More than 30,000 people have been actively involved by the end of 1955 in a national study of Jewish Education, it was reported today by Professor Oscar I. Janowsky, chairman of the Commission for the Study of Jewish Education in the United States. The Commission is an independent agency, conducting this largest research project in Jewish education ever undertaken in the American Jewish community. Rabbis, principals, teachers, pupils and parents, as well as community leaders, chairmen and members of school boards throughout the country have been drawn into the orbit of the study.
The broad scope of Jewish educational activity in its various ramifications is coming in through this study for close scrutiny, with professional investigators and volunteer interviewers sharing in the tremendous task of surveying the field of investigation School curriculum and administration, budgeting, teachers’ employment and recruitment, pupils’ enrollment and grading, length of stay and drop outs, are among the many areas of exploration that cover not only facts and figures, but also manifold attitudinal aspects concerning Jewish education in this country.
Operating on a ten percent sample of all Jewish communities from coast to coast–some 70 in number–the study started off with two major pilot projects in Cleveland, Ohio and Savannah, Georgia. Detailed reports on the findings of these local surveys were submitted to the communities concerned and were coupled with a series of far-reaching recommendations that have created real ferment for the betterment of Jewish education in those localities. As a result, most of the recommendations have been approved by the respective community organizations and are already in the process of implementation. The task of surveying, evaluating and reporting was also completed in Akron, Ohio and Rochester, New York.
Currently, according to Dr. Janowsky, the educational set-up within the following Jewish communities has been surveyed or is under review: Annapolis, Md., Ansonia, Conth, Atlanta, Ga., Bay Shore, L. I., Belleville, N. J., Bergenfield, N. J., Dumont, N. J. Binghamton, N.Y., Cohoes, N.Y., Elmira, N.Y., Endicott, N.Y., Kearny, N.J., Larchmont, N.Y., Los Angeles, Meriden, Conn, Metuchen, N.J., Ventura, Cal., and Willimantic, Conn.
The national study, Dr. Janowsky said, will shortly move into Camden, N.J., Detroit, Mich.; and Fort Wayne, Ind. Spring dates have been scheduled for Omaha. Nebr.; Miami, Fla.; and Washington. An invitation for a comprehensive examination of all educational facilities in Milwaukee, Wis. has just been extended by the Bureau of Jewish Education in that city. Concomitant with the work of the study in major cities, survey procedures are extended regularly to smaller communities clustering around these focal points of concentrated activity.
“With the survey program approaching the half-way mark, the pace of field work is now being accelerated,” Prof. Janowsky stated. “It should reach completion in 1957 when the instruments will be available for the presentation of an over-all report to the American Jewish community. The spirit of cooperation in the participating communities has been most praiseworthy and augurs well for the final success of this undertaking, which it is hoped, will have a decisive impact on the development of Jewish education and, through Jewish education, on Jewish life in America.”
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