Page Sherer, Rabbi Morris, executive vice president, Agudath Israel of America. 2564 Prepared statement.. 2566 Sissel, H. B., secretary, National Affairs of the United Presbyterian Church_ 2886 2598 2893 Prepared statement... 2893 Taylor, Richard D., superintendent of schools, Widefield School District, 2513 Prepared statement.... 2514 Zagri, Sidney, legislative counsel, International Brotherhood of Teamsters, 2797 Prepared statement__ 2806 Zimmerman, Dr. David W., deputy State superintendent of public instruction, Maryland....... 2713 ADDITIONAL INFORMATION Actions of the General Assembly of the United Presbyterian Church in the 2888 "Beliefs and Policies of the National School Boards Association, Inc.," 2746 2662 "Poor Youths Like Flowers: Nurtured, They'll Blossom," from the 2379 2719 Articles submitted by Theodore Powell, Connecticut State Department of Amendments to S. 370.. 2580 "An Appeal for Open Minds on Shared Time," from New City, September 15, 1963__. 2588 "Public and parochial education: Conflict or cooperation," remarks of Mr. Powell before the annual meeting of the American Association of School Administrators, Atlantic City, N.J., February 20, 1962_ 2584 "Public Money and Private Schools-The Constitutional Position,' 2585 2592 "Shared Time: A Solution to the Old War in Education," from New City, May 15, 1962. 2593 "Shared Time in Hartford," from Religious Education; JanuaryFebruary 1962. 2592 "The 'Shared Time' Experiment Is It Legal?" from the Saturday Review, February 15, 1964__ 2582 Booklet entitled: "The Child Benefit Theory Revisited: Textbooks, Fuller, Dr. Edgar, executive secretary, Council of Chief State School 2692 Newcomer Leland B., superintendent, Clark County School District, Number of schools using ESI materials in Chicago, New York, Philadel- 2794 2782, 2877 2842 Paper delivered by Dr. Fuller at the University of Pennsylvania's Conference on School Law, entitled "Governmental Support for Private and Parochial Schools and Colleges". Page 2700 Past and present accomplishments of Dr. Frank J. Falck... 2374 2425 Politics of national organizations, Council of Chief State School Officers, adopted, New York City, November, 19, 1964- 2698 Resolution passed by the National Association of Evangelicals. 2576 School retention rates in the District of Columbia public schools, February 11, 1965- 2871 Special conditions, submitted by Sargent Schriver.. 2634 Steps taken leading to the implementation of the model school program in the District of Columbia. Table II.-Estimated payment to school districts, by county, under S-370Table 97.-Percent of the population 5 to 34 years old enrolled in school by age: United States, October 1947-63... 2876 2603 2804 The subcommittee met, pursuant to recess, at 10:05 a.m., in room 4232, New Senate Office Building, Senator Wayne Morse, chairman of the subcommittee, presiding. Present: Senators Morse (presiding), Randolph, Kennedy of New York, Javits, and Prouty. Committee staff members present: Stewart E. McClure, chief clerk; John S. Forsythe, general counsel; Charles Lee, professional staff member of the subcommittee; Stephen Kurzman, minority counsel; and Roy H. Millenson, minority professional staff member. Senator MORSE. The Education Subcommittee will come to order. We are privileged to have as our first witness this morning Dr. Frank Falck, University of Vermont. Will you come to the witness table? I am going to call on the Senator from Vermont, Senator Prouty, to make a brief statement. Before I do, Dr. Falck, I want to give a little testimony myself. I want to say that the wonderful assistance that you gave to Senator Prouty last year, which he in turn transmitted to this subcommittee, in connection, especially with the subject of remedial reading, in my judgment, was the primary cause for the remedial reading provisions being retained in S. 3060, last year's National Defense Education Act that was enacted. I have said on the floor of the Senate before and I want to say in your presence now, how indebted we are to you for the contribution you have made to education legislation. We are indebted both for your testimony of last year and that which you will give this morning. Also in your presence I want to say how indebted I am as chairman. of this subcommittee for the wonderful support and assistance I have received from the Senator from Vermont, Senator Prouty. Without his aid, on the strictly nonpartisan basis which we try to conduct the work of this subcommittee, I am statisfied that the legislation passed last year would have been far from the high quality that it was. I am very glad to have both of you here this morning. It is the ruling of the Chair that the prepared statement of Dr. Frank J. Falck will be inserted in the record at this point. I understand that he going to comment on the statement but not read it. (The prepared statement of Dr. Falck follows:) PREPARED STATEMENT OF FRANK J. FALCK, PH. D., DIRECTOR, CENTER FOR DISORDERS OF COMMUNICATION, HAROLD S. BAIRD INSTITUTE, DEGOESBRIAND MEMORIAL HOSPITAL, AND ASSISTANT PROFESSOR, COLLEGE OF MEDICINE, UNIVERSITY OF VERMONT, BURLINGTON, VT. S. 370 is described as a bill designed to strengthen and improve educational quality and educational opportunities in the Nation's elementary and secondary schools. It might be more appropriate to change the wording to "strengthen and improve educational quality and educational opportunities for the Nation's elementary and secondary school pupils." This change would serve a dual purpose. It would emphasize the role of the individual child and call attention to the fact that a significant proportion of the work directed toward achieving these expressed goals can, should, and does take place outside of the schools themselves as appropriately acknowledged in the content of titles III and IV. Not only must quality be increased where indicated and opportunities extended but effort has to be directed toward the assurance that all children will be capable of taking advantage of these improvements. It is too often assumed, when concern is expressed over school dropouts and underachievers, that there are grave weaknesses in our schools, in physical facilities, in teacher quality, or in teaching techniques. When children fail to learn to read adequately, for example, blame is attached to one of the various teaching of reading methods or to overcrowded classroom situations. Only fairly recently has consideration been given to possible specific weaknesses in otherwise normal individual children themselves. Surveys and clinical observation provide the very conservative estimate that at least 5 percent of the school population have handicapping language, speech, hearing, and learning disorders which prevent them from benefiting from the educational programs they are exposed to regardless of the quality of these programs. Speech and hearing problems are fairly obvious and specific. Language problems often exist concomitantly but can be present when there is normal speech and hearing function. Language problems involve difficulties in making appropriate and adequate use of the symbol systems used for communication, both oral and written. Learning problems can include broader difficulties which interfere with social adequacy as well as scholastic achievement. Included can be disorders of attention, perceptual deviations, lack of appropriate stimulation, hyperactivity, poor memory span, physical awkwardness, etc. This "minority" group may even contribute a "majority" proportion to the membership of the school dropout and underachiever fraternity about whom we are all quite concerned. These children represent a specialized population requiring specialized attention of a diagnostic and therapeutic nature. They present problems which are not purely educational and which should not be viewed only within the context of their scholastic shortcomings. Their problems are multifaceted and the approach to these problems should be multidisciplinary. The existence and presence of this significant number of children should not be surprising. Society accepts the fact that not all children can play basketball or baseball equally well; that not all children have similar musical or artistic aptitude. However, as far as scholastic aptitude is concerned, it is assumed that all children share equally (and at the same chronological age) the ability to master the complexities of oral and written language. The fact is that the development of appropriate subskills and the psychoneuromuscular integration necessary for the acquisition of adequate language and learning techniques is at least as demanding as that required for sports, or painting, or piano playing. While society does not insist that all children achieve a certain level of proficiency in these areas at a certain age, it does expect of all children that they be capable of learning to read and write when a certain chronological age is reached. Some children are not ready at that chronological age. Their mental age, psychological age, neurological age, musculoskeletal age, social maturity age, etc., may be delayed in comparison to their calendar determined birth date age. They may have what are now often felt to be neurological differences which result in behavioral or perceptual deviations which interfere with their ability to profit from classroom experiences which are appropriate for the majority of children. These differences can often be eliminated or minimized in individual or small group therapy programs through the application of specialized techniques, employing ideas incorporated from the fields of education, psychology, medicine. |