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

(2) that this problem stems mostly from limited opportunities
and experiences, and partly from inept or inappropriate teaching
rather than from lack of native ability;
(3) that the basis [of] improvement is increased skill in the four
areas of language, reading and writing, listening and speaking, and
in mathematics;
(4) that success in college also depends upon an enthusiasm for
learning; and
(5) that delaying the remedial and enrichment experience until
college years, whether through remedial courses or through supplementary
instruction, is inadequate and educationally expensive.
The program extends for an 8-week period during which the students
work from 8 to 12 hours daily without college credit. Each week they
spend at least 33 hours in intensive classroom instruction in writing, reading,
mathematics, speech, music and fine arts, public events and world
affairs, social and religious values, use of the library, and health activity.
Once a week they visit a place of special historical or cultural interest
in New Orleans. 107
To provide the desired variety of professional competence, the ratio
of teachers and counselors to students has been fixed at one or two. 108
This low ratio is, of course, reflected in the cost of the program: $400
per pupil for the 8 weeks. This cost, however, includes a considerable
amount of testing, study, and research, and the matching of the 40 summer
students with 40 comparable students in the freshmen class and
i or 2 staff people who give year-round attention to the program. 109
The cost also includes a scholarship given to each participating student,
representing about 75 percent of the tuition for the freshman year, on
the assumption that they might otherwise have worked during the summer.
After the freshman year, scholarships are available only oiv the
basis of academic performance and need. 110
Only two groups have now finished both the summer program and
their freshman work. Since they were selected to represent a fair
geographic and scholastic sample of Dillard's incoming classes, surely it
is significant that the proportion of them on the freshman dean's list was
i o times greater than that of others. 111
SUMMARY
Most of the programs discussed in the first part of this chapter for helping
Negro pupils adjust to higher academic standards, are privately
135