U.S. VS. SOVIET SCHOOLS

Red Education

A two-year study by the Office of Education released in November 1957 revealed a basic difference between the U.S. and Soviet school systems. Soviet education was authoritarian and aimed at the fulfillment of the state's needs. Soviet students had a rigid program of study, small class sizes, and well-educated teachers. That contrasted with the U.S, system, wherein "the goal of education is the development of each individual … with freedom and with opportunity to choose his life's work in his best interests" and in which curricula, class sizes, and teacher shortages were pervasive problems. The study also noted that the clear emphasis placed upon science and technology in Soviet schools was lacking in the U.S. system. To many Americans the flight of Sputnik a month earlier underscored the need for change.

Cultural Exchange

In 1958 a Soviet-U.S. cultural exchange agreement brought twenty Soviet students and youth leaders to the United States in July. They complained that U.S. education was expensive and militarized—an ironic comment coming from an education system built solely to support the country's war machine. In addition, they felt U.S. students knew little of the Soviet Union.

Desire

On the other hand, U.S. education commissioner Lawrence Derthick, after leading a one-month survey of the Soviet education system, stated that the Soviet Union was pledged to "reach and over reach America." He contended that the Russians had "a burning desire to surpass the United States in education, in production, in standard of living, in world trade—and in athletics."