Public School Education of Atypical Children. Bulletin, 1931, No. 10
Author: Kunzig, Robert W.
Date: 1931-00-00
Type: Historical Materials
Subjects: Superintendents,Laws,Special Needs Students,Physical Disabilities,Mental Retardation,Behavior Problems,State Boards of Education,State Legislation,Urban Schools,Special Classes,Public Schools,Government Role,Questionnaires,Governance,Costs,Educational Finance,Educational Facilities

The 1930 White House Conference revealed the fact that approximately 22 out of every 100 children in the United States need special attention either in the form of medical and surgical treatment, professional supervision of feeding and exercise, or instruction under the direction of highly specialized teachers. It was revealed at that conference also that school administrators in the larger cities particularly are aware of these problems and that many have taken some steps toward providing remedies, at least for some of them. Accordingly, it seems worthwhile from time to time to secure a cross-section study of the provisions made for these groups of children and to record the results of experiments. The purpose of this study is primarily to analyze the educational opportunities being offered at present to atypical children by public-school boards in the large cities of the United States, and to determine the "unit costs" of this education. "Atypical" children are defined as those pupils requiring special facilities or instruction because of physical, mental, or moral deviation from the average (blind, deaf, mentally defective, gifted, disciplinary, etc.). State laws relating to the instruction of these children, in so far as it is controlled by local public-school boards, will be presented in tracing the relationship between the legislation and local initiative. Dr. Robert W. Kunzig, in the preparation for his Ph.D. degree, gathered, under the direction of the faculty of the University of Pennsylvania, much data which seems valuable to superintendents. From the material gathered for his dissertation, Dr. Kunzig has prepared this bulletin, which is divided into two sections. Part 1: State Control in States in Which There Are Cities of Over 100,000 Population deals with the provisions in the State laws relative to the establishment of atypical classes, the nature of the State aid provided, the trend of this legislation, and the organization and administration of State departments of special education. This material serves as background for the analysis of the local situation, which follows in Part II. Part II: Provision Made in Cities of 100,000 Population presents the role of the city in atypical class organization. First, there is a statistical analysis of the atypical class situation as it exists in the large cities. This is followed by a description of the local organization and administration of special classes, and the cost of special education to the local public school boards. Comparisons are made among the various cities as to existing special classes and the relative cost of their maintenance. Each individual chapter contains a section on "Summary and Conclusions." Data pertaining to the function of the State in special education were procured mostly from the State laws on education, State regulations and bulletins, and from questionnaires submitted to the State directors of special education or the superintendents of public instruction. Data pertaining to the function of the cities were obtained chiefly from the regulations, bulletins, and superintendents' reports issued by the cities, and from questionnaires sent to the financial officers of boards of education, directors of special education, supervisors, principals, and teachers. All of these sources were supplemented by material gathered from bulletins of the United States Office of Education, and from articles in books and periodicals dealing with public-school education. Appended to this document are: (1) Bibliography; and (2) Questionnaire Used in This Study: University of Pennsylvania School of Education. Individual sections contain footnotes. (Contains 22 tables and 4 figures.) [Best copy available has been provided.]