Ford Grant Aids Teaching Studies

Over $1 million of the $2.8 million given to the Graduate School of Education last week by the Ford Foundation will support experimental education projects in Concord, Lexington, and Newton. The Foundation's support of the experiments is "the culmination of seven years' work," Francis G. Keppel '38, Dean of the Graduate School of Education, stated.

Ford Foundation grants made to the School until this year had each been for only one year, he explained, but this recent grant will cover the next eight years.

Keppel specifically requested an extended appropriation because of the difficulty of carrying out experiments in education which have backing for only one year. He also pointed out, however, that when new funds have to be solicited each year, educators are tempted to favor experiments which bring fast results and will encourage immediate support rather than slower ones which might be more profitable in the long run.

The Concord, Lexington, and Newton projects which this Ford grant subsidizes will have both breadth and depth, Keppel said.

In one Newton school the Foundation grant will be used to hire mothers to grade classwork so that regular teachers will have time for individual work and smaller classes.