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Browsing by Author "Fleming, Daniel B."

Now showing 1 - 15 of 15
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    An analysis of social studies skills in state curriculum guides
    Petrini, Glenda Casey (Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, 1988)
    The purpose of this study was to answer an overall question: What is being recommended or required by states regarding social studies skills in actual curricula? The researcher examined curriculum guides to see how the states defined, classified, and organized the skills - determining whether patterns of agreement existed. Materials for the analysis were received from 39 states via letters sent to states' social studies supervisors. The states' materials were content-analyzed using the researcher's "Basic Analysis Process" which included a coding instrument based on the Essentials Of The Social Studies (1980) - a statement by NCSS to enumerate basic learning expectations for exemplary social studies programs. The method of research, the findings of the study, the literature search, and generalizations regarding curriculum guides should interest education professionals, curriculum designers, and researchers in general. The researcher's "Comparative Content Analysis System," which is based on ideas gained from research theory on qualitative study, includes a pretesting component, a "Basic Analysis Process" for the actual content analysis of the states' documents, and a system for collecting and summarizing the findings. Three special appendices illustrate the study's findings: a state by state summary of content analysis information and tables of quantitative data revealing, for example, the most dominant skills cited at specific grade levels. The literature search, which evolved into a history of the social studies skills spanning some 100 years, documented a continued situation of confusion and chaos relative to the skills. The content analysis indicated, in varying degrees, confusion extends into states' curriculum materials as well. An open-ended aspect of the study's design allowed for the emergence of the unexpected --- such as the researcher's findings regarding desirable characteristics of "ideal" curriculum guides.
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    An analysis of the current status of Virginia coaches with regard to a coaching endorsement
    Joyce, Arnold W. (Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, 1982)
    Interscholastic athletic participation has increased significantly over the last twenty years; with this increase the need for more and qualified coaches is necessary. The purpose of this study was to investigate, in the state of Virginia, the opinions of school superintendents, principals, and athletic coaches toward the practicality of requiring a coaching endorsement for high school coaches, analyze the professional preparation of high school coaches, and what criteria administrators utilize in the selection of coaches. The population of this research was randomly selected. A total of 315 administrators and 1469 coaches represented each of the three school enrollment divisions. The data received were arranged in tabular form and analyzed according to frequency, the chi-square procedure, and linkage analysis. The results suggested that: 1. Endorsement at this point in time is the ideal and not a reality. 2. The burden of ensuring a minimal level of competency will rest with the local school system, and with help from the state this could be accomplished by sponsoring inservice programs or requiring coaches to enroll in similar programs in colleges and universities. 3. Administrators should develop and use written qualifications and job analyses for head coaching positions. An intensive review of preparation, experiences, competences, and personality traits should be made prior to the coach's appointment. 4. Administrators and coaches agreed that the following areas of knowledge are necessary for coaches and should be included in a coaching curriculum: (a) care and prevention of athletic injuries, (b) skills and techniques of each sport, (c) rules interpretation of each sport coached, (d) sports physiology, (e) legal aspects of coaching, (f) coaching theory and strategy, (g) sports psychology, and (h) administrative skills. It may also be concluded that both groups, administrators and coaches, place a heavy emphasis upon the health and safety of each participant, as well as the teaching of proper skills to student athletes at all levels of competition. 5. The administrators indicated that there is a need for a college or university coaching preparation to improve the standards of coaching especially for academic teachers who desire to coach as well as teach in the classroom. 6. A physical education degree is not a necessary prerequisite for coaching; however, an assistant coaching position or an internship program and participation on an interscholastic and/or intercollegiate athletic team are considered important experiences for a coach to possess.
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    An analysis of writing assignments in selected history textbooks for grades seven and eleven
    Sellers, Charlotte P. (Virginia Tech, 1993)
    Current research in English/language arts advocates the incorporation of writing in content areas across the curriculum as a means of learning content as well as a means of evaluating content mastery. Focusing on the content area of social studies and acknowledging the importance of the text as a teaching tool, this study examined to what degree and in what manner selected social studies textbooks incorporated writing. Texts selected for the study were nationally published history textbooks which had been adopted for use in the state of Virginia at grades seven and eleven, where the teaching of United States history is mandated in Virginia. Accompanying the basal textbook as a primary tool of instruction is the complementary teacher manual or guide. Using Britton’s categories for functions of writing (i.e., Expressive, Transactional and Poetic) and Donlan’s four categories of writing particular to the social studies (i.e., Reporting, Exposition, Narration and Argumentation), an analysis was made of writing assignments offered via selected social studies textbooks and their accompanying teacher manuals. Text packages selected for the study reflected those U.S. history texts adopted for use in Virginia at grades seven and eleven. The treatment of writing in the selected textbook packages was examined to determine the reflection of current research and theory in the area of composition. Findings paralleled the national Applebee study of 1981 finding that most writing required in secondary schools was of a Transactional nature, most often requiring students to report or explain information, seldom requiring creative writing as with Narration. Moreover, examination of state and national social studies professional journals revealed relatively little support in instructing social studies educators on how to include writing in this content area.
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    A case study of curriculum controversy: the Virginia Standards of Learning for history and the social sciences
    Fore, Linda Compton (Virginia Tech, 1995-04-15)
    Curriculum-making is a political exercise in which various groups in a society struggle over whose knowledge and values will be perpetuated through the school curriculum. As such, curriculum-making sometimes creates controversy. Controversy often accompanies the development of social studies curriculum because the purpose of social studies education is the preparation of the young for citizenship. Individuals disagree over what characteristics define the good citizen, as well as what knowledge and skills are necessary for effective citizenship. This study examines the political dimensions of social studies curriculum making in the controversy surrounding the development of the Virginia Standards of Learning for History and the Social Sciences. Using historical and qualitative methodology, the researcher collected and analyzed data from public documents, meetings of the Virginia Board of Education and its Advisory and Editing Committees, news articles, and transcripts from semi-structured interviews with eight key participants in the development of the social studies Standards of Learning. Analyses of these data sources showed that two primary groups struggled over control of the process of developing the standards, Governor Allen's education team and the professional social studies community under the leadership of the Virginia Consortium of Social Studies Specialists and College Educators. A third important force in the debate was the Virginia Board of Education, from which a small group of its members authored the final standards document. Further, this study showed two contextual influences on the Virginia social studies standards. The first was the Reagan rhetoric on academic crisis and educational reform through the establishment of tougher academic standards based on the traditional curriculum. The second was the recent controversy in Virginia over outcomes-based education. These two contextual influences combined to create a distrust of professional expertise. Three reciprocally related themes emerged from the data. Participants used power, rhetoric, and ideology to define the boundaries of the debate, control the process, name who could participate, and determine the outcome of the development process. Disagreements between the two major sides in the debate involved ideological differences over the nature of knowledge and learning and the nature of social studies education. There were also ideological differences among major participants over social issues like civil rights, gender issues, religion, and religious conflicts.
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    The development and evaluation of a secondary school unit on aging in America
    Strubbe, Mary Ann (Virginia Tech, 1979-07-05)
    The major emphasis was the development and evaluation of a secondary school unit on aging that focused on prevalent age stereotypes. The systematic development of materials was followed by field testing of the instructional unit. Two levels of field testing provided suggestions for improving the unit. Evaluation of the revised unit by teachers, students and various experts indicated very favorable reactions to the materials. The unit on aging was generally perceived as interesting, worthwhile, and appropriate for future classroom use. A pre-, posttest, delayed post test experimental design assessed the unit's effectiveness in promoting more accurate beliefs about older people and increasingly positive attitudes toward the elderly. Posttest and delayed posttest findings on the knowledge instrument revealed that students receiving instruction scored significantly higher on this measure than students not receiving instruction. Scores on the attitude assessment instruments indicated that all students tended to evaluate older people in a positive direction regardless of aging instruction. The treatment significantly affected students' negative feelings abcut the aged, but this significant finding was not encountered on the delayed posttest scores of the same instrument. An examination of the influence of pretesting suggested that this attitudinal shift was an artifact 0f the design.
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    German high school history textbooks: how well do they deal with the rise and fall of the Third Reich?
    Yurochko, William P. (Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, 1988)
    Recent isolated anti-Jewish remarks by some West German politicians have rekindled debate about the possible revival of anti-Semitism in the new generation of West Germans. One can only wonder if German education has, as some critics like to put it, swept the Nazi period discreetly under the carpet? This study has attempted to answer this question by analyzing 22 West German history textbooks currently used in all three of the traditional German high schools. This study is both quantitative and qualitative. First, a checklist was used to determine what percentage of each book is devoted to the Nazi period and in particular to a set of basic themes considered important to any coverage of this period. Then, each book was analyzed to determine if there are any serious omissions, inaccuracies, biased or ambiguous statements about the Nazi period. When useful, a comparison of the treatment of the various themes under review was made. Considering the problems involved in writing history textbooks for such diverse audiences and school districts, this study finds that, in general, the West German secondary school history textbooks are presenting an accurate, if somewhat limited, account of the Nazi period. In conclusion, the findings of this study indicate that while an accurate portrayal of the Nazi period is presented in the textbooks surveyed, bias by omission does exist, especially when dealing with racial policies, the anti-Nazi resistance movement, and any question of responsibility. Certainly, improvements can be made in these specific areas.
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    Heroes and villains: an analysis of the treatment of individuals in world history textbooks
    Landis, Geraldine (Virginia Tech, 1993-04-05)
    Since textbooks are a standard feature of social studies classrooms and frequently are considered the central tools of social studies instruction, their content and manner of presentation are critical issues for the social studies. This study concentrated on identification and analysis of the individual people appearing by name in selected secondary world history textbooks. The written words and illustrations of twelve secondary world history textbooks were analyzed for their selection of, and the way in which they portray, individual men and women of world history. Content of the textbooks was analyzed to determine which people are included, which receive the greatest amount of space devoted to them, and the general characteristics of these people as attributed to them by the textbooks. Those who have the most space devoted to them, the most significant people of world history, were further analyzed to determine which people are portrayed as possessing characteristics which identify them as heroes or as villains. The selected textbooks were compared to determine the amount of agreement among them. The study found a large number of individual people identified by name in the selected textbooks. These people represent every corner of the world, area of endeavor, and time period of history. However, some places, events, and times receive greater emphasis than others in all the textbooks studied. These people of world history textbooks are predominately western European, male, and political leaders who are written of in terms of their actions. The limited number of most significant people share the general characteristics of all who are named, but the greater anl0unt of information provided the basis for analysis of the selection of information and the style of writing. This analysis provided a description of those most significant people who share common characteristics which match the characteristics of heroes and of villains. A few of the people exhibit characteristics of both heroes and villains. The textbooks studied are remarkably similar in these emphases. What is different among the textbooks is the exact people included in them and how much narrative text is used to describe and explain them.
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    A history of the Kanawha County textbook controversy, April 1974-April 1975
    Candor, Catherine Ann (Virginia Tech, 1976-03-08)
    For one year, beginning in April of 1974, the Kanawha County, West Virginia school system was involved in a bitter controversy over the content of the adopted language arts textbook series. The series generating the conflict tncluded over 325 individual book titles published by a cross-section of the major textbook companies in the United States. No one visualized the intensity of emotions, the violence and the disruption that would grip Kanawha County during 1974-75. Before the protest diminished, schools were temporarily closed; the superintendent and the president of the Board of Education resigned; people were shot or beat, cars firebombed and school buildings dynamited. The controversial language arts books were withdrawn from all the schools for a period of time and later returned after review by an appointed citizens' committee and action by the Board of Education. This study is a history of the Kanawha County textbook protest. A major portion of the research for this dissertation involved interviews and a search of documents. There is a description of West Virginia, Appalachian values and Kanawha County. Several factors, occurring prior to 1974 are examined as possible precipitating factors in the controversy. From April 1974 to April 1975 the major actions, reactions and occurrences in Kanawha County are reported using various sources to document positions taken by individuals, groups and organizations during this period. Organized chronologically, the study traces the evolution of the textbook protest and continues through the abatement of most protest activities by April of 1975. Five factors, mostly outside the control of the educational establishment that contributed to and sustained the conflict are analyzed. These include the state law regarding the seating of school board members, the role of organized labor, the lack of adequate law enforcement, the intervention of outside groups and the role of the media. The following conclusions and implications emerge from the Study. Students, teachers and administrators in Kanawha County were most deeply affected by the textbook controversy with general agreement that the effects of the protest will be felt for years to come. In the future, public schools, involving everyone directly or indirectly, will not escape as arenas of conflict and controversy. As a resuit of the social activism movement of the 1960's and 1970's and public concern over the performance and operation of the schools, educational systems across the country can expect increasing assaults on their legitimacy. although controversy may be inevitable, there are positive actions which may be taken by school boards and educational administrators to reduce or avoid the disruptiveness of a protest such as the one in Kanawha County. By establishing a broad base of commun ity support and involvement, educators may be able to avoid conflict rather than having to react to it.
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    Immigration as treated in early history textbooks 1789-1939: prelude to multiculturalism
    Lang, Mary Lee M. (Virginia Tech, 1992-04-05)
    The purpose of this study was to discover the degree to which thirty-nine secondary textbooks used in the united States from 1789 to 1939 covered the significant topics that comprised the immigrant experience. Immigrants from Europe, Japan, and China were studied. Using a topic outline as the basis for discussion, authors' comments that were typical representations of their viewpoints were included. Besides this outline, which formed the heart of this study, several other evaluative measures were used. Bias was determined by using an evaluative coefficient analysis system. A picture identification checklist was utilized to classify designated components of each picture. Also, page coverage was included for the topic of immigration as well as by immigrant group classification. The results of this study indicated that immigration was not a significant topic in the early American history textbooks until after World War I. This investigation also revealed that immigration was treated in an biased light by the 1789-1939 historians. Bias that favored the English immigrants was discovered when page and topic coverage was analyzed. Bias by the omission of immigrant contributions was found. Pictures, too, formed a negative stereotype of the immigrant as a victim of crowded cities and the lines of Ellis Island.
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    The influence of the Virginia Chamber of Commerce on policies of the State Department of Education as related to economics education, 1959-1981
    Gordon, Deanna Wagner (Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, 1982)
    This study was designed to allow accurate description of the influence of the State Chamber of Commerce on policies and curriculum publications of the Virginia Department of Education related to economics education. The methodology allowed collection of data from the complex environment that shapes the influence process. Using strategies from historiography and ethnography, data were collected through interviews with a number of persons associated with State Chamber activities and educational governance at the state level. Document search served to guide interviews, to verify data, and to provide additional details. Beginning in 1959, the business community showed a marked interest in economics education. Subsequently, the State Board of Education adopted a policy statement prescribing a plan for systematic improvement in instruction in this area. Interest in this program became a priority with the Education Committee of the State Chamber of Commerce. Through close interaction with the Superintendent of Public Instruction and effective institutionalization of Chamber members on the State Board of Education and on committees appointed to review economics programs, the organization was able to directly influence economics programs and publications emanating from the Department of Education in the period 1959-1974. Since 1974, the State Chamber of Commerce has remained an influential voice in programs designed by the Department, and staff members from the educational bureaucracy have given assistance to Chamber efforts in this area. However, in this latter period, assessment of influence on economics education is more difficult. Neither the Chamber nor the Department of Education have delineated consistent new goals for economics education, and findings are further confounded by the fact that new agents such as the General Assembly and the Virginia Council for Economics Education have demonstrated strong interest in the topic. In summary, the Chamber did influence the timing and the substance of economics publications and policies during the period 1959-1974. More recent influence appears to be indicated, but cannot be clearly identified.
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    The relative effects of a bias recognition program on the bias perception level of eighth year social studies students
    Coleman, Joseph Thomas (Virginia Tech, 1975-07-05)
    The problem of this study was to ascertain to what degree a bias recognition program would act to increase the bias perception level of eighth grade social studies students. Hypotheses were set covering five bias recognition subtest areas: ethnocentric, religious, political, sexist and racial bias recognition. Two areas, racial and sexist bias recognition, were to undergo two-way analysis. Sexist bias recognition was analyzed for differences by control and experimental group, sex, and by sex and group. The racial bias recognition subtest area was also analyzed by experimental and control group, by race, and by race and group. A review of the available literature revealed little in the way of work previously done concerning bias recognition. Some efforts had been made in the area of communication skills. The review itself was divided into three areas: 1. articles and studies dealing with communication skills 2. testing and research studies in skills 3. articles dealing with bias recognition as a skill area The review revealed only one prior research study had been done in the area of skills. This study was accomplished by Dan B. Fleming and Larry Weber and concerned a wide range of skills. Two excerpts from articles were found that concerned bias recognition as a skill. However, no research studies were found in this area. After available literature was reviewed, a bias recognition test was designed to test the aforementioned five bias recognition subtest areas as well as the total test area. This test was administered in the three experimental classes located in three different junior high schools in Roanoke, Virginia. The test was also administered to three classes located in the three remaining junior high schools. In this way each junior high school contained one treatment or control class. After an approximate thirteen school days period, the classes were retested. During this period between tests the experimental classes received instruction in the form of a bias recognition program. Data from these tests was analyzed using both descriptive and inferential statistical techniques. The statistical application of most importance was multivariate and univariate analysis of covariance. In covariance analysis of a pretest - posttest design, posttest scores are adjusted for pretest scores in order to statistically control for any initial differences that may have existed between the groups at the time of the pretest. Descriptive analysis showed the experimental group exhibited superior achievement on the posttest by total and subtest areas. Inferential analysis further showed a significant difference existed between groups for the total score as well as all the five subtest areas of ethnocentric, religious, political, sexist and racial bias recognition. The two subtest areas exhibiting the greatest success were political and sexist bias recognition. No significant difference was found to exist in the sexist bias recognition subtest area by sex or sex and group. In the racial bias recognition subtest area significant differences were not shown to exist by race, but did exist by race and group. Simultaneous confidence intervals analysis further showed that the most effective combination was black students that had received the treatment, compared to black students not receiving the treatment. Conclusions from this study showed positive results in all subtest and total areas pointing toward a need for a more systematic approach toward skills-oriented curriculum in public schools. One facet of the study of importance is a development of a bias recognition test that can be further refined toward the goa1 of more effective measurement of this skills area.
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    A study of pressures and influences on social studies curriculum: the Virginia unit for teaching about communism, 1959-1964
    Peters, Norma Jean (Virginia Tech, 1977)
    The communism unit recommended to Virginia school divisions in 1964 was a part of a major curriculum project sponsored by the State Department of Education and developed over a five-year period of time. In addition to advocating the seven-week unit of study about communism, the government project focused attention on the free enterprise system and modified the traditional structure of the government course. Between 1959 and 1964, the Virginia State Department of Education produced two outline guides and a comprehensive instructional guide to assist teachers in the reorganization of the course. The government project officially began in the summer of 1959 when the State Board of Education requested the State Department of Education to develop an instructional unit on the free enterprise system. Davis Y. Paschall, Superintendent of Public Instruction, appointed a committee, consisting of a local school district director of instruction and secondary teachers of government and economics, to work with the staff of the State Department of Education in developing the unit. The committee, known as the Teacher Committee, decided that the unit should be included in the twelfth-grade government course and that an outline for the entire course should be prepared. Paschall also appointed a committee, consisting of representatives of business, industry, law, government, and education, to review the work of the staff and the Teacher Committee. The staff, with the assistance of these two committees, developed the outline guide, "Virginia and U. S. Government." The State Board of Education distributed the guide to schools in September, 1960, approximately one year after the initial request had been made concerning economic education. The second phase of the government project began in April, 1961, when the State Board of Education directed the State Department of Education to develop an instructional unit to assist teachers in developing units about communism. The department had received requests for the curriculum to include more instruction about communism, and the first guide had placed little emphasis on it. Both of the committees involved in developing the first outline guide assisted the staff of the department with the second guide. In May, 1961, the State Department of Education issued the second guide, Communism in Contrast With the Principles of American Freedom, to be used in conjunction with the first guide, "Virginia and U. S. Government." During the time of the development of the first two guides, the Commission on Constitutional Government assisted the State Department of Education in the government project. The commission, created by the General Assembly to promote states' rights, offered its assistance to the State Department of Education in promoting the study of constitutional government. As a result of this offer, the department involved the commission in the government project. In the summers of 1960 and 1961, the commission funded the teacher institutes offered by the department to acquaint teachers with the guide, "Virginia and U. S. Government." In 1961, the Commission on Constitutional Government unsuccessfully attempted to produce a manual about communism for student use. When this project was terminated, the commission continued assisting the department by reviewing, recommending, and purchasing books to be used with the second outline guide, Communism in Contrast With the Principles of American Freedom. Beginning in the spring of 1963, staff members of the State Department of Education, assisted by an expanded Teacher Committee and the Review Committee, began work on the final product of the government curriculum project. The third guide, An Instructional Guide for Virginia and United States Government, was a comprehensive instructional guide and an expansion of the two earlier guides. The first two guides provided only brief content outlines while the third guide included an outline for the course, an analysis of recommended content, and an extensive bibliography. A major focus of the third guide was Unit V, “Totalitarianism” in Contrast With the Principles of American Freedom," which provided content for an in-depth study of communism. The guide also provided for detailed study of the American economic system. In November, 1964, the State Board of Education published the third guide and distributed it to local school divisions. Teachers began using the guide in the 1964-1965 school year, five years after the initiation of the government project.
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    A study of the relationship of several variables on the political attitudes of adolescents
    Sidelnick, Daniel John (Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, 1986)
    This study investigated the influence of three variables on current political attitudes of secondary school adolescents at two suburban-rural high schools in the northern Virginia area. Ability, grade level, and sex were examined to determine their influence on attitude measures essential to the develoµnent of citizenship within the social studies curriculum. The Freedans Scale, Law Scale and Dogmatism Field Scale were administered to a random sample of 180 ninth and twelfth grade adolescents which was equally divided between male and female subjects. The sample was further divided by ability levels (low, average, and high) which were selected by SRA subtest scores in reading, math, language arts, and educational ability. Significant findings were discerned using multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA), and chi-square analysis. Group and individual differences were examined for each of the independent variables studied as they affected the dependent measures of political attitudes. One three-way and three two-way interactions were tested using the MANOVA. Only one interaction (ability by grade) was significant at the .05 level on the Dogmatism Scale. It was concluded that an increase in grade and ability levels effect lower scores on the Dogmatism Field Scale. Lower dogmatism scores effect an increase in support for the fundamental freedoms embodied in the Freedoms Scale. Sex, as a variable, was the only main effect that did not interact with ability level or grade. The mean scores of the females in the study were slightly higher than the mean scores of the males on both the Freedoms Scale and the Law Scale. These results indicated a greater support for the fundamental freedoms embodied in the Freedoms Scale and a greater respect for the law and government officials for females over males. Separate chi-square analysis of the individual responses to the questions on the Freedoms Scale and the Iaw Scale indicated a total of 21 items from the scales significantly related to ability and 17 items significantly related to grade or sex. No identifiable pattern was discernable which could be generalized into a group description of adolescent support or non-support for combinations of the various items. Curricular approaches were suggested to improve citizenship instruction in the area of political socialization and recommendations were made for future research.
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    A study to assess the status of the teaching of contemporary issues in secondary social studies classrooms in selected school divisions in the state of Virginia
    Sellers, James L. (Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, 1984)
    This study assesses the status of the teaching of contemporary issues in secondary social studies classrooms in four southwest Virginia school divisions. One hundred and sixteen secondary teachers in these school divisions were surveyed concerning their attitudes toward contemporary issues and the instruction of these issues in their social studies classrooms. Mean score results show that the issues that teachers perceived to be most significant to humankind were generally those issues that were given more extensive coverage in the curriculum. Teachers were divided when asked what issues would best be covered in each of the four major secondary subject areas. Each subject area was clearly noted for specific coverage of particular issues, with government classes providing the greatest amount of coverage and world history classes the least amount. A variety of teaching strategies, sources of information, and evaluation strategies were implemented in this instruction. Teachers also detailed what they considered to be major sources of support for the teaching of these issues. Finally, while teachers noted that contemporary issues were detailed in their curricula, they perceived limited coordination among teachers in this instruction. They also reported that more coordination among teachers of different secondary social studies courses should exist.
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    Virginia's minimal resistance: the desegregation of public graduate and professional education, 1935-1955
    Deel, Anthony Blaine (Virginia Tech, 1990-11-01)
    In a twenty year period beginning in 1935, Virginia college and state officials reacted to increasing pressure from internal and external forces of change. The movement to desegregate public higher education was a major portion of that pressure. The defenses established by the state during these years reflected the interrelation of these forces and the Democratic Machine's attempt to balance all the forces so as to retain the maximum degree of segregated education at the minimum social, fiscal and political costs. Thus the state leaders used, what I have termed "minimal resistance" to the desegregation of their graduate and professional schools rather than the "massive resistance" that followed Brown v. Board of Education. In the 1930s and 1940s, the state did all it could to retain segregated graduate and professional schools for whites with tuition grants to out-of-state schools and the cost-effective growth at Virginia State College. When these were declared insufficient by the U.S. Supreme Court, Virginia joined with other Southern States in joint educational ventures. By 1950, the Virginia officials realized that segregated higher education was all but a lost cause. They became conciliatory to the forces of desegregation in hopes of saving segregation in primary and secondary education. From 1950 to 1955, a period I call "limited desegregation" existed. During these years, the state's white graduate and professional schools admitted a very small number of black students under the "separate but equal" doctrine. The "Machine's" ability to control press and public debate on desegregation, together with contemporary political events and the attitudes of Virginians, account for the sequence of desegregation events in the state.