 7,144,401

^Includes some illiterates.

An interesting and important result of the study of the educa-
tional level of army personnel was the light thrown upon the
distribution of education in the general population twenty to
thirty-nine years of age inclusive and by states. Of the general
population 42. 7 per cent

had advanced no further than the eighth grade, as compared with
28.6 per cent of the enlisted men. The other extreme of the distribu-
tion documents what the initiated would expect, namely, that the
general population has a larger population of persons with college and
professional training than prevailed among army enlisted men, but a
very much smaller proportion among army officers. 8

Statistics on the rejection rates per hundred Selective Service
registrants because of educational deficiency and on the relative
effort made by the states in supporting education revealed, first,
that "the states having a high rejection rate for educational de-
ficiency are also the ones that have large percentages of army
personnel whose education is at or below eighth grade," and,
secondly, that "in states where the educational attainment of
soldiers is high, the amount expended on education per child is
high. In states where the per capita expenditure for education is
low, soldiers make a poor educational showing even where the
states make a greater than average effort to provide an adequate
program of education."

It is too early at this stage to determine whether the actual en-
rollments of G.I.'s in colleges and universities bear out the predic-

8. E. V. Hollis, Data for State-wide Planning of Veteran? Education,
U. S. Office of Education, Bulletin, 1945, No. 4, p. 65. The tables above
are based on this source, pp. 50 f. and 54.

9 Ibid.j pp. 65 f.

248 THE IMPACT OF THE WAR UPON AMERICAN EDUCATION

dons of the estimates. The situation may have been affected by
employment opportunities and the fact that the benefits of the
G.I. Bill may be taken up within four years after separation from
service. According to the statistics of enrollments in 668 colleges
and universities in the fall of 1946, of the 1,331,138 students en-
rolled 714,477, or 53.7 per cent, were veterans; of 350,000 stu-
dents estimated for 650 junior colleges about 150,000 were

veterans. 10

According to a report issued by the Veterans Administration
the total number of veterans enrolled under the educational pro-
visions of the G.I. Bill of Rights was 1,572,049 on December 31,
1946; this figure would include all enrolled in high schools, col-
leges, and universities. The number of disabled veterans taking
vocational courses under the Vocational Rehabilitation Act
(Public Law 16) was 106,822. The number taking on-the-job
training was 629,157. Checks for subsistence allowances certified
for payment during 1946 totaled about $1,100,000,000, and, dur-
ing December, $i70,ooo,ooo. n

In a report issued in February, 1947, the Veterans Administra-
tion announced that 40 per cent of the veterans had applied for
some form of education or training 5,182,523 under Public Law
346 and 659,767 under Public Law 16. The total number actually
enrolled for training and education was 2,495,403 (2,284,861
under Public Law 346 and 210,542 under Public Law 16). Of
these 71 per cent were enrolled in schools and colleges and 29
per cent were receiving on-the-job training. 12

The problem of school and college credits to be granted for
military service, and educational experience in the armed forces
began to receive attention early in 1942. It was recognized that
the practice, following World War I, of granting varying
amounts of credit to returning students who had served a mini-
mum period of time in the armed forces was unsatisfactory as
well as unsound. Further, in the years between the two wars
more discriminating methods had been made available through

10. Rajrmond Walters, "Statistics of Attendance in American Univer-
sities and Colleges, 1946," School and Society, December 31, 1946, pp.
428 ff.

ir. School and Society, March 15, 1947, p. 190.

12. School and Society, April 26, 1947, p. 304.

EDUCATION AND THE ARMED FORCES 249

the development of test materials and procedures. A new factor
had also to be taken into consideration due to the provision of
educational programs within the army and navy, which included
beside the basic training, Officer Candidate Schools, specialized
technical schools, and the opportunities for off-duty education
under the United States Armed Forces Institute and the colleges
and universities under contact with the Institute.

In 1942 the American Council on Education appointed a spe-
cial Committee on Accrediting Procedures to investigate the
whole question. Following a meeting of the Committee on April
6, 1942, the following recommendations were transmitted to the
Subcommittee on Education of the Joint Army-Navy Committee
on Welfare and Education, that

Success in the army correspondence courses be appraised in terms
of skills, attitudes, and knowledge achieved by the students; that
the Army Institute provide opportunity for soldiers, not registered
in courses, but who have had comparable training experience, to
take the appraisal tests and to receive proficiency ratings if they
achieve a satisfactory standing in such tests; and that carefully con-
structed appraisal tests be used to determine the educational signifi-
cance of skills acquired through varied types of war experience. 13

Following approval of these recommendations by Brigadier
General Frederick H. Osborn, the subcommittee was authorized
to set up a group to develop the necessary tests, the cost to be
borne by the Army. The University of Chicago was selected as
the contracting agent and Dr. Ralph W. Tyler was appointed
director of the Staff for the Development of Testing Materials.
Three types of tests were prepared, as follows: "qualifying tests
to determine the ability of the individual to take the course he
has selected; achievement tests to cover the courses offered in
the army program; and examinations to determine the educational
competence of the individual in terms of high school or college
credit." The tests were made available by USAFI to all enlisted
men in the Army and to officers and enlisted personnel in the
Navy and Coast Guard, whether courses had or had not been
taken in the Institute and regardless of past educational experi-

13. American Council on Education, Higher Education and National
Defense, Bulletin No. 36, October 23, 1942.

250 THE IMPACT OF THE WAR UPON AMERICAN EDUCATION

ence. The Institute, however, left the responsibility of evaluating
the results of the tests in terms of credits to the high schools and
colleges to which the scores might be sent by the applicants.

The following resolutions on the question of credits were
adopted at a conference of representatives of regional accrediting
associations and special committees called by the American Coun-
cil on Education and held on May 28, 1942:

Whereas, the educational program conducted by and through
the Army Institute meets the specific needs of men in the armed
forces; and

Whereas, the program is basically sound as an educational experi-
ence and is related to the levels of achievement of the individual; and

Whereas, the procedure in the formulation and administration of
both instructional and testing materials is in keeping with sound
educational practice;

There-fore it is recommended that:

1. Schools and colleges recognize in anticipation of the soldiers'
readmission to school or college for appropriate credit and proper
placement of the student the appraisal of the level of competence
of the individual based on Army Institute examinations of the in-
dividual's educational experience acquired while within the armed
forces either through Institute courses or in such training as officer
candidate schools, specialist training in aerodynamics, or the orien-
tation program;

2. Schools and colleges recognize for appropriate credit and
proper placement of the individual student, the record of corre-
spondence courses completed through the Institute and given by
participating schools and colleges;

3. Schools and colleges recognize for appropriate credit and
proper placement of the individual student, courses completed in
foreign universities and schools either on the basis of the usual
channels of transfer of credit or on the basis of the level of com-
petence as appraised by Institute examinations of the level of com-
petence*

It was also resolved to send copies of the statement to regional
associations to be referred to their member organizations and
institutions for appropriate action, and to state departments of

EDUCATION AND THE ARMED FORCES 25 1

education for such modifications of existing laws as would facili-
tate carrying out the recommendations by schools and colleges
within the state jurisdiction. 14

In February, 1943, the American Council on Education pub-
lished a pamphlet on Sound Educational Credit -for Military Ex-
perience: A Recommended Program, prepared in cooperation
with USAFI, the Education Branch of the Special Service Divi-
sion, and regional accrediting associations. This pamphlet was
followed later by another on Soimd Educational Credit for Mili-
tary Experience: Answers and Questions, prepared by Francis
J. Brown of the Council's staff. In a Guide to the Evaluation of
Educational Experience in the Armed Forces, published in 1944
for the use of high schools and colleges, the specific training
courses of the Army and Navy were described and recommenda-
tions were made regarding the amount of credit to be assigned. 13

The general recommendations which were reached were as
follows: (i) Credit given for military training should not exceed
half a semester of college credit or one semester of high school
credit. (2) Students considered for admission to college should
be classified on the basis of competence demonstrated in the Gen-
eral Educational Development Examination, given either by
USAFI or the higher education institution concerned. (3)
Credit for work done in the various educational programs pro-
vided while in service should be given on the basis of tests and
competence profiles from USAFI. These recommendations were
generally adopted for the admission of veterans to colleges and
universities, the determination of the actual amount of credit to
be assigned being left to each institutions.

Similar recommendations for the return of veterans who
wished to complete their secondary education were made, mutatis
mutandis, by a Committee on Secondary-School Credit for Edu-
cational Experience in Military Service of the National Associa-
tion of Secondary-School Principals. Following its meeting in
Cleveland, Ohio, on May 21-23, 1943, the Committee issued a

14. Ibid.

15, See American Council on Education, Higher Education and Na-
tional Defense, Bulletins No. 49, March 8, 1943; No. 59, October 10, 1943;
No. 69, July 26, 1944; and No. 74, November 30, 1944.

2J2 'I HE IMP AC I 1 OF THE WAR UPON AMERICAN EDUCATION

pamphlet on Secondary-School Credit for Educational Experi-
ence in Military Service: A Recommended Program. The Com-
mittee recommended that a request for academic or school credit
must be initiated by the serviceman desiring credit. As in the case
of candidates for entrance to colleges and universities, USAFI
served as a central clearing house, furnishing application forms
to be filled out by applicants and their commanding officers and
assembling all other necessary materials for the civilian school or
institution, including:

1. Identification information; that is, the name, branch of Serv-
ice, and serial or file number of the individual requesting credit.

2. Information concerning the last civilian school attended and
grade completed.

3. A report of the Service schools attended, with brief descrip-
tion of all courses taken, length of course, and grades.

4. A description of present Service job.

5. Report on correspondence subjects or courses with brief de-
scription of subject content and final grade.

6. Report on independent or class study, with brief description
of subject, length of course, and final grade.

7. Report on special tests, with brief description of tests and in-
terpretation of test score. 36

On the basis of this information the schools concerned and
not USAFI were required to assume responsibility for the evalu-
ation of credits. After taking action, the school authorities were
expected to report to USAFI, which in turn transmitted notifica-
tion of the action to the applicants. The Committee warned the
school authorities that the evaluation of education in military
service required special consideration:

The War and the Navy Departments realize that the educational
experiences provided by military service differ in many respects
from that provided in the usual curriculums of secondary schools
and colleges. The kind of education gained in Service may often,
however, make no less valuable a contribution to the individual
student's development than the training he would have received

1 6. National Association of Secondary-School Principals, Secondary-
School Credit for Educational Experience in Military Service: A Recom-
mended Program, Washington, D. C, 1943, p. 25.

EDUCAHON AND THE ARMED FORCES 253

from many more orthodox courses in civilian institutions. It is hoped
that this consideration will be given due weight in evaluating train-
ing and experience in the services which cannot completely parallel
the usual civilian instruction.

The quality of instruction given in the Services is of a high
caliber and can be compared very favorably with instruction in
civilian schools. In addition, it should be realized that, with many
thousands of Service personnel, off-duty programs of education
are being undertaken in addition to their full-time Service jobs
which, in most cases, are more demanding and require longer hours
than jobs in civilian life. Often the conditions under which such
study must be done are far from favorable and the surmounting of
obstacles is a tribute to the energy and initiative of these young
people in advancing themselves and in carrying forward the lessons
of self -improvement which they learned so well in our American
school system. Educators have a definite role to play in maintaining
the morale of these men and women and in promoting their inter-
ests in school education, which is, after all, the core and heart of
democracy. 17

The important question whether the veterans would adjust
themselves readily to the new routine of study and training be-
gan to be answered early in 1946. Despite all the difficulties in
securing admission to educational institutions, the overcrowding
in all colleges and universities, and the problem of housing, the
students, many of whom were married and had children, the
reports from all parts of the country indicated that the veterans
were making better grades than nonveterans, that there were no
difficulties in their readjustment, and that there was a marked
seriousness in the way in which they settled down to their studies.
This was attributed to the maturity and broader experience of
the veterans as well as to a clearer conception of aims and ob-
jectives.

The full story of the social and educational effects of the pro-
visions for veterans cannot be written for several years; when it
is written it will present a striking chapter in the history of
American education. One important part of the story will be the
report of a comprehensive study initiated in March, 1947, by the

17. Ibid.) p. 26.

254 T HE IMPACT OF THE WAR UPON AMERICAN EDUCATION

Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching and the
Carnegie Corporation of New York to answer the much dis-
cussed question whether veterans made better students than non-
veterans. 18

POST-HOSTILITIES EDUCATION PROGRAM

Profiting by the experience at the end of World War I, when
an educational program had not been prepared and organized
until after hostilities had ceased, the army authorities, through the
Special Services Division of the War Department, later called
the Information and Education Division of the Army, turned
their attention to the preparation of a post-hostilities education
program which was completed long before V-E day for the
European and Mediterranean theaters. The program included the
provision of a wide range of educational facilities from literacy
training to higher education and educational and vocational
guidance services. Textbooks and instructional materials were
prepared and began to be shipped to Europe even before hostili-
ties ended.

When the program was put into operation on August i, 1945,
the following opportunities for the education of army personnel
officers and enlisted men were made available:

1 . Command or unit schools were established at battalion and
other levels under the charge of trained Information-Education
officers and an Institution Officer for each unit. The subjects of
instruction included literacy training for soldiers who had not
completed the fourth or fifth grade of the elementary school, and
high school courses with on-the-job training where equipment
was available. In September, 1945, there were about 500 unit
schools attended by more than 100,000 officers and enlisted
personnel.

2. The second level of education was provided in centralized
technical schools, organized at the regimental, division, or corps
level and planned to offer refresher courses and retraining in
skills to those who had already had trade training and experience
before entering the army.

18. See School and Society, March 29, 1947, p. 221 f.

EDUCATION AND THE ARMED FORCES 255

3. The highest level of education was offered in Army Uni-
versity Centers. The first of these in Florence was opened in
July, 1945. Three others, opened in August, 1945, were located
at Biarritz in the French Riviera, at Shrivenham in a former
British military school near Oxford, and at Warton, near Man-
chester, in a United States Air Forces service depot. 19 The last
of these was organized as a technological institute. Except in Flor-
ence, where the number of students was considerably smaller, the
other university centers were planned for 4,000 students, selected
on a percentage basis from the various army units on certification
of their commanders that they had completed high school. The
majority of the students, including officers and enlisted men,
WAAC and army nurses, were high school graduates; others
had completed several years of college, and a still smaller number
were college graduates. The courses were planned for eight week
terms, each class meeting for five fifty minute periods a week.
Each student was permitted to take three courses and to remain
for one term only; a few students of superior ability were allowed
to continue for a second term.

The faculties consisted of instructors who had demonstrated
ability as teachers in military training courses or had had experi-
ence as teachers and administrators in civilian life, and civilian
educators carefully selected from colleges and universities by
the Information and Education Division in Washington. Distinc-
tions of rank were not observed as between officers and enlisted
men, whether as instructors or as students. In general the aim in
each center was to follow the standards and procedures of insti-
tutions of higher education in the United States. In general the
courses were planned for freshmen and sophomores. The follow-
ing table giving the number of courses, classes, faculty members,
and students at Biarritz in the first term, August 20 to October
12, 1945, is presented as an illustration of the organization of a
university center: 20

19. An Army University Center was also opened in Honolulu in De-
cember, 1945, and continued until March, 1946, with four week terms.
The total enrollment for the entire period of operation was about 3,000.
The faculty was entirely military.

20. John Dale Russell, "The Army University Centers in the European
Theater." The Educational Record, January, 1946, p. 9.

256 THE IMPACT OF THE WAR UPON AMERICAN EDUCATION

Section

Courses

Classes

Instructors*

Student Course
Registration **

Agriculture
Commerce
Education
Engineering
Fine Arts .
Journalism
Liberal Arts
Science ,

3

16

22

43
ir

35
28

35

120

25
26

6;

20

I/i

93

15
55
14
18

35

r r

73
5*

953
3,178
4*3
503
i,33o
538
1,169
1,802

Total . 266 559 272 11,886

*As of September 24, 1945. "*As of August 25, 1945

The comparable statistics for the second session at Shrivenham
are given in the following table, except that the number of in-
structors was not available: 21

Academic
Sections

Number of
Courses

Number of
Sections

Class
Enrollments

Increase or
Decrease over
ist Session

Agriculture.
Commerce
Education..
Engineering
Fine Arts . .
Journalism
Liberal Arts
Science

25
48
16

22
32

9
1 08

33

34
129

21
27

%

192

85

788
3,084

220

340
826
290
3,576
1,383

+25

+429
-123

-44

-69

+765
+49

Total 293 548 10,507 +1,032

Although the experiment was shortlived the Biarritz center
ceased to operate after two terms and that at Shrivenham after
three terms its success proved its value not only in providing
opportunities for education but in serving as a bridge between
army and civilian life. The possible contribution to future pro-
grams of education in the Army is described as follows by Dr.
John Dale Russell, who served as dean and academic adviser at
the Army University Center at Biarritz:

The ventures into fields of higher education by the American
Army in the European theater may have considerable influence on

21. A History of Shrivenham American University, p. 60. Swindon,
England, 1946. The order of the academic sections was rearranged to
facilitate comparison with the table on the Biarritz center.

EDUCATION AND THE ARMED FORCES 257

the entire operation of military service during peacetime. The very
obvious success of the two University Study Centers and the great
demand for their services indicate that the Army may become an im-
portant agency for higher education. The attractiveness of service
in the peacetime Army may readily be increased for men of ability
by affording appropriate opportunities for continued education in
the usual academic branches. The evidence from the experience at
Biarritz and Shrivenham is that the Army can operate such a pro-
gram on an entirely satisfactory basis. 22

The following summary from A History of Shrivenham Am-
erican University (p. 116) is cited as having more general appli-
cation than the preceding quotation:

In the vast majority of cases, the problems which the returning
veteran poses for educators are no different in kind from those posed
by other men who return to college after several maturing years in
a non-academic world. Most of the recommendations which grow
out of this report are generally regarded as desirable for all stu-
dents, and the return of tens of thousands of veterans at once merely
intensifies the need for their careful reconsideration.

The composite military experience has definitely accelerated ma-
turation, particularly in the case of the younger soldier. The veteran
is highly motivated. He is impatient of wasted effort, useless ac-
tivity, and lost time. He is realistic and functional in his approach
to education. His return to the American campus will not revolu-
tionize higher education, but the impact of that return will be felt
quickly and forcefully. It appears from the Shrivenham experience
that the net result will be wholesome, stimulating, and challenging.

4. Arrangements were made for a limited number of military
personnel to enter universities in the United Kingdom, Belgium,
France, and Italy for periods of three months or to secure train-
ing in private industrial firms.

In addition to these provisions for organized educational pro-
grams, the opportunities for education by correspondence courses
through USAFI were used by an increased number of the per-
sonnel, and furlough and field trips to places of cultural and his-
torical interest were arranged as part of the education services.

Comparable services were provided for men in the navy under
the Navy Program of Education Services and Civil Readjustment

22, Ibid., p. 23.

258 THE IMPACT OF THE WAR UPON AMERICAN EDUCATION

prepared some time before the cessation of hostilities by the
Bureau of Naval Personnel of the Navy Department. The prob-
lems of the Navy differed from those of the Army, since even
when hostilities came to an end regular duties of maintenance
still had to be continued. There was the further difference in the
size of the personnel on each vessel and at each station. Education
Service Officers who were trained and experienced teachers or
organizers were stationed with few exceptions at all naval activi-
ties of over two thousand men; in small activities the education
work was placed in charge of officers or enlisted men.

The education services began to be provided some three years
before the end of the war. In April, 1944, a Civil Readjustment
Program was added to Education Services in order to disseminate
information to the personnel, prior to discharge, as to their rights
and benefits and to prepare them for readjustment to civil life.
At the same time a shift of emphasis was made in the education
program to meet new problems and interests of the personnel.
Counseling and guidance were provided for educational and vo-
cational training; courses were offered in academic subjects
ranging from literacy training to college subjects; preparation for
a variety of jobs was given; and information was disseminated on
current political and economic developments. As in the army, so
in the navy arrangements for testing and accreditation through
USAFI were made.

The account presented in this chapter lays no claim to being
complete. Nor is it possible to evaluate the nonmilitary educa-
tional activities organized for the personnel in the army and navy;
the effects may be seen perhaps in years to come. Whether other
types of educational activities that might have laid the foundation
for peacetime programs of adult education could have been
organized, if there had not been so much concern about credits,
it is difficult to say. What was done and what was achieved fol-
lowed the normal pattern of American education which is ex-
pressed in the characterization of the Shrivenham soldier-student,
that "he is realistic and functional in his approach to education."
Too often, however, this means for the student a record of what
he "has had" and a preparation for a living rather than for life.
The desirability of programs of education for intelligent citizen-
ship without concern for formal accreditation was recognized. In

EDUCATION AND THE ARMED FORCES 259

September, 1943, the Special Service Division Headquarters,
European Theater of Operations, began the publication of a series
of army talks, described as "unique in the history of the U. S.
Army." The series is introduced with the statement that

For the first time an American army is in the most literal sense
"going to school," while fighting a war. It is going to school to be-
come a more efficient army to return its soldiers more competent
citizens.

In this great program Army Talks have a basic role. They are the
springboard into that free discussion around which not only an
army's educational program revolves, but upon which ultimately
the democratic form of government is based. They are in them-
selves a demonstration as well as an expression of democracy at
work.

The Army Talks series was "undertaken to implement one
of the greatest experiments in adult education," There is at
present no evidence available to indicate how far-reaching or
how successful this experiment was. There can be no doubt,
however, about the soundness of the idea and aim underlying the
provision of such education as an experiment in adult education.

CHAPTER EIGHT

INTERNATIONAL CULTURAL RELATIONS

THE GROWING RECOGNITION, even before the nation entered
World War II, of the important part that the United States
would play in international affairs, stimulated a widespread
interest in international cultural relations. Whatever political
opinion may have been, the United States has not been intellec-
tually isolationist. The story of the influence of foreign educa-
tional theories and practices upon the development of American
education can be found in every history of American education.
American scholars have participated increasingly in international
congresses and organizations. It was not until after World War
II, however, that American schools and colleges began to devote
greater attention than ever before to the study of international
relations in general. 1 It was also after World War I that the flow
of foreign students to American institutions of higher education
and of American students to foreign universities became marked.
This movement for the exchange of students, teachers, and pro-
fessors was promoted by voluntary agencies and the educational
foundations. 2 The participation of governmental agencies in in-
ternational cultural affairs and in student and other exchanges did
not begin until shortly before the outbreak of World War II. 3
The development of the Good Neighbor Policy in the thirties
stimulated interest throughout the country in the study of Span-
ish (and later Portuguese) , and of Latin American history, insti-
tutions, and culture. Formal participation by an agency of gov-
ernment in the promotion and conduct of international cultural

1. See Edith E. Ware, The Study of International Relations in the
United States, New York, Columbia University Press, 1934 an d *93$*

2. See I. L. Kandel, United States Activities in International Relations,
Chaps. II and III, Washington, D. C, 1945,

3. Although the remission of the Boxer Indemnity fund was voted
by Congress, the administration of the fund established for educational
purposes was assigned to a nonofficial body, the China Foundation for
the Promotion of Education and Culture (1924).

260

INTERNATIONAL CULTURAL RELATIONS 261

relations began in 1938, when the Division of Cultural Relations
was created in the Department of State. Because of the immi-
nence and then the outbreak of World War II the activities of
this Division were limited to the Western Hemisphere. Before
that date the United States Government had been a member of
the Pan American Union and was officially represented in West-
ern Hemisphere congresses and in the American Scientific Con-
gress. In 1936 the United States had signed the Convention for
the Promotion of Inter- American Relations, which resulted from
the meeting of ministers of the American Republics in Buenos
Aires in 1936.

When the Division of Cultural Relations was created in the
Department of State, it was with the clear understanding that it
was not to be employed to implement the foreign policy of the
United States. The programs, as defined in a memorandum of
June i, 1939, included the exchange of professors, teachers, and
students, cooperation in the fields of music, art, literature and
other intellectual and cultural affairs, the distribution of libraries
of representative works of the United States in the original and
in translations, participation in international expositions and radio
broadcasts, and "generally the dissemination abroad of the repre-
sentative intellectual and cultural works of the United States and
the improvement of our cultural relations with other countries."
The general principle governing the conduct of international cul-
tural relations by government was stated as follows:

The field of activities thus laid out for the Division is that of
genuine cultural relations. It is not a "propaganda" agency, in the
popular sense of the term which carries with it implications of pene-
tration, imposition, and unilateralism. If its endeavors are to be di-
rected toward the development of a truer and more realistic under-
standing between the peoples of the United States and those of
other nations, it is believed that such a goal can most surely be at-
tained by a program which is definitely educational in character, and
which emphasizes the essential reciprocity in cultural relations. A
primary function of this Division will be to serve as a dealing house
and coordinating agency for the activities of private agencies in the
field of cultural relations. . . .

We are operating in an area in which ill-guided action, no matter
how worthy the intention, may cause lasting wounds. It is essential

262 THE IMPACT OF THE WAR UPON AMERICAN EDUCATION

that the Department have every facility for refined sensitivity to
the situation with which it is dealing and the reactions of those whose
confidence and cooperation it is seeking.

The record of the Division of Cultural Relations, whose title
has been changed several times first to Division of Science,
Education, and Art, then to Division of Cultural Cooperation,
and finally to Office of International Information and Cultural
Affairs is evidence that this principle has been faithfully ob-
served. The task of maintaining a distinction between "informa-
tion and education" and "propaganda" is a delicate one. Every
effort appears to have been made to maintain that distinction.

Although limited to cultural relations with the Latin Ameri-
can Republics, the exigencies of the war produced situations
outside of this area which had to" be met by the Department of
State. Some 1,500 Chinese students found themselves stranded
in this country and unable to secure funds from home. A fund
was created and administered by the Department of State to
assist Chinese students recommended for financial aid by the
Governments of the United States and China. In 1943 a sys-
tem of exchange professors was established with China and tech-
nical experts were sent to that country in fields designated by
the Chinese Government.

Grants were also made by the United States Government to
the Near East College Association of New York to assist six
nonsecretarian colleges established by American citizens, which
found themselves in financial difficulties owing to the war, for
special projects in education, health, engineering, and agricul-
ture; and to the Booker Washington Agricultural and Industrial
Institute in Liberia to train motor mechanics, organize a de-
monstration health clinic, to conduct extension work on better
housing, and to experiment with better food processing. Funds
were also provided to aid North American sponsored schools
in Latin American countries and the Inter-American Schools
Service of the American Council on Education was established
to administer them. This was the first time that the need for assist-
ing North American schools abroad was recognized officially on
the grounds that such schools not only served the children of
American citizens residing in foreign countries but were also

INTERNATIONAL CULTURAL RELATIONS 263

bridgeheads of cultural understanding and centers for the dem-
onstration of American educational theories and practices.

To meet the emergency conditions which arose out of the
war and to strengthen solidarity among the nations of the West-
ern Hemisphere, the Office of the Coordinator of Inter-Ameri-
can Affairs, later called the Office of Inter-American Affairs,
was established by executive order of June 30, 1940. The func-
tions assigned to the Office were: To coordinate the cultural and
commercial relations of the American nations in so far as they
affected hemisphere defense; with the cooperation of the De-
partment of State to further national defense and strengthen the
bonds between these nations by the effective use of govern-
mental and private facilities in such fields as the arts and sciences,
education and travel, the radio, the press, and the cinema; to
further the commercial well-being of the Western Hemisphere;
and in other ways to advance the cultural and commercial ob-
jectives of the government's program of hemisphere solidarity.
On the educational and cultural side the Office promoted the
exchange of educators; the improvement of textbooks, visual
aids and other materials of instruction; the improvement of
methods of teaching English in Latin American countries; the
advancement of standards of living through the development
of mass literacy, health, and vocational proficiency; and the pro-
vision of assistance in the reorganization of elementary and se-
condary education, and the preparation of teachers. These
programs were initiated at the request of the governments con-
cerned and were carried out jointly under contracts between, the
appropriate officials in the Latin American countries and the
Office, acting through the Inter-American Education Founda-
tion, Inc., established on September 25, 1943, and with approval
of a joint committee representing the Foundation, the Division
of Cultural Cooperation, as it was then called, of the Depart-
ment of State, and the American Council of Learned Societies.
The cost of each project is borne by the Foundation and the
country concerned. This plan of cooperative effort in which
selected representatives of the United States and of foreign coun-
tries work side by side with and learn from each other is an
innovation in international educational relations. The traditional
practice, common in the Latin American countries, of inviting

264 THE IMPACT OF THE WAR UPON AMERICAN EDUCATION

foreign missions to undertake the reorganization and even the
administration of aspects of education has been abandoned in
favor of a plan under which their own prospective leaders are
prepared to assume responsibility for the progress of education.
Advice and assistance have been requested on the development of
vocational, agricultural, and rural education (Bolivia, Brazil,
Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Haiti, Honduras, and Peru),
and on the reorganization of secondary education (Chile), and
specialists on the teaching of English have been invited. 4 Par-
ticularly active in providing instruction in English have been
the cultural institutes, whose creation in the Latin American
countries has been encouraged by the cultural division of the
Department of State. In 1941 the Department of State adopted
a plan of appointing cultural relations officers or cultural at-
taches, assigned to American embassies, legations, and consu-
lates, to supervise cultural relations activities in the countries
of their assignment.

In the reorganization, which resulted in the change of the
name of the Division to that of Office of International Informa-
tion and Cultural Affairs, the scope of the cultural relations
activities was gradually expanded. This was the intent of the
Bloom Bill (H.R. 4982) which was introduced in the House of
Representatives on December 13, 1945 and referred to the Com-
mittee on Foreign Affairs. The purpose of the Bill was

To enable the Department of State more effectively to carry out
its responsibilities in the foreign field by means of (a) public dis-
semination of information abroad about the United States, its peo-
ple and its policies, and (b) promotion of the interchange of per-
sons, knowledge, and skills between the people of the United States
and the peoples of other countries.

Although the Bill was not enacted by the Seventy-ninth
Congress, the activities of the Office include virtually all of the
projects which the Bill was intended to undertake such as the

4. In 1943 the American Council on Education, with the aid of a grant
from the Office of the Coordinator of Inter-American Affairs, published
in Spanish and Portuguese a series of seven pamphlets, edited by I. L.
Kandel, on Education in the United States. An eighth pamphlet on
Catholic Educational Institutions was added in 1945. The series of seven
pamphlets was also translated locally into Italian and Arabic.

INTERNATIONAL CULTURAL RELATIONS 265

dissemination abroad of information about the United States
through publications and radio broadcasts; the interchange of
students, professors, and outstanding persons in the fields of
press, radio, motion pictures, education, science, the arts, agri-
culture, public health, and other leaders of national affairs;
technical projects undertaken and jointly financed by the
United States and another government; preparation and dis-
semination of information abroad; preparation, distribution, and
interchange of educational materials; development and demon-
stration of better methods of teaching English abroad; assistance
to American sponsored schools, libraries, and community cen-
ters abroad; and assignment of scientific, technical, and other
experts for temporary service to or in cooperation with the
government of another country requesting such services.

Under an amendment adopted by the Seventy-ninth Con-
gress (Public Law 584) to the Surplus Property Act of 1944,
generally known as the Fulbright Bill, the functions of the Of-
fice in the exchange of students will be enlarged. The section
of the law dealing with the sale of surplus lend-lease property
authorized the Secretary of State to enter into agreements with
any foreign government "for the use of currencies, or credits
for currencies, of such government acquired as a result of such
property disposals, for the purpose of providing by the forma-
tion of foundations or otherwise' ' for educational purposes.
These will include financing studies, research, instruction, and
other educational activities and the exchange of students, includ-
ing payment for transportation, tuition, maintenance, and other
expenses incident to scholastic activities or furnishing transporta-
tion for citizens of the foreign country concerned who desire
to attend American schools and institutions of higher learning.
The flow of foreign students to this country began soon after the
end of the war, some at their own expense, and others sent by
their governments. When the provisions of the Fulbright Bill
come into operation, a vast system of student exchanges will be
created, which may prove to be one of the most important con-
tributions to the promotion of international understanding and
cooperation that has yet been developed.

Another governmental agency, which has been concerned
in the program of international educational relations, is the

266 THE IMPACT OF THE WAR UPON AMERICAN EDUCATION

United States Office of Education. Through its division of Com-
parative Education, it provided information about education in
other countries in its "News from Abroad," published in Edu-
cation -for Victory. It prepared basic studies on education in
Latin American countries. It arranged internships for foreign
students in American public schools and in the Office and as-
sisted in finding teachers for Afghanistan and the Near East.
The Office played an important part in promoting the study
of foreign cultures (Chinese, Japanese, Thai, Indian, and Latin
American) and prepared instructional materials for use in schools.
Through the Division of Inter-American Education the activi-
ties of the Office were expanded with the aid of funds from the
Department of State and the Office of Inter-American Affairs.
These activities included the exchange of educational personnel,
the selection of American teachers of Spanish as candidates for
the Spanish Language Institute held in Mexico City, the pre-
paration and exchange of teaching materials on Inter-American
subjects, and the promotion of extracurricular activities to de-
velop friendship among students of the American Republics.

Under a reorganization of the Office of Education, effected
in 1945, the activities of the Divisions of Comparative Edu-
cation and Inter- American Relations were enlarged and assigned
to the new Division of International Educational Relations. The
purpose of the expanded program was stated to be as follows:

The program of the Office in the field of international education
is designed to aid in interpreting United States life and culture
through educational agencies abroad and to help our people to
understand and appreciate the life and civilization of other coun-
tries. The Office will assist United States teachers and students who
wish to study in foreign countries and will provide foreign teach-
ers and students who come to this country for educational training.
The accelerated demands upon the Office of Education for informa-
tion about educational systems, improved programs for language
study, and reliable teaching materials, as well as for the exchange of
educational personnel, are evidence of a widespread desire for the
development of a true understanding of other peoples.

The Office proposes to meet these continuing and new calls for
service in the field of international educational relations by provid-
ing a division which will have adequate staff and other necessary re-

INTERNATIONAL CULTURAL RELATIONS 267

sources to insure a service commensurate with the job to be done.
This Division, enlarging upon the present Divisions of Compara-
tive Education and Inter-American Educational Relations, will be
comprised of four units, representing major geographical areas with
which international educational relations may be anticipated. 5

It is obvious that there is some overlapping in the conduct
of international cultural relations between several governmental
agencies. The functions of the Office of Inter-American Af-
fairs were absorbed by the Department of State when the Of-
fice of International Information and Cultural Affairs was organ-
ized. It is also expected that when the projects now under way are
completed the work of the Inter-American Education Founda-
tion will also be transferred to this Office. The machinery for
maintaining "the unity and cohesion necessary for a balanced
program" was created in 1938 with the establishment of the
Interdepartmental Committee on Cultural and Scientific Co-
operation. The Committee was formed at the suggestion of Presi-
dent Roosevelt "to coordinate the activities of departments and
agencies of the Government, under the leadership of the De-
partment of State." Originally established as the Interdepart-
mental Committee on Cooperation with the American Republics,
the present name was adopted on December 20, 1944, in anticipa-
tion of the broadening scope of the international cultural rela-
tions of the United States. 6

The rapid expansion of governmental activities in the field
of international cultural relations raises the serious and impor-
tant issue of the part that voluntary organizations will play in
this field in the future. Until recently it had been the established
policy of the United States Government to leave such activities
in the hands of voluntary organizations. It was for this reason
that the cultural relations of the United States have never been
'open to the suspicion that they were employed, as they were
by some other governments, to implement foreign policy. In
all plans that have been discussed for the participation of govern-
mental agencies in international cultural relations, the principle

5. Annual Report of the United States Office of Education, 1944, Wash-
ington, D. G, 1945, P- 99-

6. See Interdepartmental Committee on Scientific and Cultural Co-
operation, Department of State, Publication 2323, Washington, D. C., 1945.

268 THE IMPACT OF THE WAR UPON AMERICAN EDUCATION

has always been emphasized that such agencies should serve as
coordinating clearing houses and should secure the cooperation
of voluntary agencies and "educational, intellectual, civic, and
related institutions." This principle was carried out in the crea-
tion of a representative National Commission to cooperate with
the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organi-
zation. Nor would any other principle be consistent with Ameri-
can policy in educational and cultural affairs. Voluntary organi-
zations have played an important role in this field in the past;
in the future they can and should be encouraged to play an even
greater part. 7

During the war years nothing was more striking and spec-
tacular in the field of education than the widespread interest
shown both by the public and by professional workers in the
promotion of international educational and cultural relations
and in the establishment of an international agency for edu-
cation to promote understanding and cooperation among the
peoples of the world as a garantee of peace. Three aspects
of the problem received major attention. The first was the re-
construction of education in the Axis countries and the reedu-
cation of their peoples. 8

The second was the problem of assistance to the liberated coun-
tries in the reorganization of their educational systems. Some
assistance, limited wholly to material aid, was provided by the
United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration so far
as was consistent with its terms of reference, and later through
the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organi-
zation, which at its meeting in Paris in November, 1946, under-
took to raise a fund to assist the liberated countries in their ef-
forts to rebuild their educational system. In 1946 the Intcrna-

7. On the part played by such voluntary organizations in international
cultural relations, see I. L. Kandel, United States Activities in Inter-
national Cultural Relations, Chaps. II, III, and V; Edith E. Ware, op. cit.,
passim; and Waldo G. Leland, International Cultural Relations, Denver,
Colo., 1943.

8. This task was undertaken, as each of the Axis countries was defeated,
by the Military Governments of the Army, assisted later by civilian
educators. In 1946 Education Missions were sent to Japan and Germany
to advise the Military Governments on the reconstruction of education.
See the reports of the United States Education Mission to Japan and
United States Education Mission to Germany. Washington, 1946.

INTERNATIONAL CULTURAL RELATIONS 269

tional Commission for International Education Reconstruction
was organized in the United States, composed of representatives
from about twenty-five of the leading organizations of the coun-
try. The Commission was established to raise funds to assist in
the educational rehabilitation work abroad.

The third aspect of the problem, which attracted widespread
interest and stimulated active efforts throughout the country,
was the plan for the establishment of an international agency
for education. American activities were strongly influenced by
the deliberations of the Conference of Allied Ministers of Edu-
cation, organized in London in 1942, and by the publication of
a report on Education and the United Nations? which resulted
form the deliberations of a Joint Commission of the Council for
Education in World Citizenship and the London International
Assembly. Until 1943 the United States was represented at the
Conference of Allied Ministers of Education by an observer
from the American Embassy in London. From 1944 on the
Department of State cooperated actively with the Conference.

An active movement not only to arouse interest in the crea-
tion of an international agency for education but to enlist sup-
port for the other problems of educational reconstruction began
in 1943. Among the national organizations which turned their
attention to the educational aspects of world reconstruction
alone or which included their consideration in discussions of
plans for peace were the Commission to Study the Organization
of Peace, the United States Committee on Educational Recon-
struction in cooperation with the Central European Planning
Board, and the Institute on Educational Reconstruction of New
York University, the Educational Policies Commission of Na-
tional Educational Association, the Liaison Committee for Inter-
national Education, the International Education Assembly, the
Universities Committee on Postwar International Problems,
the Committee on International Education of the American
Council on Education, and the American Association for an
International Office of Education. 10

9. The report was reprinted by the American Council on Public Af-
fairs, Washington, D. G, 1943.

10. Among the publications which appeared at this time the following
may be cited' Educational Policies Commission, Education and the Peo-

2JO THE IMPACT OF THE WAR UPON AMERICAN EDUCATION

As a result of national and regional conferences the draft con-
stitution for a United Nations Organization for Educational and
Cultural Reconstruction, which had been prepared in London
in 1944, received widespread and favorable attention and sup-
port, and the various steps in the revision of the draft constitu-
tion were followed with interest. Since the Dumbarton Oaks
Proposals did not specifically mention education, a strong delega-
tion, representing the leading educational organizations, attended
the San Francisco Conference to bring pressure to bear for the
inclusion of education and culture in the United Nations Char-
ter. In this the delegation met with success. No better indication
of the attitude of the American public on the importance of
creating an international agency for education can be cited than
the unanimous adoption of the companion resolutions intro-
duced in the House of Representatives by Congressman Karl
E. Mundt of South Dakota and in the Senate by Senator Robert
A. Taft of Ohio and Senator J. William Fulbright of Arkansas.
House Resolution 215, Seventy-ninth Congress, first session,
reads as follows:

WHEREAS the achievement of a peaceful and orderly life among
the peoples of the world has become critical as a result of the war;
and

WHEREAS the future peace and security of the American and
of all other peoples rest upon the achievement of mutual under-
standing among the peoples of the world, the universal application
of the principles of the Golden Rule, the application of reason and
knowledge to the solution of domestic as well as international prob-
lems, and effective education at all levels; and

WHEREAS the Axis countries have pursued a deliberate policy

pie's Peace and Learning about Education and the Peacej Washington,
D. G, 1943. Liaison Committee for International Education and the
International Educational Assembly, Education for International Security,
Education for a Free Society, Education and the United Nations, and
International Education through Cultural Exchange. "Internationa!
Frontiers in Education," The Annals of the American Academy of
Political and Social Science, September, 1944. I. L. Kandel, Intellecttial
Cooperation, National and International, New York, 1944. W. G. Carr,
Only by Understanding, New York, 1945. Howard E. Wilson, "Educa-
tion as an Implement of International Cooperation," International Con-
ciliation, November, 1945, No. 415. Ruth McMurry and Muna Lee,
The Cultural Approach, Chapel Hill, 1947,

INTERNATIONAL CULTURAL RELATIONS 271

of destroying the technical, professional, and teaching personnel of
the countries they have conquered, and have encouraged hatred and
misunderstanding between nations, peoples, and cultural groups;
and

WHEREAS these circumstances present a persisting problem
which, if not solved, will result in the perpetuation of conditions of
life most likely to cause peoples to resort to violence and war, and

WHEREAS it is essential to collaborate with other nations to pro-
mote educational advancement and at the same time to direct edu-
cation toward the achievement of mutual understanding among the
nations. Now, therefore, be it

Resolved, That the House of Representatives of the United States
urges the participation by the Government of the United States in
the creation of an international educational and cultural organiza-
tion by the nations of the world for the purpose of advising together
and to consider problems of international educational and cultural
relations throughout the world and more particularly to organize
a permanent international agency to promote educational and cul-
tural relations, the exchange of students, scholars, and other educa-
tional and cultural leaders and materials, and the encouragement
within each country of friendly relations among nations, peoples,
and cultural groups- Provided, however, That such agency shall not
interfere with educational systems or programs within the several
nations, or their administration.

In November, 1945, a conference of Allied Nations repre-
sentatives was held in London to discuss the establishment of
the auxiliary agency for education and culture, to be created
under the United Nations Charter as an auxiliary agency of
the Economic and Social Council, and to adopt a constitution.
It was decided at this conference that the name of the agency
should be the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cul-
tural Organization (UNESCO). Following a Joint Resolu-
tion in both Houses of Congress authorizing the participation
of the United States in UNESCO, President Trurnan signed the
measure on July 30, I946. 11

The Constitution of UNESCO, Article VII, provides that

Each member State shall make such arrangements as suit its par-

u. On the development of UNESCO see Department of State, "The
Defenses of Peace? Documents Relating to UNESCO. The United
Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization, Parts I and
II. Washington, D. C, 1946.

272 THE IMPACT OF THE WAR UPON AMERICAN EDUCATION

ticular conditions for the purpose of associating its principal bodies
interested in educational scientific and cultural matters with the
work of the Organization, preferably by the formation of a Na-
tional Commission broadly representative of the Government and
such bodies.

In carrying out this provision the Department of State, fol-
lowing the principle of close cooperation with voluntary agen-
cies, secured the establishment, in September, 1946, of a Na-
tional Commission for UNESCO, consisting of 100 members.
Of these 40 were appointed by the Department of State; 50
by national organizations representing educational, scientific,
and cultural organizations, the press, radio, moving pictures,
religious and civic organizations; and 10 from other organiza-
tions chosen at the first meeting of the 90 appointees and dele-
gates. 12

As contrasted with the period between the two World Wars,
when widespread interest and activity were shown in promot-
ing the study of international relations and exchange of students,
teachers, and professors, 13 the participation of the United States
in UNESCO and the establishment of governmental agencies
to promote and conduct international cultural relations not only
provide centers for the dissemination of information in this field
but furnish that national leadership which was lacking in the
earlier period. This does not mean that the role of voluntary
organizations and of leaders in the educational systems will be
less significant. It does mean, however, a clearer direction for
their activities. The organization of the National Commission for
UNESCO is a guarantee that the interests of international cul-
tural cooperation will be channeled to all parts of the country
through its members and their organizations. The dissemination
of information about the programs and activities not only of
UNESCO but also of the United Nations, properly directed,
should have a profound influence at every level of education. To
this influence should be added the new position of the United
States as a center to which an increasing number of students

12. See United StatesUnited Nations Information Series 14, United
States National Commission for UNESCO, Report of the First Meeting,
September, 1946, Washington, D. C, 1947.

13. See Edith E. Ware, op. cit.

INTERNATIONAL CULTURAL RELATIONS 273

from foreign countries will turn for educational and profes-
sional studies. In the long run, however, the development of
the international mind and the guarantees of peace depend not
so much on organization as on the education of public opinion,
which in turn will support a program of the right kind of
national education leading naturally to a conviction that the
interests of the nation are intimately involved in and with the
interests of all other nations of the world. Rarely in the history
of education has a program for a new departure in education
caught the public imagination so profoundly as did the cam-
paign for the establishment of an international agency of edu-
cation, which culminated in the creation of UNESCO. That
compaign has already stimulated plans and discussions on the
promotion of the study of international relations in the educa-
tional institutions of the country.

CHAPTER NINE

LESSONS OF THE WAR

THE EDUCATIONAL system of the United States was sub-
mitted during the war to a nation-wide survey which was
far more searching than any deliberately organized survey
could have been. World War I had affected higher education
only; World War II revealed that no part of the educational
system could remain unaffected. The situation was well des-
cribed in the keynote statement by Paul V. McNutt when he
wrote in the first issue of Education -for Victory, March 3, 1942,
that in the days of total war education had a new significance
and that "You're in the Army now" was an expression of na-
tional necessity.

To this challenge the educational system, with little or no
preparation, quickly responded. The speed with which the chal-
lenge was met illustrated the flexibility of the educational system
and its adaptability to new demands. There was thus illustrated
an important aspect of American education. Without waiting
for a lead from a government agency, leadership was asumcd by
state and local adminstrations and by voluntary agencies the
National Education Association and its Educational Policies
Commission for elementary and secondary education, and the
American Council on Education for higher education, both of
which had already begun to prepare the educational profession
against the threat of war through their publications on national
defense. In the field of higher education the American Council
on Education had in fact prepared plans for the fullest use of
colleges and universities in the event of war for some time be-
fore the official agencies the War Department and the Navy
Department reached a decision on the question. Except in
higher education the system of education was not seriously dis-
located.

The war revealed the strong and the weak points of the educa-
tional system. Its general organization was not open to criticism.
It responded readily to the new demands placed upon it. The

274

LESSONS OF THE WAR 275

average level of education had been raised by at least two years
since World War I. The graduates of colleges and universities
proved to be excellent material for appointment or training for
the commissioned ranks in the armed forces as well as in manifold
civilian activities connected with the successful conduct of the
war. Through federal grants provision for the training of person-
nel for the trade and technological needs of the war effort was
quickly organized and successfully developed. And, finally, the
teaching profession enlisted voluntarily in a great variety of
activities demanded in the war effort.

The ideals and aims of the educational system were proved to
be sound. The war revealed a number of weaknesses, however,
which indicated that in practice these aims and ideals were not
being achieved. The two most serious defects, the existence of
which had been known before the war, were, first, the high
percentage of men who had to be rejected by the Selective
Service System on account of mental and physical deficiencies,
and, second, the unsatisfactory status of the teaching profession.
Despite the increasing expenditure on education illiteracy had
not been eliminated, while the numbers rejected because of
physical deficiencies pointed to the inadequate attention paid to
health and physical development in the schools and by society in
general. The large numbers of teachers who left the profession
for better paid employment in war and other industries indicated
that the American public was not willing to pay salaries com-
mensurate with its professed faith in education and that condi-
tions of service were not as satisfactory as they might be.

These defects were not always due to the inadequacy of
local resources for the maintenance of satisfactory systems of
education. In the main, however, they did confirm the fact, al-
rcudy known, that the amount and quality of education could
not be improved except by the establishment of adequate mini-
mum national standards by pooling the resources of the nation
and by the provision of federal aid for education. If any further
arguments to support those accumulated since the movement for
federal aid began during World War I, they were provided by
the objective data revealed during World War II. The fear that
an increase of federal funds for education would lead to federal
control was allayed during the war years. Federal appropriations

276 THE IMPACT OF THE WAR UPON AMERICAN EDUCATION

were increased for various educational activities during this
period but there is no evidence that undue control followed. It
became clearer than ever before, as a result of the conditions of
education revealed during the war, that the ideal of equality of
educational opportunity could only be achieved by the pro-
vision of federal funds to remove the inequalities due to accident
of residence.

Other shortages were also revealed which reflected on the
quality* of education. It was found that the supply of personnel
with suitable preparation in mathematics, science, and foreign
languages was inadequate despite the large enrollment of stu-
dents in schools, colleges, and universities. The lack of qualified
personnel in foreign languages, both the usual and the unusual,
was met by the adoption of new methods of instruction, whose
value for normal times is still a matter of experimentation. The
fact, however, is inescapable that more attention has been de-
voted to increasing the numbers of students in secondary and
higher education than to maintaining adequate standards of
quality of achievement.

The future of secondary and higher education received con-
sideration during the war years, but the deliberations had al-
ready begun before the war. In secondary education the basic
problem was how to meet the varied needs of American youth,
the majority of whom were enrolled in high schools. Whether
a satisfactory solution can be found in a common program, such
as that proposed in the report of the Educational Policies Com-
mission on Education -for All American Youth without giving
adequate attention to those who can profit by an academic at-
tention, will probably continue to be debatable. At the level of
college education proposals for reform, which had been begun
before the war and on which an extensive literature was ac-
cumulated during the war, have already been adopted by many
colleges. The chief point of attack was the system of electives
which led to a demand for general education based on three
major areas of study humanities, social sciences, and natural
sciences.

The position of leadership of the United States in interna-
tional affairs has resulted in the introduction of new areas of
instruction iii colleges and universities. Courses in international

LESSONS OF THE WAR 277

affairs have been introduced; courses in hitherto neglected areas,
such as Soviet Russia and the Orient, have been multiplied; not
only have new foreign languages been added but a new emphasis
has been introduced with more attention given to the social,
economic, and political backgrounds than has been the case in
the past. Following the new interest in regional or area studies,
courses have been organized in American culture or American
civilization. The spectacular contributions and advances in sci-
ence during the war stirred the imagination of the American
public and students to such a degree as to lead to some alarm
lest this area of study be emphasized at the expense of other
areas. The proposed creation of a National Science Foundation
with federal support included in its plans the provision of sub-
sidies for students who show talent in the sciences.

Another effect of the international position of the United
States has been the official recognition of the importance of inter-
national cultural relations as a concern of the government. It
is recognized, however, that in this movement voluntary organi-
zations, which have in the past played an important role in pro-
moting international cultural relations, must not be superseded
by a government agency, but must be encouraged to continue
their activities. The interest of foreign educators and students in
American education increased rapidly in the years between the
two wars. That this interest will continue is manifested by the
large number of foreign students who have come to study in
this country on grants from their own government or from
American foundations and institutions of higher education, or
at their own expense. The use of lend-lease funds for educa-
tional purposes under the Fulbright Act will increase the flow
of students to and from the United States. Finally, in the field
of international cultural relations American educators and lay-
men played a leading role in promoting the establishment of the
United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organiza-
tion (UNESCO) with which close relations will be maintained
through the National Commission for UNESCO.

World War I was followed by the beginning of a rapid in-
crease in the enrollment of students in high schools. A similar
increase has followed World War II at the college and university
level as a result of the Servicemen's Readjustment Act (Public

278 THE IMPACT OF THE WAR UPON AMERICAN EDUCATION

Law 346) or the G.I. Bill of Rights. It is expected that the en-
rollments in institutions of higher education will in all prob-
ability become stabilized at three million students, about double
the prewar enrollment. The G. I. Bill of Rights indicated that
large numbers of young men and women have been enabled to
attend colleges and universities, who, because of lack of means,
would have been unable to do so. Here again the war has shown
that equality of educational opportunity can only be realized,
if the inequalities resulting from accident of residence and family
circumstances are overcome by the extensive provision of grants
from public funds.

INDEX

A

Acceleration, in college, 139, 148 f ,

in high school, 88 fT.
Accreditation, for nulitaiy experience,

24? ff-

Adams, Charles Francis, 179^

Adlcr, Mortimer, 201

Aides, nursery school, 46

American Association for an Inter-
national Office of Education, 269

American Association for Health,
Physical Education, and Recreation,

fi

American Association of Junior Col-
leges, 134

American Association of Teachers
Colleges, 134

American Association of University
Professors, 134

American Association of University
Women, 46, 51

American College Publicity Associa-
tion, 124

American Council of Learned Socie-
ties, 172, 200, 234

American Council on Education, 12,
70, 78, 103, 126 fT., 143, 153, 157, 172,
249, 271, 262, 269, 274

American Education and the War m
Europe, 14 f.

American Historical Association, 98

American Home Economics Associa-
tion, 51

American Medical Association, 149

American Youth Commission, 78, 103

Arabic and Islamic Studies, 232

Area studies, 18?, 236, 239

Armed forces, education and the,
240 rT.

Army Institute, 240

Army Separation Counseling Service,

2451
Army Specialized Training Program

(ASTP), 151 ff., 236
Army Specialized Training Reserve

Program (ASTRP), 156
Army Talks, 259
Army university centers, 255 fT.
Arndt, C. (X, 95
Association for Childhood Education,

46

Association of American Colleges, 134,
150, 157; committee on liberal edu-
cation, 207 fT.
Association of Land-Grant Colleges

and Universities, 134
Association of Medical Colleges, 149
Association of Urban Universities, 134
Attendance, school, and war, 53

B

Back-to-School Drives, 6, 21, 35, 86

Baltimore Conference on Higher Edu-
cation and the War, first, 136 fT.;
recommendations of, 138 fT ; second,
141 ff.

Bardcn Bill, 163 f

Barden, Graham A, 158

Barnard, F, A. P, 176

Barr, Strmgfellow, 201

Baxter, James P , III, 207

Biarritz, university center at, 255 f.

Bloch, Bernard, 235

Bloom Bill, 264

Bloomfield, Leonard, 233, 235

Booker Washington Agricultural and
Industrial Institute, Liberia, 262

Boas, Franz, 233

Boom towns, 67; see Defense areas,
education m

Boxer Indemnity, 260

Bred void, Louis L, 81

Briggs, Dean, 178

Bnggs, Thomas H, 101, 106

Brigham, Carl, 178

Brown, Francis J, 129, 130, 159, 164,
245. 251

Buchanan, Scott, 201, 206

Buffalo, University of, and new cur-
riculum, 230

Burns, C. Dclislc, 185 f,

Burress, W. A., 134

Bush, Vanncvar, 144

California, University of, 233
Canada, schools and war in, 94
Canby, Henry Seidel, 184
Carmichael, Leonard, 145
Carnegie Corporation of New York,

280

INDEX

Carnegie Foundation, 180, 181, 254

Central European Planning Board, 269

Channing, William Ellery, 198

"Charter of Education for Rural Chil-
dren, A," 71

Chase, H. W., 124

Chicago, University of, 249

Child Care Centers, 47 f.

Child Health and Protection, White
House Conference on, 44

Child Labor, 52 ff., 85

Children, care of, 4, 23, 45 f.

Children in a Democracy, White
House Conference on, 58, 75

Children's Bureau, 53, 57, 85, 86, 87

China, study of, 95

Chinese Institute, 232

Chinese students, aid to, 262

Civil Affairs Training Schaols
(CATS), 236

Civil Readjustment Program, 257 f.

College and university finance, 161

College Progra?n in Action, A Review
of Working Principles at Columbia
College, 229 f.

College, the American, 177

Colleges, liberal education in, 6, 172 ff.

College teachers, 193 ff., 213, 227

Columbia College program, 229 f.

Command schools, 254

Commission to study the Organization
of Peace, 269

Committee on Accrediting Procedures,
249

Community service, 36

Compton, Karl T., 144

Conant, James B , 109, 144, 220

Conference of Allied Ministers of
Education, 269

Conference of Government Represen-
tatives and College and University
Administration, 133

Congress on Education and Democ-
racy, 10, 13

Control, fear of federal, 8; President
Truman on, 73

Cornell University, 232

Correspondence courses, USAFI, 257

Council on Medical Education and
Hospitals, 149

Cowan, J. M., 234, 235

Cowley, W. H., 157, 207

Credits for military service, 245 ff.

Cultural heritage, 225

Cultures, international, 8

Cultural Relations, Division of, 8, 261 f.

Cultural relations, international, 260 ff.
Curriculum programs, war, 35 f.
Curriculum, reform of college, 200 ff.

D

Data for State-wide Plannmg of Vet-
erans' Education, 247

Day, Edmund ,155

Defense, education for, 3

Defense arSas, education in, 46, 67

Deferment, student, 125, 140, 162

Deficiencies, educational, 41 ff.

Delinquency, juvenile, 4, 52, 55 ff.

Denver, University of, 200

De Tocqueville, 175

Dewey, John, 189, 205

Dighton, William, 173

Discipline, 5

Division of Cultural Cooperation, 262

Division of Cultural Relations, 8, 261 f.

Division of International Educational
Relations, U. S Office of Education,
266

Division of Science, Education, and
Art, 262

Doyle, Henry Grattan, 173

Dumbarton Oaks, 96, 270

E

East and West Association, 95
Education, for defence, 4; and federal
aid, 7, 66 ff.; for victory, 23; de-
ficiencies of, 41 ff ; agricultural,
85 f.; and the armed forces, 240 ff,;
of veterans, 240 ff.; post-hostilities
program of, 254 ff.
Education An Investment in People,

72
Education and Democracy, Congress

on, 10, 13

Education and the Defense of Amer-
ican Democracy, 16 f.
Education and the Morale of a Free

People, 17
Education and the United Nations,

269
Education Branch, Special Supply

Division, 236
Education for All American Youth,

22, 78, 109 ff. ^
Education Wartime Commission, See

Wartime Commission

INDEX

28l

Educational Policies Commission, 12,
70, 78, 89, 109, 150, 274, publications
of, 14 ff , 269 f.

Educational Opportunities for Vet-
erans, 245

Effect of Certain War Activities upon
Colleges and Universities, 158

Elective system, dissatisfaction with,

173

Eliot, T. $., 193, 107

Elliott, Edward C, 133

Emergency certificates, 62, 63

Emerson, 174

Engineering, Science, and Manage-
ment Defense Training (ESA4DT),
146 ff.

Engineering, Science, and Manage-
ment War Training (ESMWT), 80,
148

Enlisted Reserve Corps, 127

Enrollment, estimated veteran, 245 ff.

Enrollments, college and university,
during war, 160; of women, 165

Equality of opportunity, 7, 222

Eton, 3

Experimental Program, Yale College,
217

Extracurricular activities, war, 36

Extended school services, 48

Fair Labor Standards Act, 53, 54, 85

Far East, study of, 95, 97

Farrcll, Father, 207

Federal aid for education, 7, 66 ff.

Federal Aid for Edit cation: A Review

of Pertinent Facts, 70
Federal funds for education, 67 ff.
Federal Security Agency, 126
Federal Works Agency, 49
Federation of State Medical Boards,

149

Finance, college and university, 161
Fish, Carl Russell, 198
Florence, university center in, 255
Focrster, Norman, 192
"Food for Freedom," 28
Ford, Guy Stanton, 132
Foreign Area and Language Study

Curriculum (FALSC), 236
Fosdick, Raymond, 190 f.
Franklin, Benjamin, 174
Fries, Charles C., 173
Fulbright Bill, 265
Fulbnght, J. William, 270

G

General Education m a Free Society ,

118 ff., 220 fT.

General education, 182, 187, 224, 229 f.
General Federation of Women's

Clubs, 51

George Dean Act, 78, 84
George Washington University, 239
Gideonse, Harry D, 207
G. I. Bill of Rights, 243 f.
Givens, Willard E., 22, 129
Glass, Meta, 166
Good Neighbor Policy, 8
Go-to-School-Drives, 6, 21, 35, 86
Graduate education, effects of, 196
Graduate Record Examination, 181
Graves, Mortimer, 232, 234, 235, 236
Great Britain, schools and war in, 94
Greene, T. M , 173, 177, 198, 207
Guidance, 178; services, 36 f.
Guide to Colleges, Universities, and
Professional Schools in the United
States, A y 244 f.

Guide to tfye Evaluation of Educa-
tional Experience in the Armed
Forces, 251

H

Haas, Mary R., 233

Harvard University, 10, 232, 239; re-
port on General Education in a
Free Society, 118 ff., 220 ff.

Health services, 36

Hendel, Charles W., 207

Hershey, Lewis B., 61, 131

High schools, and the war, 77 f., and,
military training, 79; curricula, 93

High school students, exodus of, 85 f.

High School Victory Corps, 58, 81,
90 ff.

Higher Education, 123 ff.; Selective
Service and, 125 f.

Higher Education and National De-
fense, 130

Higher Education Cooperates in Na-
tional Defense, 134

Higher Education and the War, 137

History, New York Times test in, 97

Hollis, E. V., 247

House of Representatives, Committee
on Education, 158

Humanities in education, 10, 172 f.,
190, 200, 229

Hutchins, Robert, 201

282

INDEX

Illiteracy, 5, 7, 40, 41 f.

India, study of, 95

Information and Education Division of
the Army, 254

Institute on Educational Reconstruc-
tion, 269

Intensive Language Program, 233 ff.

Inter- American Education Founda-
tion, Inc., 263, 267

Inter-American Schools Service, 262

Integration, 182

International Commission for Educa-
tional Reconstruction, 268 f .

International Cultural relations, 260 ff

International Education Assembly, 269

International understanding, educa-
tion for, 96

Iowa, State University of, College of
Liberal Arts, curriculum, 213 if.

Jacobs, Randall, 81

Japanese Institute, 232

Japan, study of, 95

Jacksonian and JerTersonian principles,

222

Jessen, Carl A., 79

Jessup, Walter A , 182, 193

Jewitt, Frank B., 144

Joint Army and Navy Board for

Training Unit Contracts, 154
Joint Army and Navy Committee on

Recreation and Welfare, 129, 236,

240

Jones, Howard Mumford, 173
Jones, Jesse H., 90
Juvenile Courts, 55
Juvenile delinquency, 4, 52, 55 ff

K

Kindergartens, 46
Knox, Frank, 90

Labor, child, 52 if., 85

Languages, study of, 9; intensive meth-
ods of teaching, 9, 231 ff.; unusual,
232, 235

Lanham Act, 49, 69

Latin America, courses on, 9, 95 f., 97

Lawler, Eugene S., 71

Leadership, in American democracy,

12 rT.

Lenroot, Katharine, 54, 59
Liaison Committee for International

Education, 269
Liberal education, 6, 118 if., 172, 189 f ,

220 if; and the teacher, 186, 193 f ,

and values, 188
Liberal Education Re-Examined- Its

Role in a Democracy, 173
Linguistic Society, 172
Loans, student, 128

M

Manual of Advisement and Gmdam e,

245
Mathematics, deficiencies in, 81 f.

McCormick, Representative, 158
McNutt, Paul V., 22, 24,. 38, 78, 90,

274 _

Mantain, Jacques, 200, 204
Meiklejohn, Alexander J , 205
Milhkan, Robert A, 191
MiUett, Fred B., 196
Mental deficiencies, 41 ft
Military training in high schools, 79
Military service, credit for, 140
Minnesota, University of, 239
Mississippi Historical Association, 98
Morale, definition of, 17
Morale Service Division, 240
Morison, S. E., 179
Mothers, working, 4, 23
Mundt, Karl E., 270

N

Nash, Arnold S., 206

National Academy of Sciences, 143

National Association for Nursery
Education, 46, 51

National Association of Secondary
School Principals, 90, 117

National Association of State Uni-
versities, 134

National Catholic Education Associa-
tion, 134

National Commission for Young Chil-
dren, 45, 46

National Commission for UNESCO,
272, 277

National Committee on Education
and Defense, 1 29 ff , conference of,
130 ff.

National Committee on Professional

Man Power, 145

National Congress of Parents, ^ i
National Council for Social Studies,

83, 98, 99
National Council of Chief State

School Officers, 51, 52, 69
National Council of Teachers of

Mathematics, 82
National Defense Research Council,

^3

National Education Association, ir,
12, 51, 58, 96. See Educational
Policies Commission

National Research Council, 143, 172

National Resources Planning Board,
74, 126

National Roster of Scientific and
Specialized Personnel, 126, 145

National School of Modern Oriental
Languages, 232, 234

National Science Foundation, 277

National Survey of Secondary Edu-
cation, 78

National Youth Administranon, 128

Natural Sciences, in college curric-
ulum, 228

Navy Civilian Readjustment Program,

2 45

Navy College Training Program
(NCTP), 15, ff., 236

Navy Language Schools, 232

Near East College Association, aid
to, 262

Negro children, educational expendi-
ture for, 79

Neilson, William A,, 205

New York Times, history test of, 97

Nimitz, Chester W., 81

Norton, John K., 71

Nursery schools. See Children, care of

O

Oberlin College, 20 r

Office of Community War Services,
youth centers of, 60

Office of Defense, Health, and Wel-
fare Services, 48

Office of Inter-American Affairs, 263,
267

Office of International Information
and Cultural Affairs, 262, 264

Office of Scientific Research, 144

Office of the Coordinator of t Inter-
American Affairs, 263

INDEX 283

Office of War Information, 87

Organizing Higher Education for Na-
tional Defense, 144

Ortega Y Gasset, Jose, 192

Osborn, Frederick H, 240, 249

Our Children, 42, 74

Outline Guide to the Practical Study
of Foreign Languages, An, 235

Outline of Linguistic Analysis, 235

Pennsylvania, University of, 239
Perry, Ralph Barton, 198
Philological Association, 172
PhD. degree, 183, 193, 196, 227
Physical deficiencies, 5, 40, 42 ff.
Physical Fitness, Joint Committee on,

44 45

Planning for American Youth, 117
Pre-induction courses, 80 ff.
President's Committee on Higher

Education, 164 f.

Preschool child See Children, care of
Princeton University, revised plan of

study, 218 ff.

Progressive Education Association, 46
Public Law 16, 243
Public Law 346, 243

R

Randall, John Herman, Jr., 193

Regional Studies, 185, 236, 239

Rejections under Selective Service
System, 43

Religion, in college curriculum, 224

Religious instruction, 9

Research and teaching, 185

Rickenbacker, Eddie, 92

Rockefeller Foundation, 234

Rogers, Francis Millet, 232

Roosevelt, Franklin Delano, 8, 10, 13,
19,48,66, 75, 123, 124, 128, 143

Roosevelt, Mrs. Franklin Delano, 76

Rowntree, Leonard G., 42 f.

Rural education, White House Con-
ference on, 71 f.

Russell, William F., 13

Salaries, teachers, 65
San Francisco Conference, 96, 270
Sapir, Edward, 233

School and College Civilian Morale
Service, 23

284 INDEX

School of Modern Oriental Languages
and Civilization, 232

Schools, war services of, 29 ff., 35

Scholars of the House Program, Yale
College, 217

Schurman, Jacob Gould, 179

Science and technology, place of, 10

Sciences, and values, 190

Seaton, Roy A, 146

Secondary education, for all, 77 ff.;
unrest in, 77 f., 101 ff.

Sedan, battle of, 3

Servicemen's Readjustment Act, 243 S.

Shrivenham, university center at,
255 ff.

Sills, Kenneth C. M., 206

Smith-Hughes Act, 78, 84

Social Sciences in college curriculum,
229

Social Science Research Council, 172

Social Studies Look Beyond the War,
The, 99

Social Studies Mobilize for Victory,
The, 99

Sound Educational Credit for Military
Experience: A Recommended Pro-
gram, 251

Spaulding, Francis T., 240

Specialization, 183 f.; 227

Special Service, Division of, War De-
partment, 240, 254

St. John's College, Annapolis, 201

Standard Plan, Yale College, 216 f.

Stanford University, 200

Statement of Principles Relating to
the Educational Problems of Return-
ing Soldiers, Sailors, and Displaced
War Industry Workers, 242

Stimson, Henry L., 90

Studebaker, John W., 22, 23, 24, 38,
61, 78, 96, 137

Student and His Knowledge, The,
i8of.

Students, deferment of, 125, 140, 162

Support of Education in Wartime,
The, 19

Survey of Language Classes in the
Army Specialized Training Pro-
gram, 237 f.

Taft, Robert A., 270
Tappan, Henry P., 175 f., 180
Teachers, shortage of, 4, 7, 19, 35,
61 ff.; service of, 19 f.; supply of,

23, 29; exodus of, 35, 6 1 if.; recruit-
ment of, 62 f ; salaries of, 65, liberal
education and, 186, 193 f.

Teachers, college, 193 F,, 213, 227

Teachers College, Columbia Univer-
sity, 10, 242

Teachers Supply and Demand, Com-
mittee on, 62

Teaching and research, 185

Technical schools, 254

Technology and science, place of, 10

Teen-agers, 60

Tests, for military personnel, 249

Tildsley, John L., 101

Tolman, Richard C., 144

Trager, George L., 235

Truman, President, 51, 73, 164

Tyler, Ralph W., 249

u

Unfinished Business in American Edu-
cation^ 71

United Nations Economic and Social
Council, 271

United Nations Educational, Scien-
tific, and Cultural Organization
(UNESCO), 268, 271 f.

United States Armed Forces Institute
(USAFI), 236, 240 ff., 249, 257

United States Chamber of Commerce,
Committee on Education, 72

United States Office of Education, 12,
48, 50, 59 7 8 > 82 > 84, 8(5, 9?, 97, 146,
266; services of, 32 ff.

Unit schools, 254

Universities Committee on Postwar
International Problems, 269

Universities, liberal education in, 6,
172 ff.

V

Values, search for, 188 ff.; spiritual, 9
Vanderbilt, University of, 200
Van Doren, Mark, 201, 202 f.
Veterans, education of, 240 ff.
Veterans Administration, 244 ff.
Victory Corps, High School, 90 ff.
Vocational education, 28, 78, 84 f.
Vocational Rehabilitation Act, 243 ff.

W

Wage and Hour Law, 52, 54, 85
Walters, Raymond, 133

War Department, Division of Special

Service, 240, 254

War Manpower Commission, 87, 157
War Policy for American Schools, A,

18
Wartime Commission, Education,

22 ff., 45, 48, 62, 79, 157
Wartime Commissions, State, 31 f.
Warton, technological institute at, 255
Waterloo, battle of, 3
Wayland, Francis, 175
Wcgcncr, A. Pelzer, 173
Wesley, Edgar B , 98
\Vbat the Schools Should Teach in

Wartime, 20 f.
What the High Schools Ought to

Teach, 78, 103 ff.
Whitchead, A. N., 199, 205

INDEX 285

White House Conference, on Child
Health and Protection, 44; on Chil-
dren in a Democracy, 58, 75, on
Rural Education, 71

Women, higher education of, and the
war, 165 ff.; enrollments in colleges
for, 165; acceleration in, 168

Work-study programs, 86

Wnston, Henry M., 173, 109

Yale College, new program in liberal
arts, 215 rT.

Zook, George F., 22, 95, 129, 134, 164

DR. KANDEL'S DISCUSSION OF PRRSKNT-
day education examines the deficiencies dis-
closed by the new demands made upon
educational institutions during the Second
World War. Careful attention is given to
the crisis resulting from the exodus of teach-
ers from schools for war service or Avar
industries, to the movement for federal aid
and its need; to the shortages discovered
in areas of study which public schools
professed to teach, and to the threatened
disappearance in higher education of tradi-
tional studies not necessary for winning
the war.

As teachers continued to leave the pro-
fession to enter war industries, the nation
began to realize the inadequacies of the
salaries paid them, but postwar develop-
ments have proved that the American public
has not yet recognized the key position of
the teacher in giving reality to the ideal of
equality of educational opportunity for all
an ideal still far from achievement.

Dr. Kandcl points out the great defect
of higher education the lack of a sense of
direction and discusses the compromise
between the urgency of present training
needs and the future need for professionally
trained men and women.

In a critical analysis of liberal education
the author shows the way in which Yale,
Princeton, and Harvard, among others, have
defined liberal education and the manner
in which they arc attempting to make it
effective.

An account of nonmihtary education as
it was handled by the army and navy is
followed by a discussion of the plans for
veteran education, the G.I. Bill, and a post-
hostilities program put into operation by
the armed forces. This program, including
a wide range of educational facilities, cul-
minated in the four Army University Cen-
ters abroad.

Prepared under the auspices of the Com-
mittee on War Studies of the American
Council of Learned Societies, this book pre-
sents the first account of the impact of the
war on all aspects of education. It reveals, in
admirable synthesis, the miracle of adapta-
tion which American education made to war
needs, the increasing awareness of educa-
tional shortcomings, and the thinking of
America's intellectual leaders on one of the
nation's greatest problems. Of especial and
timely significance, it gives material for a
blueprint for the future on the basis of the
evidence that the war years proved educa-
tion to be a concern of the whole nation,

DR. ISAAC LEON KANDEL is WELL KNOWN AS EDUCATOR,
editor, and author. A graduate of the University of Manchester,
England, from which he received his ALA. degree, he holds
a Ph.D. degree from Columbia University, a Litt.D. degree
from the University of Melbourne, and an LL.D. degree from
the University of North Carolina. In 1937 he was decorated
Chevalier, Legion d'Honncur.

At present Professor Emeritus, Teachers College, Columbia
University, he has lectured at the University of Pennsylvania
and taught as Visiting Professor at the University of California,
Johns Hopkins University, College of the City of New York,
and Yale University. He served as editor of School and Society;
Universities Quarterly; and Educational Yearbook, Interna-
tional Institute, Teachers College, Columbia University.

In 1946 he was a member of the U. S. Education Mission
to Japan. He was also a consultant to UNESCO. During the
war years he served on Committees of the American Council
on Education, the American Council of Learned Societies, and
the Commission to Study the Organization of Peace. For the
last ten years of its existence he was a member and then treasurer
of the U. S. National Committee on Intellectual Cooperation.
In 1947-48 he has been a Science Research Fellow at the Uni-
versity of Manchester and, in 1948, Professor of American
Studies at the same institution.

Among Dr. Kandel's many books arc: History of Secondary
Education; Comparative Education; Types of Administration;
The Cult of Uncertainty; Intellectual Co-operation. National
and International; United States Activities in International Cul-
tural Relations.