In Public Schools

BALTIMORE, Md., brings the schools to the people through regional meetings. As explained in the Baltimore Bulletin of Education, November 1935, "the city is divided into five broad districts and the parents of the children in each district are invited to a meeting in a suitable school auditorium where specific phases of the school program are clearly explained by means of illustrated lectures. Specialists in the various fields appear in turn, in company with the superintendent of schools, to explain work that is being done and problems faced by the schools."

A committee composed of 12 Michigan educators will make a study of correspondence courses. The committee plans to compile reliable information about correspondence schools and courses, develop a plan of approval of correspondence centers, and suggest methods of using correspondence Courses in curriculum enrichment in the public schools.

A plan has been evolved in C. C. C. camps of Michigan for teaching certain courses for high-school credit. The high school granting such credit determines qualifications of the instructor, content of the course, and scholastic record of the C. C. C. enrollee. In addition, the final examination is conducted, supervised, and graded by high-school authorities.

In Philadelphia, Pa., according to the report of the superintendent of schools of that city for 1934-35, continuation classes have now declined to a point where they have faded out of the educational picture. Education of the type of pupils who were in continuation schools in that city has been transferred largely to the all-day Vocational schools and to some extent to junior and senior high schools.

"The Small High School", University of the State of New York Bulletin No. 1071, makes an analysis of literature regarding the small high school and of

curriculum offerings of the small high school in the State of New York. The bulletin reveals that schools below 200 enrollment find it difficult to offer a program of studies sufficiently enriched to meet modern educational needs. It also shows that other than college preparatory subjects find a narrow berth in most schools below 250 and 300 enrollment.

In order to solve the problem the report states, "Obviously there are at least two steps to be taken: (1) Increase the size of many small high schools through the process of consolidation, by enlarging the territorial unit in areas where two or more small schools can be satisfactorily brought together or combined with a larger school; (2) set up a program of enrichment for those small schools destined to remain small, the program to canvass such devices as alternation of subjects, supervised correspondence and radio instruction, circuit teachers and enrichment within subjects and courses."

An experiment with an activity program in the Pittsburgh Public Schools is described in "Pittsburgh Schools" for There are September-October 1935. nine elementary schools in that city enrolling between eight and nine hundred kindergarten and primary grade children in "activity centers" to provide better articulation between the kindergarten and first grade. The goal anticipated by teachers and principals is that at the end of 2 years the children will be as far along in the usual skills and, in addition, will have other highly desirable qualities usually undeveloped such as independence of thought, experience in problem solving, more social feeling, and ability to get along with other children and in new situations.

The Fathers' Council of the ParentTeacher Association of Washington School, West Orange, N. J., indicates that fathers in that community are awake to the possibilities for service to the school which their children attend. The objectives of the council are: To promote child welfare in the community; secure an understanding of public-school objec

tives, methods, organization, administration, and needs; become familiar with recreational activities and welfare problems of the community that affect young people; aid in the solution of these problems; offer an opportunity for the study of problems of parenthood; promote acquaintance among the fathers of the community; develop a more active interest in the work of the Parent-Teacher Association. W. S. DEFFENBAUGH

In Colleges

Bachelor of foreign service. Two universities in the United States offer work leading to the degree of bachelor of foreign service. Georgetown University (District of Columbia), and Los Angeles University of International Relations, affiliated with the University of Southern California. Recently international honors have been accorded the latter institution when the FIDAC (Federation Interallie des Anciens Combattants) medal was awarded; the medal is given annually to the educational institutions in each of the allied countries having a curriculum best adjudged to encourage international understanding and friendship.

Enrollments. Most institutions are reporting enrollments larger than last year. Such increased total enrollments despite smaller senior classes are looked upon by many as an indication that the turning point in enrollments has passed. University of Kentucky reports 3,550 students; University of California at Los Angeles reports 3,662 students with 46 more women than men; University of Vermont has 1,245 students-762 men and 483 women; University of Washington reports a record year with 5,569 men and 3,648 women, or a total of 9,217 students; University of Iowa reports a record year with 6,339 students; Rutgers University 2,550 students; Lafayette 826; and Ohio State University 11,417.

Harvard finds a definite trend of college students' interest toward economics, government, and sociology as well as in psychology, history, English, and music. Total registration in agriculture at North Dakota Agricultural College

jumped up 29 percent this fall over last fall. University of Washington shows the strongest enrollment in the University College with economics, and business second. Rutgers (men's college) has 662 students in arts and sciences, 198 in agriculture, 173 in engineering, and 104 in education. At Ohio State University greatest gains were in agriculture and law.

Freshman college centers. After recognizing the need of providing college education for unemployed graduates of high schools, several States have provided a means by which students in certain areas may attend college at small cost. Sometimes Federal funds are available for such use, and sometimes these centers are sponsored by existing institutions of higher education. Last year Michigan has established 100 such centers, taking care of hundreds of students within the State. In Ohio more than a thousand students attended the emergency junior college centers in 30 different cities and towns. New Jersey provided six centers and Connecticut was experimenting with a new system of "federal colleges". This fall Texas has planned to open 15 freshmen college centers to take care of some 5 650 young men and women from 16 to 25 years of age who are members of relief families. Five of these centers will open at Dallas, Houston, San Antonio, Fort Worth, and Lubbock, and tuition will be free. centers are provided for students who are unable to obtain a college education because of lack of funds.

These

"Placement Success of the 1933-34 Education Graduates of 374 Collegiate Institutions" by J. G. Umstattd (University of Minnesota), Bulletin of the National Institutional Teacher Placement Association (vol. 1, Mar. 15, 1935). From this survey it was found that—

Of the 37,832 graduates of 1933-34 reported as qualified to teach by the 374 institutions, 21,145 or 56 percent had been placed before January 1, 1935. The types of institutions ranked as follows in terms of placement of last year's graduates before the beginning of this calendar year: State teachers colleges and normal schools, 63 percent; State and land-grant institutions 56 percent; large denominational colleges (500 and over) 47 percent; small denominational colleges, 44 percent; municipal institutions, 38 percent; and private institutions, 35 percent. Other findings are detailed in tables.

WALTER J. GREENLEAF

In Educational

Research

THE educational research division of the New York State Education Department has studied the occurrence of small high schools in that State, not with the view to consolidation of schools but to explore the possibilities of creating better opportunities within the small high schools themselves. The suggested possibilities include: (a) Increased alternation of subject matter, (b) supervised correspondence study similar to that being employed in some States, (c) supervised radio instruction, (d) circuit teaching, i. e., traveling teachers, for some subjects, and (e) enrichment of courses through using methods of instruction better adapted to the small class. The published study is the University of the State of New York Bulletin No. 1071.

Several Southern States have recently been studying the curriculum quite inThe tensively on State-wide bases. Mississippi Program for the Improvement of Instruction, Bulletin No. 2, October 1935, issued by the State department of education of Mississippi, describes this cooperative effort on the part of the educators of that State. For the purpose of this program of improvement of curricular materials the State is divided into five regions. Each of these regions has a representative committee which coordinates and encourages the work in the various cities and counties in their respective regions. Local study groups are organized in the cities and counties.

In

October. The median class size in the St. Louis high schools was found to be 30.7, the lowest in 10 large school systems of the United States. The amount of failure in high school was found to be 8 percent (1934-35) compared to 11 percent in 1931-32. The failure percentages were found not to vary by schools in relation to the intelligence and achievement of their pupils. In fact the school having the highest failure (10 percent) had a higher intelligence than the school having the lowest percent of failure (5 percent). Examination of the achievement in relation to intelligence did not explain the discrepancy, and it was concluded that each school had its own standard of expected achievement. This result shows the need for checking objectively on achievement in high-school subjects.

Average scores on achievement tests of St. Louis high-school pupils were higher than the published norms. This was explained partially by the fact that there is a greater drop-out from school in St. Louis than in other cities of pupils of high-school age, thus leaving pupils of higher scholastic aptitude in school. However, tests in the various subjects showed that there was still a great problem of adapting the materials of instruction to pupils of varying abilities. The analysis of the test results subject by subject is particularly ably done.

The application of research findings to current educational practices is the interesting topic of the first complete annual report of the American Educational Research Association. This report gives the substance of the various papers read at the Atlantic City meeting. The application of research is an important This is because problem to consider. there have been few agencies or groups of of workers in the schools concerned with interpretation of research findings to administrators, supervisors, and teachers. Research people are in general of a scientific nature, interested in the scientific approach to problems. They do not as a rule tend to interpret to the layman in education their findings. For this reason a special effort must be made to get research findings into practice. Here is, therefore, a field open to interpretation of research. This annual report is an initial step in the direction of such interpretation. Paper after paper shows how research findings would change school practice if the research findings were carried into practice. The next step will be to bring these findings to the teacher. This may be done by publications such as those of the United States Office of Education and the various associations of

SCHOOL LIFE January 1936

teachers, through a consumer education for teachers in teachers colleges, and in in-service training of teachers. Typical papers published in the report are: "What changes in Guidance of Physical and Mental Growth of Elementary School Children Would Be Effected in Elementary Education if Research Findings to Date were Actually Applied?" "What Changes Would be Made in the Curriculum if Secondary Education Followed Research?"

Except in the medical departments of Philadelphia and Rochester the schools have been nearly barren of studies in the field of medical inspection. That there is need of investigation along this line is evident from the fact that the Metropolitan Life Insurance Co. went to the expense of financing an investigation by the research division of the American Child Health Association. What most concerns those who have taken a critical glance at the work of the school health service is not so much the inspection or examination of school children as the lack of results from that inspection. It comes near being a complete waste of time and public funds if we find that Johnny Jones has poor vision but nothing is done about it, or that Sarah Smith has lamentably bad teeth and said teeth continue to decay. Maybe it is "educational" (how we like to mouth the word education) for Johnny to read a test card (or part of it) and for Sarah to have her mouth looked into, by a dentist or doctor, and it may be "educational" for the respective parents to learn (education is the process of learning) that their respective children have bad eyes and rotting teeth; nevertheless if nothing is done the 10 minutes of time and the $2 of cash which went to this process of education seem to have been lost.

The researchers in this study were interested especially in finding the reasons why defects had not received attention, or in other words, why public funds are wasted in the business of medical inspection. The answers to this question refer especially to New York City in which the study was conducted and here they learned that entirely too many defects were recorded for the public facilities for treatment available. They found that many cases were neglected because of poor records, and they found teachers unprepared for the important role which they may take in the work of the school health service.

The investigators seem to have overlooked the most important agent in the whole problem, the parent, for they

make no mention of the attendance of parents at the examinations of their children. Except for this oversight the conclusions arrived at are most suggestive and valuable. They should lead to economy of time and effort in this important field. The report of the study "Physical Defects, The Pathway to Correction", American Child Health Association, may be obtained by purchase from the National Education Association, Washington, D. C.

DAVID SEGEL

In Other Government Agencies

PLANS are being formulated in the Indian Service for active cooperative work with the Public Health Service and the Children's Bureau under social security legislation. Some preliminary work is to be carried out through institutes on infant and maternity hygiene at Fort Wingate for the Navajo country and at another point in the Pueblo country.

Approximately 20,000,000 Indians inhabit the Western Hemisphere, of whom about 350,000 are American Indians.

A total of 4,290 Indian boys and girls were enrolled in 4-H Club work during the year 1935, winning 33 State and 299 county prizes.

Nineteen acts were passed by the Seventy-fourth Congress providing for aid in the education of Indian children in Under these acts $1,108public schools.

000 was appropriated to assist in erecting school buildings.

Dr. Henry Roe Cloud, full-blood Winnebago Indian, who is superintendent of Haskell Institute, Lawrence, Kans., was presented with the 1935 Indian Achievement Medal award given by the Indian Council Fire each year for outstanding Indian achievement.

Miss Rose K. Brandt, Supervisor, Elementary Education, Office of Indian Affairs, in a summary of Indian elementary education for the past year lists among others the following achieve

ments:

day-school program in the Northern States, and especially SO in South Dakota, has had considerable impetus.

3. Under the guidance of the instructor in woodworking at Santa Fe, the boys at the Santo Domingo Day School made beautiful chairs for their classroom, thus enabling them to abandon the old form school seats.

4. At the Sells Day School, under the direction of a teacher in the intermediate grades, the construction work has been responsible for much community and home improvement by making things needed in Indian homes.

5. In practically every area where the old culture still functions in the lives of the people native songs, dances, literature, and arts have an important place in the school program.

6. Creative work in poetry and music is going forward slowly.

7. Children's art efforts in the entire Indian area continue to show remarkable results.

In Libraries

IT IS well known that prison libraries have long been neglected and left to themselves to function. Only recently have they been recognized as forces for culture and education in their communities. Under the inspiring leadership of Austin MacCormick, the reorganization of Federal prison libraries was begun. That it is continuing successfully is evidenced by the recent appearance from the Northeastern Penitentiary of an excellent volume (processed) entitled "Library Operations." The volume carefully describes the set-up and work of the library and gives samples of forms used. The book should serve not only as a description of a service now being rendered, but also as a handbook for other libraries in penal institutions.

The American Library Association, in a mimeographed circular "Friends of the Library Groups," describes the newest effort to promote libraries in the United States. The movement is fairly widespread and is proving of great benefit to libraries in general and university libraries in particular. The A. L. A. circular explains how the idea operates, and shows what has already been accomplished. Another A. L. A. circular entitled "State Citizens' Library Committees and Conferences," tells of projects in library promotion on a State-wide basis.

SABRA W. VOUGHT

SCHOOL LIFE January 1936

Pupils' Progress Reports

[Continued from page 115]

Science." There is also a tendency to break down the rating for a single subject into specific achievements. For example, the Raleigh, North Carolina Report of Reading Progress is rated as follows: Gets thoughts for himself (silent reading); gives thoughts to others (oral reading); gets new words; reads silently without pointing and moving lips; reads because interested; reads to the point; appreciates good literature.

Five sections of the Lawrence, Kans., report rate status and progress as follows: "Health Education, Report of Standardized Achievement Tests, Scholarship, Progress in Habits, Attitudes and Characteristics" and also solicits "Parents' Report of Pupil's Home Efforts." Under "Health Education" the pupil's habits of posture, cleanliness, and hygiene are rated as satisfactory or unsatisfactory and the school nurse reports upon physical conditions and needed corrections achieved. Under "Test" reports the child's individual score, the class score, and the normal score are given twice a year for specific achievements in school subjects. Subject matter knowledge as rated under "Scholarship" and "Behavior" ratings are grouped under objectives for the pupil "As an individual person" and "As a member of the social group." The "Parents' Report" includes home reading, hours of sleep daily, habits of hygiene, and specific types of social behavior.

A large number of report cards reserve most of the space for teachers' comments. Sometimes there is one card for each grade or small group of grades, with the major objectives stated first and adequate space for the teacher to describe how the child's achievements measure up to the objectives. Frequently nearly as much space is left for the parent to comment when returning the card as for the teacher's comments.

Another interesting contrast between the 1935 and 1930 cards is in the statements of behaviors rated. The negative "is statements such as "is indifferent" discourteous" have apparently disappeared and the following statements from Leominster, Mass., for grades 1 and 2 are fairly typical:

Self control: Obeys promptly; does not interrupt;
forms line quietly without pushing; keeps things
away from mouth; uses quiet tones.
Courtesy: Listens when someone else is talking;
avoids passing in front of people; is courteous in
speech, manner, and attitudes.

Work habits: Follows directions; is able to work alone

or in a group; is ready for work on time; cooperates in caring for school property.

Letters,

Symbols used for rating achievements and behaviors definitely tend to convey more meaning as to pupil status and progress than was formerly the case. checks, minus and plus signs, words, phrases, and sentences are used, with the order of popularity as listed.

The letters S (satisfactory), U (unsatisfactory), I (improvement), in various arrangements and combinations, with checks signifying ratings, are most commonly used. Other letters signify Outstanding, Satisfactory, Not Satisfactory, and Failure; Excellent, Good, Average, Below Average, and Failure; Under developed, Well developed, and Improvement; Well developed, Shows improvement, Needs development. The wellremembered A, B, C, and D are also used, with explanations of meanings, and in some cases are defined with numerical symbols.

Phrases are sometimes used, with space allowed for checks or other symbols. These phrases include "Below but improving, Below average, Satisfactory" and for the recurrence of behaviors Almost never, Part of the time, Practically always." Other phrases are arranged for completion: "Strongest work in " and "Weakest work in

Supplementing the ratings, several reports indicate in various ways children's special aptitudes and interests.

A few reports arrange for diagrams to show the periodic standing of the pupil's

achievements in relation to the class average and the highest class scores, and in relation to norms for standardized tests in school subjects. These graphs apply only to records for upper grade pupils.

Individual growth

The variety of types of reports to parents is an indication of the general effort of school systems to help each child grow and develop according to his best ability and to remove the onus sometimes associated with periodic reports. This tendency is in keeping with the philosophy underlying changes taking place in general curricula and teaching methods.

[Concluded on page 135]

Commercial Education Congress [Concluded from page 116]

ditions determine their school background. We emphasize the development of the individual student through self-expression, through participation. They expect the student to conform to the school pattern. We believe in a socialized classroom; they in uniformity, in rigidity. They require thorough mastery of the entire course or elimination; we offer a selection of subjects in an attempt to We see discover student aptitudes. socialistic tendencies, the communistic spirit an outgrowth of their discipline; they see lawlessness an outgrowth of ours. Is either view fair? Their work in linguis tics is broader in scope than ours because their need is greater. Their continuation schools are further developed than ours. Their buildings and physical accommodations are as fine as ours; their physical and chemical laboratories as complete. In commercial education, they do not feel the need for questioning and evaluating objectives and results as we do, for having adjustable curricula in an attempt to meet the needs of the constant changes required by economic conditions. Research to discover possibilities for employment, to analyze job requirements, to decide school equipment in the form of office machinery, to determine methods are not topics for discussion. We have much to learn from each other. The opportunity provided by the international congress for closer contacts and better understanding will result not only in benefits to educational progress but may help bring about a world condition that spells progress and

peace.

SCHOOL LIFE January 1936