COLECCION PUERTORRIQUEÑA
the pueRto ricao stuóy THE EDUCATION AND ADJUSTMENT OF PUERTO RICANS IN NEW YORK CUY
Sponsored by the Board of Educafion of the Cíty of New York ünder a grant-in-aid from The Fund fcr the Advancement of Educatlon 39 Easf 85ih Street, New York 28, N. Y. Tel. LEhígh 5-3320
•
J. CAYCE MORRISON, Director
A Letter to Fríends of Puerto Pican Children ^itjiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii.iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiitiiiH
October 1, 1955
Dear Supervisors and Teachers:
I The Puerto Rican Study I
We, the Puerto Rican Study staff, are asked, "What have yon leamed that will tvas initiated October 1953 | be useful to teachers and supervisors?" The question is pertínent. As you open and developed through the j a new school year, as you face pupils cooperation of nine puhlic | new to our schools, we hope you may
I I I schools serving as experi- ¡ I
mental centers. It is
find our answers useful.
First of all, we have learned of the
difflculties that confronted teachers and noto |
supervisors ín trying ta serve the needs heing extended into other | of the rapid immigration of Puerto Rican pupils. We have observed your paschools, in arder to profit | tience, your persistence, the rich creafrom their experience and i tivity of your varied effort to serve well
I I j these newcomers in our schools. You j to obtain a loider revieiv of j crea.tec].a perfect settíng.for the kind of study to which we are committed. j the tentative findings befare | Secondiy, we have learned something I theij are crijstallized into | of the infinite complexity of the probI propasáis for action.
cess or failure may start a succession of events not fuUy known ñor understood by those who follow. Because of thís complexity, we write you ín due humility. But also, we write you in confidence, not that we have final answers to your questions, but confidence that in thinking and working together we may develop a program that will serve the needs of all the children of this city. As you will see, our confidence is rooted in the
cordial, critical, searching cooperation we have received from the teachers and
supervisors of nine schools that have worked with us during the past year. We ask you to examine our propositíons, to discuss them in your facult\' - meeting.s, to read the available repcrts from which they have beeu derived, and where feasible to test them in your work. In this letter, we can report little of leins confrontíng you. We have learned the evidence, little of the logic back of that what works in one school may not these propositions. That will come later work in another; that a practice may in various reports.^Some detail you will bring results in one classroom and prove 'fill in from your own study, obserx'aa dud in the next; that a particular suc- tion and experience.
Puerto Rican children await school opening in San Juan
♦
Puor+o Rican Study fests abiÜ+y +o understand spoken English
chíldren were gíven equivalent Span ísh and English versíons of a reading test developed ín Puerto Rico.® Them—"Who Are the Puerto The study of Puerto Rican pupíls Ríecin Pupíls ín New York City ís being continued. It is being extended to grades one through three and ínto the lie Schools?" high schools. It ís probíng other facets, In the spring of 1954 the Puerto Rican e.g., the ability to speak English and Studv obtafnecl cletailecl backgroiiiid in- the niobílity of Puerto Rican chíldren formation on each of 2,478 pupíls ín in New York City schools. Grades 4-6 of four elementary schools The following conclusíons, stíll tenand of 3,721 pupíls ín Grades 7-9 of tative, wíll serve as a guide to yon ín three júnior bigh schools. Slightly more the study of Puerto Rican pupíls ¡n your than half of these pupíls were Puerto school or class: ProposStion 1—To Teach Children, We Must Firsf Know
Kicans. About 1,700 of the Puerto Ri
can pupíls were ínterviewcd in Spanísh bv members of the PRS staíf, who were native Puerto Rícans and had been es-
peciallv coached to conduct the inter\'íews.°
Of the total sample (íf nearlv 6,200 pupíls. about 5.000 were tested for gen eral intellectiial abilítv, ability to un derstand spoken Englísli. abílitv to read and ability to perforin basic aríthmetical cornputations. Thev were tested aiso in the realm of attitudes and inter-
ests.
The tests were adinínístered ín
Spanisli tí) all chíldren whose knowledge of English. in the teacher's judgment. was inadequate. About 700 Puerto Rican
a. A simple and useful classíficatíon of Puerto Rican pupils includes:
In general, the differences in school achíevement and adjustment between these groups are consistent.
b. All schools need to take a new and hard look at the needs of the Puer to Rícaii child who comes to us
from a grade one or more years below the grade normal for his age ín New York City. In our sample of nearly 2,400 pupils born in Puerto Rico, about 600 bypassed one or more grades on enteríng New York City schools. We need to determine more specifícally the eíFect of thís practice.
1) Pupíls born in Puerto Rico and partly schooled ín Puerto Rico.
c. The high mobílíty of Puerto Rican pupils in New York Citv schools creates a special problem.'Of about
2) Pupils born ín Puerto Rico but
Puerto Ricans, transferring to New
1,400 island-born, island-schooled
entirely schooled in New York
York City Schools, about 20 per-
City.
cent changed schools once a year
3) Pupíls born ín New York City of parents one or both of whom were born ín Puerto Rico.
or ofteiiei-. The comparable figure for their non-Puerto Rican class-
mates was less than two per cent. d. We
can
take
new
confídc;'■
in the educability of Puerto Rican * Rc-pürts of the foregoing studies under the ticle, "\X'hü Are the Puerto Rican Pupils in New York City
Pubiit Schools?" are availablc to New York City schools.
A spetial cdition of the combined reports is in prc-ss.
chíldren from two facts; (1) the average IQ of Puerto Rican born
cliildren, as measiu'ed by a nonverbal intelligence test, tends to increase with each year spent in New York Cíty, (2) the average
Proposition
2 — The
Puerto
Rican Child's First Contact
Important Event in Its Lite
in New York City increases, grade by grade, to the eighth when they very nearly equal their non-Puerto
Than Most of Us Realize.
e. On a test of abilíty to iinderstand spoken English, the average island-born Puerto Rican pupil in creases his score each year spent in New York City. The average New York Cíty born Puerto Rican in the fourth grade is about two grades below his non-Puerto Rican classmate in ability to understand English; by the eighth grade he very nearly equals his non-Puerto Rican classmate.
responsibñity.
with Our Schools is a More
IQ of Puerto Rican children bovn
Rican class mates.
If child is not living with parents, ñame of person exercising parental If accuracy of foregoing items cannot be established at the time of registration, the items should be ^■erified within the first week or t\va of the school
These children are shy, diffident, often
afi-aid. New York is big and sti-ange. Even those who thought they knew Eng
vear.
Since Puerto Ricans move frequently
during theíi- first t\vo years in New York, lish find that it sounds different here. accuracy of home address should be Will they find wannth, understandchecked frequently. The floor on which ing? the family resides and the apartment
Their reception, screening and place ment are most important. Will there be someone to receive them who can
converse in Spanish with those who are
not fluent in English? If the receptionist not only speaks Spanish but knows Puerto Rico also, a friendly inquiry about the oíd home, the former school
r.umber should be recorded. (See Gen
eral Gircular No. 35, May 16, Í955, Item 2—School Records for Puerto Rican Pu
pils. ) Both in speaking and writing, respect the child's ñame. Spanish ñames follow this order;
f. In the placement and guidance is the first step in establishing a friendly of Puerto Rican jDupils, ti'ansfer- bond. If, perchance, the school is not ring from Puerto Rican schools, we adequately stafíed with Spanish speakshould probably give more atten- ing personnel, often there are bilingual
All males and unmarried women; baptismal ñame first, then paternal family ñame, and last the maternal family ñame.
Spanish speaking parents who are glad to help, or older Puerto Rican cliildren who can be helpful.
Married women: baptismal ñame first, then paternal familv ñame, and last the hiisband's ñame replacing ma
tion to their ability to read Spanish. Ability to read Spanish is an Índex of abilíty to learn to read English. In testíng 670 pupils with both the Spanish and English versions of a reading test, we found tliat in all Grades, 5-9 in
One of the chief handicaps we have observed ín the handling of Puerto Rican pupils is the lack of adequate
clusive. there was a positi'.-e cor- records. Under guidance the Spanish relation between the two measures.
g. It is not enough to teach the Puer to Rican child to understand and
speaking personnel can help obtain accurate records. Both the Admission Eorm for New Entrants and the Gumulative
speak English. He needs specific, Record Gard provide for the essential information needed. The following it?:ns indivídualized instructíon in read
ing and writing English. In read are especiallv important: ing ability the New York Citv born Ñame, age and bii'thplace of child. Puerto Rican pupils lag from 2.0 reading grades in Grade 4 to 3.2 Ñame and birthplace of each parent. in Grade 9 behind their non-Puer Record of prior schooling bv vear. to Rican classmates. The a\x^rage school and grade. lag of the island-born Puerto Ri can pupils is even more. Working Home address, and telephone, and/or on this problem, during the enñame and telephone of person suing year, will be a major underthroLigh whom parent or child may
taking of the Puerto Rican Study.
be reached.
Learníng English through meaníngfu! experience
ternal family ñame.
Manv schools use bilingual mimeographed materials in registering new pupils. Be sure that your Spanish is correct. It is exceedíngly difficult to repro duce some Spanish svmbols on the Eng lish tvpewi-iter.
Proposition 3—Placement and
Grouping of Pupils for in structíon :s a Major Problem Confronting the New York City Schools. By September 1956 the Puerto Rican
Study expects to know a gi-eat deal more about this problem than we know to-
Language learners discuss tabie exhibíf
j
day. For the present, I sliall indícate some of tlie things we have observed, state some tentativa hypotheses we are exploring, and describe brlefly the research we have planned, to obtain answers to the troublesome questions involved.
a. Some things we have observed: 1) There is great variety in the
•«'etKe lódaw y
Sunny Uue
Li^hcnVv.'; orvy
--.NWe .fldn
compo'sitíon and programs of orientation classes.
2) The orientation class tends to
be geared to the abilities of the retarded language learners and
often fails to challenge the child with above average men tal ability. 3) Children who do well in the
orientation classes often get lost when transferred to regular
classes. This transition appears to be extremely important. 4) Puerto Rican children dtffer in
Learning toge+her: In míxed first-year class 5) Transition from the orientation class—a provisión for development of aural-oral competency
During 1955-56 eighteen elementary and júnior hígh schools will cooperate with the Puerto Rican
in English—to the regular school program is a very critícal pe-
Study in an intensivo controlled experiment to determine the rela
tivo merits of placement of newly
bridge the gap between prior schooling and the grade to which their age would entítle
riod. Adequate solution of this problem will probably require both consistent, systematic guidance within the larger class group and prodiiction of materíals that will help compénsate
them.
for the child's relatíve lack in
their ability to learn English even as native born children
vary in ability to learn.
5) Some children entering New York City schools from Puerto
Rico need carefully planned, individualized
instruction
to
reading ability.
b. Some hypotheses' to be explored further during 1955-56: 1) The needs of the newly arrived Puerto Rican child and of the
c. Researches designed to help find solution to the problems of placement and grouping:
arrived Puerto Ricans in orienta
tion or C-classes vs. distribution of them in classes with non-Puerto
Rican pupils. Secondly, the experimental centers—four elementary and four jú nior hígh-will take a new look at the retarded language learners (the perennial orientees) among Puerto Ricans. We want to know what
help they need that is difFerent
Puerto Rican child who is a re
tarded language learner are quite difFerent and for the most part should be served by different grouping.
2) The problem of teaching Eng lish as a second language is quite as important in the first
three grades as in higher grades. 3) The needs of the child ti'ans-
ferring
from
Puerto
Rican
schools. who is retarded
in
terms of age-grade, can
be
sei\'ed only by carefully planned. consistent, systematic. individualized instruction and guídance.
4) Specialized group in.struction in English. for most children. is successfnl to the extent that it is
keyed to the child's total school progj-am and experience. • The- rcader will jcmembcr rliat an hypothesis is a
tentativc condusion that may he proved wrong.
At school-wíde calce sale
IS
in degree or Idnd from the content and method used in teaching language to the native born retarded child.
Thirdly, the Puerto Ricaii Study is asking experimental and cooperating centers to assist us in a specíal study of newly arríved Puer to Rican pupils with reference to the special needs of the foliowing: 1) Pupils
who
transfer
I
from
grades in Puerta Rican schools
one, two, or more years below the grade, normal for their age.
2) Pupils ten years or alder who cannot read Spanish. 3) Pupils who read Spanish with a reasonable fluency and under-
standing for their age.
Proposition 4—Many Attitudes, Methods, Techniques of All Good Teachers Are Applícable fo Teaching Puerto Rican Pupils. This is true both in orientation and mixed classes.
What füllows inay seem didactic. We think you will agree with most of it. It is based on hundreds of classroom observations and scores of conversatíons
with teachers over a period of eighteen months in New York Cíty schools. a. Have patience with the beginner. Don't expect too much, too fast. They often understand more than you realize, more than they are able to express. Don't sell them short in your own mind. Faith, patience and persistence worlc
New arrlvals find encouragemenf
ing for instruction is the same. In whatever class you have, you will group pupils informally according to their needs. Each group. each individual will have your personal attention daily.
work on the same committees and in the same activities. Under wise
c. To gain confidence and status, Puerto Rican children. especially,
f. It would help if you could come to know the parents of vour Puerto
become part of the stream of the
need non-verbal activities in which
school life. Let liim know that you
to work and learn—arts and crafts.
Rican children. Remember that thev too are often loneK- in this
dramatization, and so on. You can
great city of ours.
wonders.
Communicate your faith to the
child. Find something lie can do to care.
b. Wliether yon ha\'e an orientation or a mixed class, no t^vo childrcn
will be alike ñor ha\-e exactlv the
same needs. Your problem is not so diflerent from that of the oldfashíonod one-room scliool teacher
non-English speaking children with the English speaking. Have them
guidance the buddy system has A-alue.
fill in the list. The purpose is to lielp the child forget his shyness. to become one of the group. to talk
Proposition 5—Teaching English as a Second Language Red. Gi\ e the Spanish speaking children and withal to learn.
teach the class a Spanish word, a
quires a Content and Methodology That Is a Subject in lt=
room. When one class was recit-
Spanish song. a Spanish dance.
ing. íive or six otliers were expected to be producti\elv busy. Presum-
Children from other cultures can
self—this is the chief thing
who had six or eidit grades in one O
O
ably, your class will be from one
grade, but the principie of gronp-
their minutes in the sim. T.et them
make similar offerings. The entire class will profit.
we have learned.
During the first year of the Puerto e. Use everv opportunitv to mix the Rican Study we made a sur\"ev of j^riic-
tices used in teaching English to Puerto Ricans. We found soma teachers quite successful in using chíldren's experience as a stimulus to learníng and using English. Some were placing emphasis on the teaching of language patterns or structure. A few were placing some re-
One extra teaching position known as Proposition 6—Some Schools the Puerto Rican Study coordinator was Are Achíeving Notable Sucassigned to each school to help the cess in Helping Puerto Rican teachers participating in the experiment. The teachers, coordinators and Puerto
Rican Study staíf worked together as a team. Every word, language pattern, liance on the use of Spanish in helping experience used was subjected to the children to leam English. By far, the closest scrutiny. greater number relied mainly on teach ing vocabulary. Within these four areas Tliroughout the experiment, certain of emphasis there was a wide range of elements of method were held constant. practice. For example, (a) the major portion of time in all classes was given to oral The Puerto Rican Study believed there emphasis, (b) the aural-oral approach was virtue in each of the foiu areas of
was observad, i.e., the order was listen-
emphasis noted. During the second ing, speaking, reading, and wi-iting, (c) year we conducted an experiment to
exce23t for a few teachers specífically find what each area of emphasis (vari- assigned to a modified use of Spanish ant of method) adds to the total learn
in their classes, all teachers refrained
íng. Eíght sohoo'ls—four elementary and from using Spanish. fom* júnior high—worked with us. We employed, as curriculum writers, perThrough the contínuing cooperation sons recommended by the Burean of of teachers, coordinators, cuiTiciilum Ciu-riciilum Research, wíth long and writers and specialists of the Puerto successful experience in New York City Rican Study these materials are beíng schools. Our own specialists worked revisad, will be published and made with them. We limited the experiment available for use in Grades 1, 4 and 7 to Grades 1, 4 and 7. of other schools with non-English speak
In each school the principal assigned four teachers in each participating grade
ing Puerto Rican children.
Parents Find Their Way ¡nto the Lite of the Community. These are some of the things we have learned:
a. As a school, try to find and cultívate
leaders among the Puerto Ricans of your own school community. They can reach others that you can t.
Seek out yoxu- bilingual leaders. The most faíthful workers a school can find are Puerto Ricans who
have made some adjustment, who know English, who stand touchingly ready to help their new neighbors.
b. At first, do not expect the Puerto Rican parents to come to large, general meetings. Invite them in
small groups, show them around the school, make them feel at home, have one or more hosts on hand
to converse with them in Spanish.
o. As qiiickly as possíble assess the immediate needs of the newcom-
ers„ as theij feel them. Then see what you can do to help them.
to work with us—one taught vocabulary, n second taught sti'uctinre or language pattern, a third placed the entire em phasis on experience. Each of the three set aside one-half hour daily for teach ing English to the non-English speaking children in her class (that is, non-Eng lish speaking when the year began).
m
d. One school has an English class for newly arrived Puerto Rican mothers. It meets once a week at
noon when they come to school to get their young children. It is taught by tlie substitute auxiliary teacher (S.A.T.), a former teacher
The fourth teacher used the same cur
in Puerto Rico. Another school has
riculum materials as the other three but
a successful club for kindergarten
did not set aside the half hour period for teaching English to non-Engli.sh
cans. There are all sorts of possi-
speaking children.
bilitíes.
mothers, most of them Puerto Ri
e. The most effective goal is to help
In order that all participating teach-
Puerto Rican parents work out their own community problems. They want to be índepeiident, to make their own adjustment—but they are grateful for the understanding guidance of a good school.
ei's might use the same materials, the
Puerto Rican Study prepared three types of materials:
a. Tliree resource units for each grade. These were keyed to the New York City curriculum biilletins.
b. Language supplements for each Proposífion 7—Through Cofs-
\'ariant of method, i.e., experience, vocabulary, structure. keyed to
certed
each of the )-esonrce units.
Schools
Can Break Down the Current
c. Language brochures presentíng metliod.s of teaching tliat would be useful. not only in teaching the content of the supplements. but as a guide to the teaching of English as a second language throughout the school day.
Efforf, the
Prejudices
(Stereotypes)
Againsf Puerto Ricans. Many prejudices toward Puerto' Ri
cans are still current in New York City Special talents find expression
conversation. Most of these stem from
c. Puerto Ricans, like so many others, come to New York to improve their lot, to get ahead in the world.
They come seeking jobs, better wages, better or different educa
tion, and so on. Like otlier groups, some do not succeed. Some go on relief. The Commissioner of Pub-
lic Affairs reports,
"The ox'ervx'helming majorit}' of Puerto Ricans have been completely self-supporting. For most of the past fix^e years 90 per cent or more of the Puerto Ricans in New York
City hax'e been independent of public assistance." In thr'ee different substudies the
Puerto Rican Study found that 65,
Paren+s and neighbors get togefher ín school
contact with the least fortúnate oí these
more recently arrived neighbors. Following are some of the things we have leamed. In helping to dísseminate these ti'uths among your friends and acquaintances, yon will help both Puerto Ricans and non-Puerto Ricans;
a. Puerto Ricans want to learn Eng-
71 and 80 per cent, respectíx^ely, of the Puerto Rican pupils carne
mentary English classes for adults, conducted by the Dixu'sion of Community Education of tlie Board of Education.
b. Like other children, Puerto Rican children tend to hecome about os
good or ahout as had as the chil dren or youth with whom they as-
lish.
sociate.
Many Puerto Rican children are shy, baffled, bewildered. What appears to be unwillingness to learn is a kind of protective inask be-
Divide the records of the piipils in your school into two groups—
hind which to hide.
Remeinber
that siiccess begets the desíre to succeed.
Puerto Rican parents realize theüchildren must learn English to get ahead in New York City. With a little encourageinent, tlie chil dren display pride in their accompHshinents. pils, most of wlioin had been in New York City less than a year, we found that approxitnatelv one-
foiirtli were quite proud of their accoinpli.shn-ients in English. .Vbout
and find security in emplovment. We have observed the eagerness with which same of these rela-
some of your fellow principáis
other generally accepted sign of
other problems.
potential delinquency. We think yon will find that the percentage
of prc-delinquency symptoms among Puerto Ricans diííers xerv Ricans.
There appeai s to be one exception to our conclusión. The Department of Correction reports a higher incidence of delinquency for Puerto Ricans than for other x'outh ets. ^Ve wonder—how much of this
of the City in the same age brack-
the experience of the pa'st vear in
higher delinquencx' rate is due to
the experimental schooLs'which ha\e cooperated with the Puerto' Rican Stiuly. we beliexe that the apparent iniwillíngne.s.s of Puerto
home-cominunitv conditions? How
Puerto Ricans were enrolled in ele-
mingled gratitude of a parent who had found public relief available and bis anxiety to get off relief
tix'ely new arrix^als bring their
and
were ha\ing difficiilty. The reinaining fourth were discouragecl. Froin
East scliool year, more than 10.000
insecurity felt by the newly ar rived parent. We have sensed the
non-Puerto
Ricans
half wanted to learn but felt they
Hicans to learn English can be greatly reduced througli improxed methods of teaching English.
members of the family were regularly and gainfully employed. We have noted, too, the pathos in a child's voice telling of the job
Ricans. For each group, check the number of cases of ti-uancy, of illegal absence from school. of disciplinary cases beyond the teacher's control, or of any
Puerto
little from that of the non-Puerto
In a sample of Puerto Rican pu-
from homes where one or more
much stems from their bafflement.
problems to the clinics
which
are establishing to advise Puerto
Ricans on job opportunities, and d. Puerto Ricans, like other ethnic groups, that hace preceded, them
in Ncic York City, are reaching out to find better living conditions for their faniiVws.
When we tap the worries. the fears of these newly arixed children in our midst. what do we find? They are worried because of the dirt, the strangers they do not understand. the doors that can not be locked.
and that there is no safe place to play. They are fearful of just about the sanie things our New York born children xx^'ould fear. if
they were suddenly (ransplanted
their dísappointment. their failure to find a happv adjustment in
to a dfflerent culture.
school? If we coiild get these de-
The División of Elementarv Schools
liiKjuent children to talk. what
reported Puerto Rican pupils en
would thex" tell us? With x'our help. we might prepare a report entitled.
rolled in 435 elenientai-x- schools.
"The Childien Speak." Níeanwhile,
October 1954 compared with 334 .schools in Octobei- 1953. This was
know vour own school records.
an increase of 101 schools. "Whv^
EXPERIMENTAL CENTERS School P.S.
33 M
P.S.
61M
P.S. 108 M
P.S. 192 M
J.H.S. 65 M
Morris Finkel Ma.x Francke
Lottie Reich Lucille Towbis
Jack August Eiigene T. Maleska
Luna Ledon
Margaret Ryan
Emanuel Stachenfeld Claire Eskowitz
Marión Líotta
Stella M. Sweeting Charles M. Shapp
Siduey Grant
High School of Commerce
Vincent McGarrett
Belmira Miranda
and Teachers.
To provide opportunity for such testing, the Planning Committee has taken two significant steps: On the recommendation of assist-
ant superintendents, the Commit
tee has designated 15 elementary and 10 júnior high schools as pilot or resource centers.
These pilot centers will particípate in testing materials developed in the experimental schools, will serve as centers for the study and dissemination of materials produced by the Puerto Rican Study and may, under the assistant superintendents, develop into tiaining centers for their respective districts. b. The Committee has aiithorized the
printing of the following materials for use in teaching English as a second language in Grades 1, 4 and 7 respectively. These will appear under the following titles: 1) Resource Units Suggested for Use in First Grade Classes with
Puerto Rican Pupiis. There will be a comparable series for Grade 4 and Grade 7, respec tively. 2) A Guide to the Teaching of Eng lish to Puerto Rican Children
in the Primary Grades. There will be a comparable series for the intermedíate grades and for
the júnior high schools, respec 3
Coorclinator
J.H.S. 101 M J.H.S. 118 M J.H.S. 52 Bx
Proposition 8—The Findings of fhe Puerto Rícon Study Wiil Be Effective Oniy to fhe Extent They Meef the Test of Practica! Use by Supervisors
a.
Principal
tively. .An Interim Report—Who Ai'e the Puerto Rican Pupils in New York City Public Scliools? This will present the data underlying Proposition 1.
Catherine Holmes Luisa Cruz
These printed materials will be made before. Worldng together, we have identified and further tested promising cooperating schools, pilot schools and practices. We have developed new other schools witli Puerto Rican pupils methods, materials and techniques. that wish to cooperate with the Puerto It is our hope that the Study will reRican Study. sult in a city-wíde sharing of this knowledge, that it will stimulate increasing In the beginning, the Puerto Rican interest on the part of teachers and Study visitad 27 schools. In each school supervisors to examine new and better we found something new, something ways of meeting the needs of Puerto promising in the schools' attempt to Rican pupils. We are seeking the best serve Puerto Rican children. That possíble educational program—a program variety of creative effort on the part that will be continuously evolving. To of the schools províded a rich back- help imite all the forces of the New ground of experience against which to A'ork City school system in the continulaunch the study in which we have been ing pursuit of this goal is a major pursince engaged. Indirectly, we have pose of the Puerto Rican Study. available to ciuriculuni committees, to
learned from many of you whose .school.»:
We are happy to acknowledge oiu- indebtedness to the nine schools that have
worked with us as e.xjDerimental center.s during the past year. With their help, greater ínsight into the total problem has been
achieved.
All associated with the Puerto Rican
Study join me in wishing you success
we have not visited.
We know
in this new school year. Sincerely yours.
more
about the Puerto Rican pupil than ever
J. Cayce Mobmson, Director
PLANNING COMMITTEE
ETPIEL F. HUGGARD. Associaic Supcriiitenclcnt, División of Curriculinu Development, Chairman CLARE C. BALDWIN, Assistant Superintendente Assigncd to Superintndcnt of Schools EDWARD J. BERNATH, Associate Superintendente División of Spcdal Services
WILLIAM H. BRISTOW. Director, Burean of Curriculum Research
BENJ.AMÍN B. GREENBERC, Assistant Superintendcnt, Districts 6 and S
WlLLl.AM A. H.AMM, Assistant Superintendente División of H/g/í Schools JOHN B. KING. Assistant Superintendente Districts 26 and 28 LOUlSE T. RYAN. Assistant Superintcdcnf, Disfrict 50 J. W.AYNE \\'RlC»HTSTONE. Director, Burean of Educational Research cc)Nsui.T.A.xrs;
.ARTHUR HUGHSON. Assistant Superintendcnt, DicisUm of Elementan/ Schools
MARY A. KENNEDY, Assistant Superintendente División of Júnior Hi<^h Schools