The National Defense Education Act (NDEA) of 1958 primarily funded training for and expansion of which professionals?

• A. School counselors
• B. School principals
• C. Teachers
• D. School librarians

Answer: (A)

The National Defense Education Act was designed to strengthen national defense by boosting education in science, mathematics, and foreign languages. Its funding was aimed primarily at improving the quality and availability of teachers in those areas—through things like teacher-education grants, graduate fellowships, and in-service training—so the professionals most directly expanded and trained were teachers. While the act did support library resources and other educational improvements, the central focus was on expanding and upgrading the teaching workforce in the subjects deemed critical for national security. Choices like counselors, principals, or librarians may have received some attention in broader education policy, but they were not the primary focus of the act.