Anti-Poverty Program May Expand In '67

The directors of Harvard's Upward Bound program, pleased by this summer's results, would like to continue the project next year and double its size.

The program, financed by federal anti-poverty funds, has allowed more than 50 local teenagers to spend seven weeks attending special classes at the University. Next week they will travel to New Hampshire, Connecticut, and New York City.

David Swanger, executive director of Upward Bound, said yesterday that the program had achieved important "changes in attitude" about school. "We're not a summer school--those who didn't know algebra when they came probably won't know it now. But they may be more willing to learn."

Swanger said that Theodore Sizer, Dean of the School of Education and the director of the program, "has said, in effect, that he would like it to continue." Plans are being made to reapply for another Federal grant, Swanger said, and a number of changes are being considered.

"We had at least twice as many eligible candidates as we could accept," Swanger declared, and that accounts for the proposal to double the program's size. But he would also like to shift from a commuter project to a residential one.

"By residential, I mean something quite different from most Upward Bound pro- grams this year were residential. (Harvard was one of the few commuter projects in the nation.) I don't want to get the students off in dormitories which are separated and isolated. I want the kind of room where they can bring in their friends and their parents, so there can be a lot more interplay between the University and the neighborhoods," Swanger said.

According to project officials, there has been pressure from federal officials to make the project residential. "I hope they put their money where their mouth is," Chester Finn '65, assistant project director, said.

Both Finn and Swanger pointed out that making the program residential would involve a number of problems. Finn speculated that doubling the program's size and making it residential might triple the budget--from $70,000 to more than $200,000. There would also be, he said, possible problems of disciplinary rules and of finding dormitory space.

The advantages, they said, would lie in the increased contact between the program's faculty and students. "Students could really get the feel of the college," Swanger said.

This summer, the project's directors measured the results primarily from their own impressions and a number of fundamental statistical observations. For example, only one member of the program has dropped out, although many of the students, who range from 14 to 19, are either "underachievers" or high school dropouts.

"We had a loose structure--the kids could come and go as they pleased," Swanger said. "It was left up to the kids' initiative; there were no penalties if they didn't come. There were classes in the morning and a variety of other activities--such as sailing and art classes--in the afternoon. This daily schedule was supplemented by special events: trips, concerts, and visits to the Loeb.

The project encountered a number of problems, according to Finn and Swanger. It was understaffed, and some of the faculty were inexperienced. Finn and Swanger also worry about how deep the attitude changes have been and whether they will carry over to regular school.

During the winter, the project members will continue meeting once a week