approach would facilitate the process of securing agreements on fundamental aspects of the program. Evaluation studies in the field of secondary education are continuously making their contributions to improvement of practice. These studies were frequently and favorably mentioned throughout the returns to this inquiry. If the basic approach in these studies is sound, if the techniques developed have proven themselves in the hands of competent people, especially when used as instruments of self-evaluation (and there seems to be general agreement on all of this), then the logic of the situation would demand that the proponents of this approach in our schools and colleges of education should be interested and willing to turn similar spotlights upon themselves and their operations. That such interest and willingness exist in many institutions is evident throughout the responses to this inquiry. This chapter will be concluded with a brief discussion of the quantitative aspects of this study. It was stated early in this report that little emphasis would be given to the purely quantitative aspects of the responses. While the questions asked were essentially questions of fact and while every attempt was made to phrase the questions as specifically and objectively as possible, it is perfectly clear that in answering them respondents were called upon to exercise judgment and discrimination. It was first necessary for them to interpret each question with respect to the nature of the activity or practice or point of view in question. It was then necessary for them to evaluate such practice or point of view as it exists within the institution for which they were reporting. It was finally necessary for them to determine whether an affirmative or a negative answer most accurately described the situation in their institution. Reference already has been made to some difficulties encountered in interpretation and evaluation on the part of the individuals who checked the inquiry form. It is abundantly clear that the responses to all questions were conscientiously made. Having all of these considerations in mind it is no reflection upon the intent or the integrity of the respondents in this inquiry to say that the answers to the particular questions asked cannot in all cases be taken at their face value as a sufficiently accurate picture of current practice. Full allowance must be made for subjective factors which condition all judgments of the kind called for in this inquiry. And it is for these reasons that throughout this report care has been taken not to overemphasize the purely quantitative aspects, numbers, percents, and the like. On the other hand, an over-all quantitative distribution may have some value in revealing certain general characteristics of the total situation which this inquiry has attempted to canvass. Since the problem areas and questions were for the most part suggested by representative people in the field and since so many of them were referred to by respondents in identifying so-called neglected areas, it seems fair to assume that they included questions which would be generally accepted as being important in relation to the total problem of professional education for school administration. Attention is therefore directed to the distribution of responses for the total group of 62 institutions represented: I-1. Systematic efforts, cooperative development, philosophy of administration 2. Efforts resulted in framework of objectives for education program 3. Agreements based on cooperations by faculty members 3. Guidance procedures especially effective- undergraduate admission 4. Studies of predictive measures of administrative ability 5. Make use of such measures in guidance program 6. Specifications developed for good administration 7. Specifications used in developing curricular and guidance procedures 8. Student competence to plan program, criterion, admission to degree candidacy 9. Accept responsibility for follow-up aid on the job IV-1 Experience accepted as adequate provision for practice 2. Program provides practice under guidance - internships, etc. 3. Program provides experiences for skills in working with other people 4. Provides training, standards, techniques, utilization community agencies V-1 Provides adequate education in child study la Provides education in nature of adults 2. Synthesized teaching materials used in study of whole human being 3. Opportunities for observation and study-child study centers, clinics 3a Systematic provisions made for such study 5. Provisions for study of society and educational implications 6. Vocational education problems given some major emphasis in program 8 Special non-degree programs provided Distribution of responses to questions for the total group of institutions (62) responding. This figure shows the considerable variation in the number of affirmative responses to the various questions asked. Regardless of the extent to which these variations reveal strengths or weaknesses in current practice it would appear that generally the provisions canvassed under content and organization of program are most frequently reported and that the activities and procedures referred to under selection and guidance of students are least frequently reported. It would also seem reasonable to draw a conclusion that standards for what constitutes good practice and content in programs for the education of school administrators have not generally been developed or adopted. All of this brings into sharp focus again the need for a concerted frontal attack on these problems by all groups and agencies concerned. One further conclusion can be drawn from this distribution which is altogether to the credit of the institutions represented and which augurs well for the future. There is no evidence at any point of a piling up of affirmative responses to present a favorable picture. There is every evidence of conservatism in setting forth claims of achievement and, as previously stated, of a healthy sense of the limitations and inadequacies of present provisions and practices. Part II CURRENT PRACTICES AND THINKING RELATED TO THE IN-SERVICE IMPROVEMENT OF ADMINISTRATIVE PERSONNEL AS REPORTED BY 36 STATE AND TERRITORIAL DEPARTMENTS OF EDUCATION |