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Because of the individual authority of each State for its own educational program, practices and policies differ widely among them in many respects. Yet in the midst of differences there are also common elements of development. The U. S. Office of Education, in presenting this series of monographs, has attempted to point out those common elements, to analyze the differences, and to present significant factors in State educational structure. In so doing, it accedes to the requests of a large number of correspondents who are students of State school administration and who have experienced the need for the type of material offered in this series. The report included in the present monograph deals with one of the more recent developments in State educational administration and supervision--namely, that related to the education of exceptional children. Initiated by the State through residential institutions and by local school districts to meet local needs, programs of special education for the handicapped and the gifted have steadily gained ground as essential to the complete functioning of the State's educational system. As a result, one State after another is encouraging a bureau or a division or a section in its State education department designed particularly to look after the educational interests of those who need special adjustments because of a marked deviation from normal physical, mental, or emotional condition. To describe the organization and supervisory functions and activities of such programs is the aim of this bulletin. The first part of this document presents a general survey, which chapters focused on basic legal provisions, organization of State supervisory programs, State supervisory functions and activities, State regulations and standards, and a report on a conference of State directors and supervisors of special education. Part II covers specific State programs in California, Colorado, Virginia, Connecticut, Delaware, Wyoming, Maryland, Kentucky, Minnesota, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Michigan, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin. (Contains 3 tables and 79 footnotes.) [Best copy available has been provided.]

For the past decade the Office of Education has periodically compiled statistics dealing with special schools and classes for exceptional children. During that time the importance of adjusting instructional procedures to meet the needs of individual boys and girls has been increasingly stressed in the general philosophy of education. Inherent in this development has been the growth of special facilities for pupils whose mental or physical condition demands something different from the ordinary school curriculum. Residential schools have for many years taken care of extreme cases, and these they are continuing to serve, in many States with expanding facilities and enriched opportunities for the students enrolled. City schools, too, show a consistent growth in the extent of the program, even the depression failing to stem to any serious degree the advances that have been made. An index is provided.(Contains 27 tables and 9 footnotes.) [Best copy available has been provided.]

This bulletin provides the sixth chapter of the Biennial Survey of Education, 1930-32, which has been published in separate chapters dealing with specific segments of the educational system. This document explores the impact of the economic depression on the education of exceptional children. Special day schools and classes for exceptional children are thus far holding their own and in some aspects even making significant progress. Curtailments have been made in a number of cities, but so also have additions been made in other cities, while the large majority of school systems are holding their programs steady. The situation as it has developed within the past 2 years in various phases of special education is more specifically described in this report under three main topics: (1) general considerations; (2) city day schools and classes; and (3) residential schools. Under the first of these, some of the significant developments in the field will be pointed out. The two remaining sections present statistical data, with brief discussion of the same. (Contains 20 footnotes, and 17 tables.) [Best copy available has been provided.]

The occupational adjustment of handicapped adults is a matter that vitally concerns the schools in which handicapped children are taught. It is not a problem that can be ignored until the child becomes of employable age or until he is ready to leave school to go to work. The years which he spends in the classroom must at least furnish the foundation upon which he can build a specific occupational training. They must bring to him an intelligent guidance for making a wise occupational choice. They must give to him a basis for making that choice through self-analysis. They must teach him to compensate for his limitations through service well rendered in a field from which his handicap does not exclude him. In some cases they should furnish the actual vocational preparation which shall equip him for wage-earning responsibilities. The first step in encouraging the further development of any type of program is to find out what is being done about it. Accordingly, the present study represents an investigation of what day schools are doing in the occupational preparation of mentally and physically handicapped adolescents. It is not an exhaustive survey of all school systems, but a preliminary study of a group of representative cities in which progressive practices are under way in the education of one or more groups of handicapped children. The cities included in the study and the number responding to the inquiry for each type of handicap under consideration are given in Table 1. The term "mentally handicapped," as defined in the questionnaire used, refers to pupils who are or have been members of special classes for the mentally deficient or subnormal. For these, data are available from 43 cities. The "physically handicapped" studied include the blind and the partially seeing, the crippled, and the deaf and the hard-of-hearing. For these groups 28, 36, and 37 cities, respectively, furnished information. In most cases the questionnaires were filled in by the director, supervisor, or principal directly in charge of the educational program developed in the city for the group in question. All quotations given, unless otherwise indicated, are from the comments made by these persons, who by preparation and experience are well qualified to make evaluations and suggestions. Schools alone cannot solve the problem of vocational adjustment of handicapped persons; however, the school, rehabilitation service, employment agency, and the employer can together bring about an adjustment that without such combined effort would be an impossibility. What some schools are doing about the problem is portrayed in this bulletin. What all schools should be doing about it is suggested, directly or indirectly, in connection with the presentation of facts. It is hoped that, in light of these facts, many school systems will find it possible to make further studies of the local situations, determine what additional responsibility should and can be accepted, and take steps toward the realization of the ideals for a program of occupational experiences for handicapped adolescents. A list of selected references is provided. (Contains 5 tables and 10 footnotes.) [Best copy available has been provided.]

The first published compilation of material relating to opportunities for the preparation of teachers of exceptional children in the United States appeared in 1929 under the auspices of the International Council for the Education of Exceptional Children. At the time 43 institutions in the United States and 2 in Canada were reported which offered courses in this field. In 1931 the Office of Education issued a bulletin on the same subject, with brief descriptions of the courses given. Seventy-one institutions were listed in this report as offering opportunities for study to prospective teachers of exceptional children. In 1936 a third investigation was undertaken as one phase of the Project in Research in Universities, and its findings are reported in this paper. The number of institutions announcing courses preparatory to the teaching of one or more types of exceptional children had by that time grown to 118. This represents an increase of 66 percent in the 5 years between 1931 and 1936--an unmistakable evidence of the mounting importance that is being attached to the special preparation of teachers for children who because of mental, physical, or emotional deviation are in serious need of special educational provision. The present analysis was made on the basis of data accumulated by means of questionnaires, with supplementary information gathered from a study of current catalogs and announcements of courses. In addition to universities, colleges, and normal schools, highly specialized institutions for the deaf, the blind, and the feeble-minded were also considered. General findings of this analysis covered: (1) Number of institutions providing specialized training; (2) Facilities for respective groups of exceptional children; (3) Geographic distribution of training facilities; (4) Content of curriculum; (5) Administrative organization; (6) Cooperative relationships; and (7) State designation of training facilities. Names and geographical distribution of institutions that do not claim to offer a comprehensive unit of teacher-preparation in the field are appended. [For related reports, see "Project in Research in Universities: Preparation for Elementary School Supervision. Bulletin, 1937, No. 18 (ED542577) and "Project in Research in Universities: CCC Camp Education: Guidance and Recreational Phases. Bulletin, 1937, No. 19" (ED542578). Best copy available has been provided.]

In May 1938 the Commissioner of Education invited to Washington a group of specialists who were actively engaged in work of a clinical nature, with particular relation to child-guidance programs in school systems. The purposes and findings of that conference are presented in Chapter VI of this bulletin. Among the services which the conferees requested that the Office of Education take under consideration was the preparation of material for publication describing the types of clinical organization for child guidance under way in communities and schools systems of various sizes. Such a publication, it was thought, might stimulate school administrators and other civic leaders, in communities in which no definite form of clinical organization as yet exists, to seek possibilities for service in this field. Moreover, by showing trends of organization to date, one may point out the direction which future development is likely to take. This bulletin is an attempt to meet the request of the conference. It presents illustrative practices found in some of the States, counties, and cities in which the principles of child guidance have taken deep root. It reflects the deliberations of the conferees as well as the data assembled by the Office of Education through the use of inquiry forms. It shows, first, certain organization plans followed on a State-wide or a county-wide basis; then proceeds to the efforts being made in small communities; next, to programs in cities of moderate size; and finally, to a consideration of the opportunities of a large city. A Guide to States, Counties, Cities, and Clinical Agencies Referred to in This Bulletin is provided. (Contains 61 footnotes.) [Best copy available has been provided.]

There are four groups of handicapped children for whom residential schools are generally considered indispensable. These are the blind, the deaf, the mentally deficient, and the socially maladjusted or juvenile delinquents. While each of these groups presents conditions and problems quite distinct from those of the other three, they are all marked by the common need of specialized guidance and adjusted educational procedures arising from a serious physical, mental, or emotional disability. To supply such a need is the function of the residential school. Two other types of handicapped children are found in a type of residential institution which has the double function of providing both hospitalization and education. These are (1) crippled children who are in need of hospital care; and (2) epileptics, for whom continued treatment is important. Every child sent to a residential school is there because the community is unable to meet his educational needs or has failed to make adequate adjustment for him. It is the aim of the residential school to send the child back to the community, when he has concluded his term of study there, equipped to maintain his self-respect and the respect of others through an achievement commensurate with his ability. A knowledge of the means that residential schools employ the successes which they achieve, and even the failures that they admit should be of inestimable value of all educators. The unity and effectiveness of the total State educational program cannot but be furthered by a mutual acquaintanceship on the part of residential and day school workers. It is to promote such acquaintanceship that this bulletin has been prepared. It presents in a general way the educational programs of residential schools for various types of handicapped children. Chapter II tells of a conference called by the Office of Education in 1938 to consider some of the educational problems encountered by these schools. Each succeeding chapter gives a descriptive and pictorial presentation of educational activities carried on in a particular type of school. It is hoped that the material will be illuminating to day-school workers who have little opportunity to visit residential schools in their States, as well as those engaged in residential work who would like to know something of the educational problems and practices in types of institutions other than their own. Individual chapters contain footnotes. [Best copy available has been provided.]

At the time of this writing, little was being done in the area of educating mentally and emotionally handicapped children in the United States. The author details this problem, reports on what is currently being done, and offers solutions and recommendations on further combating the issue. Contents include: (1) The problem. (2) State provisions for the education of exceptional children; (3) City provisions for the education of exceptional children; (4) County provisions for the education of exceptional children; (5) Preparation of teachers; (6) Mental hygiene facilities; (7) A forward look; (8) Bibliography. (Contains 38 footnotes and 2 tables. [Best copy available has been provided.]

The survey to determine occupational opportunities for the deaf and the hard-of-hearing was conducted as an approved Federal project under the Civil Works Administration. It was planned and directed by the United States Office of Education. The project was conceived primarily as a study related to the vocational guidance of deaf and hard-of-hearing young people. If handicapped children are to be helped to realize their greatest potentialities occupationally, one must know in which types of occupations handicapped adults are now most successfully engaged. One must know, too, the relationship of success in a given occupation to other factors, such as degree of deafness, command of speech, and education. These items must be coupled with a knowledge of the pupil as a person--his individual capabilities and interests, his temperament, and his emotional equipment. Thus an adequate guidance program looking toward vocational sell-realization takes into consideration, on the one hand, the individual's assets and liabilities, and, on the other hand, the world of employment in which he must find a place. Some occupational studies related to the deaf and the hard-of-hearing have been made by other investigators, but in the present survey it has been possible to utilize a larger sampling than those which have hitherto been available, and at the same time the statistical analysis has included a consideration of certain factors not previously investigated. It is believed, therefore, that the findings of the study should have some significance in relation to the education of the deaf and the hard-of-hearing. If the schools are to give intelligent guidance for vocational activities, they must adjust their curricula to conditions as they are, not as they have been in the past nor yet as educational leaders would like to see them. This applies to the education of hearing and non-hearing alike. It was not the object of the survey to make an exhaustive enumeration of deaf and hard-of-hearing adults in the country nor even in those States in which the investigation was carried on, but rather to secure a sampling of those adults who were or had been employed that was large enough to show definite trends. Hence strategic points were selected in the several States which might be the centers of activity for the surrounding territory. Following an introduction, the following topics are covered in this bulletin: (1) General Description of the Sampling; (2) Employment Status of the Sampling; (3) Types of Occupations Followed; (4) Occupational Success; (5) Employers' Statements; and (6) Implications of the Findings. A list of selected references is provided. (Contains 48 tables, 9 figures, and 30 footnotes.) [This bulletin was prepared in collaboration with Kenneth Braly, Percival Hall, Jr., Helmer Myklebust, Sam D. Palmer, Alice F. Rowell, and Isabelle Walker. Best copy available has been provided.]

The White House Conference of 1930, recognizing the importance of greater coordination of forces related to the education of exceptional children, urged that the United States Office of Education perform the services of a coordinating agency in this respect. The Office of Education, while ready to accept the responsibility, has been hampered by lack of adequate financial provisions with which to carry on a suitable program. However, in the year 1934-35 special funds were made available through which an exploratory conference on the problem could be realized. Fifteen educational, psychological, and medical leaders, representing the eight groups of exceptional children, met in Washington on November 1 and 2, 1934, at the call of the Commissioner of Education to consider the possibilities of furthering a cooperative program for all groups concerned. A general summary of the conference and the contribution made by each member to its deliberations are the content of this report. (Contains 2 footnotes.) [Best copy available has been provided.]

There is at the present time a strong movement to include in the school curriculum more preparation for character education. The schools have long recognized their obligations in this respect, but more progress has not been made because they did not know how to bring it about. With the coming of trained psychologists, psychiatrists, and other specialists, the study of problem cases has begun. This report represents the first of a series of research studies in the education of exceptional children to be planned cooperatively by the United States Office of Education and selected school systems. It was with full recognition of all the limitations within the field of research of human behavior that the present study was undertaken. Because, however, the school system in Berkeley, California, which constitutes its background was one of those which seem to offer a happy combination of understanding, cooperation, efficient organization, and expert service, it was hoped that some light might be thrown upon the problem of behavior adjustment through an intensive investigation of the program in operation there and through a continuous study over a period of years of the progress of the children concerned. This report, an account of a pioneer experimental project carried on in a city school system, has two prime purposes. The first is to show, through description of the organization and methods used in a typical city, how the facilities of the city and the city school system may be utilized for coordinated service and for an economical program looking toward the adjustment of behavior problems of school children. Part I of the bulletin presents such a description. It will interest all those who are concerned with the development of clinical facilities in their own communities and with the growth of the program in the country at large. The second purpose is to describe a method of research which has been used in evaluating such services and which seems to throw some light upon the value of the clinical treatment given. Part II is designed to fulfill this purpose. It will be of value primarily to those who are interested in carrying on experimental research in this field, as well as to those who are eager to know the outcomes of such studies without actually engaging in them. As the conception of the importance of mental hygiene grows and as adequate provision for it is increasingly made in our school systems, there is every reason to expect opportunity for further experimentation in this field which will supplement the pioneer effort described in this bulletin. A list of selected references is attached, and an appendix contains selected forms used in the experiment. (Contains 12 tables, 3 figures, and 28 footnotes.) [Best copy available has been provided.]

The White House Conference on Child Health and Protection afforded a strong stimulus to work for atypical children; many of whom are suffering neglect under our present somewhat standardized system of schools. The number of school systems in this country in which attention is given to the education of children conspicuously deviating from the normal is increasing from year to year. As a result, teacher-training institutions have developed courses designed to prepare teachers for specialized work of this type. The attached manuscript gives information regarding the opportunities that are now available to those who wish to prepare themselves to teach the various types of exceptional children. (Contains 9 footnotes.) [Best copy available has been provided.]

In every school system the education of mentally handicapped children presents serious problems. In the larger cities where such pupils may be gathered from the various classes in the school and placed in one room in charge of a specially prepared teacher, the problems are somewhat simplified. In the country schools where children cannot be so easily classified according to handicaps, or even according to grades, the problems become most serious. One of the chief difficulties in dealing with mentally retarded children, whether in urban or rural schools, comes from the lack of materials of instruction. During recent years the Office of Education has been giving some attention to this problem. This compiler of this bulletin, Dr. Elise H. Martens, has visited classes for exceptional children in a number of cities and States in which they are being successfully conducted, and, with the help of a number of teachers whose names appear in connection with the projects they have developed, has collected a number of fully tested group activities. They include activities concerned with community life in the home and in the city, the food market, child care, a project in manicuring for the older girls, a study of trees, a natural history museum, etc. The activities selected are those related closely to the life of the communities in which mentally exceptional children live and in which they must eventually find a place economically and socially. This collection of group activities presented in this bulletin suggest approved methods for educating children of limited mentality. Following a letter of transmittal and an introduction, this bulletin covers the following topics: (1) Community Life: (a) The Home (Elizabeth Werner); and (b) Our City (Mary Laughlin); (2) The Food Market (Elizabeth Kelly); (3) Food for Boys (Ada M. Whyte); (4) Child Care (Julia Lyons, Gertrude Jarm, Florence Page, and Beatrice Zdara); (5) The Nursery Party (Gladys May Maclin); (6) A Project in Manicuring (Florence Meabrod); (7) Beautifying the Schoolroom (Thelma Langdon Weller); (8) Toy Telephones (Annie Dolman Inskeep); (9) How We Send and Receive Messages (Gladys Nofziger Fager); (10) United States Money (Auxiliary Department, Kalamazoo, Michigan); (11) A Natural History Museum (Jule B. Davis); (12) A Study of Cotton (Zenobia Lyles); (13) A Study of Trees (Myrtle Arbuckle); (14) The Toy Orchestra (Georgia F. Isaac); and (15) Books and Bookmaking (Martha MacDonald). A list of selected references and materials, along with a list of available publications on the education of exceptional children, are also provided. Individual sections contain bibliographies and footnotes. (Contains 10 plates.) [Best copy available has been provided.]

The White House Conference on Child Health and Protection has recently pointed out how inadequately this country is providing educational opportunities for exceptional children. One-half million gifted children, another half million retarded children, three-quarters of a million children exhibiting serious behavior problems, three hundred thousand seriously crippled children, and fourteen thousand blind constitute only a partial list of the children in this country who vary so markedly from the normal as to need special educational provisions. What these special provisions are, where they may be obtained, and how they may be supplemented, or in some cases provided, by the home program are problems which many parents are now facing. This manuscript analyzes many of these problems and offers practical suggestions for parents who are concerned about the education of their own children or interested in the greatest welfare of all children. (Contains 10 footnotes.) [Best copy available has been provided.]