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National Association for Public School Adult Education (NAPSAE) Records

A description of its records at Syracuse University


The adult education holdings are collectively known as the
Alexander N. Charters Library of Resources for Educators of Adults.

Finding aid created by: [Summit record]
Date: 26 Sep 2006

Biographical History

The National Association for Public School Adult Education (NAPSAE) was founded in 1952 to provide leadership for the development of adult education in the public schools. Specifically, the organization assisted local adult education di-rectors in developing and improving their programs, and encouraged interest in liberal adult education of superintendents, school boards, and the public. Its work was handled by the State Projects Committee, headed by an Executive Secretary.

NAPSAE was a department of the National Education Association (NEA) and was affiliated with World Confederation of Organizations of the Teaching Profession. Funds were also provided by the Fund for Adult Education and the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare.

Membership in the organization was on an active or associate basis. Services varied from consultation with administrators to grants and workshops for establishing, expanding, and improving adult education programs. NAPSAE publications include the journals Swap Shop for Administrators, published six times yearly; Techniques for Teachers of Adults and Pulse of Public School Adult Education, each published eight times yearly; and the annual Public School Adult Educator's Almanac, as well as a variety of handbooks, slides, films, posters, and folders.

NAPSAE has since changed its name to the National Association for Public & Continuing Adult Education (NAPCAE).

Scope and Contents of the Collection

The National Association for Public School Adult Education (NAPSAE) Records are divided into three sections: State Projects, Workshops, and Other National Education Association (NEA) Affiliates. The collection includes correspondence, printed material such as newspaper and magazine clippings, newsletters, reports, programs, budgets, pamphlets, minutes, and questionnaires. The collection includes material pertaining to the American Association of School Administrators, the American Labor Education Service, Robert A. Luke, Elmer A. Mueller, and the National Education Association.

The States Projects section is divided into subsections of State Projects Committee and States. Material dealing with the State Projects Committee includes applications for grants, minutes of committee meetings, reports on state visits, as well as correspondence. The tentative format of the Project Cities Casebook, containing case studies of NAPSAE-grant districts, is also in this section. The States subsection includes material dealing with particular adult education programs and plans in various states and project cities. Most of the material is correspondence, but local workshop programs, district studies (notably in Utah and Oklahoma), and newspaper and magazine clippings are also filed here.

The Workshops section contains four folders of material concerning Project Directors' workshops and the two-week Community Leadership Laboratory. Tentative and final programs, correspondence, pamphlets, memoranda, and reports are included.

The section of projects by Other NEA affiliates includes materials dealing with two educational organizations, the American Association of School Administrators (AASA) and the American Labor Education Service (ALES). The AASA materials concern a 1962 study of numerous foundations and their aid to elementary and secondary public schools and to individual administrators. Correspondence in this section is arranged alphabetically. A comprehensive report is also included.

Most of the ALES material is printed material, either publications or mimeographed or dittoed programs on workshops. Publications include the annual reports; bulletins; Focus on the United Nations; a report of the international affairs pro-gram; a report on New Jersey minority program; and reports on international education and labor exchange. The workshops section contains a variety of pamphlets and programs on annual labor education workshops supported or sponsored by the ALES.

Arrangement of the Collection

The material is divided into three series: State Projects, Workshops, and other National Education Association (NEA) Affiliates. Within these sections, folders are alphabetically arranged. Correspondence is found in all sections, and in the first two it is chronologically arranged. Incoming letters are attached ahead of outgoing letters.

Restrictions

Access Restrictions:

The majority of our archival and manuscript collections are housed offsite and require advanced notice for retrieval. Researchers are encouraged to contact us in advance concerning the collection material they wish to access for their research.

Use Restrictions:

Written permission must be obtained from SCRC and all relevant rights holders before publishing quotations, excerpts or images from any materials in this collection.

Related Material

The library holds a considerable number of collections related to adult and continuing education. Please refer to the SCRC Subject Index for a complete listing of all adult education collections.

In particular, see the records of the successor organization, National Association for Public Continuing & Adult Education (NAPCAE). Also, large numbers of NAPSAE's newsletters Swap Shop for Administrators, Techniques for Teachers of Adults, and Pulse of Public School Adult Education may be found in the William Langner Papers.

Subject Headings

Persons

Luke, Robert A.
Mueller, Elmer A.

Corporate Bodies

American Association of School Administrators
American Labor Education Service
National Association for Public Continuing & Adult Education -- Archives
National Association for Public School Adult Education -- Archives
National Education Association of the United States.

Subjects

Adult education -- United States.
Evening and continuation schools -- United States.

Genres and Forms

Correspondence.
Minutes (administrative records)
Newsletters.
Questionnaires.
Reports.

Occupations

Adult education teachers.
Educators.

Administrative Information

Preferred Citation

Preferred citation for this material is as follows:

National Association for Public School Adult Education (NAPSAE) Records,
Special Collections Research Center,
Syracuse University Libraries

Acquisition Information

Gift of the National Association for Public School Adult Education, 1968.

Table of Contents

State projects

Workshops

Other NEA affiliates

Inventory