Minnesota's Contribution to St. Louis County Schools That an erroneous impression of Minnesota's system of State aid was created by the article entitled "County-district organization is conspicuously successful," which appeared on page 83 of SCHOOL LIFE for January, is the fear of James M. McConnell, commissioner of education for Minnesota. In order that no doubt may arise upon this point, the following is reproduced from a letter which Commissioner McConnell wrote to the editor of SCHOOL LIFE under date of January 25, 1926: ex sum "The official records of the State department of education for the school year 1924-25 show that according to the county superintendent's report there was pended for maintenance in the unorganized district of St. Louis County $592,039, of which $324,456 was for teachers' salaries. Toward this there was paid from State funds $219,577, or 35 per cent. The per cent of such payment of State funds for the State as a whole is slightly under 20 per cent. The total enrollment was 4,748. It will be noted therefore that the State's part in maintenance is more than $46 per pupil enrolled and is approximately two-thirds of teachers' salaries. "Of the amount so paid, $139,690 is 'supplemental' aid referred to in the article, and is based on the sole ground of low valuation, no standards being required. [The text of the law governing this distribution is quoted in the letter.]-Ed. Thirty-two thousand one hundred and eighty-eight dollars is income from the permanent school fund, plus a State-wide 1-mill tax, and is apportioned on the basis of the number of pupils attending at least 40 days, with no other requirements; $14,939 is reimbursement for the transportation of children in consolidated schools; $31,155 is standardizing aid and is based on teachers' qualifications, school equipment and buildings; $682 is reimbursement for the purchase of library books, and $923 for instruction in evening schools for adults, wherein the State pays half the cost of instruction. The State also paid during the year the sum of $16,740 to assist in the erection of buildings for consolidated schools in this district. "Furthermore, in Minnesota the State pays the tuition in high schools for children whose residence is outside of high-school districts. There is as yet no high school in this unorganized district, the entire expenditure, as above, being for elementary education. The State department records show that during the last year 165 students from the district attended high schools in the county, for Eighth Elementary Grade Means Additional Cost and Loss of Time Eleven Years of Study Enough of Preparation for College. Graduates of 431 Southern High Schools on 7-4 Plan Show Creditable Records in Higher Institutions. Results Seem Convincing TH By JOSEPH S. STEWART HE REPORT of the secretary of the southern commission shows 431 high schools on the southern list organized on the 7-4 plan and 323 on the 8-4 or some other plan. After gathering statistics for six years of the records of freshmen in all institutions to which the graduates from 754 schools entered, he declared at Charleston that there was no appreciable difference in the records in college. No one could tell by the record in college any advantage that the extra year in the grades gave to the student in college. Do you get the significance of this? Here are schools, the best in the South from Virginia to Texas, whose freshmen records are the same whether they come from 7-4 or 8-4 schools. Thirty-two thousand seven hundred seventy-four freshmen were included in this study. They attended colleges South and North, but they maintained themselves equally well. No college asks or thinks of making any discrimination on account of the seven or eight years of elementary work. Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Louisiana, and Texas are organized on the 7-4 plan. Florida, Tennessee, Mississippi, Kentucky, West Virginia are on the 8-4 plan. Alabama and Arkansas have recently gone to the 6-3-3 plan. We have made a study each year since 1908 of the freshman records in Georgia colleges. We have been unable to tell by the college records any gain by the added eighth grade. Savannah once had 7-4; she changed to 8-4 and then to 6-3-3. In every case Editorial in High School Quarterly, January, 1926. which the State paid in tuition around $12,000. The other rural districts in the county which are not included in the unorganized district, of course, received in general corresponding amounts from the State." Students of the University of the Philippines, Manila, have petitioned for a five-day weekly schedule in order that Saturday may be devoted to athletic and social activities. At present classes are held every week day. the graduates entered as freshmen and in neither of the later organizations have they shown superiority as a result. Atlanta had 8-4; she changed to 7-4 and recently changed to 6-3-3. Last year's graduating class at the boy's high school under the 7-4 plan did not show a failure in college. A similar showing was made by the girls' high school. Can the added year do better? The eighth grade costs from 121⁄2 to 15 per cent additional. It delays the children another year in entering the high school and the college. Saves Money and Delivers Successful Product We hear much of economy in time and cost. The 7-4 plan is a demonstrated success. It saves money, it saves time, it delivers a successful product. Why not consider it or some modification of it, including the junior high school? We do not need 12 years to prepare for college. We do not need 12 years to finish a high school. What one of us 40 years of age or more took that long to prepare for college? Economy in time and cost! The 7-4 plan is open for study. There are nearly 400,000 pupils in these 11-year high schools. One can find them in Kansas City and other Missouri cities and towns; one can find them in the States mentioned above. They invite inspection. Augusta, Ga., is organizing a standard junior college based on 11 years of work. Here is a suggestion to some large city. Save a year and add a year to the present 12 and give the city education through the junior college. An "Institute of Physics and Chemistry" has been offered as a gift to Spain by the International Education Board. A commission headed by the Duke of Alba has been constituted by royal order to conclude the preliminaries for accepting the offer. It is understood that the board will expend $400,000 for the building and that the Spanish Government will provide the site and maintain the institute. Administration and control is expected to be under the Spanish Ministry of Public Instruction and Fine Arts.-The American Ambassador, Madrid. cluding parliamentary law clubs and Community Center Activities of Washington public speaking clubs); Boy Scouts; Conducted by Board of Education Congressional Appropriation of $35,000 Annually for Officers and Workers of Department. Specialists in Dramatics, Rhythm, and Athletics are Employed. Dramatic Clubs Present Excellent Performances A By CECIL NORTON BROY DVANTAGES which come from direction of community activities by the board of education are clearly exemplified in Washington. Here, in pursuance of a law enacted by the Congress, a community-center department was established by the board of education on July 1, 1917. In consequence of that connection the educational value of all the community activities has been stressed, and no friction has occurred between dayschool workers and community-center workers, for all of them have the same superior officers. Schools Best Suited Are Selected There are 16 permanent community centers and 2 temporary community centers in the District of Columbia. The best school plant in each neighborhood has been selected as the communitycenter building. Some of the community centers have auditoriums, some gymnasiums, some music rooms, some armories which afford excellent places for social gatherings, some have tennis courts, two have swimming pools, and two have stadiums for athletic activities, which of course furnish splendid facilities for large civic and patriotic celebrations and historical pageantry. The attendance at the public-school community centers in the District of Columbia is between 400,000 and 500,000 annually. The activities are for adults, youth, and children. Centers Used by Community Groups A large number of clubs and classes organized by community-center employees meet regularly each week. In addition to these clubs and classes, there is a wide community use of public-school buildings by civic, patriotic, and educational organizations of the city. The rules of the Board of Education provide that all community uses of buildings, whether regular or special, must be civic, educational, recreational, or social in character. About 225 community-center clubs and groups meet regularly each week in the centers. They express themselves in the following activities: Dramatic clubs and groups (including community pageantry); musical organizations (including community opera, community orchestras, bands, community choruses, and community instrumental classes); social clubs; rhythm clubs and classes; language clubs and classes; industrial arts, handwork, and home economics clubs and groups; athletic clubs and groups; civic groups (in Girl Scouts The community center department of the public schools also arranges for citywide celebrations of national holidays and other civic programs in which dramatic clubs participate and in which other organizations of the city cooperate. These celebrations are in the nature of harvest festivals, national community Christmas tree celebrations, and July Fourth celebrations. Dramatic episodes and historic pantomimic pageantry are included. Children's community-center dramatic clubs produce fairy plays with beautiful stage settings and lighting effects. Adult dramatic groups include classic comedies and Shakespearean drama in their productions. Cyclorama curtains are being installed in the community center buildings, so that the dramatic and pageantry activities of the school and the community center may have the most artistic settings. These curtains are selected from materials which are of different shades under different colored lights. Cyclorama curtains also simplify the question of stage scenery, since one set of curtains with several drops can be used for any setting. School Credit for Community Work Language clubs have been popular with both adults and children. Grade-school children have been given credit for work done in community-center language clubs when they reach the high school. There are not sufficient gymnasiums in the city to take care of the demand for athletic clubs. In the athletic work, an attempt is made to have club organization, including business meetings for each group, so that the boys and young men who belong to these groups will have training of civic value. They are trained to obey the rules of their club and are taught the importance of right conduct, for the rules of some of these athletic clubs specify two assistant directors of the community- Women display their handiwork at community centers that the members must be "of good standing in the community in which they live and of a clean moral character." Women in the community enjoy the artistic handwork of the industrial arts clubs and at the same time add beauty to their homes by the knowledge gained in the industrial arts, handwork, and home economics groups. Beaded bags, woven reed trays, and well-designed lamp shades are the products of some of the handwork clubs. Furthermore, the advantage gained by neighbors knowing each other better can not be overestimated. Community Opera Groups are Fosterea For some years the community-center department has fostered community opera. Last year, there were three communityopera groups in the community centers; this year there are two. The members of time to the work of one large center. ers. The janitor and engineer service for each community-center building is met from the community-center appropria tion. Czechs in Marvelous Gymnastic Mass Drills "Sokol," Czechoslovakia's great organization for physical education, will hold its eighth Slet, or national sexennial meet, at Prague in June, 1926. The gymnastic mass drills which are the feature of these meets are marvels of alignment and exactness. In the coming displays about 29,121 men will appear in a combined drill in the great arena at Brevnov, and later about 16,793 women will participate simultaneously in their own drills. It is expected that thousands of foreign visitors will witness the exhibitions, and that practically the entire population of Prague and the vicinity will attend. Sokol was founded in 1862 by Dr. Josef Tyrs and Jindrich Fugner. In it gymnastics is but an important incident; it aims at the development of an energetic, patriotic, self-conscious, hardened Czech manhood and womanhood. Noble aspirations are inculcated, including personal purity and brotherhood. The falcon, a sinewy indigenous bird, is the emblem of the Sokol, and every member wears a falcon feather in his round сар. A red shirt, fawn jacket, breeches, and top-boots complete the distinctive dress of the men. Local branches of Sokol have been organized in all the principal towns of Bohemia, Moravia, Silesia, and, more recently, of Slovakia. Each town has its Sokol hall which is the center of the community life, for in addition to physical drills musical and dramatic performances are rendered and social reunions are held. The fittings of these halls are often very artistic. Local gymnastic exhibitions are frequently arranged, and regional competitions are held annually; but the great Slet is always held at Prague. At least 2,373 local associations with 125,000 members will take part in the coming Slet. Its budget will reach about $412,000.-Emanuel V. Lippert. There are a number of part-time assistants who are specialists in dramatics, rhythm, athletics, and other branches of the work. They are paid by the session and assigned to the various centers. There are of course a large number of volunteers in each community center. One full-time community secretary is assigned as director of drama and pageantry for the department. The success of many of our Museum Inaugurates Series of Short large pageants is attributable to her efforts. Courses To acquaint laymen with its extensive these organizations find real recreation Brazilian Scientist to Join Harvard scientific collections, the Cleveland (Ohio) and education in these opera groups. In addition to the specific good resulting from the definite program of work for each group, the community-center activities are creating in the residents a deeper interest in the public-school system because of these additional contacts with it. In recent years, the appropriations for the community-center department have averaged about $35,000 annually. The appropriation covers the expenses of the central office and of a necessary force in a community-center building. There are University Dr. Afranio do Amaral, an assistant in the Butantan Institute of Sao Paulo, Brazil, has been invited to organize a section for the study of animal poisons, toxins, and antitoxins in the Institute of Tropical Biology and Medicine of Harvard University. The American ambassador at Rio de Janeiro has asked the Sao Paulo State authorities to grant leave of absence to Doctor do Amaral to enable him to accept the invitation. Museum of Natural History has inaugurated a series of courses for adults. Two have been projected, one on the birds of the world and one on fossil fishes of the Cleveland region. A fee of $2 is charged for each course of four weeks. Sessions will be held once a week at the museum, and each class will comprise about 10 persons. Members of the museum staff will be the instructors. The museum's collection of approximately 10,000 birds and its excellent collection of fossil fishes will be utilized. Meeting of National Committee on Research in sibly certain physiological traits of pupils Secondary Education Committee is Completely Self-determining. Bureau of Education Its Clearing House. at various levels of secondary education, taking into account probably the levels of entrance to the junior high school, entrance to the standard four-year high school, entrance to the senior high school, Major Projects for Investigation Include Organization, Curricula, Individual Differences, and graduation from the senior high N Pupil Characteristics, Promotion Plans By E. E. WINDES Secretary National Committee on Research in Secondary Education ATIONAL Committee on Research in Secondary Education met in the Bureau of Education offices, Department of the Interior Building, Washington, D. C., February 20. Details of the organization and purposes of this committee were published in SCHOOL LIFE for December. An indication of the interest of organizations and of individuals having membership on the committee is that every member except one was present. Dr. J. B. Edmonson, chairman, presided over the meeting. Commlitee Organized to Promote Research Dr. John J. Tigert, United States Commissioner of Education, in addressing the committee emphasized the fact that the committee is completely self-determining and that in no sense could it be regarded as directed by the Bureau of Education. He pointed out that the Bureau of Education has taken the initiative in organizing the committee to stimulate research. Educational progress has come to depend primarily upon research. Research is no longer limited to graduate schools of education; research bureaus in State departments and city-school systems have become common, and State educational associations, regional and national associations, and a variety of social welfare organizations have entered the field of research. This is desirable and should be encouraged in all legitimate ways, but it has imposed a decided need for coordination of effort. The Bureau of Education, therefore, feels that it can legitimately render an important service by serving as a particular clearing house through which organizations interested in a particular field of education can be kept intimately in contact with each other, especially in research undertakings that are of national scope. It feels also that in placing its resources for gathering and distributing information at the disposal of organiza tions which unite in research undertakings it is not only using its own facilities in a proper way but is materially furthering the extension of research by giving to these organizations facilities which they lack. Reports of special committees created by the general committee were made, showing the status of projects under way. Dr. Emery N. Ferriss, chairman of the Publication sponsored by the committee. standing committee on small and rural high schools, reported that the study of junior high schools in rural and small school communities has proceeded to a point where individuals responsible for special phases of the complete study have submitted outlines of their particular problems together with forms for questionnaires. These questionnaires have been pooled in a composite questionnaire which will go to approximately 400 junior high schools in rural communities that have agreed to cooperate. The major topics of the investigation deal with general organization, local administration, supervision, extra-class activities, program of studies, provisions for individual differences, buildings and equipment. It is contemplated that the report will be submitted in form for publication within one year. Dr. William A. Wetzel, chairman of the committee on large and urban high schools, reported that the committee had agreed to make a study of high-school supervision in cities of more than 100,000 inhabitants and to organize immediately a study of ways of developing a more desirable ability index for pupils. Bibliography of Current Research John K. Norton, chairman of the special committee on current research undertakings, submitted a bibliography of current research in secondary education which embraces 366 researches now under way in schools of education, research bureaus, State departments of education, educational organizations or foundations. The committee desired to have this bibliography complete and ready for distribution at this meeting and Mr. Norton pointed out that the bibliography had been assembled hurriedly and that the perfection of form and completeness of the report was by no means what should be expected of subsequent reports. The committee plans a continuing service.of the type represented by the report, and in subsequent reports the shortcomings of the present report will be corrected. Dr. George S. Counts, chairman of a special committee to plan a study of characteristics of high school pupils, reported that the committee had agreed that the study should include social status, educational characteristics, mental traits, certain character traits, and pos school. The committee contemplates selection of a county, probably in Illinois, that offers proper variety of secondary education facilities, and the development of the technique of the study on the basis of conditions met in that county. After experiences of intensive study in the selected county the committee plans to select representative counties in States of different geographical divisions and to extend the study to those States, using a common technique developed in the county selected on an experimental basis. Outline of Practical Research Procedure Dr. A. J. Jones, chairman of a special committee to draft an outline of procedure in research in secondary education, reported that the committee had completed a preliminary draft of a report which outlined practical research procedure stated so far as possible in nontechnical terms and designed to be of aid primarily to administrators and teachers in high schools as a guide to scientific procedure in research. This report will be submitted for publication within three weeks. Dr. Joseph Roemer, chairman of the special committee to make a study of Southern Association high schools which in general would partake of the nature of the quinquennial studies that have been made in the North Central Association, reported that his special committee includes representatives of the several regional accrediting associations and that it is contemplated that an investigation will be planned which may be made by other regional accrediting agencies giving as a final outcome a national survey of accredited secondary schools. The Southern Association study will be made during the coming school year and will probably be submitted for publication within the year. Studies Sponsored by National Committee The secretary of the committee submitted a report concerning the present status of the several studies sponsored by the national committee which are under way in different institutions. A study of the status of senior high-school promotion plans is in progress at the University of Missouri under the supervision of Prof. D. H. Eikenberry. This study is based primarily upon a comprehensive questionnaire, returns from which have been received from more than 800 high schools representing all States of the Union. The tabulation of this material Public Schools Provide Library Books for Nearly is well under way and Doctor Eikenberry reports that he has adequate material upon which to base a good descriptive study. He contemplates that the study will be completed in June or July and submitted for publication. A study of the high-school teaching load is in progress at Yale University under the supervision of Dr. George S. Counts. Questionnaires have been distributed to carefully selected high-school All Swiss Children Reading Rooms are Considered Undesirable. Parents Wish Children to Go Home Immediately After School. No Special School for Librarians and no Preference Shown to Persons with Library Training By JAMES R. WILKINSON principals and teachers representing all PRACTICALLY all of the childrens' Researches Based on Primary Sources The bibliography of research in secondary education covering the period 19201925 has been completed in the United States Bureau of Education and will be distributed as a bulletin at an early date. This bibliography lists approximately 900 researches in secondary education and, although not complete, it presents most of the researches completed during the period which are primarily based upon a statistical method and draw data from primary sources. In prosecuting its program the committee created two additional special committees: First, a committee on educational subject headings, charged with the duty of setting up an adequate list of subject headings under which the material of bibliographies issued by the general committee will be classified; second, a special committee to draft a program of related research undertakings, under the chairmanship of C. V. Church of the New Trier Township High School, Cicero, Ill. The intent in creating this committee is to avoid becoming involved in numerous research undertakings which might possibly have no relationship one to another. Southern Association Gives Financial Aid Resolutions of appreciation were voted to the Southern Association of Colleges and Secondary Schools for a financial appropriation placed at the disposal of the national committee on research in seconday education and to the Commissioner of Education for his cooperation in placing the facilities of the Bureau of Education at the disposal of the committee. The general committee unanimously reelected for one year the general officers of the committee. A meeting of the executive committee will be held on May 22 to pass on requests which are before the committee to sponsor research undertakings proposed by organizations and schools of education. Members present representing cooperating organizations were: Dr. E. J. Ashbaugh, Educational Research Associa libraries in Switzerland are conducted by public schools. These schools, as a general rule, are supported by the cities or communities in which they are located. In some instances smaller communities are not able properly to finance their own schools and, under these circumstances, the cantons in which they are situated make substantial contributions toward their support. The Federal Government has little to do with the lower educational system in Switzerland, although some of the higher institutions of learning are, in part, supported by it. There is no special school for librarians in Switzerland, nor do any of the regular Swiss schools issue certificates or diplomas to persons as librarians. Several Swiss have recently studied the science of conducting libraries in other countries, but Extracts from official report to Secretary of State. tion; R. W. Dempster, National Association of Collegiate Registrars; Dr. J. B. Edmonson, North Central Association of Colleges and Secondary Schools; Ralph E. Files, Association of Colleges and Preparatory Schools of the Middle States and Maryland; J. C. Hanna, National Association of High School Inspectors and Supervisors; Dr. A. J. Jones, National Society of College Teachers of Education; Dr. Leonard V. Koos, National Society for the Study of Education; J. K. Norton, National Education Association; W. M. Proctor, California Society for the Study of Secondary Education; Dr. W. R. Smithey, Association of Colleges and Secondary Schools of the Southern States; Morton Snyder, Headmasters' Association; Dr. John J. Tigert, United States Bureau of Education; Dr. William A. Wetzel, National Association of Secondary School Principals; E. E. Windes, United States Bureau of Education. Members at large present were: W. B. Bliss, State Department of Education, Ohio; W. H. Bristow, State Department of Education of Pennsylvania, alternate for James M. Glass; Dr. George S. Counts, Yale University; Dr. J. B. Davis, Boston University; Dr. Emery N. Ferriss, Cornell University; Dr. W. C. Reavis, University of Chicago; Dr. J. F. Roemer, University of Florida; Dr. Per upon their return to Switzerland they did not find that their special training to any extent increased their chances of securing employment as librarians. There is hardly any locality in Switzerland where children are unable to obtain suitable books. They are not provided with reading rooms and the reading room has not been considered as suitable to conditions in Switzerland. A child in a Swiss communal school usually reports for study at 9 o'clock in the morning. At 12 o'clock he goes home for his midday meal. At 2 o'clock he returns to resume study. At 4 o'clock he must leave the schoolroom and is expected to return directly home. Swiss parents do not favor reading rooms in which children can sit after school hours. But the children are at liberty to provide themselves with whatever books the school library offers and to take such books home with them for perusal. cival M. Symonds, Teachers College, Columbia University, alternate for Dr. Thomas H. Briggs. School Boys Sent to British. Under the British "Big Brother" movement, 150 boys from the public, secondary, and elementary schools sailed from England last fall for Australia. Most of them went direct on the land where they will be trained in various occupations, including fruit farming. Some of them will go for preliminary instruction to the Dreadnought Training College, in New South Wales. Other recent colonizing parties included 28 boys destined for Australia under agricultural training scholarships provided by the Fellowship of the British Empire Exposition. Another party of 22 was sent to Alberta, Canada. Efficiency of the trade schools maintained by the London County Council is practically recognized by employers. About 15,000 children leave the schools annually, and every one of them finds work quickly.-Alfred Nutting, American Consulate General, London. |