1961 US Commission on Civil Rights Report Book 2 - University of ...

ferences and conferences of national consultants; (5) kits, study guides,
and special posters; (6) standardized tests to assist in evaluating some
parts of the project and its results; and (7) instructional materials beyond
those ordinarily supplied. 82 Over the 5-year period 700 high school
and college teachers, numerous school administrators, and about 10,000
pupils were involved. The total 5-year cost of the program was $45 per
pupil, or less than $ i o a year. 83
The results are positive but not spectacular. Test scores of over 2,000
gth- and I2th-grade pupils at the beginning and end of the project
showed improvement in English, science, and social studies, but not in
mathematics. 84 The average pupil was still below the national norm
for his grade at the end of the project, but the well-known increase in the
gap relative to the national norm was not only arrested, but reversed,
in three basic subjects. 88
In the area of better selection and use of instructional materials, reports
indicate an improvement in four ways: (I) better use of library
facilities; (2) use of audiovisual materials and equipment for instruction
instead of entertainment; (3) increased use of community facilities
such as museums, manufacturing plants, and parks; and (4) more materials
and equipment for instruction via matching funds. 88
The evidence suggests that the project provided considerable stimulation
to the professional growth of teachers both at the high school and
college level. Overall, it has been summarized as a successful combination
of three ingredients: (i) imaginative leadership, (2) extensive
cooperations, and (3) a small expenditure of additional funds per
pupil. 37
The Banneker group program
The St. Louis Banneker group is an administrative cluster of 23 elementary
schools, enrolling 16,000 children, 95 percent of whom are Negro
children living in the most underprivileged section of the city. 88 Dr.
Samuel Shepard, Jr., the assistant superintendent in charge of the district,
became concerned when, upon the initiation of a three-track system
of ability grouping in the city's high schools, almost half of the 500 graduates
of his schools going on to high school were classified as track III
students. 39 Among the five school districts in the city, the Banneker
group students ranked lowest in citywide tests. 40
Dr. Shepard's success in raising the scholastic achievement and high
school classification of the Banneker group graduates in 3 school years,
without additional funds except for a summer remedial project mentioned
later, is spectacular. The table below compares high school
tracks to which Banneker school graduates were assigned at the start of
the program and 3 years later: 41 125