DOCUMENT RESUME

ED 044 474 UD 011 046

TITLE Education Improvement Project: The First Five Years.INSTITUTION Southern Association of Colleges and Schools,

Atlanta, Ga.PUB DATE Nov 69NOTE 66p.

EDRS PRICEDLSCRIPTORS

IDENTIFIERS

EDRS Price MF-$0.50 HC-$3.40Colleg Preparation, *Compensatory EducationPrograms, *Educational Improvement, ElementaryEducation, *Reriding Programs, Rural Education,Secondary Education, *Southern StatesAlabama, *Education Improvement Project, Georgia,Louisiana, North Carolina, Southern Association OfColleges And Schools, Tennessee

ABSTRACTContents of this report focus on the history and

activities of the Education Improvement Project (EIP), a branch ofthe Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. Through innovativeand coordinated programs, the Project seeks to improve education forthe disadvantaged. Reports include the Education Improvement Projectsof Nashville, Durham, Atlanta, Huntsville, and New Orleans; the EIP'sreading program, now terminated, which was a project sponsoredjointly by Atlanta University and EIP and funded by the FordFoundation; the Pural EIP, which involves a consortium of educationalinstitutions, organizations, and collaborating agencies, and whichcurrently includes a program in one rural center in Florida, anotherin Georgia, and another in Tennessee; Project Opportunity, for thepreparation of academically able but disadvantaged secondary schoolstudents for higher education; and, on the College EducationAchievement Project and College Preparatory Center Program. (JM)

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EDUCATIONIMPIMOVEMENT

PROJECTThe First Five Years

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NOVEMBER 1969

SOUTHERN ASSOCIATION OF COLLEGES AND SCHOOLS795 PEACHTREE STREET, N.E. / ATLANTA, GEORGIA 30308

FOREWORD

Few developments in the South have matched the EducationImprovement Project in its inventiveness, variety ofprograms, and benefits to people. This "brainchild" ofleaders in the Southern Association of Colleges and Schoolswas launched in 196:1 with the generous assistance of theDanforth Foutdaticn and the Ford Foundation. The JessieSmith Noyes Foundation, the Mary Reynolds BabcockFoundation, and several agencies of the Federal governmtnthave since joined in supporting the project.

Through the efforts of Ell', as it is familiarly card,venturesome and revealing probes have been undertakeninto Ow secrets of how very young children !earn.Experiments in nursery school and kindergarten educationsponsored by Ell' presage a reformation of substantialnature. Teacher education has been chaVenged to improveitself and school systems have been supplied the resourceswith which to undotake significant ilea. advances.

The chief, but not exclusive, area of Ell"s concern hasbeen cultural uisadvantage and how to break its shackles.Over 25,000 children and youth, ranging from pre-schoolage through seniors in college, have benefited directly frominvolvement in El P programs in more than 100 schools in20 sch..;o1 systems and M colleges.

Ell' is In the anguard of change ar.d innovation. It is nowfirmly established as a part of the Southern Associationand is in a pmition to serve the South and the nation withincreasing efiectiveneel in the years to come.

Courage, competence. concern about what happens topeople, and readiness to at are essential ingredients ofsignificant educational change. These qualities characterizethe central Ell' staff headed by Dr. Donald C. Agnew andDr. John E. Codwell and the teachers and project leadersof each Ell' center. It is their insight, dedication, andeffective work that has made so much e&cational advancePmible in so short a time.

Fsux C. HonR, DirectorSowthttps Astor* lime of Co Vots and Sehoo4

November 15, 1969

CONTENTS

Forewc,rd 3

1 Introductiv; 6

2 Urban Education Improvement Projects

Nashville Education Improvement Project 10

Durham Education Improvement Project. 17

Atlanta Education Improvement Project 21

1!untsville Education Improvement Project 26New Orleans Education Improvement Project 29

3 Heading Program. 34

Rural Education Improvement Project... 37

5 Project Opportunity

College Education Achievement Project andCollege Preparatory Center Program 56

Hook Projects..

ItPersonnel 67

Coordinating Cornmatee 67

Project Directors 63Central S + aft 68

1

INTRODUCTION

The Education Improvement Project is an armof the Southern Association of Colleges andSchools which, through innovative andcoordinated programs, seeks to improve educationfor the disadvantaged.

Although the Southern Association is first andforemost an accrediting agency, the wholepurpe4e of accreditation is improvement of thequality of education. Ell', then, is a natural andfitting outgrowth of this concern of theAssociation.

The Southern Association is unique among theregional accrediting agencies in having an actionbranch of this kir.d.

E1'OLUT:ON

EIP's official birth year is 1963. Its origins,however, reach far back into the history of theSouthern Association: bark, in fact, to 1929when the Coramksion on Colleg,-1 appointed acommittee t- evaluate predominantly Nett*cot k ges.

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In 1951, with the support of the DanforthFoundation and the General Education Board.the Commission on Colleges launched a plan toassist Negro colleges in measuring up to theregular standards of the Association.

The success of this plan sparked widespreadinterest and led to a conference in September,I962, on increasing educational opportunitiesfor Negro youth. As a result of this meeting, aSpecial Committee of the Association wasappointed shortly thereafter to explore whatpaths SACS might take to improve educationfor Negroes..

As the problems and pmsibilities were probed,it became cleat that A broader approach to thesituation was necessary, an approach that wouldinvolve All levels of education and encomp:ssany group which was * victim of cultural ande?onomic deprivation. It would do little good,fot example, to imphpe and integrate Negrocolleges if the students entering were notprepared to compete and benefit.

A proposal encompassing these considerationswas developed by the Special Committee. At thesummer meeting of SACS in 196:1, its Executive

decided that this proposal for actionshould represent not just the CollegeCommission, but the entire Association.

In October, 1961, the Danforth Foundationawarded the Southern Association a pant of$405,000 and Ell' became a reality. Actualoperation of the project began in January, 1961.

Including the original Ibinforth grant, projectsunder Ell' have been funded with a total ofmore than $27,000,000 from four foundationsand several agencies of the Federal government.The project's success in attaining rapport hasenabled it to operate independently of financialsupport from the Southern Association.

ORGANIZATION

Elf's central staff, housed in the offices of theSouthern Association, is responsible to the Boardof Trustees of the Association.

From its inception until the fall of 1969, theEll' stall had as a policy- making body the Ell'Coordinating Committee, which was composedof persons a ho wcrt, on the Ass lciation's SpecialCommittee, members of the College EntrtmceExamination Board's Committee for Projectopportunity, and the Director of SACS. on merecommendation of an mf hoe committee oil thefuture relationship of El I' to SACS, which metin November, 196S, the Southern Association,at its 1961 Annual electing, recommendeddiscontinuation of the Coordinating Committee.The Director of Eli', who also serves asAssociate Director of S \CS for Special Pro;octs,now reports to the Director of SACS and theHoard of Trustees. :Id hoc advisory committt.-sfor special projects of El I' will be appointedwhen appropriate.

The various projects sponsored by Ell' havetheir own local stalls, So/114 of which are underthe direct s Tervision of WI' central stetmembers, others of which receive advisory andconsultative service from central El l'.

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URBAN EDUCATIONIMPROVEMENT PROJECTS

The rapIdly spiraling problems of the urbancenters of this country make the urban educationimprovement projects of Ell' especially crucialbattlegrounds in the fight to improve educationfor the disadvantaged.

Urban centers have been set up under 010 aegisof Eli' in five Southern cities: Nashville,Tennessee; Durham, North Carolina; Atlanta,Georgia; Iluntsilte, Alabama; and NewOrleans, Louisiana.

The purpose of the urban centers is to bringtogether, under the leadership of Ell', colleges,universities, and public schools in the designatedareas to;

I. Improve the educational experiences of thedisadvantaged.

2. introduce innovative programs in the schools.3. test the usefulness of these programs.4. improve teacher education in the colleges

and universities.5. provide for in-toilet education of teachers

and other personnel.

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6. provide for dissemination and spread ofuseful programs in the school system.

7. 1,rovide a model of what can be done inmetropolitan centers toward improving theeducation of the disadvantaged.

All rive centers were originally funded by theFord Foundation for a period of five years. Thefunded period and amount for each project ;sshown in the chart on the opposite page.

The role of Eli' in th., establishment of thecenters was multi-faceted. Central MP:

set up the consortia of schools and colleges.

aided in developing the plan for each center.helped veite proposals for the center programs.

initiated efforts for securing foundationfunding.

provided for communication between thecenters.

stimulated ptccedures for reporting tofoundations and the public.

URBAN EDUCATION IMPROVEMENT PROJECTSFUNDED PERIODS AND AMOUNTS

NASHVILLE EIP

DURHAM EIP

ATLANTA EIP

HUNTSVILLE EIP

NEW ORLEANS EIP

1964 1965 1966

Ell' has a continuing tole which varies fromcenter to center. For instance, in the Atlantacenter, two members of the central Ell' staffserve on the governing board. In the othercenters EIP's function is more of a consultativeand advisory nature.

El r's aim from the beginning has been to makethe centers independent. Each center has its own

1961 1968 1969 1910 1911

governing board, composed of retresAntativesfrom the cooperating institutions snd the publicschool system, which selects the director andapproves the staff and program within theprovisions of the original proposal. Foundationfunds go directly to one of the mernbe.-1 of eachurban center consortium. This member servesas fiscal agent for the project.

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NASHVILLE EDUCATION IMPROVEMENT PROJECT

Cooperating Institutions

Fisk UnirersityGrow !Peabody Co Ns-

Naeheille Metropolitan Public MootsVanderbilt Unirereity

Funding

$3,011,F00 Fere' Foundation grant to George!Peabody College

Purposes

1. To help edutationally dieadrantaged childret: to:

Inaction al a significanGi higher lere;

derelop opproiriatr tiptetotions of the 'pekesand esthete, and to import iR othothatnetetielies &firm' to be :elated to

Mt /4, NA is trhool and in adstt tiff.inore ethool ',thief-tweet.

e. To intrea.et track, and parent RRdtrefausli5gof ditodoardoptd tkildren tad their ability tohelp thett children.

f. To ecolow,frore 'tor desirable (haute., hi* beochitred in culturally dieadeattfaged ehikirest,titer parents, and their leathers.

I. To anyridis the (fie-din-nets of ration*pi-orange is ttiRgiig abo>Ej thltittd chaste*d*d to obtain titter in,forattittion anntitif topto 11 It int rife-dirt iattreeir000l programsfor the iitialtatttagei.

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The Nashville Ell' was the first o.; the five urbancenter programs. In its live years of operation,which t.Iminated August 31, 1969, the NashvilleEll' has taken broad aim at the problems ofcultural deprivation with programs involvingstudents from kind, rgarten through the senioryear of high school. in terms of age range ofyoung people served, it has been the widest inscope of the urban projects.

The magnitude of the task taken on by theproject is dramatized when its purview isexpressed in numbers: nine schools, 110 teachers,5,009 pupils. And this is not to mention a vitalaspect of the project involving parents of thechildren and, as far as possible, the entirecommunity in cornlAtting the various aspectsof deprivation.

Like tret large cities in America, Nashville iscomposed of two sharply contrasting extremesand a range of "in beta eens." The educationallydisadvantaged ate found at every level, but thecircumstances are quite different in each.

Nashville's high`.y favorable picture includes avariety of renowned colleges and universities,several religious publishing houses, and artintellectual ferment that deals continuously withthe !Mat Trues of our time. So impressive atethese and caber manifestations of culturaladvantage that Nashvilie is frequently referredto as the "Athens of the South."

.1 look through other windows reveals anotherpicture. In vatious pockets throughout the innercity, there ate tun -down neighborhoods,di1apitlated housing, and families whose incomes

are at poverty level or below. This is thepicture in which the adults and children, withfew exceptions, arc greatly disadvantaged--environment ally, socially, educationally. Tws isthe picture which Eli' has tried to begin tochange.

PROGRAMS

Nashville Eli' has sought to accomplish itsgoals through eight component programs.Although the live-year span of the project hasbeen completed too recently for extensiveevaluatlan to have been reported, somesignificant results of the programs havebeen Indicated.

Kindergarten SchoolAround 100 childre., each year took part in theone-year kindergarten program operated atNashville's Mt. Zeno School. The school wascomposed entirely of kinderga, ten classes.

The program was designed to determine theextent to Which kindergarten affects readinessfor the first grade and subsequent success inschool. It included activities in the followingareas: otal language development, socialdevelopment, dramatics, music, art, readingreadiness, number readings, hexIth, physicaldevelopment, and safety. Trips outside theschool were made to supplement classroomlearning.

In planning instruction to meet educationalneeds, the teachers used published materials onearly childhood education, a variety of testsadministered to the children, and their ownot4etvation of the children.

Each year of the project, the children in thekindergarten made statistically significant

improvement in their levels of Intellectualfunctioning, averaging I.Q. gains of 5.9 points.Tiwy also showed greater readiness for first gradethan their peers who did not attend kindergartenvas indicated by more A's told It's, with fewer I ESand E's, on the Metropolitan Readiness 'lest r.In first grade achievement, the Mt. Zeno graduateshave done slightly better than their peers.

K3 NonGraded PrimaryA four -year, non - graded primary program wasconducted at the Carter-Lawrence School. Thisprogram was designed around the premise thateach child has his own rate and pattern ofgrowth. Rigid grade lines were eliminated toenable the children to acquire academic andsoda) skills at their own rates without fear offailure.

The K-3 program used master teachers, 'Ditcheraides, and a wide range of instructionalmaterials and equipment. In addition, the unitshad access to modern, on-campus mathematics-science renters.

The children w-ho attended the fi..st year of theK-3 program Shaw cd significant gains inintellectual functioning as measured by pre-and post- administrations of the St anforalinetIntelligence Test. They also demonstratedgreater readiness for school on the MetropolitanReadiness Test and tended to score higher onthe various Metropolitan Achievement Teststhan children of comparable abilities withoutthis year in the program.

Children who remained in the 1:-S non-gradedprntAM maintained their gains. After fouryears in the program, all of the pupils were ator near grade kvel as measured by theM. tropolitan Achievement Test,

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Cooperative Reading ProgramDisadvantaged children frequently have difficultywith oral language development andperhapsconsequentlywith reading. In the beginning.the Coop( relive Reading Program used threeapproaches to help first-grade children withspeech and reading difficulties: the PeabodyLanguage Development Kit, the Initial TeachingAlphabet, or a combination of the two.

The Peabody Kit was used to help childrenwith poor oral language development. The kitincluded over 400 picture cards, a supply ofcolor cards, a hand puppet, a teacher's manual,and a set of prepared tapes. It was used dailyin a game or fun-type situation to encouragechildren to listen with interest, to pantomime,to describe, and to think critically.

The Initial Teaching Alphabet was used withchildren having problems with beginningreading. This alphabet has 44 symbols insteadof the 26 in the conventional alphabet. Theadditional symbols permit each of the 44 tohave A single sound value rather than differentones in different words.

For children with both poor languagedevelopment and poor background forbeginning reading, the Cooperative LanguageDevelopment Program combined the PeabodyLanguage Development Kit and the InitialTeaching Alphabet. Evaluations thus farindicate that all three approaches result in..eading gains, but that a combination of thePeabody Language Development Kit and theInitial Teaching Alphabet produced the greatestgains in reading achievement.

Later the program was expanded to include twoadditional approaches. One of the additional

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approaches was "Words in Color" (WIC), amethod which, film the Initial TeachingAlphabet, is designed to foster early andcontinued success in reading through use of a"key" to sound control in words. In this system,each sound has a specific color regardless of thevariety of ways in which it can be spelled.Thus, a in hat appears in the same color as au inlaugh, but in a different color from a in fate.

The other added approach to reading was theSupplemented Conventional Reading Program.This program included use of a basal readerseries supplemented with Hay-Wingo, a set ofphlnetic materials and activities adaptable toany basal reader series.

In assessing the results of the program, all ofthe approaches used are being compared witheach other to determine their relativeeffectiveness in helping th children succeedin school.

Remedial Reading Program

The purpose of this program was to improve thelimited academic achievement observed amongdisadvantaged pupils in grades four through s!in six Nashville schools. It was felt that theoverall academic performance of the pupilsmight be improved by improving their readingand language skills.

A reading specialist coordinated this program,which provided the appropriate reading servicesfor (1) pupils experiencing normal readingdifficulties and (2) pupils with extremereading defects.

In the reading service for pupils experiencingnormal reading dirculties, a "lead" readingteacher was assigned to each of the Mx

participating schools. This lead reading teacherworked directly with individuals or smallgroups of pupils referred to her. This teacheralso assisted the other teachers in the school indevising and directing reading instructionalstrategies for their pupils.

Pupils with extreme reading difficulties werereferred to a special reading clinic where tworeading clinicians provided for them the properdiagnosis and therapy.

Multi-Sensory Aids ProgramWhen disadvantaged young people reach juniorhigh school, most of their background experienceshave been concerned with concrete things.Thus, in problem solving which calls forabstract thinking they tend almost automaticallyto use a concrete approach, th,t is, to look for asolution in terms of things the., can see, hearor feel.

At the junior and senior high school levels.much class work is concerned with abstractconcepts. Consequently, there is a great need tobridge the gap between the school's abstractlearning tasks and the disadvantaged pupil'sconcre,J approach. Disadvantaged young peoplemust see how each abstraction works, hear itdescribed in detail, or handle equipment thatdemonstrates how it operates.

In order to meet this need, Nashville PIPprovided a great variety of multi-sensory aidsin each of its two target secondary schools.Such things as films, film-strips, plastic modelsand tape recorders were used to demonstratevarious ideas and concepts. To insure effectiveuse of the multi-sensory aids, a specia'ist helpedeach teacher select and use appropriate aidsfor each instructional unit.

Guidance Services

Skilled, readily available guidance service isneeded most especially by children withbackgrounds of disadvantage. The aim of theNashville EIP guidance program was to fosterpupil motivation and achievement by (1) loweringthe counselor-student ratio in grades 7-12, and(2) providingfor the first time in the Nashvilleschool systemguidance services below grade 7.

In-Service EducationImproving the performance of teachers in theEIP schools and increasing their competence inworking with disadvantaged children were thegoals of this aspect of the Nashville project.The program included staff leadershipconferences, consultative services, travel,summer institutes and formal graduate training.

Although not without some initial reluctance,the teachers accepted and used effectively suchEIP-instituted features as the newer media,formal guidance in the elementary school, andthe master teacher concept.

School-Community Relations

In seeking to improve opportunities for culturallylimited childreD, the Nashville EIP went beyondthe edge of the schoolyard. A belief basic to theproject was that not only the formal education,but also the home and community environmentof the youngsters must be improved.

From the very first, LIP held the point of viewthat the parents and other adults ofdisadvantaged communities are deeply concernedabout the improvement of their communitiesand the welfare of the children, including theirecbic:tion. If the adults appear to be uninterested,

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it is because they do not understand what to do,because they feel powerless to take the neededsteps for improvement, because they have been"taught" to distrust school people and otherprofessionals.

In support of its point of view, Nashville EIPprovided school-community visitors for its sixtarget elementary schools. The visitors calledon parents and helped them to understand whattheir children were doing in school and why.They also helped the parents in dealing withunemployment agencies, completing forms, andmaking contacts with other community agencies.They planned activities to bring parents andteachers together and used other means to helpthem understand each other better.

In order to help all adults in the disadvantagedcommunities work toward their improvement,the visitors helped them to organize school-community councils. Each council was toidentify community needs, such as those forkindergartens, day-care centers, education foradults and recreational facilities. Then, to meetthe needs, the visitors helped the councilscontact and work with community agencies,such as the Metropolitan Action Commission,the school system, and park boards. Thecontact and follow-up efforts were conducted soas to help the adults achieNe tangible results,regain trust in professionals, and becomeconfident of their own power as communityimprovement groups.

CONCLUSION

The ultimate aim of the Nashville EN' wentbeyond the specific goals of improving theeducational opportunities and achievement ofculturally disadvantaged children. The

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underlying point of the whole effort was to bringabout changes in the commuaity itself, to makesome heatiay in eradicating the causes ofdeprivation.

Furthermore, a project such as this is a testingground for methods of attacking the problemsof deprivation in urban areas generally: if itachieves successes, it serves as a model forschool-community improvement projectselsewhere.

The changes effected by a project like Nashville"spread"---are difficult to measure,

but there are some heartening instances whichcan be cited.

Spread in the Nashville Seheol SystemDesegregating the Nashville EIP staff was theschool system's first step towards desegregatingfaculties. Two Ell' reading teachers who wereNegroes were assigned to formerly all-whitefaculties. After this, faculty desegregationproceeded continuously.

The Nashville Etl "s first summer institute in1965 was the school system's frst extendedexperience in a city-wide desegregated staffmeeting. Since then, integrated staff meetingshave become the norm.

Prior to the Nashville Ell', there was noorganized guidance service in the Nashvilleschools at the elementary school level. InSeptember, 1968, a guidance counselor wasassigned to a model elementary school guidanceprogram in the Nashville public school system.

Thirty schools in the Nashville school systemhave added resource specialists. This is a directproliferation of Os master reacher - resourcespecialist pattern initiated by the Nashville Ell'.

The Cooperative Language DevelopmentProgram has been initiated in three elementaryschools which were not in the Nashville EIP.

An Initial Teaching Alphabet Program, theoutgrowth of the successful 'TA program in El Pschools, was introduced in one non-EIP school.

Twelve remedial reading centers :lave beenestablished in 12 non-EIP high schools inthe Nashville school system. These programsare similar to the Nashville Ell' remedialprograms. Two additional high school and fiveadditional elementary school reading centers innon-EIP schools are planned.

A non-graded program in two elementary schoolswas initiated at the beginning of the 1068-1069school year. The principals of both schools areformer Nashville Ell' staff members, one anEli' school principal and the other an EIPschool teacher.

Spread in the CommunitySo well has the School-Community Programfunctioned in the Nashvilk Ell' and so effectivehas been the role of the school-community visitorin th:s program, that a distinctly ienovativecommunity action program has resulted.Labeled SENCA (South East NashvilleCommunity Assecia',ion), this enterprise providesan outstanding example of what can beaccomplished by people with very little whenthey unite to work toward a common goal.SENCA arose from a merger of three communitycouncils which had been established with theaid of EIl "s school-community visitors. Thethree councils had worked on various problemsindependently of each other. When they foundtheir efforts overlapping, they decided to pool

their resources as one organization. SENCAwas chartered as a non-profit organization with aconstitution and bylaws and officers were elected.

Of SENCA's many community improvementactivities, probably the most ambitious hasbeen the summer program carried out in 1968.The goals of the program were:

To provide jobs for the youth, create workexperiences, and develop pre-vocationaltraining.To develop responsible leadership among theyouth and adults of the area.To provide opportunities for total familyinvolvement.To provide activities that contribute to thepersona! growth of individuals and mutuallysatisfying relationships among groups and thatfurther the gaffs of a community actionprogram.

SENCA secured Office of Economic Opportunityfund:: through a grant from the MetropolitanAction Commission and employed a staffconsisting of one project director, one projectsupervisor, one neighborhood worker, fourprogram supervisors, and 40 teenagers wholive in the area. The summer program wasconducted from two centers, one an old fire hallpreviously renovated by SENCA and the otheran old public school building.

Activities of the summer program included:

A baby-sitting service with one supervisor and14 teenage "sitters." The sitters wereemployed in homes and at the centers wherebaby beds and other facilities were provided.They were required to take the "mother's

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aide" training course offered by the AmericanRed Cross.Snack bars and lounges at both centers. Theywere operated 24-30 hours a week, with onesupervisor and 16 teenagers employedfour hours a day. After the initial investmentfor some consumable supplies, local merchantscontributed to the project. This aspect of thesummer program was originated by theteenagers themselves.A clean-up, fix-up service, which employeda supervisor and 14 young people to

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paint and make minor repairs in the facilitiesoperated by SENCA. They also made minorrepairs for senior citizens and disabled people.Metro Parks and Recreation Departmentsupplied paint, ladders, and scaffolds.Playground service. This program utilized onesupervisor and four workers to conductrecreational activities in the neighborhood.

Even though the Nashville EIP has terminated,SENCA's work continues, a lasting result of theproject.

DURHAM EDUCATION IMPROVEMENT PROJECT

Cooperating InstitutionsDurham City Schools

Durham County Schools

Duke UniversityNorth Carolina Central University (formerlyNorth Carolina Co Ileve at Durham)

Funding$2,945,000 Ford Foundation grant to DukeUniversity

PurposesI. To develop a model school system a) providing

a iongitudinal stimulation and evaluationprogram for a large number of culturallydisadvantaged children at early and variousstages in their lives, and b) focusing heavily onthe pre-school child, but allowing fortransition into the early elementary years.

2. To conduct continuous research on curriculumand child development.

.9. To develop an innoredire program haringimplications for state and national efforts onbehalf of the disadvantaged child.

The Durham HIP brings together two universities,one predominantly white and one predominantlyNegro; the city and county school systems,and an anti-poverty agency to meet theeducational needs of children in poverty.

Initially operating in conjunction with OperationBreakthrough, Durham's city-wide action

program supported by the U. S. Office ofEconomic Opportunity, the Durham projectworks in three "target areas" where money andhope are scarcest.

PROGRAMS

Infant Evaluation Program

Among the five urban projects, Durham isunique in starting work with children at birth.

Ell"s youngest clients are enrolled in the InfantEvaluation Program, primarily a monitoringand data-gathering study of the first 24 monthsof life of 38 culturally disadvantaged infants.

Using various measures of mental, motor, andbehavioral development, HIP stair membersevaluate infants at regular intervals at the DukeMedical Center. Later the children are placedin the EIP nursery or pre-schools where theirpersonalities and educational development areclosely observed and correlated with the basicdata on early development and behaviorprovided by the infant project.

Eventually the program should lead to thedevelopment of intervention techniques usefulin correcting decelerating rates of development.

Programs for Pre-School Children

Two-year-olds (including infant projectgraduates) enter the educational sequencethrough a carefully structured programemphasizing body care, self-control, languagedevelopment, sensory motor coordination,

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physical skills, and simple social activities. Thefirst such unit opened !n April, 1966.

A second nursery school phase, for three-year-olds, emphasizes language development and theability to understand a wide variety of things,ideas, and people in an ever-exvmdingenvironment.

Children of tour and live years of age areenrolled in more highly structured programs.The first of these, two kindergartens operatingin Durham City and County schools, openedin September, 1965.

Kindergarten classes stress readiness for formalintellectual tasks. Through a wide range ofconcrete activities, youngsters are helped todevelop concepts which will help them to relateto symbolic representations of the world aroundthem.

Careful preparation is made for the more formalreading and mathematical activities of firstgrade. Early mathematics activities includemanipulation of the Cuisenaire rods; readingskills have been taught by the Words in Colormethod, which assigns a different color to eachsound in the language.

Southside School, located near the DukeUniversity campus, serves as a laboratory centerfor teacher training and curriculum innovation.In a current special study, children receivepositive reinforcement on an individualizedbasis as a means of bringing about desiredbehavior changes.

Ell' staff seminars are held regularly to studycurriculum needs, learning theory, and classroombehavior analysis. Data for such study and forcross-sectional research is collected by researchobservers who move within the classrooms

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regularly, documenting child behavior andfitting it into the most appropriate of 13categories contained in the Coping Analysis forEducation Settings (CASES), developed byRobert L. Spaulding, Ell' Director.

Ungraded Primary ClassesIn September, 1966, the first ungraded primaryclasses were launched at two of the projectschools. These primary units, which cover thefirst three years in the public school, make itpossible for each child to be taught at his levelof social and conceptual development withinhis own age group.

Carefully articulated programs in reading,mathematics, language, science, and socialstudies are presented to the children. In addition,the pupils are encouraged to create their ownrepresentations of reality (o: fantasy) using avariety of tools and materials.In carefully guided encounters with symbols ofsounds, shapes, objects, and ideas, the childrenlearn to master reading, the Arabic system ofnumbers, and even elementary equations andfractions.

Teaching manuals have been developed by thiscon,ponent of the Ell' under the following titles:A Language Program for CulturallyDisadranfaged Children; A Guide for SelectingArt Materials; Language Stiff illation; ToolTechnology for the Classroom.

Youth ProgramEII"s Vouth Program involves early adolescentslikely to become parents of future modelsystem children.

By beginning with disadvantaged youngsters inthe seventh grade, the program seeks to reach

the girls and boys several years before theybecome parents. It utilizes schools, churches,and existing community organizations to establishcommunication with the target group andfocuses on three broad areas: family lifeeducation, consumer education, and vocationalchoice and preparation.

The ultimate aim of the Youth Program is tohave some effect on the problems relating tochild-rearing, family planning, and familymanagement: in short, to help these adolescentsand their children to cometoward a betterfamily life than they might otherwise have.

RESEARCH EMPHASIS

From the outset of the Durham EIP, theresearch aspect of the program has been a majorcomponent of the overall effort. The idea wasnot only to use existing knowledge, but todiscorer more effective ways of helping childrento escape the destructive effects of deprivation.

The Research and Evaluation branch of theDurham ELL' staff is responsible for generalevaluation of the programs, special studies,measurement of impact on the local educationcommunity, and feedback to the program andinformation branches of the project.

The Researrh and Evaluation component isdivided into three basic sections: the InfantEvaluation Project (described above), GeneralEvaluation, and Special Studies.

In addition to having full-time professionalresearch personnel, the General Evaluationsection trains and utilizes housewives from thecommunity as educational technicians.

During fall and spring a general evaluation ofall Eli' youngsters is accomplished. Individual

assessments are made of each child's intelligence,social maturity, language age, motordevelopment, educational readiness, andacademic achievement. Data are collected andposted to individual progress charts for eachchild, then punched on IBM cards and storedon tape at Duke University's Computer Center.

Data are used to measure gains along variousdimensions from fall to spring of each programyear, and to provide a pool of basic data fromwhich special studies can be accomplished. Inaddition, these evaluations result in individualreferrals for psychological, psychiatric, pediatric,and educational consultation.

The Special Studies section is composed of achief research assistant, research consultants,and eight full-time, highly-skilled researchtechnicians assigned to one or a combination ofon-going special studies according to prioritiesset by the EIP research director.

These special studies generally fall into one ormore of the four areas of Ell"s research emphasis:characteristics of disadvantaged children;individual case studies in behavior modification;studies in curriculum development and classroombehavior; and study of EIP program impact.Thus far into the project, some 39 specialstudies have been carried out.

As examples of some of the studies conducted:

Nineteen children were tested on their abilityto learn visual-verbal paired associatesutilizing two instructional methodologies,1) classical presentation, and 2) cumulativelearning.More children (14) learned feler by thecumtdatire method than by (Ix classical method (3).Two children showed no difference.

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An experimental summer program wasconducted to build academic and social skillsin a group of culturally deprived childrenwho would be entering first grade in the fall.The curriculum included a language and readingprogram, an arithmetic program, andtraining in cognit've skills.Pre- and post-testing showed that the childrenmade significant gains in language, speech,pre-reading skills, arithmetic, and ability tohandle abstract concepts.

Four lirst-grade boys with behavior problemsparticipated in a study of the effectiveness oftoken reinforcement in a small-group setting.

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Three approaches were compared: Sceialreinforcement, the awarding of "stars"without material value, and the awarding ofstars exchangeable for objects at a miniaturestore.The latter approach produced the greatestdecrease in unacceptable behavior and increasein desirable behavior.

With its concerted research effort,Durham Ell' is likely to make contributionsto education for the disadvantaged thatextend far beyond the city limits of Durham,North Carolina.

ATLANTA EDUCATION IMPROVEMENT PROJECT

Cooperating InstitutionsAtlanta Public SchoolsAtlanta UniversityEmory University

Funding$3,084,900 Ford Foundation grant to EmoryUniversity

PurposesI. To introduce and demonstrate in the schools

involved, the pre-kindergartens, and the relatedprograms, the most promising procedures forraising the academic aci.ievement level of allpupils and for giving massive assistance in thebasic skills and subject matter areas to pupilswho hare special needs.

2. To put into effect in-service and pre-serviceteacher education programs and activities whichwill provide school and university personnelwith significantly more knowledge, deeperinsights and improved skills for contributingto the education of all children and especiallythose who are culturally disadvantaged.

3. To conduct studies in the social phenomena,the psychology, and the education of theculturally disadvantaged; to monitor andevaluate the school programs; and to contributeto the literature in the field.

4. To improve uaderstanding and lommunicationbetween the schools and the court tunities, tocoordinate the school programs with thosesponsored by related agencies, and todisseminate information effectively.

A series of projects and activities, all related bypurpose and goals, forms Atlanta's EducationImprovement Project, known as the UrbanLaboratory.

The Urban Laboratory draws on the ideas andskills of personnel from Atlanta University,Emory University, and Atlanta Public Schoolsto devise and carry out its programs.

Although characteristics vary depending upon aproject's nature and intent, each project mustspecify objectives defined in terms that aresubject to evaluation.

PROGRAMS

Science: A Process Approach

The first curriculum project initiated in theUrban Laboratory was a process approach tothe study of science, a course for grades K-6designed to develop fundamental problem-solving skills in all subject areas. Its structuredframework and design for teacher-pupil behaviorhave implications for the total curriculum, andthe science aspect becomes somewhat secondaryas behavior changes are brought forth.

The materialsdeveloped under the direction ofthe American Association for the Advancementof Science (AAAS)are being used in threeEli' schools, now for the fourth year, by 49teachers instructing 1,500 children. In the longrun, the project should determine what benefitsthe process-oriented approach provides foreducationally disadvantaged children.

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Four characteristics identify this approach as avehicle for possibly improving elementaryeducation:

1. It is a language program that is not textbookoriented, so that a child's success in thecourse is not predicated on sound readingability.

2. AAAS is performance oriented.3. Specific teacher behavior is demanded. With

a performance oriented subject and no studenttextbooks, the teacher must engage the childin discovering knowledge and skills. Theteacher's role is supportive and encouraging,not corrective and criticizing.)

4. The program provides for, and demands,continuous evaluation.

Each unit is systematically evaluated upon itscompletion by sampling a group of students.Since Science: A Process Approach is sequentiallydeveloped--the behaviors tested for areimportant for the success of behaviors to bedeveloped subsequentlythe teacher is able touse immediate feedback from continuousassessment (evaluation) to determine theadvisability of moving on to a new unit withoutrepeating portions of the one just completed.

Pre-Kindergarten

A pre-kindergarten project was created in theUrban Laboratory to determine whatcompensating effects early intervention mighthave on disadvantaged children. Its goal is tohelp these children develop behaviors necessaryfor success in school early enough to precludethe need for mass remediat;on in the middleand upper grades. Objectives include increasingand developing the language, perceptual and

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conceptual skills of the 2: to 432-year-oldchildren, and developing and demonstratingappropriate teacher behavior in pre-kindergartenclasses for the disadvantaged. Two approachesare emphasized:

1. Working with the children individually tomake the most of their potentials.

2. Seeking to involve parents in every aspect ofthe child's beginning in the educationalsystem.

Two classes of pre-kindergarten operate inE. A. Ware School, two in Grant Park School,and one in M. Agnes Jones School. Each classhas an approximate enrollment of 20 and astall consisting of a lead teacher, an assistantteacher, and a teacher aide.

Teaching teams from the live EIP classes meetwith teams from seven pre-K units in theAtlanta Public Schools for joint in-servicetraining and joint feedback.

Reading Programs

in each of the three project schools, the UrbanLaboratory has insf.Ituted reading programsbased on the pre-reading curriculum developedfor children of pre-school age. The teachersinvolved are given special training in the newapproaches being used.

The program at M. Agnes Jones emphasizesgetting primary-grade children off to a betterstart in reading. The I3ereiter and EnglemanLanguage l'rogram is used in the pre-kindergartenclasses.

The primary grades pik up with the Scott,Foresman Readiness Book, Before We Read; the

Lippincott Reading for Learning workbook,and the AAAS science materials.

The E. A. Ware School is conducting a specialreading project in which one group of firstgraders is taught by the traditional basic textapproach and the second group by theprogrammed linguistic method.

The Grant Park School reading program focuseson an individualized approach to reading.

In addition to these programs, the three schoolsare involved in a joint undertaking with theUrban Laboratory and the Atlanta UniversityHeading Center. The Center provides help withreading problems to selected students from theEIP schools. Center personnel also demonstratedevelopmental and clinical procedures, assistin in-service work with teachers of the referredchildren and provide a continuous exchangebetween schools of materials, ideas, and specialtechniques.

Staff Teachers

Twelve staff teachers, subsidized by the UrbanLaboratory, provide a reservoir of certifiedtalent ready to release classroom teachers forin-service education in the three project schools.

When 10 staff teachers were hired during the1967-1968 school year, many of the classroomteachers regarded their "replacements" withindifference or skepticism. Therefore, it seemedpreferable to develop the staff teacher programwith more emphasis on a "permanent' typeschool affiliation. Twelve teachers fulfilled thisrole during the 1968-1969 school year.

Four teachers are assigned to each school asregular full-time faculty members, releasing four

regular classroom teachers during the schoolday to participate in in-service activities.

This shift in the role of the staff teachers hasresulted in their becoming integral parts of theteaching staffs.

Pupil Services

l'rior to 1965, school psvc! .-;iogi-as and socialworkers were not a part of schoolfaculties in the Atlanta Public Schools. Ell'programs provided a first in introducing their use.

The Urban Laboratory continues to provide aschool social worker at each school and a schoolpsychologist that serves all three schools.

The TABA Teacher Development Program

The TAI3A Teacher Development l'rograminitiated in Atlanta by the Urban Laboratoryis a pioneer project in the sense that it is one ofonly two TABA Programs now being conductedin the southeastern United States.

The program was generated by (and namedafter) the late Blida Taba, internationally-known leader in curriculum development andlearning theory. Dr. Taba realized the need fornew instructional programs which emphasizedthe following two major objectives:

I. Subject matter and learning experiences mustcontribute to the development of selectedconcepts and generalizations that are valid,significant, and transferable to otherexperiences.

2. Teaching strategies and learning experiencesmust support and encourage inquiry and thedevelopment of higher-level thought processes.

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To accomplish these objectives, teachers mustfunction as question-askers and hcilitators ofthe learning process. To get teachers to functionin this manner, an in-service education programfor teachers was developed from Dr. Tuba'sresearch.

The teaching methods developed by the TAI Ain-service education program are aimed atdeveloping children's cognitive learning skillsand abilities in the areas of concept formation,interpretation of data, and application ofgeneralizations.

In addition, it is hoped that through TAIIAteaching techniques, teachers will be able tohelp their children develop rational thinking inrelation to inter-personal relationships.

Early in the fall of 196S, the Urban Laberatorybegan a Teacher Education Workshop whichcontinued throoghout the school year. Twenty-six teachers mat weekly in two groups ofthirteen for a 2! z hour session.

Ely mid-winter. the -teachers-in.training" hadbegun to incorporate the knowledge ro.d skillsthey were acquiring into their normal classroomteaching techniques. Teachers have reportedthat by using TARA teaching strategies, theyhave been able to elicit participation indant ,orn activities from students who havepreviously been considered passive andindifferent.

It is hoped that plans will evolve ultimately toimplement this program in the Atlanta SchoolSystem at hale.

The Community School

The community school program could beconsidered an experiment in "free education"

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free in the sense that there is no charge to theadults or youths who enroll in its classes, butmore importantly, remarkably "free" in itsplanning and operation.

An Advisory Council was organized at the outsetof the program to involve community residentsin planning the type of courses that would beoffered and other decisions affecting thecommunity school.

Recent courses offered by the Ell' communityschools have included: cashiering, consumereducation, typing, sewing, hair styling, oilFainting and other art courses, flower arranging,basic education, cake deeoratinz, shorthand,radio and television repair, and even the artof judo.

There is no set format for the curriculum in thecommunity echool; the program is flexible andcontinually changing to meet the needs of thepeople it serves.

The community school program is primarilyaimed at adults in an effort to get them moteinvolved in the total school operation. Coursesoffered at the community school have alsobecome the means by which many young peopleand adults can fulfill their educations',employment, and recreational needs.

The community school program was first putinto effect by Eli' in 1966 in the Grant ParkElementary School. From its original schedule,Grant Park had to expand its course offeringsand hours, remaining open four nights each weekand offering a much more diversified curriculum.Now community school programs are in theprocess of emerging in the other two El Pschools as a result of determining the needsand wishes of community residents.

John F. Kennedy School andCommunity CenterA "model" schoolblending education andcommunity servicewill soon become a realityin an inner city area of Atlanta. The UrbanLaboratory will work closely with the Area 1Superintendent, the Atlanta University Schoolof Social Work, the Emori UniversityInstitute for the Study of Sccial Change, and11 community agencies in developing operationalplans for the new school and communitycenter. It is planned that Ell' will play a keyrole in curriculum development for the center.

The JFK Center will provide a neighborhoodbase of operations for numerous social andhealth agencies on a seven-days-a-week,12-months-a-year basis.

Contained within the Center will be a middleschool serving approximately. 1,050 students.

The JFK Center will be open i,cyond normalschool hours, thereby providing facilities for

adult education, recreation, and vocationaltraining. The "model" school will offer classesto fulfill community needs and interests.

The unique center is to be completed in 1970.Prior to its opening, the many sgercies andgroups %Rh an interest in the center willintensify their work with the people of thecommunity to find out what they want andnee,1 in a pace-setting rew commurity center.

NEW DIRECTIONS

As the Urban Laboratory has evolve u, there hasbeen an increasing emphasis en communityinvolvement. The lord Foul dation has approveda plan to ..tend the project fo an additionalyear (without additional funding). The centralfocus of the Urban Laboratory wilt increasinglyrelate the research, teacher educaion, andcurneular programs to the 'weds of thecommnity. Representatives of the communitywill have key roles to play in plaaning andexecution of the programs.

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HUNTSVILLE EDUCATION IMPROVEMENT PROJECT

Cooperating Institutions

Alabama A & M CollegeAuburn tiiiircrsiit;

Pub lit School System

Madison County Pubic Smoot SystemUnirertite of Alabama at Iluntsrille

Funding

$1,;07,500 ford Foundation grant to1°1(b lie Schools

Purposes

1. To dtrelop and demonstrah a curriculum rchichtrill improrr and enrich the sl ills, ott;tudesand thmting preeesses of the disadrantagedrresetiool child, thereby reducing the (honeys ofhis progrrpsirt tadffiail011 in the regularschool prograw.

1. To derelop in-scriice programs which trillafford !cashes and other personnel &Wermarkretanding of the disadrantapol child andan mnderstanding of hair best to implementemrritnla geared especially for the ditadrantardchild.

3. To dertlop rays 014 Walls of inroleing port Osof the disc:dean:aged ii. the edretationalftd(drOtit of their children rink enhancing toa great degree their corn imptorcrarat.

4. To derelop and demonstrate ways of (Petite',working Kith the pnblie schools in coordinatingEl P efforts and fosIct iag close contia fry vritAthe regalor school program.

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S. To demorstrate trays of improring theinstr rctional program for disadrantagedchild-en and the elrectirentss of their teachers,therchl it. pro;ing the to:al school program.

Tne formaticn of the Huntsville Eli' was theclimax of a two-year period of activity by theAssociation of Huntsville Area ContractorstAlIAC), which drew up the plans for theproject in cooperation with local educators,representatives of neighboring colleges anduniversities, and Eli'.

This cooperative effort between businessmen andother community agencies helped attractfinancial support for the program, the specificobjective of which is to improve educationalopportunities for the disadvantaged people ofthe community. The "community" servedincludes not only the city schools, but all theschools of the surrounding countya featureunique among the urban projects.

PROGRAMS

For five years, Huntsville Eli' is focusing itsenergies, talents, skills, and money in a three-pronged program that includes an instructioncomponent, parent education, and teachereducation.

Instruction

Twenty-three teachers a.isied by 23 sick,began the }:duration Improvement Projectwith 23 groups of 15 five-year-olds. These

tcachos found their students lacking in languagedevelopment both vocabulary and speecharticulation) and in positive self-concept.

As the program has developed, it has becomeapparent that the key to a sound program forthe 600 four- and tive-year-olds now enrolled isthe well-trisined teacher, possessing a highdegree of sensitivity to the individual needs ofthe children, who exhibit varying degrees ofdeprivation in intellectual achievement, physiialdevelopment, and cmotienai maturity.

A basic testing program determines the strengthsand weaknesses of each child; the teacher anda program specialist then plan an individualizedprogram for each child within the group.

Activities of the program are scheduled in largeblocks of time, enabling the teacher and aideto work with the whole group, mall groupsof from two to five, or individual children. Theteac:ter works from a resource book, compiledby the teachers themselves with appropriateactivities in various areas of content.

tine of the mist valuable periods of the day iswork-and-play or "choosing time." During thisperiod, children are guided into appropriateactivity by their own interests and by theteacher, who knows the needs of each child.Children work in individual pursuits orcooperatively in small groups. Activities includeeasel painting, building with blocks, housekeepingplay, woodworking, the use of the taperecorder and the Language Master.

A speech survey of five-year-old Ell' children isheld at the beginning of the school year tospot speech deviations. once specific problemsare located, the teacher and Ell' specialist set upa program of activities to help the child

establish good speech patterns. Children withsevere problems receive individual hlp fromthe specialist throughout the year.

Parent Education

The parent education program is coordinatedwith the needs o! the child. What is done withthe parents is based on their child's problemsand nis p..ogress through the pre-school andelementary grades.

As the program moves into the early elementarygrades, the teachers at those levels are beingencouraged to continue their frelueet visits tothe homes. During their summer workshops andintern program's conducted within the teachereducation progiarn structure, teachers studythe sociology of the disadvantaged and themeans of most effectively working with thedisadvantaged family. 'Pie experience of homevisits further broadens tht teacher'sunderstanding of the disathvntaged child'sneeds as well a.; the causes of cultural deprivation.

Activities already underway within Ell' allowpatents to participate in various ways asteaching aides, volunteer workers, food servicesotistants, and in other capacities. Included inprojected plans made by staff personnel areevening adult education courses designed toattack illiteracy and to provide vocationaltraining, instruction in hygiene and nutrition,and general enrichment programs fat the child'shome environment.

The patent education phase is being coordinatedclosely with the other program components,and extensive use is being made of the casehistory approach in developing data concerningthe children. El P is also acting as a liaison

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agent between public health and welfareagencies in the community and those homeswhich are found to be in need of such service.

Teacher Education

One of the main components of the Huntsvilleproject is an active, aggressive program oftrachea. education. The teachers themselves helpto plan this program as they evaluate theirown needs. The expressed needs of teachersworking with four- and five-year-olds have beenprimarily in the areas of child development,sociology of the disadvantaged, and language arts.

A summer institute was held preceding thefirst year of the project's operation at asupporting institution. During the first year ofthe project, teachers participated in in-servicemeetings conducted by consultants representinga variety of disciplines.

During the summer of 196S, a five-week institutewas het° The participants included Ell'teachers and staff members, and first gradeteachers and principals from the target schoolsin Huntsville and Madison County.

The institute included lectures in child growthand development, sociology of the disadvantaged,and language arts. l'articipants obsert edexperienced teachers working with disadvantagedfour- and five-year-olds. Each participant wasassigned one child for observation. Anecdotaliecords were made and discussed in conferencewith demonstration teachers and cons:insults.Areas explored in depth were storytelling andcreative drama, modern mathematics for theyoung child., and music.

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1'

Teachers are given the opportunity to observeotFer projects, to attend professional meetings,and to enroll in graduate courses in earlychildhood education made possible by specsalarrr.ngements with a supporting inztitntinn.Small group meetings are held for teact.ers todiscuss and diagnose problems, plan curriculum,and evaluate progress. Support is given to theseactivities by the staff and visiting consultants.

SUMMARY

}Ass intensive efforts to introduce disadvantagedchildren to themselves should result in theirrecognition that they are pormis of worth;thus they create or themselves emotional andmental stability and are free to proceed inschool life with confidence and a sense of purpose.

Realizing the significant role played by adultsin the disadvantaged homes, the Eli' staffis placing great emphasis on a firm, healthyhome-school relationship. Ell"s emphasis isbased essentially on the belief that much of whatis accomplished within the framework of theinstructional program can be reinforced byinterested, informed, and motivated parents.

Relieving that the key ton successful instructionalprogram for the disadvantaged child is thehighly trained professional teacher, the Ell'staff is concentrating on an aggressive programof teacher education, a program which theteachers themselves help plan with suggestionsand evaluation of their needs.

Working on these fronts, Ell' is helping theHuntsville of yesterday and today toward abetter Huntsville of tomorrow.

NEW ORLEANS EDUCATION IMPROVEMENT PROJECT

Cooperittlrg Institution&

INllard (*nirereityNew Orleans Public Sehoole

TN lane Unit:780y

Funding

Si,P19,300 Ford Forindat;on grant to

Tnlant Unirersity

Purpose

To proridc both in-tch 3o1 and out-of-school activitieswhich will stir/salon crudity thinking,.i) rrrotirolc ertbal and :critters rommmnieation,and 3) develop higher invitational andaviratiomal levels is the pipits in the program.

The simply and succinctly stated purpose of theNew Orleans Ell' is the basis for a project farfrom simple. The project attacks the resultsof poverty in New Orleans by working withchildren, parents, and teachers in an array ofinnovative programs.

The two schools participating in Eli' are theMedard II. Nelson and Edward If. PhillipsElementhry Schools, which have an enrollmentof some 2,200 pupils ...I grades kindergartenthrough six. The majority of the pupils live inthe St. Bernard !lousing Project area of the city,where the median income of families is $2,500a year$500 to $1,000 below the"poverty level"

Administratively, the participating schools areoperated as n sort of tub-systrn of tieNew Orleans Schools 'ibis enables Ell' toopersie e-ith a dtgree of autonomy unusual forpro,:ects of this kind.

PROGRAMS

Operating on the prenilse that one major formof deprivation is experience deprivation, theproject starts by providing basic childhoodexperient!es in a pre-kindergarten program forchildren from three years, eight months old tokindergarten age.

After two years in the pre-school program, thechildren move into a non-oaded, multi-phasesystem, which covers the first three grade levelsof elementary school. This system allowseach child to progress at his own rate, andprecludes the problems of boredom for thebrighter students and failure for the plower ones.

Within this framework, the areas of primaryemphasis are cultural activities, parent-community involvement, and language arts.

Cultural Activities

Most children invoked in New Orleans Ell'have had scant, it any, exposure to culturalactivities thee are "experience poor." Theproject staff be!iev'es that participation in art,dance, dramatics. and music can help thesechildren to learn, as well as open up newworlds of interest and aspiration. Consequently,concerted eaorts have been made to provide

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I oth in-school and out-of-scl ool experienceswhich will produce these results.

IN-SCHOOL CULTURAL .1t,TIVITirS

The oliective3 of in-school activities in thearts are:

I. to enrich each child's cultural experiences.2. tc nurture a sti,,,y and po.;!fis

for each child.

to provide rnothe, learning area for reati,eself-expression.

The Children', Theatre. The Children's Theatrehas been designed provide both teachersand students aith a rich extra-curricular activityand to offer a new and more effective meansfor classroom learning to be achieved. In the'ors' phase of the program, teachers are givenspecial training in selecting, Warming,and rroducing children's plays. In the secondphase, children are exposed to theatre throughattending community productions. In the thirdphase, classes actually produce plays f:1presentation to other classes in the school.

(*remiss Pro tomtit,. This program has at its goal"expanding and enriching the 'inner lift' of eachpupil and helping him to recognise and dealeffectively with the various kinds ofconceptualizations expected of him in theschool." Itasic serisoty awareness exercises andplay activities focus on revitalizing the cha,d'ssensory faculties so that he can better relateto his envitottmert.

Myth.. The discovering and exploring of music byEll' children begins at the very first level,with in-school "live" concerts and rhythm bands.Explorations grow into understanding through

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a widening of the program into a correlatedcurriculum of music, language arts, socialstudies, science, and art in the middle grades.One of the newer elements in the Ell' musiccurriculum is the Zoltan Kodaly method ofteaching children at the first grade level to readmusic. The basic approach is through the useof rhythm syllables and extensive physicalmovement.

.4rf. The major focus of the art program isincreasing creativity in the classroom. Ar.important aspect of the program is in.4ervicetraining of teachers to prepare each une forthe role of "artist" and net teacher. In turn, theteachers along their experiences andenthusiasm to the pupils with the aim ofbringing out the artist in each chid.

Out-or-S(1oot, CULTUP.11. ACtivitly,s

At various times during the school year, pupilsand their parents attend jazz shows, stageplays, and musicals held on the campuses ofDillard and Tulane Universities, FS well asin-town performances of the New OrleansRepertory Theatre Company. In connection withthe city-wide concerts for school children,pupils in grades three to six attend concerts bythe New Orleans Symphony Orchestra.

Field trips are taken to various sections of thecity and p'aees of historical, vocational, endcultural interest.

The Cultural Activities program ci New OrleansEll' is producing results in several areas.Observation of pupil behavior has indicatedthat the out-of-school experiences have the effectof heightening appreciation of art, drama, andmusic and of instilling genuine acceptance of

these activities. Teachers in the EIP schools arenow correlating art and music with othercourses. Pupils are using their free time "creating"with clay, paper mache, string and paper.

Parent-Community Involvement

The point of view of New Orleans Ell' is thatmany parents at the lower end of the sncio-economic ladder are ready t.i work witn educatorsfor change. The parents' attitudes are excellent,but their limited experInces tend to restrictthe deve'opment of their children.

Etiorts to broaden parental limits is a vitalbinction of the Ell' parent-community program.The activities in this program Are coordinatedby the ED' Visiting Teachers, the CommunityInformation Office, an the St. BernardCommunity Council.

Most important for children from low-incomefamilies is the involvement of their fathers orother male adults in their lives. The NOEIPDad's Club was formed as the vehicle forenlisting the cooperation of the men in thecommunity. The organitation is open to all menliving or working in the area surrounding thetwo schools. Through cultural, social, athletic,and academic activities jointly decided uponby the Dad's Club, the students, andrepresentatives of the schools, the goal is toextend the intellectual, cultural, and socialenvironment of the students and the community.

Another vehicle tot community Involvementis parent workshops. To enhance positive parentalreinforcement, programs involving patents areplanned and implemental. These programsprovide parents with knowledge of what taktsplace in the school environment and how theme

events relate to the eventu .1 fulfillment ofthe family as a social entity.

It is the objective of the NOEIP parent-community program to provide the parents witha basis for increased participation in themaking of school decisions. This goal can bereached by giving the parents a clearunderstanding of the school curricula plannedfor their children. The leaders of the programfeel that the parents need to realize more fullythe problems confronting schools in general and,in particular, the schools which tt'cdr childrenattend. fly canvassing the St. BernardCommunity, the program leaders are able tofind out which areas relating to the schools andtheir children's education the parents arelearning more about.

The program of parent field trips began withstudents and parents together visiting sights ofinterest around New Orleans. Now parentfield trips precede those of the students so thatparents can encourage their children's attendanceand will take an added interest in the schooland in their sons' and daughters' cduca!)nalexperiences.

One certain effect of the parent involvementprogram has been to broaden the experiencesof the parents of Ell' children. In addition,the mothers and fathers are much moreknowledgeable about their children's experienceswithin the schools. Ell' staff have observed thatthe parents now manifest a greater Interestin community and school affairs.

A highly important aspect of the communityprogram is the work of the CommunityInformation service of Ell'. This unit attemptsto serve as a link between the project and the

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community both the St. Bernard area andthe New Orleans community at large.Through publications, radio, TV, newspapers,and speaking engagements pith local groups,the Information Service informs ant! involves thecommunity in the activities of the project.

Language Arts

The child who cannot effectively use languageusually makes little progress in school. liefalls farther and farther behind in reading andthe other language arts and therefore cannotcope with instruction generally.

Realizing that children from a povertyenvironment suffer from just such a languagehandicap, New Orleans Ell' places top priorityon language arts, especially reading.

In developing the Instructional program inlanguage arts. the project followed- -andcontinues to follow--a specific step-by-stepprocedure:

1. Identification of the learners 1,) terms of theirintellectual, physical, emotiont; andlinguistic characteristics

2. Specification of instructional objectivesappropriate to these learners, which includethe criteria for evaluation

3. Development and demonstration ofappropriate methods, materials, and activitiesin the language arts

4. Evaluation in terms of the criteria set forthin the objectives

Demise of the underlying research anddemonstration nature of the project, it wasdecided not to duplicate interventions Feint,implementee elsewhere in the New Orleans

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S !ool System. Attention in reading was thereforegenerally focused on the initiation andimplementation of a variety of readingapproaches other than basal reading.

At the primary grade levels, children readingbelow grade level receive intensive remedialreading instruction, and programmed materialshave been extended to include a spelling series.Those classes composed of pupils reading ator above grade level use a basal readingapproach in order to continue the readingprogram which has apparently been successfulwith these children.

A variety of materials, methods, cnd activitiesare used in instruction involving the languagearts other than reading. As they becomeavailable, new materials and equipment, as wellas additional interventions and approaches,are implemented.

Evaluation of the various techniques andmaterials is, of course, a consistent and ongoingactivity of the language arts program.Evaluation of the language program thus farhas revealed a number of outstanding results.

Pupils in i,lispeeial reading programs are makingas much I regress in reading in one-half a schoolyear as children taught under the traditionalprogram make in an entire school year.

The general academic achievement of pupilsin project has been noticeably enhanced,at least during the first /eat.

There has been an over-all gain in the projectpui 1' These gains were greater foryou,ger children than for older children.The J.Q. gains were in verbal ability asopposed to non-verbal ability.

Another notable result has been theimprovement in vnguistics ability of the firstgrade children in the project.

CONCLUSIONS

The New Orleans project has shown that whena complex school system sets aside special,experimental schools in a kind of sub-system,innovation and research are facilitated. Thisform of organiza'ion engenders an atmosphereencouraging to creativity and cooperative

eadeavor and stimulates both pupils andteachers to greater efforts,

Although New Orleans Ell' did not have ateacher education canponent as such, tests ofteachers working in the project indicate 11positive changes in the teachers' attitudes, and2) a decrease in teacher dogmatism.

The experience gained from this arrangement inNew Orleans should contribute much to theunderstanding of the possibilities ofcommunity-oriented schools.

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3READING PROGRAM

Coopciating Institutions

Atlanta UnitarilyEdpeation linprorarad Projto of 14

Soh than dirrociation of Co lIcga and Schools

Canton, Mississippi Pk, lir School District

Funding

$114,000 Ford Foundation grant toAtlanta Unitarily

The current focus on the teaching of readingindicates need for improvement of the skiilsof reading teachers at all educational levels.Since the improvement of reading competence isa widely accepted imperative, its importanceassumes even more intense and crucialsignif mt.:* for teachers of disadvantagedchildren and youth.

Elf's Reading Program, now terminated,was a project sponsored jointly by Atlanta

34

University and EU' and funded by the FordFoundation. The program, conducted in twophases, began on June 29, 1961 and concludedon August 31, 1966. The time period for thefirst phase was June 29, 1964 May 31, 1966.The second phase covered the period fromJune 1, 1966 to August 31, 1966.

The major thrust in the first phase of theprogram was U) a teacher reading workshopperiod at Atlanta University under the directionof Dr. Lynette Saine Gaines, and c2) afollow-up "on-the-job" program during theensuing school year involving the teachers whoattended the workshop. The participants were50 selected elementary and secondaryteachers from the eleven states in the SACSregion.

The primary emphasis in the second phase wasU) a three-week special reading institute atAtlanta University, and (2t a five-weeklaboratory, on-the-job, "immediate reinforcement"program in which the participating teacherstaught in the Canton, "Siissiippi summer

school program following the theoretical conceptsdiscussed in the thrle-week institute. Theparticipants were 115 English and reading teachersfrom Rogers High School, Canton, Mississippi.

The general framework of the readingprogram was as fidlows:

PurposeTo provide elementary and high school teachersan opportunity to learn about reading, itsnature, basic principles, and methodology.

AdirityConcentrated summer study in courses designedfor this purpose.

PurposeTo focus on the diagnosis and correction ofreading difficulties to the end that teachersunderstand their nature, reasons for theirexistence, and possible means of eliminatingthem.

ActirityConcentrated study in an especially designedcourse with particular attention to classroomsituations and individual cases.

PurposeTo acquaint teachers with representative readingmaterials and equipment and to provide themwith increased insight Into their usefulnessin various aspects of reading programs.

Actin IFCorrelation and integration of materials andequipment through units of work, demonstrationsitt large groups followed by actual contact

and practice, and explanations given during theyear at the regional seminars.

PurposeTo guide teachers in the aoplication ofdevelopmental, diagnostic. and remedialprocedures stri,ssed during concentrated summertraining. Further, to emphasize that no aingleapproach or program can be considered apanacea.

AetirityOn-the-job training, involving the following ofspecific steps in the diagnostic process, visitsfrom a reading consultant, and the actualtraining of from one to ten students in theteacher's own school situation.

PopooeTo encourage and facilitate the maintenance ofinterest and participation in the readingprogram beyond the period of concentrated study.

AetirtlyVisits from consultants and trips to the AtlantaUniversity Reading Center even after Intensiveonthe-job training; strategic contacts with manyof the teachers' administrators; and periodiccommunications from the Reading ServicesCenter.

Perm'To aid teachers who were given opportunitiesto influence the total faculty in their respectivesituations.

A ditityConferences, in-service meetings with faelilties,specific work with curriculum directors,guidance workers, etc.

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Consensus observations by the director andpartieipants regarding the reading programindicate the following:

1. There is no one best method for teachingreading.

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2. An adequate reading program cannot berestricted to a special reading period in theschool day.

3. There are basic concepts without whichtrue insight into the reading process isimpossible.

RURAL EDUCATIONIMPROVEMENT PROJECT

BACKGROUND

America, once an agrarian society, is yielding toa highly industrial and technical cultural pattern.Moreover, in recent times, attention andactivity in educational improvement programscurrently in operation have been focusedprimarily on urban areas. The reasons for thisare obvious. The most noticeable symptoms ofeducational deprivation occur in the areas ofurban blight. The greatest concentration ofdisadvantaged pupils are to be found there.

However, theca are, and will remain, significantockets of rural dwellers whose contributions toAmerican culture are quite substantial. Thechildren in these areas deserve an opportunitytt, achieve the education commonly referred toas the birthright of all Americans.

The rural areas are hampered by a combinationof limitations directly or indirectly related toeducation: distance from urban centers, lack ofadequate financir.1 support, inadequacy ofteachers, lack of creative educational leadership,

and small pupil population despite efforts atconsolidation. Other ohvious limitations areinsufficient college and university assistance,inadequate administrative structure for securingfund subsidies, and a paucity of culturalenrichment opportunities.

These inadequacies in the rural South bear adirect relationship to the problems ofmetropolitan areas, since these rural sectionsare among the principal sources of migrants tothe slums and gray areas of the cities. Thecultural limitations of these newcomers havecreated serious problems in the cities and willcontinue to do so as the predicted migrationcontinues.

The alleviation of the educational problems inthe rural areas will assist greatly in the solutionof these problems, either by helping to providein the rural areas some of the educational andcultural advantages which the migrants seek inmoving to the cities (thus encouraging lessmigration to the cities!, or by aiding the

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migrant to enter the city better equip'ed tocope with new surroundings.

Thus, the limitations of any geographical areacan no longer justify inadequate programs offormal education at the public school level.

It is essential that school officials in rural areasmaintain an ability and willingness to overcome,as far as possible, the limitations of the ruralschool and at the same time capitalize effectivelyon its inherent strengths. And if deep Southrural students are to receive an educationcommensurate with their needs, interests, andabilities, then programs of educationalimprovement proportionate to those operatingin urban centers must be provided for them.

Concerned about the inadequate program offormal education available to many ruralpupils, the Danforth Foundation and the JessieSmith Noyes Foundation responded favorablyto a proposal from EIP and committed$1,347,845* and $159,00*. respectively to afive-year project designed to interrupt thevicious cycle of educational disadvantage inwhich many rural pupils have been trapped forso long. Since receiving the Danforth and Noyes*This includes $7,500 for a rural project planning gra'I, 8195.300 forcentral office coordination the rural center programs, and $1,145.045for local project operation in the three rural centers.

**This includes 1130,000 for a leacher education program and $9,000for a special microleaching project.

grants, the rural Ell' has been awarded a grantof $9,479 from the U. S. Office of Education(Small Grants Division) for conducting arnicroteaching project. This makes a total of$1,516,324 in available funds for the rural centerprograms.

The project began with the fall of 1967-1968and will conclude with the second semester ofthe 1971-1972 school year.

ORGANIZATION

The Rural Education Improvement Projectinvolves a consortium of educationalinstitutions, organizations, and collaboratingagencies. The project currently includes aprogram in one rural center in each of threeSouthern statesFlorida, Georgia andTennessee.

The three areas and the sources of funding foreach center are shown in the table at thebottom of this page.

There is a yearly diminution in each center'sgrant over the five-year period because (1) thecost of financing the project is less with eachsucceeding year, and (2) a phasing out of thegrant facilitates continuation of the project bythe local school systems involved whenfoundation support is terminated.

Danforth NoyesRural EIP Center Foundation Foundation TotalOverton County, Tennessee $ 350,290 $ 50,000 $ 400,290\Vewahitchka, Florida 337,245 50,000 387,245Wheeler County, Georgia. 457,510 50,000 507,510

Totals $1,145,045 $150,000 $1,295,045

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The areas served by the three rural centerprograms differ. For example, in two instances(Wheeler County, Georgia, and Overton County,Tennessee), the project embraces the totalcounty school system. In the third instance( Wewahitchka, Florid ), the program is limitedto serve one town in (Jul( County.

The program is coordinated by the central staffof the Education Improvement Project. Eachcenter has a Governing Board which consistsof the superintendent of the school district,the presidents of the cooperating colleges anduniversities, a representative from the statedepartment of education, and a member of thecentral Ell' staff. Each center also has a projectstaff under a director. The director and hisstaff administer the center programs.

As of mid-1969, there were 5,875 pupils in thethree rural centers of this project: 3,691 inOverton County; 1,371 in Wheeler County; and813 in Wewahitchka.

Cooperating institutions and organizations inthe Overton County project are the TennesseeState Department of Education; TennesseeTechnological University, Cookeville; andMiddle Tennessee State University, Murfreesboro.

Cooperating institutions and organizations inthe Wheeler County project are the GeorgiaState Department of Education; Albany StateCollege, Albany; and Georgia Southern College,Statesboro.

Cooperating institutions and organizations inthe Wewahitchka project are the Florida StateDepartment of Education; Florida A & MUniversity, Tallahassee; Florida State University,Tallahassee; and Gulf Coast Junior College,Panama City.

PROGRAMS

The program activities conducted in each of therural centers range in number from six to ten.Six of the intervention programs are common+o all three centers: Teacher Education,Communications S',:lls Development, FamilyInvolvement, Cultural Enrichment, School-Home-Community Agent Service, and Non-Professional Aide Service.

Teacher Education

The basic purposes of the Teacher Educationprogram are (1) to improve the instructionalperformance of the teachers in the participatingschool systems, and (2) to improve pre-servicepreparation of teachers in the cooperatingcolleges and universities.

A Teacher Education Council, composed ofappropriate representatives from (1) the ruralschool system involved, (2) the cooperatingcolleges and universities, and (3) the statedepartment of education, plans the TeacherEducation program (in-service and pre-service)on a yearly basis. Program activities includetaking courses for credit, participating in non-credit seminars and conferences, participating inexperimental programs, making inter-school andintra-school visits to observe other teachers,joining professional associations and attendingtheir meetings, and attending special workshops.

I'robably the most outstanding educationalprogram in 1968-1969 common to all threecenters was the microteaching project in which51 teachers and approximately 1,250 pupilswere involved.

The general purpose of this projr'ct was todetermine the effect of miceoteacning (utilizing

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video tape) on the instructional behavior ofrural school teachers. Supported by grantsfrom the Noyes Foundation and the U. S.Office of Education, the 51 teachers were givenopportunities to teach a series of "micro-lessons"to their classes.The teachers' instructional performances wererecorded on video tape and reviewed by theteacher, by the teacher and a trusted colleague,and by members of a microteaching observationteamin that secluencefor purposes ofobservation, analysis, interpretation, evaluationand discussion.

Ratings were compiled of teacher performanceutilizing the Stanford Teacher CompetenceAppraisal Guide, Ryan's Classroom ObservationRecord, and the Minnesota Teacher AttitudeInventory. The results of this project are beingreported in a separate document.

Highlights of the Teacher Education programduring the 1968-1969 year at the WheelerCounty project center included the following:(1) Eight teachers earned college credit duringthe summer of 1968; (2) Nine teachers earnedcollege credit during the school year; (3)Seventeen teachers participated in themicroteaching project; (4) More than 20teachers cooperated in bringing a program innewer teaching media to Wheeler County.

At the Wewahitchka center, all members of theschool system staff have been involved in atleast one activity in the in-service educationprogram. All members of the instructional staffhold a valid Hank III, or higher, certificate.The knowledge obtained from evaluation ofteacher education intervention is beingutilized to plan subsequent teacher educationprograms.

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At the Overton County project center, 145teachers in the school system participated inan all-year sensitivity training program. Thirteenteachers participated in a special interactionanalysis program which focused on "The Roleof the Teacher in the Classroom." All staffmembers attended at least one workshop andparticipated in at least one local, state, ornational professional conference.

Communication Skills DevelopmentThe basic purpose of this program is to provideways of improving reading, listening, speaking,and writing skills of pupils in the project.

Activities include special programs indevelopmental reading, speaking, listening, andwriting for pupils in grades one through sixand special programs of remedial reading forpupils in levels four through six. Reading andspeech specialists are employed in each center towork with classroom teachers. The InitialTeaching Alphabet is used with first-gradepupils in the Overton County and Wewahitchkaprojects. Wewahitchka also used "Words inColor" as a technique for teaching reading.

In the Wheeler County center, improvement inpupil reading achievement was reflected intest results from the California AchievementBattery. Pupil attitude toward school andlearning showed improvement by the end of the1368 -1969 school year.

The Wewahitchka center reported that allchildren improved in reading skills as indicatedby Metropolitan Achievement Test scores.Pupils with particularly poor speech patternsand limited listening and reading skills showednotable improvement. In terms of the InitialTeaching Alphabet: 19 of 21 pupas showed

steady improvement in creativity and spelling;all pupils transferred to traditional orthographywith very little difficulty; pupils developedindependence in reading and writing at anearly level.

Family Involvement

The basic purposes of the Family Involvementprogram are 1) to increase the parents' awarenessof their roles in helping their children toachieve in school, and 2) to provide theleadership and related services necessary forassuring active family participation.

Program activities include home visits byschool-home-community agents; identificationof social services available in the area forunderprivileged and disadvantaged pupils andfor economically poor families; school visits byparents; and formal adult education coursesand conferences.

In the Wheeler County center, some parentswho had not finished high school are activelyseeking diplomas; one father has returned tocollege. The instructional program was enhancedby contributions of special resource peoplefrom the community.

In the Wewahitchka center, it was noted thatmore parents were making efforts to keeptheir children in school. There was also a markedincrease in communication and cooperationbetween the school and home.

The Overton County center took note of morevisits to schools by parents with the resultthat parents were better informed about theirchildren's activities. More parents consequentlyvolunteered as "aides."

Cultural EnrichmentThe general purposes of the Cultural Enrichmentprogram are 1) to provide opportunities forcultural experiences which are generally lackingin rural areas, and 2) to create and broadenappreciation of the contribution which cultural..ctivities make in personal living.Program activities include performances andprograms by professional artists and collegegroups; planned field trips; and organization ofmusic, drama, art, and speech clubs insecondary schools.

Activities in. the Wheeler County center led tothe establishment of a children's theater.

At the Wewahitchka center, it was noted thatpupils began to take an active interest innew hobbies.

In Overton County, pupils and parents fromfamilies of various income levels areenthusiastically participating and cooperatingin formal and informal cultural activities.

School-Home-Community Agent ServiceThe general purpose of this program is to provideone or more persons to servc, as liaison agentsbetween school, home, and community. Theagent functions as a sort of social worker-guidancecounselor-visiting teacher.

Program activities include making visits to thehomes of disadvantaged pupils on a regularbasis, interpreting to parents the goals of theschool in educating children and adults, andsuggesting ways in which parents ,:anreinforce school efforts.

This program at the Wheeler County centerarranged for the provision of such things as

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clothing and dental care for needy students,thus removing some of the common reasons forabsenteeism.

The Wewahitchka center developed a clothingbank to provide for needy pupils.

The Overton County center organized a plan forutilizing the services of local civic clubs andorganizations to help further its program.

Non-Professional Aide Service

The purpose of this program is threefold: (1) torelease teachers from schoolroom housekeepingchores and other non-professional duties, (2)to assist teachers with classroom instructionwithout actually replacing them, and (3) to aidin improving the professional morale of teachers.

Program activities included aid in record-keeping and test administration, providingtelephone answering service, and assisting incollecting money from fund-raising activities.

The Wheeler County center evolved a "bigbrother" program for fatherless pupils. Inaddition, a number of non-professional aides wereactively encouraged to seek additional collegetraining.

The Wewahitchka program led to the providingof individual tutors and group tutors forpupils needing special help in school subjects.

The Overton County center program led tothe establishment of a Teacher A idesAssociation.

Tool Technology and IntegratedIndustrial ArtsThe Tool Technology program was institutedin the Overton County center only.

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The general purpose of the Tool Technologyprogram is to provide a more relevantcurriculum for kindergarten pupils through theintroduction and use of tools in creative work.

Program activities included group constructionof a model house by all class members, the use ofvaried types of hand tools, and the constructionof cars, tables, wagons, chairs, picture framesand similar devices.

The Overton County center noted thedevelopment of willingness to cooperate andshare, the learning of safety habits, an increasein child-initiated learning, and the developmentof creative approaches to work.

The fourfold purpose of the Integrated IndustrialArts program is (1) to provide a more relevantcurriculum for high school boys, (2) toincrease school attendance, (3) to substantiallyreduce dropouts, and (4) to improve theindustrial arts program of the school.

Under the program, a team of four teachersfrom the fields of English, mathematics, socialstudies and industrial arts planned andtaught together in an imaginative and relevantcurriculum arrangement.

The Overton County ,enter noted (1) improvedschool attendance, (2) improved achievement inEnglish, mathematics, social studies andindustrial arts, and (3) willingness on the partof community businesses to cooperate,particularly in the donation of materials andservices.

Extended School Year Program

This program was carried out in the WheelerCounty center only.

The concept of the extended school year is notnew; however, in its method of implementationthe Wheeler County Extended Scholl Yearprogram is thought to be unique.

The basic purpose of the program in terms ofits value to pupils is twofold: (1) For thesuperior and average student it provides anopportunity for enrichment and reinforcementand an opportunity to complete the school'seducational requirements for graduation in lesstime than usually required, and (2) For the slowstudent it provides an opportunity forenrichment, reinforcement, and remediation andthe possibility of completing requirements forgraduation in at least the usually required time.

As far as the taxpayer is concerned, the basicpurpose of the Wheeler County program is tomake better use of the school plant by makingit available to teachers, pupils, and parents ona year-round basis.

The type of extended-year program operated inWheeler County is a Module Plan, the"module" in this instance being a three-weektime period. The time pattern is a "nine-nine"arrangementnine months (September to June)and nine weeks (June to mid-August). Thenine-week period is broken up into modules ofthree weeks each. Students have the opportunityto choose one, two, or three three-week periods ofattendance. Enrollment is voluntary. Credit isgiven in keeping with the requirements of theGeorgia State Department of Education and theWheeler County School System. The school weekis the usual five days and the school day runsfrom 8 a.m. to 1 p.m.

The organizational and operational pattern ofthe "module" extended year is such as to permit

high concentration over a relatively shortperiod of time. It is hoped that the shortertime span will motivate teachers to work moreassiduously.

It is also envisioned that the "module" approachto the extended school year will overcome thetendency to consider summer work as lessimportant than that of the regular schoolterms, and will diminish the drop in motivationwhich usually occurs for pupils and teachersabout the tenth, eleventh, or twelfth week of atwo six-week term summer school program.

Under the Wheeler County program, pupilsattend school during the whole calendar year,if they so desire, with no additional charge forthe extended year service. (In practically allpublic school systems, pupils pay for suchextension of services.)

High interest in the program on the part of theState of Georgia was indicated by the GeorgiaEducational Television Network's televising ofvarious aspects of the program.

Focus on "Learning to Learn" SkillsA major thrust of the three rural centerprograms is the improvement of pupil behaviorin the affective as well as the cognitive domain.One mark of disadvantaged students is thatthey enter school lacking certain experiences,attitudes, expectations, and skills that areusually presumed by the school as a basis forlearning. The "Learning to Learn" program(operated in Wheeler County only) is focusedon these problems.

Included in the purposes of this program arethe following: improving motivation, raising thelevel of aspiration, providing contact with

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models who are achievement-oriented, trainingin deferred gratification, improving pupils'attention-memory-anticipation span, combatingpupil passivity, developing the pupils'appreciation of adults as mature individuals,improving the pupils' self-image, and developingthe pupils' respect for the activities of peersand teachers.

This program is operated as an integral part ofregular claaa:oom instruction, rather than as aseparate subj?ct. The staff has been expectedto reach an understanding of the attitude orskill involved and of the psychological,geographic, physiological, economic and socialfactors which brought about the lack of therelevant experiences, attitudes, expectations,and skills. On the basis of these understandings,the teachers are expected to develop strategies,including lists of activities designed to overcomethese deficits and organized plans for introducingsuch activities into the classrooms and co-classroom activities. Then they are expected toutilize these plans in their respective classrooms,frequently evaluate the results, and introducemodifications and changes indicated by theirevaluations.

CONCLUSION

Apart from the encouraging results of thespecific programs in the rural EIP, there aretwo significant developments of a more generalnature which should be cited.

Increases in Pupil Population

It is interesting to note that, as shown in thefollowing table, all three centers increased inpupil enrollment from 1967-1968 to 1968-1969.

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Enrollment(1967-1968)

Enrollment(1969-1970)

Amountof Cain

Overton 3,472 3,691 219

Wewahitchka 807 813 6

Wheeler 1,334 1,371 37

Totals 5,813 5,875 262

These gains tend to reverse the reported trendthat rural centers are decreasing each year inpupil population. It seems reasonable toconclude that rural EIP has contributed to thisincrease in pupil population.

Per-Pupil Cost of Rural EIP

A very important aspect of rural EIP is thelow per-pupil cost of the program. Asthe following table indicates, the per-pupilcost in one center is the very low amount of$27.36. The average per-pupil cost for the threerural centers is only $56.00. This low per-pupilcost bodes well for the rural centers' ability tocontinue the proven effective parts of ruralEIP when foundation grants have beenterminated.

No. of Grant For Per PupilCenter Pupils 1968-1969 Cost

Overton 3,472 $ 95,100 $ 27.36Wewahitchka 807 85,925 106.47Wheeler 1,334 133,300 100.68

5,613 $314,325 $ 56.00

PROJECT OPPORTUNITY

Center Project SchoolsAtlanta, Ga. Archer High School

Auburn, Ala. Drake High SchoolAuburn High School

Breathitt County, Ky. Breathitt County High School

Canton, Miss. Rogers High SchoolCharlotte, N. C. West Charlotte High School

Williams Jr. High SchoolDurham, N. C Jordan High School

Northern High SchoolSouthern High SchoolCarrington Jr. High SchoolGithens Jr. High SchoolNeal Jr. High School

Lee County, Ky Lee County High SchoolLee County Jr. High School

Mobile, Ala. McGill InstituteToolen Academy

Nashville, Tenn Cameron High SchoolRose Park Jr. High School

Nelson County, Va. Nelson County High SchoulNelson County Jr. High School

New Orleanz, La. Fortier High SchoolPriestley Jr. High School

Sponsoring College (s)Morehouse CollegeSpelman CollegeTuskegee Institute

Centre CollegeBerea CollegeTransylvania CollegeTougatoo CollegeDavidson College

Duke UniversityNorth Carolina State

University

Berea CollegeCentre C9llegeTransylvania CollegeSpring Hill College

Fisk UniversityVanderbilt Unirersiti,University of VirginiaMary Baldwin CollegeTulane University

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Project Opportunity is a plan of educationalencouragement and enrichment for academicallycapable but disadvantaged young people.Operating in 11 demonstration centers, theproject unites colleges and secondary schools inan effort to prepare these students foradmission to higher education.

PREMISES AND OBJECTIVES

The project is based on the following threepremises:

1. That when improved provisions are made formeeting the educational needs of disadvantagedstudents with superior academic potential,these students will show significantly betteracademic achievement, increased motivat;on,and higher levels of aspiration.

2. That in the process of identifying andutilizing educational practices that areappropriate for helping these studentsimprove their academic performance, collegepersonnel, principals, guidance counselors,teachers and parents will improve theirunderstanding of these children and theirattitudes toward them.

3. That an effective program of operation canbe financially feasible for use in schoolswhere the majority of the school populationcomes from low-income families.

\Vith these premises as a foundation, ProjectOpportunity seeks to achieve the followingobjectives with disadvantaged students havingacademic potential:

Increase their academic achievement.Decrease the dropout rate.Increase the number continuing in highereducation.

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Augment their knowledge of vocationalopportunity.Improve their self-images.Broaden their ctiltural and recreationalexperiences.Encourage them to remain in the South.

At the same time, the project hopes to:

Test new teaching techniques.Improve the basis for college selection.Increase the awareness of the counselors,students, and parents of the many sources offinancial aid for college.Increase understanding of these students onthe part of parents and school staffs.Utilize the facilities and personnel of nearbycolleges or universities in developing the fullpotential of the students.

BACKGROUND

Project Opportunity was conceived by a groupof admissions officers of southern colleges anduniversities working with the Southern RegionalOffice of the College Entrance ExaminationBoard, with the support and cooperation of theSouthern Association of Colleges and Schools.

In 1963, the proposal for the project came underthe aegis of the Education ImprovementProject. The proposal was funded by the FordFoundation in April, 1964 with a grant of$1,809,000 to the Southern Association ofColleges and Schools.

By September, 1964, 16 colleges and universitieshad assumed responsibility for 11 school projectsin eight Southern states. In effect, eachsponsoring college agreed to assist in raising to

college-preparatory level the quality ofeducation given to the project students in itssponsored school.

In setting up the project, the planners specifiedthat it should pinpoint talented students in theseventh and eighth grades and that it wouldwork with six successive groups. When schoolopened in the fall of 1965, Project Opportunitywas in operation, with some 600 seventhgraders identified as talented and chosen for theproject.

Five successive groups out of the six specifiedhave now been selected and started in theprogram. If the one remaining group to beselected contains a number comparable to theprevious groups, some 3,000 students will haveparticipated in the project.

ORGANIZATIONProject Opportunity is centrally administeredby the Education Improvement Project.Two members of the EIP staff act as AssociateDirectors for Project Opportunity. One servesas director of counseling and program services,the other as director for evaluation.The Project Opportunity Advisory Committeeis composed of representatives from collegesand universities, the College EntranceExamination Board, and secondary schools.This group meets periodically to reviewprogress, recommend policy changes if deemednecessary, and serve the central staff inan advisory capacity.In addition, each of the 11 centers has its ownPolicy Committee, composed of representativesfrom the school administration, thesponsoring college or colleges, and the ProjectOpportunity counselor.

The Project counselor is the only full-timeprofessional in each center paid by ProjectOpportunity. Although employed by ProjectOpportunity, the counselor holds a staff position

the participating school.

PROGRAMS

The general pattern of the Project Opportunitycenters is as follows:

1. The majority of the students participatingcome from low-income families.

2. The project identifies talented students inthe seventh and eighth grades in order to planand carry out a thorough secondary schoolprogram aimed at college preparation.

3. The program works with six successive groups.

4. Once identified, students are given remedialeducation, intense and continuousguidance, and every opportunity andencouragement to complete secondary schooland proceed to college.

1. Help in gaining admission to college and helpin securing necessary financial aid isassured each student in the project.

6. Each center utilizes the available secondaryschool resources in its community andrelies heavily on the resourcesandsponsorshipof a nearby college or university.

Apart from this L.,sic format and commongoals, each of the 11 centers has its ownindividual program for accomplishing the project'sobjectives. Their activities, however, fall infour major areas: guidance services, college-sponsored activities, summer programs, andschool-year programs.

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Guidance Services

Early in the project, a guidance office wasestablished and a Counselor employed for eachcenter.

The guidance offices maintain individual eoldersfor project students. Each folder contains acomprehensive data record, an autobiography,a teacher rating scale, and the counselor'ssummary of interviews Kith the studentand,or his parents.

The Project Opportunity counselor has a pivotalrole in the operation of the project; it is he,or she, who is largely responsible forimplementing the programs planned by thePolicy Committee. The counselor performs theusual services expected of any good counselor:helping students with course selection, makingsure students choose courses that are required forentrance in certain colleges, conductinginterviews with students, administering atesting program, and conferring with teachersand administrators regarding results of testing.

The Project Opportunity counselor's role,however, is broader than that of the typicalschool counselor:

1. Ile remains with the same students throughoutthe five or sic years that they are enrolledin the project.

2. A committee that includes persons fromoutside the school gives direction to the projectcounselor's NI-isms.

3. The project counselor has a somewhat largerbudget available tot implementing programs.

S. The project counselor is more mobile. HeMust see students at more than one school.Contacts with parents, community agencies,

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and sponsoring colleges require thatspend considerable time away from

5. The project counselor does not wait forstudents to drop by his office; he searches outstudents for individual counseling.

6. He is "visible" in the community. In orderto talk with parents, he appears frequently atcommunity events such as P.T.A. meetings,basketball games, and meetings ofservice organizations.

7. He works long hours. Many group andindividual contacts are made in the eveningsand on weekends. lie must arrange hisschedule to attend summer programs oncollege campuses, where he is available atall times.

lie is employed on a year-round basis.In working with the students in ProjectOpportunty, continuous contact is necessary.

9. Ile has broad knowledge of the schoolcurriculum and has a voice in curriculumrevisions and planning, especially as itattects project students. In this connection,some project counselors hay- planned,organized, and even directed summerprograms.

10. lie is well versed in both the historicalculture of the minority group with which heis working and present developments inthe culture.

11. lie uses many concrete, multi-sensorytechniques in counseling. A rich variety offilms, filmstrips, r,cords, and tapes havebeen used by projct counselors in helpingstudents with such topics as how tostudy effectively or how to get along withone's family.

12. lie maintains wide and perzonal contactwith welfare and supplementarc aid agencies.lie also develops a number of communitycontacts for non-cost services.

13. lie must ha .e a knowledge of the manypossibilities for continuing one's educationafter high school. lie establishes a widerange of contacts with college admissionsofficers in his area,

IA. Ile must know more about college financialaid than the average counselor sincemost of his students cannot attend collegewithout aid.

Students who come from backgrounds thatemphasize luck as a determining force in lifeneed continual encouragement to makeeducational and career plans. Consequently, theProject Opportunity guidance program is builta.ound the idea that man can to a largeextent control his own life and that he is notaltogether subject to the Imo of chance. Inorder to convince students of the validity of thisphilosophy, the 1'.oject Opportunity counselormust go beyond conventional methods andtry new apjeoaches to counseling. Ile musttruly be a "reasonable adventurer."

College-Sponsored Activities

The involvement of the 16 sponsoringcolleges has been an essential part of ProjectOpportunity since its inception. It wasrecognized from the beginning that colleges anduniversities could make an invaluablecontribution to such goals as cultural enrichment,academic skills, and personality development.

Contributions to the program by TulaneUniversity persoenel and students have been

outstanding. As the sponsoring college for NewOrleans' Priestley 3 iiior iligh School, Tulanehas organized a program of s: tident involvementwhich includes special interest group meetings,tutoring sessions, and attendance at specialevents.

Some Tulane students tutor Project Opportunitystudents in English, science, mathematics,and social studies in special sessions held once aweek after class. Others sponsor nine specialinterest groups, limited to six ProjectOpportunity students each. The groups have astheir subjects art, current events, drama,music, forensics, literature, Negro history,newspaper production, and science.

In order to acquaint project students with thelife and opportunities of a collego student, theTulane students plan for them a full schedule ofspecial events that includes concerts, operas,tours of the city, plays, basketball and baseballgames, picnics, and game days. These programshave proved quite successful in complementingthe enrichment aspects of the project.

One of the most innovative programs undertakenin conjunction with Project Opportunity is takingplace at the Mobile, Alabama center. FatherRobert McCown of Spring liill College hasdirected a cooperative film-making vent orethat has used the talent of both eighth gradeproject students and college students. Indescribing his work, Father McColl' writes:

The ccipprrative work in rniVit' production with stu-dent.% in rrojell Opportunity- ha hem a stratagemfor brie ring out colicee stielentA, most:y of white,Southern, and midclie-class Nei-kg-errand% into con.tact +kith culturally deprived black children. Thecollege students are (Irian by a desire to make theirown film but since to accomplish such a work nen-( tpre.k.tiort necessitates close personal contact with

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the children of the mkt, the college student?: become,during the month. of practicing and filming, per-sonally involved with the children.

Two of the films produced in the project havewon first place awards in two different filmcompetitions--the Humboldt State College FilmFestival and the National Student Film Festival.These awards make it evident that FatherMcCown has insisted on a high sta idard ofquality. This insistence has resulted in ratherremarkable changes in the attitudes and self-concepts of the students. Some have developedconfidence and poise; others have demonstrateda sense of purpose and dedication that wasunknown before.

Consultants from the sponsoring colleges haveplayed a key role in the success of ProjectOpportunity.

Auburn University- and Tuskegee Institute,working with the local school system, haveprovided consultant aid for the development ofin-service training programs for teachers ofmathematics, science, language arts, and socialstudies at Drake High School. An Auburnprofessor has worked with the Drake faculty inscience curriculum, and Tuskegee facultymembers have offered special assistance inparent education classes.

Under the direction of personnel from BtreCollege and Centre College, four teachers in theKentucky center have prepared demonstrationteaching units employing the multi-sensorytechnique in algebra, English, and social studies.

Consultants from Tougaloo College have workedwith teachers at Rogers High School to developboth new curricula and new approaches for thesummer program. In addition, they have

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developed in-service training programs inEnglish, scien,p, mathematics, and social studies,and have de% eloped a communications skillslaboratory to improve speech patterns.

Many of the colleges conduct and cooperativelysponsur workshops and conferences of specialinterest to project personnel. VanderbiltUniversity's representatives on the Nashvillecenter's policy committee were largelyresponsible for writing a proposal which set upan Intensive six.week teacher institute for 60teachers of project students. Conducted lastyear at Rose l'ark Junior Iligh School, thisinstitute brought together teachers from sevenschools which are attended by project studentThe t :achers were helped to develop newstrat Ides in compensatory education in bothnatural science and social studies.

By helping with in-service training, curriculumdevelopment, cultural enrichment, and tutorialprograms, the sponsoring colleges have not onlyenhanced the knowledge of the teachers and theacademic levels of project students; they alsoha. e given disadvantaged youngsters a conceptof college as an attainable and highly attractivegoal, rather than a remote and impossible dream.

Summer Programs

Summer programs at the 11 centers are anintegral part of the project. Those responsiblefor the programs have begun to test innovativeand creative approaches, a number of whichhave combined teacher training with subjectmatter enrichment for students. Although theyvary somewhat from center to center, thegeneral formats of the summer programs lendthemselves to experimentation by the teachersmore than do formal classroom sessions, where

the tenth ncy is to limit instruction to specifictextbook ,-Aerial.

Summer programs bring a')out cooperativeinvolvement of school and college personnel inplanning and executing programs for projectstudents. Tile teachers acquire confidence intheir abilities to apply more effective instructionaltechniques and college personnel gain addedappreciation for the talents of secondary schoolteachers.

11y giving students the chance to encounterideas and engage in activities relativelyunexplored during the school year, the summerprograms seek to stimulate the motivation ofstudents and to provide academic enrichmentand remediation. A good example of themeth xis used by the centers to reach theseobjectives is the program carried out by theNelson Counts, Virginia center in 1968.

The s immer program in Nelson County involvedthree groups of students: 39 ninth graders, 36tenth graders, and 38 eleventh graders.Beginning July 1, the program lasted for fiveweeks. Classes met from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.

The program comprised three distinct areas ofstudy. The ninth graders were introduced tothe fine arts, and found themselves activelyparticipating in projects involving drama, art,and music. The tenth graders were taken to thefields and streams to study wildlife, fish andwater, forestry, and outdoor recreation. For theeleventh graders, the project offered a study ofhumanities, a coordinated approach to theproblems facing men as they look into the 21stcentury.

The goal of the fitie arts program was tostimulate the students' appreciation for the fine

arts. Integral to this goal was the idea of havingeach student gain firsthand experience inexpressing himself through a combination of art,music, and drama.

The program was set up to allow each studentto study one area in depth and yet gain someexperience in the other areas. Also, theinstructors felt that in order for the student togrin maximum appreciation, exposure to thehistorical continuity of the arts und therelationship between them was necessary. Toaccornmodate this idea, the morning session wasdivided into three parts: major study, minorstudies, and wssembly-production period. Eachstudent chose one area for his major class whichmet for two hors a day. lie then met witheach of the remaining two classes for one houra day. Once or twice a week, an hour-longassembly program was held. Instructors andstudents from all three areas participated in theseassembly programs. Films, slides, recordings,readings, and demonstrations were used to showthe progression and interrelation of the arts.

Highlighting the fine arts program was theproduction of Onit an orphan Girl, a combinedeffort of all three areas, which focused on thecreative work done by the students. The musicgroup arranged numbers and picked showmusic: the art group designed and painted drops,and the drama group prepared and performedthe content of the play.

Several trips complemented the school-basedactivities. Early in the program, a visit wasmade to Monticello. Later the students acidinstructors visited Richmond for several dayswhere, as the highlight of their stay, theyattended the Barksdale Theatre's production ofOhm?!

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The goals Of the natural resources program wereto incte:tse each student's awareness of hisnatural environment and to spark his interestin the science, management, and conservationof its resources.

The students were divided into four groups,each focusing on a different area of study. Thefour areas were: forest ecology, lish and water,

and outdoor recreation.

Nelson Junior High School provided the centralmeeting place (or the program. Here, eachmorning, the students ano instructors gatheredbefore dispersing throughout the countryside.The Iirst three mornings were spent in theclassrooms, giving the students a generalorientation to the program. During the followingthree weeks, the students and instructors workedin their respective groups. l'etiodically, all fourgroups met to watch a film, listen to a speaker,or go on a field trip. On their travels, thestudents visited the Virginia Institute of MarineScience, the Cumberland Game Farm, the fishculture station in Nelson County, and campedovernight In the mountain wilderness.

The fifth week of the program was spent on thecampus where the students carried out

research and laboratory projects that weredesigned to give insight into research problemsand opportunities in the field of natural resources.

With the 21st century as a reference point, thehumanities group Investigated contempotaryman and the challenges he faces.

During the first part of each morning, thestudents and instructors met together for ajoint session which might feature a film, aspeaker, or a debate in which both instructorsarid students participated. Following these

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sessions, the students divided into four groups,each of which dealt with a particular aspect ofthe overall theme: the impact of science andtechnology on our society, the influence of massmedia, problems in modern literature, orproblems related to religion and sociology.

The objective of the course dealing with massmedia was to have students arrive at a basicunderstanding of what a medium is and whatmedia allow people to do that they could notdo otherwise. The instructor also helpedstudents to become aware of the changes broughtabout as mass media developed, and to have adeeper understanding of current media.

In round-table sessions, they discussed differencesbetween our culture and cultu.es of the pastin terms of media. They talked about thedevelopment and the effects of the printing press,the industrial revolution, and current electronictechnology. The rest of the content of thecourse was an analysis of specific media ofimportance to us today.

The instructor for the group which concentratedon problems in modern literature originallyplanned to use modern writings as a means forthe class to get at the problems which peoplefind confusing and pressing. But she immediatelyran into the problem of the students' lack oftraining in critical analysis. She eventuallydeOded to give wi.at amounted to a course insensitivity reading.

A variety of short literary selections w-ereused, ranging from poems by Yevtushenko toMartin Luther N;ng's "Christmas Sermon onPeace." For severs' of the stories, especially inthe beginning, the class did a very closeanalysis, an etamination almost line by line ofphysical description, images, dialogue, and mood.

It was a surprise for many of the students todiscover that an apparently simple piece couldreally operate on many levels and go in manydifferent directions. As they became moreproficient in critical reading, students were ableto make comparisons between the selections,and often some acute insights came nut oftheir discussions.

Tie objectives of the course concerned with theproblems related to religion and sociologywere to expose the students to ,iew ideas and toencourage critical thinking. Toward this end,varimis methods were employed. The groupread and discussed African Gentftis andIf )(/ Does Not Die. Invies dealing withcontroversial ideas were shown and were moreproductive of discussion than anything else.Experiments with tole-playing served toelucidate feelings on problems such as racerelations. Overall, the course was highlyunstructured and provided a forum fordiscussion of the problems which wereparticularly relevant to the group.

A graduate history student taught the sectionof the humanities program which dealt with ti.mimpact )f science and technology on thehuman community. The objectives of the coursewet,: to bring the students to an awareness ofthe challenges and opportunities of thecontemporary world as created or abetted byscience and technology, to help them explorespecific scientific areas, and to increasetheir ability to make critical intellectualjudgments.

Of central importanc-2 to this 10014 was the useof the video tape equipment. All studentswere instructed in the use of the machine andat different times throughout the program

discussions were taped. 'With this procedure,tVe students had an opportunity to learnsomething about the mechanics of televisionand to analyze their discussions.

Using Medi Nor is the Massage- as their referencepoint, the group read and discussed thepamphlet "The Triple Revolution," which takesa brief look at the rapid changes in industry,weapons, And human rights; William Itarrett'schapter on "irrational Man"; and a varietyof lieu spapet and magazine articles.

What the summer programs are all about isbeautifully summed up in this statement by oneof the students participating in the NelsonCounty 1965 summer program:

When we were in Washington on of my teachersstood in front of the Waellitutton Monument read-ing sonny try try from Aric-f is Itni9d.rferNd. I neverunelem,eoel poetry so well in my fife. The beautifulsurroundings. a lover of Poi try, plus s student she,has never sttnor heard the like' of tither. What doyou get! A receptive mind and lots of learning.

School-Year Program

Although the summer programs bat e had apowerful impact on participants both studentsand instructional personnelmany newexperiences have been encountered also byparticipants during the regular school year. Itshould be emj hasiaed that spillover from slimmeractivities into the school year has had abeneficial effect on the regular curriculum atall centers.

Programs aimed at improving communicationskills are a part of regular Glasswork in allcenters. Theme cover a aide range remedialreading, creative writing, role playing, creative

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drama, speech improvement through patternedlearning, vocabulary improvement, radio andtelevision participation, reading for fun as asubstitute for book reports, and use of highInterest, easy reading books.

Much interest has developed where studentshave written and produced original dramas. Oneeighth-grade English class, with the aid of acollege drama teacher, wrote and filmed itsown movie. The students played all parts.

In addition to several revised science courses,one center is experimenting with a chemistry.physics course for ninth graders, and severalothers have introduced a course in earth sciencein lieu of the traditional general science.Nearly all centers now use the BiologicalSciences Curriculum Study program.

Many students are doing independent study inscience in addition to their regular class work.Schools that did not sponsor or participate inscience fairs now do so as a regular part oftheir science work.

All centers now teach et least some classesutilizing the "new" mathematics. In schoolswhere this a.as a new approach, teachers arecontinuing their study by means of in-serviceclasses and summer institutes. Three centers.with aid of the sponsoring colleges, are providingclimes in computer training. Academic gamesin mathematics are used extensively.

In social studies, units of Negro contributionsto history, literature, art, and music are usedwidely. The use of simulations is common.One center has built a full semester course ineighth-grade social studies using the simulationstechnique; another center constructed a socialstudies unit around the history of its own region.

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At the beginning of the project, foreignlanguage offerings were modest at most centers.Each center now teaches at least two years ofa language. Some centers have started a foreignlanguage at the junior-high level, but no reallystrong attempts to improve this area havedeveloped except in two centers. Lee Countysecured a visiting teacher from Venezuela toinitiate a course in Spanish in the school there.This teacher was obtained through a programsponsored by the Cordell Hull Program.Breathitt County employed the services of ateacher from France for one semester to workwith the teachers in its French departmentin improving the curriculum and the teachingmethods. Part of the expense of this programwas borne by Amity Institute, the rest byProject Opportunity.

Few of the Project Opportunity centers hadspecific programs in art, music, and speech atthe beginning of the program. With the adventof the Elementary and Secondary SchoolEducation Act this has been remedied to someextent. Also, this has been an area where theproject has been most successful in obtainingvoluntary aid from both the colleges and thecommunity. At the Auburn center, for example,a demonstration program in art consists of arthistory and actual work in painting; the facultyis drawn from Auburn University and TuskegeeInstitute. The work by Berea College in folkmusic and folk dancing has been outstanding.

The central staff has conducted numerousconferences and workshops for the administratorsof the project centers. In these n,eetings theyhave had the opportunity to become acquaintedwith innovative techniques and to learn ofsome of the most recent research concerninglearning theory.

Project funds have provided opportunity foradministrators to visit innovative projects andto observe other programs in action.

CONCLUSION

Project Opportunity is a long-term program ofslow, steady growth that is planned to give ideastime to root and develop. It is more of a15-mile hike than a 100yard dash.

Demonstration projects often are criticized forinvolving the addition of too many specialists,calling for too great an increase in teachingstaffs, and requiring too much in operatingfunds to be practical for the average schoolbudget. Project Opportunity attempts to develop

an effective, yet financially feasible, programthat will serve as a basic pattern for schoolswhere the majority of students come fromdisadvantaged areas. By enlisting the cooperationof local school personnel, sponsoring collegepersonnel, community agencies, and parents,educational and cultural experiences are providedthat would otherwise be unavailable tothese students.

The Project Opportunity staff strongly believesthat academic talent is present in all socio-economic areas, in all races; it believes that itis possible to identify and train this talent; itbelieves that human potential is our greatestnatural resource and that conservation ofthis resource is worthy of major efforts.

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COLLEGE EDUCATIONACHIEVEMENT PROJECT AND

COLLEGE PREPARATORYCENTER PROGRAM

COLLEGE EDUCATION ACHIEVEMENT PROJECTParticipating Institutions'Albany State College (1969-1970)Albany, Georgia

Allen Unir(rsity (1967-1970)Columbia, Sold?' ('arolina

Benedict College 4967.1970)Columbia, South Carolina

Bethmne-(ooktnan Colleg«19674 970)Daytona Beach, Fiorida

Chattanooga City College (19674970)Chattanooga, Tennessee

For: Valley Stott Collett (1967-1:70)Fort Va hey, Grorgia

Johnson ('. Smith Unitertify (196749701Char lotteVorth Carolina

kustrilk ('o Wee (1967-1970)Kno.trille, Tennessee

1)f1/41 s4ru ext rs-o mrw-Itufw t rte Vey-ft

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Miles College (1967-1970)Birmingham, Alabama

Morthtonen Colkge (196,496S)Morriflon-n, Tennessee

Stillman Colkge 0968-1970,1Tuscaloosa, Alabama

Utica Junior Colkye (1967.1970)Utica, Mississippi

Virginia Union Unittyttity (1965.1970)RitAmond, Virginia

Wenonale Juxior Corkgf (1967-197(x)Birmingham, A1a6anya

Nark? Unirtrikily (1965.1970).Vtair Orkons, LON i.ia111(1

With centers on 14 college campuses in theSouth, the College Education Achievementl'roject tCEAP) provides a special program fora selected group of high school graduates. Theprogram is designed for those whose previouseducational experiences afforded them less thanan equal opportunity to acquire the prerequisitesof successful college work.

PURPOSE AND PREMISEThe purpose of the project is to develop amethod of providing educational experiences forapparently able but poorly prepared collegefreshmen to enable them to overcome thepoverty of tir earlier educational experiencesand to improve their chances of successfulcollege work. The premise is that a year or lessof exposare to a well designed program under acompetent staff wilt make the difference betweensuccess and probable failure in college work.

BACKGROUNDThe College Education Achievement Project isan outgrowth of an earlier pilot proi rstn, theCollege Per, atom Center Program, describedin the section following. CEAP was launchedIn 1967 with a grant of $1,051,000 from the U. S.Office of Education under Title III of thenigher Education Act. The program wasexpanded in I964 -1969 and received increasedsupport from USOE totaling $1,818,617. Totalfunding for 1969-1970 is $1,g0,960.

ORGANIZATIONFunds granted under the program go to theindividual colleges. They In turn contribute tothe support of a central staff rot the projectlocated In the Education improvement Projectoffices in Atlanta.

The central staff consists of the Director ofCEAP, a Director of Evaluation and Research,an Administrative Assistant, and clericalassistance. The staff performs in the followingareas:

1. Furnishing over-all administrative directionfor the program

2. Providing c...mmon training programs for thestaffs of the centers

3. Facilitating information exchange betweenthe centers

4. Keeping the centers abreast of the latestavailable materials and research in the field

5. Assisting the centers in conducting andinterpreting their internal evaluation programs

6. Conducting project-wide evaluations andfeeding the resultant information back tothe individual centers

Each center has its own staff of sevenprofessionals iteachers, counselors, and specialistsin reading and speech) as well as clerical andother non-professional personnel, headed by acampus cootdiriatot who acts as thelocal administrator.

PROGRAM

Opetating Pattern of the Centers

The genus! pattern of the College EducationAchievement Project centers is as follows:

I. There are approximately 100 students at eachcenter. As noted eviler, they are drawnfrom that large group of students of academicpotential who are handicapped in pursuingpost-high sehool education by inadequatepreparation.

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2. The participating students are selected fromapplicants slightly below the minimum levelof acceptance where the college is selectivein its admission policy, en ,.om those who areconsidered high-risk admittee* where thecollege has an "open door" policy.

Students are admitted to the freshman classes ofthe respective institutions but are assignedto the College Education Achic -ement Project.They receive special attention in a programwhich takes them from their current level ofachievement and moves them as rapidly aspossible to a level at which their success inregular college work is probable.

Students spend a minimum of one semester, amaximum of a fuil year, in the program. Itis possible for them to earn some college creditduring this time on the basis of demonstratedachievement.

The program focuses on the development ofcommunication and numerics{ skills. The"reaction concept" is employed, in which thestudent's own reactions to situations meaningfulto him are utilized as the basis for oral andwritten verbalization, and as motivation inreading.

Where necessary, students receive financialsupport for living and incidental expenses. Notuition is charged.

Faculty Development

Extensive preparation of teachers is an importantfeature of the CEAll because:

I. there is a shortage of teachers trained incompensatory education.

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2. the t.niaue nature of the project makesspecial training essential.

Summer workshops, faculty conferences, andschool-year workshops are the major vehiclesthrough which faculty development isaccomplished.

Two PEAP summer workshops have beenheld at the University of Tennessee, one in 1968and one in 1969, for all professional staff ofthe centers. The summer sessions emphasizestudy of special problems in instructing CEAI'students and the development of appropriateinstructional materials. Manuals which wereprepared at the 1968 workshop were reviewed andimproved at the one in 1969, and are being usedby the centers in the 1969-1910 school year.

In November of each year, a two-day facultyconference for center staff is held in Atlanta.Consultants are brought in to work with thestaff, speakers address the group, andparticipants break up into small groups forin-depth discussion of various aspectsof the project..

In February and March, a series of workshopsare held at different CEAI' campuses in thesix instructional areas covered by the project:reading; speaking and listening; Reaction-Iiideasi; ReactionW (writing); mathematics, andcounseling. Teachers In each curriculum areagather for discussion, demonstration, andexchange of ideas and materials.

Another important facet of the facultydevelopment program is the provision of fundsfor staff members to attend selected professionalmeetings, such as those of the National Councilof Teachers of English and the internationalReading Association.

Sample CEAP Centers

As examples of the CEAP program, itsdevelopment, and its achievements during itsbrief life thus far, the two centers at AllenUniversity and Benedict College, located onadjoining campuses in Columbia, South Carolina,have been chosen. These two were selected notbecause they are typical, but rather because theydemonstrate not only the anticipated resultsof the program, but the possii ility offar-reaching implications of such a program.

Both of these colleges arc church-related liberalarts institutions serving in the past anexclusively Negro clientele. Benedict College isaccredited by the Southern Association ofColleges and Schools; Allen University is seekingaccreditation, but is not accredited. Manyoutsiders have recommended a merger of thetwo institutions. There has been little, if any,support for this proposal within the institutionsthemselves in the past.

The College Education Achievement Projectsat Allen University and Benedict Collegeare appr.rentli succeeding in their efforts to assiststudents to become academically qualified toenter the regular college program and to continuesuccessfully the pursuit of their chosen fields.The program already enjoys the enthusiasticsupport of high school guidance counselors andprincipals, as well as parents of high schoolseniors and the general public. On both collegecampuses the large majofty of CEAP studentsare enthusiastic about their work, areapplying themselves well to their studies, and areshowing progress in their several subjects.

The CEAP program is a cooperative venture atAllen Unirertity and Benedict College. Onecoordinator rupervises both programs; all stag

meetings are held jointly, and mathematicsstudents of both schools are mixed in classesand taught by the same instructor.

Student activities such as field trips, creativeactivities, and social affairs are alwaysheld jointly by both projects. This arrangementis working quite well; it serves to cement goodrelations between the two colleges as wellas ease the operation of the two projects.

Not only are CEAP students succeeding in termsof the project's objectives, but apparentlyCEAP is also having a beneficial impact uponthe academic, counseliri and administrativeprograms of both schools.Presently, the administrative officials of thetwo schools are working together for thepromotion of other joint projects and greatercooperation and pooling of resources. At thefaculty level there is in operation a joint Allen-Benedict Curriculum Revision Committee(including CEAP staff members of both schools)seeking ways to upgrade the curriculum, andconsequently the teaching, at both schools.The CEAP coordinator and staff have figuredheavily in the structuring and functioning of thiscommittee. CEA P tomeidas fAis as oat of ifsmost important eonfribetiorts to the total prcgrame.

CEAP staff members are considered full facultymembers at both schools. They enjoy all ofthe fringe benefits and participate fully in thetotal life of the two colleges.

The coordinator, who is aided by a full-timeassistant, is an associate dean at Benedict,a member of the Administrative Council of bothschools, and serves on the Curriculum RevisionCommittees, the Education Cot/Irak-S/0M,and the Student Affairs Committees of bothschools. lie is also co-chairman of the Benedict

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committee setting up criteria for the transferenceof CEAP students into the regular collegeprogram. He is a member of a similar committeeat Allen University.

CEAP sta members also serve on variouscommittees of the two colleges and are oftencalled upon as consultants in the Englishand mathematics departments of the two schools,especially where the freshman curriculum isconcerned. Indeed, CEAP is being used as asort of guide for revising and strengthening theregular freshman curriculum at Benedict College.There the plan is to build a three-stagecurriculum for freshmen, with CEAP as thefirst stage, for those who need intensive remedialtraining. The plan ,.ails for the wide use ofCEAP methods and materials. Ultimately, thiswill lead to an upgrading and strengtheningof the entire curriculum.

Test scores of CEAP students were comparedwith those of regular freshmen at BenedictCollege, revealing that CEAP students werefunctioning generally on the same levelwith regular freshmen, even though CEAPstudents, for the most part, have poor high schooltranscripts, many of less than "C" average.This fact brought home to the college officialsthe realization that nearly all freshmen atBenedict need the type of intensive program ofstrong remedial work that CEAP is providing.

Following are additional evidences of theimpact that CEAP is having upon the regularprograms at both schools:

AT ALLEN AND BENEDICT

1. Many regular students are participatingin the news analysis section of the CEAPprogram.

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2. Regular students, us well as CEAP students,admire the CEAP programits effectiveteaching methods, et cetera, and are makingnumerous requests for relatives and friendsto enter the program.

3. Regular faculty members commentfrequently on the desirable behavior patternsexhibited by CEAP students. Regularstudents are taking notice of this fact.

4. Many regular freshmen who are notsucceeding in their regular freshman programof studies are applying to CEAP for thesecond semester for the purpose ot gettinga good foundation and making a fresh start.(CEAP will be able to do very little of thissort of thing, since it is not provided forin the CEAP guidelines.)

5. A small number of regular students areparticipating in CEAP's creative activities.

AT ALLEN UNIVERSITY

1. CEAP and the college are developing a jointreading laboratory.

AT BENEDICT COLLEGE

1. The college is following CEAP's lead instructuring methods of mid-term evaluationof students.

2. Seniors who are majoring in elementaryeducation will spend some time in the readinglaboratory observing methods andtechniques of teaching basic reading skillsand becoming acquainted with the widevariety of materials and equipment used.

The staffs of the Columbia CEAP projects areconvinced, therefore, that the program is servinga very good purpose. It is having an impact

not only upon CEAP students, but upon thetotal program of education at both colleges.As CEAP develops in terms of skills, techniques,and meaningful experiences, its leadership inuseful educational innovations can become animportant aspect of the efforts to upgrade theacademic programs of Allen University andBenedict College.

Research and EvaluationFrom the outset, research and evaluation hapbeen an important component of the CEAP. Assoon as the centers began operation in 1967,a testing program was initiated to provideinformation for,

1. comparing CEAP students with the generalcollege-going population before and afterexperience in the CEAP.

2. guiding instruction during the program.3. evaluating student progress after exposure

to the program.

With the first "graduates" of CEAP programsnot yet halfway through their college careers, itis too early for final conclusions to be drawnabout CEAP's effect on college success.Three types of measurement are used, however,

to gauge the progress of students as they movethrough the program and on through college.These are:

1. The percentage of CEA1' studentsrecommended for college admission.

2. The scores of students on standard aptitudeand achievement tests.

3. The grade point average maintained by thestudents after admiF-,on to college.

Based on assessments thus far it: these threeareas, CEAP students are making encouragingprogress. Of the 1360 students enrolled in theprogram in 1968-1969, 920, or sixty-eightpercent, were rvommer.ded for admission intothe regular college program. Of the remainder,fifteen percent withdrew from CEAP far onereason or another, and seventeen percentwere not recommended for admission, but werecounselled into other activities.

Statistics compiled so far for students nowengaged in regular college work indicate thatthey are averaging better than a "C" levelin their studiesnot bad for students who wouldnot have been admitted to college at allunder the usual admissio,1 standards.

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COLLEGE PREPARATORY CENTER PROGRAM

Participating InstitutionsFriendship Junior CollegeRock Hill, South CarolinaThe Mather SchoolBeaufort, South CarolinaVoorhees Junior CollegeDenmark, South Carolina

The College Preparatory Center Program(CPCP) was a pilot program conducted for threesemesters and a summer term in 1966-67.The program was funded by the Office ofEconomic Opportunity with a grant of $883,250to the Southern Association of College:, andSchools. It wrs administered from effices inColumbia, South Carolina; three small,church-related junior colleges in South Carolinaserved as the operating centers. Policy for theCPCP was determined by a board consisting ofthe three college presidents, representativesof the national denominational boards withwhom the colleges are affiliated, and the Directorof the Education Improvement Project.

The objectives of the CPCP were:

1. to provide ir.tererting and original remedialofferings to certain selected prospectivecollege students.

2. to give financial support to the studentsenrolled in the program.

3, to allow the colleges themselves tomake better use of their time and resourcesby reducing their remedial responsibilities.

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Each CPCP center enrolled a maximum of 100students. All the recruitment resourcesavailable to the college in a given locality wereutilized in selecting students for the program.Conferences with local high school guidancecounselors and principals were perhaps theprimary method.

The center programs were conducted in termsof eight weeks each. Two sessions coincidedroughly with each college semester, while thefifth was equivalent to a summer school.Students were advised to enroll for as many ofthe eight-week sessions as the CPCP facultydeemed necessary. Relations were establishedwith area trade school and technical centersfor those few students whose aptitudes orinclinations were such as to make attendancethere advisable. It was recognized by the entireCPCP staff that extremely intensive advisingand counseling were necessary for the programto be successful.

One of the firet activities u, a new CPCPstudent was to undergo an extensive and carefullyformulated program of testing. The last thingbefore his departure was another series ofexaminations. A comprehensive file waskept on each student.

In selecting the faculty and staff for the CPCP,careful consideration was given applicantswho had special training and experience inteaching the disadvantaged, and a series ofworkshops for all those employed was conducted.Ample funds for special equipment, materials,and books were provided.

The instructional methods us'.:d by the facultywere original and varied and sometimes evencompletely unconventional. The traditionalcompartmentalization into specific disciplineswas scarcely recognizable and the standarddivision of the academic day into 50-minute timeblocs was discarded. Cooperative, orinterdisciplinary, teaching was the rule ratherthan the exception. In the CPC?, "curriculum"meant the entire scope of a student'sexperiences under the auspices of the program.

The encouraging results of the CollegePreparatory Center Program as evidencedthrough the testing program led to thedevelopment of the similar, though greatlyexpanded, College Education AchievementProject.

A follow-up study of students formerly enrolledin the CPCP continues to be conducted bythe staff of the College Education AchievementProject. This study was funded for a four-yearperLd with a grant of $9,375 from theMary Reynolds Babcock Foundation.

Of the 467 former CPCP students for whomvalid current addresses were available, replies

were received from 320 or 68.6% to the firstinquiry about their activities. Of these 320,241 reported that they were continuing theireducation in college, trade school, or some otherformal program. They were enrolled in 37different institutions.

Since that time forms have been sent to theinstitutions requesting inform-lion about theprogress and academic standing of thesestudents. Further attempts are being made toestablish contact with those who did notreply to the first questionnaire. Because of thevaried types of institutions and methods ofevaluation it is difficult to summarize theprogress or the academic standing of the students.At the institution attended.by the largestnumber of former CEAP students the averagefor the freshman year recorded for thesestudents was just above a 'C.' A coi relation ofcollege grades with various data collected duringthe program indicates that instructorrecommendations were the best predictors ofcollege success, approached only by the scores onthe language section of the CaliforniaAchievement Test. Further studies of theresults are being made as additional informationbecomes available.

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BOOK PROJECTS

The book projects included five programs, three of which were funded by the Ford Foundation and twoby the Fund for the Advancement of Education, a former arm of the Ford Foundation. The specificprograms, the amounts and sources of funds E tpporting them, and the year funded, are as follows:

Amount YearName of Program. Source of Funds of Grant Funded

Paperback Book Program Fund for Advancement of Education $113,800 1967

Project Opportunity Hardback BookProgram Fund for Advancement of Education 12,000 1967

Nashville EIP Hardback Book Program Fund for Advancement of Education 12,000 1967

CEA P Paperback Book Program Ford Foundation 2,000 1968

Black Studies Paperback Book Project Ford Foundation 99,300 1969

Total Funding $299,100

THE PAPERBACK BOOK PROGRAM

The purpose of this program was to provideeach of the predominantly Negro colleges anduniv;raities with a moderate collection of highquality paperback books. Ninety-nine institutions(three were graduate or professional only, 18were graduate and four-year, 63 were four-yearand 15 were two-year) participated in the

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program. These institutions received bookallotments on the basis of $1.00 per studentenrolled.

An extensive evaluation and follow-up of theprogram was conducted, involving bothstudents and faculty members. A majorconclusion from this evaluation was that theproject had been reasonably successful in

accomplishing its main objectivenamely, theimprovement of the reading hab:t9 of studentsin the predominantly Negro colleges anduniversities.

PROJECT OPPORTUNITY HARDBACKBOOK PROJECT

The $12,000 grant from the Fund for theAdvancement of Education was used to purchasea set of high-interest, low-reading-level booksfor each of the Project Opportunity centers. Thebooks used were selected from the list publishedby the National Council of Teachers of English,High Interest, Low Reading herd forReluctant Readers.

These books were principally hardbacks,with the addition of a few paperbacks. Theywere purchased as a single item by the centralEIP office and distributed to the variouscenters. The use of these books was not restrictedto Project Opportunity students but wasextended to all students in the schools.

NASHVILLE EIP HARDBACKBOOK PROGRAM

The primary purpose of this program was toaid in improving the reading habits of thepupils in the Nashville EIP. In order to makemore books available for this purpose, the Fundfor the Advancement of Education made a$12,000 grant to the Nashville EIP. At adiscount price, approximately $14,000 worth ofbooks were purchased.

CEAP PAPERBACK BOOK PROGRAM

Approximately 100 students at each of 13predominantly Negro colleges in the Southeastwere the primary beneficiaries of the Ford

Foundation's $2,000 paperback hook grant tothe College Education Achievement t'roject.The purpose of the program was to providereading matter apart from curricular materialwhich would be inexpe:isive, accessible, ofvarying difficulty and content, all selectedaccording to student interests. Approximately300 titles representing a total purchase ofabout 4,000 volumes were selected and shippedto each of the 13 centers.

The general categories ineludld mystery andsuspense, black culture, Negro humor, gerr_,ralhumor, romance, self-help books, science fiction,classical fiction, historical novels and standardnon-fiction. The books were made availableon a self-serve basis without any coercion on thepart of staff personnel.

From time to time the cutside reading has beencoordinated with outside classroom activities;in all cases, the hooks have formed thenucleus of an independent CEAI' library, withstudents playing the predominant role inregulating the use of the books and selectingfuture titles to supplement the present inventory.Instructors and counselors have reported anexcellent student response and an unusuallylow cost/value ratio.

BLACK STUDIES PAPERBACKBOOK PROJECT

The purpose of this program is to make availableto 85 four-year predominantly Negro collegesand universities a set of paperback books onAfro-American and African culture in theamount of approximately $1,000 per institution.The two major objectives of the programare these:

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1. To assist in meeting the denat.nds of today'scollege and university students forappropriate black studies collections in thenation's institutions of highn learning.

2. To provide an activity which appropriatelyinvolves students in planning, operation,and evaluation.

The 85 colleges and universities, the FordFoundation, and EIP are joint participants inthis project. The Project Committee has theresponsibility for planning, directing, andevaluating the project. The composition of thecommittee is as follows: four faculty members

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from the colleges and universities, fourstudents from the same source, and threerepresentatives from t. e Education Improvementl'roject.

The books were delivered to the participatinginstitutions uuring the fall of 1969.

In addition to forwarding these collections toeach of the 85 colleges and universities, thecentral EIP staff, with the assistance of acommittee of black studio experts, facultymembers, and students, has prepared a list ofthese books to be sent to all the colleges anduniversities in the United States.

PERSONNEL

COORDINATING COMMITTEE (1969)

FELIX C. ROBB, Chairman

CLAUDE C. BOND CARL J. I)OLCE

WILLIAM L. BRINKLEY, JR. JOHN W. FRAZER

B. FRANK BROWN RUFUS C. HARRIS

LUCILLE BROWNE ALEXANDER HEARD

MARY T. COLEMAN (MRS.) ILLARD J. HUNTER

ALTON C. CREWS H. PAUL KELLEY

WILLIAM HUGH MCENIRY, JR., Con8ultant

COORDINATING COMMITTEE (FORMER MEMBERS)

RAYMOND L. CHR, ,TIAN

RUFUS E. CLEMENT

JOHN E. CODWELL

BEN F. CAMERON, JR., COn8u/falli

FRANK G. DICKEY

HERBERT E. LONGZNECKER

DARRELL R. MORRIS

JOHN W. LETSON

SAMUEL M. NABRIT

ROBERT L. OWENS

WILLIAM L. PRESSLY

ROBERT E. STOLTZ

ALBERT N. WHITING

C. W. SEAM

JOAN W. WOFFORD (MRS.)

STEPHEN J. WRIGHT

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URBAN PROJECT DIRECTORSN. A. CRIPPENS, Director (1969)

Nashville Education Improvement ProjectFisk University--P.O. Box 872Nashville, Tennesse,. 37203

SIDNEY II. ESTES, Acting DirectorAtlanta Education Improvement Project;Urban Laboratory in Education)65 Walnut Street, S.W.Atlanta, Georgia 30314

ANNA HENRY (MRS.), DirectorNew Orleans Education Improvement Project2601 Gentilly BoulevardNew Orleans, Louisiana 7C!.,6

RURAL PROJECT DIRECTORSJAMES KAUFFMANN, Director

Wheeler County Rural EducationImprovement ProjectAlamo, Georgia 30411

WILBUR SMITH, DirectorOverton County Rural EducationImprovement ProjectLivingston, Tennessee 38520

CENTRAL STAFFFELD( C. Ross

Director, Southern Association ofColleges and Schools

DONALD C. AGNEWDirector, Education Improvement Project andAssociate Directcr for Special Projects

CAROLYN 13. ARNOLD (MRS.)Administrative Assistant to theAssociate Director for Special Projects

DOROTHY BUNYANAssociate Director, Project Opportunity

JOHN E. CoowuuDeputy Director, Education Improvement Project

HUGH R. FORDYCEAssociate Director, Project Opportunity

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ISAAC ROOKS, DirectorHuntsville Education Improvement I'roject3405 Triana BoulevardHuntsville, Alabama 35805

ROBERT L. SPAULDING, DirectorDurham Education Improvement Project2010 Campus DriveDurham, North Carolina 27706

JERRY TANTON, DirectorWewahitchka Rural Education ImprovementProjectWewahitchka Public SchoolsWewahitchka, Florida 32465

Erin!. GODBEYDirector, College Education AchievementProject

JOSEPH P. MCKELPINDirectm of Research and EvaluationCollege Education Achievement Project

GEORGE C. SEWARDAssociate Director, Education ImprovementProject

JOSEPH M. SWEENEYResearch AssistantCollege Education Achievement Project

ANN WILLIAMS (MRS.)Administrative AssistantProject Opportunity