The continuing interest which American educators and other citizens have attached to Soviet schools and their development has served to encourage the U.S. Office of Education in its efforts to provide the most complete and verified information obtainable on the subject. As expressed in "Soviet Commitment to Education, Report of the First Official U.S. Education Mission to the U.S.S.R.," "We are convinced that it is important for the American people to examine the Soviet program closely and to keep up-to-date on the developments and trends in Soviet education." In pursuit of these aims, the Office of Education sent a second official group of specialists to the U.S.S.R. in the spring of 1959 with the specific objectives of looking carefully at the teaching methods, the general facilities, and the student performances in areas of education particularly emphasized by Soviet authorities in the general school system. At the same time, it was deemed important to study both the foundations and the balance between science and nonscience subjects in the curriculums of Soviet education. The three specialists--William K. Medlin, Clarence B. Lindquist, and Marshall L. Schmitt--under the guidance of Dr. Medlin, the Division of International Education's Specialist in Comparative Education for Eastern Europe, spent a month (May 9 to June 6, 1959) in the U.S.S.R. for these purposes. The present report is the result of their findings. This bulletin is the third major study in as many years prepared and published by the Office of Education on education in the Soviet Union. This publication deals specifically with the foundations, science and polytechnic curriculums in the general school, and with teacher preparation. It is hoped that the authors' findings in such areas will prove especially useful to organizations and individuals seeking factual and documented information concerning "Soviet Education Programs." This bulletin is the first part of a three-part volume. It contains the following sections: (1) Foreword; (2) Acknowledgments; (3) Introduction; (4) Chapter I: Foundations of Soviet Educational Practices; and (5) Chapter II: Science and Mathematics in the General Schools. Individual sections contain footnotes. [Due to its size, this volume has been processed as three separate parts. The first part includes the foreword through Chapter II. The second part includes Chapters III and IV. The third part includes Chapter V through the appendices. The cover page and table of contents are repeated in the second and third parts. For the other parts in this volume, see "Chapter III - Chapter IV" (ED543958) and "Chapter V - Appendices" (ED543959). Best copy available has been provided.]