2 THE NATIONAL YOUTH ADMINISTRATION by PALMER O. JOHNSON and OSWALD L. HARVEY with an introduction by DOAK S. CAMPBELL Staff Study Number 13 Prepared for THE ADVISORY COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE WASHINGTON : 1938 For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, Washington, D. C. FOREWORD BY THE COMMITTEE The Advisory Committee on Education was appointed by the President of the United States on September 19, 1936, initially for the purpose of making a study of the experience under the existing program of Federal aid for vocational education, the relation of such training to general education and to prevailing economic and social conditions, and the extent of the need for an expanded program of Federal aid for vocational education. The Committee was requested to develop recommendations that would be available to the Congress and the Executive. Under its original assignment, the Committee was known as the President's Committee on Vocational Education. In a later letter dated April 19, 1937, the President stated that he had been giving much thought to the general relationship of the Federal Government to education, that numerous bills in connection with educational matters were pending in the Congress, and that it was his understanding that the Committee was already in possession of much information bearing upon the subject. He therefore requested the Committee to give more extended consideration to the whole subject of Federal relationship to State and local conduct of education, and to prepare a report. In accordance with this request, the Committee enlarged the scope of its work and prepared a comprehensive report, which was transmitted to the President on February 18, 1938, and was transmitted by him to the Congress on February 23, 1938. The report was printed as House Document No. 529, Seventy-fifth Congress, third session. An indexed edition of the report, differing in pagination but not in text, was also printed for public use by the Advisory Committee, and has been made widely available.1 1 The Advisory Committee on Education, Report of the Committee, for sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U. S. Government Printing Office, Washington, D. C. Price 35 cents. The Committee was assisted in its work by a temporary staff of specialists in education, public administration, and economics. The major function of this staff was to collect, analyze, and interpret available data bearing upon the problems under consideration by the Committee. Time did not permit any extensive amount of original research, and original research was not attempted except in areas where the existing information seemed entirely inadequate. The work of the staff did result, however, in a number of studies which present in convenient form a large amount of information bearing upon the status and problems of education in the United States. The present volume is one of the studies prepared by the research staff. The statements and conclusions contained in it are those of the authors, and do not necessarily conform to those of the Committee. The findings of this study were considered by the Committee, however, in formulating the conclusions and recommendations that appear in its own report. Dr. Palmer O. Johnson, the senior author of this study, is professor of education, University of Minnesota. Under the general supervision of Dr. Doak S. Campbell, dean of the Graduate School of Education and director of the Senior College, George Peabody College for Teachers, Dr. Johnson initiated the present study and devoted the summer of 1937 to field work, the collection of basic information, and the preparation of a preliminary report. After it became necessary for Dr. Johnson to return to the University of Minnesota, Dr. Oswald L. Harvey of the Committee's staff was assigned to work with Dr. Johnson in the completion of the study. Dr. Harvey brought together additional information and assisted in preparing the study for publication. The data included are in general those available at the end of 1937, although in some cases the study has been revised to include other data available up to May 1938, the time when the study was sent to press. AUTHORS' ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Special acknowledgments are due the officials of the National Youth Administration, who willingly cooperated in making available to the authors the materials in the national office and also assisted in collecting further information from State sources. Numerous other Federal, State, and private agencies and individuals also cooperated helpfully. Dr. C. Currien Smith assisted in the general planning of the study. Mr. Joseph H. Daoust was of much assistance in the preparation of statistical and other data, and Miss Clare W. Butler compiled bibliographical material used by the authors. V |