Repository: UIHistories Project: Book - Four-Year Report of UI President (1950) [PAGE 35]

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Council on 1 her Education, all phases of teacher training hav been evaluated and improved. Assistance has been made available to high school students who are considering teaching as a profession Counseling services have been provided for students who enter a teacher training curriculum. Each of the 19 four- and five-year curricula approved in 1945 has been modified and, in addition, 10 new curricula have been formulated and approved, including preparation for teaching in an elementary school and teaching handicapped children. The placement service has been vitalized and a follow-up division added. This latter division, established only a year ago, has developed working contacts with 1,114 graduates of the University. Enrollments in undergraduate teacher training curricula have increased from 1,500 in September, 1946, to 2,334 in September, 1949. The revision of the undergraduate program has resulted in an improved series of courses, student teaching on a full-time basis in selected schools throughout Illinois, and more functional work in educational psychology. The graduate program of the College of Education has also been modified extensively to meet, in a more meaningful and individual manner, the needs of persons who are preparing for professional work in education. The number of graduate students with majors in education has increased 245 per cent during the past four years. Of the 10,518 different graduate students registered in the first and second semesters of 1949-50 and the summer session of 1950, 4,224 had majors in education. The staff has been increased by 100 per cent during the past three years. The newer appointees and persons already on the staff have rapidly developed into an effective team. During the past year alone, the staff published 60 research reports and 53 books or substantial pamphlets. Twenty-two members of the staff occupied important positions in professional organizations. Members of the staff have been leaders in the Illinois Secondary School Curriculum Program. This program, sponsored by the State Superintendent of Public Instruction, has won national recognition Three hundred school systems in Illinois are presently participating 36