Book Description

In recent years, numerous questions have been raised in correspondence and in conferences about the education of children in grades seven and eight. In response to the interest expressed, the Elementary Schools Section of the Office of Education invited a group of educators representing administrators, supervisors, teachers, and teacher-educators to a conference to discuss the need for a study of educational programs in these grades and the methods by which a study might be carried out and reported. It was decided in this conference that such a study would be useful to school administrators, supervisors, and teachers and that it should be undertaken by the Office of Education. Schools were selected in several ways. Letters were sent by the Elementary Schools Section of the Office of Education to the director of instruction in each State Department of Education explaining the study and inviting him to name several schools in the State which might be visited in search of good practices in the education of 7th and 8th grade children. In carrying out the observations, an effort was made to visit schools in every State and to include a wide variety of schools. The present bulletin, then, is the result of research, observation, and interviews. "Part One" reports the results of research into characteristics and needs of children commonly found in grades seven and eight and projects some characteristics of desirable educational programs for them. "Part Two" reports some of the things schools included in this study are doing for children and some of the ways in which these schools work with parents and the community. Little attempt is made to evaluate the practices reported here; rather it is left to the reader to make his own evaluation of the immediate or long-range value of any practice in meeting the needs of children of these ages in the United States in their steady growth toward maturity. Appended are: (1) Concerns expressed by administrators; (2) Concerns expressed by teachers; and (3) Concerns expressed by parents. A bibliography is included. [Best copy available has been provided.].