Lanterna Rally

Author: Clele Lee Matheison

Publisher:

Published: 1939

Total Pages: 82

ISBN-13:

Among the exceptional children for whom special educational facilities are essential are those who must spend weeks or months or years in a hospital or a sanatorium. Many of these children, while undergoing physical treatment, can very profitably engage in school work. Comparatively little has been written about this phase of educational activity, and little has been known of the extent to which it has progressed or of the character of the programs underway. The present study of hospital schools was made for the purpose of determining from present practices the general principles and standards fundamental to the extension of such schools. It is concerned primarily with hospital schools which offer "academic training" (i.e., subjects ordinarily found in the public school curriculum) for the education of physically handicapped children who have been temporarily hospitalized. No uniform scheme can be proposed to fit the many local situations, or the educational organization in the several States. However, the common experiences of workers in hospital schools and the methods and expedients which have been successful in their operation should reveal certain guiding principles for the establishment or the improvement of such institutions. The findings reported in this bulletin represent a significant investigation, in that it involves an analysis of existing legislation concerning hospital schools and data received from 162 hospital schools located in 33 States, Hawaii, and the Philippine Islands. This report represents a contribution to the literature on the education of exceptional children, and it is hoped that it may stimulate thought and action with reference to the further development of hospital instruction as an integral part of the educational program. The following are appended: (1) Digest of Laws Relating to Hospital Schools by States; and (2) Hospital Schools Replying to Questionnaire. (Contains 58 footnotes and 11 tables.) [Best copy available has been provided.].