learned through concentration, very much expenditure of of effort, and, probably, a very definite focusing of learning. The director of the Bureau Salesmen of Public of Educational Service, Education Teachers College, Columbia University, Dr. R. G. Reynolds, says that the modern American boy and girl has in recent times been compared to the youth of by-gone years somewhat unfavorably. Flapperism and irresponsibility of the modern child have been the stock criticisms of the defenders of "the good old days." The fact is, he says, the product of the public schools today is a much more desirable and efficient product than it was in days. gone by. Dr. Reynolds points out: accu The modern child is coming into a far more complex civilization, and he is better prepared for it. He does not lack the fundamentals. He can spell better he can cipher more rately, he has a far greater fund of general information, and most important of all, he is being taught in the public schools the actual performance of civic duties which he must carry on if our country is to progress. One has only to study honestly the curricula of America's public schools to realize that they are determined at training children how to live, actually. Dr. Reynolds believes that the most hopeful indication which can be found in American public education is the kind developed in the minds of those engaged in teaching that public education is the people's business. Newspaper men and professional writers all over the country are going to the schools for material. In hundreds of towns and cities they are coming to understand the work of the teachers, and they are telling the story of the public schools as only trained journalists can tell it. They are taking the schoolroom to the citizen who is too busy to visit it himself, and thus these men and professional writers become the salesmen of public education. Leadership An obscure youngster, 11 in years old, stumbled into Club Work club work without outside help and in opposition to his father's wishes. He began to grow better corn and has kept at it until he has led 800 farmers and club boys in his county to plant his highly improved variety where only degenerated and mixed corn had ever been grown prior to 1920. This happened in Wellston, Lincoln County, Oklahoma. The boy, Ford Mercer, now 18 years old, was recently presented with a $250 silver cup at the "Third National Boys and Girls Club Congress." This national trophy, the gift of H. A. Moses, Mittineague, Massachusetts, will be presented each year to the boy or girl who has had the widest influence for betterment. The following are some of the achievements of Ford Mercer, the best known boy in Oklahoma, according to J. W. Guin, county agent: Ford has produced in these eight years 1164 bushels of corn with an acre average of 46.5 bushels when the average of the county over the same period was 19.4 bushels per acre; he has produced more than 300 chickens during two years, and 11,000 pounds of pork during five years of the period. He has led his corn club group in connection with an organized club for five years; he has been on fifteen corn judging demonstrations, twelve live stock judging demonstrations and eight poultry judging demonstrations in the presence of more than 2000 people. He has conducted a variety of demonstrations and contests. This boy has led 500 club boys and girls of his county to do better work and at least 300 adult farmers to use better methods in their farm practices. He has presented club work to six schools and has attended more than 60 club meetings. Thus, Ford Mercer, less than 18 years of age, has demonstrated his leadership for community, county, and state club work. Moving The geographical center of education, according to West President John M. Thomas, State College, Pennsylvania, is moving westward. In a recent address, he pointed out that the time may come when Harvard and Columbia and all the other distinguished colleges of the northeastern section of America will play as small a relative part in the collegiate education of the nation as the historical academies in the same section now play in secondary education. He says that the tendency is stronger toward increase in public education and comparative decrease of education under private control. From 1890 to 1918 the attendance at private colleges and universities increased 113 per cent. Continuing, he said: a recent Wherein There is a widespread need It today of a better underConsists standing of what moral education is, according to statement by Dr. Charles R. Zahniser of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, which appears in the current number of The Expositor, who declares that it is something far different from mere information imparted to the intellect. He believes that moral education has to do rather with the setting of attitudes and developing of powers of the soul, and that it has to do with the inner guide to conduct commonly called conscience; not an infallible guide, of course, but the only guide we have. Dr. Zahniser says: As such it may be developed by proper education, dwarfed by neglect, seared as with a red hot iron. It may become debased or perverted. It often becomes bifurcated, so that a man may, for example, be deceitful or tyrannical in business and at the same time ferment in sentimental religious expression, without at all realizing the inconsistency of his life which is so clear to others. In the matter of method of moral education there is frequently a good deal of muddled thinking in evidence, Dr. Zahniser believes. As to the moral judgment, he says the method is not essentially different from ordinary intellectual culture. It has to do with imparting the ethical ideals of others, the tested experience of the race, the teachings of the Bible, and with developing the power of analytical and logical thinking on moral themes. He even more makes clear his thought that the education of the moral imperative is something different, and is important. This has to do with art rather than science, the highest and greatest art of all, he says, the art of correct living. Like every other art this is learned only by practice, and Dr. Zahniser emphasizes the fact that edu cation in the practical things of life, in the motor processes, is always a matter of leading out the capabilities by prac. tice under skillful direction. The standard of compulSchool Attendance sory education for chilCompulsory dren is gradually being raised throughout the country. A few years ago hardly a state required attendance above the age of 14. Now thirty-two states fix 16 as the age to which attendance must continue unless certain prescribed conditions have been previously met. Seven states fix ages higher than 16. The prevailing lower age limit is 7, for twenty-seven states name this as the age for beginning required attendance. In two states 6 is the lower limit. Apparently the present standard in America is that children between the of 7 and 16 must go to ages school. Three-fourths of the states re education in a greater bond of brotherhood to the end that justice and good will may prevail. President Thomas says that the meeting in Scotland will be larger and of wider significance than the conference that was held in California when the Federation was organized. It is hoped that this country will be represented by at least 1000 people. A steamer has been chartered to carry the representatives. The steamer will sail from New York July 10, and it is understood that another steamer will leave Montreal on the same date. Interesting tours will be announced so that those who attend the convention may make the most of their trip. These tours will range from fifteen to thirty days and will cost about $10 a day, everything included. The program of the meeting will include addresses by men and women of world wide note. The Educational Institute of Scotland is actively engaged in making preliminary arrangements. One of the aims of this session of the World Federation of Education will be to provide a group of special committees for the purpose of promoting the various projects on foot by the World Conference in 1923, as well as to consider and quire attendance for the full public taken, also, to provide a permanent set up new movements. Steps will be school terms. In only two cases is the minimum requirement less than 100 days annually. Of the thirty-two states which require attendance to the age of 16 under certain conditions a number make the requirement absolute up to 14, but attendance between that age and 16 is contingent upon educational attainment. The standard which seems to be taking definite form in most localities is that the child must attend school until the age of 16 is reached, unless being over 14, he has finished the elementary grades, has obtained an employment certificate, and has gone to work. financial foundation as a means of making the work of the federation far reaching and effective. University President Burton of the Makes New University of Chicago rePlea cently made public declaration that the present resources of the university must be doubled within the next ten or fifteen years if the university is to do its full share in research and educational work. That means that the university must raise upwards of $50,000,00. President Burton places his plea upon the ground that the university must expand to meet its growing responsibilities toward the nation. He says that the emphasis of the work of the university must be upon graduate and professional schools, and that they must place their emphasis upon the work of research. The day in which the task of the university can be conceived to be the passing on of the new generation of the body of accepted and accredited knowledge has forever pass ed, he says, and the experience of the last half century has demonstrated the absolute boundlessness of the field of knowledge that is possible to human minds. It has shown, he says, the im mense advantages which come to the race from the new knowledge thus gained. Dr. Burton points out that the trustees favor establishment of a department of military training on the campus in the belief that the government's military policy is "neither militaristic nor anti-militaristic, in the sense that it represents a determination not to go to war, even for purely defensive purposes." He said that the university and the war department are in accord so far as the military program on the midway is concerned. Private Schools Service of To some people, possessed with the idea of one uniform national system, the existence of "independent" or "private" schools is unwelcome. Especially is this the case with a section which confuses democracy with sameness, says a writer, and, to them, the existence of the private school is a symbol of snobbish exclusiveness. The writer observes: Obviously, to the politician, disturbed by the large calls upon the public purse consequent upon recent educational advances, the existence of "independent" schools, educating thousands of children without expense to the State, is a matter for congratulation. Indeed, so great is their value to the Chancellor of the Exchequer that it has been suggested that it would pay him to subsidize these schools to a certain small extent. This, of course, would not be tolerated without some measure of public control. But the Federation of Independent Schools has recently suggested a method whereby its members could be assisted very materially without a direct subsidy. The proposal is that the teachers in private schools should be allowed to come under the Teachers' Superannuation Scheme, thus relieving the schools of the necessity of paying much higher salaries in order to retain their masters and mistresses. Much support for this suggestion is forthcoming. This writer points out that general recognition is given to the fact that educational methods are continually changing and developing, and that it is in the independent schools that freedom for experiments and investigations is found. He says that a group of parents will support a small school for the expressed purpose of allowing their children to be educated according to certain theories and along certain experimental lines, knowing well, moreover, that such a course would be either impossible or difficult of attainment in an officially controlled institution. He believes that educationists of repute do not ignore the work of independent schools, but that they believe it is necessary to guard against inefficiency and incapacity both in such schools and in state supported schools. Editorial Notes THE tendency of the times, fostered too often by an inconsiderate public, is to inject into universities too much football bordering on the standard of professional athletics. Thus, in substance, does the president of the board of regents, University of Minnesota, express himself, and he seems to believe that if this tendency is permitted to go unchecked it will in the end destroy amateur football. It will deprive the people of one of the most fasci nating, exhilarating, and spiritualizing spectacles of any age. A university, he says, needs a better understanding of the purpose of the department of physical education. AN editorial which appeared in a recent num. ber of The Journal of the New York State Teachers Association urges a change in the personnel of the state board of regents on the ground that the members are too old to serve effectively. The editorial points out that members of the board should automatically retire at the age of 70. The writer, declaring that most of the present members of the board are too old, says: The trouble is not with the system or the machinery of the state's educational government, but with the seeming total lack of constructive program emanating from the seat of power and authority, and the consequent conviction that we are getting nowhere. We trust the regents will not feel we are merely picking at them in these observations. We are recording the sober truth which they may readily discover for themselves by summoning the courage to look for it. THE testing of intelligence does not promise much help in school work, according to Dr. Harlan C. Hines of the college of education, Cincinnati University, who defined intelligence, in a recent address, reported in The School Index, as the ability of the individual to meet a new situation. This involves many qualities of mind, Dr. Hines said, which are not probed by the tests in vogue. Parents in Chicago are publishing page advertisements in the newspapers protesting against the grading of children's intelligence, he pointed out, and added that Los Angeles has abandoned its testing department. The pioneers in this field, he declared, had claimed such tests were needed, because teachers' marks did not correctly estimate the pupils' intelligence. Now the tests are claimed to be accurate in as much as they have a high correlation with teachers' marks. There is a fallacy here somewhere, Dr. Hines said. Dr. Hines has given up the testing work in the college of education, he says, because he has ceased to believe in many men who are enthusiastic in promoting the measure move ment. "These men," he is quoted as saying, "have no more right to be considered authorities on intelligence than you or I. I wanted to be out of this work, because I do not wish to be associated with a bunch of nuts." The chief help of tests is in connection with certain abnormal cases, he believes. The Index says that Dr. Hines's remarks were received with considerable applause, and that there was evidence of disagreement with his views. Dr. Tigert, in his report, lays stress upon the re-organization of school work in Alaska which has recently been undertaken and especially upon the introduction of modern methods of industrial training. "Educational surveys," he says, "which depend upon personal examinations of local conditions and recommendations for changes, have become a popular instrument of improvement. In this the Bureau of Education was the leader in point of time and now directs more surveys of this character than any other agency-perhaps more than all others combined." The announcement is made that during the fiscal year, 1924, the Bureau of Education conducted 18 surveys. The survey of higher education in Michigan is regarded as the most important in as much as it will probably lead to a complete change in the policy of the state toward higher education. It is reported, also, that a state-wide survey of the higher institutions in Tennessee and a survey of higher education in Cleveland are still in progress. A survey of school buildings of Portland, Oregon, was another noteworthy piece of work in as much as it involved the re-organization of the schools of the city. Ar the recent meeting of the New York State Teachers Association, Albany, a motion favoring the Smith-Towner Education Bill was tabled. It is said that the motion started a heated discussion, and in view of the fact that it seemed impossible to gain a respectful majority on either side the motion was tabled. The proposed Child Labor Amendment to the Federal Constitution was indorsed. Among the chief proposals for state measures approved by the Association was an appropriation of $3,500,000 to be used for erecting residence facilities at teacher training institutions which are maintained by the state. The committee on teacher recruiting reported that approximately 3,500 students are without proper housing at the state normal schools, more than 500 of these being at the State College, Albany. An appropriation of $675,000 is to be asked for the erection of a dormitory for women students at Albany. Amendment of the education law to provide scholarships for high school students who go to normal schools at the rate of $100 a year was adopted. The scholarship would go to those who take the regular three-year course. It was urged, too, that the normal school curriculum should provide a liberal education for prospective teachers. In this connection, it was suggested that the new courses should include higher mathematics, philosophy, music, advanced English, and modern lan. guages. A constructive plan for the improvement of rural schools was adopted. The Teachers Association will get behind the rural school bill which developed a fight in the last legislature, but that bill will be modified to some extent. Theodore A. Zornow, Rochester, was elected president. Miss Sarah Cooney, Syracuse, was elected vicepresident, and M. M. Lamberton of Malone and Arnie Aldrid of Troy were chosen as members of the executive committee. EDWARD S. HARKNESS of New York has provided a gift of $1,000,000 for a department of dramatic art at Yale University. The gift provides for the erection of a theatre for the performance of plays. Professor George Pierce Baker who has been on the teaching staff of Harvard University for 36 years has accepted appointment as director of the department. Professor Baker is 58 years old. He is the author of several books on dramatic subjects, and he has edited a large number of plays and other works. He is author and was director of "The Pilgrim Spirit," the pageant which was given at Plymouth in the summer of 1921 on the occasion of the Massachusetts Tercentenary. Professor George H. Nettleton of the English department at Yale says that the desire of the Yale Dramatic Association for an unusual theatre will become a reality, and that Professor Baker will have "the unusual opportunity of developing a school of significance not merely to Yale but to all who recognize the active drama as a potent force in national life." THE board of education at Fremont, Nebraska, recently passed a resolution recommending that teachers in the public schools read from the Bible at the opening exercises of the various classes. The Bible should be read, the board emphasized, without comment. The action of the board follows the consideration of several petitions, with hundreds of signers, which requested that the board make the reading of the Bible compulsory in the Fremont schools. The board decided to omit the word "compulsory" and to adopt the resolu tion as a recommendation to the teachers. HOME teaching is an admirable feature of the administration of the public schools of Cleveland, Ohio. If children are unable to attend school for some length of time, on account of illness, they are eligible for home teaching and may apply to their principal for a home teacher. JAMES HEATLY was superintendent of schools at Green Island, New York, for forty-four years. He died October 27. He went to Green Island soon after his graduation from Union College in 1879 and held the position of superintendent until his death. A testimonial dinner, in commemoration of fortythree years of service to the community, was tendered to Mr. Heatly a year ago. Score-Card for English Texts and Nation-Wide Study of Use of English N addition to presenting an attractive convention, the National Council of Teachers of English, meeting at St. Louis during the Thanksgiving recess, made two decisions which may prove far-reaching in their influence. First, the Council decided to formulate and to publish a score-card for use in measur ing and comparing English text-books. Presumably, the essential of good Eng. lish text-books in all grades will be determined as a basis for preparing the required score-card. Second, the Council decided to "undertake at once an investigation of the place and function of English in American life," appointed a committee of five to have charge of the investigation, and provided a sufficient fund to finance the work of the committee for the current year. The committee consists of John G. Clapp, New York City; Mary D. Spaulding, St. Louis; Edwin L. Miller, Detroit; Rewey Bell Inglis, Minneapolis; and C. S. Pendleton, Nashville. GENERAL PROGRAM SPEAKERS Two general programs of unusual merit were supported by section meetings as follows: Two high school sections, one combined elementary and junior high school section, a college section, and a normal school section. Topics and speakers for the two general programs were: President's Address, Essie Chamberlain, Oak Park, Illinois; Making Oral Composition Profitable, J. T. Marshman, Ohio Wesleyan University, Delaware; Improving the English of America, Fred N. Scott, University of Michigan; What Can English Teachers Do To Promote World Peace? E. Estelle Downing, Michigan State Normal College, Ypsilanti; Teaching Pupils to Love Literature, L. A. Sherman, University of Nebraska; Literature and Science, Edwin M. Greenlaw, University of North Carolina; Men and Books, John Farrar, Editor of the Bookman, New York City. SPEAKERS ON SECTION PROGRAMS Leading speakers before the high school, junior high school and elementary school sections were: J. Milnor Dorey, Trenton, N. J.; Stella B. Finney, Indiana, Pa.; Ernest S. Hoffsten, St. Louis; Orton Lowe, Hamsburg, Pa.; THOMAS W. GOSLING, Superintendent of City Schools, Madison, Wisconsin, who was elected president of the National Council of Teachers of English at the annual convention in St. Louis. President Gosling announces that the council will undertake important work this year. He says: "Contributions to the science and the art of teaching English will be made by several active committees. Through the programs which are to be presented at the national meetings, we hope to stress the functions of English in training for citizenship and in the formation of character. The teachers of English are aware of their responsibility to assist in meeting the greatest problem in American education-the problem of training children in high ideals and in noble conduct." H. Y. Moffett, Columbia, Mo.; Mary Bird Fontaine Laidley, Charleston, W. Va.; R. L. Lyman, Chicago; Kathryn H. Kelly, Joliet, Ill.; William N. Otto, Indianapolis; G. Eunice Meers, Des Moines; Franklin Smith, Cincinnati; A. Francis Trams, Joliet, Ill.; Matie Bruffey, Springfield, Mo.; Susan E. Wilcox, Springfield, Ill.; Warren Jones, Wilcox, Springfield, Ill.; Warren Jones, Kirksville, Mo.; Mabel L. Corbin, Macomb, Ill.; Milton M. Maynard, Monmouth, Ill.; Eliza Hoskins, Little Rock, Ark.; Mary E. Riordan, Hannibal, Mo. Among prominent speakers at the college section were: Professor C. C. Fries, University of Michigan; Professor Thomas A. Knott, University of Iowa; Prof. Edwin M. Hopkins, University of Kansas; Prof. W. F. Bryan, Northwestern University; Prof. Robert L. Ramsay, University of Missouri; Prof. Louise Pound, University of Nebraska; Prof. John S. Kenyon, Hiram College; Vincil C. Coulter, Utah Agricultural College; and Dr. Fred N. Scott, University of Michigan. On the normal school program, the following were leading speakers: Mabel Yeomans, State Normal School, Oneonta, N. Y.; Walter Barnes, State Normal School, Fairmont, W. Va.; J. Rose Colby, Illinois State Normal University, Normal; Constance Mitchell of the Arkansas State Teachers' College, Conway, presided. SUCCESSFUL DINNER AND RECEPTION Nearly 300 covers were laid for the annual dinner over which Walter Barnes of Virginia presided as toastmaster. Those responding to toasts were: Dr. W. M. Aikin, Burroughs Country Day School, St. Louis; Elizabeth Baker, Dallas; Alice L. Marsh, Detroit; S. A. Leonard, University of Wisconsin; W. F. Melton, Atlanta; O. J. Stevenson, Guelf, Canada; Vincil C. Coulter, Logan, Utah; and Dr. Fred N. Scott, University of Michigan. NEWLY ELECTED OFFICERS At the regular business meeting, the following officers were elected for the ensuing year: President, Supt. T. W. Gosling, Madison, Wis.; First VicePresident, Alice L. Marsh, Detroit; Second Vice-President, Orton Lowe, Harrisburg, Pa.; Secretary-Treasurer, Wilbur W. Hatfield, Chicago; Member Executive Committee, Essie Chamberlain, Oak Park, Ill.; Auditor, Dora V. Smith, Minneapolis; Directors at Large: Edwin M. Hopkins, Kansas; Fred N. Scott, Michigan; and T. W. Gosling, Wisconsin. Resignation BY ELEANOR BALDWIN I shall not tear the years apart But I shall sit the green days through President of a Teachers College Formally Inaugurated F NORMAL inaugural ceremonies were observed to install Dr. George Willard Frasier as president of the state teachers college at Greeley, Colorado. The inauguration occurred Friday, November 21, and was attended by representatives of colleges, universities, and civic organizations. Prominent alumni of the college and many of its friends were present, also. The ceremonies were duly formal and academic. The lieutenant-governor of the state presided. The inaugural address was delivered by Dr. Charles McKenny, president of the state normal college, Ypsilanti, Michigan, who gave an outline of the history of teacher training institutions. He said that a teachers college is the school which must discover, train, and motivate rare and gifted intellects. Dr. McKenny pointed out: But schools must do more. They must prepare a way for genius by lifting the general level of intelligence and creating a generation that can understand his messages and by quickening consciousness of men so that they shall be disposed and willing to follow light where it is revealed. Mind to know and will to do must be great objects of our education program. Science is today far in lead of general intelligence. Medical profession is 50 years in advance of popular thinking. Scientific agriculture is as far in advance of common practice. The world not only needs leaders but followers, and they can be produced only by universal education. It is a race between education and destruction, says H. G. Wells. It is the supreme business of education, of our system of schools, and all such institutions as this teachers college to see that education wins. The president of the board of trustees, Harry V. Kepner of Denver, in presenting keys of the institution to Dr. Frasier, said: This bunch of keys was once in possession of your two able and worthy predecessors. For 25 years Dr. Z. X. Snyder faithfully and successfully carried responsibilities that these keys represent. For seven more years Dr. John Grant Crabbe directed the destinies of our institution and led it to still greater heights. Both these peerless leaders actually sacrificed their lives in their devotion to duty. The board of trustees has full confidence, DR. GEORGE WILLARD FRASIER DR. FRASIER is an unusually well trained man in the field of education. He is 33 years old. He secured his education in the state teachers college at Ypsilanti, Leland Stanford University, and Columbia University. He is the author of several books that are recognized as authority in their particular fields. While Dr. Frasier held an associate professorship in Teachers College, Columbia University, he participated in the well known educational survey of Baltimore. He was called from an assistant superintendency in the Denver public school system to membership in the faculty at Greeley and became dean of graduate work in that institution in January 1923. He was made vice-president last November. He is the fourth president of the college. Dr. Frasier, that the presidency of our institution, that administration of its affairs could not be in better hands. Dr. E. A. Cross, dean of the college, spoke for the faculty. He emphasized the opportunities and responsibilities which are inherent in headship of teacher training institutions, and he pledged the support of the entire faculty to Dr. Frasier. The address of response by Dr. Frasier dealt with problems of college and public school curricula. He pointed out that in as much as the college trains teachers its own curriculum must be based on exhaustive research of public school curricula, and that the day is not far distant when all public school teachers will be required to have four years of training beyond high school. Continuing, Dr. Frasier said: A teachers college presents unusual opportunities for student self-government. If graduates are to accept great responsibilities when they become teachers, they should learn to accept some responsibilities while they are students. Very few men are entering the teaching profession. This is a sad commentary on efficiency of men already teaching in high school. At the present time teaching as an occupation for men is becoming much more attractive and the future looks bright. The number of men in the teaching profession is gradually increasing. Public schools need more men teachers and are willing to pay for them. Dr. Frasier declared that the budg. et method of financing a teachers college is through bi-annual appropriations which make it necessary to go before the legislature at each session, present the case of the college, and do necessary political bickering. He said that one never knows for more than two years in advance what the financial status of a teachers college is likely to be. It is impossible, he believes, for this kind of financing to build great teachers colleges, because continuity of policy is impossible. Ideal means is continuous millage. The inaugural luncheon was attended by 300 persons. Dr. G. E. Maxwell, president of the State Teachers College, Winona, Minnesota, was toastmaster. The principal toasts were given by Dr. George Norlan, president of the University of Colorado; Supt. J. H. Newlon, Denver, President of the N. E. A.; Dr. Charles A. Lory, president of the Colorado Agricultural College; Elizabeth Kendel, of the faculty at Greeley; C. T. Ahlstrand, Chamber of Commerce, Greeley; Mary C. C. Bradford, State Superintendent of Public Instruction; Kenneth Perry, president of Associated Students, Greeley Teachers College. Acceptancies of invitations to attend the inaugural were received from higher institutions of learning in Colorado, Wyoming, New Mexico, Maryland, Utah, Minnesota, Idaho, Vermont, Washington, Ohio, Oklahoma. Invitations were accepted, also, by Princeton University, Wellesley, American Association of University Women, Purdue University, Columbia University, Radcliffe, cliffe, Vassar, Honolulu Honolulu Training School, and various city and county school superintendents. |