Evening star., 1959-11-29

chemistry and biology. Dem
yer. Colo, is reorganizing its
entire science program.
2. Guidance Oficers-By a
conservative estimate there is
a shortage of $4,000 guidance
officers in this country. And,
according to John T. Stewart
Of the Illinois State Office of
Public Instruction, at least
two-thirds Of the counselors
now employed do not meet
minimum requirements.
Another source says fewer
than 9 per cent of the guidance
officers have any background
in science. Literally thousands
of potential scientists are being
lost to the field through poor
counSeling or none at all.
Several Government programs
designed to ease the shortage
of high school counselors won't
begin to fill the need for years
to come.
3. Teachers-This is perhaps
the most complex part Of the
entire problem.
Figures complied by the Ma
tional Education Association
show a shortage of $4,000
qualified teachers. The need in
high school science is espe-
cially severe because many good
potential science teachers are
lured into private industry by
better pay.
Many schools just can't offer
the courses they would like to,
for lack Of a teacher. Many
teachers with little or no sci
ence background are given SCI
ence classes to teach, in the
forlorn hope they'll at least be
able to keep ahead Of their
students.
But it's more than Just a
shortage of teachers.
Teachers Behind Times
Says one scientist: Many of
our science teachers graduated
from college 1920 years ago.
They have been following the
same old course for years, and
they're quite content with it.
Until we can bring these
teachers up to date, Wen be
teaching space-age science with
horse-and-buggy teachers"
The Natural Science Founda-
ton, a Government agency, is
spending millions of dollars on
summer institutes to bring SCI
ence teachers up to date. Last
summer there were $50 such
Institutes, each lasting from
six to 10 weeks. Private indus
try has similar, but smaller,
programs. Even so, these in
stitutes can reach only a frac-
tion of the teachers who need
their help.
4. Textbooks - Sputnik I
started whizzing around the
earth more than two years ago.
It will be at least another year
or two before textbooks dealing
with earth satellites are in gen.
eral use around the country. In
some schools, the students
won't see those books for an
other four or five years.
Many Textbooks Obsolete
According to a survey by the
American Textbook Publishers
Institute of New York-and
the institute may be a bit pref
udiced - the Nations high
schools needed to buy 1858
million worth Of textbooks last
year to replace those which
were worn out or obsolete. Ac-
tual purchases were $67 mil
lion. \
There is no national pro-
gram for the purchase of text.
books. Even the National De-
fenSe Education Act of 1859,
which provides for the build-up
of science libraries, specifically
bans the purchase Of textbooks
with NDEA funds.
Title Three of the NDEA
provides for $116 million in
Federal grants to the States to
buy equipment for science,
mathematics and foreign Ian
guage teaching. and to employ
State supervisors of instruction
in those three fields.
But as of now, NDEA officials
have no evidence that any of
the Federal funds have been
spent on science equipment.
when you only read about
science, instead of actually ex-
periencing it in the laboratory,
it is very dull, dry and uninter-
esting," says DR.. Obourne of the
Office of Education. "The stu
dents dislike it, and they stay
away from it,"
! DR.. Obourne, the Government