University offers New M.A.T. Program

The University will offer a new plan of study to candidates for the Master of Arts in Teaching degree beginning next year, officials at the Graduate School of Education announced yesterday.

The new program, a third option to the existing Internship and Apprenticeship plans, will consist of a full year of paid supervised teaching in one of five co-operating secondary schools, followed by a year of graduate study at Harvard.

Candidates will prepare for their study by attending the seven-week Harvard-Newton Summer School, where they will do student teaching and take courses in their academic fields.

For the past five years, the Education School and Arts and Sciences faculties have selected a few candidates for the M.A.T. degree to participate in a similar program on a trial basis with Phillips Andover Academy and the Newton public Schools.

The success of the five-year test persuaded the faculties to open the plan to all candidates and to add three secondary schools. The Wheatley School, Old Westbury, N.Y.; the Scars dale (N.Y.) Public Schools, and Phillips Exeter, N.h., have joined the program for next year.

When instituted, the new option will be one year longer than the Apprenticeship or Internship plans, though all three will lead to the same degree. The other programs called for a semester's graduate work to be followed by a semester's actual teaching.

The main advantage of the new system will be that it sends the candidates to the secondary schools during the first year, Theodore R. Sizer, director of the M.A.T. program said.