, Saie Library N18 1924 VOL. Il, JNO. 3 . APRIL, 1923 BULLETIN OF THE Department of Elementary School Principals The Work-Study-Play Plan. . The wi gina as an Educational, Moral, and ‘Civic Insti- tution. Establishing the ~—_ Cugpeiiatins of Principals. . The Relation of the Local Association to the Department of Elementary School Principals. . : Work of the Principals’ Club in Maintaining the Postenenh Status of the Principal. . Professional Study by Local Principals’ Cainsianien: . A Message from the President of the National Education porns ciation. The Relation of the Elementary School Principal to o the einen Testing Program. . sis Mental Tests as a Basis inte aadiiadten a School... Relation of the Elementary School — and His Work to the General Testing Program. . The Principal’s Multiple mae «ci surctherss'ctenes, Notes on the Cleveland Meeting........................00. A Message from President McClure....................... PUBLISHED QUARTERLY BY THE DEPARTMENT OF ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PRINCIPALS of the National Education Association of the United States 1201 SIXTEENTH STREET NORTHWEST, WASHINGTON, D. C. ng ys ame py ag ig fay ty Fp pth rate of postage vee for in Section 1103, Act of October 3, 1917, authorized December 18, 1 BULLETIN of the DEPARTMENT OF ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PRINCIPALS Published quarterly in October, January, April, and July by the Department of Elementary School Principals of the National Education Association of the United States. W. T. Longshore, Editor. The payment of $2.00 active membership dues entitles a member to attend all meetings of the Department, to hold office, and to receive the Bulletin quarterly. ; One dollar of each membership fee is for a year’s subscription to the Bulletin. Subscription to non-members is $2.00 per year; single copies, 50 cents; Yearbook, $1.50. — Members are requested to report at once any change of address, giving old as well as new address. Entered as second-class matter November 20, 1922, at the postoffice at Washington, D. C., under act of August 24, 1912. Acceptance for mailing at special rate of postage provided for in Section 1103, Act of October 3, 1917, authorized December 18, 1922. Executive and Editorial Offices, 1201 Sixteenth Street Northwest, Wash- ington, D. C OFFICERS OF THE DEPARTMENT OF ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PRINCIPALS OF THE NATIONAL EDUCATION ASSOCIATION 1922-1923 President, WortH McCuure Gatewood School, Seattle, Washington First Vice-President, ANNA Laura Force’ Lincoln School, Denver, Colorado Second Vice-President, THomas AGNEW Horace Mann School, Bayonne, New Jersey Third Vice-President, Ex1zABETH ARLETT ; Alexander Hamilton Junior High School, Oakland, California Secretary, W. T. LoNGsHoRE _ . Greenwood School, Kansas City, Missouri Recording Secretary, Jessie M. Fink Palmer School, Grand Rapids, Michigan Treasurer, CourTLAND V. Davis J. E. B. Stuart School, Norfolk, Virginia Executive Committee Ouive M. Jones P. S. 120, New York, New York—term expires in 1923 ' J. W. AntHony Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania—term expires in 1924 . Mary McSkimmMon Pierce School, Brookline, Massachusetts—term expires in 1925 LeonarD PowER Franklin School, Port Arthur, Texas—term expires in 1926 THE WORK-STUDY-PLAY PLAN FOR A BETTER BALANCED DAILY SCHOOL PROGRAM M. J. PATTERSON Principal, Irving School, Kansas City, Missouri HE SCOPE of school work has become widely extended. It now includes many activities which have been added in the last ten or fifteen years. The present expanding program of education repre- sents the efforts of this generation to utilize all of the opportunities of this age for the development of the next generation. ‘What the schools are today will determine what the world will be tomorrow.” People are be- ginning to realize the truth of this statement and are trying to fit their children to measure up to the responsibilities of a new age. The assignment of these new tasks to the school should not be cause for discouragement, but should rather confirm us in our faith that the institu- tion to which we have devoted our service is the chief agent for the uplifting of society. We should have our courage renewed with this thought and direct all the agencies at our command toward the accomplishment of the great work that is given us to do. If it is a problem of administration and organization that is to be solved let us study that as diligently as we would a problem of instruction. It is not within the scope of this paper to justify the existence of the large number of activities on our daily program. Many of them have proved their worth, and time may prove the worth of more of them. The develop- ment of the physical education program will serve to show how our ideas of value will grow. It is only within comparatively recent years that any serious attention has been given to the practical side of this subject. We were content to have hygiene taught out of a textbook, and have our classes put through a little bit of calisthenics, which was done in a perfunctory manner by most of them, while today we are willing to place physical educa- tion at the head of the list of our objectives in education. "The same might be said of art, of music, and of the vocational subjects. Art in its broadest sense is destined to play a large part in the education of the future, and we are beginning to realize this fact in the making of our school curricula. The elements of knowledge are just as important as they were in times past. There are skills that must be acquired as a necessary part of a child’s edu- cation. There must be skill acquired in the art of reading and writing the language, and in the use of numbers. ‘These are the necessary tools of education. Then too, power must be developed to interpret the experiences of the past and apply them to our daily life. With all of these things to do, the elementary school has a great problem of organization to solve if the work is to be accomplished and the proper balance of the daily program preserved. Until recent years little attention had been given to a study of the ele- mentary school program. When all the work of a school could be done in one room by one teacher there was little need of giving the matter much P [83] 84 NATIONAL EDUCATION ASSOCIATION consideration. ‘Time schedules well arranged enabled a teacher to go through many separate activities in the allotted time. Now, with the en- richment of the curriculum and with the impossibility of having all the work done by one teacher, we are face to face with the problem of making a program for an entire building. This is no new idea in educational administration. The colleges were the first institutions to adopt departmental work and employ teachers of special subjects. Later, as high schools developed they too became depart- mentalized, having teachers of Latin, mathematics or science, rather than class teachers. The practice has been carried down into the junior high and is quite common in the advanced grades of the elementary schools of our leading cities. A type of school program has been in operation in this country for sev- eral years that is aiming at a solution of this problem. It has been variously named the ‘“Work-Study-Play Plan,” the “Duplicate School,” and the “Platoon Plan.” ‘The November issue of the Journal of the National Edu- cation Association presents some statistics that show how the use of this type of program has spread. ‘There are now forty-one cities in this country hav- ing one or more schools so organized. Detroit heads the list with 44 schools, and Dallas, Texas, has 19 schools using the plan. Gary, Indiana, and Newark, New Jersey, each have 12. St. Paul, Minnesota, and War- ren, Ohio, each have 11 schools organized this way. For the past seven years, Pittsburgh has had several excellent Duplicate Schools, and has now voted to put all its schools on this plan as soon as feasible. A duplicate school requires the division of the school into two groups of equal size—one called the special school and the other the academic school. While one group is occupied with arithmetic, grammar, and geography, the other school is busy with special lines of work such as music, art, elementary science, physical education, and the vocational subjects. There must also be an equal division of the time; so at the middle of the morning and after- noon sessions these two schools change places. In order that each group may have an equal chance at the morning hours they exchange time sched- ules at the end of the first term. There are advantages and disadvantages in most of our plans for mak- ing adjustments to the changing conditions under which school work must be done, but what we should consider is where will the greatest number of advantages lie. How will such a program as the one suggested affect the _ability of the teacher to render the greatest possible service to her pupils? It is true that she will have twice the number of pupils to instruct, but she will have only three subjects to prepare. If her school is organized into single-class groups she will have sixty minutes a day or 300 minutes a week for each subject. Since home economics, manual training, physical educa- tion, and the like are taught in the time of the special school there is no interference with her time schedule, There is an opportunity for the principal to organize the school in a way to utilize the talent of the faculty so that it will render the greatest service nm wo Se => © 53 DD FF SS CO oc wm ref oe oa = | =—- © fF WD ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PRINCIPALS 85 to the largest number; in other words there is an opportunity for the most economic division of labor. Just as there are teachers who are better pre- pared to do academic work, so there are others who are well equipped to do the work of the special school. ‘Teachers are put at the work they like best and are therefore happier and better contented in their work. We should not overlook the importance of having our teachers feel the stimulus of suc- cess. If it is good for pupils to have that satisfaction, it is equally important for teachers to have the same kind of encouragement and feel at the end of a day that they have accomplished a good piece of work. With only one class group in the room it is possible for the teacher to give a portion of her time to directed study. All must realize the great import- ance of this work in the elementary school. While it is true that all of the teacher advantages react favorably upon the pupils, there are individual advantages to pupils that need to be men- tioned. ‘Three hours in one seat with only a fifteen-minute recess is tire- some to the adult; yet this is what happens to our pupils under the standard school program. Under the Duplicate Plan they will have one hour and a half with the academic teacher ; the periods in the special school will be forty- five minutes long. When the day is interspersed with physical exercises in the gymnasium or wholesome play on the ground there should be none of the evil effects of schoolroom fatigue. Each pupil will have an equal opportunity with all other pupils to experi- ence the best the school affords. If his greatest interest is in physical science he will be afforded for four or five years the opportunity to come in contact with a teacher who is especially trained to help him get the most out of it. His interest may lie in the direction of music or art; if so he has the same advantage there. Frequently a pupil may have a good teacher of these subjects one year and a poor one the next. Under the plan of having well-trained teachers for special subjects this would not occur. There are opportunities for other special classes of pupils in this form of organization. ‘The slow pupil who needs more time on his academic work will find the double period under the same teacher just what he needs. He may drop a special for a time and take two periods for arithmetic. The average pupil who is capable of making two grades in one year may work in two academic classes and create no confusion in the program of either room. The pupil of special talent, under the direction of an expert teacher, may find himself at an earlier age than he would if left to a less expert teacher. The subjects we have placed in the part of our program designated as the special school are growing in importance in the minds of the people and must be considered as forming no small part of the education of the children if they are to achieve that self-realization which will make society of the future what we hope it will be. We should make ample provision for work of this kind in the arrangement of our programs; and should not be com- pelled to apologize to the next generation for failing to give them these Opportunities, if the means of doing so are within our power. NATIONAL EDUCATION ASSOCIATION 16 Class Platoon Program ry YA ve WA IA mMTWwTe w 9 WAS 1.00 1.45 2 3.15 Elementary Science and Nature Study. tae Music — Alternates with playground, 20 and 25 minule periods. , Note ~ ae Art. , This program 1s regularly made in colors, so the whole = rC, situation may be more readily visualized. The bands FA mg show the platoon sdea of organization. Lach siltle Manual Training sguare represeals 45 minutes. /adasteial art, — and Home Economics. Drawing, - Literature and Elem ealary Scieace Playground. are halt year subjects above the third grade . Writing 13 taught in the regular Classroom by a special teacher oh uritiag This guvet the academic teacher relieh from duly. The two prominent features of the duplicate school plan are intimately connected; they are the enrichment of the curriculum and the administra- tive device we have attempted to describe. If there is anything new in the plan, it is the blending of these ideas which makes it possible to keep pace with the changing curriculum and still teach the elements of knowledge that must be taught to all. Passing on from some of the more concrete things to those less tangible and hence more difficult to measure, the opportunity to give wider use to our auditoriums deserves mention. The study of this question would furnish material for several papers, but we may only speak of it here in the most general terms. We are just beginning to realize the values and count the returns on the original investment. Auditoriums are a tremendously ex- pensive part of school buildings. ‘The auditorium work is one of the great unifying influences of the school. Operating as it does to bring into codpera- tion all the departments of the school, there grows up about it a community feeling that could hardly come in any other way. The individual benefits derived by pupils are inestimable. The auditorium may render the same service in other types of programs, and it is related to this subject only as it fits into the special school program and may be developed without interfering with the time schedule in the academic rooms. ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PRINCIPALS 87 Another of the intangibles is a spirit of coéperation that the form of organization tends to develop. ‘Teachers must get together more to discuss aims and values; they must lay their plans jointly; and this getting together develops a feeling of “our school,” ‘our problems,” as against “my school,” and “your children.” This spirit may be in any school, but a duplicate school furnishes a good opportunity for its growth. Last, but not least, there is an atmosphere conducive to the largest pos- sible development of child life. A day full of interesting activities, a diver- sity of opportunity for self-expression and direction that should make of the school a real institution for the development of the future citizens of a great republic. THE PRINCIPALSHIP AS AN EDUCATIONAL, MORAL, AND CIVIC INSTITUTION JoHn W. ANTHONY Principal, Franklin School, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania S IS the principal so is the school,” is a familiar saying but this has been expanded so that one may now say, “As is the principal so is the community.” Especially may this latter statement apply in this transition period when institutions of civilization are finding it difficult to function. The subject of this discussion must be studied in this broader sense. The time when the activities of a school principal may be confined to the four walls of a school building is past. Important as these activities are they must be supplemented by an extension of interests. The State requires that the school prepare the coming generation for responsibilities that are being imposed by a new order of civilized life. To differentiate the different phases of this subject is difficult, because what is an educational problem is also moral and civic. ‘The principal who today does not try to understand the momentous changes that are taking place in the political, economic, and social world cannot fully function as the directing head of a school system, whether of a township, a town or a city. The school is unique in its universality and closeness to the com- munity both collectively and individually. It is the one agency that should interpret ideals and make them dominant in the lives of the people. The political ideals, the economic aims, the moral values of other institu- tions may be of the highest order, but unless the school shall interpret to the people they cannot become fully effective. Civilization may be charted by the use of a serpentine line ever diverging from the horizontal. Each succeeding depression in this line never returns to the same horizontal plane as its preceding counterpart. We are now just emerging from one of those depressions and the height to which this new segment may reach will depend largely upon the clarity of the new problems and the leadership that will provide the impetus and vision. Now is a critical period in the history of civilization as the momentum now given to this upward movement will largely determine the final peak. I wonder 88 NATIONAL EDUCATION ASSOCIATION how many of those in position of educational leadership fully appreciate the great opportunity for service to humanity at this time? ‘There are many difficulties that hinder the growth of ideals; selfishness, prejudice, stable habits, individually and en masse. An institutional earthquake like the Great War was necessary to shatter those static bonds before much progress could be made. If there is any condition from which America suffers more than another, it is selfish nationalism, unwillingness to understand the prob- lems of other peoples and their reaction upon our American life in all its phases. A careful analysis of past educational history might prove that the school in a large measure is responsible for this National malady. Isolated as we have been by great oceans, and largely self-supporting, we have failed to detect the subtle elimination of those barriers. We have felt secure in our supposed isolation, putting our faith in the physical strength and wealth which we as a people possess. Slowly there has crept upon us a realization of our national insecurity, and a knowledge that our responsibilities as a people are not bounded by two great oceans. We have become part of the world’s interests, unconsciously, .by mastering the forces of nature which know no terrestrial bounds or bonds. One may sit at the breakfast table and read of the suffering or rejoicing of yesterday in Nippon; a little later in the morning receive a call from his broker for an additional margin because of the failure of the leading financial institution of Hong Kong. Thus, does national isolation vanish. Have we as school men and women kept pace with this tremendous expansion of economic and political forces, or have we been interested only in developing an educational terminology, child study, schoolroom methods—important though they are? The war has resulted in new responsibilities, that cannot be neglected, old habits of thought and conduct must be guided into new channels; nar- row nationalism must be expanded into rational internationalism. We must not give less thought to the development of our own National spirit but evolve as well an international mind. The principal who would efficiently function today must give much thought and study to the forces that are dominating this transition period. The basic force is economic, and grafted upon that are political and moral ones. Economic forces are predicated by the physiographic conditions and the scientific control of natural forces. Without a clear vision of these forces at work and reacting upon civilization no principal may render an efficient service to his community or to his State. The principal has three distinct agencies through which he may function: the teacher, the patron, and organizations. The teacher must clearly understand the economic background of the curriculum and the historic background of our institutions. Few teachers during their preparation for teaching have had these fundamentals vitalized. Methods and plans have monopolized their time and energy. The skillful principal will create opportunities to discuss with them the various changes that are taking place in the political and economic world, and thus enlarge their vision, which will enable them to better interpret life to their pupils. ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PRINCIPALS 89 For example a study should be made of how the occupation of the Ruhr affects the economic life of our people. A review of the historic back- ground of this movement leads to a clearer understanding of the motives that have caused such a course of action on the part of the French. Another subject for profitable discussion is what will be the probable result and effect of such action. A principal should not approach these problems as a partisan but be care- ful to state the opposing viewpoints. Much of the intolerance that afflicts our people is engendered by our habit of indulging too much in partisan presentation. Much of the difficulty experienced in Americanizing the foreigner who comes to our shores is due to this partisanship and intolerance of their customs and habits. The teacher with broad vision will cultivate tolerance and influence those under her tutelage to develop like habits of thought and conduct. Fate has decreed for America a peculiar mission. ‘The late war has left her in a position unique in the history of the world. She must assume a moral and economic leadership never attempted by any other people and the effectiveness of that leadership rests heavily upon-its educational institutions and upon no institution does there rest a greater responsibility than that of the public school. Here is to be found the man and woman of tomorrow— - those who must assume the responsibilities we leave them. Another con- dition that faces all parliamentary governments is the assumption of power by the various peoples. In no country is this condition more pronounced than in our own. ‘The most rigid constitution has to adapt itself to this growing power. During the war, propaganda through the press and school aroused the individual voter to an unusual sense of his part in his govern- ment. So great has become the activity of the electorate that chancelleries find it difficult to function because of the influence exerted by an uninformed electorate. We have witnessed in our own country the assumption of powers by Congress that formerly rested in the chief executive. This is not a political evil in itself, but until we have a well-informed electorate international relations will be greatly hampered. ‘This condition certainly calls to those who are informed on governmental problems to enlighten others by well- directed propaganda. Here is not only a privilege but a duty devolving upon the principal to organize propaganda and give it to his community through his teachers and pupils and to carry it directly to his community when possible. In addition to the duties a principal must assume as the leader of his teachers he should endeavor to have his community understand the aims and objects of the school; how it is attempting to function in the community, the State, and the Nation. We are prone to hold ourselves aloof from the public until difficulties of some kind overtake us. We too often fail to ask support for constructive ideas. ‘The result is that most citizens fail to appreciate the value of the public school in a democracy. An illustration of this condition might be related as an experience of the writer a few years ago when he asked the support of a millionaire banker 90 NATIONAL EDUCATION ASSOCIATION for an apprepriation for public-school support. The legislature had passed the particular law but was endeavoring to avoid appropriating sufficient funds for the enforcement of the act. When requested to urge the chair- man of the appropriations committee to allow the necessary funds he replied, “TI do not care to ask because it will increase my taxes and at any rate the public school is chiefly for the foreigner.” I was stunned. I immediately countered by asking how he would care to have his great wealth in Russia? He replied that he did not wish it there. I asked why he did not wish it there. He answered that it would not be safe. I again asked “Why.” He stated that Russia did not have a stable government. My next ques- tion was, “Why did Russia not have a stable government?” After a pause or an attempt to parry the query, he replied that there seemed to be no patriotism; no cohesion. Again; “Why” pursued him. He didn’t know, not wishing to be forced to convict himself. I then asked if Russia’s con- dition might not be due to the lack of a common-school system; the lack of an institution that would create a common intelligence, a national patriot- ism, a regard for the sacredness of property? He was forced to regret his thoughtless remarks. This of course is an extreme case, but how many of our business men realize that the institutions that stabilize wealth are the school and the church. When I contemplated the subject of this paper I addressed a question- naire to a number of business men. But one replied, and that very briefly, admitting that it was a subject to which business men should give more thought. Is this condition altogether the fault of the business man? Have we been successful salesmen? Have we placed our wares in the open market? I fear not. We have failed to take advantage of an educational, moral, and civic opportunity to command whole-hearted interest and support for the public school. When the questionnaire was sent to the business men, the same question- naire was sent to leading welfare workers and they almost without exception replied. May I be permitted to quote from a few of these replies, The head of the Kingsley House Association writes, “We settlement people believe that ‘after’ the public school, the settlement house does more for the coherence of the nation than any other agency. In my own opinion many of our social, civic, and industrial ills will not be solved until men develop a passion for justice and a passion for justice awaits for a passion for understanding. The function of a modern principal in promoting this passion for understanding can be one of the most powerful things for good in the world.” An officer of the Juvenile Court of many years’ experience writes as follows: “A principal should be in a position to interpret school problems to the community, and to do so efficiently, he should be a free agent. If he is restricted either through fear or routine by his superiors, it is impossible for him to fulfill this obligation. If the school needs a playground, special classes, night classes, he should be in a position to agitate, attend meetings, and to do whatever is necessary to arouse public opinion.” ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PRINCIPALS 91 A principal should be in a position to join others in fighting the forces of evil in the district which corrupt the youth. Disorderly houses, illegal sale of cigarettes to minors, and the sale of liquor, counteract to a great degree the moral influence of the school and the home, and should be at- tacked by the principal of the school. Dirty streets, non-collection of gar- bage, insanitary conditions in the district, or other violations in which the city is responsible should vitally concern the principal, and he should be in a position to protect against these violations and others. ‘The principal should constantly influence the teachers under him to have a social point of view in all matters pertaining to the children of the school. He and they should know the different agencies to which they can turn for assist- ance in the problem, either of the individual child or the group, and these agencies should be called upon for service. “The school doctor, the psycho- pathic clinic, the school nurses, attendance officers, and any other agency of the school itself should be utilized to the full by the principal, and he should encourage his teachers to use these agencies. The Secretary of the Civic Club comments as follows: “As to how the principalship should function, I believe the relationship of the principal to the community should be one of warm sympathetic understanding of the neighborhood in which he works. Its health, its housing problems, its environments, are the intimate social things that principals should .know in order to meet the requirements of the kind of pupils they have under their direction. While it is necessary to a large extent that the instruction given should be determined by one head such as the Board of Education of the State, the textbooks must be interpreted with respect to the personnel of the school. “It is most important that a principal should know the most active agencies that can in any way contribute to the uplift and benefit of his com- munity either morally, socially, mentally, or spiritually, and he should have time to avail himself of the opportunities of attending certain meetings and getting his assistance personally. In all matters of recreation and in all the social instincts that children have he should be the guide and help. In fact, the relationship of a principal to a school is similar to that of a minister to his church. “The taking into his confidence of the teachers on his staff and the im- portance of permitting them some initiative in developing certain individual enterprises should not be overlooked.. Each teacher may have a desire to interpret a certain kind of work in a distinctly individual way but as long as she gets results and puts it across I think she should be made to feel that she is not a machine to grind out certain facts in the most expeditious man- ner possible but that it is important for the success of her school that she put her individuality into her work and make some contribution along her special line. Teachers should also have an opportunity of getting in touch with outside agencies and certain ones might be delegated at different times to get the messages and interpret it to their groups.” 92 NATIONAL EDUCATION ASSOCIATION The director of the Department of Charities, a lady of great experience, in social and civic problems, states her conception of the principalship as follows: “It would seem to me that a principal in any community—especially in a foreign community—becomes the symbol of the highest ideals and the noblest ambitions of those in that community who come within the radius of his influence. Further, I believe that the principal of such a school in such a community represents the leadership in the educational and ethical ideas that should permeate the life of the community. In a word, the principal of a school, in a community, should be the most commanding and most outstanding figure in the daily social life of such a neighborhood and be emulated by all, and his admonitions, suggestions, and criticisms should be heeded by all.” Many more quotations might be given but those given make clear the welfare worker’s conception of the “principalship as an institution.”” With such tremendous opportunities facing us and our influence being called out in various directions, the time is rapidly approaching when a school principal must ipso facto be the guide and leader of the community in which his work is placed. HERE IS a painting by Frank Leyandecker which sym- bolizes strength and service. A strong man is grasping the spokes of a wheel. The muscles of his arms, legs, and back stand out. As he guides the ship, you see he is render- ing service. As you look at the picture you feel his strength. As you study it you recognize how it symbolizes the work of the principals in a system of schools—strength, service. The principal occupies a pivotal position in school organ- ization. He gives strength to the system, service to the organization. He is one of the managers, a member of the superintendent’s cabinet, an aid in shaping policies, and a factor in executing them. The principalship is somewhat analogous to that of a manager in a mercantile establishment or in a factory, to that of a division superintendent in a railway system, a commissioner in city government. His important consideration is human relationships. A truly great principal is one tested by experience, having a scientific attitude and a strong personality.—From an address by John H. Beveridge, president of the Department of Superintendence, before a dinner of the Elementary School Principals, Thursday Evening, March 1, 1923. ESTABLISHING THE LOCAL ORGANIZATION OF PRINCIPALS W. T. LoncsHorRE Principal, Greenwood School, Kansas City, Missouri O ESTABLISH the local organization, there must be a felt need T for the organization and a real demand for it. The need can always be sensed by the talking together of fellow principals as occasions arise. “The demand will come when a few principals band themselves to- gether as a committee and make a call for a meeting of all Elementary School Principals who are interested. At the first meeting, which will be informal, a temporary chairman will be selected to conduct the meeting and keep the discussions in line of the purpose of the meeting. It will soon develop that the interests of the group are common, that there are serious problems to be solved, and that they can best be solved by group codperation, study, and action. In fact, many of these problems cannot be solved in any other way than by coéperation which is brought about by organization. Thus the question of organization is before the group. It is generally better not to complete the organization at once but to ap- point committees looking to an organization. One might well be a com- mittee to recommend, after securing information from other places, as to form of organization, and a second to disseminate information, and to secure the attendance of all principals at the second meeting. This meet- ing should be thrown open for full and free discussion of the purposes and possibilities of organization with as much information given as{is known by the different principals. At the proper time call on the committee on form of organization to make its report. Give ample opportunity for discussion, having full and free expression of opinions. Proceed cautiously, but persistently, to form the organization. Be certain that every element in the body of your principals is represented in the officers of the Club or Association. In due time you will have a constitution and by-laws and the temporary organization can be made permanent or changed at the will of those present. The organization is now formed and the real task is before you. Whether your organization is to live and be of value is dependent on the real work that it does. Your first and highest concern should always be for the chil- dren of your schools. The schools have no other right for being. Your second purpose should be to better the schools in every way pos- sible, such as better principals, better teachers, better buildings, better equipment, better playgrounds, better course of study, a better daily pro- gram for the classroom teacher, and better supervision of instruction in your school. You have enough suggestions in the subjects named above, with related topics, to keep you busy for several years. Your third aim is to better the condition of the principal. If one and two are taken care of, the third will usually take care of itself. [93] 94 NATIONAL EDUCATION ASSOCIATION Some one asks what subjects may we discuss and what studies may we legitimately make without getting out of our field and encroaching on the prerogatives of the board of education, the superintendent, or the super- visors. ‘There is no subject of interest to the children, the schools as an organization, the teachers, or the principal and his relation to any one or all of the above mentioned, that is not a proper subject for study or discussion. It is always to be understood that you are to make a real study and that you are seeking the truth and nothing but the truth. In making these studies it is always highly advantageous that all concerned feel themselves as pioneers working together in a joint social venture. First: As intelligent, growing principals it is your duty to grow, that by growing you may assist, and point the way, for your teachers to grow, that in turn the growing teachers may be the more able to lead the children in the way of true growth and development; in fact, growing all along the line that leads on to further growing. Second: Any study that is made and that furnishes information that is of moment and benefit to the board of education and its executive officer, the superintendent, will be asked for by these agencies and gladly and enthu- siastically received. Friends, let us move forward in.the great work that is before us, let us retain connection with the past so that we may keep and use all that is good in it. On the other hand, be not afraid to venture into new fields of thought and endeavor. We should ever have that inner urge in us that leads us on to further activity. We hold the most strategic piace there is in education for its betterment, for the good of the children and civilization. It is our privilege at all times to keep our minds open and our faces to the East. It is said that we do not really know anything until it enters into our reveries. Let us investi- gate and study at least some of these subjects until they enter into our reveries and become a part of our very being. One of the great superintendents of this country said to me at the Bos- ton meeting last summer, ““We welcome the Elementary School Principals in their activities and studies, we welcome the local organizations and also your National Department,” and added that there are some great educa- tional problems ahead to be solved, and if they are to be solved during this generation they must be solved by the Elementary School Principals. Yes, there is plenty of room for each and all of us as individuals and as organi- zations in the great educational field. We have the sincerest respect for every one in the field of education and for the work he, or his organizatoin, is able to do. We have a work to do and it is our privilege and responsibility to do it. It can be done by no other agency except the Elementary School Principals and even then only by organization and coéperation. I am glad to say that the Elementary School Principals are awake to their privileges and responsibilities as never before. The children of this country may depend on us to do the best that is in us, so may each and every one of the school authorities. That is ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PRINCIPALS 95 the reason for the rapid spread of Elementary School Principals’ organiza- tions. “Then let us, as men, face the issues of life as the city four square fronted the points of the compass. Let there be a window to the north to expose us to the storms and struggles of life; a south window to receive the sunny breezes of kindness and sympathy; a window to the west, where we may observe the sun setting over our opportunities, and a window to the east from which we may look for progress and the light of tomorrow.” THE RELATION OF THE LOCAL ASSOCIATION TO THE DEPARTMENT OF ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PRINCIPALS Jessize M. Fink Palmer School, Grand Rapids, Michigan HE RELATION of the local association to the Department of Elementary School Principals is analogous to that of the individual to the local organization. The relation is one of give and take. The local organization works in the home field. The Department of Elementary School Principals functions in the National field. The local association with the individual as a unit seeks to better the professional standing of the elementary principals locally ; the department of elementary principals with the local club as a unit seeks to advance the professional standing of the principals all over our land. The Department absorbs the sum total of the salutary experiences of the different groups, translates them into fundamental principles, disseminates them that all may benefit by the combined information. The local association realizes that in the solidarity of this combination lies success, and that only insofar as it is in unison and consolidated can its interests and responsibilities be interpreted to a non-understanding public. For it is a psychological as well as a biological fact that an individual cannot realize the condition of his organic and spiritual life except through codperation. Nor can an individual club or organization successfully cope with issues of National import except through the combination of its strength and abilities when merged into a definite National organization which shall labor for specific purposes and controls. Therefore, the relation of the local association to the Department of Ele- mentary School Principals is that of a part to a whole. The part con- tributes to the general success and in return is a specific recipient in the accrued benefits of the department. The organization represents the col- lective power of all individual clubs and does for each what that body would do for itself were it possible. History of the local club—In discussing the local club it would be well to state the factors leading up to the consciousness of a real need for this organization. Up to 1916 each school in the system had been sufficient. In that year, however, a certain event transpired which completely demon- strated the folly of isolation. ‘This event was a school survey. In order not to emphasize too strenuously the deficiencies of the local elementary 96 NATIONAL EDUCATION ASSOCIATION principals it announced the situation was similar to that in all the school systems of the United States. It went on to say that the supervision of an elementary school is a very complex problem, calling for a comprehensive knowledge of school organization; technical training in the art of super- vision; facility in testing the work of teachers and children in the grades; ability to keep teachers in service constantly engaged in increasing their equipment for school work. As a result of the survey, principals studied it. “They at once proceeded to check up on themselves. ‘This is what they found. Some of them had taken graduate courses in organization and supervision ; some were familiar with abnormal psychology; Dr. Davenport on Eugenics, Dr. Goddard at Vineland, were familiar to many; a few knew how to administer, score, chart, evaluate educational and psychological tests both individual and group; even the intricacies involved in modifying and adjusting a faulty curriculum to the practical advantage of the retardate or the ac- celerate were familiar to others. But the majority were not familiar with this new work in supervision nor sensed its necessity. There existed a group of complete individualists so far as the principalship was concerned. As a group, the elementary principal was an intermediary without original functions; a buffer between the administration and the community; a class neither teacher nor supervisor; with no policy, no continuity of plan, no matured scheme. ‘The fact I have just stated is obvious; the problem is engaging but it need not detain us. Suffice it to remark the survey opened up the advantages of codperation and implanted a necessity for mutual expression of beliefs and convictions and discussions. Not only was the upheaval caused by the survey, one of the determining factors in uniting these principals, but local irritations also stimulated indi- viduals. In discussing the situation one day, two principals decided there should be an effort put forth to organize a local club. Accordingly notices were mailed bearing the signatures of three principals, as a self-appointed committee. The response was instantaneous. The meeting took place, principals discussed fully and freely the many immediate problems. Be- fore the session closed an organization was formed, named, and formally launched. It should be said that previous to the war such an organization would have been impossible. While the survey somewhat startled the principals, the war shook them to the very foundations and they emerged from it a wiser group of people. War work opened up the doors of the schoolroom and let in a flood of helpfulness and opportunity for coépera- tive service. It was then the principals rose to the emergency. Few de- serted their posts. Letters came from boards of education acknowledging indebtedness to the faithful who were not enticed by the lucrative salaries and fascinating experiences offered in other fields of service. ‘The war changed the principals’ viewpoint of the world, because they were the first to catch the vision of service to which they have been faithful ever since. It was then, whether institutionally trained or not, they came into their own spiritually, ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PRINCIPALS 97 But the vision meant adaptation. It meant codperation. It meant full and free discussion of present needs. It realized itself in part the day the local organization was born. It realized itself in greater part the day the Department of Elementary Principals was organized. ‘There was no question about it; each principal had been made ready, and in his heart was anxious to become a member. Supervisors—Definite lack of codperation in subject matter and method of procedure existed between principal and supervisor. ‘The administra- tion had carried out the advice of the survey in regard to supervisors. They were numerous. Each seemed convinced that upon his particular subject depended the all-around development of the child. ‘The group compared with the group of: principals was small; therefore, they more easily established their prestige. Dealing with a single element, it was less difficult to establish a policy. Functioning merely in a system, in con- trast to the principal who functioned in the community as well as the sys- tem the principal felt that the supervisor’s chief service should be advisory and contributory as a consulting specialist—to be had upon call. As a mat- ter of fact most of the time schedule had been monopolized by the super- visors. Upon the departure of each, the principal who was responsible for all subjects in the curriculum, realized that the remainder of the time might be appropriated for academic subjects. It was also evident that there remained to him the residue of the child’s vitality and enthusiasm upon which to base instruction in the fundamentals which shall function in his daily life. In addition to this lack of coéperation in coordination of subject-matter arose a confusion on the part of the teacher as to who was who in authority when it came to a difference of interpretation of emphasis between the principal and supervisor, and many a wretched hour of uncertainty has been passed by the nervous teacher in her attempts to steer her bark between the Scylla of the supervisor and the Charybdis of the principal, a wanton waste of energy. ‘To ameliorate the situation, a meeting of supervisors and principals was called and adjustments made. Nevertheless, the situation is still far from perfect and one to be given over to the Department of Ele- mentary School Principals for complete study and future recommendations. Administration—The second problem to challenge the principals was that of administration—submerged with the petty detail of administrative duties, pedagogical leadership was being throttled. The work done by the principals was often that which should have been taken over by persons trained for office and managerial positions. ‘The principal desirous of being the leader in the supervision of instruction in his school frequently found himself deprived of this most coveted opportunity by the numerous insistent demands of routine. This means a great waste in the educational machinery, since the public pays the price of an expert to one upon whom often devolves the duties of a mediocre position. ‘The French have solved this problem by having a per- son trained for office and managerial work—one who is called a repétitrice, 98 NATIONAL EDUCATION ASSOCIATION who takes care of the attendance, transfers, phone calls, in fact, all business, leaving the principal free to be the educational dynamo and leader of in- struction. Certain schools had already been given clerical help, but not enough of it, and such as did receive it were supposed to save the clerk’s salary by acting as substitute in the absence of a teacher. Salary—The third problem stirring the members to the depths was the inadequate salary of principals. For sixteen years no increase in salary for supervision as supervision, had been given, the principal’s salary being based on the maximum of the grade teacher. ‘The administration felt supremely satisfied that the basic increase was sufficient. All these years the principals had faithfully worked to raise the minimum of the grade teachers and had succeeded. While labor and capital floated high on the tide of war-made prosperity, the principals were submerged. ‘They took sides but not their own side—and they were forgotten. Now an economic wrong affords a definite incentive to organized remonstrance because under- neath it, is moral wrong raising the irresistible ground-swell of rebellion. Now that the organization of principals was a fact, a salary committee was appointed; it succeeded in obtaining an increase in supervision and a re- arrangement of the schools into salary groups. One other accomplishment should be mentioned and that was the estab- lishing of a precedent and the upholding of the prerogative of the principal in adopting textbooks on merit. But the greatest thing accomplished by the Principals Exchange Club was the fusion of common interests; a profes- sional consciousness on the part of the principals; the necessity for codpera- tion and coérdination. ‘This consciousness manifested itself in professional memberships; for the Principals Exchange Club is 100 per cent member- ship in the local teachers’ club; in the Principals Exchange Club; in the Michigan State Teachers’ Association; in the Department of Elementary School Principals; and in the National Education Association. Why principals joined the Department—In the midst of discussions and attempted solutions to local irritations, word came of the existence of a National Association of Elementary Principals. ‘The news was electri- fying ; it was hailed with joy. Every principal was conscious that the local condition was duplicated in hundreds of localities and that just as the situa- tion had developed in Grand Rapids, so it had manifested itself throughout this land. And here was a national expression, a protest against conditions; an opportunity to come together for the purposes of professional better- ment and of solving problems; for the unraveling of intricacies; for form- ing. definite constructive policies and molding public opinion—such an opportunity as had never been possible in the past. In fact, it was the psychological moment for an educational Moses to appear—and he did, with Power to lead the organization for a year and then place it squarely upon its Worth. How was it possible to secure 100 per cent membership in the Depart- ment? ‘The principals had served their time in Egypt. They read the announcement of the National Association. As one principal said, “Let's join that Association—we’ve been behind the door long enough.” ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PRINCIPALS 99 There are certain things the local club expects to obtain from our De- partment: (1) It expects the Elementary School Principals to evolve the status of the Elementary Principal; (2) To define this status; (3) To establish this status. To be explicit, by evolving the status of the elemen- tary principal is meant that by scientific procedure the Department shall set a standard of professional training without which no person can hope to enter the field of elementary principalship. It shall require adequate train- ing in academic scholarship; in philosophy of education; in the specific duties of the principal; it shall state the position of the elementary principal in the educational scheme as clearly as is now stated the position of the superintendent and high-school principal. By defining this status, is meant the development of a terminology which will be of practical use to all principals and unequivocal enough to be of service even to all superintendents. For example—the definition of a prin- cipal shall eliminate the possibilities of that official’s being a clerk, office person, telephone attendant, general messenger, or repétitrice. By estab- lishing this status is meant that the Elementary Principal’s Department will clearly state that the principal is a leader in elementary education and must be so recognized by superintendents, the Board of Education, and_ the public. ‘That the department by means of publications, by lectures, by dis- cussions shall launch a campaign of information for the people and so mold the public opinion as to demand the educated, institutionally-trained leader. The Department would do well to support Mrs, Susan M. Dorsey, the Los Angeles superintendent of schools, in her idea of equal salaries for equal preparation and service. If the elementary principal has all the pro- fessional requirements demanded of a high-school principal or teacher and has an equal responsibility, why should that salary not be based upon the maximum high-school salary rather than on the maximum grade salary? Who shall say the service to the elementary child is of less value than that to the high-school youth? Physicians or surgeons who are child specialists do not reduce their fees on account of the age of the patient. Of how much less value is the adequate training of the pre-adolescent? And wherein lies the more responsibility, the training of the young child in the right ways of conduct—mental, moral and physical—or the continuation of such training in the high-school years? The clergy who advocated giving the child to the church until he was seven years of age understood the psychology of childhood and the desirability of fixed habits in that stage of development. According to Dr. Hillegas’ article in our last BULLETIN, there appears another piece of work for this department to perform. He says there is a general distrust of the ability of elementary principals to supervise the work of teachers, that when superintendents discuss this matter the notion is often expressed that until death removes some of the principals who now have permanent terms of office there is little hope. If the superintendents are really incapable of handling such a situation, this department might come to their assistance. In some definite manner it might help the indifferent 100 NATIONAL EDUCATION ASSOCIATION or non-understanding superintendent to see that as a leader in the com- munity certain standards should be adopted and adhered to. Retirement funds exist in most States. Even if they do not there are niches in the system where such principals could function to better ad- vantage. These should be taken advantage of for the benefit of the system. An age limit could be set. But to advance untrained political reliquaries, however conscientious, just because they are in possession of an office, or because it requires a supreme effort to change the order of affairs, or because of the luxury of drifting along the lines of least resistance, is to betray public trust. What shall be said of those who take advantage of the helplessness of these untrained and superannuated principals by imposing upon them an inadequate wage and using their inefficiency as an argument for a blanket wage for a whole group. Isn’t this to “beat a cripple with his crutches” and incidentally, bruise his adjacent satisfactory colleague ? How could this Department help in such a case? By reiterating that a superintendent since he is chosen to act as a representative of the board of education should be a free agent in improving educational affairs; by advo- cating that on the basis of public opinion, reforms may be inaugurated ; by establishing standards for elementary principals that shall rest upon a set of principles until the elementary principalship shall be recognized as embodying a theory and practice of supervision which shall be a science and an art; by insisting that only those principals consecrated to carrying along the torch of elementary education and dedicating their lives to the advance- ment and betterment of the profession shall be deemed worthy of participa- tion in this forward march of elementary school principalship. In summing up then, the local organization expects that the Department will act as a general clearing-house for all the problems pertaining to this group. It expects it to professionalize the group. And what may the Department demand of the local club?” It may demand undivided and enthusiastic loyalty and individual codperation of every elementary princi- pal throughout the land, that the local group may become a symmetrical detail in a whole which is concerned in advancing the cause of elementary education, WORK OF THE PRINCIPALS’ CLUB IN MAIN- TAINING THE PROFESSIONAL STATUS OF THE PRINCIPAL Rose A, Pesta President, Chicago Principals’ Club, Chicago, Illinois HOUGH the subject is stated generally I understood, as I believe your president meant me to, that I was to speak on this subject specifically with regard to the Chicago Principals’ Club. In Chi- cago our organization has had a long and creditable history, its organiza- tion having been effected long before 1909, the year of its incorporation. In its earliest days one of its chief aims was social, the matter of getting the principals together, of becoming acquainted. ‘That is still and must ever be an aim in a group, the size of ours, which has a constantly changing personnel. With this social aim would come that of protecting its members from attack, coming to their assistance when in difficulty. ‘The principal’s posi- tion is always one of prominence even though sometimes it lacks in power and thus he is subject to notoriety and to attacks from various sources. Even in this day, we have a committee known as the welfare committee whose duty it is to investigate any such case and to offer assistance when merited and needed. ‘This readiness to assist in times of trouble implies the right to pass upon the difficulty, to judge, as to the particular tangle in which the principal finds himself. “The judgment is not always in favor of the principal. ‘There is no need of my going into individual detail in the history of the club to show the sort of decisions which have been rendered. It is very evident to you all that this type of backing is the kind which a professionally spirited principal would be glad to count upon, but it is not such as to protect and foster weakness, inefficiency, and unjust claims. Rather by its decision in these cases, it tends to build up a standard of conduct and ethics with which individual principals would aim to com- ply. While as yet we have never embodied these individual decisions of the years into any professional code of ethics, that may come at any time. The report of the membership committee of last year ends with this state- ment: ‘“To next year’s committee is passed on the unfinished work of com- posing a code of ethics.” The group of principals, immediately after they were organized, found various battles to fight. These battles were of three general types: those coming under the head of salary, legislative battles, and administrative ones. It is my interpretation, as well as that of your president, that a considera- tion of salary clearly comes under the head of work to raise the professional status. _If the principal is paid merely at the rate of a head teacher or at the value of an efficient clerk such will be the professional status, or lack of it, which the people will have who are attracted to the position. In the fourteen years since the incorporation of the Principals’ Club, the [101] 102 NATIONAL EDUCATION ASSOCIATION salary scale has been raised from $1200 to $2500 in 1909 to that of $3000 to $4800 in 1923. A part of this increase was a result of the general rise in salary due to the low purchasing power of the dollar just after the war, but the greater portion of the increase is due to the tireless work of the salary committee of the Club. Evidently it was work on salary campaigns which operated largely to weld the Club together. In the past records | find this statement, “It was not until we had gone fifteen years with no in- crease in salary but had suffered two or three cuts in various ways, while there was a general rise in the cost of living that we could get them together and act on a common plan.” The campaign in any one year would depend on the particular circum- stances of that year. ‘The first strategic gain was what might be called a paper salary schedule. It was a schedule in which there was a long period of years between the minimum and maximum and at the time of its adop- tion no one was to get the maximum. All, no matter what their years of service, were to progress from $2500, the old maximum, to $3500, the new maximum, by increments of $100 a year. The adoption of this salary schedule with its mild increases per year spread over a decade, involved so trivial an outlay of money that no one was frightened. Having secured its adoption the next step was to see to it that someone actually reached the maximum it specified. ‘Then came the struggle to shorten the time of the schedule, to close up the accordion so to speak. ‘This is a clever and prac- tical device for pulling up an entire salary schedule. It was in this same year, 1909, that we broke away from the system of basing salary on size of school. Previous to that time there had been several groupings in the salary schedule, the main condition of the separation of the groups being the size of the school. I shall not take the time here to go into a discussion of the evils in administration that this leads to, nor the contradiction of educational ideals upon which any such grouping is founded, but I must point out that it clearly does not tend to make for unity within your principals’ club. Perhaps it is the fact that in 1909 Chicago did do away with membership of the school as a basis of salary that accounts as much as any one thing for the year 1909 being such a turning-point in the history of the Club. I do not wish to give the impres- sion that there have been no attempts since then to return to the member- ship basis for salary. ‘There have been a number, one even this year, but they have all been defeated by the overwhelming majority of the Club, and Chicago continues to stand with the big cities of the country—New York, Boston, and Philadelphia—with a salary schedule unhampered by the mem- bership basis. If one increases the expenses of the running of the school system one must conversely assist in providing money for the depleted treasury. “That leads us to another angle of the Club work, its legislative measures. ‘The Club has always been very active in its legislative work. In the various campaigns to secure more revenue for the schools, such as years ago the fight for the two-mill tax, and just a couple of years ago the campaign for 4 $20,000,000 distributable State school fund, the Principals’ Club has sent ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PRINCIPALS 103 its representative to Springfield, has conducted speaking campaigns in the city, has kept posted on the legislators, and has issued bulletins on their voting in time for elections in Chicago. But the Club’s legislative activi- ties have not been confined merely to those of getting money. ‘The princi- pals have worked arduously in every educational campaign that has meant an advance for the schools. ‘They have fought to secure adequate pen- sions for the teachers, to improve the compulsory attendance law, to settle the question of a unit or dual system of schools when the subject of con- tinuation schools was introduced, and to secure the present school law under which the Board of Education is organized and which gives a four- year tenure of office for the Superintendent. In their work along these lines they have come to see that much energy is dissipated by having the different educational organizations go down to Springfield with different propositions in regard to educational legislation. So they, with other educational organizations, have established a clearing- house in regard to legislative matters. ‘This is known as the Schools Com- mittee. Each educational club in the school system of Chicago is invited to send three delegates, and these constitute the Committee. All send delegates with the exception of one organization. ‘The committee plans a program of legislative work which all the delegates will agree upon. ‘This enables their workers in Springfield to state that their propositions are the legislative program of fourteen educational organizations in Chicago. ‘The strength that comes from this union is evident but does not prevent any one of the fourteen organizations from inaugurating and pushing an addi- tional campaign on its own initiative. The battles for the maintenance of our own positions in the city have been fought for the club mainly by the two committees—administration and prin- cipalship. I could not possibly give you an account of these struggles dur- ing the past decade and a half. As I glean from the early records of the Club, it was a plan to divide the city into forty districts and put in forty district superintendents, the principal to become chief clerk and teacher in the highest division of the school, that first helped to bring the initial group of principals together. In the years there have been encroachments from all directions upon our position. Discussing merely a few of the problems of recent years will be sufficient to give you an understanding of the matter, because our history has not been different from that of other cities, except insofar as we in Chicago have succeeded in maintaining the position of prin- cipal, as one of greater power, independence, and influence than that in other cities. Through the years there have at various times been difficulties in regard to assignment and transfer of teachers. For example, about two years ago the transfer of teachers was so managed by the downtown office, that a Principal might actually be unaware that he had a vacancy till the middle of the day. He would know, of course, that the teacher had failed to show up but he would not know that she had received a transfer. ‘This situation our Club has remedied, securing for the principal sufficient notice of such a change so that he can plan for the organization of his school. Similarly 104 NATIONAL EDUCATION ASSOCIATION administrative relations have been adjusted with the health department, the compulsory education department, and any other department with which difficulty or confused conditions arose. One of the chief fields in which we have had to do battle in recent years has been that of the encroachment of the business end of the system over the educational end. Due to interpretations placed upon our school law, the business end has secured a prominence not at all warranted by its actual relation to the school problem. This has filtered through the system down to the individual schools, till one might easily gather the impression that the engineer, the representative of the business end of the system, was the real head of the school, certainly of the school building. He frequently settled or attempted to settle the color of the interior decoration. He swept in the corridors during school-hours without regard for the health of the children. He recommended alterations in the buildings without consultation with the principal, he disposed of school furniture, had it re- moved without speaking to the principal, and he attempted to prevent the principal from having a key to the building. All these things are not new to my audience. ‘Those of you who are principals must have had to struggle with them in your own systems, for in the course of our struggle we secured the rules for engineers or janitors in the various large cities of the United States. We gather from our study, that you too must either be in the throes of a campaign such as we have recently gone through, or you ought to be about to start such a campaign; that is to say if you believe that the only purpose of the school is the education of the children and that every activity connected with the school should be subservient to that purpose. This clearly can be true only when the head of the educational branch of the work is actually head of the school. At the beginning of our campaign we formulated twelve demands; one of these, the matter of retaining the key to the building, standing through- out the controversy as symbolic of the principal’s headship of the school. We gained all of our points but that of reporting upon the work of the engineer which we agreed to drop merely during that campaign as a matter of expediency. We have taken up the work again upon this point this year. We published a Reporter monthly to keep our members informed of our activities. ‘The details of this campaign may be gained from the Reporters of October, 1921 and October, 1922 under the reports of the principal- ship committee. Just this fall we have secured definite statements on the position of the principal in this regard both from the Superintendent of Schools and the President of the Board, At the meeting of the Board of Education on October 11, 1922, the fol- lowing communication was submitted by the Rules Committee: “A school is an educational institution, maintained in the interest of the children of the community. It is placed in charge of a principal who is an expert in school administration, with whom the people of the community are accus- tomed to confer in matters relating to education. In any undertaking, good policy demands that authority and control be centered in one respon- ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PRINCIPALS 105 sible head. The principal should be recognized as the head of the school, and all recommendations and requisitions should originate with him.” These ideas have not, however, been sufficiently incorporated into the working rules of the school to make us feel that the battle is entirely won. Nor apparently is it the type of struggle that is ever finally settled. Being a matter of actual human relationship there will forever be problems of adjustment under this subject. I cannot leave this phase of the work of the Club without a brief state- ment of the present activities of the Administration Committee. During the war, Chicago, as well as all large cities, got along without new build- ings. As a result, we have, running in our schools, all known forms of makeshifts as to housing, and by makeshift I mean everything and anything that does not imply for the child a seat in a room in a regular building which he can call his own for the entire day. We have portables, double divisions, relays, rotary, and various combinations of these. In Chicago we shall always have to make use of some of these makeshifts, for it would be impossible to keep absolute pace with the growth in population and with its shifting. Now when these makeshifts are probably at their height, is we feel, an auspicious time to study them to determine which are least bad from an educational standpoint. ‘This is the immediate work of our Administrative Committee. The study of these makeshifts in housing naturally leads one to consider the size of the school. In our big cities, where size is somewhat of a god anyway, our schools grow larger and larger until we have great factories of education, turning out, as all factories do, factory production. Consid- ered from the point of view of big business, they are exceedingly magnificent institutions. But we have come to wonder if, considered from the stand- point of the individual child, they are furnishing him with the education, the thought, the individuality to which he is entitled, Clearly as the school grows larger the type of work of the principal changes. Our Educational and Administrative Committees jointly are now undertaking a study of the work of the principal with a view to get- ting some standard notion on this subject for Chicago. In the past, the educational work of our Club has not been centered under one committee as it is to be under our reorganization. We have had any number of committees doing some phase or other of educational work but I shall take the time to mention the activities of three only of these: the Course of Study, Textbook, and Supplementary Book Commit- tees. All these have been quasi-official committees; that is, their work has been recognized by the Superintendent of Schools. Some few years back the Supplementary Book Committee did a monumental piece of work in codifying the books by subject and grade and giving a short descriptive account of each. This work was accepted by the Superintendent’s office and since then new books have merely been added to that list and these, usually, only on recommendation of the Supplementary Book Committee of the Club. 106 NATIONAL EDUCATION ASSOCIATION The Textbook Committee has, in the past, rendered a similar service in regard to recommendations as to textbooks. Although appointed bythe Club, it has in reality functioned very much as a committee appointed by the Superintendent, getting its work and making its report to him. The Course of Study Committee too has worked out manuals of instruc- tion more or less upon the Superintendent’s suggestion. There have re- sulted in recent years, courses of study in geography, English, arithmetic, and spelling. ‘The committee is at present at work upon penmanship, his- tory, and art. A technique with regard to committee work has been developed which has aided greatly in the actual achieving of the results and in the accept- ability of the results achieved. The total committee is divided into sub-committees to carry on certain phases of the work. ‘The committee as a whole settles the big questions of theory and general policies upon which the particular course is to be built. ‘The sub-committees settle the minor questions of phraseology and the carrying out of the theory. After being shaped in a sub-committee, the results are brought before the entire com- mittee for discussion. Matters that are not acceptable are discussed merely to the extent of getting at the opinion of the whole committee in regard to them. ‘The actual revision is again placed in the hands of the sub-committee. It is soon learned by any new member that mere oratory will not count on a committee organized for work as this is; that one must have ideas which carry through and not just one idea about which one can grow eloquent. A course of study which has been worked upon in the fashion described above is, we have found in Chicago, much more acceptable than those of former years. ‘The arithmetic course, grades 1 to 6, and the geography manual were both vast improvements over the preceding ones. The English course issued a year and a half ago has been studied all over the United States and the arithmetic course for the seventh and eighth grades which will shortly be issued bids fair to be as famous. In accounting for the success of these courses, one must not omit the fact that frequently through our Schools Journal, a publication of the Chicago Normal College, the course is put out in tentative form. It is entirely a voluntary matter as to whether a given principal wishes to experiment with it, but there are always a sufficient number who are willing to do this. Their practical experience with it is incorporated in the final course as put out. It is clear then, that the Chicago Principals’ Club has assumed educa- tional leadership in respect to courses of study and selection of supple- mentary books. Its work is recognized by the Superintendents’ office and is issued to the schools. ‘The district superintendents frequently aid in getting these courses into the schools by devoting their meetings to them. But further, the Club itself is organized into auxiliary groups, seven in the city. These groups meet monthly for educational discussion. ‘Their officers give the members of the Education Committee an opportunity to speak before the auxiliary meetings so that courses are thoroughly discussed. In the whole procedure there is nothing autocratic, nothing arbitrary. ‘The ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PRINCIPALS 107 course in its formulation and introduction into the schools is the result of a democratic method of working. The newly reorganized Club of this year feels that even so there is still work to be done in getting its results actually into use in the schools. Courses of study may be ever so good, they may be discussed in any number of meetings, but if they are not in actual use in the schools, it has profited little that they are drawn up and reposing in each principal’s or each teacher’s desk. I have mentioned previously that our Committees on Administration and Education are jointly to study the work of the principal with the idea of issuing some statement which may be accepted as standard for his work. In addition to that, the Education Committee is working specifically on the supervisory duties of the principal approached ipitially from the ques- tion of how best to get our splendid courses of study into actual use in the schools, but not at all limited by this point of view. It is hoped that this work will not only bring about the direct result of getting these courses into the practical work of the schools, but that this emphasis, upon the super- visory end of the principal’s work, will bring about further the development of the principals as the actual educational leaders in the schools. We are not conceiving of supervisory functions in any narrow sense of the word as just inspection work, but the actual leadership, which means definite plans in school work to be carried forward for definite purposes; in other words, the ability to organize such a plan on a large scale with a group of teachers, the ability to inspire them with enthusiasm to go forward on such a plan, the wisdom to meet with them the obstacles in carrying it out, the careful, deliberate, painstaking adjustment of the plan to the prac- tical situation in hand, and one step further, the looking for and noting of the final results of the plan as adjusted and as carried out. It is super- visory work in this larger sense that our Education Committee is studying. But it is not so large as to be either vague or indefinite or at all removed from the actual schools and their specific problems. It is not a principal as a theoretic educational leader that we are aiming at producing, but one who with all the problems, the difficulties, the trials of an actual situation is master and leader of the educational problems presented by that situa- tion. In the educational field of the Club’s work, there is one more committee of which you should know, that on the Training of Teachers. Our Normal School pupils in Chicago do their practice teaching in the actual schools of the city, fifty in number. There they are able, during their ten weeks of practice work, to get far more in the way of actual teaching than they could possibly get if all were congregated in one or two practice schools. Nothing has been done by the downtown office, however, about pooling the inspira- tions of the various principals under whom this work is being done. We have the opinion that the Normal School, the students, and the principal involved might all be benefited by a conference about this work. Since the downtown office has not undertaken it, the Club assumes the problem. A committee has been appointed which we hope will bring forth something 108 NATIONAL EDUCATION ASSOCIATION noteworthy on the question of the training of teachers, or if not that, then it will at least aid the individual principals who are attacking the problem of making the ten weeks of each practice teacher produce the maximum result in fitting her for service in the schools. This fall in its attempt to become a more efficient working body, the Principals’ Club reorganized. Its aim is to have more frequent meetings of the whole body in an effort toward democracy. ‘These have been fixed to be bi-monthly and are to settle the general policies of the Club, which are to be carried out by the Board of Directors made up of representatives from the various auxiliaries. The standing committees of the Club are seven in number: Administra- tion, Archives, Education, Legislation, Publication, Finance, and Social— the fields of whose activity have been indicated previously in this paper. It is hoped that with this new organization, we shall maintain the position of leadership to which we have thus far succeeded in climbing. In its desire to do this, the Club has decided that it needs the full-time services of a special secretary. We are looking for a man or women who is familiar with the educational field, who has had some experience in the preparation and analysis of statistical reports, especially those on revenue and school finance, and who has ability to present matters to legislative and other com- mittees in an effective manner. In Chicago the principal has always been recognized as the educational head of his school. Even this, as I understand it, has not been true in a number of other cities; supervisory officers of various titles being consid- ered to have the superior position in the educational work. Here in Chicago in a meeting with the Teachers’ Council this fall, the superintendent made this statement: “Every school is a unit of which the principal is the head. No special teacher or supervisor or district superintendent may give any directions to teachers directly. ‘They may make suggestions to the princi- pal. The special teachers of music and drawing that visit your schools are not supervisors; they are special teachers, and they are there to help the teachers to get better results in the subject, but they are without any author- ity except as their suggestions may be carried out through the principal of the school.” The Teachers’ Council to which the superintendent spoke is a regularly organized part of the school system. ‘There are local councils and group councils composed of all the teachers and meeting in school time. These send delegates to the central council which meets with the superintendent to discuss the problems of the teachers. It is an official body organized to represent the entire elementary teaching force. I have taken time to describe it because, the superintendent recognizes the Principals’ Club, al- though entirely a voluntary body, as being the official organization of the principals corresponding to the Teachers’ Council among the teachers and so deals with it. This could only be true as long as the Principals’ Club does represent the united group of the entire principalship. Recognition such as I have indicated to you as a whole and in the separate fields discussed in this paper has not come as an accident. Nor wo per by the org of it ac Pri we knc sio1 19: exc tio1 stré PI met pro whi cha org sch« out prir mus pur wo! effo thar *I Jour ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PRINCIPALS 109 would it have been secured by principals no matter what their force and personality if merely working as individuals. It could only be secured by the organized efforts of the group making use of the talent, the force, the personality of its leaders in the various fields of struggle I have outlined. Recognizing what we have gained in professional status, by our own organization in Chicago, we hold the opinion that a national organization of all principals should be able to secure even more for its members. This it should do not merely for its members as individuals, but it should also be a clearing-house for the activities of the Principals’ Clubs throughout the United States. We have for some little time now attempted to get in touch with other Principals’ Clubs. "Though we may be older, perhaps stronger, than most we feel that we should be greatly interested in and probably benefited by a knowledge of the activities of the other clubs in maintaining the profes- sional status of their members. With this in view we passed resolutions in 1921 asking that this organization of principals provide an avenue for the exchange of information and codperation among the various local organiza- tions of the United States. We believe that such codperation will strengthen the position of the principal throughout the entire country. PROFESSIONAL STUDY BY LOCAL PRINCI- PALS’ ORGANIZATIONS J. M. KNIsELEY Principal, Green Lake School, Seattle, Washington : eens may be good principals in any school system, regardless of conditions. There is not likely to be a good corps of principals in any system unless there is both incentive and opportunity for develop- ment and professional growth.. One of the effective means to this end is proving to be organizations for professional study. ‘Those organizations which are proving most influential and beneficial appear to have certain characteristics in common. As a recent writer! in one of our State journals puts it, “Without organization, individual principals may do noteworthy work in their own schools, but their efforts are bound to be isolated and localized, and filter out slowly if at all to the school system at large. In order to be effective a principals’ organization needs to have certain definite characteristics. It must be genuinely professional and not merely political or social in its purposes; it must be flexible in its organization and operation in order that work may be carried on; it must be so organized that there is continuity of effort; and the work undertaken must be fundamental and regular rather than occasional and spasmodic.” *Leo B. Baisden, Principal, Everett High School, Washington Educational Journal—February, 1922. 110 NATIONAL EDUCATION ASSOCIATION Successful principals’ organizations over the country are showing other points in common. For example (1) They are generally separate and independent—not associated with other groups in the system except. by way of codperation. (2) They are entirely autonomous—not dominated by superintendent or other official. (3) Meetings are periodical and regular, usually monthly, and entirely disassociated from regular administrative meetings. (4) Programs consist in the main of studies, reports, and discussions pertaining to current problems arising in the daily experience of the mem- bers and of immediate significance to the system to which they belong. (5) While outsiders are frequently asked to speak before these associa- tions, the majority of the addresses, studies, and reports are prepared and presented by members, and are of current interest at the time of their pres- entation. (6) Leadership is not to be had from outside persons or sources. Associations do for a time occasionally develop and maintain interest in a course of prescribed reading and discussion or reports of books and maga- zine articles, or in addresses by prominent people, but this is not profes- sional study. At least it is not productive study. The things most deserv- ing attention of principals and their organizations have not yet got into the books. Our own Association a few years ago conceived the idea of seeking leadership at the State university. It was thought that the faculty of the college of education having a wide view of the field and being engaged con- stantly in efforts to keep informed on all significant educational develop- ments could bring to us a type of leadership that would be both sane and stimulating. But the experiment did not succeed. ‘The university faculty responded cordially. Committees were appointed, plans were formulated, and attempts at practical coéperation were made in good faith. But the interest could not be sustained. The points of view and interests were not convergent. As an example of this divergence, on one occasion when a committee waited upon the president of the university to ask for the codperation de- sired, the president manifested keen interest but after discussion made the remark to the dean of the college of education, “What these people ought to do is to form a magazine club to keep abreast of current educational move- ments and literature.” This was so entirely foreign to what we really did want, which by the way, was skilful and intelligent assistance by experts in the study and solution of our daily problems of administration and supervision, that it went a long way toward convincing us that we were indulging in a vain hope. It was the most successful failure the writer has ever known. It had the effect of throwing us back upon our own resources, which is the most wholesome thing that could have happened to us. We were com- pelled to develop our own strength and thus naturally were led to grapple with our own problems. ~~ —- _4 ~ al ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PRINCIPALS 111 Here lies the crux of the matter. The growth and permanence and the vital value of an organization depends upon the matters with which it habitually concerns itself. And herein also, is its opportunity. Certain principals’ organizations are growing strong and exerting an influence be- cause they interest themselves in those problems which affect the efficiency of the schools of their own cities. There is at least the suggestion of a doubt whether associations not so concerning themselves will grow equally strong and prosperous. Education is not a fixed procedure. The education of today is out of date tomorrow. Conditions do not persist. Even the fundamental prin- ciples are, many of them, probably not yet determined. ‘There is no longer solely a philosophy of education; it has become or rather it is becoming also a science. But it is a young science and much territory is yet to be ex- plored. The unexplored portions offer alluring opportunities for enter- prising groups who devote themselves to study. The elementary school principalship has been making strides in recent years toward the place of influence and usefulness in educational administra- tion which rightfully belongs to it and which it ought to occupy. ‘This is doubtless because elementary school principals are participating more than ever before in the solution of problems and rendering greater service in working out successful procedure. ‘They are as never before real students of their jobs. A recent canvass of the status of the principals’ organizations of one hun- dred of the largest cities in the United States however shows that success- ful and virile associations are not so common as they might be. Many cities of 100,000 or more report that they have no separate organization whatever. In many places where an organization was reported replies to other questions indicate that no constructive program is being carried out and the activities of the associations are somewhat vicarious or perfunctory. The very conception of a professional association, even in the minds of the officers appears lacking. Principals’ meetings do not constitute an associa- tion. Arrangements for discussion of administrative problems does not constitute a professional program. Assigned readings even though the material is educational and the reading is conscientiously reported upon or discussed in regular meetings does not constitute professional study in the best sense. What would a medical society think of one of its members who would come before it with a digest of some published article ? By correspondence with the superintendents and association officers of one hundred of the largest cities with a view to ascertaining the status of professional organizations with special reference to their constructive pro- grams we gathered the following facts: Seventy-eight cities reported more or less definitely. Forty-eight of these have principals’ associations in some form and thirty have none. In cities where organizations exist the total membership is about 80 per cent of the principals employed. ‘Thirty of the correspondents declared their associations to be positive, vital forces; six qualified their statements on the point, and nine said they were not. 112 NATIONAL EDUCATION ASSOCIATION Little significance was attached to the time or place of holding meetings, but many of the most enthusiastic reported it a good plan to combine a din- ner and professional program. As to planning for programs, thirteen indi- cated that their programs were arranged by the presidents, twenty-two by program committees, seven by the superintendents, four by joint committees, and two had no regular programs. There is hardly an exception to the rule that in successful associations, the bulk of the program material is furnished by members, speakers from out- side being invited occasionally for special reasons and by way of variety. Since much of the success and usefulness of professional organizations depends upon the ideas back of the work to be done it is interesting to note the nature of the subjects dealt with by the various associations reporting. For purposes of securing reliable information on this point, the following request was sent to the superintendents and association presidents of all the larger cities of the country: Please rank the following items in the order in which you think your organization has done its best work, or contributed most to the efficiency of the schools and the useful- ness, standing, and welfare of the principals. . Classroom supervision. . Building management. . Salaries. . Relation to supervisors and superintendents. Community leadership. Social service—social and recreation problems of children. . Use of scientific tests and measurements. . Study of school organization, types of programs, junior high schools, industrial centers, etc. i. Course of study and curriculum. j. School legislation and finance. k. Parent-Teacher Association activities. 1. Child delinquency and crime, morals, etc. m n SR mp ano . Care and treatment of exceptional, subnormal, or deviate children. . Any other item not included above. Taking into account the number of times each was given first place as the subject concerning which the several associations had done their best work these topics arrange themselves in the following order: Number of points NE XL LEE ALI ONAN AO DOK EE 10 Course of study and curriculum............ LN Re ones ts ay oe Ree ee 9 SELES CEE LLCO ELLOS IONE 6 The 5 School legislation and fimance o.oo ee eeeneeeeneeceneneeceeeeeeees / 4 Relation to supervisors and superintendents...................-...----.------. 3 EE SELLA 2 I i i ea Exceptional, subnormal, and deviate children... Child delinquency, morals and crime. ...2.........-.....-0--0-c--0e-eeeeeeeeeeeeeeoeeoeee l ER ERIE TTT CPE | Scientific tests and measurements 0 Social service 0 — —_— — - ee ss het OO SS |= = > © - O® —— > mete rma As —-s aa ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PRINCIPALS 113 Giving each a rating on the number of times it is given first, second, third, or fourth place, and counting four points for first place, three for second place, two for third, and one for fourth, they arrange themselves as follows: Number of points Classroom supervision......... #2 Bala ore SI 5 oe eae oe ee Course of study and curriculum. ; ; ee ee ne ee Building management... Use of scientific tests and measurements Salaries... Pe School legislation and Gnanee Relation to supervisors and superintendents Study of school organization, types of programs, junior > high schools, industrial centers, etc........... Community leadership... Child delinquency and crime, morals, ete. Care and treatment of exceptional, subnormal er ‘deviate children P. T. A. activities Social service—social and recreational problems of children... As illustrating how a professional study program contributes to the suc- cess of an association, to the development of its members, and to the general efficiency of a school system the Seattle Public School Principals’ Association may serve as an example. ‘This association is chosen both because it is suc- cessful and because it is the one with which the writer naturally is most familiar. Any one who is conversant with educational affairs in Seattle will con- firm the statement that the three professional teachers’ organizations— namely, The Grade Teachers’ Club, The High School Teachers’ League, and the Public School Principals’ Association, are a potent factor in the conduct of school affairs. They work in harmony with the Board of Education, with the administration and with each other and are accorded free and cordial recognition by the officials both as regards their aims and their results. A member of the Board speaking at one of our professional meetings was in hearty commendation of the program, ‘“The most interesting and instruc- tive things that happen in connection with the school administration are these principals’ meetings. I make it a point to attend every meeting if possible and have never attended one yet without learning something to my advantage.” This particular association has been in existence for nearly twenty years. It has been a live factor in school affairs for about four years. Concern- ing the first fifteen years of its existence, little need be said. The organiza- tion was of a common type. The usual officers were elected annually. Meetings were held occasionally, frequently just before or just after the regular semi-monthly administrative meetings with the superintendents and supervisors. Social meetings were arranged once or twice a year. Sometimes outside speakers were invited to address the club. Committees were appointed, performed their designated duties, and reported. Resolu- 114 NATIONAL EDUCATION ASSOCIATION tions were passed, and on rare occasions the association took a stand in relation to some educational, civic, or social question, more frequently con- cerning salaries or legislation than anything else. A membership fee of ‘fifty cents was paid sometimes grudgingly. “The members seemed to feel that in some vague way, which they made no apparent effort to define or even to understand, they were contributing to the welfare of their schools and their city. It is difficult to see how they thought this was being ac- complished beyond the fact that a few principals were given some experience in leadership and the sense of professional duty was being somewhat satis- fied. No one outside our own group paid any attention to us. ‘The super- intendent was always gracious. ‘The supervisors were politely curious and mildly suspicious. Those were the days of the supremacy of the supervisor. The board members scarcely knew of our existence and couldn’t at any time have named our officers or told when or where or why we met or what we did. Our ideas of ethics forbade encroachment upon questions with which the superintendent might be called upon to deal for fear we might interfere with his program. ‘The superintendent being actively interested in prac- tically every question affecting the welfare of the schools and the children, there was practically nothing but abstract or academic or social matters proper to come before us. Small wonder there was scant respect for our influence! Some four years ago a new plan was adopted. Under the presidency of Principal Dio Richardson, of the Horace Mann School, a constructive pro- gram for an entire year was planned and adopted. ‘The membership of the association was divided into eight committees and each committee was given charge of the program for one meeting. ‘These meetings were held at some central place where dinner could be served in connection, giving them a pleasant social setting, and a series of excellent programs were presented. It was the understanding that each program should make some contribution to the working policy and efficiency of the Seattle schools. This was the beginning of actual usefulness and influence as an educa- tional force in the city. As the opportunity thus presented came to be realized, a number of principals began giving careful thought to the prob- lems confronting the schools of our city at the time, and formulating these problems and such conclusions as could be reached by study into reports for the association. Each successive report lead naturally to a higher level of effort, so that these meetings are now regarded as notable educational events by all concerned. Three of the reports prepared for this association have been accepted by the University of Washington as masters’ theses. Four of them have been published in publications of general circulation, and many of them have influenced the policy of the Superintendent’s office and the Board of Educa- tion to a considerable degree. I have only space here to mention a few typical reports. As an example may be taken one prepared by Principals Worth McClure, of the Gate- wood School, and A. S. Gist, of the B. F. Day School, on the functions of wroasdet ATO a SS me wt ek ae ok ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PRINCIPALS 115 an elementary school principal, which had considerable influence on the ar- rangements for intelligent use of principals’ time as well as other important phases of school.management, such as the employment of clerical help and determining the ideal size of schools. Another example is one prepared by Principal Leo B. Baisden, formerly of the Jefferson School, Seattle, in cooperation with Emma D. Larrabee, of the McDonald School, on the major elements in measuring the efficiency of an elementary school which defined a number of the ideas upon which the policy of management should proceed. At another meeting a report was presented by Principal H. N. Gridley, of the Lowell School, dealing with the relations between elemen- tary and high schools, which was an excellent handling of the problem of adjustment between these two types of schools. We have just had two pro- grams dealing with our State system of taxation with special reference to school costs and school support. It is impossible to convey in this manner the effect upon the esprit de corps of the principals themselves and upon the attitude of school officials toward them—of the sincerity of the effort made to develop an under- standing of the school problems in our city and the success which has already been attained by the principals in these efforts. The relations of the various units of the administration and service to the Board of Education have been immeasurably benefited. It is not too much to claim that no single event transpiring in connection with the school system for the last ten years has had a greater influence than has the inauguration of this program of professional study and advancement in the principals’ organization and almost simultaneously in the other two professional educational organiza- tions of our city. The school system has been undergoing for some time a period of stress in common with many schools throughout the country.* Many interests inimical to the genuine welfare of the schools and to the cause of education have been sometimes almost virulently active. Causes for dissension have been numerous. Efforts of groups and individuals to attain special ends have been sometimes unscrupulous. The fact that the school system is intact, that the esprit de corps is prac- tically unimpaired, that the educational forces of the city are showing a united front, working wholeheartedly for the genuine welfare of the youth of the city; carrying unusual burdens uncomplainingly, accepting conditions both disappointing and distasteful not only with courage, but with cheerful- ness, is due in no slight measure to the professional spirit fostered by our organizations. We feel probably as never before that we are working for a common aim. We are bearing a common burden and we have a common faith that we shall share in a joint victory for the cause of education when the present troubled times are past and educational conditions are again stable and satisfactory. What more inspiring and sustaining influence than that exerted by asso- ciation with those who are working hopefully and cheerfully for the suc- 116 NATIONAL EDUCATION ASSOCIATION cess which one desires? What other means promises this in the same mea- sure as this type of codéperation with one’s fellow workers? Furthermore, this is not a matter of local concern. ‘The realization that there is a National cause, for the success of which a stern battle must be waged throughout the Nation, has only recently come to that part of the American people engaged in the actual work of education and that part of the public in immediate touch with the schools. This cause will never be won, education will never attain the position in American society to which its relation to the welfare of the Nation entitles it, without a struggle. Who is to make this struggle and how is it to be made? Who is to carry on the banner of universal equal educational opportunity, against the opposi- tion already developing or perhaps only increasing? Who is to set up the standard toward which the rank and file of workers may aspire? Who would have spread this gospel and how would it have been spread, except by united action in some effective way so that our strength might be joined, our efforts might accumulate, and our courage and endurance be reinforced ? Is there any better instrument for furtherance of professional effort and insuring creditable results than our local, State, and National organizations? In the judgment of the writer, the best working unit of all these and that upon which the larger structures may rest as upon a secure foundation is the local unit of coéperation, whatever form it takes, whether a teachers’ league, education association, or school men’s and school women’s clubs. These are the sources of continued and sustained interest which will enable us to hold fast the things already gained and extend the development of our public schools for the benefit of future generations, The real function of a local principals’ organization is to induce and en- able its members to become students of their calling and thereby greater contributors to the success of their schools. T THE Cleveland meeting, measures were taken to procure for publication in the Second Yearbook a list of voluntary organizations of elementary school principals, including the names of officers. Members of the Department are invited to coéperate in making this list as complete as possible. Mail information about such clubs or organizations to Mr. John L. Bracken, editor, U. S. Grant School, Duluth, Minnesota. th: no co! ga wl kit O tic un an ag cly of tic or A MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT OF THE NATIONAL EDUCATION ASSOCIATION WI1u1AM B. OwENn President of Chicago Normal College, Chicago, Illinois HE ONE fundamental idea which I should like to emphasize is that of the great possibility of professional growth and development through coédperative effort on the part of the principals and teachers in the public schools. Intellectually, we need each other. ‘The very fact that principals are engaged in the management of a single school and are not brought naturally into contact with other principals, save within their immediate neighborhood, tends to a kind of isolation. All of us try to over- come this by reading professional literature and by attending educational gatherings; but we all need to have our ideas checked up by comparison with those put forward by our fellow principals throughout the country. A strong Department of Elementary School Principals provides just this kind of exchange of ideas so necessary to keep us all alert and growing. Our isolation, however, is more than intellectual; we need a sort of emo- tional union with our fellow principals. We want the feeling of being united with a great army of people who are meeting the same difficulties and trying to solve the same problems. Such sense of unity produces cour- age and determination. A national organization of elementary-school prin- cipals provides a natural reservoir to which we contribute what we have to offer and from which we can, ourselves, draw. These two great results of intellectual assimilation and emotional stimula- tion naturally follow a program of constructive work on the part of the organization. In other words, to do this constructive work will require the codperation of all. It means careful organization of committees and patient and productive work on their part. ‘Then there naturally follow the criticism and publication of the reports of committees. Out of all this work will come certain great fundamental policies and standards on the part of the elementary school principals of the country. ‘To my mind, this is not only a great professional, but a significant cultural movement, destined to affect the character of our American life. There is a new elementary school in the making. Scientific investigations of all sorts are helping us to make this new elementary school, but the task of organization and adjustment of material for the education of the children, rests primarily on the principals who are in charge of the elementary schools. I believe that this work can be done most effectively through the codperation of all the principals in a great organization like yours. I trust that during the years that are before us your work in organization, and the work of your organization, will bring every elementary school principal into membership in your department and in the National Education Association. It ought to be felt by every ele- mentary school principal in America that he is neglecting a great profes- sional opportunity if he fails to be a part of the movement represented by the work of the Department of Elementary School Principals. [117] THE RELATION OF THE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PRINCIPAL TO THE GEN- ERAL TESTING PROGRAM Juuia A. MULROONEY Principal, Murray Hill School, Cleveland, Ohio ITH THE KNOWLEDGE which all educators now have of the many intelligence and attainment tests at present available and of the revelations that have come to light through the use of them, no open-minded person can doubt that they came into existence to fill a great need. Not so many years ago children of all ages and of widely varying attainments were taught together in unclassified schools. “The few who had desire for learning made rapid progress and earned success for themselves and fame for the schools they attended, but the many who were not so disposed fell by the wayside and were never after thought of in con- nection with any school. Then came classification into eight grades, the result of long and thoughtful discussion, and we carefully studied the par- ticular needs of each grade until we found such diversity even within a single grade that it became necessary to arrange for divisions within them. Two divisions were tried; then three. In Cleveland we returned to the plan of a B and an A division in each grade. Intensive study of these smaller units has developed the fact that it is neither the school, nor the grade, nor the division, but the individual child that must be studied if the school system would give:to each his inborn right to an opportunity to learn that which it is possible for him to learn and to grow in all the lines of growth that are open to him. Later on much valuable time, thought, and effort were expended upon the selection of pupils for backward schools, opportunity schools, special schools, and perhaps other schools whose names I have not heard. Splendid results were obtained for the majority of the children who were placed in these classes. Good results were apparent also in the classes relieved of their presence. Occasionally a bright pupil was skipped over a grade or a division spoiling the continuity of his course and giving him no opportunity to broaden out beyond what the average pupil was able to do, except where he did so through his own effort or through some agency in the home. Those who thought most deeply and worked most earnestly in the interest of unusual children were the first to see that selections must be made on some more scientific basis than mere opinion. ‘The opinion of the teacher is valuable and no decision should be made without it, but where there are thousands of teachers there are as many standards of opinion, and it is not fair to children to judge them wholly by any scale that has thousands of standards as its basis. One of the weakest points in the opinion of the teacher is the fact that she rarely takes into consideration the chronological age of the child. If an eight or nine-year-old child is doing good work in a first-grade class the teacher is often willing to keep him there and at the end of the semester recommend him for promotion to the second grade as her brightest pupil. [118] ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PRINCIPALS 119 One of our Cleveland school men recently was asked ‘‘What is the test of a good school?” and he answered most fittingly, “In a good school the children are busy, interested, happy, and successful. ‘There is no feeling of failure in the air, no compulsion, no depression, no gloom.” Now I ask, “Is this possible for instance in a group of forty fifth-grade pupils whose mental capacities vary from that of average second-grade pupils to that of some who are registered as first-year pupils in senior high school?” Not busy—for the most intelligent can not be given sufficient work to keep them so. Not “interested” —for those of lower intelligence cannot understand that which is presented as suitable for the group that was long known as “the average child.”” Not “happy’—no one is happy who is neither busy nor interested, and ‘“‘success” is out of the question even for the middle group because the bright idle group and the dull uninterested group will find ways to divert their own minds and those of their associates in ways that all three groups can understand. Several years ago our Board of Education with the help of its superin- tendent saw that this condition need no longer obtain in Cleveland’s schools. Although intelligence testing was, and still is, in its infancy the members believed that if correctly administered and interpreted these tests would be a valuable help in determining children’s intelligence, their capacities, and their aptitudes. “They must also have believed that through the cor- rect administration and interpretation of these tests time and effort could be saved by the elimination of non-essentials. A non-essential for any pupil being understood to be a subject which he can not understand. Up to the time a child can learn to read, reading is a non-essential for him. To the pupil whose mind refuses to grasp the meaning of an algebraic ex- pression, algebra is a non-essential and for him who can not learn history, history is a non-essential. ‘The board and its superintendent also realized the importance of the words “properly administered and interpreted,” for they saw the need for a department that would educate the teachers to an understanding of mental measurements and would plan, conduct, and inter- pret these measurements when the teachers expressed a desire that they do so. This section of the superintendent’s staff is known as the division of reference and research. “The work of the division is with the great body of pupils and is carried on by means of group testing. Its plan includes three distinct lines of work. i 1. A regular program under which the department will plan and announce in one semester a series of tests to be given in the next semester for the purpose of carrying on a certain line of study. Principals who wish to enter into this study will file their requisitions and await the time when the tests will be given. This makes it possible for principals to plan ahead for the particular kinds of study they wish to make in their schools and it enables the department to render better service since it can arrange its other work so as to give full attention to tabulating results after the tests. This program although not fully arranged is even now proving invaluable to principals who would know their schools as they are—principals who would know what are non-essentials in their schools, what proportion of their 120 NATIONAL EDUCATION ASSOCIATION schools are able to pursue the course of study as it is now planned and also how many and which individual pupils should work under a modified course of study if they are to have fair treatment in school. 2. A classification program. A series of tests under this program was recently carried out in the South East District. For some time Cleveland supervisors working with their principals have attempted to classify the pupils of any grade and division into three groups naming them the X, Y, and Z groups according to intelligence. In some cases the teacher’s opinion was the basis of selection, in others the teacher’s opinion and an intelligence test. As children moved about the city it frequently developed that the “X”’ group in one school was no more intelligent than the “Y” group in another and at times they varied more widely than this. Early last fall the supervisor of the South East District, Miss Laura A. Gillmore, with her principals, discussed this condition and decided that this district at least would attempt to establish boundary lines between these groups and for this purpose would test the entire district including fourteen schools with an aggregate enrolment of nearly 12,500 pupils. The Pressy Primary Classi- fication Test was given to Grades I and II, The Pressy Intermediate Classification to Grade III, and the Pressy Cross Out Test to Grades IV, V, and VI. About the same time the Thorndike-McCall Reading ‘Tests were given to Grades III, IV, V, and VI. Besides the object of the test, to establish boundary lines between the groups, there were developed most interesting studies in many lines. Buildings which were representative of certain nationalities showed higher or lower intelligence than other build- ings all the way through. Different grades in the same building showed widely varying measures of intelligence. Giving the Reading Test at the same time made it possible to compare intelligence with attainment. In some cases this was complementary to the quality of teaching, and in others it was not at all so. One of the most interesting points brought out was the wide range of reading power and of intelligence. There are 3B grades that read as well as 6B’s are expected to read and there are 6B pupils who read no better than 2B’s should. In intelligence the widest range is in 3B which takes in all grades of intelligence from the highest attained in the district almost down to zero. The results of the Thorndike-McCall Reading test showed a very long range of reading power in every grade and division. ‘The highest score in 3B was 57, which is above the score expected from average 7B pupils; the lowest 3B score is 22, which is below what 2B pupils should do. Both divisions of fourth grade ranged from the reading ability of eleventh year pupils to a point below what 2B pupils should do. All the divisions in fifth and sixth grades ranged from well above the average of seniors in high school down to below 2A. ‘Ten per cent of the 6A pupils showed greater reading power than is expected of 11A pupils. On the other hand ten per cent of the 6A pupils read no better than 4A pupils should. With this condition existing throughout the grades it is clear that our problem is classification first and then modification of the course of study to suit the new classification. With six grades of two divisions ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PRINCIPALS 121 each and an X, a Y, and a Z group in each division there is a classification into thirty-six units although it is not necessary that a child pass through more than twelve of them on the way from kindergarten to junior high school. One of the most interesting tables compiled from the results of these two tests is the one that shows the degree of correspondence between intelligence and reading power. In general the codrdination was close. You will recall there were fourteen schools; as eight divisions took the two tests, there were 112 comparisons made. “Twenty-three times they cor- responded exactly—that is the highest school in intelligence was the highest in reading or the ninth school in intelligence was ninth in reading but there were some places where they varied quite widely. In 3B the school that stood 13th in intelligence went up to 4th in reading. In 3A the one that was 2nd in intelligence dropped to 5th in reading. 4B—the school that had the 8th place in intelligence went up to 5th place in reading. 4A—the 3rd school in intelligence was thirteenth in reading and the one that was 14th in intelligence went up to 6th in reading. 5B—the 7th in intelligence —3rd in reading. 5A—the 2nd school dropped to 7th place and the 7th school went up to 2nd place. 6B—the 6th school in intelligence was 11th in reading, and in 6A the 10th in intelligence was first in reading. Here is a great opportunity for teachers and principals to study their schools. Why is this so? 3. The third program of the Division of Research is planned to enable the school system to carry on such experiments as may help to determine policies or settle any questions that can be answered by an experiment. It is also intended to render assistance to any educational expert who secures the approval of the superintendent to try out a worthwhile experiment in the Cleveland schools. Perhaps this can be explained by giving an example. There are educators who believe that departmental work may, with benefit to pupils, be extended far down into the grades, and there are those who are convinced that this opinion is all wrong. Dr. Buckingham, of Ohio State University, has thought out a plan by which he believes that he can prove which of these two opinions is correct. “The school of which I am principal was selected for him to try out his plan. ‘Ten classes were placed at his disposal: two 8B, two 7B, two 6A, two 6B, and two 5B. The children, nearly four hundred in number, were given two forms of the National Intelligence Test and an average for each child was found. They were then grouped as Alpha and Beta divisions, each having an equal number of pupils arranged in pairs according to their standings. Age. was not considered—only raw scores. So evenly are they matched that the average scores for any two schools show only a few points of difference. ‘The five Alpha classes are working under the departmental plan and the five Beta classes are assigned to 4 single teacher each, as is the practice in any regular elementary organi- zation. At the beginning of the next semester in September the teachers will exchange so that the teaching power will be evenly divided between the two types of work. Immediately after this organization was effected the children were given ten attainment tests, including arithmetic, reading, 122 NATIONAL EDUCATION ASSOCIATION spelling, and geography. The testing was all done by our Division of Reference and Research. The scoring and compiling of data was by the University men, who have copies of the results. When the work has been carried on for a year similar attainment tests will be submitted with a view to learning in how many cases has an Alpha pupil been outstripped by his mate in the Beta group and how often and to what extent have Alpha pupils been able to pass those who, at the beginning of the experiment, were their intellectual equals. If it transpires that the Alpha group shows evi- dence of greater growth than the Beta group it will indicate, so far as this experiment goes, that departmental work is better for the grade in which such growth is shown. On the other hand, if the Beta group shows more growth than the corresponding Alpha group it will be taken to indicate that the regular elementary organization is better for the grade in which this is true. As stated before all this work is with group testing. Those who have studied mental testing know that about one per cent of school children have an I. Q. of 70 or below, and that the highest one per cent reach 130 or above. It is the work of the Psychological Clinic to find this lowest one per cent by means of individual tests and recommend those children to the department for mental defectives and to find the highest one per cent by the same means and recommend those children for the special classes for gifted children. The work with mental defectives has been in progress many years and there are several centers throughout the city where these pupils, in small groups, are taught the things that they can learn. Most of them are happy and some become quite proficient in special lines. Recently this work has been carried far down into and below the grades. Children whose chronological age is six years are often quite unable to do the work offered to 1B pupils. Finding a most distressing situation in my first grade classes last December, I asked the five teachers of 1B classes and the teacher of kindergarten children who would be eligible for 1B the first of February to give me the names of children who were then unfit to begin 1B work. They submitted forty-one names—nine from the kindergarten and thirty-two from 1B classes. All had been in school a year, several two years, and three had entered the kindergarten two and a half years ago. Each was given a Binet test. Six showed intelligence of six or nearly six years and were again started in 1B. Their progress will probably be very slow as only one has an I. Q. that is nearly normal. ‘Three were sent to institutions for special study or for the correction of physical defects. Thirty-two have been placed in a pre-primary class with a teacher who has had kindergarten training and who understands first-grade work. Similar classes have been formed in other buildings. Dr. Goddard, formerly head of the Ohio Bureau of Juvenile Research, is carrying on an interesting experiment with groups of gifted children. These are the children who test very high, the I. Q. in every case being above 130. ‘They are selected with the utmost care. The parents are con- sulted and every precaution to guard against spoiling them is taken before placing the children in these groups. It is the hope of every one that by broadening and enriching their course of study and by giving them every ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PRINCIPALS 123 available form of good experience they may develop into leaders, that their lives may be richer and happier and that possibly the added effort and ex- pense may come back to the public in the service they can render. Each of the five district supervisors has one such group in her district. ‘The experi- ment has not been continued long enough to warrant any conclusions. The Women’s City Club has a committee interested in the outcome of this experiment. They provide special opportunities for the children and assist the teachers in taking them to various parts of the city. It is not the in- tention of anyone to crowd these children through the grades faster than they grow physically and socially. Nor is our task finished when the intelligence grouping is done and the courses of study are modified to fit the many groups. Dr. Bird Baldwin, in charge of child research for the State of Iowa and professor in the Uni- versity of Iowa, recently told Cleveland principals that every child has six ages: (1) His chronological age measured in years since the date of his birth; (2) his school age measured also in years since his entrance into school; (3) his physical age measured in growth of bone, muscle, and nervous system; (4) his mental age measured by intelligence tests; (5) his moral age measured by his ability to distinguish right from wrong, and (6) his social age measured by his ability to meet and associate with other human beings. Dr. Baldwin has been engaged by the Cleveland Board of Education to spend a certain number of days each month studying and reporting upon the physical, mental, social, and moral development of the pupils of five elementary schools. Out of this study it is expected that much will be learned which can be applied later to all the schools and thus improve the physical health, the mental and social progress, and the moral training of the children of the city. With work of this kind going on in our neighboring ° cities—some more active than we—can any principal fail to see the oppor- tunity or, seeing it, fail to make use of things so evidently helpful to chil- dren? Work of this kind cannot be forced upon any one. If imposed from the outside it can bring only hardship to all concerned. There must be clear understanding and coéperation between supervisors, principals, and the department of research, and the principal must be the heart and center of it all. Figures may be found and tabulated but what use are they if they are not made the basis of improvement? Where such understanding and codperation exist there are great possibilities in the testing program as it is being developed throughout the country. MENTAL TESTS USED AS A BASIS FOR REORGANIZING A SCHOOL W. E. Moore Principal, Longfellow School, Oakland, California HE aim of this paper is to give a resumé of the experience in classi- fying and regrouping the pupils of Longfellow School, Oakland, California. Mental tests were used as a basis for determining child capacity in this reclassification work. A few facts concerning the general characteristics of the school and the community are given as a starting point. The school and the neighborhood—The enrolment of Longfellow School is 950. There are twenty-four regular classrooms, exclusive of teachers of special subjects. The school is located in an inferior section of the city where there are many apartment houses and old-type dwellings of the two-flat style with cottage at rear. Many of the homes are lacking either father or mother. Nearly all the fathers are day laborers or trades- men of average earning power. In many cases both father and mother work away from home in order to support a large family. There are twenty nationalities represented in the school. ‘The Italians constitute 40 per cent of the enrolment. Next in the order of foreign races are Portu- guese, Russian, French, Irish, Negro, and Japanese. It is evident that unsatisfactory home conditions caused by financial stringencies and a shifting people, the language difficulties of foreign chil- dren, differences in racial standards of living, and other obstacles demand consideration in undertaking to make the school serve the needs of the com- munity. As the purpose of this paper is to deal with child capacity and scientific classification of pupils then reference only need be made to home conditions and neighborhood problems. Obstacles within the school—Four years ago an atypical class was placed in Longfellow School to care for the children from four neighboring schools and our own. ‘Then we began the study of child capacity, home conditions, and neighborhood problems. Our school curriculum then pro- vided one type of academic instruction for all the pupils with the kind of manual training and home economics ordinarily found in elementary schools. All pupils, excepting atypical, were required to follow the prescribed academic course. ‘The dull pupil, the handminded pupil, and others who could not reach the required standard either failed or “floated.” The re- tarded pupil who remained in one grade for two years had a certain guaran- tee of promotion though he never accomplished the regular grade work. He eventually became an over-age pupil and no longer found social equality in his class nor capacity to do the academic work. Frequently he left school before completion of grades. For sometime there had been a growing feeling among the teachers against non-promotions of slow children in grades making normal progress, misfits who were disciplinary problems, drop-out of over-age pupils who never completed the grammar grades. Perhaps, no less trying was the unhappiness of the misplaced pupil. The plan for testing and regrouping [124] ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PRINCIPALS 125 the pupils of the school seemed to be the best solution for reducing retarda- tion, truancy, disciplinary problems, dissatisfaction of parents, and unhap- piness of pupils. Another difficulty came to light when the pupils of the school were classi- fed according to ability. The results showed (a) very few slightly superior; (b) few slightly above average; (c) a large per cent of average; (d) many slow or “limited”; (e) an atypical group large enough to require four teachers, Reorganization of classes—The Director of the Bureau of Research and Guidance was asked to discuss with the faculty the plan for regrouping the pupils of the school. He pointed out that progress should necessarily be slow owing to the fact that teachers must learn how to use the results of the tests intelligently, and parents must be gradually informed of the pur- pose of the changes under the new régime. Besides, there were only two teachers on the faculty who were qualified to give the tests, and these had little school time to devote to the work. The Placement Committee—However, supported by the entire faculty, and assisted by the Bureau of Research and Guidance, a small committee undertook the task. Three teachers and the principal met during the noon luncheon from time to time to consider the proposed steps, check up the re- sults of tests, and provide means for informing the other members of the faculty of progress and arousing a sympathetic understanding. ‘The work of the committee exhibited in charts, graphs, and test results became a part of our professional study program. Three problems—Three problems were offered for solution: 1. The giving of mental tests to all the pupils who had no test record and the classification of pupils on the basis of ability in regular classes, “limited” classes, atypical classes. 2. Provision for more handwork and less academic work for pupils below average ability who fall into “limited” groups. 3. Special classes for atypical pupils and a course adapted to their needs. The teacher’s estimate—The Director of Research and Guidance cau- tioned against the use of mental tests as the deciding factor in the placement of pupils. He insisted that such tests are merely indicative. They should serve as a sort of guide to the teacher—a means of approach to a better understanding of the individual. With this caution in mind the class teacher rated her pupils as (a) superior; (b) average; (c) doubtful; (d) inferior. Reorganization of classes—Individual mental tests were given the pupils from kindergarten to third grade inclusive. The results of the mental test were compared with the teacher’s estimate. The volition and environment were also considered. With the use of this information as the basis for determining ability pupils were placed in either slow groups or groups of normal capacity. Whenever there was a difference in the results of the mental test and the teacher’s estimate the latter became the determining factor in placement. Calendar age was considered when the test result was low, though the pupil 126 NATIONAL EDUCATION ASSOCIATION did fair work in his grade. If he were much over grade age, to prevent a later retardation, he was placed in a limited class at once. This procedure in classification laid the foundation for a double track whereby slow pupils were handled in “limited” classes of thirty-five or fewer while pupils of normal ability or above were placed in regular classes of more than thirty-five pupils. Under this plan pupils of like ability were brought together in classes and the teacher was relieved of attempting to take care of the above average at the time she had pupils below average in ability. Her work was immediately simplified. Grades one to three inclusive were reorganized under this plan without bringing additional teachers to our school. Regrouping pupils of the upper grades—Having classified the pupils of the first three grades on the basis of individual mental tests and the teacher’s estimate, the task of regrouping the pupils of the remaining grades to the eight inclusive was undertaken. ‘The National Intelligence Test and Terman Group Tests were used in these grades. In special cases where the group test showed a vast disagreement with teachers’ estimate of child’s ability, or in cases of an age-grade retardation of more than two years, we used the individual test to decide the proper placement of that case. “There was not much variation in the test result and the teacher’s estimate. Over- age pupils seemed to present the greatest problem. What to do with the pupil sixteen years old in the high seventh grade and having no more capacity for accomplishment than pupils of the high fifth grade was a question. ‘The solution was found by placing this retarded pupil in the “limited” high seventh grade where the work was adapted to his needs and at the end of the term he was passed to the next higher “limited” group. Perhaps, no information was more helpful to teachers than the calendar age of pupils. This offered a basis of her study of the individual and seemed to arouse her interest and sympathy. At this point discipline problems began to disap- pear. The teacher stopped driving over-age pupils to do academic work for which they had not the ability. She planned her lessons on the basis of the ability of her class to accomplish. Her understanding of the relative ability of her pupils to cope with the task she set for them became a valuable asset in her teaching. ‘Class divisions for double track—There are three divisions of the pupils of the school on the basis of the teacher’s estimate and test results. 1. The regular classes. Under this heading were placed the pupils above average or average in ability. There are no pupils in school whose I[. Q. was above 135. It is unusual for a pupil of less than 90 I. Q. to do satis- factory work in a regular class with children of his own age. 2. Limited classes. Into these classes fall the pupils of below average rating. It is seldom that a pupil of more than 90 I. Q. can be accommo- dated in “limited” classes. A pupil may range low on the scale of intelli- gence and yet do fairly satisfactory work under this plan of grouping. Our limited groups accommodate pupils from 60-90 I. Q. The children of lower I. Q. are much over-age and of high volition. If enough atypical classes can be provided by the school system these children do better in such classes. intel mor type the | R havi orga T fell T depa eight sepal work class: Thu cour: W cuits Dire out t never and 1 office the I accon the c ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PRINCIPALS 127 3. Atypical class. Pupils who are very dull and below limited group in intelligence and volition are placed in this class. It accommodates the moron, the feeble-minded, and frequently institutional cases. A special type of curriculum is offered. In such classes sixteen pupils to a teacher is the limit in enrolment. Reorganizing the departmental grades—The seventh and eighth grades having been departmentalized for several years were the last to be re- organized under the new plan. The test results of those grades showed that over one third of the classes fell under “limited class” rating according to our plan. This immediately set up the problem of organizing limited classes in departmental grades. We formed two classes, seventh A and B grade and eighth A and B grade. After long consideration we decided to form a separate departmental system for limited classes. In order to make a good working program we added a fifth A and B and sixth A and B limited classes. These classes contained from twenty-five to thirty-five pupils each. Thus we had a departmental circuit of four classes, working on a simplified course of study. We used the same program in both regular and limited department cir- cuits, with the same time limits on recitation and study periods, with same privilege of manual training and home economics. The children of limited fifth and sixth grades are most happy under this plan because while younger mentally than regular seventh and eighth-grade children they are as old in calendar age and in size and feeling. We are certain that the deciding factor in the success of our limited departmental system has been the feeling on the part of the children that there was no distinction between regular and limited class children. The guiding spirit—The task of testing and classifying the pupils of the school was voluntarily undertaken by the teachers and the*principal. The Director of Research and Guidance in his lectures and bulletins had pointed out the way. It only remained for those whose courage and conviction never waned to labor untiringly until the regrouping was completély done and reasonably justified. At no time were the tests imposed by the central ofice or the principal. There are fundamental principles laid down by the Bureau of Research and Guidance which are strictly observed. The accomplishment tests are given to aid in discovering gross irregularities in the classification of pupils and in determining the relative progress of the class, The testing of pupils to determine capacity is of great value, but no less important is the task of training teachers to use intelligently and sympatheti- cally the results of tests. A committee may do the testing and classifying but the classroom teacher must be the guiding spirit in the most intelligent use of the data placed at her disposal. In a large school there is need for a Bureau of Research and Guidance in the form of a committee whose opera- tion comes through the approval of the teaching force and whose findings are to be transferred back with mutual consent and understanding to those who are to use the material in the most effective manner on the firing line. 128 NATIONAL EDUCATION ASSOCIATION Such a committee now serving at Longfellow is made up of one teacher from each circuit of two grades and the principal of the school. Naturally, those who are trained in mental testing are chosen for this committee. Time required to reorganize the school—Two years were required to test and regroup the pupils of the school. It might have been done in one term, but it would have undoubtedly proved unsatisfactory. ‘Teachers needed to grow with the development of the plan. Pupils were to be ap- praised and parents reconciled and educated to understand the new order of things. Perhaps, the most common error of the teacher is her failure to leave discipline cases out of her balance sheet. She is apt to rate the mischievous pupil too low or class him with those recommended for “limited” class work. Discipline is not a determining factor in a test of ability. Not all bad boys belong in limited classes. ‘There are about as many pupils who need an enriched course to keep them out of mischief as there are those who need a simplified course that they may progress without retardation. The teacher requires time to be able to evaluate these things. If assigned to teach a “limited” class, she will need considerable time to adjust herself. She may discover that she lacks patience, perseverance, and constant plodding to put joy into teaching a class of slow pupils. Just as pupils may be classified so may teachers be grouped to a better advantage where a double-track plan is operated. In the reorganization of a school on the basis of mental tests, the procedure must necessarily be slow that the teacher, the pupil, and the school may have the opportunity to conform in the spirit of the readjust- ment. Continuance of proper placement of pupils—The pupils of Longfellow School are grouped according to ability to accomplish results. The “lim- ited” classes follow the courses prescribed for regular classes, the teacher being permitted to eliminate and abbreviate in order that there may be time for drill on the essentials. At the end of a term the regular class and the “limited” class have covered the same course, the former having had an enriched program, the latter an abbreviated one. Whether this is the cor- rect plan for “limited” classes has not yet been decided. It is the plan we are now trying. A new pupil entering school is placed in the grade to which he has been regularly promoted. Later if he gives evidence of unsatisfactory work, he is rated by the teacher, given the individual test, and then properly placed. There are no extremes of high and low ability in the same class. There are divisions which the teacher makes within her class. Slow pupils in “limited” classes are competing with those of like mental age while the teacher is requiring of them their best. In the regular class the teacher en- riches the course and demands of her pupils work that approximates their ability. Some of the results—The results are pronounced. Discipline cases in classrooms have practically disappeared. ‘There is as much joy and satis- faction among pupils of the “limited” groups as there is among pupils of the regular classes making more brilliant strides. Regularity in attendance ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PRINCIPALS 129 has increased in proportion to the increase in real joy and contentment in the classroom. ‘The disinterested attitude of the over-age pupils has been changed to one of interest, pride, and confidence. The teacher of the “limited” class is becoming a specialist. She looks to the home environ- ment, hereditary conditions, and other influences to aid her in a better under- standing of individual cases. Her classroom becomes a social work-shop where she administers to those who are more or less out of joint with the child world. Conclusion—Mental tests, including all the devices for determining mentality, can bear only a small part of the responsibility for the maximum service a school can render. ‘There are housing conditions at school and at home, provision for training hand-minded pupils, and means of caring for the under-nourished that cannot be disregarded. No two schools can use mental tests to the same advantage. The nature of the community to be served, the types of pupils to be taught and other factors determine the lines of procedure. - But without mental tests classroom organization on the basis of ability would rest almost wholly upon the teacher’s estimate. RELATION OF THE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PRINCIPAL AND HIS WORK TO THE GENERAL TESTING PROGRAM JOHN MErrILL Principal, Lingemann School, Detroit, Michigan FTER A PHENOMENAL growth which brought to Detroit’s educational system thousands of additional children, hundreds of new teachers, scores of new buildings and additions, an enlarged administrative and supervisory force, with duties which seemed to overlap, it was deemed prudent to define the field in which each group of persons was operating. In 1919-1920 Detroit defined the activities of superintendents, princi- pals, and supervisors. "The city was divided into fifteen districts over each of which was placed a District Principal. A Council of Supervisors was formed as a department of instruction and coérdinated with the Re- search Department and Teachers College under the leadership of a Director of Instruction, Teacher Training, and Research. In this reorganization the principal was given complete responsibility for the instructional activi- ties within his building. 130 NATIONAL EDUCATION ASSOCIATION In the field of educational measurements, tests were given in a few schools as early as 1911 and 1912. In 1914, Mr. S. A. Courtis was ap- pointed supervisor of research. Rapid progress followed. At first atten- tion was centered in the field of arithmetic, and practice tests were con- structed. Measurements were also started in the other fundamental sub- jects. In 1918, tests were made city-wide in arithmetic, reading, writing, spelling, and geography ; testing weeks were fixed and a general program of tests announced with a booklet of instructions for giving, scoring, and tabu- lating them. The present school year 1922-1923, all educational tests were made voluntary. The requests of teachers for testing material are an indication of the importance placed upon educational measurements as an aid to instruction. They are summarized as follows: 1. a. Number of elementary schools . Number of elementary schools sending requests . Per cent sending requests . Number of elementary school teachers who would have given the tests if the giving were required . Number of elementary school teachers who requested. testing material 1,746 . Per cent sending requests 80 Comparison of amount of testing material sent out in Septem- ber, 1922, by request, with amount sent out in September, 1921, under city-wide plan— Ratio in Subject Sept., 1921 Sept., 1922 Per cent Arithmetic, Test A 21,589 113 27,795 84 Composition (Class Record Cards) 788 pe Geography, Test I 16,731 137 Test II 18,968 113 Test III 12,050 119 Test IV 8,814 a Handwriting 60,713 89 Silent Reading— Ayres Burgess 46,000 87 Oglesby Word Recognition 19,700 Thorndike-McCall 7,200 jo. 1,805 68 The courses of study give grade standards in reading, writing, spelling, and composition. Any school may know its efficiency in these subjects ' without requesting material from the Department of Research. Twenty years ago Detroit established two special classes for retarded pupils. Attention became centered upon children who varied from the normal group. Special rooms for the blind, deaf, crippled, tubercular, anaemic, ungraded, and gifted children, became an integral part of the school system. ‘The number of cases reported by principals for special -~- ~~ woes == 8685 F545 fF DH HO ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PRINCIPALS 131 examination, called for a full-time examiner ten years ago, and now requires a staff of 18, known as the “Detroit Psychological Clinic.” During 1918-1919, 699 pupils chronologically ready to enter the Bl grade, were given the Binet test. Those with an I. Q. below 75, became subjects for special classes. The others were placed into three groups ac- cording to their mental abilities. An attempt was made to meet the needs of each group and a report made of this progress. This added knowledge at the beginning of the B1 was so valuable that the principals quite generally requested that their beginning pupils be thus tested and classified. ‘To test individually large numbers of pupils is slow and costly. To meet this demand the Psychological Clinic began experimenting with adaptations of the Army tests and developed the Detroit First Grade Intelligence ‘Test. The work has been extended until during the year ending June, 1922, group intelligence tests were given to 51,599 individuals, distributed as follows: Kindergarten Grade BI Grades Al—A+ Grades B5—A9 Grades BIO-A1Z and adults ..0...2.2....2..ccccccecscccesescaseescsnes Special foreign rooms and miscellaneous groups...............- 51,599 The study of pupil failure, especially in the early primary grades, has led to investigation and experimentation based upon mental tests. ‘Thus the wide range of native ability among children has been brought to the atten- tion of principals and teachers, and the advantages of a homogeneous classi- fication revealed. In Detroit, pupil failure was heaviest in the first grade, so the experiment in classifying into sections on the basis of mental ability was first tried with 1B‘pupils. Now by means of intelligence tests all 1B pupils are classified into three divisions. ‘The upper 20 per cent constitute the X group, the middle 60 per cent the Y group, the lowest 20 per cent the Z group. The testing of the incoming classes of B first pupils is made possible by having one or two teachers in each elementary school trained to do group testing under the direction of the Psychological Clinic. Since most of the B first pupils come from the kindergarten, the tests are given near the end of the kindergarten period. ‘The other beginning pupils are tested shortly after the opening of each new term. ‘The principal may have tested by the clinic any misfits, pupils new to the city, groups for experi- mental study, or groups for other reasons. A record of the score is placed on each child’s history card which with other information is available that the school may more intelligently direct its work. Each principal is free to shift a pupil whenever he is convinced that the pupil is able to work to better advantage with a higher or lower group. Any such change is recorded on the pupil’s history card. By 132 NATIONAL EDUCATION ASSOCIATION testing and grouping the beginning B1 classes for the past three and one- half years Detroit now has X, Y, and Z groups through the 4B grade. The great problem of the elementary principal is to so shape conditions that every child will make progress according to his ability. Educational tests indicate the needs and measure the achievement. The elementary principal is encouraging and aiding his teachers te become skilled in giving, scoring, tabulating, and interpreting educational tests. The Detroit Class Score Sheet renders the scores quickly serviceable by grouping together those of like achievement as follows: Group I. Pupils of standard ability. Group II. Pupils whose regular work should furnish sufficient drill. Group III. Pupils in need of thorough drill, Group IV. Pupils who need extra drill, special attention, home codpera- tion. Group V. Pupils for whom some adjustment of work should be made. Each case should be studied and special treatment given according to need. This grouping early in the term centers the attention of the teacher on the needs of the pupils, leads to the diagnosis of difficulties, and to the development of remedial measures. The accumulated record sheets, score- cards, and kindred material, become valuable in studying the growth of a class, and in carrying on investigations. Elementary teachers have come to regard the Initial Test week as “In- ventory Week.’ ‘The tests measure the individual’s skill in the funda- mentals and point out his weaknesses. ‘They show the range of individual differences of the class, indicate problems to be solved, and locate the pupils in need of assistance. The school has come to center its attention upon the individual child. His capacity, initiative, degree of development, success, and happiness are factors in his education. The teacher leads him to know the desired goal and stimulates him to purpose and strive to attain it. Practice material is provided which enables him to teach himself in fundamental skills, and to measure his progress. Lockstep grades are coming to mean less and the achievement of each individual pupil more. As the child’s needs and the way he learns are becoming better known, new administrative devices and a new technique of instruction are being developed to better meet them. The way the child works his way through difficulties to success is of first importance. Knowledge is a by-product of the process. Many controlled experiments are being conducted in which standard tests are given before and after to determine the growth under the given conditions. Principals and supervisors are mutually codperative in their work. Principals are constantly finding new situations to be met. Supervisors are assisting in adapting material and methods to these situations. In most of the fundamentals, standards have been set up based upon classroom procedure. The technique of instruction enables the teacher and pupils to know the goal and present state of progress almost daily. ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PRINCIPALS 133 In 90 per cent of the elementary schools, experimental work of some nature is carried on. Some of the results of such codéperative work are: (1) Grouping according to intelligence, (2) individual method in read- ing, (3) group method in Silent Reading, (4) project method in various subjects, (5) self-direction in Arithmetic, Spelling, Writing, and Composi- tion, (6) progress of various types of B1 pupils, (7) simplified course for Z groups, and (8) citizenship by participation. Detroit offers to the elementary principal measurement facilities which enable him to know problems, conditions, and attainments within his build- ing. He is given full responsibility for making the best use of these facili- ties in service to his school and community. As a professional leader, the elementary principal is moving forward in no uncertain way. Through scientific measurement and experimentation he is making sure progress. He is understanding more of the peculiar capacities and nature of the individual and the psychology of the learning process. He is carefully seeking an insight into the factors that affect the progress of each individual. He is looking for educational material and methods that best lead the child or group to form worthy purposes and to achieve them efficiently. THE PRINCIPAL’S MULTIPLE FUNCTIONING Ouivr M. Jones Principal of School No. 120 and Annexes, New York City Y SUBJECT is listed as The Principal’s Multiple Functioning. If I were to say it colloquially, I would say that the principal is the Jack of all trades, but differing from the Jack of the story, he is the master of all trades. Else he cannot hold down his job and, hence, the term—multiple functioning. I am not an apologist for the principals, neither am I a publicity agent. What I hope to be is a voice speaking a warning to principals and superin- tendents in regard to certain dangers and lost opportunities, which may result for one branch of the teaching staff, unless certain present tendencies are recognized and controlled. Ten or fifteen years ago the superintendent, in company with the rest of the country, woke up to the position and the importance of the classroom teacher. We became aware of the more or less ignoble position of servi- tude into which the classroom teacher had been allowed to drift and we also realized, with our new knowledge of democracy, that the teacher, more than any other worker of presumably professional rank, had been treated with an amazing lack of consideration. About the same time, we discovered that the public regard of our pro- fession is based upon popular rating of the teacher’s job, upon the popular attitude toward the teacher and estimate of the teacher’s personality and culture. For years we used to complain that in the preparation for large public functions, in the appointment of mayor’s committees and public com- missions, the point of view of the school was seldom considered and the 134 NATIONAL EDUCATION ASSOCIATION superintendent was seldom included. Not until we woke up to the im- portance of the classroom teacher did we realize the cause of this neglect. The truth was that the public held the teacher lightly, and hence, both the school and the superintendent. In the public logic, the school meant the teacher, and the superintendent meant the teacher. Since the teacher was negligible and lightly regarded, so also was the superintendent. But ten years ago we woke up to all these things and gave the class- room teacher the recognition that was her due. It was the best thing that ever happened—not only because of the improved position of the school in public esteem, but because the teacher was forced to live up to her new re- sponsibility. It made teachers study educational principles so as to hold - their ground in debate. It made them study law so as to vote intelligently on matters for their own welfare and the welfare of children. It made them learn legislative procedure so that they would know how to secure the passage of effective laws for the welfare of education. It made them broaden out into a realization of the many interests which are kindred to education, without a knowledge of which no teacher can properly secure the best means of training the children entrusted to her care. During the early days of our new interest in the classroom teacher, a lot of foolish fear was aroused that the teachers would become insubordinate and indulge in radicalism. Sometimes a superintendent expressed this fear. Indeed, it is true that the discovery of the classroom teacher forced many a superintendent to look to his laurels. He was compelled to inquire into his own motives before he advertised his action or issued a ruling—certain that the teachers would inquire and discover those motives. It compelled the superintendent to study education anew himself, because he must justify his educational procedure to these new-thinking classroom teachers. It compelled the superintendent to consider measures from the point of view of the children to be educated, and the teacher to do the educating, before he advocated them, and to discount influences which would contravene those interests, even though they promised him personal promotion. In consequence we have reached a point of better understanding between the superintendent and his subordinates than ever before in the history of the schools, but in reaching this understanding and in taking advantage of it there is risk of a new danger. It is true that the superintendents have come into closer contact with the classroom teacher. They have also come into closer union with one another. The danger that I see is that they may disregard the connecting link. That danger lies in the weakening of the influence and the authority of the principal and the lessening of the respect for the principal which the teacher should hold. It is the superintendent who can prevent this risk, just as it is the superintendent to whom the temptation may come to act against the principal, and it is the superintendent who will suffer the heaviest loss if the position of principal is not maintained and supported with proper respect, If the principal’s opinion is not informed and consulted, who will ex- plain the aims and ideas and ideals of the superintendent to the teacher? ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PRINCIPALS 135 ————— No superintendent can do it, because he cannot do his own work and the principal’s, and this is essentially the principal’s job. Shattering though it may be to the superintendent’s new confidence in his relations with his teachers, nevertheless it is still true that the superin- tendent is, to most teachers and to practically all beginners, a shadowy person, a sort of most mighty man, but really mattering little, if the prin- cipal is satisfied and especially if the superintendent is satisfied with the principal. A short time ago a luncheon was given in New York to a superintendent who had been for many years regarded as one of the most popular and best- known of school officials. Yet in one school where the principal asked what teachers in the school would attend the luncheon given in his honor a group of young girls in their first or second year of experience exclaimed, “Who is he? Never heard of him.” If the principal’s opinion is ignored, who will secure the teachers’ co- operation? It is but a half-hearted explanation that is given to teachers by principals whose superintendents show little consideration for the opinion of the principals of the schools. If the principal is whipped into line, in spite of his opinion on matters of educational principle, and compelled to yield through fear of the power of the number of the teacher group that may be reached by the superintendent, the morale of the school is undermined. ‘The next time the superintendent needs the support of that principal in order to secure a complete under- standing by the teachers in his school, the principal’s power will have dis- appeared, and it will be no fault of his. It is a danger that the teachers do not yet see or recognize. The teacher still seeks the principal’s advice, and generally accepts it. ‘The teacher is still loyal to the superintendent’s measures and plans in the same proportion as the principal is. It is not the superintendent’s direct influence on teachers that accomplishes his policies—it is the degree to which he secures the codperation and loyalty of his principals. Unless the superintendent sees this danger as the evil thing it is, there will be broken down the biggest influence which now makes possible the carrying out of any scheme of educa- tion in any city, no matter how extraordinary the superintendent, how great his political power, how clever his planning, or how able his immediate assistants. Possibly some one thinks that I am creating a man of straw and may rightly ask—‘“‘What are the signs of such danger?” First, if the superin- tendent selects for the discussion of his plans and propositions a few hand- picked principals, he is laying the foundation of trouble. Often a few Principals so selected represent only a single set or phase or section. Often the only guide in such selection is the superintendent’s previous acquaintance with those principals in some earlier position. Often the group so selected, however great the superintendent’s confidence in them may be, lack the con- fidence of their fellows. I know a city where a committee to plan a course of study was so selected by the superintendent in charge. Few of the per- sons selected were held in high respect by any large number of their fellow 136 NATIONAL EDUCATION ASSOCIATION principals and teachers, and most of them had little knowledge of condi- tions in schools outside of their own school building because they did not meet with their fellow principals in organizations. No particular harm resulted in this instance, not because the superintendent prevented it, but because the other principals in that town made the principals selected feel the weight of criticism and because all held the welfare of the children first. Consequently, the principals selected took good care themselves to discover the sentiment of their fellow principals and all hands worked together, but contempt for the superintendent supplanted respect. A second tendency, which is often greater in its power for evil, is over- emphasis of the importance and powers of directors and supervisors of special branches and special phases of work. In many places these persons have been permitted to assume powers of direction and control to such a degree that the authority of the principal is threatened and his leadership destroyed. ‘These persons, whether their functions are exercised in a city wide capacity or confined to a small group of schools, should be made to understand that their function is advisory only and the principal is the responsible authority in the school. The attitude expressed by Superin- tendent Corson, of Newark, in his address before the Department of Ele- mentary School Principals in Chicago, 1922, is the one that every superin- tendent should maintain and he should compel each director and special supervisor in his school system to realize that he is advisory to the principal and not an authority to issue directions. Since I reached Cleveland I have read an article by Dr. Hillegas in which he also sounds a warning note as to the evils resulting from such belittling of the principal. A third influence, which I have seen at work in various cities in the last three or four years, is a tendency to undermine the organizations of princi- pals, particularly, of men and women principals working together in a single organization, to secure the best methods of school management and teacher training through exchange of views. There are several ways in which this undermining of the organization of principals is attempted. In the first place, every principal is a possible superintendent and vague promises are held out. As a result, if these principals prove vulnerable they stay away from the meetings or they attend the meetings and create dissen- sion. If they stay away from the meetings and the conclusions and resolu- tions adopted do not coincide with their immediate wishes or of the officer whom they are serving, they advertise the conclusion as not being representa- tive or as a minority view and cite their own absence as illustrating the fact that all the principals were not present. Once when I was president of the Principals’ Association in New York City a vote taken at one meeting was challenged in this manner, not how- ever at the behest of our superintendent (I want to say) but by sugges- tion of another official. Can you guess what I did? I waited until there was another meeting and then, without announcing my intention, | stated frankly what had happened and called for another vote, the challengers being present and little expecting any such procedure on my part. ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PRINCIPALS 137 These are the conditions and the thinking which have made me want to call to your attention the multiple functioning of the principals and to urge an end to the recent inroads upon the office of the principal. ‘There is no rank or grade or group of teachers the superintendent can afford to deride or ignore or disparage or weaken; neither can he afford to permit anybody else to weaken the respect or influence of any one rank or grade, Recently in New York City a prominent local school board man went into a principal’s office in New York and said—“What do you find to do all day? I can see what the teacher is doing and I know Dr. Ettinger’s many responsibilities, but where do you come in?” The principal to whom he said this has a school of 74 teachers; over 3,000 children are housed in her school building and she has every con- ceivable activity that can be carried on in a girls’ school—from kindergarten through junior high school, including a differentiated course of study. There are superintendents all over this country who have no such task as that principal. Another prominent citizen said recently, within my hearing, speaking of a man who had failed in another capacity—‘It is too bad he cannot be a principal of a school with nothing to do but give orders and watch that the Board of Education requirements are carried out.” Now you may think that you may know what the principal’s duties are, but, for the sake of the principals of whom I am talking, I am going to try your patience for a minute while I call to your attention the many functions of a principal, as I see them. Rather, I should say, as we see them, because I am really quoting largely from a book called the “Office of Principal,” published by the New York Principals’ Association and prepared by a special committee appointed while I was President of the Association, consisting of men and women principals. If you are interested, a copy can be obtained from the chairman, Rufus A, Vance, principal of Junior High School 148, Brooklyn, New York. The first large group of duties of the principal may be called administra- tive. The first of these is responsibility for health, including the teaching and enforcing of regulations to prevent the spread of contagious diseases, to correct defects found among the pupils, to teach the laws of sanitation and hygiene. The second is responsibility for the safety of pupils in the case of fire or other emergencies. The third is responsibility for the codrdination of the work of his teachers and other persons included in his staff. The fourth is responsibility for securing the codperation of parents and the in- struction of those parents in the laws of the State and city and of the Board of Education. The fifth is responsibility for regular attendance and punc- tuality, including coéperation with all of the agencies organized for the social welfare of children. Sixth, responsibility for the school plant, in- cluding its protection, its sanitation, the adjustment of its furniture and the operation of its heating and ventilating apparatus. Seventh, the securing of codperation between the school and the community, including the inter- preting of the purposes of the school and the informing of public agencies concerning its enterprises. 138 NATIONAL EDUCATION ASSOCIATION A second great group of the principal’s functions is classified as peda- gogical. First among these we would put the principal’s need for a knowl- edge of child psychology. After that the principal must understand the proper treatment of over-age and retarded children. In New York just at present a tremendous amount of time and thought is being given to measure- ment and experimentation with the classification of children, aiming to elimi- nate the problem of retardation, or, at least, to provide the type of instruc- tion adapted to each child mind. With all of the study and observation and ability of the special committee of superintendents and of the director of reference and research, the ultimate responsibility for the success of these studies and plans rests upon the principals in whose schools the experiments are being made, A third pedagogical duty of the principal is that of training teachers. No matter what schools of education may do, the principal nevertheless must be prepared to supplement their work. The principal must be able to take the new, beginning teacher and help him apply to the practical and probably difficult conditions of the classroom the theories and methods he has learned in the school of education. In upper grades and with experi- enced teachers the principal must be prepared to show how to meet the new and heavier responsibilities. Much of the discouragement of young people with teaching comes from lack of help at the moment they are meeting their practical difficulties in practical experience. I hope it is no longer true anywhere that a teacher is flung into a classroom and left to sink or swim, as may happen. That is the way in which I began, and, while | am not sorry today for the strength and endurance it provided for me, | do remember my fellow teachers who dropped out by the wayside with a hatred for teaching. The principal must be prepared to encourage the new teachers in any school who come frankly to tell their difficulties and ask for help. A teacher was appointed in my school about a year ago. In her first two or three months of service I gave her all of the usual help that other teachers received and I knew that she was using them as faithfully as she could. Nevertheless, she was not succeeding. One day she sent me a note asking if she might see me at 3 o'clock alone. I answered—yes, of course. She came in, sat down at my desk, took hold of my hands and said, ‘‘Miss Jones, I am an awful failure. I know it, but I tell you honestly I have never been a failure in my life before and I am not going to be this time if you will tell me what is the matter with me and show me how to do better.” She is today a success. There is another reason why the principal must train the teachers and that is because it is essential to secure unity. I do not mean uniformity, but I mean unity within the school, so that the methods and work of one grade progress nicely and without check, into the work and the methods of another grade; again, so that there will be unity within the school system, because children do change from school to school and, lastly, so that we may have all over this country unity of action in preserving American ideals of public education. ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PRINCIPALS 139 Finally, I want to speak of the principal’s influence on the discipline of the school. I almost dread to use that word—‘discipline,” because of the fear that it will be taken to mean simply order—keeping order, that is not my idea of discipline. Neither do I believe that there is discipline in any school where that is the teacher’s idea of discipline. The principal should be able to show teachers how to establish control in their classes and how to handle individual cases in such a way that an ideal of conduct is established. In this way discipline becomes character building, and where there is charac- ter building, we have the best form of ethical teaching. Hence, I say that the principal functions for the superintendent, in transactions with the classroom teacher; that the principal is the great mediator who makes it possible for the superintendent to make the school system the fundamental element in community life and in civic training and, finally, that the principal in his school has an opportunity to develop character second to no other, not even the teacher. Give us administrative assistance to take care of statistics and reports, and specialists to advise ‘ where expert, technical knowledge is required, but let us continue to be principal teachers, guiding our teachers in child training and child saving. HE LOCAL Organization of Principals: its Work and Opportunities was the general theme of the Cleveland program on Monday afternoon, February 26. The addresses by John W. Anthony, W. T. Longshore, Jessie M. Fink, Rose A. Pesta, and J. M. Kniseley delivered on that occasion are printed in full in this BULLETIN. On Tuesday afternoon, February 27, The Relation of the Elementary School Principal to the General Testing Program was discussed by Julia A. Mul- rooney, W. E. Moore, and John Merrill, whose papers are included. At the joint session of the De- partment with the Department of Superintendence, National Association of Secondary School Princi- pals, and the Department of Rural Education on Tuesday evening, Olive M. Jones spoke on Princi- cipal’s Multiple Functioning. John H. Beveridge and William B. Owen were dinner speakers at the annual banquet Thursday evening. ‘The papers of other speakers at Cleveland will be printed in later issues of this BULLETIN. THE CLEVELAND MEETING W. T. LoncsHoreE Secretary, Department of Elementary School Principals T WAS a real privilege to have had the opportunity to attend the great Cleveland meeting. It was indeed a great meeting, considered from every standpoint. The four afternoon programs and our part in the joint program of Tues- day evening, prepared and carried out by our President, Mr. Worth McClure, were of the highest order. Every speaker on the program was present and gave a good account of himself. Our two representatives on the general program, Miss Olive M. Jones, principal of Public School Number 120, New York City, and Mr. Ide G. Sargeant, principal Public School Number 10, Patterson, New Jersey, re- flected great honor on the Department of Elementary School Principals by the able manner in which they handled their respective subjects. Great credit is due President McClure for the manner in which he pre- pared the program and conducted the meetings of the department. THE First ANNUAL DINNER The Department of Elementary School Principals met in their first an- nual dinner in the Cleveland Hotel, seven o’clock, Thursday evening, March first, having a menu and a service that could not but please the most fastidious. “There were four hundred present and a list of the speakers will be proof positive that the occasion was one long to be remembered by the flow of wit, humor, and wisdom. Toastmaster: W. P. Burris, dean of Education of University of Cincinnati, and father of the Department. Speakers: William B. Owen, president of the National Education Asso- ciation; John H. Beveridge, president of the Department of Superintend- ence; A. E. Winship, editor, Journal of Education, Boston; Miss Charl Ormond Williams, field secretary of the National Education Association, Miss Belle M. Ryan, assistant superintendent, Omaha, Nebraska; Miss Olive M. Jones, of New York; Leonard Power, first president of the De- partment, and President McClure. The arrangements for the dinner were made by our efficient Recording Secretary, Mrs. Jessie M. Fink, through the splendid coédperation of the Elementary School Principals’ Club of Cleveland, directed by their able and accommodating President, Miss Burroughs. May we have many more such occasions. Tue OrFicers’ BREAKFAST The officers of the Department met at a breakfast at Hotel Winton, Tuesday morning, February 27th, at eight o’clock. Present at this breakfast were all the officers and past officers who were in Cleveland. The past, present, and future of the Department were dis- cussed ; practically all the time being devoted to future plans. The won- derful development of two years since its first temporary organization at [140] ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PRINCIPALS 141 Atlantic City, and the great success of the meeting then going on in Cleve- land, gave everything a roseate hue. Many were the words of praise spoken concerning our first Yearbook. From the information at hand the prospects seemed bright that the second Yearbook, under the chairmanship of John L. Bracken, principal of U. S. Grant School, Duluth, Minnesota, would mark a further advance. Then from a suggestion made by Mr. Bracken and President McClure, we took up a discussion of the third Yearbook that is to come out in June, 1924. After discussion it was decided that one year was not long enough to get out a Yearbook as mature and thorough as we wanted to produce in the future; so the official family and others present recommended that President McClure appoint at once a chairman for the third Yearbook. After consideration he suggested the name of Leonard Power, which met with the unanimous approval of all present, and Mr. Power, with his characteristic frankness and his willing- ness to work and serve, accepted the appointment. So the 1924 Yearbook is assured at this time. ‘This breakfast meeting will have much to do with the growth and usefulness of the Department of Elementary School Prin- cipals of the National Education Association. Let us continue to move forward. ‘There is an open door, Present at this breakfast were: Worth McClure, W. T. Longshore, Ide G. Sargeant, John W. Anthony, Leonard T. Power, Miss Olive M. Jones, Mrs. Jessie M. Fink, Miss Anna Laura Force, Thomas Agnew, and §S. D. Shankland. MESSAGE FROM PRESIDENT McCLURE To the Members of the Department of Elementary School Principals: Adequately to describe the second midyear meeting is first of all to ap- preciate the superb hospitality of the Cleveland principals under the leader- ship of President Maude Burroughs. ‘Their cordial spirit set the tone for the whole session. The Department is greatly indebted to them for as- sistance in handling many details of arrangement and for the music and the flowers which added so much to the enjoyment of the first annual ban- quet. This session marked another milestone in the growth of the Department. There were several outstanding features: 1. The importance of the service of the local organization of principals was clearly demonstrated. Our Department is not a federation of local clubs; nevertheless, its work supplements the professional study of local groups and their campaigns to maintain locally the professional status of the Principalship. The function of the national organization in this regard is to act as a clearing-house for information of value to local groups every- where. Its further service is to lead in the solution of big problems of the elementary school principalship which are common to the whole country. 142 NATIONAL EDUCATION ASSOCIATION 2. The Cleveland meeting proved that we are in truth a national organi- zation. Principals from Portland, Maine, met with those from Portland, Oregon. Minneapolis and Detroit mingled with Birmingham, Port Arthur, and the California cities. The inland centers all had splendid representations. Elementary school principals from great metropolitan systems like New York and Chicago displayed in a convincing way their interest in advancing the cause of the elementary school everywhere. ‘To name all the cities represented would be to enumerate practically all the leading school systems in the country. It was a great meeting, filled with the spirit of a great service. 3. The leadership of the principal was emphasized either directly or indirectly in practically every address—notably in those given by four great education leaders on Wednesday afternoon in the Public Auditorium. That he is the one who must make use of the services of technical experts, mould their ideas into administrative efficiency, and be the responsible leader of the elementary school was clearly brought out in the discussion of the principal’s relation to the general testing program. It is not the prin- cipal’s job to be a technical expert himself. His is the work of coérdination and adaptation, The milestone that has just been passed marked a period of careful internal organization. That we may now legitimately turn our attention to increasing our numbers, is the matured opinion of the officers and execu- tive committee. Our first care was to organize plans for furthering the study of those problems which were peculiar to the elementary school principalship. Principals everywhere needed a distinctive literature of the principalship. We have in our quarterly BULLETIN, our Yearbook, and our Committee on Educational Progress an established program of professional service. There are forty-five thousand elementary school principals in this country. They need the kind of service that we can offer, and we need their profes- sional support. It is no longer necessary to solicit memberships on the basis of profes- sional enthusiasm alone. When you recommend the Department to your friends, tell them what we are able to offer. Remind them that the two dollar fee would not cover the cost of securing material and printing the quarterly BULLETIN and the Yearbook if we were not allied with the N. E. A. Point out to them that in addition to the generous financial appropriation of the National Education Association we have the assistance of such experts as Joy Elmer Morgan, managing editor of the N. F. 4. Journal, in our editorial problems, and of S. D. Shankland, executive secretary of the Department of Superintendence, who represents us at the N. E. A. headquarters and serves as our Executive Secretary. Let them see that because of such arrangements we are enabled to avail ourselves of the low publishing cost secured by the N. E. A., which is now the largest publisher of educational literature in the world. The net result of all of this is that we are enabled to give research and publication service that ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PRINCIPALS 143 would cost us considerably more than two dollars per member under any other circumstances. Let us have five thousand members by next July, when we meet at Oak- land. The Second Yearbook, ‘““The Elementary School Principal’s Prob- lem in the Light of the Testing Movement,” will be discussed at that time. Editor John L. Bracken has secured a volume of material that will be a vital contribution to the literature of the principalship, and he is arranging two interesting programs for its discussion. In addition to this we shall have a joint program with the Department of Elementary Education upon the general topic, ““The New Elementary School.” Principal Anna L. Force, Lincoln School, Denver, Colorado, who is also our first vice-president, will be in charge of the great membership cam- paign, which will be under way when you receive this BULLETIN. Give her your enthusiastic support. That means do missionary work among your friends in_the profession who are not now in the Department. Five thousand members by July! WortH McCuiure President APPLICATION FOR MEMBERSHIP Mr. CourtTLanp V. Davis, Treasurer 1201 Sixteenth Street Northwest Washington, D. C. My dear Mr. Davis: I am a member of the National Education Association. I inclose my fee of $2.00 for membership in the Department of Elementary School Principals during the year 1922-1923. One dollar of this fee is for a year’s subscription to the Department Bulletin. Kindly send all publications, including the Second Yearbook, to me at the address given below.