Evening star., 1960-10-09
BY G. X. HODENFIELD

Associated Press Education Writer
The junior high school, often
treated as the poor stepsister
in the education family, is a
vitally important institution
and deserves nothing but the
best, a leading American edu-
Gator declared yesterday.
DR.. James B. Conant, re-
porting on a year-long study
of grades z. 8 and 9, said the
junior highs need specially
qualified teachers-and more of
them-as well as tailor made
study programs.
He warned, too, Of treating
the three-year junior high as
a small-scale high school: In
terscholastic athletics a and
marching bands are to be con-
demned in junior high schools;
there Is no sound educational
reason for them and too often
they serve merely as public en-
tertalnment. Graduation
ceremonies with diplomas and
cap and gown have no place at
the junior high school level"
Visited 237 Schools
| DR.. Conant and his staff vis-
tied 237 schools in 80 school
systems in % States during the
1959-60 school year. His report,
"a Memorandum to School
Boards: Education in the Jun
ior High School Years." is a
follow-up to his "The Ameri-
can High School Today" pub
lished in January of last year.
Both surveys were underwrit-
ten by the Carnegie Corp. of
New. York.
DR.. Conant spelled out Ia
recommendations, ranging
from the academic subjects he
thinks all pupils should study
to the number of assistants the
school principal should have,
He acknowledged the recon-
mendations are "purposely con-
servative," and based on what
he considered to be the best
practices he found in the
schools he visited. Thus there
is nothing startlingly new in
his proposals.
EARLY adolescence is a very
special period physically, emo
tionally and socially" DR.
Conant said. 1T is a crucial
age in the transition from
childhood to adulthood anC
often presents many problems.
He said the junior high
school program should reflect
this transition.
Recommendations Listed
Some of his major recon.
mendations are:
All pupils in grades 7 anC
8 should be required to study
English with heavy emphasis
on reading and composition)
social studies with emphasis
on history and geography
basis arithmetic or beginning
mathematics, and science.
All seventh and eighth grade
pupils also should receive in.
struction in music, art ano
physical education. All girls
should study home economics,
all boys should study in.
dustrial arts.
"A small fraction" of pupils
eighth grade. At least some
of these pupils g to S per cent
on a national basis will be pre-.
pared to study college-leve
mathematics by the time they
reach grade IL. But the
schools shouldn't try to pro-
coed too rapidly by including
pupils who ought not to study
mathematics until grade 8.
Some. if not all" pupils
should start the study of a
modern foreign language on a
conversational basis with a BIZ
lingual teacher in the seventh
grade. But, if the foreign Ian
guage instruction starts in the
seventh grade, the school board
must be willing to finance con-
tinued study in the same Ian
guage in grades 8 through IL.
There should be continued
emphasis on instruction in the
basic skills, particularly read
ing and arithmetic. BY the end
of grade nine. the pupils should
be able to read the front page
of a newspaper at the rate of
about 200 words a minute-and
understand it. The reading
speed of most college students
falls between $50 and 900 words
per minuteD Remedial courses,
with specially trained teachers,
should be set up for students
\