A survey of guidance programs in rural secondary schools of the United States with special emphasis on California

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A SURVEY OF GUIDANCE PROGRAMS IN RURAL SECONDARY SCHOOLS OF THE UNITED STATES WITH SPECIAL EMPHASIS ON CALIFORNIA

A Project Presented to the Faculty of the School of Education The University of Southern California

In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Master of Science in Education

by Robert Warren Coombs June 1950

UMI Number: EP46250

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'SI C. n i s

p'r

T his project report, w ritte n under the direction of the candidateJs adviser and app ro ved by him , has been presented to and accepted by the F a c u lty of the School of Ed u catio n in p a r t ia l fu lfillm e n t of the requirements f o r the degree

o f M a s t e r of

Science in E ducation.

Date...

......

A d vis er

Dean

TABLE OP CONTENTS CHAPTER I.

PAG-E .............

THE PURPOSE OF THE STUDY Statement of the problem Importance of the problem

. . . . . .................

1 1 2

Organization for the remainder of the study . . . . . . . . . II.

A REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE .

...........

............ .. .

3 4

Literature on pertinent facts concerning rural education ...............

4

Literature on guidance agencies in rural high schools

.............

Literature on orientation and follow-up

. .

6 6

Literature on the scope of guidance services III.

IV.

..........................

8

THE METHOD OF P R O C E D U R E ......................

10

Method of p r o c e d u r e .......................

10

Statement of sources of data

........

10

GENERAL INFORMATION ON SCHOOLS STUDIED . . . .

12

Geographical location

12

Size of the student body

........

Size of the f a c u l t y ................. V.

GUIDANCE PROGRAM ORGANIZATION Guidance program

.

12 15

...........

t 16

.....................

16

ill CHAPTER

PAGE Type of organization

................

16

guidance p r o g r a m .......................

18

Administrative control of

.............................. 18

Group guidance VI.

SCOPE OF THE GUIDANCE P R O G R A M ........... Individuals served . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

20

Individuals tested . . . . . . . . .

20 22

Records maintained

23

Orientation

.................

. . . . .

. . . . . . . . .

25

.......................

25

Occupational information

. . . . .

27

GUIDANCE PROGRAM PERSONNEL

............

30

Personnel Specialists VIII.

.........

Tests u s e d ..............

Follow-up service

VII.

20

................................ 30 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

32

SUMMARY AND C O N C L U S I O N S .......................... 34 Summary of

guidance program organization . . .

34

Summary of

guidance program scope

34

Summary of

guidance program personnel. . . .

35

Summary of

guidance services . .

36

. ........

............

B I B L I O G R A P H Y ...............................

37

APPENDIX A.

. . . . . . .

40

Selected rural high schools ............

44

APPENDIX B.

Questionnaire .............

LIST OF TABLES TABLE I.

PAGE Distribution of Schools According to Enrollment . . . . .

II.

...........

Distribution of SchoolsAccording to Number of Teachers

III. IV. V. VI. VII. VIII. IX.

13

Organizational Data Group Guidance

14

..............

. . . . .

17

.............................

19

Testing P r o g r a m .........................

21

Records M a i n t a i n e d ...........................

24

Orientation and Follow-up. . . . . . . . . .

26

Occupational Guidance

.......................

28

Guidance Personnel ...........................

31

CHAPTER I THE PURPOSE OF THE STUDY Many high schools are listed In the rural class­ ification.

The United States Office of Education defines

a rural high school as one existing in a town of twentyfive hundred population or less.

These schools educate a

large proportion of our population, yet very few meaning­ ful studies have been made in this area.

These Instit­

utions have developed and maintained guidance services ranging from practically no guidance* to schools with well organized programs. Statement of the problem.

It was the purpose of

this study to survey the guidance services in rural high schools throughout the United States, and particularly in California.

More specifically, the purpose of the study

was to obtain answers to the following questions: 1. How many schools maintained organized guidance services? 2. What was the general scope of the guidance services? 3. Do rural high schools provide orientation? 4. How extensive are the testing programs? 3. Is follow-up common in schools of this size?

6. What persons were responsible for the admin­ istration of the guidance program? 7. What persons were responsible for the super­ vision of the guidance program? 8. What were the organizational patterns of the various programs? 9. How many schools employed counselors? 10. Were guidance specialists often employed? Importance of the problem.

There is a definite need

for guidance programs in all areas of education.

This

study is intended to furnish information concerning the status of guidance services in rural secondary schools. B. Evard Blanchard^* has stated that from the many studies of rural secondary schools, it appears that rural schools will have to organize a curriculum to meet the needs and interests of four differentiated classes of students: 1. Those who will sever all connections with the school upon reaching the compulsory school attendance age. 2. Those who will be graduated from the high school

^ B. Evard Blanchard, "Guidance in the Rural Secondary School", National Assn. See. Schools Bulletin, 28:75-78, N o v e m b e r , 1944.

and remain on the farm. 3. Those who will be graduated from high school, remain on the farm temporarily, and then go to the city in quest of a Job. 4. Those who will be graduated from high school and will enter college. Guidance is

in a period of trial and error,

especially in rural secondary schools.

The teachers and

administrators should be convinced of the importance of guidance services. Many pupils enter the world today with no vocational training beyond that in unskilled labor.

The rural school

needs to work toward the goal of helping all students to help themselves. Organization for the remainder of the study.

In

order that some background for this study may be established, Chapter II is a brief review of some of the field of rural guidance.

the

literaturein

secondary education, with emphasison

Chapter III includes the general information on

the schools studied.

Chapter IV is a brief discussion of

the organization of the several guidance programs.

The

scope of the guidance program covering available services is found in Chapter V. referral agencies. and conclusions.

Chapter VI includes personnel and

The final chapter includes the summary

CHAPTER II A REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE A review of some of the literature brings out the fact that many of our rural school youth labor under difficulties which are not known to the people.

The

guidance movement has shown great progress in some areas in rural high schools, but only a small beginning has been made.

Some of the unequal advantages of rural school

children will be discussed in this chapter. There is much literature in this area, but there is very little constructive research. Literature on pertinent facta concerning rural education.

The following material was obtained from the

report on The White House Conference on Rural Education in 1944.1 The rural schools of this country enroll 12,000,000 pupils, or about 48 per cent of all public school pupils in the nation, but these schools only receive about 38 per cent of the funds.

These institutions employ 52 per cent

of the nation's teachers.

They have 83 per cent of the

1 White House Conference on Rural Education in 1944 (National Education Association of the United States, December, 1945),• p. 27.

nation’s school buildings, and 90 per cent of all pupil transportation is for rural students.

The average salary

of a rural school teacher is $937*00, as compared with $1,937*00 for the urban teacher.

Expenditures are $86.00

per pupil in rural sections, and $174.00 in urban local­ ities.

These Inadequate salaries and deplorable teaching

conditions cause qualified teachers to leave rural areas. Twenty per cent of the teachers in rural secondary schools have had less than two years of education beyond the high school level. High school education is far from universal for rural youth.

Statistics show that far more children of

high school age attend urban schools than attend rural high schools.

The range of rural white youth is from 32.2

per cent in Kentucky, to 87*5 percent in Utah.

The typical

rural high school has an enrollment of one hundred pupils. On the other hand there are several million children attending school in mere shacks, using a few wornout, dirty textbooks, taught by teachers who have not as much as completed a high school education, and often no more than the eighth grade, without the aid of modern instructional methods, or the assistance of _ competent and sympathetic Instructional supervision. The previously mentioned facts and statements show vividly that American Education is falling to provide a large percentage of her children with an adequate education

2 Ibid., p. 31.

program.

This situation could be greatly improved by

proper leadership, financial aid, and guidance. The White House Report emphasized the fact that rural guidance should be twelve months a year, to include all aspects of wholesome growth.

Experience must be

provided both in and out of school.

■55

Literature on guidance agencies in rural schools. In their book on guidance in rural schools, Strang and Hatcher2* point out the need for state and county assistance in providing essential guidance services.

They have listed

and discussed many ideas, and a few will be included below. In Harlan County, Kentucky, a specialized counseling service was established in 1940.

Michigan has a state-wide stim­

ulation of guidance in rural sehools through the department of vocational education. this latter plan.

The teacher is the key person in

California maintains a child guidance

service with emphasis on mental hygiene. Literature on orientation and follow-up.

Many

follow-up studies have been made at the secondary school level, and they are applicable to the rural situation.

3 Ibid., p. 47. ^ R. Strang and L. Hatcher, Child Development and Guidance in Rural Schools (Harper and Brothers, 1943), 218 pp.

c

*

Christiansen3 made a study in which Tie asked only two questions:

(1) present occupation; and (2) place of

residence.

He concluded that most of the pupils remain in

the community in which they were educated.

This statement

might be true in urban communities, but it is doubtful if the majority of rural youth remain in the community in which they were educated. The value of good counseling may be shown by a follow-up study by Landy

g

of occupational adjustment.

He

stated that counseled students usually were better adjusted than students lacking counseling. Webster*^ used a questionnaire to discover the effectiveness of educational and vacational guidance, and found that seventy-five per cent of his predictions were correct.

He also found that most pupils favored follow-up.

^ Clara N* Christiansen, "Students Vote for More Guidance", California Journal of Secondary Education, 13053-57, October, 1 9 W » 6 Edward Landy, Occupational Adjustment and the Schoof, Bulletin of National Association of Secondary School Principals, 24:1-160, November, 19^0. ^ E. C. Webster, "A Follow-up of Vocational Guidance", Journal of Applied Psychology, 26:285-95, June, 1942.

Thus, a conclusion may he drawn that orientation and follow-up are essential services which enable the student to make suitable vocational choices and adjustments. Literature of guidance services. and Weltzel

8

Lefever, Turrell,

point out that a teacher in a small school has

the advantage of personal acquaintanceship with the pupil, and also that a rural school curriculum is not nearly as complex as that of most urban high schools. The following services are listed as essential by Louise Campbell:^

(1) limited counseling, (2) records,

(3) tests, (4) group guidance through core curriculum and assembly; and (5) health services.

This plan advocates

that all small high schools adopt the core curriculum plan. A course in vocations would be provided at the ninth grade level, and this unit would also provide orientation.

The

suggested testing program included mental tests, preference tests, personality tests, and achievement tests.

The

guidance program of the rural secondary school would have to meet the needs, interests, and abilities of the pupils, in addition to the local budget.

8 D. Welty Lefever, Archie M. Turrell, and Henry I. Weitzel, Principles and Techniques of (3-uldanee (New York: The Ronald Press Company7 1941), p. 202. q Louise Campbell, "Beginning guidance for Small High Schools", Texas Outlook, 28:19-21, January, 1944.

The literature shows the need for guidance at the rural school level.

This need is justified in many ways,

such as number of pupils, teaching facilities, vocational adjustment, and numerous other ways.

CHAPTER III THE METHOD OF PROCEDURE A brief explanation of the method of procedure seems necessary in the present study.

This explanation will

help clarify the data compiled in the following chapters. The summary and conclusions should be more meaningful if the reader has a knowledge of the method of procedure, and of the sources of data. Method of procedure.

The size of the area to be

covered eliminated all research techniques, with the excep­ tion of the questionnaire. Two schools were selected, by random sampling, from each of the forty-eight states.

The same method of sampling

was utilized to select one rural high school from each county in California. Statement of sources of data.

Sixty of ninety-six

questionnaires sent out throughout the nation were returned, and only four were Incomplete.

This gave a return of nearly

sixty-three per cent. Thirty-four of fifty-six replies were obtained from California sources, and all were completed.

The per cent

of return in this area was slightly over sixty per cent.

11 A systematic study of available, current research was made to discover Information and data pertinent to this survey.

Five of the schools were visited personally, and

that information is incorporated in the statistics. The schools were selected on the basis of the official 1940 census.

The California School Directory for

1949-50 was used to obtain the names of principals and the addresses of the schools.

A complete list of all of the

schools reporting is included in the appendix.

CHAPTER IV GENERAL INFORMATION ON SCHOOLS STUDIED The Information in this chapter Is intended to give supplemental data.

The points under discussion were con­

sidered to be of sufficient Interest to be valuable In a general study.

Nearly all of the data was received from

the questionnaire. Geographical location.

The schools Included were

distributed on a nation-wide basis, while the California institutions were selected on a county basis.

The schools

throughout the nation were chosen by random sampling. The predominate type of surrounding territory was agricultural, although there were several other types mentioned. Size of the student body.

A fairly wide distribution

of enrollment was discovered despite the fact that the study was limited to rural secondary schools.

The majority of the

pupils were concentrated in the area from one hundred to four hundred students, as is shown in Table I.

Only two

schools reported more than one thousand students, and only 3ix schools had an enrollment less than one hundred.

13

TABLE I DISTRIBUTION OF SCHOOLS ACCORDING TO ENROLLMENT

California

Enrollment

Num­ ber

United Stat