[School Life: Volume XV, Number 2, October 1929]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

SCHOOL
LIFE
Volume XV
Number 2
October
1929
STORY HOUR AT THE SMITHSBURG BRANCH, WASHINGTON COUNTY (MD.) FREE PUBLIC LIBRARY
Issued Monthly	by the Department of the Interior
Bureau of Education v	Washington, D. C.
For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, Washington, D. C. -	- See page 2 of cover for prices
CONTENTS
Page
Essential Subjects in a Teacher-Training Course for Sight-Saving Class Work . . . . 21 Estella Lawes.
Purpose and Organization of the National High School Honor Society...........24
Edward Rynearson.
Severance Tax as a Source of School Revenue in the United States.............26
Fletcher Harper Swift.
We Blaze	the Trail To-day for Future American	Citizens. Elmer Holbeck.......28
Editorial:	Assistant Commissioner of Education...............................30
Vocational Work and Vocational Guidance............................30
American Education Week ...........................................31
Occupational Survey of Cardozo High School, Washington, D. C.................31
Library Service to Schools of Washington County, Maryland....................32
Lillian W. Barkdoll.
Recent Surveys Conducted by the Bureau of Education..........................35
Hygiene May Be Correlated With Other School Subjects.........................36
James Frederick Rogers, M. D.
How Our Educational Systems May Be Made More Effective. PF. W. Keesecker . . 38
New Books in Education. Martha R. McCabe.....................................40
Education in a Democracy. The Master of Balliol College............Page	3 of cover
Education a Fundamental Need. A. D. Mayo...........................Page	4 of cover
SCHOOL LIFE is intended to be useful to all persons whose interest is in education. It is not devoted to any specialty. Its ambition is to present well-considered articles in every field of education which will be not only indispensable to those who work in that field but helpful to all others as well. Articles of high character on secondary education have been printed under the auspices of the National Committee on Research in Secondary Education, of which Dr. J. B. Edmonson is chairman and Carl A. Jessen is secretary; these articles will continue. Miss Emeline S. Whitcomb, specialist in home economics of the Bureau of Education, has been instrumental in procuring many excellent papers by leading specialists in her subject. Through the courteous cooperation of Mrs. S. M. N. Marrs and others, the achievements of the National Congress of Parents and Teachers, and the progress of parent education are to be set forth in an important series. Similarly, the activity of Miss Edith A. Lathrop, assistant specialist in rural education, and Mr. Carl H. Milam, secretary of the American Library Association, has produced a significant series of papers upon county libraries. The papers in these four unified series will not overshadow others of equal value. Consular reports on education in other countries constantly come to us through the State Department; frequent articles are printed on child health and school hygiene; higher education is represented in reasonable measure. In short, SCHOOL LIFE means to cover the whole field of education as well as its limited extent will permit.
SCHOOL LIFE is an official organ of the Department of the Interior, Bureau of Education. It is published monthly, except in July and August. The subscription price, 50 cents a year, should be sent to the Superintendent of Documents, Government Printing Office, Washington, D. C., and not to the Bureau of Education. Single copies are sold at 5 cents each. For postage to countries which do not recognize the mailing frank of the United States, add 25 cents a year. Club Rate: Fifty copies or more will be sent in bulk to one address at the rate of 35 cents a year each.
SCHOOL LIFE
Issued Monthly, except July and August, by the Department of the Interior, Bureau of Education Secretary of the Interior, Ray Lyman Wilbur   Commissioner of Education, William John Cooper
Vol. XV	WASHINGTON, D. C., OCTOBER, 1929	No. 2
Essential Subjects in a Teacher-Training Course for Sight-Saving Class Work
Through Organization of Sight-Saving Classes and Training of Teachers for Such Worfa, Children with Defective Vision are Coming to Their Own—The Opportunity of an Education Fitted to Their Needs and Abilities, Which is the Heritage of Every American Child
By ESTELLA LAWES
Director, Department for Sight-Sating, Cincinnati Public Schools
IN the pioneer days of sight-saving class work there were, naturally, no teachers trained to undertake this specialized form of education. Methods of teaching children with seriously defective vision had to be worked out from experimentation. When, however, it was realized that the sight-saving class movement had come to stay, the call for adequately trained teachers became urgent.
In general, teacher training in all fields is such an accepted fact that it is hardly necessary to discuss it in connection with sight-saving class work. How it is to be presented and what subject matter is to be used is quite a different matter.
Plans Should be Carefully Formulated
Ultimately the success of sight-saving classes lies in the hands of individual teachers scattered throughout the country, probably working almost entirely alone, and undoubtedly under widely different conditions. We do not need to be greatly concerned about the teachers for large systems, such as New York, Cleveland, and Detroit, where supervision is close and opportunities are offered for training while in service. The teacher in these places is well established, and has a certain standing in the community. Entrance into special fields is looked upon as a promotion and, as a consequence, attracts a great many teachers. But what is to be done about the 4,000 or more teachers who, according to the latest annual report of the National Society for the Prevention of Blindness, are needed for classes that should be organized throughout the United States? Even-
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tually these classes will come; more and more interest is being shown in sight conservation.
The superintendent of schools of Kansas City wrote to the foregoing society, to the dean of the University of Cincinnati, and to the superintendent of schools in Cincinnati, saying that he was ready to open sight-saving classes, and requesting the sending of the best teacher available, with training in this special field. At that time some 30 teachers were enrolled for such special training in a summer course at the University of Cincinnati. They had come from all parts of the country, from widely different types of school systems, and with varying degrees of training as a background. Every one of these had been placed for the following school year, and no trained teacher was available for Kansas City. But that group, and the ones which preceded and followed, raised a series of questions which have a direct bearing on the situation in Kansas City, and on other communities establishing sight-saving classes.
Success Depends Upon Choice of Teachers
The first important question to be considered is that of the selection of teachers who shall be enrolled in special courses of this type. “Whom shall we teach?” is the question that most persons ask themselves when a course is under consideration. So often we see teachers who are failures in the regular school work, or who are physically handicapped, trying to enter special class work almost as a last resort. At one time, when the sight
saving department in Cincinnati was new, a teacher was recommended who was partially paralyzed, her face was twisted out of shape, and she had a speech defect. It was stated that these handicaps would not matter because the children probably could not see her very well, but experience proved that her appearance built up such a barrier between her and the parents and the other teachers that it was not possible for her to carry on any phase of this work successfully.
Personality is an Indispensable Requisite
Personality in a teacher probably counts more than any other one qualification. By her ability to meet people and to present her ideas she can make a success of sight-saving classes in a community, We have often said that the first qualification of a sight-saving class teacher is the ability to “flirt with the janitor,” meaning that in order to get over the idea, she must be able to meet acceptably all types of people. It is obvious that we can not recommend to cities sending for teachers either those who are physically disqualified or who are professional failures in the regular field.
This brings up,, therefore, a second point. Can we take merely a selected group for special training? Kansas City solved its own problem by sending for training one of its best teachers, the year following that in which the superintendent of schools wrote the letter referred to. This, after all, is probably the best plan to follow in the selection of teachers. Such a teacher knows her own school
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School Life, Vol. XV, No. 2, October, 1929
Cincinnati provides for the child with defective sight
system, its organization, and the individuals who are responsible for different phases of school activity; the course of study, and the standards of teaching; the city, its street-car lines, and the districts from which the children may be brought into sight-saving classes. It is much easier for this teacher to introduce the new element of sight conservation where the minor difficulties have already been mastered. Thus her administrative duties may be taken care of in half the time it would take a teacher who comes as a stranger to the system.
Teachers Should Have Recognized Standing
Another good point in this method of selecting teachers may be mentioned. It is absolutely essential that a teacher introducing such a new type of education in a community shall have a recognized standing, and the respect of other teachers in the system. If a good teacher is sent away for special training, she will be better prepared on her return to present the work to her fellow-teachers, and to enlist their interest. Further, the probability is that she will be able to gain their cooperation, because they know of her previous work in their own schools. In other words she does not have to “sell” her personality as well as the new idea.
In general, good teachers are happy and satisfied in their own positions. They are not likely to volunteer to enter a new field unless they are sought out, and the new work is represented to them as an opportunity for advancement and for greater service to the community. The ideal arrangement probably would be for the superintendent of schools to call in a number of his successful teachers who have administrative ability and who pos
sess the necessary qualifications, and suggest to them sight-saving work as a new line of activity.
The ideal sight-conservation teacher should be young enough to be plastic, ready to accept new ideas, able to adapt old ones, and to fit into a variety of unusual conditions. Certainly, if she is to teach in a public-school system, she should have a public-school experience in order to maintain standards. Previous work with normally sighted children is essential if children in the sight-saving class are to be held up to the standard of the regular grades. This must be kept in mind always, because many of these children go back to the regular grades with eyes improved, and it would be tragic if several years of school progress were sacrificed. With the right teacher in charge, both things can be done at the same time.
High Standard Required of Teacher
This, of course, presupposes that the sight-saving class teacher qualify for her position in exactly the same way as the teacher of a regular grade. If we are putting a sight-saving class into an elementary school, the sight-saving class teacher should qualify as an elementary school teacher; her standing among teachers is better if this is a requisite. Particularly is this true when sight-saving classes are organized in junior or senior high schools. There the sight-saving class teacher, to hold her own place among the other teachers, must have the same qualifications demanded of regular junior or senior high-school teachers. She is at a decided disadvantage if her experience and training have been less.
Because we must not forget that the ultimate success of sight-saving class
work lies in the hands of these individuals who are pioneering, we must see to it, so far as possible, that the right persons undertake to carry on the work. It is these teachers, strong in youth and enthusiasm, with the right training behind them, who will take the ideas which we have gathered up to this time, and through experiment and research bring them ultimately into such form and organization that, in the future, they may be accepted as standard practice. The teachers who come into this work during the next 10 years will do more for the movement in general than has been done in the past 10 years.
What Subjects Should be Taught
This brings us to the second important question: “What shall we teach those who are starting out in this work?” Two groups of teachers apply for training. The first includes those preparing I to teach in such school systems as New York, Cleveland, and Detroit. The second, those who plan to open classes in new territories, where nothing is known of the work, and where all sorts of questions and difficulties may arise. Those in the first group are concerned mainly j with new ideas in teaching, of learning | something of eye hygiene, and of finding out generally what other teachers are doing in classes. When they enter this ! service, their rooms will be prepared, the children will be brought to them, | possibly they will be following in the steps of a teacher who has already blazed I the trail and set the standards for that section of the city. At any rate, all I executive problems and problems of administration and organization will be cared for.
The situation is vastly different in the case of teachers who make up the second group. The hardest thing for them to find is a place to start. They find no room prepared for them. There are sight-saving class children in the community, of course; but who knows where they are? No one in the system may know anything of the type of work which can be done with such children or the advantages of having sight-saving classes. | Most frequently there will be opposition to the introduction of such a very new and radical type of work as that of sight conservation. Not only must the teacher in this case establish her work, but at the same time she must break down barriers.
Local Training Often Most Satisfactory
A teacher-training course in a city school system can give exactly the training which is necessary for sight-saving class instructors who may be added to their department. But it is this second group of teachers who stand most in
School Life, Vol. XV, No. 2, October, 1929
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need of instruction, encouragement, and help in meeting a variety of situations, a great many of which can be anticipated.
For all sight-saving-class teachers instruction in a teacher-training course is mainly an adaptation of modern ideas to this particular problem. Behind it all, of course, must be a knowledge of eye hygiene. Perhaps this should be merely the acquisition of a simple vocabulary and a knowledge of some of the common diseases of the eye, which will reveal the necessity for sending children to an oculist, and above all, for keeping her hands off in the treatment of cases. It may also give some knowledge of refractive errors, so that a teacher will know the necessity for keeping glasses straight and clean and realizing that even with correction these children do not see normally.
Knowledge of Eye Hygiene Required
Instruction in the organization of a sight-saving class and its management is of special interest to teachers starting in isolated communities. This gives them a knowledge of what kind of room to select, how it should be decorated, and why, what kind of light to use, what sort of equipment to purchase, something of the cooperating agencies which may be available, and how to get children to come into the class.
The history of sight-saving classes is always worth while, and possibly to the newer teachers coming in it is an essential thing, for through this knowledge they learn what has been done in the past and so avoid making mistakes which have been made before. They are thus enabled to take a step forward without retracing what was done in the old days.
Some study of schoolroom lighting is also valuable for teachers starting classes, should there be no superior to see to this. Incidentally, through the work which they have done in lighting sight-saving classrooms, a great deal has been accomplished in the lighting of rooms for many children throughout the country. Eventually we shall come to realize more and more the responsibility of the sight-saving-class teacher for the eye protection of all children in her immediate community.
Difficult to Obtain Satisfactory Teachers
The next important question, which is rather personal, is: “Who shall teach all this?” The content of the instruction suggested is divided into three parts: First, educational; second, medical; third, for lack of a better word, mechanical. In presenting the adaptation of sight conservation to general teaching methods the instructor must have a background both of modern teaching methods and of eye hygiene and should have a very practical knowledge of how school systems work.
Teachers who take this training come from all types of systems, and no hard and fast rules can be laid down for their use.
Perhaps one of the most valuable things that can be done in this connection is to carry on a demonstration class. Summer schools for sight-saving-class children are not a new idea at all, and demonstration classes in all fields of education have been operated for many years in our best teacher-training institutions throughout the country, so that there is no necessity for defending the idea of a demonstration class. Much that is discussed theoretically can be shown to advantage in actual demonstration, and a class of this type makes the work very real to any group of teachers to whom the whole idea is new. In watching these children work, studentteachers gain the idea that, after all, children in a sight-saving group are in many respects normal, and that the same problems in their teaching will be met as in the teaching of any other group.
Not All Specialists Are Good Teachers
In presenting the medical work our difficulties are somewhat greater than in the educational field because medical men are rarely good teachers. Teaching is not their business. An oculist who is full of his subject is apt to be too technical, and to become so involved in details that the student-teacher loses sight of the larger principles underlying the subject. Often, too, the oculist does not know the work of the schools and of newer teaching methods, and must leave the connection between school work and eye hygiene to some one who has had training
Corner in typical sight-saving classroom. Light comes over left shoulder, and falls on raised desks
in both fields. It has been suggested that an elementary eye-hygiene course might well be given by a sight-saving class supervisor who has studied eye hygiene. In such a course information which is valuable to the sight-saving class teacher could be sorted out and organized. Of course, this should never take the place of work which the .sightsaving class teacher ought to have directly with the oculist, but it may bridge the gap.
Mechanics of the Worfa Important
The mechanical phase of this work is an important one, and includes the selection of equipment, preparation of the room, lighting, and decoration. The work in lighting might well be presented by an expert in that field, one who has some knowledge of the effect of lighting on vision. But here again the technical man is apt to be too technical. We must teach our students the essentials of right lighting and the value of clean walls and fixtures. The teacher should know, too, something of how to proceed in getting these. But this field overlaps again that of the school person who often must bridge the gap between the technical expert and the teacher in the school system. It would seem then that all three fields—educational, medical, and mechanical—overlap, and that, in order to be entirely effective, those presenting these subjects in a teacher-training course should have some knowledge of the work which is being done by others in the field.
A great deal has been said about the ideal place to carry on teacher-training courses. Large cities must look to meet-{Continued on page 39)
Purpose and Organization of the National High School Honor Society
Sporadic Appearance of High-School Societies in Different Parts of United States, as Early as 1900, Indicated Advisability of Organization of a Recognized Honor Society for Secondary Schools, Which Should be National in its Scope. Organized in 1919, the Society has a Present Membership of Approximately 25,000
By EDWARD RYNEARSON
President National High School Honor Society; Director Vocational Guidance, Pittsburgh Public Schools
ACOMMITTEE on a national honor society was appointed by the National Association of Secondary School Principals at the Chicago Meeting in 1919, and made a report in 1920. At the Atlantic City meeting in 1921, the committee, consisting of Claude Briggs, Lakewood, Ohio; H. V. Church, Cicero, Ill.; E. J. Eaton, Youngstown, Ohio; M. R. McDaniel, Oak Park, Ill.; Merle Prunty, Tulsa, Okla.; and Edward Ry-nearson, Pittsburgh, Pa., rewrote the constitution, restated its objectives, listed rules for eligibility, and made a report which was adopted by the association. Since 1921 charters have been granted to nearly 800 secondary schools, and between 20,000 and 25,000 boys and girls are wearing the emblem of this society. Other societies of similar nature had been organized before this: The Phi Beta Sigma in 1900, Cum Laude in 1906, Oasis Society in 1906, Arista Society in 1910, Mimerian in 1910, Pro Merito in 1916, and doubtless others.
Widespread Need of Honor Society Apparent
The fact that such societies were organized almost simultaneously in widely separated parts of our country, shows an urgent demand for some organization emphasizing the objectives of the secondary school. If these organizations filled a local need, and it was universally agreed that there should be a society of this kind, then why should it not be national in its scope and be fostered by the National Association of Secondary School Principals (now the department of secondary school principals of the National Education Association)? If there is a pride in wearing an emblem known to the local school, why not have an emblem that will be recognized from Maine to the Philippine Islands?
As stated in the constitution, the organization consists “of chapters in secondary schools of the United States, supported by public taxation or endowment, with standards equal to those of schools accredited by such agencies as the North Central Association of Colleges and Secondary Schools,” etc.
It is difficult to enumerate all the objectives of the secondary school, but the 24
committee that drafted the constitution stated: “The purpose of this organization shall be to create an entuhsiasm for scholarship, to stimulate a desire to render service, to promote leadership, and to develop character in students of American secondary schools.”
Objectives of the National Honor Society
1. Service is interpreted as: (a) Willingness to render cheerfully and enthusiastically any service to the school whenever called upon; (b) desire to perform thoroughly any assigned service in school procedure or student government, such as acting as proctor, citizenship committeeman, or serving voluntarily on the staff of the school publication, etc.; (c) readiness to show courtesy to visitors by acting as guide, selling tickets, looking after concessions, acting as big brother or sister to underclassmen, or assisting students behind in their work; (d) willingness to offer one’s self as a representative of his class or school in interclass or interscholastic competition; (e) disposition to uphold scholarship and to maintain a loyal school attitude; (/) inclination to render any other worth-while service to the school, or through the school to the community.
2. Leadership is interpreted to mean: (a) Demonstrating a degree of initiative in classroom activities which leads to higher scholarship for all; (5) showing initiative in promoting any high-school activities; (c) successfully holding school offices, committee chairmanships, and other positions of responsibility; (d) contributing ideas which may be incorporated in the civic life of the school; (e) exerting a type of leadership which actively and wholesomely influences toward a fine leadership.
3. A student may gain recognition in character: (a) By meeting his individual obligations to the school promptly and completely; (b) by demonstrating an honest spirit in his class work, and a spirit of cordiality and sincerity toward his teachers and student associates; (c) by actively helping to rid the school of bad influences or environment; (d) by upholding the ideals of the Christian
organization of the school whenever occasion affords opportunity; (e) by constantly demonstrating such qualities of personality, honesty, reliability, promptness, achievement, and morality as are indispensable to the finest young manhood and womanhood.
Pupils eligible to membership must have a scholarship rank in the first third of their respective graduating classes, and of pupils who receive their diplomas not more than 15 per cent may be members. Five per cent of the 11A pupils may be chosen, 10 per cent of the 12B pupils, and the remainder during the 12A semester. In some schools the opinion of present members concerning the eligibility of new members is taken into consideration by the faculty. Pupils often know more about their classmates than do the teachers. At least there is no harm in getting their estimates. A principal writes:
The Honor Society was asked to recommend names of pupils to the faculty committee for selection. The faculty then selected members independently. No one but myself knew who composed the student list. Comparison showed perfect correlation, with the exception of one pupil whom the society was unwilling to recommend. They suggested investigation into his leadership qualities. According to the constitution, however, the election of members in each chapter shall be by the faculty, or by the principal and a committee of four or more members of the faculty wnom he may select.
Qualifications for Membership
Most teachers think of pupils in terms of standing in their respective subjects. In order that they may consider all the merits of each pupil, it may be better to arrange the names in alphabetical order rather than in scholastic order.
Blue Rapids, Kans., requires a minimum of 15 points for eligibility to membership in the society, as follows: Class president, 5 points; president of G. R., Hi-Y or other organization, 5 points; other offices in organizations, 3 points; school letter in athletics, debate, scholarships, etc., 4 points; captain of team, 1 point additional; leading parts in plays or operettas, 3 points; minor parts, 1 point; membership in glee club, Hi-Y, Girl Reserve, 1 point; cheer leader, 4 points; assistant cheer leader, 2 points.
School Life, Vol. XV, No. 2, October, 1929
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Spokane, Wash., has an excellent suggestive score card for rating candidates on the basis of leadership and service. There are four divisions of rating, the first of which enumerates the following major activities and services, each of which is given a value of four points: President A. S. B., editor school paper, football managers, letters in debate (with no scholastic credit), letters in basketball, editor school annual, business manager of annual, business manager of school paper, letters in football.
The second division lists 3 points for each of 15 activities. The third division lists 2 points for each of 11 activities. The fourth division lists 1 point for minor leads in plays and operettas and in school banking.
Value of the Society is Recognized
The Rochester (Minn.) junior-senior high school gives much prominence to the National Honor Society. The principal writes:
In Rochester (Minn.) High School, the purpose of the National Honor Society is the underlying motive of all student endeavor. Every organization is an auxiliary of the society, emphasizing the same ideals which it emphasizes. It is the criterion of worth for all curriculum and extracurrieulum activity. * * *
Election to the National Honor Society is a reward for achievement. Only those ranking in the upper third of the class scholastically are eligible. A uniform basis for determing rank is gained by averaging percentage marks.
A Junior Honor Society, composed of students who meet with the qualifications of the National Honor Society at the close of their ninth-grade year, serves as a stimulant to the superior students in the lower grades. The principles of the National Honor Society are kept before the group constantly, and their grades and progress are given special attention at regular intervals. The Junior Society, rather than the senior group, is the acting organization. * * *
The greatest honor any student can achieve in the Rochester High School, except to win the right to wear the key of the Honor Society, is to be selected by a signed vote from the senior class as outstanding in leadership, scholarship, character, service, honesty, or sportsmanship. Each student named for being superior in one of these qualities is given a full-page picture in the school magazine. The student vote has never failed to select just the right individuals for this honor. Students would rather receive this recognition and tribute than to win an athletic “R.”
We have no elaborate ceremony of initiation. Keys are paid for from the student activities funds, and are presented on award night. The members have no individual program of activity; instead, the Honor Society is the major activity of the entire student body. A National Honor Society key, given just before graduation, is a reward for a life well lived.
Notifying Members of Their Election
In most high schools, pupils who have been elected are notified before the day of installation or initation. This plan must be followed by those schools in which the pupils rehearse their parts for the public exercises. In a few schools the names of those elected to membership are announced by the principal at the time of installation. This plan arouses the interest of the entire student body in the
program. A special-delivery letter is mailed to each of the parents in the early morning of the day on which the announcement is to be made. They are told in this letter of the great honor that has been given their child, and are urged to be present at the public exercises.
Suggestions for Initiation Exercises
If “initiation” gives the impression of a secret fraternity use the word “installation” or “induction.” These exercises should always be public, and may be made the occasion of celebrating some school or town anniversary, or the birthday of a national character whose life should be emulated by the youth.
The program should be dignified and impressive throughout. The school at large will judge the society to a great extent by the public exercises. Here is a great opportunity to create an enthusiasm for scholarship among those who have not been awakened to the importance of a complete development of their powers.
Will not the explanation of the torch, held high by the arm of youth, the emblem of the national society, be another opportunity to inspire all of the pupils with those ideals that challenge their highest and best powers?
The National Honor Society does not prescribe any particular ritual but gives each chapter freedom to use its own method of initiation, as well as in the many other details of organization.
Activities Conducted by Individual Chapters
In most high schools where chapters have been organized school authorities prefer that pupils who are members should not emphasize their membership, but rather in the daily routine of the many school activities, modestly show desirable qualities of character, leadership, and service among their classmates. In one high school three alumni members announced that, on three evenings each week, they would meet all first-year pupils whose school work was unsatisfactory. Another chapter assumes responsibility for publication of the honor roll in the school paper; keeps a list of volunteers who will help pupils requesting assistance in their studies; assigns to members of the National Honor Society for advice and assistance sophomores whose grades at the end of the first six weeks are poor; and presents scholarship assemblies each year at which the cardinal points of the National Honor Society are emphasized. A third chapter conducts a scholarship contest every five weeks. Copies of each student’s report card are kept in the office, and by giving a value to each mark the winning rooms are determined and they are given a party. Each winning room is awarded
a pennant which is held until the next contest. Active members of a fourth chapter purchased a scholastic cup, which is presented at the assembly after each report period; social meetings are held each month at homes of members; and a skit is put on each year before the student body. A fifth chapter publishes the handbook each year; coaches backward pupils during study hours; and alumni members have organized a graduate association which keeps in touch with the active membership. A sixth chapter started a scholarship fund to aid needy and worthy pupils through high school. A seventh chapter united with the Students’ Council in making a successful drive to help relieve disastrous conditions brought about by the Vermont flood. One of the best pieces of work is done by a chapter whose members, through a lookout committee, search out those pupils who are promising in leadership, service, and character, but who are low in scholarship, and urge them to improve their scholarship records.
The National Junior Honor Society
Since the National Honor Society has proved its great usefulness to high schools in which chapters have been organized, numerous requests have come to the National Council for the organization of a junior society with practically the same objectives as those of the National Honor Society, in order that pupils in the eighth and ninth grades may receive an incentive to do their best in those grades where habits of study are largely formed. A few 6-year high schools that have chapters of the National Honor Society have already grouped honor pupils in the lower grades, and thus formed a nucleus for a local junior honor society.
Constitution Follows Model of Senior Society
In compliance with numerous requests for junior honor societies, that have come in answer to a questionnaire sent out in January, 1929, the executive committee of the department of secondary school principals of the National Education Association, at the Cleveland meeting authorized the National Council to organize a National Junior Honor Society. A constitution modeled largely after that in use in Central High School, Tulsa, Okla., was adopted. While objectives of the new society are practically the same as those of the National Honor Society, there is a difference in the method of election of members. The rules prescribe that—
The initial election of members to a newly installed chapter of the National Junior Honor Society shall be from among the pupils who rank in the upper 10 per cent in scholarship. The level of scholastic achievement at or above which the upper 10 per cent of pupils are found shall become for the pupils of that school the
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School Life, Vol. XV, No. 2, October, 1929
required scholastic achievement for admission to candidacy for membership in the society. The scholastic achievement standard of that school thereafter remains constant, and all students who can rise in scholarship to or above the initial upper 10 per cent scholastic level of that school are to be admitted to candidacy for election to membership. (Sec. 3, Art. VI.)
This year and hereafter the junior high school will be represented on the National Council.
A handbook for the National Junior Honor Society is being prepared and will be sent free to all members of the department of secondary school principals.
Members of the National Junior Honor Society, however, should clearly understand that membership in the junior society does not insure membership later in the National Honor Society. Of course, habits of study and concentration, the character displayed in and out of the classroom, services rendered the school or community, and ability to lead and guide others aright—all will be valuable assets, and should give to the individual pupil a momentum that will carry him among those pupils who will receive serious consideration when the time comes for election to the National Honor Society.
Membership in the Junior Honor Society of Central High School, Tulsa, Okla., is determined by the same standards as membership in the National Honor Society, except that no fixed percentage of a given class is admitted. The grading system is A, B, C, D. A represents the mark given to students in the upper quarter of a given class; B, the mark given to the middle 50 per cent; C, the mark given to the lowest quarter; and D, to failures. Students are homogeneously grouped on three levels—high, average, and low. Each group is graded as a separate unit.
Emblems of the Two Societies
The emblem of the National Honor Society is keystone in shape, made of gold, and costs $1.75 to $2.50. It is patented. In some cases the board of education purchases the emblems, and presents them to the boys and girls who have been elected to membership by the principal and teachers.
How a Charter May Be Obtained
For copy of model constitution for either the National Honor Society or the National Junior Honor Society, write to H. V. Church, secretary of the Department of Secondary School Principals, Sterling Morton High School, Cicero, Ill. The model constitution gives the essential points.
It is cause for rejoicing that, within these few years, nearly 25,000 of the best boys and girls in the secondary schools of the United States have been elected to membership in the National Honor Society. And this is only the beginning.
Severance Tax as a Source of School Revenue in the United States
Realizing the Inadequacy of the General Property Tax to Yield Sufficient Revenue for School Purposes, State Authorities Are Seeking an Equitable and Adequate System of Taxation. Among Recent Proposals the Severance Tax is Gaining Proponents
By FLETCHER HARPER SWIFT Professor of Education, University of California
STUDY of the voluminous literature which has appeared within the past 10 years in connection with the problem of financing public educational institutions in the United States will show that the foremost leaders in this somewhat new field of scientific investigation appear to be in general agreement with respect to at least three major conclusions: 1. The remedy for the disastrous and ominous inequalities in educational opportunity and in school burdens now existing in nearly every State must come from the State itself. 2. In order to provide such a remedy the States must have at their disposal vastly larger funds. 3. Evils universally recognized as inherent in the general property tax necessitate the discovery of new sources of revenue.
The Need for New Sources of State School Support
At the present time no less than nine major types of taxes are employed in the United States for providing school revenue. They may well be presented arranged in the order of their frequency as follows:
Type’of tax	Number of States using as source of State school funds
General property			27
Corporation	 _		13
Business and occupation		8
Severance	 	 			7
Inheritance	 		6
Poll		5
Tobacco		5
Income			 -		5
Gasoline and motor fuel.			3
It must be borne in mind that the summary presented above does not indicate the total number of States which are levying the nine types of taxes referred to, but only those States which use such taxes as sources of State school support. As used in the present article, the term “State school tax” is employed to cover a tax on the proceeds of which the schools have a definite claim, or a tax the history of which shows it to have been created with a definite view of providing school revenues, even though the laws of the State concerned give the schools no legal claim
to any portion of the proceeds. As examples of the former type the general property tax levied by Arkansas and corporation taxes levied by California may be cited. Examples of taxes of the second class are the income taxes of North Carolina and of Mississippi. In neither of these States do the schools have any legal claim on the proceeds of income taxes, but in both cases the present system of income taxes was adopted largely for the sake of providing increased revenues for public schools.
All thoughtful students of the educational situation recognize the desirability of discovering new sources of State school revenue, not merely for the sake of providing larger State funds, but in order to check the tendency to increase unduly the rates at present levied on general property, on corporations, and on other property subject to State taxation. It is the purpose of the present article to describe the status of one of the most important and most promising of the newer types of State taxes, a tax which it is the writer’s belief should receive much consideration as a means of present and future relief.
Severance Tax Proposed as a Remedy
The severance tax is a tax levied upon all natural products severed from the soil, with the exception of agricultural products. It is based upon a recognition of the fact that when minerals, timber, clay, sand, oil, gas, and other natural products are removed from the soil, the State is permanently impoverished, and that those who profit from the inherent riches of the earth should pay tribute to the State.
Certain States, such as Louisiana, Arkansas, and Oklahoma, levy taxes on all natural products “severed from the soil or water” of the State, and classify such taxes as “severance taxes.” Other States levy similar taxes upon a limited number of classes of natural products, and commonly classify such taxes as “occupation taxes” or “license taxes.” Thus Montana levies a tax on metalliferous mines and oils; Alabama and Minnesota on minerals; Texas and Kentucky on oil; Pennsylvania on an-
School Life, Vol. XV, No. 2, October, 1929	27
thracite coal; and West Virginia places a production tax on coal, oil, gas, clay, and other mineral products, and on timber. None of the States just named specifically classify their respective taxes as “severance taxes.” In the majority of cases they are classified and levied as “occupation taxes.” Nevertheless it will be seen that in principle they constitute a limited severance tax.
For the purpose of levying general property taxes on the basis of the net value of annual products, both Utah and Nevada assess mines, a policy which embodies the principle of a limited severance tax. From this general introduction, attention may now be turned to a consideration of the policies of the States employing severance taxes specifically as a means of providing school revenue.
Severance Taxes on All Natural Products
Two States, Arkansas and Louisiana, levy severance taxes on all natural products. The policies of each will be briefly considered.
Louisiana.—This State is a pioneer in the severance method of taxation. The original law, approved June 30, 1920, provided for a 2 per cent tax on the gross value of all natural products other than agricultural. Subsequent legislation, enacted upon the recommendation of the Louisiana tax commission, classified natural products and provided different rates of taxation.
Prior to 1922 Louisiana devoted two-thirds of the proceeds of severance taxes to the State university and other State institutions. The remaining one-third was returned to the parishes wherein collected, to be used for the support of public schools.
In 1922 an act was passed whereby schools were deprived of the proceeds of severance taxes levied on natural products other than oil, gas, and salt. The following method of distribution is provided by the more recent act: Two-thirds of all severance taxes shall be credited to a special fund known as the State severance tax fund; the remaining one-third of severance taxes collected on oil, gas, and salt shall be returned to the parishes from which collected, and apportioned and distributed quarterly among the parish schools and such governing authorities as have jurisdiction over the territory from within which such taxes are collected; provided that no parish shall receive more than $200,000 in any one year from the proceeds of this tax.
Arkansas.—In the year 1923 Arkansas enacted her first severance tax law, consciously modeled after that of Louisiana and providing for a tax of 2.5 per cent of the gross market value of the annual pro
duction of natural products except for special rates provided for certain products. Two-thirds of the annual proceeds are credited to the State common-school fund. Such taxes provided 29.2 per cent of the receipts credited to this fund during the biennium 1924-26. The remaining one-third is returned to the county wherein originally collected, with the result that approximately 91 per cent of the moneys thus returned are paid to two counties, Ouichita and Union. Counties are required to devote one-half of their respective shares to their public schools and one-half to the county highway fund.
Severance Taxes on Certain Natural Products
Alabama.—In 1927 Alabama created a public-school fund to be known as the educational trust fund. Among the many types of taxes to be devoted to this fund are the following taxes on mineral products: (1) A coal tax of 2.5 cents per ton; (2) an iron-ore tax of 4.5 cents per ton; (3) a tax of 3 per cent of the net value at place of production on all other mineral products.
For the year 1927-28 appropriations totaling $2,441,006 were provided, to be paid from this fund.
Minnesota.—An occupation tax of 6 per cent is levied by the State upon the net value of all ores mined or produced. Although the laws provide for the levying of this tax upon all ores, at the present time practically all receipts are derived from the tax on iron ore. The State levies also a tax of 6 per cent upon all mining royalties. This supplements the occupation tax just described, since in computing the net value of ore products for the purposes of the occupation tax levy, royalties are deducted together with other production expenses.
The proceeds of these two taxes are distributed as follows: 40 per cent to the principal of the permanent school fund, 10 per cent to the principal of the permanent university fund, and 50 per cent to the State revenue fund. In 1926 these two taxes provided 7 per cent of the State revenue fund. This is significant, since in the same year 58.4 per cent of the current State aid for public schools was furnished by appropriations from this fund. Up to June 30, 1926, the occupation tax on ores had contributed to the permanent school fund $4,252,664, and the royalty tax $15,197,968.
Montana.—No State school tax is levied, but to the State common-school equalization fund created in 1927 a certain portion of the proceeds of four types of State taxes is devoted. These include 25 per cent of the oil license tax levied on petroleum, mineral and other crude oils, and 50 per cent of the proceeds of State taxes on metalliferous mines. In addi
tion to this, 25 per cent of the proceeds of State oil license taxes are devoted to high-school aid.
Oklahoma.—A State tax of 3 per cent of the actual cash value of the gross production of natural gas, petroleum or other crude oil (less royalty interest) is levied, and a tax of one-half of 1 per cent on the gross value produced (less royalty interest) of asphalt and ores bearing lead, gold, silver, copper, zinc, and jack. This tax is in lieu of all other taxes, State and local.
One-third of the proceeds is returned to the county from which it is collected, and must be expended, one-half for common schools and one-half for roads and bridges. Two-thirds is retained by the State. By act of 1926, 25 per cent of proceeds of the gross production tax, not to exceed $1,500,000, shall be devoted to a State equalization fund, and the balance to the general revenue fund.
West Virginia.—A business occupation tax is levied upon a large number of activities, which for purposes of taxation are divided into no less than seven classes. Within the first class are included coal, oil, gas, and other minerals and timber.
In the year 1925-26 approximately 37 per cent of the total State taxes credited to the State general fund were derived from the proceeds of the severance (occupation) taxes just described. In the same year nearly half of the State general school fund (47.5 per cent) was provided by a transfer of $1,000,000 from the State general-revenue fund.
Equitable Nature of the Severance Tax
The severance tax, like the income tax, is growing steadily in popular esteem. Necessity for its use is explained in the following extract from the annual report of the Illinois Tax Commission in 1922:
It is absolutely essential that the State of Illinois, by amendment of its constitution and the passage of appropriate legislation, provide by more modern methods for the realization of a substantial part of the revenue required for public purposes by the State and its political subdivisions, so that in some measure the vast bulk of property invisible to the assessing authorities physically, but productive of very large income values, may be required to contribute its fair proportion to the public burden.
This can be accomplished in part by the use of production or severance taxes upon coal, oil, and mineral deposits.in the State, which upon removal are forever lost as an element of value subject to taxation, and by licenses and business taxes upon the activities of the people engaged in trade and callings of such productive character as to be able to bear the same without impairing the maintenance and operation of essential industry.
1ft
Entrance fees to museums and galleries have been abolished by the Italian Government, according to word received from Henry P. Fletcher, Ameiican ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary at Rome.
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School Life, Vol. XV. No. 2, October, 1929
We Blaze the Trail To-day for Future American Citizens
Rigidity, Frequently an Attribute of Schools of the Past, is Supplanted in Schools of To-day by Air oj Spontaneity. The New Atmosphere of Freedom, Demanding Self-Restraint and Consideration for Others, Affords Valuable Training to Future Citizenry of Free America
By ELMER HOLBECK
Principal, Woodrow Wilson School, Passaic, N. J.
THIS is a great day at our school! It is installation day. Officers of our “school city” will be formally installed into office. Can you imagine a more beautiful, thrilling, or inspiring sight than to see 100 boys and girls, all officials of a student self-governing body, marching down the aisle of the school auditorium, while 1,000 people breathlessly look on. Yes; these are all citizens of the future, citizens who are following the ideals of commission government, the government which is to guide the destinies of the city in which they live. In 10 years or less most of the children in our school will be voters in this great democracy of ours which is fathering the youth of to-day. Voting and election will not be new to them; it has been part of their training.
Very Seriously They Accept Responsibility
Here are little Philip, and John, and Rose, elected by their fellow students to fill positions of leadership in their school. And so, with heads erect and eyes to the front, they are marching behind American flags and school colors, determined to carry on and do their bit for the school which they are governing.
Attention! The commissioners are seated. The mayor, a lad of 14 years, after a glad “Good morning, boys and girls” explains what citizenship means, and how to accomplish big things in school that may result in leadership in the community now, and in the days to come. The city clerk, oratorlike, sounds out the preamble while other heads of departments lay down regulations and rules for all to obey. And now the oath of office is taken—all solemnly pledge their support to self-control and student government. The school song and a cheer, led by young, important cheer leaders, ends the installation in a blaze of glory for the school city. They have had their say, and they have shown the school something of the importance of caring for one’s self.
Very different is this method of teaching lessons in civic education and citizenship from the methods of yesterday. Schools have changed. This is self-evident. What progress, you ask, what changes? Pupils
are not all moving in straight lines. Deathlike silence does not prevail. On the contrary, the children enjoy an environment of freedom. They work in groups, and move naturally and responsibly about the school. Here is a common
Much will be expected of these citizens of the future
piece of work to do and the children realize that they are working for themselves, with the teacher in the background as a guide when needed.
Children Learn by Doing and Being
In Boston, in 1845, in an average school of 400 pupils, it is reported, 65 whippings were given in one day! You hold your breath aghast! Such antagonism between teacher and pupil is fast fleeting into oblivion. To-day when Miss Brown leaves her room, Peter immediately, without direction, assumes the rdle of teacher, and class work goes on uninterruptedly with all seriousness and dignity. Peter begins, “We are left in a position of trust. For our own good let us manage ourselves and do our work. Let us not break faith in that trust.”
Go to the school to-day and see how pupils react to the placing of responsibility upon them. And the attitude of teachers of to-day is different from that of the past; they give pupils every opportunity to exercise initiative and to hold positions
of responsibility. They feel themselves better teachers as they become less and less the main figure in the classroom.
Ideals of democracy prevail in the school, and the gap that must be bridged between the outside life of the child and his school relationships and experiences will not be so great in the future as it has been in the past.
The old school stressed formal government, without much attention to civic virtue and right habits of conduct. Jimmie must acquire certain useful facts in order to make him a good citizen; but this knowledge must be put into practice. Jimmie knows that it is wrong to come late to school, but if he fails to be punctual his knowledge is of little worth.
The new civilization demands much of us all. There are emergencies to meet
and problems to be solved. An important responsibility of the school is to prepare children to meet these emergencies. This can best be brought about by providing children, in school, with experiences which they will encounter in later life. Pupils who successfully manage school traffic and the passing of lines will have a better conception of our city public safety department. Health officers who regulate the temperature and ventilation of the classroom, and sanitary conditions about the school building, will understand better the public health department.
Going to School a Joyous Adventure
Here and there, in the modern school, you will see pupils practicing citizenship as it affects matters of primary importance. Clubs are organized to discuss school problems. Pupils discuss ways and means of improving conditions in the community that their young eyes are quick to see need rectifying. The civics lessons now become a club affair. There
School Life, Vol. XV, No. 2, October, 1929
is fun in their debates, reports, and discussions. One club discusses the possibility of cleaning up the playgrounds, another outlines plans to reduce tardiness. Recently, a committee of a school club came to the office of the principal and said, “Our club just voted to raise a small sum of money for the Vermont relief fund. Can you suggest some ways to help us raise this money?” Pupils actuated by a desire to provide help for the distressed have learned an important lesson in civic education.
And so it goes in the new school of to-day. Pupils swing along to school merrily and willingly. One class will visit the city hall to-day, and later they are going down to study the post office. Won’t that be fun. They are glad that their teacher approves the suggested visits; it will help them to understand better what the book may say about these places. Pupils like their school. They enjoy doing the responsible tasks assigned to them by alert teachers. After all, such experiences and activities
make their school work real and full of meaning. You may talk for days on the qualifications of a citizen, but there is no assurance whatever that a boy or girl will be actuated to good citizenship. If, however, conditions are provided in which.
he may act the part of a citizen, you may be sure that he is at least on his way to right habits of conduct.
Conditions in Schools Hate Greatly Changed
The teacher is no longer an autocrat exacting useless facts from inert pupils. The center of activity is the child. His whole life about the school is one of freedom. He is taught to use his initiative, to think, and to give expression to his thought. He enjoys positions of trust which call for decisions. I do not mean to say that pupils take care of themselves entirely. We must help them grow. With the proper stimulation they will do the rest.
With changing civilization, education has changed. The school must now equip boys and girls to do more than scratch the surface of knowledge. It must develop strong character, social-minded, self-governing persons who can look into the unknown future and solve its problems. When we think of the “whippings” and deplorable school conditions of the past, we may rejoice in what the schools are
doing to-day. If we wish to blaze the trail for real citizens of the future, we must begin now to give them opportunities for practice. The self-government ®plan is a big step in the right direction.
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Young Englishmen Trained for Emigration
“Migration training centers” in Great Britain for the preparation of young people for settlement in the Dominions have ncreased from 3 in 1922 with an annual capacity of a few hundred migrants to 15 at present with an annual capacity of about 10,000. The aim of the centers is twofold—to test applicants and eliminate those who are unsuitable, and to provide elementary training for those who give promise of making desirable settlers. The usual course includes the clearing of land and use of farm tools; care of stock and farm mechanics; and plowing and general cultivation, with care of horses and farm machinery; farm accounts; and English.
Nonresidents from 32 towns and cities comprise about half of the 300 students of the Junior College, Johnstown, Pa. The University of Pittsburgh supplies from its regular staff a faculty consisting of a director, a secretary, and about 26 instructors. The board of education of Johnstown furnishes and equips the rooms used by the college.
America’s to-morrow is dependent upon just such school groups. Many faces show their Old-World origin
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• SCHOOL LIFE • Issued Monthly, except July and August By THE DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR, BUREAU OF EDUCATION Acting Editor ----- Henry R. Evans Terms: Subscription, 50 cents per year, in advance; to foreign countries in which the mailing frank of the United States is not recognized, 75 cents. Club rate: Fifty copies or more will be sent in bulk to one address within the United States at the rate of 35 cents a year each. Remittance should be made to the Superintendent of Documents, Government Printing Office, Washington, D. C.
OCTOBER, 1929
Assistant Commissioner of Education
FOR the first time in its history, the
Bureau of Education will have an Assistant Commissioner whose entire time will be devoted to the work of the office. Hitherto, the Chief Clerk, by congressional enactment, has acted as Commissioner during the absence of the Chief of the Office. On October 1, Miss Bess Goodykoontz, who was recently appointed Assistant Commissioner of the Bureau of Education, entered upon her official duties. Miss Goodykoontz is a specialist in elementary education, and comes well prepared for her work. A brief sketch of her educational training will be of interest to readers of School Life. Miss Goodykoontz was born in Waukon, Iowa, and attended the public schools there. After finishing high school, she taught in the rural schools and in city grade schools for several years. She graduated from the State University of Iowa, and also received a Master’s degree from that institution. While in school at Iowa City, she taught in the experimental school for a year and was principal of the school for another year. Since then, Miss Goodykoontz has done public-school supervision in Green Bay, Wis., and taught summer school at Johns Hopkins University. She has been assistant professor of education in the department, of elementary education of the University of Pittsburgh for the past five years. Besides campus teaching, this position included lecturing at university extension centers, institute work, and considerable consultative work with teachers and supervisory officers of city schools in the Pittsburgh district.
Miss Goodykoontz is one of the coauthors of the Horn ‘ ‘ Learn-to-Study Readers.” She has done editorial work on several sets of texts for elementary school use and has contributed articles on elementary school teaching to educational magazines. Last spring she acted as co-author of a series of radio talks on phases of children’s reading.
Miss Goodykoontz is a member of Phi Beta Kappa and Pi Lambda Theta, national honorary professional fraternities.
She is also a member of various national, State, and local educational organizations.
The bureau heartily welcomes Miss Goodykoontz. Her appointment to such an important official position is a decided recognition of the magnificent work accomplished by women in the field of education in the United States.
Vocational Work and Vocational Guidance
PRIOR to the so-called “industrial revolution” which ushered in the machine age, boys were trained in the home to do many useful and specific things. In the colonial days pretty much everything that was used by a country household was made in that household. The very living in such a little community of workers was educative. “White collar” jobs were confined mostly to lawyers, preachers, and teachers. In the schools emphasis was laid on cultural subjects, for the very reason that the trades and occupations were taught, to a great extent, in the homes.
Speaking of this period, Puffer, in his Vocational Guidance, says:
Every boy as he grew up had virtually the whole of the world’s work under his eye. Instead of vast factories, with “No admittance” on every door, where he might not see even his own father earn his bread, each lad had free run of a score of little shops, where every process lay open to his curious eyes. He knew masters and journeymen, he asked questions, and he learned. When it was time to select his own occupation he already knew a good deal about them all. If he did not come up in his father’s trade, he might be apprenticed to his father’s friend. At any rate, his elders probably knew the whole industrial field. They knew also their boy, who in a very real sense had already “seen life”—the real working life of grown men—far more completely than does the most precocious of modern city youths, and had responded by some show of interest or fitness. In those simpler times, the chance was small that a square peg would try to fit a round hole. There was, moreover, vastly more education to be had from the general community life than now. * * * In a thousand different, incidental ways each boy or girl had actually had a greater number of educative experiences than even the most favored of modern youth. We are too apt to forget, in these days of fetish worship of books, how effective was this ancient bookless, vocational training. “The daily doing of useful things” is in itself highly educative.
With the passing of the educative influences of the home society began to shift the burdens of civilization upon the school, so far as the training for citizenship is concerned. But the school, alas, was still immersed in cultural studies, many of them utterly unrelated to the practical affairs of life, and could not fill the gap left by the abandonment of vocational occupations in the home. Finally, manual training was introduced into the public schools as a “sop to Cerberus,” because advanced pedagogues recognized the fact that “eye training” was an important adjunct to education. But this
d, Life, Vol. XV, No. 2, October, 1929 was found to be insufficient, and to-day most of our larger school systems, such as Boston, Detroit, Pittsburgh, and Milwaukee, in addition to the courses offered in vocational subjects, have organized schemes for guidance and placements.
Among a crowd of boys there is always a good percentage of “tool-minded” chaps who take to tools and machinery like ducks do to water. To overemphasize cultural studies among such lads is to kill all ambition and initiative among them. Many indifferent lawyers, doctors, and teachers should have been mechanics; but the so-called advantages of “white collar” jobs were impressed upon them when they were schoolboys and they missed their true vocations in life. There are also many men in industrial and technical lines of work who entered these occupational fields under undue and misguided influence, and who are without the necessary aptitudes and interests for success in their occupations. Had they been properly guided and encouraged by their teachers they would not have lost out in the struggle of life. The school of the future will be like the old colonial homestead, a nucleus of occupations. The scholar will have presented to him vistas of trades and professions for a possible life choice. He will be warned against certain professions and trades for which he has manifested no physical or psychological leanings. Less will be left to chance, as it is to-day. An excellent scheme is the “part-time school,” where the pupil works part of his time in some chosen vocation—mechanical or commercial—and the other part in the school, the emphasis being laid upon those studies that have a direct bearing upon his factory or business career. In some of our Western cities this plan has proved very successful.
The necessity of vocational training and guidance is thus discussed by Charles i W. Eliot: “It is high time that our teachers and leaders of the people under-stand that every civilized human being j gets the larger part of his life training in s the occupation through which he earns his livelihood, and that his schooling in	s
youth should invariably be directed to	t
prepare him in the best way for the best c permanent occupation for which he is a capable. In other words, the motive of a the life career should be brought into play as early and as fully as possible.” c
The complexity and specialization of u modern industrial life demand that in- t< telligent guidance be given the youth of h the land in order that they may find their tl way through the labyrinth. The lack of h; this guidance is seen in the army of w “worn-outs” and “misfits” that haunt p] the county almshouse, crowd the benches n; in city parks, and find shelter in the cheap
School Life, Vol. XV, No. 2, October, 1929
31
lodging houses of the municipality. Think of the youths who shuffle their way into “blind alley” jobs only to find themselves down-and-out in a few years. The British Royal Commission on the Poor Laws states the matter as follows’ “It is unfortunately only too clear that the mass of unemployment is continually being recruited by a stream of young men from industries which rely upon unskilled boy labor, and turn it adrift at manhood, without any specific industrial qualification, and that it will never be diminished till this stream is arrested.”
The thousands who leave school before completing the grade studies to take up their life work, unprepared and half-baked, bear mute testimony to the fact that “something is rotten in Denmark,” to use a Shakespearean phrase. If we want to be a proficient and. productive nation we can not afford to neglect these things. The United States Government saw the necessity of encouraging and fostering vocational education when Congress passed the Smith-Hughes Vocational Education Act, and established the Board for Vocational Education.
American Education JVee^
A MERIC AN education week, devoted E\ each year to arousing and renewing the enthusiasm of the Nation for the cause of education, will be celebrated this year beginning Monday, November 11, ending Sunday, November 17. The benefits flowing therefrom have abundantly justified the wisdom of the Commissioner of Education who in 1920 introduced the practice. In each year since that time the observance of American education week has been marked by increased effectiveness. In spite of the great number of designated “days” and “weeks” that accentuate the calendar of American patriotic, social, and religious affairs, American education week is increasing in popularity, and it is more widely observed each year.
The program of education week is sponsored jointly by the American Legion and the National Education Association, two organizations that represent patriotism and education in their quintessence. It is an admirable admixture.
In the language of a former national commander of the Legion: “American education week turns the peoples’ thoughts to those things which are basic in the Nation’s life. It sets before the Nation the needs and problems of education. It has already made itself felt in positive ways for the Nation’s good and is rich in promise for the future. American legionnaires support American Education Week
Occupational Survey of Cardozo High School, Washington, D. C.
To obtain a better understanding of the requirements of positions filled by graduates from the commercial department of the colored high school, the first high school of commerce to be established in the United States for colored pupils, Cardozo High School, Washington, D. C., has completed a follow-up study of the 843 former business students of the school. Inasmuch as the business subjects for colored pupils were introduced in 1886 in schools of the District of Columbia, the questionnaire was sent to those persons who graduated from the 2-year and 4-year commercial curricula during the 40 years from 1889 to 1928, inclusive. Of the 843 business students, replies were received from 333.
The survey shows that more than one-third of the graduates continued their education after leaving high school. Five women and 48 men graduated from colleges and universities, 5 men and 40 women graduated from normal schools, and 8 men and 12 women were attending higher institutions at the time the survey was made.
for the plain and positive reason of its contributions to the Nation’s continued progress.
“Education, as the fathers of the Republic pointed out from the very first, is the great bulwark of the Nation. In a democracy such as we have, the first essential to national well-being is an intelligent citizenry, itself passing upon questions of national policy and charting the Nation’s course.”
Each day of American education week provides a vital theme. These themes may be adapted to the needs of the community. Some schools prefer to emphasize one theme each year. Local posts of the American Legion and parentteacher associations may be called upon for special assistance. The program for 1929, as set forth in the Journal of the National Education Association for October, 1929, is built around seven cardinal objectives of education as follows: Monday, November 11, Armistice Day—education for faithful citizenship; Tuesday, November 12, home and school day— education for worthy home membership; Wednesday, November 13, know your school day—education for mastery of the tools, technics, and spirit of learning; Thursday, November 14, school opportunitv dav—education for vocational and economic effectiveness; Friday, November
The 333 persons who responded to the questionnaire were engaged in practically 100 occupational fields. The women at home numbered 33. In professional occupations the distribution was: Medicine, 21; law, 19; and teaching, 17. A total of 85 clerks, stenographers, and bookkeepers represented the largest group. Among the other occupational groups, 12 were classed as letter carriers, 20 as messengers, and 6 as elevator operators. Many of the remainder were engaged in skilled trades that required either additional training or apprenticeship. One of the graduates was serving as valet to the President of the United States.
Studies of this kind are necessary to reveal the numerical importance of training for different kinds of positions, and to give direction to the organization of curricula to meet these demands. Studies of the occupational biographies that emphasize the requirements of the initial and subsequent positions, and analyses of the different occupations are contributing much to modern curriculum revision.— J. C. Wright.
15. health day—education for health and safety; Saturday, November 16, community day—education for the wise use of leisure; Sunday, November 17, for God and country day—education for ethical character.
Students May Possess Real Works of Art
Original etchings by well-known artists and reproductions of masterpieces of engraving, the property of Fogg Art Museum, are loaned to students of Harvard University to be hung in their rooms, and lived with and enjoyed for a period of three months. The plan was adopted at the suggestion of an undergraduate student in a competition fostered by the division of fine arts for the best method of cultivating among students a love for the best in art. Works of living artists displayed in the building of the Cooperative Society promote acquaintance with contemporary art, and members of the university and residents of Cambridge have the privilege of purchasing, if they wish, excellent paintings by men and women of the present day. The fine collections of Fogg Museum are freely accessible, and special exhibitions of loan collections are arranged from time to time.
Library Service to Schools of Washington County, Maryland
In Its Travels Throughout the Length and Breadth of the County, Which Covers Fifty Square Miles of Territory, the “Library Wagon' Visits 125 Classrooms, Supplying Booles, and Bringing the Contagion of Literature, and the Joy of Reading to Widely Scattered Communities
By LILLIAN W. BARKDOLL
School Librarian, Washington County Free Library
IT does not seem possible that, a little more than a quarter of a century ago, a county library was a thing unheard of, though it was not undreamed of. The Washington County Free Library, Hagerstown, Md., opened its doors to the public in August, 1901, and a few years later began distributing books directly to the farmers and citizens of the rural districts through the use of a library wagon.
The original “wagon” was drawn by horses, and it was driven by a veteran of the Civil War who had the proud distinction of having been a drummer boy in the division commanded by General Lew Wallace. As was to be expected, the “General’s books” had an excellent circulation throughout the county. “The wagon,” still so called, has long since become a motor truck carrying from 300 to 500 books for selection and distribution on a day’s trip.
Book Distribution Through the Public Schools
From the beginning it was recognized that a principal agency for distributing books through the county was by means
The “Liberry Wagon” when the “General” distributed books 32
of the public schools. It looked easy. However, a new idea takes time to penetrate and to develop. The busy; overworked teachers of that period with their devotion to textbooks, and overconfidence in them, saw only added duties and little need for more books for which they felt responsible.
Stimulating the Use of Library Books
It was possible to know and appreciate the views of the teacher, as well as the benefit and help to be obtained from the library, and with steady pressure, tempered by leniency, progress was made— the progress of the tortoise! This could not have been accomplished but for the cordial cooperation of the board of education and the supervisors of schools of Washington County. Now it is difficult to conceive of library work apart from the schools.
Washington County, Md., covers 50 square miles of territory. East and west it is bounded by mountains, with the beautiful, broad Cumberland Valley between; the historic Mason and Dixon line
on the north; and the winding, hill-clad Potomac River on the south. Hagerstown, the only city of the county, is in the center of a rich farming “valley” community, with excellent highways radiating from it in all directions.
August sees a busy group in the school department of the Washington County Free Library. Careful collections of books must be made to supplement the curricula of the various grades; classroom parcels must be made up and checked ready for distribution; and all must be in shipshape order for the opening of schools in early September.
Now begins the real joy of the whole year’s work. The department is ready for its visits to the 125 classrooms throughout the length and breadth of the county. (This is exclusive of other classrooms which are supplied by different means.)
Teacher, Pupil, and Librarian—a Triumvirate
The direct contact of teacher, pupil, and librarian has long been recognized as a primary factor in obtaining the best results, and the means are simple enough. A day’s run is mapped out, with as little back-tracking as possible. Parcels of books for each school and classroom in that community are loaded into the “wagon,” and we are off for a strenuous but happy day. The first to be visited is likely to be a one-room school not far from town where the day’s work is just beginning. This is an ideal time. The “liberry teacher,” the children’s name throughout the county for the school librarian, must tell a story, of course. But first, what did she tell them last year? “It was about a little boy who bought a dream.” (Beston: The Seller of Dreams, The Firelight-Fairy Book, Little, Brown A Co., New York.) This from one of the children, with eager, raised hands. “No, no,” A very storm of protest. “It was ‘Hansel and Gretel,’ and you brought the pictures to show us. I remember the sugar-candy house.” “Yes,” this from another, “And once you told us about ‘ Brer Rabbit and the Tar Baby.’ I own that book now, and I know a lot of Uncle Remus stories.”
School Life, Vol. XV, No. 2, October, 1929
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“I found ‘Hansel and Gretel’ in a book you left last year, and ‘The Well of the World’s End’ in a book I got for Christmas.” (Jacobs: English Fairy Tales, Putnam Sons, New York.) This from a shy little girl who already has acquired the “reading habit.” Hands are waving all over the room like banners in a parade, and each one is bubbling and bursting to talk, but time is pressing. So the “ li-berry teacher” holds up her hand, and when silence is restored asks if they would like to hear the story of “Little Heiskell,” the brave soldier who is really a weather vane, and from his high vantage point over the old Market House, now the Municipal Building, watches over Hagerstown with jealous care. (Hurlbutt: Little Heiskell, Dutton, New York.) The story is too long for the entire telling, but the book is left behind in the collection to be found as a surprise after our departure.
Story Telling Here is a Delightful Task
This is one of the delightful schools, with children eager and responsive. Be
fore the day is over we shall come to others tucked away in the folds of the hills, more or less isolated from the outside world. Here the children are shy, self-conscious, and inarticulate. If there is time, some response can be obtained, especially if one happens along at recess period. The out-of-doors makes for less restraint, and the children edge nearer and nearer to the story teller in their eagerness not to lose a word.
A day’s work will include from 8 to 10 classroom visits. Beside the story for the children, there is a list of books for the teacher’s inspection, her further requests to be noted, and discussions on ways and means to interest her pupils in reading and more reading—the dominant note in education to-day.
Then, too, the teacher is putting on a study of the Indians, or the Dutch, or the Japanese, or other peoples, and wants
The book truck is cordially welcomed all along the route
pictures and books and stories. Would she also like a few Indian relics, a wampum belt, or arrow heads, a tomahawk? If it is Holland, or some other country, she might like dolls in costume, which can be loaned for a short time, or may be examined at the central library if the school is accessible. There is a miniature jin-rikisha; a Sicilian cart with a beautiful story to go with it. (Hill and Maxwell: Little Tonino, Macmillan Co., New York.)
Tired Bodies and Happy Minds
What an interesting day, but it is fortunate for the library teacher and her assistants that work ends at 4 o’clock. Yet no matter how tiring or strenuous the day, all hands are on deck and eager for the next trip, with no lack of enthusiasm and energy; for, to paraphrase the old Scotchman’s
idea of women, “If the days are all alike, it is always with much of a difference.”
The books delivered in person by the school department in the early autumn are returned by teachers to the central library in midwinter or earlier, and a new supply is sent by parcel post. Winter traveling through the mountains is not always possible, even if there were time to make more than one round of visits. A record of all books read by the pupils is kept on sheets provided for that purpose and when no special requests are made it is easy to choose the kind of books liked best by that particular school.
In addition to the central library, there are high-school centers in the larger towns with branch libraries or depository stations of their own. These are distributing points for school work as well as for the general public.
Last year the Smithsburg branch alone circulated 3.826 volumes exclusively for school use. This attractive branch owns its building and possesses the unique distinction of having converted the town jail into the town library. This was possible through the unerring and untiring efforts of a small group of club women of the village. The library has now between 4,000 and 5,000 available volumes, including an excellent reference collection for school and high-school purposes. While this branch is open but twice a week, it carries on all the activities to be found in a larger library, including a story hour all the year round, with an average attendance of more than 20. In summer the stories are told out-of-doors and in winter around a huge fireplace,
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School Life, Vol. XV, No. 2, October, 1929
where Halloween chestnuts are roasted and Christmas marshmallows are toasted.
Williamsport, Hancock, Boonsboro, and Sharpsburg are other distributing points, each with its special circulation to schools of the respective communities.
A story-telling group on Locust Hill playground
During the school year the central library maintains depository stations in two of the city schools of outlying districts and furnishes a trained assistant to select and distribute books to pupils too young to make the long journey to the central library.
Another activity of the school department is its supervision of the purchase of books and the administration of highschool libraries. Many of the libraries are still in their infancy but are improving rapidly. However, their work must be supplemented by the Washington County Free Library. This means the use of several hundred books monthly, borrowed by the different departments for reference use alone.
Required High-School Reading Supplied by Library
In addition, with the aid of the English department, the school department selects and prepares for circulation books needed for the four years of required high-school reading. This collection comprises approximately 100 titles for each year, with not less than two copies, and usually three or more copies, for each title listed, making the entire collection more than 1,000 volumes. The books are chosen from classic and modern writers, but they must have certain requisites. They must be interesting; they must convey information, historical or otherwise; and above all, they must bring courage and inspiration to the reader.
Each year the school librarian gives a course of instruction to the high-school freshman class in the use of reference books. This includes the arrangement of their
own school libraries, and especially such an arrangement that the best reference books in a required subject may be located without fumbling. The course consists of 12 simple lectures, beginning with the important parts of a book, and the range
covers encyclopedias; dictionaries, general and biographical; gazetteers; anthologies; books of quotations; historical and periodical literature, etc.
Last year the school department, for all its activities, circulated 38,107 volumes. A good year for a small library, but we hope to do better this year. The one thing this department dreads above all others is the saturation point. There must always be more and better things to do.
&
Selective Admissions Naturally Reduce Failures
Failures of freshmen at the University of Chicago have been reduced from 14 per cent of all entering students to only 4 per cent, as the result of adoption by the college of the selective admission system. It is stated in this connection that in some colleges where high-school graduation is the only requirement for admission, freshman failures are as high as 25 to 30 per cent of matriculations.
Members of women’s clubs to the number of 26,175 used study programs or library facilities of the University of North Carolina, extension division, during the past biennium. These women represented 1,276 clubs, of which only 531 were in North Carolina. Women’s clubs in nearly every State, the District of Columbia, Hawaii, Canada, and China were included in the service.
French School Gives Free Technical Instruction
A free school, where technical, industrial, and domestic instruction is given without cost to young men and women who are unable to obtain a liberal arts education, is maintained at Amiens, France, by the Amiens Industrial Society, according to information contained in a recent report to the State Department from Rudolph J. Blais, American vice consul at Havre.
Governing Committee is Composed of Experts
The society in Amiens was founded in 1861 at a time of industrial depression. In 1864 it was recognized by the National Government as a public utility. From the first, instruction was given in textile arts (velvet, cotton, and wool), and at present 28 courses are offered in the apprentice school which was established in 1889. The majority of the members of the society are manufacturers whose establishments are located in the Amiens district. The school is governed by a committee chosen from the board of directors, each member of which is a specialist in some particular department of industry. To assist in meeting the need for technicians, the society is subsidized to a small extent by the State, the department, and the city of Amiens. The 3-year course in the apprentice school comprises French, arithmetic, geometry, applied mechanics, physics and chemistry, and the drafting of plans. Six hours a day are devoted to actual shop work.
In addition, about 2,000 pupils enroll annually in industrial and commercial courses, usually given in night classes. Twelve free public lectures are given each fall by leading textile manufacturers of France and professors of the Arts et	i
Metiers School of Paris. The society	i
maintains a commercial museum and has < a library of 20,000 volumes, which is open J at night. The only charge to students 1 for instruction in the technical school is 1 an initiation fee of 5 francs, and active £ soldiers of the French Army stationed at t Amiens and injured French war veterans e are admitted free to night classes. Work- s ers’ guilds, still in existence at Amiens, P function as a sort of benevolent association c for mill workers.	k
The Amiens Industrial Society is con- n sidered one of the most important insti- b tutions of its kind in France, and the c technical instruction given is of a high order. Woolen and velvet cloth manu- c< factured in the Picardy region is exten- e: sively used in other countries, as well as si in France, and gold medals presented at a p number of European exhibitions attest sc the high standard of workmanship main- b( tained by the Amiens Industrial Society.
School Life, Vol. XV, No. 2, October, 1929
Recent Surveys Conducted by the Bureau of Education
poor or because of strife among factions. Roanoke thus proved its right to a place among that growing list of communities in which surveys are conducted purely for the improvement of already good school conditions.
A School Building Survey and Program for Mount Vernon, N. Y.
At the request of the Board of Education of Mount Vernon, N. Y., the United States Bureau of Education conducted a school building survey of that city in January and February, 1929. Miss Alice Barrows, specialist in school buildings of the Bureau of Education, was detailed as director of the survey. The preliminary report of the survey was sent to the board of education of Mount Vernon in April, and in June the people voted a bond issue of $3,000,000 the amount recommended by the survey for the first 5-year period of the building program.
The printed report of the survey and building program has just been published by the board of education of Mount Vernon, with a foreword by the United States Commissioner of Education, William John Cooper, in which he states. “This report will be helpful not only to school officers, teachers, and citizens of Mount Vernon but also to school officers, teachers, and citizens in all parts of the country, and to students of education generally.”
The report will be of particular significance to cities in the immediate vicinity of large metropolitan areas like New York City, for it shows some of the problems in social and educational engineering created in surrounding cities by the inundation of populations from expanding metropolitan areas. The report states:
It is inevitable that the New York population spread-
Survey of Junior and Senior High Schools, j Roanoke, Va.
At the request of the school board of Roanoke, Va., and with the approval of the State superintendent of public instruction of Virginia, the Bureau of Education recently conducted a survey of junior and senior high schools in Roanoke. W. S. Deffenbaugh and Carl A. Jessen, of the bureau staff, were designated by Acting Commissioner L. A. Kalbach to conduct the survey. Work on the survey was begun in March, 1929; the report was published in September by school authorities of Roanoke.
The school system at Roanoke is being reorganized on the 6—3—3 basis. Much of this reorganization has been carried through, but some of the seventh and eighth grade pupils are still in elementary schools, just as a few ninth-grade pupils have been assigned to senior high school. Within the next few years it is planned to have the system entirely on the 6-3-3 plan.
Certain features of the situation at Roanoke were not in need of investigation. Such subjects as administrative control, buildings, equipment, and finance (generally stock-in-trade for survey reports), are either entirely omitted or lightly touched upon in this survey. On the other hand, items on pupil load, pupil time outside of school hours, persistence in school, success of Roanoke high-school graduates in college, and occupational choices are given careful attention.
The most important finding of the survey is that the high schools of Roanoke, are doing an excellent piece of work with a selected group of students. The principal recommendation is that through subject offerings, extracurriculum activities, pupil load, supervision of instruction, testing programs, and guidance, the schools be made attractive and profitable to those pupils who now drop out at the end of the compulsory school-age year, or soon thereafter. Attainment of the full program recommended by the survey committee will take several years. A considerable number of the specific recommendations have been adopted by the board as a program for action during the ; current school year.
i It was entirely apparent that the most cordial relations and understanding existed among the board of education, s superintendent, principals, teachers, a pupils, and patrons of the Roanoke it schools. The survey was not requested i- because school conditions were felt to be
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In 1929 there were 14,880 families in Mount Vernon, and it is estimated that by 1939 there will be 23,718 families. In 1929 the number of children of school age was 10,926. The survey staff estimates that the increase in school population in the next 10 years will be 57 per cent, which would mean that 17,166 children will have to be accommodated by 1939 and 14,000 in the next 5-year period to 1934. To accommodate this increase two new buildings and five additions will have to be constructed. The estimated cost of these buildings, with sites, is $3,000,000.
The survey report points out that standards for school buildings have changed greatly in the past 20 years because social and industrial conditions have changed, and schools have had to meet these changed conditions. “City children no longer find, outside of school, the variety of educational activities, such as opportunities for the study of nature, care of animals, work with tools, and the other hundred and one chores which used to challenge their resourcefulness and contribute to their growth in the small village or on the farm. Because the city deprives children of these activities, it has come to be generally recognized that the modern city school building must not only supply opportunities for study in good classrooms under wholesome conditions but it must also return to children the opportunity for healthy work and play which can no longer be supplied outside of school. This means that the modern city school building must have not only classrooms but shops, nature-study rooms, drawing and music rooms, cooking and sewing rooms, auditoriums, and gymnasiums. The elementary school building must have these facilities as well as the high school.”
The report states: “It is a well-known fact that Mount Vernon schools are among the most progressive in the country. Mount Vernon has had the platoon ' plan for many years with modern school facilities, but the work has been carried on under the deplorable handicap of old
ing over the whole metropolitan area in its attempt to find living quarters outside of the city, and yet within easy commuting distance of New York, should turn to a city of homes like Mount Vernon which is so accessible to the metropolis. The figures on population increase in the past 10 years show that the tendency has already begun for those who have business in New York to seek the comparative quiet, space, and fresh air of Mount Vernon. The problem with regard to the next 10 years is whether a sufficiently farsighted building program is carried out, so that the open spaces and fresh air remain a reality for present and future generations. * * * Unless the people make sure now that breathing spaces for themselves and their children are secured by the purchase of sites for playgrounds and modern school buildings, then history will repeat itself and the inhabitants of Mount Vernon will in future have to flee from their own city to seek more spacious living quarters for themselves, and open spaces for their children to play in, for the same reasons that the people in New York City are now pouring into Mount Vernon.
buildings which were never planned for modern school activities. * * * The existing old buildings are in good repair. * * * And all of Mount Vernon’s more recent buildings are of a fine, modern type. What the city needs is to give to all the children the advantages of this type of building.”
One of the most interesting features of the report is the carefully planned population study made by the survey staff and the elaborate population map made for the survey by the Mount Vernon branch of the American Telephone & Telegraph Co. and printed in the report in seven colors. The appendix contains 30 statistical tables on the population study and building program.
Hygiene May Be Correlated With Other School Subjects
Assuming Interest on the Part of Teachers in Every Factor Having to do With the Promotion and Preservation of Health, Suggestions Are Given for Indirect Health Teaching in Schools by Correlation of the Study of Health With Other School Courses, thus Utilizing the Pupils Own Everyday Experiences and Observation
By JAMES FREDERICK ROGERS, M. D.
Specialist in School Hygiene, Bureau of Education
INFORMATION in regard to the human body and its care should, above all subjects, be taught as something more than a mere book study to be “taken” at specified times and in measured doses and have done with, or as something pigeonholed and altogether apart from other information. Attempts have been made in many schools to relate history, English, and other subjects to hygiene, directly or indirectly. This is not so simple as it may seem to the enthusiastic hygienist, but all teachers are presumably interested injiealth and, given a few examples of how it may be done, they can bring about sufficient correlation to relieve hygiene from isolation, and at the same time furnish a broader interest to other fields of learning. The following suggestions for such correlation may be useful. It is presumed that the teacher is able to determine what material is suitable for pupils of a given grade.
For Classes in Mathematics
If a man pays $1 in taxes for the prevention of malaria, instead of paying out $10 for doctors’ bills and medicine for the treatment of this disease in his own family, how much does he save?
Have you ever considered the importance of the zoo sign “Don’t feed the animals?” The manager of a zoo, unfamiliar with the care of animals, allows the public to feed them peanuts and candy. Some are taken sick, and he loses a chimpanzee valued at $500. A father and mother allow their children to eat anything they wish at any time, and the children live chiefly on candy. In consequence, none of them are as well as they might be and one is taken seriously sick and dies. Compare the loss, financial and otherwise, to the zoo and to the parents.
If a schoolboy, because of bad habits of living, is sick for 10 days of the school year of 200 days, how many days does he have left for play and work? What percentage of the days of the year is wasted?
Count the number of times you breathe in 1 minute, then estimate the number of times in 24 hours. Where does the energy for this work of breathing come from?
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We breathe about 30 cubic inches of air at each respiration. How much do we breathe in an hour? In 24 hours? (The average number of respirations can be worked out in class.)
A large egg furnishes the human engine with about 100 calories of energy. Two medium slices of white bread also furnish this amount of energy. At current prices what are the relative costs of energy in these two foods? Should we live on the less costly to the exclusion of the other? Why?
Sanitary and medical work in the Canal Zone during the digging of the canal is said to have saved a total of 39,420,000 days of idleness from malaria or other illness. If the men were paid at the rate of $1.25 a day, whether they worked or not, how much money was saved?
In cities of the United States about 100 gallons of water per day are used per person. If the population of a city is 165,000 how many gallons will be used? Do you know the capacity of the reservoirs of your city? Find out and compare with population. What is done to safeguard or to purify the water for your community?
Formerly, in Italy about 15,000 deaths occurred each year from malaria, and about 2,000,000 cases of sickness were reported from this disease. In 1901-02 the State established a monopoly for quinine in order to reduce the price and insure quality. In 1902, 4,932 pounds of quinine were sold, and the deaths numbered 9,908. In 1906-07, 45,591 pounds were used, and the number of deaths was 4,875. Valuing each person who was saved from death at $25,000 what was the money value of the lives saved in 1906-07 as compared with 1902-03? What was the expense if figured from the present cost of quinine at your own druggist’s?
Sickness is an Expensive Experience
The annual cost of sickness in the United States is estimated to be more than $1,400,000,000. How much is that for each person each year?
In 1922 about $60,000,000 was spent for health work in the United States. In the same year more than $92,000,000 was spent for chewing gum, $107,000,000
for perfumes and cosmetics, $806,000,000 for candy, and $1,823,000,000 for tobacco. How much money was spent for all, and what proportion of the whole went for better health? Do you think that any ' of the above expenditures may have made some people less healthy, and do you think that cosmetics, or playing the game of health, produce better results in good looks? Have beauty and health any connection?
A pint of milk supplies about 320 calories of energy. Compare the energy to be had at the same cost from eggs, lean meat, bananas, oranges, bread. Compare the mineral, protein, and fat content.
The left ventricle of your heart holds about 2 ounces of blood. How much blood, per minute, will be pumped out of it when sitting? When walking? When running up stairs?
In New York City, with a population of 3,446,042 in 1900, the number of deaths was about 70,872. In 1920 the death rate was 12.44 per 1,000. Had public health work apparently achieved any marked results?
In the city of Chicago in 1867 the number of deaths from tuberculosis was 541. The population was 225,000. What was the death rate for that year per 10,000? The number of deaths in 1922 from this I disease was 2,220, and the death rate was | 7.83 per 10,000. What was the popula- I tion? By comparison with 1867, how many persons were saved from this | disease in 1922?
The population and the total deaths I in 1917 for certain European cities were 1 as follows:
City	Population	Deaths
Amsterdam	. 		630, 695	7,885
Barcelona		 			629, 486	16^ 253
Edinburgh	 			333, 043	4^ 924
Florence		259,239	5^848
Manchester	 		763, 649	10, 207
Paris	 	 _	2, 847, 229	44,200
Stockholm	 ....	410, 800	4^883
Zurich.			209, 500	£187
New York City				5, 737,492	78.575 '
Work out the death rate (per 1,000) for each foreign city, and compare with that of New York City.
A nerve impulse travels at the rate of about 100 feet per second. How does
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this compare with the velocity of light? of sound? of electricity? If you stepped on a tack, about how long would it take for the brain to receive the message of the accident? If with your arm you could reach the moon, how long would it take to feel that you had touched it?
We breathe about 30 cubic inches of air at each respiration. The air we breathe in (if pure) contains about 4 parts of CO2 per 10,000. The air we breathe out contains 4 parts of CO2 per 100. If wre occupy an unventilated room 10 by 10 by 10 feet, how much CO2 is in the air at the end of an hour? How many times should the air be changed in order to keep the CO2 below 10 parts per 10,000? Calculate this for your own schoolroom, based on the number of pupils present. What other changes take place in the air?
A disease germ can reproduce itself in 30 minutes. If one such germ should have a suitable food supply (as a glass of milk), and other conditions favorable to development, how large would be its family in 24 hours? What conditions besides food are necessary?
The total length of the capillaries in a man’s muscles, if placed end to end, has been estimated at 100,000 kilometers. Would this tube reach around the earth at the Equator? Each capillary is about one two-thousandth of an inch in diameter. What is the total surface of all the capillaries in a man’s body?
A city has a population of 140,000. Its water supply is, say, 75 gallons per person per day. If it is suspected that the water is contaminated, how much liquid chlorine, per day, will be needed to make it safe if 40 parts per million are required for disinfection?
For Classes in English
Do you recall any references to health or disease in Shakespeare? Is there any reason to believe that Shakespeare was not a vigorous, well man?
Do you know any incident concerning Shakespeare’s father which illustrates the sanitary or unsanitary conditions of the times? Was there much sickness in Shakespeare’s time? (Death rate of London was over 40 per 1,000 and exceeded the birth rate. One-third of the children died before they reached the age of 5; only 7 per cent of the residents lived to be 70 years of age.) Compare with recent statistics for London or New York.
In connection with the reading of Ivanhoe, discuss sanitation in the Middle Ages. Discuss ideals of chivalry, and bring out the relation of high ideals to health. (Material to be obtained from histories of the Middle Ages, encyclopedias, etc.)
Make a collection of what great writers have said or written in regard to health.
Write an account of the ancient Olympic games, telling of their origin, nature of the
contests, causes of decline. Compare with modern Olympic games, origin, nature of contests, people taking part. Compare winners by points per population of country. Adapt suggestions to study in history classes. (Abundant material in histories, encyclopedias, special books, histories of art, and in magazines or newspapers published during the period of modern games.)
For Classes in Geography
How long is the Panama Canal? How long is the alimentary canal? Which is more important to you? How long does it take food to pass through the alimentary canal? What happens if food is delayed too long?
Review the history of the Panama Canal.
History of Arctic exploration: Methods of protection against cold, food supplies, etc. Need of bodily vigor for such exploration. (See A Tenderfoot with Peary by George Borup.)
Tropical exploration: Compare with above. Dangers to health in Tropics as compared with Arctic regions. Compare nature of food and clothing and shelter needed, and health precautions necessary in tropical and Arctic explorations. Study ways of living in other countries and procure death rates.
For Classes in History (General) '
In the Middle Ages the vigorous betook themselves to the military life; weaker men to the monastic life, where learning was kept alive. A vigorous body or even good health was considered nonessential to monastic existence; hence physical education was dissociated from mental activities of the cloister.
In Two Years Before the Mast see account of a disease due to lack of certain substances in the food. Did Dana suffer from this? Was this disease a serious one with sailors and explorers, and how is it now prevented? Was there really any excuse for having it in Dana’s time? (See article on Scurvy in Encyclopedia, also in Evolution and Significance of the Public Health Movement—Winslow.)
Has climate influenced history and civilization? (Read Climate and Civilization—Ellsworth Huntington; Health and Social Progress—Binder.)
Look up the history of the child in industry especially in England in the early nineteenth century. Age and hours of -work. What great leaders helped to do away with past fearful conditions?
Adult labor; its dangers, need of protection of workers from injury, etc. Are adult workers treated better than formerly? (Hours, prevention of accident, disease, etc.)
History of the Great Plague. (See Diary of Samuel Pepys, Defoe’s The Year of the Plague, and encyclopedias.)
Does “plague” still exist? How is it caused or transmitted? How is it now prevented? What great persons were carried off before their time by typhus? How is this disease transmitted?
One disease has had more to do with the course of history than perhaps any other cause. Can you find examples of its effects on nations? (See Health and Social Progress—R. M. Binder.)
Why was this disease so named? What is its real cause? How was this cause discovered? How can the disease be prevented and what effect has this knowledge already had on the geography and economic history of the globe?
What do you know about the methods of sewage disposal in your own city?
What do you know about the results of the physical examination of men drafted for the late European war? Is fitness for war needed more than for peace?
What influence has disease had on wars? For example, Napoleon’s Egyptian and Russian campaigns. Compare the record of typhoid fever in the Civil War and the Spanish-American War with that of the World War.
Value of Personal Hygiene
Study the physical characteristics of Napoleon and of other great men.
Study and write physical biographies of Washington, Franklin, Jefferson, Lincoln, Roosevelt, and other famous men.
Study the history of smallpox in this country.
Was smallpox of any consequence as a disease 150 years ago? What notable persons had it and recovered? What was the practice of inoculation and was it harmless? Compare with vaccination. Are the names of Cotton Mather, of Washington, or of Jefferson connected with inoculation or vaccination?
Study the history of yellow fever in this country: the history of malarial fever.
Compare conditions of living among early settlers and ourselves.
Compare mortality in country and in city; formerly, and in the twentieth century.
Compare mortality and average length of life in this country from the time of earliest records to the present.
How is health work a part of the history of the building of the Panama Canal? Are there dangerous occupations other than building Panama Canals?
What is done in various occupations for the health of the workers?
Compare death rate in the Northern and Southern States 20 years ago and at the present time. Does malaria affect this rate?
Does there seem to be any ground for the belief that malaria had much to do with the decline of the Roman Empire?
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School Life, Vol. XV, No. 2, October, 1929
How Our Educational Systems May Be Made More Effective
Education Should Be Free to All, and Everyone Should Be Required to Obtain an Education. Opportunities Ignored Result not only in Serious JVaste to Educational Systems, but Constitute a Distinct Loss to Society
By W. W. KEESECKER
Assistant Specialist in School Legislation, Bureau of Education
THE pertinent question before every progressive community is: “ How can our educational system be made more effective?” Thanks to the efficacy of the American conception of democracy, under which no educational system is conceivably complete which does not reach every child regardless of his place of abode, or his physical, economic, or social condition, our statesmen and educators have joined Government and education in a perpetual alliance to give liberty and learning to all. Only through enlightened public opinion and well-principled moral sentiment can we hope for justice, equality, and security in democracy. Liberty with us is not to be construed as giving youth the privilege of remaining ignorant; it rather confers the privilege of obtaining an education, and enjoins upon youth the achievement of an education as an obligation to society and as security for the personal liberty and the well-being of all.
Waste Through Nonaltendance
It is becoming more difficult to tolerate the economic and moral waste of ignorance. This awakening is one of the most significant developments of our time. President Coolidge, in an address before the National Education Association, Washington, D. C., July 4, 1924, said: “One of the chief rights of an American citizen is a right to education. The opportunity to secure it must not only be provided, but if necessary it must be made compulsory.”
It is difficult to estimate the relative importance of the different elements affecting education. Without doubt, regular attendance at school is an important factor. Against indifferent parents and delinquent children who fail to conform to our educational ideals and citizenship standards, compulsory education laws need to be invoked. Statistics compiled in the United States Bureau of Education for the school year 1919-20 indicate that in the United States approximately 7,000,000 of the school population (5 to 17 years of age, inclusive) were not enrolled in either public or private schools. The 1920 census reported approximately 1,000,000 illiterate persons between the ages of 10 and 25 years. When 7,000,000
children of school age are permitted to remain out of school, it is not surprising that approximately 1,000,000 of the people of the country should remain illiterate beyond the school age.
The following figures show the percentages of school population not attending schools (not enrolled) in 1920, according to the census report of that year:
Years of age:	Per cent
5			81.2
6			36.7
7			 16.7
8			 11.5
9			 9.6
10			 7.0
11			 6.1
12			 6.8
13			 7.5
14			 13.7
15			 27.1
16			49.2
17			65.4
18			 78.3
19			86.2
20						91.7
The figures just given indicate that more children at 11 years of age attend school than at any other age, but that, nevertheless, 6 per cent of the children of that age in our country do not attend school at all. Far more serious waste, however, from nonattendance is shown for the years before 8 and after 13. Thus it would seem that the fairly effective school period might well be lengthened at each end. For 1924-25 it was estimated that every day during the school year 8,000,000 children of school age were absent from school.
Such conditions clearly show a serious leak in our educational systems. To abolish illiteracy and ignorance was without doubt the chief aim of compulsory school attendance laws. It therefore remains the problem of legislators, school officials, and the interested public friendly to education, through supplementary legislation or administrative rules or both, to provide for greater uniformity and efficiency of the present laws.
Effect of Compulsory Education Laws
A close study of the different features of compulsory school attendance laws and of school attendance and literacy in the States shows considerable correlation between certain laws and the record of attendance and literacy. Laws which are more rigid and definite seem, on the whole,
to result in better attendance and more literacy than laws which are not nearly so rigid and definite. By “a more rigid and definite law” is meant “a law having a fairly high maximum attendance age, a reasonably high standard of education for exemption and for labor permits, few and definite exemptions; one placing specific duties on teachers and officers, requiring i>hem to act immediately in truancy cases, and providing penalty for failure to act, etc.”
In other words, it is axiomatic that a law requiring attendance from 7 to 17 years of age will secure more attendance than one requiring attendance from 8 to 14; that a school term of nine months will secure more attendance than one of six months; and that a law requiring an eighth-grade education for labor permits will secure more attendance than one requiring a fifth-grade education or none at all. It is also obvious that better enforcement would naturally follow a law requiring that truancies be reported immediately, or within 24 hours, than one requiring that they be reported weekly; that a law with a penalty provision for neglect of duty by teachers and attendance officers is likely to be more effective than one without such provision; and that a law which defines truancy is likely to obtain a more satisfactory court judgment than one without such definition.
How Efficiency May be Tested
The test of efficiency of any compulsory educational system may be fairly shown by the answers to two questions which are: First, What per cent of the total school population does it get into school, or otherwise reach? Second, How well does it keep pupils in school or in training elsewhere? Generally speaking, the law which scores satisfactorily in this test is a satisfactory law.
Necessity of Educational Laws
Compulsory education laws which require school attendance of children 6 years of age have been in operation for many years; this is also true of laws requiring attendance until 18 years of age. Results show that children 6 years of age make good progress in school, but under the laws of one-half the States they are not required to attend school until 8 years of age. Children who stay out of school until they reach the age of 8 are considerably handicapped when they start. Their retarded educational development tends to promote an attitude of embarrassment, a dislike for school, truancy, and early withdrawal. Thus permissive nonattendance during the years from 6 to 8 tends to defeat the very aim of the compulsory education law.
School Life, Vol. XV, No. 2, October, 1929
39
The first step in the education of the child is of utmost importance.
Five States now require attendance until the age of 18, and 5 others until 17; but on the other hand, 5 States even yet require attendance only until 14. Moreover, a dozen States require 80 or more months school attendance, while 13 States require less than 50 months of school attendance.
Requirement of little or no educational qualifications for labor permits, and granting them at an early age, tend to reduce school attendance. Seventeen States require an eighth-grade education for the issuance of labor permits, whereas 8 other States require only ability to read and write; and there still remain 6 or more States which appear to have no educational requirements. Laws which demand an eighth-grade education for labor permits seem to be operating satisfactorily.
Penalties upon parents are sufficient in most States to secure compliance on their part with educational requirements, but more than 30 States do not specify any penalty for principals or teachers who fail to report truancy, nor for attendance officers for failure to act in truancy cases. Greater concern and vigilance on the part of many principals, teachers and attendance officers could doubtless be stimulated by imposing adequate penalties upon them for failure to perform their duty in seeing that children for whom they are responsible attend school regularly.
Some Promising Tendencies Are Observable
In recent years some promising tendencies have manifested themselves with respect to increasing school attendance. Some of these tendencies are:
(1) To lengthen the period of compulsory education by making it effective at an earlier and to continue to a later age. The establishment of kindergartens and the requirement of compulsory attendance upon part-time continuation or evening schools.
(2) To increase the annual required school attendance.
(3) To extend compulsory legal provisions to include various handicapped children; also to provide parental schools for delinquents.
(4) To require more education for exemption and for the issuance of labor permits.
(5) To require public relief for indigent children and their compliance with the school attendance law.
(6) To provide transportation for children living beyond the usual walking distance of school.
These changes indicate an effort on the part of educators and legislators of many States to keep pace with changing needs
in a changing world. Thus only through the improvement of our educational ideals and standards, and their universal applica tion, can we approach the better democracy which we cherish and to which we are dedicated.
&
Leeds to Study Industrial Relationships
In an attempt to promote industrial as well as human welfare, and to insure the best possible relations between employers and employed, the Montague Burton Chair of Industrial Relations has been established at the University of Leeds, Yorkshire, England, according to information received from A. R. Thomson, American consul, Bradford, England.
Among other matters, the new chair will deal with conciliation and arbitration in Great Britain and elsewhere, arbitration laws in different countries, methods of work of joint industrial councils, trade boards, and their history, the aims of trade unionism and collective bargaining, and all forms of labor legislation, both national and international. It will also embrace the social side of economic life as distinct from the usual treatment of production, distribution, and exchange from the purely economic view.
Although it will be closely allied to the department of economics of the university, the new chair will handle its subject from different points of contact, with law on the one hand, and with history on the other, and to some extent with the wider analysis of human nature to be found in philosophy.
&
Meeting the Needs of Foreign Students
An adviser to students coming from foreign countries has been appointed by the George Washington University, Washington, D. C. Representatives of 43 different countries, including outlying parts of the United States where a foreign language is spoken, were registered last year at the university; and it is to insure that young people of these diverse cultures shall gain the most from their study at the university, both in academic achievement and in understanding of American ideals and institutions, that the appointment has been made. The incumbent, Dr. William Stull Holt, holds the degree of A. B. from Cornell University, A. M. from the George Washington University, and Ph. D. from Johns Hopkins University. Doctor Holt is a specialist in the field of history and political science. He possesses an intimate knowledge of international affairs, and he is a man of broad sympathies.
Teacher-Training Course for Sight-Saving Class Work
(Continued from page 23.)
ing their local needs, and courses should regularly be given either during the summer or during the regular school term. Possibly large cities will eventually give extension courses for their experienced teachers, as well as for the teacher who is new in the department.
Probably the greatest need at present is for training centers for teachers in isolated communities. These should be organized during the summer, when most teachers can take the training without loss of salary. Without doubt, in a very short time, training centers will be scattered all over the country. If the greatest help is to be given to those who enroll, training classes should not be too large.
Who Shall Teach the Teachers')
During the years in which summer work has been given at the University of Cincinnati classes have seemed to divide themselves into two groups: The experienced teacher group, and the group which is made up of persons in the field, to whom even the most elementary idea is entirely new. It has been extremely difficult to adapt lectures to the needs of these two groups. The advanced work given for the experienced teacher has seemed too difficult for the elementary group, and the elementary work is not particularly interesting to the teacher who has been in service for several years.
One suggestion seems to be worthy of consideration: That elementary courses be given where the whole field is covered by one instructor. This would mean that one instructor give the work in educational methods, in eye hygiene, in lighting, and in administration and history; making very definite connections between these various phases. Supplementary lectures may be given by specialists from time to time.
The second suggestion, carried out in the summer of 1928 at the University of Chicago, is that an advanced course, entirely under specialists in each field, be given for experienced teachers. This offers a possibility of research in a number of different lines, and it is desirable mainly for teachers wishing to do independent study.
After several years of work in teacher training of this type, we are realizing, as we could not have done in the beginning, the ramifications of the whole problem. It is too early to be didactic in the matter. Rather, we should urge free discussion from teachers and supervisors in service, to the end that we may have a knowledge of the best means of training teachers to serve the sight-saving-class child.
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School Life, Vol. XV, No. 2, October, 1929
New Books in Education
By MARTHA R. McCABE Acting Librarian, Bureau of Education
Alexander, Thomas. The training of elementary teachers in Germany. New-York city, Bureau of publications, Teachers college, Columbia university, 1929. 340 p. 8°.
In Germany, since the War, there has been rapid change in the teacher-training situation. This volume aims to describe present conditions in the teachers colleges in the various German states, giving the facts as found in the individual institutions as to the prescribed program of studies, the curricula, examinations, appointment, tenure, and salaries of teachers, as well as the training of teachers in service. Any discussion of the kind furnished here is intended to be useful to students of education because it offers a general survey of conditions, and because such facts may be used for comparative purposes. An extended bibliography of material as found in German literature is given.
Barr, A. S. Characteristic differences in the teaching performance of good and poor teachers of the social studies. Bloomington, Ill., Public school publishing company [1929] viii, 127 p. tables. 12°.
This book gives a report of an investigation carried on by the author to observe in action certain selected teachers of the social studies, in order to analyze their teaching performance systematically, and to formulate an objective terminology which might be used by supervisors of teaching. The social studies included history, civics, and geography in junior and senior high schools. The teachers were selected by their superintendents, and were of two groups, an inferior and a superior group, 47 teachers being in each group. The findings are given in the last chapter, in a summary with conclusions.
Burton, William H. The nature and direction of learning. New York, London, D. Appleton and company [1929] xviii, 595 p. tables, diagrs. 12°. (Appleton series in supervision and teaching, edited by A. S. Barr and William H. Burton.)
The material in this volume has been organized into “Units,” and the chapter headings appear as “Problems.” In the five sections thus presented, the processes of learning and teaching are defined, the various types of learning and the pupil’s learning activities are discussed, with a final unit given over to the subject of the activities of the teacher in planning and directing the pupil’s learning processes. The latter includes suggestions for lesson assignments, the art of questioning, measuring ability, diagnostic procedures, grading, etc. The material and the methods described are the result of experiments tried out in the University of Chicago, where the author is associate professor of education. Additional references at the chapter ends appear as “Parallel readings.” The case studies used as illustrations are unusual, and the absence of hackneyed terms is noticed.
Cox, Philip W. L. The junior high school and its curriculum. New York, Chicago [etc.] Charles Scribner’s sons [1929] xxii, 474 p. tables, diagrs. 12°.
Important problems in connection with the junior highschool type of organization are still being discussed, and there are still changes to be made in the hope of improvement. The author’s purpose is to furnish an adequate philosophy for junior highschool teachers, and a program which harmonizes
with it. A successful program must provide opportunities for each pupil to select his own work, and to follow and develop his own avocational interests.
Dewey, John. Characters and events. Popular essays in social and political philosophy, by John Dewey. Edited by Joseph Ratner. New York, Henry Holt and company [1929]. 2 v. front., port. 12°.
This volume comprises a collection of essays by John Dewey that have appeared in the New republic and other magazines. They deal with educational, social, and political matters. It has been the task of the editor to arrange the essays of the two volumes under the classifications: Characters (biographical sketches); Events and meanings; America (including essays on numerous political, social, and educational topics); War and peace; and Towards democracy. The philosophies of John Dewey have been founded upon his ideas of many of the questions of the social and political world, and as expressed by the editor, have been dressed in “the fashion of common speech and circumstance.” The reader may in this volume find access to the essentials of Dewey’s teaching.
Garrison, S. C. and Garrison, K. C. The psychology of elementary-school subjects. Richmond, Atlanta [etc.] Johnson publishing company [1929] xx, 569 p. tables, diagrs. 12°. (Johnson education series, under the editorship of Thomas Alexander and Rosamond Root.)
This study is concerned with the individual differences and the learning processes of children in the elementary schools as they are manifested toward the subjects of the curriculum. The problem of individual differences is the problem of learning, that is, the ability of the pupil to profit by instruction. The authors have had some years experience in this field and have collected data relating to child growth and learning which have been tried out in their classrooms. Measuring differences is discussed, and techniques are suggested for the purpose. The major part of the study is devoted to presenting the subjects that compose the elementary curriculum and how children learn them, and is especially designed for teachers and supervisors.
Hudelson, Earl. Class size at the college level. Minneapolis, The University of Minnesota press, 1928. xxi, 299 p. tables, diagrs. 8°.
This study is one of a number of experimental studies fostered by the University of Minnesota committee on educational research. The importance of class size in colleges and universities has been debated by educationists for some time, and this study will assist in solving the problem. The effect of class size upon marks has been dealt with, as well as its relation to techniques of instruction, cost of instruction, the budget, staff, buildings, etc. The report includes the testimony of the faculty and of the students in regard to the advantages and the disadvantages ot large and small classes. The available evidence seemed to show that class size is a “minor factor in educational efficiency, measured in terms of student achievement.”
Jordan, David Starr. The trend of the American university. Stanford university, Stanford university press, 1929. ix, 126 p. front., port. 4°.
This volume by Doctor Jordan comprises three addresses which he delivered at different times: The evolution of the college curriculum; An apology for the American university; and The American university system, past and present. The essays are on the same general theme, namely, the change and progress in the curriculum of the American college and university. The first essay was published in 1887, and it is interesting to note that at this early date the author was advocating certain radical changes in the form of liberalized training in the universities, many of which have since been adopted. The other two essays were published in 1898 and 1927, respectively, and have historical connection with the first essay. These papers were selected from a large number written by Doctor Jordan, as they present the gradual development of liberal ideas in higher education.
Muse, Maude Blanche. An introduction to efficient study habits according to the laws and principles governing economic learning. Philadelphia and London, W. B. Saunders company, 1929. 110 p. diagrs. 12°.
This is an attempt to solve the problem of how to possess an efficient study technique by stressing the psychological laws and principles which underlie each study method. The importance of the right study habits by pupils in elementary and high schools is recognized, and for this reason actual instruction in efficient methods of study is given in this volume.
Ruch, G. M. The objective or new-type examination. An introduction to educational measurement. Chicago, Atlanta [etc.] Scott, Foresman and company [1929] x, 478 p. tables, diagrs., music. 12°.
The traditional examination is gradually giving way before the advancing new-type or objective examination in the public schools. This volume presents a study of the reasons for this passing, with the advantages and the limitations of the new-type examinations. Instruction is given on how to construct the new tests, and many illustrative tests of all types are given, the recall, true-false, multiple choice, matching exercises, analogies, etc. To those who believe in the standard test as a more scientific instrument than the new-type test, the author suggests that there can be no ultimate conflict between the two, and that the objective tests will take the place of much of the traditional or essay examination in the measurement of information, at least, if not for the measurement of appreciational skills.
Schmidt, C. C. Teaching and learning the common branches. New York, London, D. Appleton and company [1929]. xix, 418 p. tables, diagrs. 12°. (Appleton series in special I methods, ed. by Paul Klapper.)
This study is intended for the methods classes in teacher-training institutions, colleges, and high schools, as well as for teachers in service. The author’s experiences of 20 years as supervisor of instruction, as superintendent, and as teacher I have furnished him with material useful to others in the field. He contends that greater efficiency and economy may be brought about by adapting instruction to contemporary social needs, and by basing methods of teaching upon a sound psychology of learning, thus eliminating the waste resulting from uneconomical and ineffective methods of study. In his introduction Doctor Klapper states that the volume is more than a mere collection of teaching devices and techniques, and that emphasis is placed on the I activities of the learner rather than on the teacher. |
U. S. eOVERHMEHT PRINTING OFFICE: 1»29
EDUCATION IN A DEMOCRACY
WE shall not get an educated democ" racy only by instructing those who individually feel the need for education— who come to education more or less for its own sake. The great majority of men will always want education as an instru' ment for other purposes, and there is no reason why they should not. It is impor' tant that they should recognise that these purposes are best served—that education is a more serviceable weapon—if it is good education, i. e., if it teaches men to think independently and not to seek to bend the facts to their purposes
The Master of Balliol College Oxford University
EDUCATION A FUNDAMENTAL NEED
Education, in our American sense, is the training of a whole people for a worthy and effective manhood and womanhood as the soul of good citizenship. By its very nature it must be the most influential motive power of our civilization. Like all formative agencies, it must be of slow growth and often of imperfect and capricious manifestation. Religious creeds and polities may be modified, forms of government changed, fashions of society—even the habits of home life—upset, the industrial methods of Christendom revolutionized, new types of literary and artistic culture created, before this profound, slow-moving, conservative central power, the education of the coming generations, is essentially transformed. Every attempt to lift a people above the average training of the younger third of its population by the inspiration of a revolutionary upheaval or the semi-insanity of a popular social, industrial, or political revolt, will inevitably find its level on the common ground of the organized educational life
A. D. Mayo