Montgomery County sentinel. [volume] (Rockville, Md.) 1855-1974, 1963-09-19
Bircher Blasts Textbooks;
Student Survey Is Probed
Board Head
Calls Study
An Insult


The School Board and
School Supt. c. Taylor Whit
tier will take a close look at
the second phase of a contro-
versial motivation and atti-
tudes survey Of Montgomery
Junior College students, fol-
lowing a heated debate this
week on the merits of an i'm
itial 284-item QUESTIONABLE.
School officials, including jun
Tor college Dean Donald E.
Deyo, firmly denied they had
received any complaints from
parents or students on the ques-
tionnaire, circulated among in
coming junior college freshmen
this month.
But School Board President
Charles w. Bell won board ma
j0rity support for his demand
for an immediate tightening Of
policy on research projects con.
Quoted In county schools.
The questionable, developed
by the Educational Testing
Service of Princeton, N. j.,
which also prepares the nation
ally-accepted College Board En-.
trance Examinations, was term.
ed by Bell lust so much non.
sense" and IAN intrusion and an
insult to the rights Of parents
and students alike"
In a statement read In his
absence by majority member
Everett w. Woodward, Bell
urged "any tests, quizzes, ques-
tionnaires, or the like, other
than those Of the normal AGA
demic nature usually given to
measure academic achievement
and prepare report cards" be
banned unless approved by the.
School Board.
He said valuable time and
money" went into the dIstribu-
ton and correlation of the ques-
tionnaire. Under questioning
by board members, however,
Dean Deyo estimated no more
than IS hours of junior college
staff time went into the prof.
ect.
He noted that most of the ef-
fort involved - answering the
questions - was put forth by
students themselves.
The School Board has re.
cently-adopted policy requiring
any research project entailing
substantial time and effort OF
the teaching staff to be cleared
with both Whittier and the
School Board.
Whittier said he had not
cleared circulation of the ques-
tionnaire, and had left it to
Deyo's judgment, since scoring
and evaluation were not to be
done by college staff members.
Deyo said he had considered
the questionable "a worthwhile
endeavor," outside the purview
Of the boards policy which he
had interpreted to relate only to
projects involving school re-
search personnel.
Bell declared he could find
mo possible educational value
in the project"
ITO me, inquiring Of college
youngsters how much alcohol
they drink, how they feel about
interraciaI marriage, how many
hours their parents watch telc-
vision on weekends, and the
like, Is further indulgence ~
the penchant Of so many people
In these times 10 conduct a mass
psychiatric examination for
vague and questionable pur-
poses"
II don't believe" he con-
tinued, "the parents and stu
dents Of Montgomery County
have the desire TO 'out-Califor.
mia California so TO speak, or
to jump at every whim Of the
Educational Testing Service, the
Educational Facilities Labora-
tory or the Ford Foundation.
II believe a student should be
ACCIDENTALLY and morally quail
fled to attend our schools, and
we need know no more"
Bells arguments were coun-
tered vigorously by minority
board members Lucille Maurer
and Dr. Clifford Beck, who
praised both the purpose and
scope of the questionable.
Beck said such inventories
were essential to evaluating the
potential Of today's college stu
dent.
There was a time when II
you made AS and BIS that was
all you needed to get into col
lege. Strictly applied, this would
have excluded Albert Einstein,
Thomas Edison and Winston
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