VOL. Ill, NO. 3 APRIL, 1924 


BULLETIN 


Department of Elementary 
School Principals 


Standards for Judging Classroom Work 
Time Required to Complete an Elementary School Course. 138 


Cooperation between the Principal and Supervisors in 
Minneapolis 


Cooperation between the Principal and Supervisors in Detroit. 164 


The Fight to Reduce School Privileges 

The Challenge to the Elementary-School Principal 
The Value of the School Principalship 

Roster of Principal’s Club Officers 

The Elementary Principals’ Association 

Minutes of Chicago Meeting 

Endorsement of Education Bill 


Announcements 











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. 
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at special rate of postage provided for in Section 1103, Act of October 3, 1917, 
authorized December 18, 1922. ' 











BULLETIN 
of the 
DEPARTMENT OF ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PRINCIPALS 

Published quarterly in October, January, April, and July by the Depart- 
ment of Elementary School Principals of the National Education Asso- 
ciation of the United States. Jessie M. Fink, 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 
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Yearbook, $1.50. 

Members are requested to report at once any change of address, giving 
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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, 
Washington, D. C. 





OFFICERS OF THE DEPARTMENT OF ELEMENTARY SCHOOL 
PRINCIPALS OF THE NATIONAL EDUCATION ASSOCIATION 
1923-24 
President, W. 'T. LONGSHORE 
Greenwood School, Kansas City, Missouri 


First Vice-President, J. D. WitLiaMs 
Woodlawn School, Birmingham, Alabama 


Second Vice-President, ELIZABETH BATES 
Sixty-Sixth Street School, Los Angeles, California 


Third Vice-President, Grorce A. BEERS 
Clark School, 3925 West Van Buren Street, Chicago, Illinois 


Secretary, Jessig M. FInk 
Palmer School, Grand Rapids, Michigan 


Treasurer, COURTLAND V. Davis 
J. E. B. Stuart School, Norfolk, Virginia 


Executive Committee 
J. W. ANTHONY - 
225 Hampton Street, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania—term expires in 1924 
Mary McSkImMMon 
Pierce School, Brookline, Massachusetts—term expires in 1925 
ANNA LAurRA FORCE 
Lincoln School, Denver, Colorado—term expires in 1926 
Luise H. Krauss 
Grattan School, San Francisco, California—term expires in 1927 
















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STANDARDS BY WHICH THE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL 
PRINCIPAL MAY JUDGE CLASSROOM WORK 


FRANKLIN M. UNDERWOOD 


District Superintendent, Saint Louis Public Schools, Formerly Principal 
Rose Fanning School, Saint Louis, Missouri 


T WILL be helpful to get the setting for our discussion. The work of 
the elementary principal falls naturally into two main divisions, adminis- 
tration and supervision. The work of the principal as an administrator has, 
in turn, two aspects, the organization and business management of the school 
on the one hand, and on the other, social relations. The work of the principal 
as a supervisor has two distinct phases, educational diagnosis, or judging the 
quality of the work, and, second bringing about the desired result or dealing 
with the teacher. 

As an administrator, in the matter of the organization and business man- 
agement of the school, the principal’s duties would include the appointment 
and assignment of teachers, the classification of pupils, the ordering and 
distribution of books, supplies, and equipment, the keeping of school records, 
the care of building and grounds, the interpretation and execution of the 
rules of the Board of Education and instructions of the various departments, 
the interpretation of the curriculum and its adjustment to the needs of the 
particular school, and the arrangement and management of the program of 
studies and activities, curricular and extra-curricular. 

In the matter of “social relations,” the principal’s duties would be to 
provide for proper codperation of the school, home, church, library, museum, 
theatre, press, city departments, commercial and industrial establishments, 
and other agencies involved in the total problem of the education of the child. 
It would include also his relationships with individuals and organizations 
of all sorts where their activities touch the work of the school. It would 
include activities concerned with the conception of the school as a community 
center and the responsibilities of the principal as a leader in his community. 

These duties of the principal as an administrator constitute an important 
part of his work, and must receive adequate attention. And yet it will be 
seen that they have to do with securing the conditions necessary for effective 
instruction. Effective classroom instruction is the end for which the school is 
established, and these administrative matters serve as a means to a favorable 
educational situation. Hence, though important, administrative responsi- 
bilities cannot be regarded as the primary concern of the principal. He is 
primarily an educational expert, concerned with the supervision of instruction 
in the classrooms, where the whole educational scheme functions for the child. 

There is general agreement among the workers in the field of supervision 
that the function of supervision is the improvement of teaching. As above 
indicated, there are two phases of the principal’s work in bringing about 
improvement in instruction. The first phase is that of educational diagnosis 
or analysis. Here the principal must bring to bear his whole fund of phil- 
osophy of education, principles of teaching, and general scholarship, in order 
[131] 








NATIONAL EDUCATION ASSOCIATION 





OUTLINE OF STANDARDS 
THE Pupits Tue TEACHER 


I. Method of Study and Work 
1. Hygienic conditions 
2. Supplies and equipment 
- Routine habits. 
. Richness in motive and purpose 
- Individual initiative (individu- 
ality, originality, indepen- 
dence) 
. Individual judgment of rela- 
tive values 
. Individual organization of A 
ideas . ? (a) Drill material 
. Coéperation with teacher (b) Problem material 
g. Codperation with other pupils (c) Appreciation material 
(democratic attitude, team- (d) Reviews and summaries 
work, group or committee 
work, citizenship) B 
ro. Are all participating? 
11. Is each working up to capacity ? (1) Clearness of aim 
12. Accuracy and thoroughness (2) Devices 
13. Economy of time and energy (3) Questions 
14. Perseverence (4) Technique 
II. Results (5) Resourcefulness 
1. Character, citizenship (tastes, . Skill in directing and supervising 
appreciations, interests, mo- study 
tives, purposes, attitudes, . Skill in testing 
ideals) . Leadership (discipline, influence) 


2. Knowledge 
3. Habits and skills THe Susyect MATTER 
4. Finished productions . Has it evident worth to the child, 
and to society? 
. Is it adapted to the nature of the 
child? 
. Is it a specimen of real life? Has 
it a natural setting? 


. Attitude toward work 

. Attitude toward pupils 

. Presence 

. Voice 

. Use of English 

- Scholarship 

. Organization of subject matter 
. Skill in assignment 

. Skill in teaching 


Co ONAN Sf wWDND 


to determine the strong and weak points in the lesson observed. The value 
of his work here will clearly depend upon the ‘reliability of the standards 
which he uses in judging the work. The determination of these standards 
is the topic of our discussion. May I say, before proceeding with this dis- 
cussion, that the second phase of the principal’s work as a supervisor, dealing 
with the teacher, is an entirely distinct problem. A principal may be an 
excellent educational analyst,and yet fail in this matter of dealing with the 
teacher. Perhaps the highest quality of skill is required in this latter responsi- 
bility. His work ultimately succeeds or fails in his technique in dealing with 
the teacher. 

Now for our discussion of standards by which the principal may judge 
instruction. Are there certain universal.standards, based upon the major 
objectives of education, which are applicable to all subjects, all grades? How 
shall we determine these? There are two processes going on in the classroom, 
teaching and learning. Of these, that of primary significance is the learning. 





ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PRINCIPALS 133 





Such education as is going on is going on in the child. What the child is 
doing is our primary concern. As to method, it is the child’s method that is 
of most importance. The teacher’s method is a means. The child’s method 
is the end. We must observe the child to determine when the highest quality 
of learning is going on. Then we are in a position to observe the teacher, 
to determine the technique which accompanies this highest quality of learn- 
ing in the child. We cannot judge the value of what the teacher does apart 
from what the child is doing. The value of the teacher’s technique can only 
be determined by the resultant child activity. Hence our first and primary 
concern in judging the quality of instruction has to do with what the pupils 
are doing. In practically all our teacher-rating schemes we have been led to 
watch the teacher. We have been judging teaching whereas learning is the 
significant activity. Teaching is of consequence just to the extent that it 
results in learning. It has no isolated significance. The classic illustration 
of the value of the teacher in the educational situation is that of James A. 
Garfield, who said that his idea of a great university was a student on one 
end of a log and Mark Hopkins on the other. Mr. Garfield wished to 
indicate the importance of the teacher as compared with building, equipment, 
etc. Great as is the importance of the teacher—I should be the last to under- 
estimate it—the fact remains that the value of this situation would be best 
determined by observing what were the students’ activities. What the student 
accomplished, would be the ultimate criterion of even Mark Hopkins’ success. 

How, then, shall we go about evaluating the pupil’s work? The child’s 
activities may be viewed from two standpoints—first, his method of study and 
work, and second, the results achieved. As to his method of study and work, 
the following standards as listed in the first column of the outline are pro- 
posed as fundamental and universally applicable to all work in all grades: 
Hygienic conditions; supplies and equipment; routine habits; richness in 
motive and purpose; individual initiative (individuality, originality, inde- 
pendence) ; individual judgment of relative values; individual organization 
of ideas; codperation with teacher ; codperation with other pupils (democratic 
attitude, team-work, group or committee work, citizenship) ; are all partici- 
pating ; is each working up to capacity ; accuracy and thoroughness ; economy 
of time and energy; and perseverance. ‘These standards are based upon the 
fundamental purposes of education. If we can reach agreement on these 
fundamentals, we shall meet the greatest need in American education today. 
How can we understand each other, not to mention coéperate intelligently, 
unless we can agree on the fundamental objectives of education ? 

First of all, three of these standards have to do with creating a favorable 
situation for successful work. There must be, for instance, satisfactory 
hygienic conditions for work. Matters of room temperature, ventilation, 
humidity of air, length of period, varied activities, such as the proportion 
of standing and sitting time of pupils, the proportion of blackboard and seat 
work—such are matters needing attention in this respect. 

The second factor is the provision with regard to supplies and equipment. 
The success of many a lesson is limited to the extent that the teacher has 
been able to assemble the books, materials, and equipment. needed for the 





134 ‘NATIONAL EpUCATION ASSOCIATION 





work in hand. It is unfortunate that many times we are unable to provide 
supplies and materials which would be of great aid in a lesson. The question 
here is, ‘ Has the teacher assembled such needed material as could be obtained 
by her or by the pupils?” " 

The third factor in creating a favorable situation for learning is the proper 
routine habits of the pupils. The teacher who believes in pupil initiative 
to the extent that she has the pupils use their individual initiative in passing 
to the blackboard, giving out supplies, and the like, has missed the point 
in this respect. Routine matters constitute the one place where individual 
initiative should not be utilized. This is the place for system. An effective 
working out of routine matters into systematic, automatic habits prepares 
the way for economical, whole attention to the big vital factors in effective 
learning. 

I wish here to pay a tribute to Dr. F. M. McMurry, for many years an 
outstanding figure in the field of elementary education in this country. The 
four universal standards used by him, as stated in his book, Elementary 
School Standards, are fundamental, in my judgment, and these we shall 
next consider. Dr. McMurry’s is the outstanding contribution in the meager 
literature we have on this subject. 

The first of these standards is richness in motive and purpose on the part 
of the pupils. Dr. McMurry well says, “ The biggest thing in modern edu- 
cation is richness in purpose on the part of pupils.” It is the basis of the 
philosophy of the “ project method,” as developed under the able leadership 
of Dr. William H. Kilpatrick. It must be our fundamental and most im- 
portant standard. We have always thought there should be an aim in a 
recitation, but until recently it seemed sufficient if the aim was in the 
teacher’s mind. The pupil was to do as he was told and ask no questions. 
We have found at great cost that this latter plan will not do. We now 
believe that the highest type of learning takes place only when the pupil is 
confronted with a problem which is vital to him—the solution of which 
he feels is worth while to him, indeed essential to the realization of an end 
he has already set for himself. We may not be able to secure purposing on 
the part of 100 per cent of the class in a recitation, or perfect purposing on 
the part of any individual all the time, but we must recognize that the extent 
to which we do realize just that, constitutes one of the best measures of our 
success. Every teacher’s growth in the techniques which secure pupil pur- 
posing in larger and larger degree will be a fundamental criterion of her 
growth as a successful teacher. 

Our next standard, closely related to the preceding one, is individual in- 
itiative. This involves the extent to which the individuality, originality, and 
independence of the child are exercised in the recitation. The teacher may, 
on the one hand, ask every question that is asked in the recitation, give every 
direction, and otherwise completely control the activities of the pupils, or 
she may stimulate and encourage questions from the pupils, and encourage 
suggestions from them as to ways of proceeding. She may permit them to 
proceed in different ways, upon their own initiative, with a view to letting 
them judge later their success, and compare the various procedures used, 
and the various results. Initiative is a quality much needed in a democracy, 





ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PRINCIPALS 135 





where the citizens control the destinies of a nation. We have but to read 
the stories of the lives of great men who have achieved great success in life 
to realize that initiative is a quality fundamental to large achievement. Only 
by providing situations in the classroom whereby pupils will be given oppor- 
tunity and stimulus to exercise individual initiative can we hope they will 
emerge from our schools with power and tendency. 

Our next standard is individual judgment of relative values. As in the 
case of initiative, judgment is a vital factor in successful living. The farmer 
who is a good judge of crops, of how, when, and where to plant; how, when 
and where to dispose of his products—in short who is a good judge of the 
issues which face him, in his business, is the successful farmer. Now one may 
learn to judge only by judging, just as one may learn to walk only by walk- 
ing, to sing by singing, to dance by dancing, to swim by swimming, or to 
think by thinking. Comenius enunciated this principle five hundred years 
ago, and it has been emphasized by nearly every great educator since that 
time, but it still has great difficulty in finding its way into our practice. The 
teacher who has six or eight pupils read their compositions, and then has 
the class judge which is the best, giving reasons; or the teacher of penmanship 
who asks, ‘“‘ How many think their specimens are too slanting?”, “‘ too 
light? ”, “ just about right? ”, and after a show of hands has the class judge 
as to whether the individual judgment was correct, instead of merely going 
about herself criticizing the papers and telling the pupils what is wrong; or 
the teacher of drawing who has six or eight pupils come to the front of the 
room, hold up their drawings or specimens of constructive work, and 
asks the class to judge which is the best, and tell why they think so; these 
teachers are developing taste and judgment in their pupils. This principle 
carried into all their work will produce a result essentially and fundamentally 
different from a situation where the teacher exercises all the judgment, and 
the pupil’s activity is limited to accepting the teacher’s judgment. The extent 
to which a teacher provides stimulus and opportunity for individual and group 
judgments on the part of the pupils will. be an important measure of the 
quality of her teaching. 

The next standard is organization of ideas. We may have, on the one 
hand, a situation where the teacher makes the outline, organizes the work, 
the pupil’s activity being limited to copying and learning the outline, and 
accepting the teacher’s organization; or, on the other hand, the teacher may 
encourage—even require—the pupils to make their own outlines, to organize 
their own material around a few salient topics. She may lead them to success- 
fully make three- or four-minute talks, giving well-organized discussions 
involving related ideas supporting a central proposition. She may for in- 
stance, at the end of a term, ask the pupils to prepare the five or ten ques- 
tions which in their judgment constitute the most important matters under 
consideration during the term. She may ask them further to be able to state 
why they chose those particular questions. Indeed, it is difficult to say 
whether finding answers to questions is as important as finding the questions 
in the field. This latter has been too much the sole privilege of the teacher. 
Our pupils will not learn to organize ideas by memorizing statements in 
textbooks, or by accepting the organization of the teacher. They can learn 





136 NATIONAL EpuCcATION ASSOCIATION 





to think only by thinking. They will do real thinking only when faced by a 
problem which is real to them. Organization of ideas is an essential element 
in thinking. The child’s mind will not be developed by teacher’s thinking. 
We must therefore observe the extent to which the classroom situation pro- 
vides opportunity and stimulus to thinking on the part of the pupils. 

Our next standard is codperation. This is the complement of initiative. 
Too much initiative might lead to selfishness. This must be checked by the 
extent to which the individual serves others. Indeed this is the greatest factor 
in the success of a democracy. It is a sine qua non of the success of civiliza- 
tion, it conditions the very existence of society. A generation ago, a typical 
assignment was, “ Take the next two pages.” Each pupil was to “ learn” 
it (memorize it). Each was to do the same thing and each was to work 
independently. Dire consequences would follow if any pupil consulted with 
another on any point. The assignments were individual; the recitations 
were individual. No pupil had any concern with. what another pupil said. 
He was responsible for his own recitation only. There is value in independent 
work, where a pupil works out his own problems for himself, learns to 
“stand upon his own feet.” We still believe in this type of activity properl) 
motivated and worked out, but we find individual activities do not cover 
an important field in the child’s education. Group activities are also needed. 
Every child will eventually be a member of various organizations, religious, 
social, political, industrial, he will serve on committees, he will be constantl) 
facing the need of working successfully with other people. He will be 
engaged in many activities which can only be accomplished by a group—not 
by an individual. Hence it is vital that he learn to coéperate with others — 
in his school experiences. There must be group assignments as well as individ- 
ual assignments. The class for certain work should be divided into groups 
or committees, each investigating and reporting on matters contributing to 
the work in which all are engaged. The experience of contributing something 
to the whole group, of being a member of a sub-group, of feeling a responsi- 
bility to the group rather than to the teacher, and of receiving the contribu- 
tions of other sub-groups must not be omitted from the child’s experiences 
in the classroom, if this fundamental quality of codperation, essential to good 
citizenship, is to be an outcome of education in our pupils. 

The next two standards carry our observation further to the individual 
child. Our first question here is: “ Are all the pupils taking part in the 
recitation? ”’, and our second related queston: “ Is each working up to ca- 
pacity?”’ The recent movement toward the formation of ‘‘ homogeneous 
groups ” is an effort to secure the most effective participation of the individual 
in the recitation. It is an administrative matter which may wholly fail. For 
instance, if we place all children who by test are thirteen years of age men- 
tally, in the same group, nothing is gained, as they will differ as widely in 
rate of learning as any representative group would. If you attempt to classify 
in single groups those of the same mental age and also the same rate of learn- 
ing, your groups will be so small as to be administratively impossible in the 
average school. The group of life is the representative group. Are we ade- 
quately preparing for life if we use exclusively “ homogeneous groups” in 





ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PRINCIPALS 137 





school activities? Can children learn to understand, appreciate, and work 
with all types of people, as they will have to do after leaving the school, by 
such an arrangement? ‘To what extent is our problem rather one of develop- 
ing the teaching techniques which will permit each pupil in a representative 
group, to work to capacity in whatever is under consideration? But what- 
ever position we take in the matter, our aim and our standard will be the 
participation of all—each to his capacity—in whatever work is undertaken. 

European critics of American education generally accuse our students of a 
lack of thoroughness and accuracy in their work. We may question the truth 
of this charge and we may assert that our students show certain other im- 
portant qualities in which our friends across the water would suffer by com- 
parison, but we must admit that thoroughness and accuracy are important 
elements in effective method and study and that we have always had to war 
against superficiality, carelessness, and inferior ideals and standards of work 
on the part of pupils. I am inclined to think our prescription for the trouble 
would be “ better motivation ” rather than the “ greater amount of system- 
atic drill,” which would probably be the resort of our European friends. We 
would feel, as we have frequently found to be true, that the most effective 
way to secure thoroughness and accuracy is to make the undertaking meaning- 
ful to the child. Again, whatever position we may take on this matter, we 
must constantly strive for the desired thoroughness and accuracy in the 
work of our pupils, and wherever this quality is lacking, we may know there 
is a matter needing attention. 

Economy of time and energy is vital to successful method and study. We 
may, on the one hand, secure acceptable results, but with great expenditure 
of both time and energy. Or we may conserve both time and energy in our 
work through effective planning, effective devices, and effective technique. 

Another vital factor in the success of any undertaking in a classroom situa- 
tion or in a later life situation, is the quality of perseverance of those involved. 
The persistence with which a pupil carries through to completion the ends 
he has set for himself will determine in marked degree the success he will 
achieve in his school work, as it will in like manner determine the success 
he may attain in the greater problems of life he must later meet. We must 
encourage and develop this quality by arranging the school situations so 
that the student will have the opportunity and the stimulus to persevere 
in his work, and experience success and satisfaction in so doing. 

The teacher or principal in judging the quality of the work of the class- 
room, would not, of course, expect to find every one of these standards pro- 
vided for in every recitation. Some of them should be present, as they are 
universally applicable to all work and all grades, if the work is organized on 
a plane for the most effective learning. The procedure of the principal or 
teacher in judging the lesson could be one of checking the outstanding stand- 
ards cared for in the lesson. The outline could thus be used as a score card 
of the recitation. It would be expected that in the work of a term, all stand- 
ards would be adequately provided for, though only a few may appear 
prominent in any individual lesson. 

This concludes our discussion of the standards which apply to the method 
of study and work on the part of pupils. This constitutes the field which is 





138 NATIONAL EpUCATION ASSOCIATION 





most significant educationally. We must, however, consider results attained 
as well. Results in the child are more significant than the finished product 
which is external to the child. There may be, on the one hand, an almost 
perfect external result, achieved by following in minute detail the specific 
directions of the teacher, as in the making 6f a paper box or wagon. Each 
pupil would in the end have a box or wagon just like that of the teacher. 
In fact, there would be scarcely anything of the child’s own in the activity. 
His acts would be merely mechanical, the teacher pushing all the buttons. 
On the other-hand, by a different procedure, the child could be led to put 
much of himself into the activity. It could be largely self-chosen, involve 
taste, judgment, and organization exercised upon the initiative of the child. 
The external product might be inferior in certain cases, but the educative 
value of the activity would be much superior, due to the method of study and 
work, and to the result that is taking place in the child. The value of the 
finished product cannot be judged apart from a consideration of the methods 
employed, the child activities involved in working it out. 

The results “in the child ” are the first three mentioned in the outline. 
I put first “ character and citizenship,” which include tastes, appreciations, 
interests, motives, purposes, attitudes, and ideals. These are the biggest things 
in life. They must be considered above knowledge. They are the springs to 
action, the emotional element which is the greatest factor in determining 
behavior. Knowledge comes second. We concede its importance, but it is 
no longer the primary aim of education. Habits and skills constitute the 
third element in the results desired “ in the child.” I can merely mention 
them. : 


Time will not permit the discussion of the qualities in the teacher, which ° 


seem most significant in the classroom situation. They are only of signifi- 
cance, however, as they are seen to affect learning. You will note twelve 
qualities listed in the outline. Possibly the true situation may be best arrived 
at by judging both the “ teaching ” and the “ learning.” 

There is yet to be considered a third factor in the educational situation, 
the curriculum. I have added to the outline three questions which should be 
answered with respect to the curriculum. A situation may easily arise where 
the fault is not in the child, nor in the teacher, but rather in the curriculum 
as planned and required. 


TIME REQUIRED TO COMPLETE AN ELEMENTARY 
SCHOOL COURSE 


GEorGE MELCHER 
Assistant Superintendent and Director of Efficiency, Kansas City, Missouri 


N THE LAST decade, educators have spent days and months studying 
economy of time in education, and have written volumes on this subject. 
Almost countless efforts have been made to reduce the subject matter in the 
various branches of study, especially in the tool subjects, to the minimum 
essentials. Many eliminations, re-valuations, and re-organizations of the ma- 
terials in the course of study have been made. Much excellent work has been 








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ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PRINCIPALS 139 





done and the character and quality of the work in the elementary schools 
has unquestionably been greatly modified and improved by means of these 
studies. ; 

However, may we ask, “ Where is the economy of time? ”’ The school day 
is just as long as before these studies were made, the school year has the 
same number of days and months—in fact, the tendency is to increase the 
length of both the school day and the school year. In all of these studies, it 
has been assumed that the course of study in the public schools should consist 
of a kindergarten course of at least one year, and twelve years above the 
kindergarten. These twelve grades may be divided, and formerly were almost 
universally divided into eight elementary grades and four high-school grades. 
Recently, many cities have divided these twelve grades into three parts; six 
elementary grades; three intermediate school grades, or junior high-school 
grades; and three senior high-school grades. 

Only occasionally has a voice been heard declaring for a “ real economy 
of time in education” and recommending reducing these twelve grades to 


eleven grades or fewer than eleven. Let us assume for the sake of argument 
that the traditional elementary school course of eight years was adapted to 
the conditions under which it was developed and that it satisfied the educa- 
tional needs of that time. May we not properly ask, “ Does it adequately 
meet the needs of modern society? ”’ In this connection we wish to call your 
attention to the following interesting facts and questions: 

First—The eight-year system developed prior to the American public high 


; school. It seems to be modeled after the eight-year German elementary school 
which assumed that such an elementary school course completed the educa- 
tion of the child. Should not the fact that large numbers of American chil- 
dren continue their education into the high school be considered in determin- 
ing the length of the elementary school course ? 

Second—The eight-year system developed when the number of days that 
schools were kept open was much less than now. Should not an increase in 
the number of school days per year have a tendency to decrease the number of 
years required to complete the elementary school course? 

Third—Since the elimination of much useless and non-functioning subject 
matter from the elementary school course, the re-organization of the material, 
and the re-placing of emphasis, should we not be able to complete the elemen- 
tary school course in a shorter time? 

Fourth—Should not our improved methods and increased skill in teaching 
also tend to shorten the time required for an elementary school course? 

Fifth—May we not learn something from the educational systems of 
European countries? In School and Society for February 2, 1924, page 138, 
you will find the following: ‘“ Some weeks ago Prime Minister Baldwin 
(now ex-prime minister) said that he did not believe the actual achieve- 
ment in the schools of America to be comparable to that of the British 
schools and that on the whole the American boy of 15 was ‘in knowledge 
and achievement about two years behind an English boy of the same age.’ ” 
It is generally conceded that the European boy is ready for senior college 
about two years earlier than the American boy. The world is now knit to- 





140 NATIONAL EpUCATION ASSOCIATION 





gether so closely, commercially and industrially, that it is important that 
American children be given every advantage that is given European children 
in order that the young manhood and womanhood of America may have a 
fair opportunity in competition in world affairs. 

Is an eight-year elementary school course a sacred and divinely established 
institution or is it a mere human accident ? When the American public school 
course was in process of standardization, who knew whether the course 
should be six, seven, eight, nine, or ten years? In some cities where public 
elementary schools developed early and where the sentiment for public edu- 
cation was strong and where the people desired to give their children as 
much education as possible in the public schools, a nine-year elementary school 
course was developed. This was especially true in several cities of New 
England. The children in these cities had a longer training in the public 
schools before entering the private academies; also those children who did 
not pursue their education further in the academies had a longer school train- 
ing prior to entering upon their life work. 

However, in some communities where the sentiment for private elementary 
schools was strong and public schools were looked upon as “ charity ” schools 
and where the funds for public education were limited, a seven-year elemen- 
tary school course was developed. However, comparatively few cities have 
only seven elementary grades. The great majority of American cities have 
eight elementary grades as do also most State courses of study. After the 
establishment of public high schools, practically all those communities that 
had established nine elementary grades reduced their elementary course to 
eight grades. 

For some reason which the writer has been unable to discover, in 1867 
the Kansas City public schools were organized with a seven-year elementar) 
course of study. In 1874, Dr. J. M. Greenwood was elected superintendent 
of the Kansas City public schools. He accepted the seven-year course of 
study. When he took charge, the total enrolment was only 4164 pupils and 
the population of the city by the census of 1870 was 32,260. Dr. Greenwood 
developed the seven-year course in Kansas City, studied its operation and 
became fully convinced that it was the proper length of an elementar) 
school course and became an enthusiastic defender of the seven-year system. 
Twenty-one years ago, he discussed the seven-year system before the general 
session of the Department of Superintendence at the National Education 
Association.’ “ Had I found after going to Kansas City that children re- 
quired eight years to do the work satisfactorily, I should have asked the 
Board of Education to change from seven to eight years; but I have never 
found it necessary or even desirable to suggest a change. Beginning under 
the seven-year course and not feeling sure as to results, I watched carefull) 
and cautiously the entire work over which the pupils passed and made it a 
point to test out our seven-year pupils with all kinds of questions used by 
the eight-grade pupils in the best schools of the country; and our seven-year 
pupils stood as high as the highest.” 


4 Proceedings of the National Education Association, 1903, p. 248. 





ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PRINCIPALS 141 





Kansas City is the largest school system having a seven-year elementary 
school course. The enrolment in all the day schools of the city is over 60,000 
pupils. Kansas City is conducting a valuable experiment in education for 
the country. It is altogether probable that either a seven-year or an eight- 
year course is the better for the average American child. 

If the elementary school course can be satisfactorily completed for the 
average child in seven years it means (1) adding one year to the life of 
every child; (2) adding one year to the educational level of the majority 
of the children; (3) adding one year of useful service to society to the life 
of many children; (4) raising by one year or more the educational level 
of the community; (5) reducing the cost of education; (6) increasing the 
earning power of society ; and (7) improving the social well-being of society. 

In the settlement of this question mere opinions have no validity. The 
procedure must be scientific. We challenge the principals and superintendents 
of America to a scientific study of this question. This brief paper will only 
open the study which must be continued for some time in order to reach 
a conclusion both valid and scientifically determined. 

In order to gather some information of value on this subject, I sent a 
questionnaire to all cities having a population of 75,000 or over and also to 
the largest city in each State that did not have a city with a population of 
75,000. The questionnaire read as follows: 


Questionnaire on School Progress 


. Do you have kindergartens in your school system? 

. What is the length of the kindergarten course? 

3. What is the minimum age at which children may enter the kinder- 
garten ? 

. How many grades (exclusive of kindergarten) in your school system 
below a four-year senior high school ? 

. Is your school system organized on the 8-4 plan or on the 6-3-3 plan? 

. What is the minimum age at which children MAy enter your first 
grade? 

. What is the average age at which children po enter your first grade? 

. Do you keep a cumulative card record of the progress of your pupils 
through the grades? 

. What is the average length of time required for your pupils to complete 
the work in your school system below the four-year senior high-school 
course and exclusive of the kindergarten? (State in years and frac- 
tion of years. ) 

. Was this average given in No. 9 secured by averaging the time required 
as shown by the cumulative cards of graduates? 

. Is this average based on the graduates of one year only or of several 
years? 

. State by years the classes that were studied in making this average. 

3. What was the total number of graduates considered in determining the 
average given in Question No. 9? 





142 NATIONAL EpucATION ASSOCIATION 





14. If the average was not secured trom cumulative cards, please state how 
it was secured? .......... 

15. If you do not have accurate data based on cumulative record cards of 
graduates, will you please estimate as accurately as you can the length 
of time required for pupils to complete the work of your grades be- 
ginning with the entrance in first grade and ending at the beginning 
of a four-year high-school course? ‘That is, the time required to com- 
plete the usual standard elementary school course. (Please give esti- 
mate in years and fraction of year ?) 

Name of person filling questionnaire. 

Official position. 

Name of city. 

Date. 

This questionnaire was sent to 106 cities including Kansas City. Returns 
were received from 63 cities. Of these 63 cities, 16 computed the average 
length of time required from cumulative cards; 10 made estimates from 
age-grade tables; 21 made estimates from general impressions or opinions; 
16 declined to make estimates. One superintendent in making the estimate 
said “eight years approximately. Nearly as many skip terms of work as 
repeat terms of work. Probably eight and one half years would be a better 
guess.” Another superintendent said “ any estimate would be a mere guess.” 
One said “ eight years below high school ” not seeming to realize that an 
eight-grade course does not necessarily mean that the pupils complete the 
course in eight years. Another said “ we have no accurate statistical records 
to answer this question,” another “‘ we do not have the information avail- 
able,” another “ about 10 per cent of our pupils repeat,” another “ majority 
eight years. Opportunity afforded to make time shorter if pupil so elects.” 
Several replied “ no data.” Forty-seven out of sixty-three schools answered 
that they had a cumulative card system; sixteen reported they had none. 
The following fourteen cities having eight-grade systems give tabulations 
from cumulative cards as follows: 


Boise, Idaho 

Cheyenne, Wyoming 

Erie, Pennsylvania 

Harrisburg, Pennsylvania 

Indianapolis, Indiana ............... Sick pie arcade ba ert bach aoe oriole 
Milwaukee, Wisconsin 

Minneapolis, Minnesota 

Newark, New Jersey 

New Bedford, Massachusetts 

New Orleans, Louisiana 

New York, New York 

I NUD nig 6a tet eae a eben a censich aee-éwimns 
St. Joseph, Missouri 

Waterbury, Connecticut 


Of these fourteen cities, a study of the questionnaire indicates that in at 
least ten of them the work has been quite accurately done. However, in two 
reports the number of pupils considered was too small to make the work 
valuable. For example, in Newark the superintendent had no data but cal- 





ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PRINCIPALS 143 





culated the time from the cumulative cards in three schools—a total of 81 
pupils—and found the average was 7.97 years. Cheyenne reported 8.04 years, 
but on a very small number of pupils. We appreciate the fact that some of 
the cities made the computations after the questionnaire was sent them. 
They report quite accurate data. We feel that the following eight are accu- 
rate and computed on numbers large enough to show dependable data: 


Indianapolis, Indiana 

Milwaukee, Wisconsin 

Minneapolis,. Minnesota 

New Bedford, Massachusetts 

New Orleans, Louisiana 

New York, New York 

Oakland, California 

St. Joseph, Missouri 
Average 


While estimates made from age-grade tables are much less trustworthy 
than those made by cumulative cards, nine cities having eight-year systems 
made estimates from age-tables as follows: 


Detroit, Michigan 

Grand Rapids, Michigan 

Jacksonville, Florida 

Los Angeles, California 

Omaha, Nebraska 

Peoria, Illinois 

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 

Spokane, Washington 

Trenton, New Jersey 
Average 


It is interesting to note that the average as estimated from age-grade 
tables is approximately the same as the average obtained by counting of 
cumulative cards—it being 8.23 in one case and 8.25 in the other cases. 

The following eighteen cities having: eight-year systems made estimates 
or gave opinions: 


Albany, New York 
Bayonne, New Jersey 
Birmingham, Alabama 
Boston, Massachusetts 
Burlington, Vermont 
Cambridge, Massachusetts 
Cleveland, Ohio 

Dayton, Ohio 

Lynn, Massachusetts 
Manchester, New Hampshire 
Meridian, Mississippi 
Nashville, Tennessee 
Phoenix, Arizona 

St. Louis, Missouri 

San Francisco, California 
Seattle, Washington 
Springfield, Massachusetts 
Wilmington, Delaware 


Average 





144 NATIONAL EpUCATION ASSOCIATION 





The following sixteen cities were unwilling to make estimates: 


Baltimore, Maryland Providence, Rhode Island 
Chicago, Illinois Richmond, Virginia 
Cincinnati, Ohio Rochester, New York 
Fort Wayne, Indiana Savannah, Georgia 
Louisville, Kentucky Somerville, Massachusetts 
Norfolk, Virginia Utica, New York 
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma Washington, D. C. 
Paterson, New Jersey Worcester, Massachusetts 


Six cities having a seven-year system reported as follows: 


Charleston, South Carolina (from cumulative cards) 
Dallas, Texas (estimated) 

El Paso, Texas (estimated) 

Kansas City, Missouri (from cumulative cards) 

San Antonio, Texas (estimated) 

Winston-Salem, North Carolina (from age-grade table) 


An analysis of the questionnaires first-hand reveals the fact that some of 
these estimates are mere guesses. For example, Winston-Salem, having a 
seven-year system, estimated 8.40 years for each pupil to complete the course 
which is an unreasonably high estimate. Were Winston-Salem omitted from 
the group, the average for the five remaining cities would be 7.11, an estimate 
which is probably,too low. It is probable that the 7.32 years is approximately 
correct, for a seven-year system. Charleston, South Carolina, and Kansas 
City, Missouri, computed from cumulative cards. The average time shown 
by these two cities is 7.34 years for a seven-year system. South Carolina says 
that they had some rapid moving pupils in the class that was computed so 
that the 7.21 years is probably a little low. However, Kansas City had several 
slow moving groups in the class of 1923. Hence, this average may be a little 
high. The Kansas City average includes both white and colored children, 
also all children in subnormal or borderline groups who were granted elemen- 
tary school certificates, so that the 7.47 years is the maximum time possible 
for the Kansas City group. 

In the estimates by superintendents of eight-year systems, it is interesting 
to note that one superintendent estimated nine years, another seven years, 
another seven and one half years. The nine years is undoubtedly too high, 
seven, and seven and one half probably too low. In the same system, schools 
will vary greatly in the length of time required for pupils to complete the 
elementary school course. The school in Kansas City having the best record 
showed by its cumulative cards that the pupils had completed the elementary) 
school course in an average of 6.97 years and that the median time was 
6.72 years. ‘The school having the poorest record showed that the average 
time required to complete the elementary school course was 7.80 years and 
the median time 7.58 years. The best school was located in a splendid resi- 
dence neighborhood. In this school, the number of pupils gaining time was 
slightly greater than the number of pupils losing time. The school making 
the poorest record has a patronage, 90 per cent of which is Italian. Two 





ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PRINCIPALS 145 





groups graduated from this school in 1923. One of the groups completed the 
course in almost normal time; the other group had repeated one half year 
at two different times. This added to the other loss by irregular attendance, 
sickness, etc., brought the average of this class to 7.80 years. We have given 
a large number of intelligence tests in Kansas City and our results show us 
that the Italian children are on a lower level, mentally, than the American 
children. This is especially true of our Italians in Kansas City who are 
largely Sicilians. ‘This school was probably justifiable in having this high 
average, the average being caused by the language handicap of the children, 
lower mentality of the children, and lack of interest in school on the part 
of the parents. Our study of the progress of children through the grades 
convinces us that it is impossible to estimate or guess at the time. The only 
way to get it correctly is to make the calculations from cumulative cards. 

From the letter of explanation which accompanied the questionnaire con- 
taining a statement of the method of procedure, it was evident that the time 
in Milwaukee, 8.33 years, was quite accurate, as was also the result in Oak- 
land, 8.33 years. The results in St. Joseph, 8.40 years, and in Minneapolis, 
8.28 years, were also accurate. Since several cities secured an average time 
of more than eight and one fourth years, it was quite evident to the writer 
that the average time in an eight-grade system is about 8.30 years. As indi- 
cated above the average time for a seven-grade system is probably a little 
more than 7.30 years. Thus, it is seen that the seven-grade system saves one 
year for each school child. 


A study of the returns and the comparison of those returns with the 
actual facts known about the progress of children through the grades lead us 
to the following conclusions: First—That the guesses by superintendents 
of schools as to the length of time required to complete the elementary school 
course are practically valueless. Second—That the estimates based on age- 


” 


grade tables, while more dependable than the “ guesses ” are untrustworthy. 
Especially is this true in a shifting population or in a growing city. Third— 
That cumulative card results, while accurate, are not comparable unless the 
computation is made in exactly the same way. 

Therefore, in order that we may secure comparable data, I am submitting 
the plan of procedure used in securing the data in Kansas City. 

Method of procedure—In the study of the length of time required for 
pupils to complete the elementary school course— 

1. Secure all data for the study from accurately kept cumulative cards. 

2. Eliminate the cards of all pupils who entered the system later than the 
beginning of the third year of the course. 

3. Count the full time from the entrance of the pupil in the beginning 
first-grade class until graduation. 

4. Count by half years; any fraction of a half year is counted as a full 
half year—that is, a pupil entering for the first time in September, October, 
November, December, or January is counted as one year in the school; a 
pupil entering for the first time in February, March, April, or May is 
counted as one half year in school. 











146 NATIONAL EpuCATION ASSOCIATION 





5. After the pupil has once entered, all the time elapsing until he gradu- 
ates is charged against him. For example, one child was three years in a 
tuberculosis sanitarium. She was checked as requiring ten years to complete 
the elementary school course because ten years elapsed from her entrance unti! 
graduation. Many children enter the public schools and withdraw for a year 
or more to attend private or parochial schools. This time is all charged 
against them. Some of these pupils keep up with their grades, but often they 
lose time. Many children move to other cities for a year or more and then 
return to Kansas City. In such cases, the cumulative cards of the pupils are 
revived and the pupils are charged with the time while away. Some of these 
pupils advance a grade a year while absent ; sometimes they do not do so. 

6. Count each one half year of gain for each pupil and charge that gain to 
the proper year of the course. 

7. Count each one half year of loss and charge such half year to the proper 
year of the course. 

8. The balance between the gains and the losses of each pupil should check 
with the acceleration or retardation of the pupil. 

g. Tabulate the results by schools so as to show the distribution of gains 
by grades; the distribution of losses by grades; the distribution of pupils 
by terms required to complete the course; the pupils making losses only ; the 
pupils making gains only ; and the pupils making gains and losses. 

10. Summarize this tabulation. This will furnish data for complete analysis 
of the progress of children through the grades, and the length of time required 
to complete the course. 

We believe (we do not know) that if this method of procedure is used 
it will be found that the Kansas City seven-year system saves one year for 
each pupil—a case of real economy of time in education. 

For several years in Kansas City we have been, studying the progress of 
pupils through the grades. We wish to give a brief summary of these studies 
before giving the details of the study of the class of 1923. As stated above, 
it is possible to know accurately the progress of pupils through the grades 
only by carefully kept cumulative cards. However, a cumulative card system 
has been in operation in Kansas City only ten years. Mr. I. I. Cammack, the 
present superintendent of schools, introduced the cumulative card system 
during his first year as superintendent. Superintendent Cammack and myself, 
in 1915, desired to know as accurately as possible the rate at which children 
were progressing through the grades so the questionnaire method was 
resorted to. 

One of these questionnaires was filled by each pupil who graduated from 
the elementary school in June, 1915. After the questionnaires were filled 
by the pupils, they were checked as carefully as possible by both principal and 
teacher of the school. A study of these questionnaires in 1915 gave an average 
length of time required to complete the elementary school course as 7.65 
years. A similar study was made in 1916 and an average of 7.59 years was 
obtained ; in 1917 an average of 7.61 years. No further study was made until 
the class of 1921. The graduates of June, 1921, were studied from the cumu- 
lative cards. As shown by the cards, the average length of time required by 








147 





ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PRINCIPALS 





e this class was 7.34 years. However, it was evident that this result was some- 
a what too low. Since cumulative cards were put in operation in 1914, such 
. cards do contain the complete record of all pupils who went through the 
! schools regularly in seven years and of all pupils who completed the course 
. in less than seven years, but do not contain a complete record of those pupils 
d who required more than seven years to complete the elementary school course. 
y Those pupils who were 2B in 1914 were counted as requiring eight years to 
. complete the course. However, it might be possible that such pupils had 
. taken nine or more years. Since about one fourth of all our loss of time is in 
4 the first grade, we failed to secure all of the first grade loss. Likewise, chil- 
dren recorded as 3B in 1914 were credited with taking nine years, whereas 
some of these children may have taken ten or even eleven years to complete 
the course—having repeated first or second grade or both. Thus we did not 
, secure all of the second grade loss. While we have had this study of the 
class of 1921 in our files for two years, no general publication of the 7.34 

years has been made because we did not feel that the result was accurate. 
The detailed study of the class of 1923 revealed the fact that the average 
time required is 7.47 years. The boys took 7.52 years; the girls 7.42 years. 
Those who did not transfer took 7.39 years; those who transferred 7.50 


years. More than two thirds changed schools as they passed through the 
course. The shortest time was made by 424 girls who remained in the same 
schools through the course and completed the course on an average of 7.31 
years. However, we found that the median time required to complete the 
course of study was far less than the average time. 56 per cent of all the 
pupils complete the course in seven years or less; 44 per cent require more 
than seven years; however, only 12 per cent require more than eight years. 





TABLE 1.—PERCENTAGE OF PupiLs REQUIRING SEVEN YEARS OR Less TO COMPLETE 
THE CourRsE OF STUDY AND THOSE REQUIRING More THAN EIGHT YEARS 


Requiring more than 


Requiring seven seven years and not more Requiring more 

years or less than eight years than eight years 
MD dincccadesncasa wade 54 33 13 
Serre, eraereer er 58 30 12 
BOR a2iianccenss 56 32 12 


The median time required to complete the course of study is 6.95 years. 


TABLE 2.—TiImMeE REQUIRED TO COMPLETE THE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL COURSE OF STUDY 


Lower quartile Median Upper quartile 
ig eee 6.71 6.97 7-78 
CREE. Saris cand crwve iret 6.69 6.92 7.70 
fy. Reeere reer 6.70 6.95 7-75 


TABLE 3.—Numser oF Pupits AND LENGTH OF TIME SPENT IN THE 
ELEMENTARY GRADES 


Years spent Years spent . 
in grades Number of pupils in grades Number of pupils 
5 3 8 646 
54 3 8} 46 
6 73 9 227 
64 38 94 3 





? 1271 10 9 
7% 158 











148 NATIONAL EpUCATION ASSOCIATION 





We now know that it does take more than seven years on an average for 
the pupils to complete the seven-year course of study in Kansas City. How- 
ever, we know that the modal time is seven years, the median time is scarcely 
seven years, and that the average time is shown considerably above seven 
years for reasons which will be set forth later.. We believe that were the 
computation in eight-year systems made in the same way that we made the 
computation in Kansas City that it would be shown positively that the chil- 
dren in Kansas City complete the elementary school course in one year 
shorter time than in other systems. 


Why a Loss of .47 of a Year Per Pupil? 


A loss of .47 of a year as a pupil progresses through the grades seems 
heavy. However, the median time spent in the grades is 6.95 years. That is, 
more than one half of the pupils completed the elementary school course in 
seven years or less; however, only about 5 per cent completed in six and 
one half years or less; and 44 per cent required more than seven years. Hence, 
the number of pupils taking eight, eight and one half, and nine years increased 
the average to 7.47 years per pupil. This explains the fact that the modal 
time spent in the grades is 7 years, the median time 6.95 years and the average 
time 7.47 years—a difference of .5§2 or more than one half year between the 
median and the average. Why should this loss be so large? In order to 
understand this, it is necessary to remember that this average was obtained 
by counting the entire time which elapsed from the entrance of the pupil into 
school until his graduation. The chief causes of slow progress in school are 
the following: (1) absence and irregular attendance; (2) low mentality or 
lack of capacity; (3) errors in classification of pupils and administration of 
schools; (4) poor equality of teaching; and (5) transiency, wrong atti- 
tude of pupils, etc. 

How important are each of these factors? (1) Absence and irregular at- 
tendance: A study of the causes of non-promotions in the Kansas City 
schools made seven years ago revealed the fact that teachers and principals 
attributed 54 per cent of the non-promotions to irregular attendance and ab- 
sence. A check of the records in many schools showed that this estimate was 
undoubtedly conservative. This absence may be caused by sickness, lack of 
interest, and indifference on the part of parents and pupils, or from any other 
cause whatsoever. ‘Thus it seems that more than one half of the .47 of a year 
loss is accounted for by absence of children from school. Absence and irregu- 
lar attendance exist in an eight-year system the same as in a seven-year 
system. Our distribution of loss of time shows that .12 of a year out of .47, 
or more than one fourth of the total loss, occurred in the first grade and .05 
of a year occurred in the second grade, or a total of .17 of a year, or more than 
one third of the entire loss, occurred in grades one and two. A comparison of 
the seven-year course of study in Kansas City with the eight-year course in 
other systems will show that the work required of pupils in grades one and 
two in Kansas City is practically the same as the work required in grades 
one and two in other systems and that the actual gain is made by condensing 





ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PRINCIPALS 149 





grades three to eight into grades three to seven. Therefore, it is evident that 
this loss of .17 of a year should maintain in an eight-year system the same 
as in a seven-year system. It should also be noted that our study of loss of 
time on account of irregular attendances reveals the fact that irregular 
attendance was greater in the first grade than in any other grade. In Mis- 
souri, the Compulsory School Law does not apply to children under seven 
years of age. We have hundreds of children entered in the first grade with 
good intentions on the part of the parents. However, bad weather comes, 
children’s diseases as measles and whooping cough attack the children, in 
many sections of the city the children have long distances to travel to school, 
and, as a result, they are absent so much that they are unable to finish the 
first grade. For that reason, our repeaters in grade one almost equal in 
number the repeaters in any other two grades combined. It is beyond my 
power of comprehension to understand how children in an eight-year system 
can do the same work as is done in a seven-year system in first and second 
grades without the same percentage of loss of time as in a seven-year system. 

(2) Low mentality of lack of capacity on the part of the pupils: The same 
study in 1916 attributed 17 per cent of non-promotions to lack of capacity 
on the part of pupils to do the work. During the year 1922-23, the principals 
in the white elementary schools of Kansas City were asked to report to the 
Research Division those pupils who were three years or more retarded. An 
individual intelligence test, using the Stanford Revision of the Binet-Simon 
Test, was given to each of these pupils. A total of 507 children were tested. 


These 507 children were distributed according to I. Q. as follows: 


Number 
1. of pupils 


Below 60 


An analysis of these figures shows that a total of 239, or 47 per cent, of the 
507 pupils were feeble-minded or subnormal since all children below 70 I. Q. 
are usually ranked as subnormal, and that 36 per cent, or 181 pupils having 
an I. Q. from 70-79, are distinctly borderline pupils. This group comprises 
more than 8o per cent of the children who are three years or more retarded 
in the classes of the borderline or feeble-minded. This study shows the im- 
portance of low mentality as a factor in the retardation. Pupils who have an 
I. Q. below 85 cannot be expected to complete the elementary course on 
schedule whether it be an eight-year system or a seven-year system. Of these 
507 children, only 16 had I. Q.’s of 90 or above. These can all be accounted 
for as special cases—one was a Russian only eight months in America; another 
was a Russian only eighteen months in America; one child had been ill and 
in a tuberculosis sanitarium for three years; one had very defective eyesight 
which made it impossible for him to do his work satisfactorily; one was a 
moral delinquent, cigarette fiend, and juvenile court case. One was 








KANSAS CITY MQ. PUBLIC SCHOOLS | 


LOW IQ AN IMPORTANT FACTOR IN RETARDATION 
A STUDY OF 507 PUPILS IN THE REGULAR GRADES 
AND THREE OR MORE YEARS RETARDED-1922-25 


DerCent | 
5G 253 


















































3 
O67, 








{____-4 


LQ  Bdow60 60°69 70-79 G0-69 90-99 100nOver Bdow70 10-19 80-69 WorOver 








el 








Fic. 1.—Median Scores of Number of Examples Attempted and of Number of 
Examples Right. All pupils in Grades 4, 5, 6, and 7 were Tested. Number Tested 
in Each Grade, 3500-4500. 


[150] 





ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PRINCIPALS 151 





retarded on account of sickness, had rather serious heart trouble. His mother 
is a nurse and moves about a good deal. The boy was for a while in a boys’ 
hotel. Is in high school now. Reported to be a fine boy. I. Q., 106.7. 
Another case—bad tonsils, undernourished, later referred to social agencies 
to supply food, wrong kind of father. Now doing fairly well in school. 
I. Q., 94.3. Another case—poor health in early school life, has not had school 
advantages. Father and mother separated. In early life out of school. Did 
splendid work in Faxon School. Organized a business outside school (pack- 
age delivery from merchants), and earned considerable money. Now in mili- 
tary school and reported doing well. I. Q., 90.6. In similar manner the 
causes of retardation of the remainder of the sixteen could be set forth. The 
amount of retardation attributed to low mentality is one sixth of the total 
amount, or about .o8 of a year per pupil. We do not understand why this 
factor refuses to operate in an eight-year system though it does operate in a 
seven-year system. 

(3) Errors in classification of pupils and administration of schools: It 
is dificult to know what percentage of retardation is to be attributed to 
this factor. Though we asked principals and teachers to report their errors, 
it is evident that they are loth to do so and the retardations attributed to this 
factor are few. A study of the cumulative cards and the progress of children 
‘ through the grades reveals the fact that of the 2477 children who were 
studies, 718 had been held one half year in order to make their work close a 
school grade at the end of a school year and thus eliminate beginning mid- 
year classes. This amounts to a total loss of .14 of a year per pupil. Were 
this loss of time eliminated in Kansas City, the average time per pupil would 
be reduced to 7.33 years. Thus it is quite evident that any loss of time in 
Kansas City in excess of the loss of time in eight-year systems may be 
avoided by the teachers and principals living up to their full opportunity in 
making of semi-annual promotions and holding of mid-year graduations. 
Under errors in classification should be placed the assigning of too many 
pupils to a teacher. We are unable to know how much retardation is due to 
the overloading of teachers with an excess of pupils. Some of our rooms in 
Kansas City are very heavily loaded—4o to 50 pupils per teacher. 

(4) Poor quality of teaching: We are unable to estimate the amount of 
loss due to this cause. In general, the teachers in Kansas City are well pre- 
pared and very efficient. However, as in all systems, we occasionally have 
incompetent teachers. Often principals attribute the failure of a whole class, 
or large numbers in a class, to make a full grade in a year to poor work of 
the teacher either in that grade or the preceding grade. 

In addition to these four principal causes, there are retardations due to 
various causes, such as moral delinquency, defective eyesight, defective 
hearing, lack of interest on the part of the pupils, change of schools, etc. 
However, investigation indicates that the percentage of retardation due to 
these causes is relatively small, except for change of schools or transiency, 
to which 10 to 20 per cent of the total loss should be attributed. The dis- 





152 NATIONAL EDUCATION ASSOCIATION 





tribution of losses by grades will doubtless be interesting. The distribution is 
as follows: 


Loss of time 


This loss represented is the net loss amounting to .47 of a year. The gross 
loss amounted to .56 of a year and the gross gain to .09 of a year. The gain 
was quite equally distributed among the five grades two to six. There was 
little gain of time in the first grade, or in the seventh grade. 

From the above facts, it is evident that the seven-year elementary school 
system is better adapted to the average pupil who attends school with a 
reasonable degree of regularity than is the eight-year system. The eight-year 
system is undoubtedly better adapted to take care of the subnormal and 
feeble-minded children and the pupils who are in poor health and who are 
irregular in attendance. Would it not be wise and economical to arrange 
for special groups for caring for these unfortunate pupils and save time for 
the regular pupils? Eight-year systems may claim that they can offset the 
loss of time on account of low mentality, irregular attendance, errors in 
management and poor quality of teaching by special promotions of the aver- 
age and bright pupils. If this is done it simply indicates that the eight-year 
system is not adapted to the average pupil but is adapted to the pupil below 
average. In fact, that is a serious charge made against the American public 
schools that they are conducted in such a way as to force all children into 
mediocrity. 


Standard Amount and Quality of Work Maintained 


In previous sections of this study, it is shown conclusively that the Kansas 
City elementary school system is saving practically one year of time for each 
elementary school pupil. It is possible to reduce the material in a course of 
study and to promote pupils on low standards and thus gain time at the 
expense of the amount and quality of school work. In Kansas City in the last 
few years certain reductions in the course of study have been made. In 
accordance with the suggestions of the Committee of the National Education 
Association on Economy of Time in Education. These eliminations have been 
made chiefly in formal grammar and arithmetic. However, on the other 
hand, the amount of work in reading, geography, history, the social sciences, 
music, drawing, manual training, household arts, health and hygiene, and 
miscellaneous activities has been greatly increased. Also, many changes in em- 
phasis in the various subjects have been made. It is very fortunate that stand- 
ardized tests of intelligence and school achievement have been so far developed 
that it is possible to measure with reasonable accuracy the intelligence of 
school children in the different grades and also their achievement in the 





ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PRINCIPALS 153 





various school subjects. By means of these tests and by means of the ability 
of pupils to do advanced work in high school, college, or university, we are 
able to determine whether or not the elementary school work has been well 
done. 

First—How do the seventh grade pupils of Kansas City score on standard- 
ized tests?—The writer of this paper has for ten years been engaged in educa- 
tional research in connection with the Kansas City Schools. During this 
period hundreds of thousands of achievement and intelligence tests have been 
given to the pupils of Kansas City. A special effort has been made to secure 
from other cities the results on the various standardized tests. Very careful 
comparison of these results has been made with the results obtained by giving 
the same standardized tests to the pupils of Kansas City. In making these 
comparisons, the seventh-grade pupils of Kansas City are always compared 
with the eighth-grade pupils of other cities and the sixth-grade pupils with the 
seventh-grade pupils of other cities. The fifth-grade pupils are expected to 
reach a point located a little above the mid-way point between the fifth and 
the sixth grade scores in other systems; the fourth-grade pupils are expected 
to make scores about mid-way between the fourth and fifth grade scores in 
other systems; the third-grade pupils somewhat below the mid-point between 
the third and the fourth grade scores in other systems. 

In May, 1923, the Courtis Research Tests in Arithmetic, Series B, were 
given to all the pupils of Kansas City in the fourth, fifth, sixth, and seventh 
grades. In order that you may see the character of these results, we are 
reporting the scores made by the 7A pupils, that is the class which was to 
graduate in early June, and the scores made by the 4A pupils. Time does 
not permit giving other scores. The results are as follows: 


REPORT ON COURTIS RESEARCH TESTS IN ARITHMETIC, SERIES B 


i Kansas City Courtis Kansas City Courtis 
Addition: scores-4A standards-5A scores-7A standards-8A 


Attempts " 8.0 15.0 12.0 
Rights p 8.0 12.8 12.0 
Per cent in accuracy....75. 100.00 85.3 100.00 
Subtraction: 
Attempts : 9.0 15.7 13.0 
Rights : 9.0 13.8 13.0 
Per cent in accuracy... .82. 88.1 100.0 
Multiplication: 
Attempts Q 8.0 13.7 11.0 
Rights . 8.0 11.4 11.0 
Per cent in accuracy... .76. 100.0 82.9 100.0 
Division: 
6.0 13.9 I1r.0 
6.0 13.9 11,0 
Per cent in accuracy... .89. 100.0 100.0 100.0 


An examination of this table shows that our 7A classes score above the 
Courtis Standards in all the operations in both Attempts and Rights. The 
pupils do not reach the Courtis Standards of 100 per cent in accuracy. 
Neither does any other system do so. We do reach the 100 per cent in accu- 





154 NATIONAL EpucATION ASSOCIATION 





racy in division. This standard is reached not only in the seventh grade but 
also in the fifth and sixth grades in division. 

It is not to be expected that the fourth-grade pupils in a seven-year system 
would be equal to the fifth-grade pupils in an eighth-grade system. Only 
about one half of a grade would be gained at that time. However, in the fun- 
damental operations in arithmetic, you will note that the 4A pupils of Kansas 
City have reached the Courtis 5A standards in speed or rate and, in division 
they are far above the 5A standards in both Attempts and Rights and have 
an accuracy of 99.1 per cent. The number of Rights in addition, subtraction, 
and multiplication, while averaging one half of an example below Courtis 
standards for fifth-grade, are more than one example higher than his standard 
for fourth grade, and also far above the scores made in other cities by 5A 
classes. In fact, we challenge the cities of 100,000 or more in America to 
show by means of standardized tests better work in the fundamental opera- 
tions in arithmetic than is done in Kansas City, it beirig understood in this 
challenge that the tests will be given to all of the children in the four upper 
grades. The scores given above are the medians obtained by giving the test 
to all the children in all the schools in Kansas City. 

In all the formal tool subjects as handwriting, spelling, reading, mechanical 
operations in arithmetic, including decimal and common fractions, the results 
in Kansas City not only compare favorably with the scores made in other 
cities, but they are always among the best reported, being in nearly every 
instance among the upper quartile. 

We have made many comparisons of the results in Kansas City on thought 
problems in arithmetic, on geography tests and history tests with the scores 
made in other cities. We find on these subjects that the Kansas City scores 
are generally equal to or slightly above the average scores of other cities on 
the same test. These high scores are secured although the pupils in the Kansas 
City Schools are one half to one year younger than the pupils with whom they 
are compared. 

Second—The standard quantity and quality of the work in the elementary 
grades in Kansas City is shown by the records of the graduates of the elemen- 
tary schools—The pupils who graduated from these schools enter the high 
school and take the course in Kansas City or in any other city and do entirely 
satisfactory work. The high-school course in Kansas City is practically the 
same as the standard high-school course in other cities. 

As further evidence of the splendid character of the work in the elemen- 
tary schools in Kansas City, we submit the fact that our students after com- 
pleting four years of high-school work, enter colleges and universities and do 
entirely satisfactory work. A large number of our students go to the Univer- 
sity of Kansas and to the University of Missouri. However, many of them 
enter Eastern colleges and universities. The reports from these colleges and 
universities are gratifying indeed. We submit the following report from the 
University of Kansas, under date of February 16, 1924: 

Our system of grading is “A,” “B,” “C,” “D,” “I” (incomplete), and “F” 


(failure). We have weighed these grades in the study as follows: A, 5; B, 4; 
C, 3; D, 2; I, 1; and F, o. 














ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PRINCIPALS 








KANMSCITY MISSOURL PUBLIC SCHL 


COMPARISON of 1919 and 1923 SCORES on 
COURTIS RESEARCH ARITHMETIC TESTS 


4th GRADE, th GRADE 























» 















































atTs Kr ATT: Ts ATT: =6ORTs OatT: = ORTS ATTS &TS ATTS BTS ATI} RTS ATT RTS 
ADDITION  SUBTEATICN MULTIPLIATION DIVINON ADDITION SUBTRACTION MULTIPLYATION DIVISION 


6+: GRADE Th GRADE 






















































































ADDITION  SUBSTRATTION MOLTIPLIATION ADDITION SOBTRATION MIQIPLICATON DIVISION 
@we— ia Gams — 1925 ° 











156 NATIONAL EpucATION ASSOCIATION 





Under this weighing, we find the general University average (all schools) to 
be 3.020, just a shade better than “ C.” 

The average rating of the more than eighty Kansas City, Missouri, high-school 
graduates now in the University, who were here last year, thus affording an oppor- 
tunity to compare their records, is 3.235. 

The average rating of the twenty-five and more Junior College students, now 
enrolled for their second year here, is 3.524. 


We have a similar report from the University of Illinois. The system of 
rating in the two universities is practically the same. The average of the 
Kansas City high-school graduates in the University of Illinois under the 
same rating as used above was 3.23; also the average of the Junior College 
graduates in the University of Illinois was 3.20. This shows that our stu- 
dents are maintaining superior standing in these universities. 

In general, the reports from the universities are that the Kansas City 
high-school graduates rank above the average. More than one half of the 
high-school graduates who continue their education now enter our own 
Junior College at Kansas City. After two years of work in this institution 
which parallels the freshmen and sophomore years in the universities, these 
students, many of them, continue their work in other colleges and univer- 
sities. In fact of the 601 students who have graduated from Junior College 
in the last eight years, 447—that is 74 per cent of the total number—con- 
tinued their education beyond the Junior College course. Of the 601 gradu- 
ates, 261 have been graduated during the past two years and have not 
completed their college work. Honors won as indicated below are by 
students of the preceding classes, totalling 340: 


Number Phi Beta Kappa 
University of Missouri 
University of Kansas 
University of Illinois 
University of Michigan 
University of Wisconsin 


Number of Tau Beta Pi 
University of Illinois 
University of Missouri 


Other Honorary Fraternities 

Fellowship at California University 

Fellowship at Illinois University 

Scholarship for a year European study 

Scholarship at Massachusetts Institute of Technology 


Grand Total 


To summarize these facts, we have shown you that the pupils who have 
taken the seven-year course at Kansas City in a median time of 6.95 years 
and an average time of 7.47 years make the following records: (1) Rank 
in the upper quartile of the large cities of the United States on school 
achievement tests in the formal subjects. (2) Rank in the upper one half 
of the large cities of the United States in school achievement tests on the 
content subjects. (3) That the graduates of the elementary schools at Kansas 





ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PRINCIPALS 157 





City do average or superior high-school work in any standard high-school 
which they enter. (4) That the graduates of the Kansas City high schools, 
after seven years in the elementary schools and four years in high school, 
enter standard colleges and universities and do work above the average of 
the students in those institutions. (5) That graduates of the Kansas City high 
schools who enter the Kansas City Junior College and complete two addi- 
tional years work enter the junior year of a standard college and university 
and do superior work. Thirteen per cent of the total number entering win 
high honors on scholarships. 


Why has not the Seven-Year System been Universally Adopted? 


From the arguments thus far presented, it is evident that the causes for 
the seven-year elementary school system have been fully made. The experi- 
ment at Kansas City, conducted for the past fifty-six years, has been success- 
ful. Yet, comparatively few cities are adopting the seven-year course. The 
following are some of the reasons: 


Kansas City and other cities having a seven-year system have lacked accurate 
statistical data. Dr. Greenwood, who supervised the schools of Kansas City for forty 
years, made many studies of the seven-year system and made reports from time to 
time as to the length of time required to complete the course. However, few city 
systems were at that time using cumulative record cards. The reports depended 
for data too much upon memory of pupils and teachers and a system of incomplete 
and imperfect records. For that reason, there was a tendency to doubt the accuracy 
of these statistics. However, our latest and most accurate statistical study, that of 
the class of 1923, assures us of the correctness of the general conclusions from the 
studies of Dr. Greenwood and also from our own earlier questionnaire studies. 

Prior to 1913, in Missouri, children could not be admitted to school under six 
years of age. Parents who desired their children to have a kindergarten course must 
place their six-year-old children in kindergarten. Hence, those children would not 
reach the first grade until they were seven years old or more. Some cities admitted 
children to kindergarten at four years and to the first grade at five and one half 
years. In such cities the average for the first-grade group is about six years. 
These cities started the children in the first grade fully one year younger than the 
children started in first grade in Kansas City. As a result these children completed 
eight grades and showed about the same average age on graduation from the ele- 
mentary schools as the children in Kansas City who completed seven grades because 
the children in Kansas City started at an older age. For example, when Dr. Green- 
wood made his report to the National Education Association in 1903 on the seven- 
year system, the median age of the children entering the first grade in Kansas City 
in the fall of 1902 was 7 years 8 months. For 1913 the median age of the children 
entering the first grade had fallen to 7 years 4 months. In 1913, the Legislature 
passed a law permitting children to enter the kindergarten at 5 years. This has led 
to a gradual reduction of the entrance age of the children in the first grade. In the 
fall of 1923, the median age of the entering first grade class was 6 years 6 months. 
No child is admitted to first grade unless he is 6 years old, chronologically, with 
this exception—that children who are 5 years 10 months old, chronologically, if a 
mental test shows them to have a mental age of six years, may enter the first grade. 
Comparatively few request the test so that the majority of pupils entering first grade 
are over six years of age. At this point, I wish to call your attention to the fact 
that the class of 1923 graduated at a median age of thirteen years eleven months. 
The median age of the 1B class, entering in 1916 was 6 years 9 months. The class 
graduating with a median age of 13 years 11 months would enter high school in 
September, 1923, with a median age of 14 years 2 months. The difference between 














158 NATIONAL EpucaATION ASSOCIATION 





6 years 9 months and 14 years 2 months is 7 years 5 months. That is, computation 
by age-grade tables would show that the time required to complete the elementary 
school course in Kansas City was 7 years 5 months or 7.42 years. While this estimate 
is very nearly the same as the result secured by checking cumulative cards, it is 
.untrustworthy because less than one half of the class that graduated in 1923 were 
in the 1B class of 1916. You will recall that we cast out 1401 of these because 
they entered the Kansas City Schools more than two years later than 1916. Quite a 
number of the slow and irregular pupils who entered in the class of 1916 have 
dropped to a lower class and their places have been taken by pupils who entered in 
1913, 1914, and 1915. 

As referred to above, in Kansas City no provision is made for graduation from 
the high school at’mid-year. Graduation from the elementary schools is permitted 
at mid-year and even recommended. However, the majority of schools seem to 
avoid mid-year graduations. This has a tendency to retard unnecessarily the pupils 
passing through the grades and to increase the age of the elementary school pupils 
at graduation. 


These three facts have operated to cause systems having eight elementary 
grades to feel that their work was as satisfactory as the seven-year system. 
Our experience in Kansas City and our study of the work of other systems 
has convinced us fully that the normal children who enter the first grade at 
the age of six years and attend school regularly will easily and satisfactorily) 
complete a standard elementary school course in seven years. Thus a saving 
of one year is made for each child. In the beginning of this paper, we referred 
to the fact that the European boy reaches his college and professional work 
two years earlier than the American boy. The seven-year system provides 
for the saving of one of these years. We would like to remind you of the 
suggestions which have been made by Dr. Charles H. Judd, of the School of 
Education, University of Chicago, and others that an additional year may be 
saved. As grades three to eight have been compressed into five grades with 
entirely satisfactory results so grades nine tg fourteen may be compressed into 
five grades. That is, the four-year standard high school and two years of 
junior college can be organized so as to be cympleted in five years. This will 
be done largely by eliminating certain useless material and avoiding duplica- 
tions and overlapping in the last two years of high school and the first two 
years of college. When the seven-year elementary system has been universally 
adopted, and the four years of high school and two years of junior college 
have been condensed into five years, then the American boy will be able to 
reach the senior college or third year of the standard college in twelve years 
after leaving the kindergarten. This will enable him to complete his college 
course or professional course at the age of twenty-four or twenty-five years. 


Advantages of the Seven-Year System 


First—A greater number of pupils continue in school (a) A greater per- 
centage of pupils complete the elementary school course. Since in a seven- 
year system pupils who enter between six and seven years of age can complete 
the elementary school course before the age of fourteen, a higher percentage 
can be held until graduation from the elementary school. In Kansas City for 
the last few years 80 per cent of all the pupils who enter have continued 
in school to graduation. This count is not scientifically accurate but is an 





scl 


cl; 
pr 
th 


CC 


of 











ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PRINCIPALS 159 





estimate. The estimate is made by assuming that the number of children 
between the ages of eight and nine, nine and ten, ten and eleven, etc., are 
practically the same. Find the total number of children enrolled in the 
schools eight years old on September 1 of any year and less than nine years 
old. Assume that this is the number of children at each age. For example, 
in Kansas City, last year we graduated at the mid-year graduation and June 
graduation 4234 pupils. The total number of children enrolled in school in 
1922-23 who were in September, 1922, eight years old and less than nine 
years was 5277. 4234 is 80.2 per cent of 5277. In this method of count, we 
are assuming that 5277 pupils represents the maximum possibility of the 
graduating class for the year 1923 and that we are actually graduating 80.2 
per cent of the maximum possibility. We believe very few eight-grade sys- 
tems can show so large a percentage of graduation from the elementary 
school. Fifty to sixty is the most frequent per cent in other cities. 

(b) On actual count, we find that 90 per cent of the 1923 graduating 
class of the public elementary schools entered either the public high schools, 
private high schools, business colleges, or trade schools and are continuing 
their education beyond the elementary school course. 

(c) Assuming again 5277 as the maximum possibilities of graduation from 
high school, including the trade schools, for the year 1923, our high schools 
did actually graduate 1605 pupils. That is, our high schools including the 
trade schools are graduating 30.4 per cent of the children who actually enter 
the schools and become potential graduates. 

(d) Fifty-seven per cent of the pupils graduated from high school enter 
college. This percentage was determined by actual count on the graduates 
of the high schools for the last three years. Of this number about one half 
entered the Junior College of Kansas City. 

(e) Seventy-four per cent of those who completed the two-year junior 
college course continue their work in other colleges or universities. 

From the above figures, it is seen that Kansas City graduates about 50 per 
cent more of its pupils from the elementary school course than the average 
of the country and graduates from high school almost twice as large a per 
cent as the average of the country and sends almost twice as large a per cent 
into college. For years the school administration has believed that an impor- 
tant factor in this high persistence in school has been the seven-year elemen- 
tary school system as it gives the children an opportunity to get into high 
school a year earlier, into college a year earlier, and into his life work a year 
earlier. It tempts the pupil to remain longer in school. The child who is 
able to enter high school before he is fourteen has multiplied many times his 
chances of completing a high-school course. When the parent sees that his 
child can graduate from high school before he is eighteen, from college before 
he is twenty-two, from his professional school before he is twenty-five, he is 
inclined to encourage his child to continue his school work into the higher 
educational institutions. 

Second—The seven-year system raises the educational level of the average 
pupil one year—That is, the pupil, at a given age beyond fourteen has a year 
more of schooling than he would have in an eight-grade system. 








160 NATIONAL EpUCATION ASSOCIATION 





Third—T he seven-year system gradually raises the educational level of the 
whole community a year or more—With a seven-grade system, instead of the 
American Nation remaining a sixth-grade Nation, it would rapidly forge its 
way up to aninth- or tenth-grade Nation. In truth, the citizenship in Kansas 
City which is being educated in its public schools today are entering life on 
the tenth grade level. In other words, one half or more of the children are 
continuing their education through the tenth grade, whereas in the majority 
of the large cities, fully one half are closing their educations at the end of 
the eighth grade. A seven-year system has raised the educational level of 
Kansas City not one grade only but at least two grades. 

Fourth—The seven-grade system reduces the cost of public education—In 
Kansas City it costs about $83 per pupil per year to conduct the elementary 
schools. Since we have assumed that there are 5277 children at each age, the 
saving of one year in the elementary school course for each of these groups 
at graduation means an annual saving of nearly one half million dollars in 
the conduct of the school system. Note that I say a saving of nearly one half 
million dollars in the conduct of the school system. This does not mean that 
schools are conducted at a half million dollars less cost to the taxpayer be- 
cause these children are held in school, as we have shown above, for further 
educational training. Thus the one half million dollars is spent in giving the 
children more high-school training and more college training. 

Fifth—Children, who, on account of economic conditions, must enter the 
industrial world at the age of fourteen years or at the completion of their 
elementary school course, leave the public schools with a year more of train- 
ing, with increased earning capacity, a more valuable product for society, 
industrially, and also with better training for citizenship. 

Sixth—A seven-year elementary school course improves the well-being of 
society—lIt gives us a citizenship with a more thorough education, a bigger 
vision, and higher ideals. In other words, it is the greatest real economy in 
education ever offered to the American people. 


THE RIGHT RELATION OF COOPERATION BETWEEN THE 
ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PRINCIPAL AND THE 
SUPERVISORS—A CASE STUDY 


Maria R. PorcHER 
Principal, Bancroft School, Minneapolis, Minnesota 


HE MINNEAPOLIS principal is recognized by the superintendent, 
assistant superintendents, and heads of departments as the head of his 
school. They realize that he is the only one who has the perspective of the 
whole school program and the intimate knowledge of conditions in his 
school ; therefore he is held responsible for “ coérdinating all the instructional 
activities of the school.” 
In order that the principal may make this responsibility a fact and not a 
mere theory, he has been relieved of the routine business pertaining to his 
office and has been given time to attend to his main duty, that of supervision. 





ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PRINCIPALS 161 





One of the important measures contributing to this is the giving to every 
principal efficient clerical help in proportion to the school enrolment. These 
clerks are under the direct supervision of a chief clerk and receive their train- 
ing by acting as assistant clerks in the large buildings. 

Another important measure is the sending from the central office to every 
person connected with the schools weekly bulletins containing notices and 
general information. This does away with the necessity of using building 
meetings for discussion of administrative matters. 

To further protect the principal’s time, a rule has been made that no agent 
or solicitor has the right to any interview with a principal unless he presents 
a certified permission from the superintendent. 

At the solicitation of the principals themselves, after they had made a 
careful study of the distribution of their time, a schedule of office hours was 
adopted this year. Parents are learning to confine their visits and telephone 
messages to the office hours, and principals exchange calls at that time, thus 
leaving the principals more time for uninterrupted supervision. 

The problem of time for supervision having been satisfactorily adjusted, 
the Principals’ Forum, the local organization of the Minneapolis principals, 
tas devoted the past three years to the study of supervision. It was through 
the agency of one of its committees that several plans were initiated which 
have helped to bring about the right relation between supervisor and prin- 
cipal. 

At the invitation of the superintendent, the professional committee met 
with the superintendent, assistant superintendents, and supervisors, to outline 
a plan for increasing the efficiency of the work of the supervisors of special 
subjects. 

They based their recommendations upon the assumption that “ both prin- 
cipals and supervisors feel that the helping of teachers is a mutual undertak- 
ing to which each must make his contribution in harmonious coéperation with 
the other.” , 

The first change suggested was in the time of holding teachers’ meetings. 
The plan which had been followed was having meetings scattered through 
the first six or eight weeks of each term after school on such days as were 
available. There were two objections to this. In the first place, after a day’s 
work, the teachers were too tired to get the full benefit of the instructions. 
In the second place, the teachers in the last group to be called had covered 
two months’ work before receiving any assistance from the supervisors. To 
remedy this condition, the professional committee suggested that meetings of 
supervisors with teachers be held at the beginning of the terms in September 
and January and that all new work and outlines for the term be given at 
those times. 

Now, during the first week of September, schools are in session in the 
mornings only, the afternoons being left free for meetings with supervisors 
and principals. At the beginning of the second term in January, meetings 
are held during the first two weeks, classes being dismissed an hour earlier. 
The teachers are unanimous in their approval of this plan which makes it 
possible for them to receive the help needed at the very beginning of the term 
before they undertake the work itself. 





162 NATIONAL EpuUCATION ASSOCIATION 





A second valuable suggestion made by the committee at this conference 
and adopted was the need of a printed schedule of supervisors’ visits to be 
sent to the schools a month in advance. Supervisors had been in the habit of 
coming unannounced to buildings, and it not infrequently happened that two 
or more selected the same day to visit a certain school. Sometimes, in the 
midst of a testing program or at the beginning of an assembly, word would 
come that a supervisor was in the building. This meant the hasty rearrange- 
ment of teachers’ and principals’ programs, with no time for planning to get 
the maximum amount of help for all concerned. 

The Minneapolis supervisors are expert teachers. Instead of spending the 
greater part of their time observing the teaching of others, they present the 
lessons themselves and discover through the reaction of the pupils the effec- 
tiveness of the methods and technique used. For this reason, it is imperative 
that the schedule be so planned that the principal and teachers be afforded 
opportunity to observe as many of the lessons as possible. 

As the principal is held responsible for the results in the special subjects, 
it is essential that he should receive all the help possible from the visit and 
so he holds a conference with the supervisor on the work observed. Likewise, 
the supervisor, realizing that the success of her subject depends upon intelli- 
gent supervision by the principal, is eager to receive constructive criticisms 
and suggestions from him. 

It was pointed out that a published schedule of visits would enable the 
principal and teachers to plan their day so as to get the most out of the 
visit, prevent conflicts between supervisors’ visits, and facilitate a fair dis- 
tribution of time. 

When this plan was proposed the supervisors declared it ideal, but not prac- 
ticable. However, it was tried, and now both supervisors and principals agree 
that no one thing has contributed more toward the effective supervision of 
special subjects than this definite schedule for supervisors’ visits. 

Each supervisor first makes out her own itinerary of visits to buildings. 
These itineraries are assembled by the chairman of the group who makes 
adjustments necessary to prevent having more than one supervisor in a build- 
ing on the same day. Periods marked optional are allowed on the schedule 
to provide time for office work, such as the making of outlines, looking over 
work, and giving assistance where especially needed. 

When a supervisor visits a school, she reports first to the principal’s office, 
where she finds a tentative program for the day mapped out. The principal 
has previously consulted with his teachers and knows where help is most 
needed and just what specific help is most wanted. 

Now that the teacher knows that the supervisor is coming to her room, 
there is no unusual excitement. Under this new system, the supervisor is 
welcome for the teacher has had time to think over the difficulties that have 
arisen since the last visit and to formulate questions and ask for suggestions. 
She has her work ready for inspection and can give her undivided attention 
to all criticisms. If she needs additional help, she has planned her program 
so that she can observe lessons that are given in other rooms. Teachers have 
often been heard to exclaim, “ I am so glad that Miss ———— is coming next 





ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PRINCIPALS 163 





week. I am just ready to take up the divided beat and want to see how she 
will present the lesson,” or “‘ Miss — had a very fine writing lesson in 
my room. She got so much more out of my children than I have ever been 
able to get that I am inspired to work harder.’”’ These remarks show that 
between teacher and supervisor there is a relationship marked by cordiality, 
helpfulness, and mutual confidence. 

A supervisor new to the Minneapolis system has expressed herself strongly 
in favor of this plan because, when she visits a school, she finds that careful 
preparations have been made for her work and that the principal is ready to 
accompany her instead of being told, “‘ Just make yourself at home,” and then 
left to work alone. 

A discussion of supervision in the Minneapolis Schools would be incom- 
plete without mention of two outstanding features in the plan which contrib- 
ute greatly toward the codrdination of the work of principals and supervisors. 
One of these is the provision that is made for the supervision of new teachers. 
There are two supervisors of academic work, one for the primary and one 
for the intermediate grades. The special function of these supervisors is to 
acquaint the new teachers with Minneapolis standards as early as possible 
in order that the efficiency of the schools may not be lowered. They are free 
to give definite constructive help at the beginning of the year and the term 
when the time of assistant superintendents and principals must be occupied 
with organization problems. They hold Saturday morning classes in methods, 
visit the teachers in their rooms, give model lessons, and help the teachers to 
adjust themselves to new conditions. 

All new teachers are considered on probation for a period of three years. 
During the first year principal and supervisor share the responsibility of 
fitting the new teacher into the system. 

The other feature, even more important than the one just explained, is the 
work of the assistant superintendent of elementary instruction. She has, in 
addition to her many other duties, assumed the responsibility of helping the 
supervisors secure “‘ economy of effort and unity of purpose” in their work 
so that the special subjects contribute toward the “ well rounded and well 
balanced education” of the child. She holds conferences with the super- 
visors. Their outlines are submitted to her for criticism before they are 
printed for distribution to the teachers. This prevents conflicts between the 
objectives of the special subjects and those of the academic and assures proper 
balance by not allowing undue emphasis to be given to any one subject. 

The supervisors work in close harmony with one another. Last spring the 
assistant superintendent and supervisors of art and penmanship held a series 
of meetings with the primary teachers to discuss the subject of seat work. 
An exhibit of different types of seat work demonstrated how the work in 
drawing and writing was being closely correlated with that of silent reading 
and arithmetic. 

When important changes are to be made in the courses of study, the super- 
visors are given an opportunity to present them to the principals before meet- 
ings are held with the teachers. 





164 NATIONAL EpUCATION ASSOCIATION 





It is the policy of the assistant superintendent to appoint committees of 
principals to study all proposed changes in the courses of study in the academic 
subjects and to assist in the making of all new courses. 

This study has been confined almost entirely to the relation between the 
principal and supervisors of special subjects as there are no supervisors of 
academic work in Minneapolis, except those working with new teachers. The 
assistant superintendents exercise a general supervision in this field. “ Unity 
which promotes growth,” and not uniformity, is the aim of the administration. 
At the principals’ meetings the latest outstanding educational methods are 
presented for study. It is left to each principal to investigate and evaluate 
these and decide for himself how and when to introduce them into his school. 

Through the published schedule of supervisors’ visits, the plan of special 
supervision of new teachers, the expert teaching by supervisors of special 
subjects resulting in democracy in supervision, and the clearing-house methods 
of the assistant superintendent in charge of elementary instruction, have come 
“unification and coérdination of the efforts of every individual engaged in 
the different processes within the big complex.” 


THE RIGHT RELATIONSHIP OF COOPERATION BETWEEN 
THE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PRINCIPAL 
AND SUPERVISORS 


GEorGE BIRKHAM 
District Principal, Detroit, Michigan 


T IS QUITE generally agreed in educational circles that the elementary 
school principal has three main functions—namely, that of an adminis- 
trator, of a community leader, and of a supervisor. 

The first of these implies primarily on the part of the principal’s good 
judgment and a general professional background; the second certain social 
qualities and a general background ; while the third should imply not only the 
qualifications found in an administrator and a community leader but in addi- 
tion most careful specific training. 

This emphasis upon training in relationship to the third function of the 
principal seems the more necessary in that supervision clearly stands out as 
the most complicated and professional aspect of his work. Dealing as it does 
directly with the emotions and mental processes of pupil and teacher on the 
one hand and course of study material and social demands on the other, it is 
evident that not even splendid individual natural ability is of much avail 
unless fortified by a type of training which is at least as thorough-going and 
specific as that found necessary in other fields of professional endeavor. 

In spite, however, of the increasing realization during the last few years 
of the importance of the supervisory work of the principal, it will be found 
that educational institutions generally have done comparatively little to train 
men and women in a specific way for this important work. Even the litera- 
ture upon the subject is of the most meager sort and, with a few notable 
exceptions, of such a general character that one may well classify it as being, 
on the whole, vague and unsatisfactory. 





ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PRINCIPALS 165 





True, some advances can be noted here and there but these have usually 
been made through the initiative of some individual principal. Such instances 
of progress, however, have invariably been of a local character, and have not 
been such as to affect current practices generally. 

It seems evident that for the purposes of successful supervision by the 
principal two things are necessary: (1) That the recitation and study periods 
be scientifically analyzed and certain objective standards for judging the 
quality of instruction be set up; and (2) that the principal be trained in the 
recognition and judgment of these standards and in the application of reme- 
dial measures, where necessary. 

To illustrate, there has gathered together in this room today a group that 
probably in both professional training and ability represents a rather high 
cross-section of the elementary principals of the United States. It would seem 
that at least in our appraisal of ordinary classroom situations, there should 
be something like a common judgment among us. Since we enter the class- 
room as professional experts for the purpose of improving instruction, it 
would not be at all unreasonable on the part of the teacher to expect that we 
agree pretty well among ourselves as to just when a type of instruction is 
right and when it is wrong. 

The teacher knows for instance that when she is seriously sick, it bodes ill 
for her if one physician diagnoses her ailment as a case of gout, another thinks 
it is a gastric disturbance, while a third one called into consultation pro- 
nounces it a case of pulmonary affection. In similar fashion her confidence is 
shaken in the schoolroom unless she finds among supervisory experts some- 
thing that resembles a consistent method of diagnosis. 

Let me now transport you in imagination this morning to an actual class- 
room situation. Let us say it is a recitation in spelling in the second grade 
and let me there ask you to exercise your function as supervisors. The class 
has been equipped with the necessary material for working and I ask you, 
“ How shall this class begin operations? ?’ “‘ What is the first thing it shall 
do?” 

From actual experimental work with other principals, I know that even 
in such a simple procedure as this, we would find nothing like unanimity 
among ourselves but rather all shades of personal opinions and ideas. ‘These 
would range from that of the principal on the one hand who has no opinion 
whatever on the subject to that of the principal who holds that it makes no 
particular difference how the work starts, that this perhaps ought to be left 
to the originality of the teacher. 

However, I happen to know that if we as a group could counsel together 
today and really begin to think this matter through and to examine it in the 
light of our common experience and of the best educational thought bearing 
upon the subject and then to test our conclusions out in the classroom under 
varying Conditions, we would be able to determine just what this procedure 
should be. In fact it has been determined that there is really one method of 
beginning a spelling recitation, which in the light of our present pedagogical 
knowledge is superior to all others and which furthermore is the only one, 
that we as educators can completely defend. 





166 NATIONAL EpucATION ASSOCIATION 





It is a type of supervisory work similar in method to this that the elemen- 
tary principals and supervisors in Detroit have together been attempting to 
work out during the last few years, the work being stimulated by two main 
agencies: (1) The rapid growth of the city and (2) the organization of dis- 
trict principals. 

Formerly the work of the principal in relation to the instruction given in 
his building was, for the most part, of rather a nominal sort. A multitude 
of other matters of a routine, or administrative, nature continually tended 
to crowd out much of whatever good intentions might exist, and visits of a 
purely supervisory character were as a rule all too rare. Furthermore, if the 
principal were at all inclined to be conscientious and introspective, he had to 
acknowledge to himself that his professional training, irrespective of the 
university from which he had graduated or the degree he could legally write 
after his name, hardly qualified him to supervise the work, as he might well 
imagine that it should be supervised. Consequently on his visits he was forced 
to build up his constructive criticisms almost entirely from his own stock 
of actual experiences in classrooms and to match his personal opinion against 
that of the teacher, the one being frequently as good or as bad as the other. 

And so it happened, as it has happened in other cities, that the supervisor) 
visits of the principal tended to partake largely of the nature of a tour of 
inspection in which the general condition of things were noted, suggestions 
of a general nature were offered, and occasionally a device or method observed 
elsewhere was passed along, while the actual improvement of instruction was 
by mutual consent turned over in large part to the supervisors of the various 
subjects. 

With the recent phenomenal growth of the city, however, it became increas- 
ingly evident that this condition of affairs could not continue to endure. 
New school buildings began to spring up everywhere, course of study mate- 
rial and methods of a complicated and scientific nature began to appear, the 
teaching force increased by leaps and bounds, and with the tremendous shift- 
ing of teachers within the ranks, it became gradually an impossibility for the 
supervisor to make the rounds and do anything but a most superficial piece of 
work. And so the idea began to gradually take shape that the time had come 
when each principal must literally be made responsible for all instruction 
within his building. With this in mind the administration proceeded to 
formulate plans to develop a set of objective standards in each subject where- 
by the quality of instruction might be judged and through the medium of the 
district principals to train the elementary principals of the city in the use of 
these standards. 

The organization of district principals in Detroit, it might be explained 
here, embodies an idea unique in education. Under this plan the elementary 
schools of the city are divided into districts and each district for both super- 
visory and administrative purposes is placed in charge of a principal, who is 
at the same time principal of one of the buildings within the district. Full 
responsibility for his district is intrusted to him, his power within his own 
district being defined as “ that of an assistant superintendent.” 





ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PRINCIPALS 167 





The initiative in the development of the technique of supervision in each 
case has been taken by the supervisor. She assembles those definite factors 
which seem to her to make for the success or failure of a recitation in her 
particular subject. She attempts at all times to avoid vague intangible terms 
and presents only those items which are definite and observable. 

She avoids the mere listing of pet pedagogical stock phrases, phrases which 
we pedagogues use glibly and often all too hazily, such as apperception, proj- 
ect, correlation, self-control, etc., and directs attention to certain definite 
observable activities, whereby the fundamental things in education may be 
revealed and evaluated. In penmanship for instance, she does not ask us to 
draw upon our imagination to search out and capture that most elusive char- 
acter in the realm of pedagogy, “ Self-appraisal,” but she points out certain 
eye movements, which tell us a volume concerning this important factor 
in education. 

After the supervisor has completed her “ Items for Observation,” she 
presents the material to the sixteen district principals, who after careful study 
and experimentation in their own building, suggest such changes, elimina- 
tions, or additions as seem advisable. The items are then revised to meet the 
criticisms offered and a series of observation lessons are planned at which the 
entire group of district principals under the supervisor and the head of the 
department of supervision apply the items to actual classroom situations. 
Following each lesson a meeting is immediately held in which the various 
points are considered, and an attempt is made to harmonize the judgments of 
the various members of the group relative to the evaluation of each item in 
the lesson. 

This harmonizing of judgments has invariably been secured only through 
the most persistent effort. Experience in this type of training has shown us 
that the most difficult thing to accomplish is to train people to see things as 
they are. A check up on the judgments of the group upon almost any definite 
item before the course in training has been given will show a surprising 
range of opinions, this range frequently extending from “ excellent” to 
“poor ” with most of the intermediate shades of value represented. And yet 
how self-evident it is that, if education is to arrive, there must be a complete 
businesslike understanding, unbiased by personal opinion or personal preju- 
dice, among supervisors and between supervisors and teachers as to just what 
constitutes merit in any type of instruction. 

After the district principal has been trained by the supervisor in the tech- 
nique of supervision, he in turn trains the principals of his district in the 
supervision of the particular piece of material on hand and later by cross- 
sectioning his district he makes certain that the principals have thoroughly 
trained their teachers. 

The advantages in training the principal in the science of supervision and 
in centralizing supervisory responsibility in him are apparent. (1) He is the 
most permanent factor in any school system. Teachers come and go and shift 
from grade to grade but the principal remains as a principal and any educa- 
tional acquisition made by him has an enduring value for the school. (2) 
Through daily contact with teachers and the teaching procetty he is in a 








168 NATIONAL EpuUCATION ASSOCIATION 





position to give assistance to the teachers in his building immediately and 
not weeks or even months after the need develops. (3) He can give to the 
teacher that is either new or weak in her work the constant attention and 
follow up which no supervisor can supply. 

Nor does this arrangement as worked out in Detroit detract from the 
dignity of the position of supervisor. It rather enables her to use her time 
more economically and to better advantage. She remains the expert in her 
field with a knowledge and a grasp of her specialty that the principal cannot 
hope to have. Instead, however, of making the rounds from building to 
building and from teacher to teacher and instead of spending her time in 
rooms where she is not needed, she is now called in as the specialist to work 
only in that place or places where problems have arisen which are beyond 
the technical knowledge of the principal. By this saving of her time she is 
given the opportunity to apply herself to the larger phases of her work— 
namely, experimental research in methods and course of study material. 

The net accomplishment to date of this codperative piece of supervisory 
work in Detroit has been the development of “ Items for Observation ”” in 
handwriting, spelling, reading, health, library boys’ construction work, sew- 
ing, and composition; the training of all the principals of the city in the 
supervision of handwriting and of spelling in the first and second grades; and 
the partial training of the district principals in all the others. The work 
remaining to be done is of course stupendous, but the progress made thus far 
gives assurance of ultimate success. 

_In conclusion, we may say that as the possibilities involved in this type of 
work and in the administration of the modern platoon schvol are more and 
more apparent, it is evident that the future will see men and women of greater 
ability entering the ranks of principals in ever-increasing numbers, for the 
challenge to brains which the principalship is beginning to offer can scarcel) 
be matched in any other field of endeavor. It seems certain that the time has 
about passed, in the elementary school at any rate, when the principal can 
be just anybody. 





THE FIGHT TO REDUCE SCHOOL PRIVILEGES 


J. W. CRABTREE 
Secretary, National Education Association, Washington, D. C. 


ISS JONES in her address before the Department of Superintendence 
spoke on the subject: “‘ Watchman tell us of the night.” In this out- 
standing address, she cautioned teachers to be on their guard against nefarious 
political influences working secretly under cover of night to the injury of 
the schools. 

A Congressman told me in Washington the other day, that he thought 
the fate of a certain bill would be determined after midnight that night. 
His prediction came true. The majority of Congressmen didn’t know how 
it happened. People generally didn’t know. Most good people are asleep at 
that hour of night. It is about time, however, that teachers remain awake for 
a few nights to see what is going on during the wee small hours, to handicap 
the work of the schools and to reduce school privileges. 

The present economic and political situation seems to have oiled the ma- 
chinery for the night run. 

The message which I have decided upon for this occasion is the one which 
I prepared to give in Chicago as a radio message. I am not giving it over 
the radio because it is not entirely satisfactory. It contains a slight reflection 
on Dr. Pritchett’s annual report. 

I am, therefore, asking you to listen to a message which is a bit too personal 
for the general public, yet one which I hope will appeal to you as being 
important enough for consideration during the day, even though it cannot be 
broadcasted at night. 

The real enemies of the public schools and those who want reduced taxes 
at any price have again joined hands. In colonial days, there were many 
who opposed, violently, the expenditure of any public money for education, 
but as time went on their numbers gradually diminished. About the middle of 
the nineteenth century, the opposition had eased up on the question of sup- 
port for the common schools, but became most bitter against the creation of 
State Departments of Education in the various States. Early in the twentieth 
century, the same opposition was directed against the adoption of compulsory 
education laws whose object was to guarantee to every child a minimum of 
education. This opposition also finally quieted down. Just as soon as we 
began to feel that our public school system was thoroughly established on 
a permanent basis, and hence that democratic institutions in this country 
were safeguarded for all future time, all at once, like a thunderbolt out of 
a clear sky, comes the ugliest opposition which has manifested itself in a 
quarter of a century. This time the fight is not only against the new step 
which is about to be taken to establish a National department of education, 
with a Secretary in the President’s Cabinet, but it is more particularly 
directed against the adequate support of the schools. 


* [169] 





170 NATIONAL EpuUCATION ASSOCIATION 





These old-time enemies of the schools seem never to die off. They are 
always glad to weaken the schools by any method, and the few big business 
interests who have joined hands with them do not care where the cut is 
made, just so it is made. This is a powerful combination, and though small, 
it is one which might easily win out before t's public is aware of what is 
going on. It has already won in a few of the preliminary skirmishes. One 
of the chief contributing factors in this contest is the influence of the last 
annual report of the Carnegie Foundation. The report expressed amazement 
at the expansion of the public school program. It sounds alarm over the 
increased high-school enrolment. It contends that the country cannot afford 
to give all children an education at present per capita costs. This report 
was prepared by the president of the Foundation, Dr. Henry C. Pritchett, 
who fears that the mounting costs of education will soon bankrupt the States. 

Now, who is this Dr. Pritchett who aspires to shape public school policies? 
Let ‘“ Who’s Who in America” give the answer. You will find nothing 
in this record prepared by himself, to show that he has ever had any connec- 
tion with the public schools as pupil, teacher, or administrator. All of his 
connections as shown in “ Who’s Who” have been with private agencies. 
He has never exhibited any interest in the enrichment of the American School 
program. His attitude towards the schools is most natural for one who looks 
at them through glasses colored by aristocratic ideals. I understand that he 
has the effrontery to put out a report for this year slightly milder in tone than 
that of last year, but equally obnoxious to the friends of the schools. The 
report will have influence. The laity does not know his life history in its 
relation to the public schools. 

Nicholas Murray Butler, of Columbia University, whose life record is 
more or less similar to that of Dr. Pritchett, is also widely quoted to discredit 
the work of the public schools. In an address before the Ohio Bar Associa- 
tion, he made the following statement: “ It would surprise a great many 
excellent persons to be told that the schools upon whose maintenance they 
are pouring out almost unlimited sums raised by public tax were doing all 
that they reasonably could to implant a spirit of lawlessness in those who 
come under their influence.” “ And yet,” says Dr. Butler, “ that is the sober 
truth.” ; 

This address was read into the Congressional Record by a Massachusetts 
Congressman, and it is now being mailed out to all parts of the country under 
his frank. The fact that Dr. Butler’s statement is erroneous and the fact 
that he is not recognized as a spokesman for the public schools by those who 
represent the schools, will not prevent laymen from being influenced and 
misled by it. Whether this address is widely distributed for the purpose of 
injuring the public schools, or for the purpose of disseminating Dr. Butler’s 
views against the prohibition amendment—also a feature of the address—it 
is certain, his holding the schools responsible for the conditions of lawlessness 
throughout the country, is receiving the attention of both the enemies and 
friends of public education, and whether Dr. Pritchett and Dr. Butler are 
actively promoting the organized effort to reduce school privileges or not, 
they have provided about the only material which the opposition can use 
effectively. 





ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PRINCIPALS 171 





These opponents of the public school are good tacticians. They realize 
that it pays to kill off the captains, colonels, and generals. It is apparent 
that there is a well-defined movement, having as its objective to weaken the 
educational leadership in cities and States. Wherever exceptionally strong 
leaders have succeeded in obtaining increased support for the schools, they 
have found themselves under fire. 

You are familiar with the unsuccessful attacks made on the leadership of 
the Denver schools last year. You know of the equally unsuccessful attack 
made on the leadership in Oakland, California, and on the educational leader- 
ship in the State of California. You know what happened in Pennsylvania. 
You know of the attacks made on other leaders, some of them successful and 
some unsuccessful. There is scarcely a constructive leader in the States or 
in the cities who does not feel the pressure which has every appearance of 
being of organized origin. Besides the tooth marks of organized effort in the 
attacks which have been made on educational leaders and on their policies, 
it stands to reason that men of affairs who desire to reduce school costs would 
readily see the advantage of crippling or getting rid of the superintendent 
so as to be unhampered in reducing teachers’ salaries and in cutting out 
supervisors and members of the teaching staff. 

All business men do not hold to the Pritchett-Butler view. Only a noisy 
few and the money-hearted belong to that group. 

A leading business man recently made the statement before the United 
States Senate Committee on Education that the outlay for education should 
be-greatly increased and pointed out that if as a merchant, interested in enter- 
prises which sell over $300,000,000 worth of goods annually, he could have 
the increased sales that result from education in a State, he would gladly pay 
the State’s bill for increased educational opportunities. There are business 
men of this type in every community who will join in the defense of the 
schools, as they realize the need of their assistance. 

The stock arguments for reducing. school appropriations are easily an- 
swered. When attention is called to increased appropriations, simply ask 
whether there is not a corresponding reduction in the purchasing power of 
the dollar. Industry everywhere demands double price for a particular serv- 
ice or commodity. The same inexorable economic laws which make this 
necessary have also increased school costs. 

It does cost to have good schools. It cost about $1,500,000,000 last year. 
It will cost a good deal more than that amount annually to provide for every 
boy and girl in the land to have a well-qualified teacher for at least six 
months each year. But how small the amount when compared with other 
items. Only $1,500,000,000 for education when $2,111,000,000 is paid 
annually for tobacco alone. Only $1,500,000,000 for education when 
$1,800,000,000 is paid annually for candy, soft drinks and ice cream. Only 
$1,500,000,000 for education when over $3,000,000,000 is paid annually for 
joy riding, pleasure at resorts and races. 

Ladies and gentlemen, the fight is on. It is up to every one who has faith 
in the public schools of this country to take part in it. The enemy is small 
in numbers but it has a loud voice. Shame on the men and women who would 




















































172 NATIONAL EpUCATION ASSOCIATION 








take funds for paying the war debt out of the allowances for the education 
of the children of the land! Shame on the big tax payers who are so hungry 
for additional millions that they would deprive the children of school privi- 
leges and a fair chance in life! Unless the friends of the schools are aroused, 
the schools will receive a set-back and a loss of ground during the present 
year which will take a decade to recover. May I not put the question straight 
at you, and may you not in turn put it straight at your teachers and other 
friends of the schools—Will! you do your part? 


A CHALLENGE TO THE PRINCIPALS 


Otive M. Jones 
Principal, Public School No. 120, New York City 


Y CHALLENGE is really plural. It is presented with an urgent hope 

that this Department of Principals will settle, not only discuss, but 
really settle some vexatious problems interfering with a right and happy 
fulfillment of the functions of principals. 

Some of the studies made by our department concerning the status of the 
principal are very informing, and my own discoveries this year in traveling 
around the country have been even more informing to me, as to the respect 
and opportunity granted the principal. The widest variation exists and the 
result is harmful, not only to the principal, but to the teacher and to the 
proper organization of schools. There are three directions in which a clash 
is possible and frequently occurs: With the superintendent, with the director 
or supervisor, with the teacher. In the past six months, I have listened to 
scores of stories of such clashes. It is my belief that absolutely every one can 
be traced to the indefiniteness of the position of the principal. 

I call the need to clarify this situation the first part of the challenge to the 
principal. It must be cleared up, and it is the duty of the principal to insist 
upon it. To bring about any clarification, however, the principal cannot 
work alone. Even a group of principals in any one place cannot clear it up 
alone. It is a matter for this department to handle, and I consider it a more 
important professional problem, organization problem, than the study of 
methods of teaching or of classification of pupils, 

Let us examine into some of the conditions that exist, even at the cost of 
repetition of what some of you have already read in the Yearbook. 

The word principal is a shortening of the phrase “ principal-teacher,” 
which indicates the way in which the office came into existence. “The number 
of pupils, and consequently teachers, in a given school grew until it became 
necessary to have some to supervise the work somewhat, to care for records, 
and make reports to the committee, director, board of education, or other 

| authority. Sometimes this principal-teacher was given a small additional 
sum, supposedly to compensate for the additional labor outside of school 
hours; sometimes he was allowed to employ a pupil-teacher or a minister or 
some other form of assistance to take charge of a class at certain periods while 
he attended to these other duties. In either case he was required to teach his 
own class. His supervisory duties consisted almost exclusively of discipline 





ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PRINCIPALS 173 





problems and his additional duties were clerical. He had no power, except 
that of his own tact and personality, to secure gradation of studies, to organize 
the work of the school systematically, or to train teachers. 

Such conditions might work fairly well when gradation was determined 
by the number of pages in a reader or an arithmetic and when the teacher’s 
work consisted of hearing lessons previously assigned. But with the advent 
of a new point of view towards teaching, the scientific study of method, such 
conditions became impossible. No teacher can get results under the use of 
modern methods and have a class under the care of a monitor during any les- 
son period. Hence, every bit of the principal-teacher’s extra duties must be 
done outside of school hours, and even that is an interference with his proper 
preparation for the next day’s duties with his class. 

As these difficulties developed and as schools grew in size, a new practice 
began and with it a wide variation in practice in different places. We have 
the title of principal applied to persons in charge of schools ranging in size 
from six classes to 150. We find the term supervising principal in use, mean- 
ing sometimes a person doing some teaching in one school and supervising 
as well a group of schools. In other places it means a person in charge of a 
group of schools each with its own principal or principal-teacher, a position 
which corresponds to what in still other places is called district superinten- 
dent. In New York, for instance, a retrograde step has recently been taken 
of withholding the title of principal from persons in charge of less than 25 
classes, while in Rochester the title of principal is given to every one who is 
in charge of a school, no matter what the size, and the differentiation in salary 
and rank is made to appear in the school, not the principal, by calling them 
schools of the first to the fourth order. 

These variations have resulted, could not but result, in injury and injustice. 
My personal belief is that in every system of schools, the schools should be 
ranked according to size and type and grade. Schools of the smallest size 
and fewest problems might be called a school of the first order, and so on, 
using a different number to designate the gradation of difficulty in adminis- 
tration of the school. But whatever the gradation in rank or salary, the 
title of the person held responsible for the conduct of that school should be 
principal and he should be the pedagogic and administrative head of that 
school, be it large or small. The term, supervising principal, is a misnomer. 
It implies that all principals are not supervisors, and that’s what’s made much 
of the trouble. If it means that he supervises principals, then he is a super- 
intendent. Call him so—district, assistant, associate, or whatever other differ- 
entiation the needs of the system demand. 

This is a frank statement of my personal judgment after a year of observa- 
tion and study. My solution of the problem may not be right, but there is a 
problem, it is your problem particularly, and the challenge to solve it is 
clearly shown. 

The second part of my plural challenge is really a consequence of the 
insufficient recognition of the principal’s position and has already been spoken 
of as the clash which occurs with directors or supervisors. It is not so much 
clash, either, as it is usurpation of functions, which should be exercised by 





NATIONAL EpucCATION ASSOCIATION 








MY WISHES FOR YOU 
WALT FILKIN 


I *"M WISHING that your cup of joy will overflow and more; 

I’m wishing that Good Luck will come and stand before your 
door ; 

I'd like to see Dame Honor smile and take you by the hand, 

And lead you to some lofty seat she has about the land. 


I'd like to see Good Fortune come and on your shoulder lay 

Her hand and after greeting you, I’d like to hear her say, 

““You’ve been a worthy, loyal child, I have some work to do,” 
I’d have her crown you with success the moment you were through. 


I'd like to see you round by round climb up Fame’s ladder tall, 
And, too, I would that you’d be strong and never have a fall; 
The fact is, that my heart’s so full of wishes kind and true, 

”T would take about a hundred years to wish them all for you. 


By courtesy of The Journal Post, Kansas City, Mo. 








principals only, by directors after they are appointed, and the appointment 
of directors for subjects of study and matters of administration wherein no 
principal truly fitted for his work can possibly need outside aid. Dr. Corson 
said the director and supervisor are counsellors called in to advise on matters 
requiring expert knowledge, that all their communications with teachers 
should be subject to the principal’s judgment, and that they should not be 
permitted to exercise any administrative functions. It is two years since Dr. 
Corson said that to us, but I cannot see that the situation is much improved. 

The problem is peculiarly and distinctly ours. We are the aggrieved 
persons, as they say in law. Crying and complaining won’t solve it, but 
concerted action will. Letters officially sent from this department to superin- 
tendents will make the difficulty clear to them. Articles in State and Na- 
tional school journals should explain the issues involved so that teachers wil! 
read and help with their protests. Copies of such letters and articles should 
go to persons who make school surveys, to prevent their increasing the diffi- 
culty by their recommendation of additional supervisors to remedy evils they 
find, instead of demanding reforms to be made by principals themselves 
after their attention is called to them in the survey. 

Let us meet these two problems promptly and decisively. Once let these 
two difficulties be removed and the major causes of clashing between principal 
and teacher will have ceased to exist. 

The third challenge is one which involves the whole question of leader- 
ship. I hardly know how to phrase it or how to explain my thought of it 
without seeming to be incisive and overpositive in my declaration of principle, 
aults of expression which have often brought me friendly chiding from my 
dear old friend, Dr. Winship. But, I am proud of this Department of 





ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PRINCIPALS 175 





Elementary School Principals, and I want its influence to become nationally 
what some of our local associations of principals already are in their com- 
munities, leaders of teachers, a bulwark of support to a courageous and high- 
minded superintendent, and an expression in the community of the best 
thought of the teaching body. That means leadership. It means that the 
principal takes his rightful place as leader of the teachers in his school and 
holds it by their voluntary grant of leadership to him because he has earned 
their confidence in his truth and justice. It means that there must be those 
among us whom we recognize as the individuals through whom our group 
can voice its united hopes and aims. 

The challenge to leadership is therefore two-fold. In one sense, no single 
principal can avoid it, although he can not claim it by virtue of his office, as 
some have tried to do at times, rousing antagonism among teachers rather than 
a willingness to follow his guidance. In the other sense, the selfishly ambitious 
principal always evades leadership. He does not want to be the individual 
voice by which his group expresses itself for fear he may lose favor with those 
on whom his hopes of further advancement must rest. In the one case, he 
must have the characteristic of impartial justice; and in the other, a self- 
forgetfulness, which may carry with it self-sacrifice. In both he must have a 
single view, a single aim, to do that which will be for the best interests, not 
of teachers, not of principals, but of the cause of American education. 

I am possibly induced to voice this challenge to principals because I have 
recently sorrowfully watched a once trusted leader fall away from his high 
rank among us and endeavor to use his former influence among us to carry 
out the behests of his master, an outside boss. Browning’s “Lost Leader ” has 
been often quoted in that group of late and the whole story makes me urge 
this challenge of leadership upon you. I cannot view leadership as anything 
but the peculiar and specific duty of the principal. Teachers are looking for 
guidance in the personal and general difficulties of their profession as much 
as in their problems of instruction and discipline. Superintendents, con- 
sciously and unconsciously, rest upon their principals to exemplify and main- 
tain the higher aims of education and of professional spirit. We must meet 
the challenge, whatever the cost. 

My fourth challenge is the problem of tenure of office for the teacher. 
Undoubtedly to my mind, this is the fundamental one of the four great 
problems affecting teachers personally if high professional standards are to 
be achieved and maintained. Those four problems are training, salaries, pen- 
sions, and tenure. It is impossible for me to see how the first three can be 
adequately granted to, claimed, or demanded by teachers unless the question 
of tenure is settled. For this reason, I appointed a Committee of 100 in 
Tenure and I must not anticipate or prejudice Mr. Hunter’s report by 
expressing my own views now. I send out the challenge of this question to 
you principals now because there are signs in the air that great forces are 
contemplating an attack upon tenure in those few places where teachers 
enjoy it and are rallying to defeat it in places where efforts are made to 
secure it. That can but presage an attack upon one or more of the other great 





176 NATIONAL EpUCATION ASSOCIATION 





problems which must be satisfactorily adjusted before the highest hopes of our 
profession can be attained. 

I shall just barely refer to publicity as my fifth challenge, for I wrote so 
much about it in the last bulletin of this department and have talked about 
it so much all over the country that I fear I may bore you by a repetition of 
what you have already read. But I have no intention of letting you forget 
that the challenge is there, publicity for the work of the schools, and that it 
is a problem shared about equally by superintendents and principals. 

You may not take me seriously when I give you my sixth challenge. You 
may laugh if you want to, but I mean it in all seriousness, nevertheless. It 
is the demand that individually and collectively as principals we study and 
acquire and develop a strong sense of humor. I once wrote an article about 
humor, but I gave it to a friend to read and she said it was a sermon on 
humor. That discouraged me and I never published it, although I had put 
some of my best stories into it. But notwithstanding her failure to appreciate 
my sermon on humor, I am here again with the same point to make today. 

I don’t mean wit and I don’t mean the ability to tell a story. The first 
is often too caustic and the second can be well done by people who have 
absolutely no sense of humor. I mean that very much more delicate and 
intangible quality which makes it possible to see the funny side in the midst 
of annoyance and even in defeat. It is the ability to laugh at ourselves. It is 
the check that holds us back from arrogance, from an overweening pride 
of position, from what is vulgarly known as “ swelled head.” It is the 
ability to see things in their ultimate proportions so that present successes 
cannot blind us to possible errors and defeats and so that present discourage- 
ments do not become final tragedies. 

No rank in the whole profession needs this saving grace of humor quite 
so much as we do. Teachers are often saved from errors when they lack it, 
because they stand between us and the less merciful children, both of us ready 
to “take the conceit out of them.” We principals become little monarchs 
in our small realms unless we have that saving grace of humor, or we be- 
come bitter through loss of merited recognition. 

Among the things I cherish as souvenirs of this wonderful year of being 
President of the National Education Association are some selections and 
quotations which different people have sent me or which I have heard used at 
meetings. Among them is one I heard read at a North Dakota State Teachers 
meeting at Grand Forks. It voices the seventh and last challenge the cause 
of education is making to principals today, for among our teachers, every bit 
as much as among the children, are those who are like the Great-Heart of 
the poem. The challenge to us is to give them the right guidance, the right 
direction for the high ideals of their youth, and the noble ambitions of their 
later experience. 


WHERE ARE YOU GOING, GREAT-HEART? 


Where are you going, Great-Heart? 
With your eager face and your fiery grace? 
Where are you going, Great-Heart? 





ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PRINCIPALS 





“To fight with all my might 

For Truth and Justice, God and Right, 
To grace all Life with His fair Light.” 
Then God go with you, Great-Heart! 


Where are you going, Great-Heart? 
“To end the rule of knavery; 

To break the yoke of slavery; 

To give the world delivery.” 

Then God go with you, Great-Heart! 


Where are you going, Great-Heart? 
“To lift Today above the Past; 

To make Tomorrow sure and fast; 

To nail God’s colors to the mast.” 
Then God go with you, Great-Heart! 


THE VALUE OF THE SCHOOL PRINCIPALSHIP 


Don C. RoGEers 
Special Secretary, Chicago Principals’ Club, Chicago, Illinois 


;* COLONIAL days of America and long after, the*head of a school was 
a schoolmaster, the term “ master ” coming from the Latin “ Ludi Mag- 
ister,” or head of a Roman elementary school. At first he was simply a 
teacher, but by gradual evolution he became head or principal teacher, teach- 
ing principal (at the head of his assistants or monitors), and finally principal 


as we know him today—administrative and supervisory head of a school. 

An historical sketch of the life and the work of the schoolmaster or princi- 
pal is a highly interesting chapter in the development of our American school 
system. From Ezekiel Cheever, Adam Roelandsen, and Nathan Hale, up 
through the struggles of a young country to a world power, the schoolmaster 
has pioneered—a willing worker, a self-denying citizen, and a teacher of 
ideals, Difficulties abounded in the early days, work was hard and varied, 
pay was meager, and it was frequently given “in kind,” that is to say, in 
produce rather than in currency. The New England schoolmaster often had 
to supplement his income by such work as grave-digging and janitorial services 
at school and church. Adam Roelandsen, first Dutch schoolmaster at New 
Amsterdam, is said to have taken in washings outside of school hours. 

The difficulties in the way of these men can be read between the lines in 
the tax controversies of the day, by the aversion to co-education by the 
obstacles to non-sectarian teaching, in the expressions of such men as Gover- 
nor Berkeley, of Virginia, who is said to have deplored that the time might 
ever come when there would be free schools for all the children of that colony, 
and in the wrathy exclamation of the Attorney to the Crown in England 
when asked to grant a charter to establish a college (William and Mary) in 
Colonial Virginia for the purpose of saving souls. His response was, “‘ Damn 
their souls! Make tobacco! ” 

Through trials and discouragements, these pioneer educators persisted. 
The patriot Nathan Hale, confronted with the social objections of the day 





178 NATIONAL EpucaTION ASSOCIATION 





to permitting boys and girls to associate together in the schoolroom, used 
to hold special classes at four o’clock in the morning for the little girls in 
order that they might not be denied an education. Ezekiel Cheever, the 
“ dean ” of American educators, pupil at St. Paul’s cathedral school, London, 
classmate of John Milton, and teacher for seventy years, died “ in harness” 
at ninety-four years of age at the close of forty years’ service as Master of 
the Boston Latin Grammar School. A long, faithful, hard-working life of 
service. ‘These men were sturdy pioneers, but they were not leaders, and 
they are not generally known today. Yet the American Nation can be thank- 
ful that its children have been under the guidance of such kindly and worthy 
men of the past. j 

The pay given these early educators was not only small but was scanty 
even for the times. Perhaps that is one reason why they were not leaders. 
The schoolmaster was outstripped in the de’elopment of the professions. 
In medieval times, teaching was as honorable and remunerative as the prac- 
tice of medicine, law, or dentistry. In fact, medicine and dentistry were once 
practiced as part of a barber’s trade; they amounted merely to pulling out 
teeth, and to applying leeches externally and herb trees internally to sick 
persons. Now both are lucrative professions furnishing community leaders. 
The schoolmaster is better off today, but not relatively. The popular car- 
toonist still depicts him as a sort of Ichabod Crane, Even though the children 
in his school respect him personally, yet they do not respect his position 
enough to want to emulate him. Who has ever heard a boy admit to other 
boys that he hoped to be a school principal some day? It is indeed unfortunate 
that men and women of such high caliber as the present-day public school 
principals should have their position stand out in such unfavorable light. 

The question is how to better this position, how to attract and develop 
within the profession high types of educators, men and women from whose 
numbers the Nation will be glad to recruit its leaders. One concrete step in 
the right direction is to provide adequate compensation. In the long run, 
salary will be a rough but suggestive indication of the regard and esteem in 
which one is held by his employers. Studies in Indiana and elsewhere have 
shown considerable correlation between success and amount of salary. In the 
eyes of the community, size of salary is an important index of worth and 
success. 

Yet here is the place where the principal usually shows up most unfavor- 
ably. This is seen in the data of Table 1, where the median salaries of 


TABLE 1.—CompPARISON OF THE MEDIAN SALARY INCREASES AND THE PERCENTAGES 
THEREOF, FOR HIGH-SCHOOL TEACHERS, HIGH-SCHOOL PRINCIPALS, AND 
City SUPERINTENDENTS IN THE STATE OF IOWA 








1913-14 1922-23 
oath: ~ Per cent 


r —~ r . 
Median Number of Median Number of of gross 
salary cases salary cases increase 


City superintendents 682 $2254 774 
High-School principals 257 1534 714 
High-School teachers 1239 1384 3121 








ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PRINCIPALS 179 





high-school teachers, high-school principals, and city superintendents in 
the State of Iowa, both in 1913-14 and in 1922-23, are shown for com- 
parison. From a State-wide salary study in which several hundred teacher- 
positions were included for each year, it was found that in the ten years 
from 1913-14 to 1922-23, lowa city superintendents’ salaries had averaged 
a 125 per cent increase, high-school teachers’ salaries a 118 per cent increase, 
but high-school principals’ salaries had gone up only 87 per cent. Figs. 
1 and 2 show how the 1913-14 ratios between (1) high-school principals 


iiatiiees 1922-23 


($1534) 100% 
7 (92384) 90% 


$1500 . 


High School 
Principals 


$1000 . 


Teachers 


($818) P igh School 
4 


4 
1%% ($632) ~ 
$500 . 














“\. e 


Fic. 1.—Comparison of the Median Salary Increases and the Ratio Thereof, for 
High-School Teachers and High-School Principals in the State of Iowa for the 
Years 1913-14 and 1922-23. 


and high-school teachers and between (2) high-school principals and city 
superintendents have been altered. Fig. 1 shows that in 1913-14 a high- 
school principal was apparently worth about one third more in salary to 
the school system than a high-school teacher. This conclusion had been 
arrived at only after a long period of time, and in the days when there were 
no extraordinary financial pressures of circumstances to affect the ratio. Nine 
years later, according to the salary increases, the high-school principal was 
worth just one tenth more than the high-school teacher. Due to war-time 
upheavals and stressed economic pressures, the carefully worked-out pre-war 
ratio had been distorted. The principal lost out, relatively. This is true when 


*Don C. Rogers, Trend_of Teachers’ Salaries, Extension Bulletin No. 88, University of 
Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa. Data on elementary principals not available. 





» 


180 NATIONAL EpUCATION ASSOCIATION 





the principal is compared with the city superintendent, too. Fig. 2 shows 
that in 1913-14 the high-school principal received four fifths as much salary 
as the city superintendent, but nine years later he was getting only three 
fifths as much. These figures reveal a State-wide situation, and reflect an 
injustice which the high-school principal has had to bear; evidence would 
seem to indicate that the elementary principal has suffered an even more acute 
injustice than the high-school principal. The principals’ interests have not 
been taken care of sufficiently well in the various communities, and young 
men and women in college are asking themselves seriously whether the dis- 


1913-14 1922-23 


$2500- 4 


/A\$2254) 


" City 
$2000 Superin- J 
tendents 
7 


$1500- 


($1009) 7 
100% $1000 Principals 


812% ($818) 


$500- 














Fic. 2—Comparison of the Median Salary Increases and the Ratio Thereof, for 


High-School Principals and City Superintendents in the State of Iowa for the 
Years 1913-14 and 1922-23. 


tinctive field of the principalship offers enough financial encouragement to 
warrant them continuing the long period of special training necessary to 
equip themselves for it. 

Table 1 shows that the per cent of gross salary increase received by the 
high-school principal was not nearly so great as that received by the high- 
school teacher and the city superintendents. 

Fig. 1 shows that increases in salary for high-school principals have 
not kept pace with increases in salary for high-school teachers. Ten years ago 
a high-school principal received about one third more pay than a high-school 
teacher but now he receives only one tenth more salary. 








ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PRINCIPALS 181 





Fig. 2 shows that increases in salary for high-school principals have not 
kept pace with increases in salary for city superintendents. Tén years ago a 
high-school principal received about four fifths as much pay as a city superin- 
tendent, vut now he receives only three fifths as much salary. 

During this past ten-year period the position of principal did not diminish 
in importance nor in amount of work. In fact, the duties and responsibilities 
became more arduous and exacting. Data could not be collected on the Iowa 
situation, but from about three hundred principals in the Chicago school 
system, definite figures have been obtained. Table 2 shows that the number of 


TABLE 2.—INCREASE IN THE PRINCIPALS’ RESPONSIBILITY, ON THE BASIS OF SEPTEMBER 
ENROLMENT GROWTH OF THE PAsT TEN YEARS 


Elementary schools High schools 
ad tt tel ibs 





--- — . —$_—___—_—_, —— —_ 
Number of Number of Pupils per Numberof Number of Pupils per 
principals pupils principal principals pupils principal 


264,190 1008 22 21,150 961 
296,203 1130 24 32,422 1351 
347,184 1300 24 57,489 2395 


students per principal in Chicago has increased enormously in the last ten 
years. Furthermore, the elementary principal has had an average of nearly 
seven more teachers to supervise, and the high-school principal has had 
approximately thirty to thirty-five additional teachers toward whom he 
has had to assume increased responsibilities of direction and guidance. It has 
been said that during this period of approximately ten years, twenty-one new 
activities have been added to the schools, for the supervision of which the 
principal is held accountable. 

In the face of the facts of growing responsibilities and increasing labors, 
a sense of justice would expect that the principal be well paid. But the salary 
of the Chicago elementary principal is less today than it was ten years ago. 
The only valid measure of a salary is to consider it in terms of what it will 
buy. Gross amount of money is not a true criterion of increased pay. A 
better index of increase is the purchasing power of the salary. Although the 
gross salary of the Chicago principal has been increased considerably in the 
last few years, his salary has depreciated in terms of purchasing power. In 
1913 the elementary principal’s gross average salary was $2958, and today 
it is $4603. Yet, on the basis of its 1913 worth, the present salary has depre- 
ciated 8 per cent in purchasing power and amounts to only $2715. (See 
Tables 3 and 4.) All during the war the salary situation was much worse 


TABLE 3.—PurcHAsinG Power oF CHICAGO ELEMENTARY PRINCIPALS’ SALARIES 


Principals’ average salaries 
Index of Chicago — — — - 
cost of living Gross Its purchas- Index of its 
increases salary ing power purchasing power 
$2958 $2958 100 
3430 1992 67 
4603 2715 92 











182 NATIONAL EpucCATION ASSOCIATION 





TABLE 4.—CuANGEs IN CHICAGO PRINCIPALS’ SALARIES FROM 1913 TO 1923 


¢ 1913 1923 
A = 








oa . . i ~ Wi. 
Gross Purchasing Gross Purchasing 
amount power amount power 


Average salary of the . 
elementary principal. $2958 $2958 $4603 $2715 


Note:—Principals’ salary data secured from office of Secretary of Chicago School 
Board. These Chicago cost of living data were obtained from the August, 1923 issue 
of the Monthly Labor Review. 


even than now, for the cost of living leaped so high, and the salary increases 
lagged so far behind, that the situation would have shown up as deplorable 
at any other time than in the stress and strain of war days. (See Fig. 3.) 

Table 2 shows that while the number of principals has remained practically 
constant during the last ten years, the total pupil enrolment has greatly 
increased. There has been an increase of 72,994 in the elementary schools, 
or 292 more pupils per principal—an increase of 29 per cent; there has been 
an increase of 36,339 in the high school or 1434 more pupils per principal— 
an increase of 149 per cent. 

The data in Table 4 permit the following computations: 

The purchasing power of the dollar in Chicago in June, 1923, in terms 
of its pre-war value, was 59 cents—that is, 100 + 169.6 = .59. Applying 
this factor to the present average salary of the Chicago elementary school 
principal, it reduces from the gross amount of $4603 to the purchasing value 
of only $2715—that is, 4603 X .59 = 2715. 

Table 4 shows that in 1923 the salary is worth less than it was ten 
years ago. 

A loss or decline in the value of principals’ salaries growing out of the 
war is much more endurable when similar sacrifices have been made generally 
among all professions and trades, so that a particular group is not called 
to bear the brunt alone. Investigation shows that such has not been the case. 
For example, artisans have frequently profited decidedly by the changed con- 
ditions. Certain groups in the building trades now enjoy a prosperity that is 
actual and real, and not simply a fancied one. Plasterers and lathers have not 
only had magnified gross increases in wages, but in purchasing power of their 
wages they have made great strides forward. Data gathered in Chicago from 
the Employing Plasterers’ Association, the Plasterers’ Union, the Building 
Construction Employing Association, and from the Landis Award head- 
quarters, show that plasterers have had their pay increased from about $6 
a day before the war to approximately $18 a day now, with their wages 
mounting still higher at the present time. It should be borne in mind, too, 
that their work is not seasonal but continuous. Plasterers’ wages in Chicago 
have trebled in gross amount in the past ten years, and even in terms of 
purchasing power they have jumped fully 75 per cent above pre-war levels. 
Contrast this condition with the situation of the Chicago school principals. 
Instead of a trebled gross annual wage, the prinicpal has had his salar) 
increased a little more than one half; instead of a 75 per cent gain in pur- 
chasing power of his wage, the principal has suffered an 8 per cent loss. 





ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PRINCIPALS 183 





Fig. 3 shows that in Chicago, the wages of the artisan and the unskilled 
laborer have made gains greater than the cost of living increases, but that 
the salary of the school principal has not only lagged during the war but is 
still below the cost of living increases. 

In order not to be unfair by choosing a particular trade with which to 
compare principals’ salary increases, recourse was had to Federal statistics 
regarding all the trades. Fig. 3 and Table 5 show the situation when the 
average wage increases of the twenty-four Chicago trades listed in the 


Index 


225 « 


of 
Living 


Unskilled 


Labor , ~ 
\ 4 Principals 


100 ; 
1913 191é 1923 


Fic. 3.—Cost of Living, Unskilled Laborers’ Wages, Artisans’ Wages, and the 
Salaries of Elementary School Principals Compared as to Increases During the 
Past Ten Years in Chicago. 


Monthly Labor Review are compared with the average increases received 
by the Chicago elementary principals. Skilled and unskilled labor have 
maintained the 1913 purchasing power of their wages, whereas the principals 
have not; in effect, the latter have suffered a “cut ” of 8 per cent. What is 
true in Chicago in this respect is undoubtedly true in the State of Iowa and 
is probably true generally. 

There is another phase to this contrast that is important but difficult of 
definite measurement. Although the principal theoretically has about two 
months’ vacation in the summer time, this period is rarely his own, but must 
be devoted to projects for which he is almost by necessity drafted. The prin- 





184 NATIONAL EpUCATION ASSOCIATION 





cipal must continue his training, his professional reading, must attend educa- 
tional gatherings, travel and support civic, religious, and educational under- 
takings in a way oftentimes nearly compulsory. His practices, habits, 
dress, and tastes must conform to a more expensive standard than the arti- 
san’s. The public requires a principal to deport himself in such a way that 
the economies of overalls, dinner pail luncheons, and the like are taboo, 
should he desire to accept those standards. This social mandate by the public 
is as compulsory in effect as if it were a statute or city ordinance. The prin- 
cipal deserves and needs a cultural wage. 

Table 5 shows that all three groups have made gross gains in pay, but in 


TABLE 5.—CerTain WAGE AND SALARY CHANGES IN CHICAGO FROM 1913 TO 1923 
Based on the hourly union wage scale figures of twenty-two trades in Chicago, 


as reported in the September, 1923, Monthly Labor Review, and on data at the 
office of the Secretary of the Chicago Board of Edueation. 
Changes in salary in Chicago 
from 1913 to 1923 


Per cent gained Per cent gained or lost 
Group 3 in gross amount in purchasing power 


Artisans s Gain of 10 
Gain of 3 
Loss of 8 


purchasing power the artisans and unskilled laborers have made gains while 
the elementary school principals have suffered an actual loss. 

All these facts simply bear out the hypothesis made earlier. We must have 
virile men and vigorous high-minded women guiding the welfare of our 
children. They must be leaders. To attract and develop leadership within 
the profession, return for a life devoted to this service, even financial return, 
must be commensurate with the responsibilities, needs, and obligations of 
the position. 

In closing, it is appropriate to hark back to a story told eighty years ago 
by the great American educator, Horace Mann, while he was addressing a 
Boston audience on behalf of better salaries. “ It is related of a certain king, 
that, when embarked on a voyage, attended by some of his courtiers, a storm 
arose, which made it necessary to lighten the ship—whereupon he commanded 
his courtiers to be thrown overboard, but saved his money. How is it with 
parents, who are embarked with fortune and family on this voyage of life— 
when they need a better schoolhouse to save their children from ill health, 
or a better teacher to save them from immorality and ignorance; or even 
a slate or shilling’s worth of paper to save them from idleness—have we an) 
parents amongst us, or have we not, who, under the circumstances, will! 
fling the child overboard, and save the shilling?” Parents, school boards, 
communities, the Nation even, cannot delude themselves with the thought 
that penury may be practiced on the school ledger without its reflection in 
the school classroom, without its reflection on their own children. Financial 
economies may be effected, but will not the children be flung overboard ? 





ROSTER OF PRINCIPALS’ CLUB OFFICERS * 


Baltimore, Maryland— Principals’ Association 
President, Hiram Shamberger, 1654 N. Appleton Street 
Vice-President, M. Blanch Reindollar, Homewood Apartments, Charles and 
21st Streets 
Treasurer, Emma E. Mitchell, 2817 N. Calvert Street 
Secretary, George W. Ebaugh, 2312 Arunah Avenue 
Battle Creek, Michigan—Elementary School Principals’ Club 
President, Mrs. Lenora McBain 
Vice-President, Margaret Stannard 
Secretary, Mrs. Frances K. Martin 
Treasurer, Mrs. Winifred A. Kirschman 
Boston, Massachusetts—Principals’ Association 
President, Wallace C. Boyden, Boston Normal School 
Vice-President, Archer M. Nickerson, F. V. Thompson, Intermediate School 
Secretary, E. Gertrude Dudley, John Marshall School 
Treasurer, Theobold A. Lynch, F. W. Lincoln School 
Head Masters’ Association 
Chairman, Herbert S. Weaver, High School of Practical Arts 
Secretary, Bertram C. Richardson, East Boston High School 
Boston Intermediate Masters’ Association 
President, James A. Crowley, John A. Winthrop School 
Vice-President, Alvin P. Wagg, Oliver Wendell Holmes School 
Secretary, Chester H. Wilbar, Ulysses S. Grant School 
Treasurer, Josephine A. Powers, Gaston School 
Boston Elementary Principals’ Association 
President, Leonard M. Patton, Edward Everett School 
Vice-President, John F. McGrath, Eliot School 
Secretary, Mary E. Keyes, William Lloyd Garrison School 
Treasurer, James A. Crowley, John Winthrop School 
Dallas, Texas—Principals’ and Supervisors’ Association 
President, L. V. Stockard, 5315 Fremont Street 
Vice-President, Mamie Boone, 132 E. 12th Street 
Secretary, Stella Buckmaster, 4924 Bryan Street 
Treasurer, John M. Fouts, 123 N. Rosemont Street 
El Paso, Texas—El Paso Elementary School Principals’ Association 
President, Catherine Gorbutt, Aoy School 
Vice-President, Alicia Swann, Crockett School 
Secretary-Treasurer, Robert C. Jackson, Bowie School 
Fall River, Massachusetts—Principals’ Club 
President, Mary S. Connell, Samuel Longfellow School 
Vice-President, Margaret G. Brennan 
Secretary, Annie G. Sullivan 
Treasurer, Julia Harrington 
Jersey City, New Jersey—The Male Principals’ Club of Jersey City 
President, A. Moncrief, School No. 25, Zabriskie Street 
Vice-President, N. Chance, School No. 28, Hancock Avenue 
Treasurer, H. Normandeau, School No. 6, Central Avenue 
Secretary, C. A. Sheppard, School No. 12, Crescent Avenue 
Los Angeles, California—Principals’ Club of Los Angeles Elementary Schools 
President, Charles J. Fox 
Secretary, Mrs. Ethelda Drake 
Treasurer, Orval B. Heacock 


1 Compiled by Don C. Rogers, special secretary of the Chicago Principals’ Club. 


[185] 





186 NATIONAL EpuCcATION ASSOCIATION 





Oakland, California—Oakland Principals’ Club 
President, Howard O. Welty, Oakland Technical High School 
Secretary, Ida C. Hammond, Manzanita School, Oakland 
St. Paul, Minnesota—The Saint Paul Principals’ Club 
President, Elmer N. Bonnel, 1668 Princeton Avenue 
Vice-President, Katherine E. Gibbons, 1177 Portland Avenue 
Secretary, A. W. Kirk, 204 Virginia Avenue 
Treasurer, Josephine L. Driscoll, 1185 Hague Avenue 
San Antonio, Texas—San Antonio Elementary Principals’ Association 
President, Flora McNeil, Briscoe School 
Vice-President, Herman Hirsch, Crockett School 
Recording Secretary, Mary B. McKensie, Johnson School 
Corresponding Secretary, Laura Steele, School No. 5 
Treasurer, C. A. Arnold, Esq., Austin School 
San Diego, California—Principals’ Club 
President, C. H. Shellbach, 1653 Sixth Street 
Vice-President, Adele M. Outcalt, 3738 Tenth Street 
Secretary-Treasurer, Frank Y. Van Valin, 4354 Witherby Street 
Sioux City, Iowa—Sioux City Administration Club 
President, E. E. Briggs, Smith School 
Vice-President, June Connor 
Secretary, Dora M. Finley, City Building 
Treasurer, M. H. White 
Washington, D. C.—Administrative Principals’ Group of Washington, D. C., Public 
Schools 
Chairman, Miss M. G. Young, Peabody School 
Secretary-Treasurer, Charles A. Johnson, H. D. Cooke School 
Principals’ Association of the Graded White Schools of Washington, D. C. 
President, M. Florence Gore, Corcoran School 
Vice-President, Helen G. Nichols, Brightwood School 
Financial Secretary, R. A. Dugan, Pierce School 
Treasurer, Mary Lackey, Dennison School 
Recording Secretary, Viola Offutt, Eaton School 


THE ELEMENTARY PRINCIPALS’ ASSOCIATION 


CHARLES J. Fox 
President, Principals Club, Los Angeles, California 


S A FACTOR in the education system of many of our larger cities 
there exists a Principals Association or Club. A widely different inter- 
pretation as to the sphere of such an organization is placed upon it in various 
cities, so may I suggest that an exchange of ideas as to what organized prin- 
cipals may have as aims may prove of mutual interest during this year of 
study on the status of the elementary principal. Shall the club be purely 
social and recreative holding an occasional dinner meeting for enjoyment? 
Shall the club maintain its own headquarters, its various committees, carry 
on independent research work on problems of supervision and administration, 
and present its findings to the superintendent of schools and board of educa- 
tion? Shall the Club meetings be an integral part of the superintendent’s 
meetings and be held in a school auditorium? 
Principals who work among the teachers, children, and the district con- 
ditions each day discover problems and opportunities that are definite factors 
in the education status of that city. An organized and continuous study of 





ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PRINCIPALS 187 





the work of the principal in any city, be that work ever so varied in different 
parts of that city, will result in progress. The sphere of a Principals’ Asso- 
ciation may involve these functions: 

1. As a clearing-house for problems and progressive ideas amongst prin- 
cipals themselves. 

2. As a fearless independent body to present to the superintendent’s office 
and the Board of Education results and suggestive solutions from research 
work from those most intimate with the actual workings of schools. This 
is to be done in a definite, constructive, and advisory way. 

3. As an organized force to carry out policies of the superintendent and 
others—such as bond and other financial issues, city playgrounds, city beauti- 
fication, thrift and economy, health, etc. 

4. To study and make reports on certain questions assigned by the super- 
intendent’s office and others, such as distribution of clerical help, duties of 
vice-principals, form of report cards, and other blanks, etc. 

5. To maintain an office and needed equipment. 

6. To maintain a regular publication. 

7. To participate through special representatives in the plans of the 
National Education Association and California Teachers Association, etc. 

8. To have representatives in touch with city, county, State, and National 
legislation and to urge well-advised laws. 

9. To keep in touch with retired members. To visit members in sickness 
or in need. ° 

10. To affiliate with the Chamber of Commerce, Federated Women’s 
Clubs, etc., in our ever-occurring local and National movements. 

11. To affiliate with Principals Clubs of other cities and exchange 
publications. 

12. To furnish entertainment and relaxation, and to foster good fellow- 
ship amongst club members. Also to furnish means of maintaining a work- 
ing relationship with all other local teaching bodies. 

13. Principals Association Committees may be appointed to care for the 
following subjects: Research, university courses, professional reading, enter- 
tainment, program, visiting and fraternity, legislation, National Education 
Association and State associations, membership, supplies and equipment, sala- 
ries, federation of women’s clubs, member on Superintendents Advisory 
Committee, assistant editor for Principals’ Association publication, clerical 
forms and methods, supervision of special subjects, artistic schoolrooms, 
beautification of school grounds, school lunches, and nutrition. 


FEW COPIES of the Second Yearbook, The Problem of the 
Elementary School Principal in the Light of the Testing 
Movement, remain in stock. The price is $1.50 each. Make check 
payable to Courtland V. Davis, Treasurer, and address envelope to 


1201 Sixteenth Street N. W., Washington, D. C. 

















SECRETARY’S MINUTES 


Cuicaco MEETING 


TT again has rung down the curtain upon a most successful meeting. Chicago 
surpassed herself upon this occasion. From every standpoint it was a great 
meeting. 

The largest number in years of noted educators in all fields of education were in 
attendance. The general spirit of the convention was marvelous in its harmony 
and constructiveness. The Smith-Jones combination effected an hitherto unap- 
proached achievement in peace and prosperity. Each zealously determining to 
magnify the service of the other, these two great leaders set the pace for professional 
courtesy and genuine expression of appreciation. 

The programs of our Department were splendidly presented and caused much 
favorable discussion. The attendance at every meeting was record breaking. 


The Second Annual Dinner 


The Department of Elementary School Principals met in their second annual 
dinner in the Ball Room of the La Salle Hotel, at six-thirty o’clock, Tuesday evening, 
February twenty-sixth. Five hundred sat down to a feast to delight the most fastidi- 
ous, and to regale the most blasé intellectual of the intelligencia. 

Seated at the speakers table were: President W. T. Longshore, toastmaster, Dr. 
Edward J. Broome, superintendent of schools, Philadelphia; Mr. Fred M. Hunter, 
superintendent of schools, Oakland, California; Olive M. Jones, president of the 
National Education Association; Charles H. Judd, of the Department of Education 
of the University of Chicago; Miss Rose A. Pesta, president of the Chicago Prin- 
cipals’ Club; Dr. A. E. Winship, of Boston, Massachusetts; Charl O. Williams, 
legislative secretary of the National Education Association; Mrs. Jessie M. Fink; 
John L. Bracken; Dr. William B. Owen; J. W. Crabtree; S. D. Shankland; Arthur S. 
Gist; George A. Beers; Mary McSkimmon; Anna Laura Force; J. D. Wibliams; 
Miss Margaret McCooey; Mrs. Fred Hunter; and Mrs. W. B. Owen. 

The qualifications of the Chicago principals make them a select group. Each 
must be a university graduate and in addition must successfully pass a special 
examination for the principalship. 

Thus Chicago assures itself the best in way of preparation and scholarship. That 
this highly specialized group has formed a professional association for the advance- 
ment of the principalship and the adequate recognition of its responsibilities and 
possibilities is an outstanding accomplishment. The eyes of all the sister clubs of this 
country are upon it and are rejoicing in its successes. 

Don C. Rogers has demonstrated his efficiency in the report appearing in this 
issue of the Bulletin. It will serve as a pattern for many a smaller club and 
undoubtedly be the means of effectively answering some of the stupid laymen who 
beset our budgets and who are actually incapable of analyzing a situation or properly 
interpreting a scientific analysis when presented. 

The hospitality extended by the Chicago Clubs will long be among our most 
pleasant memories. The Chicago Principals’ Club gave a charming reception 
to this Department at the Chicago Art Institute, Monday evening, February 25. 

The Ella Flagg Young Club is an organization of women principals in Chicago. 
Miss Isabel Dolton is the president. The Ella Flagg Young Club entertained 
thirty-five delegates with a ride over the boulevards of Chicago and a most 

charming tea at The Edgewater Beach Hotel. Saturday afternoon at Mandel’s 
Ivory Room at a beautifully appointed luncheon, the Club again entertained 
Miss Olive M. Jones, president of the National Education Association, Miss Sara 
Rhodes, president of the New York Principals’ Club, and Mrs. Jessie M. Fink, 
secretary of the Department of Elementary School Principals. 


[188] 








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189 


ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PRINCIPALS 








A constant flow of wit, humor, and wisdom for three hours kept the large assem- 
blage in a state of delight. Every section of the country was represented and bril- 
liantly did the delegates acquit themselves. Not a stock story nor a stupid thing 
was enunciated ; everything was alive and up to the minute. There was a radiance 
of brightness that was truly refreshing. Peace and brotherly love abounded. The 
custom has been established to make these events annual, and certainly nothing can 
do more to bring us to a greater understanding of our individual and collective 
aims than these discussions under such auspicious circumstances. 


The Officers’ Luncheon 


The officers of the Department met at a luncheon at the Hotel La Salle Tuesday 
noon. Present at this luncheon were President W. T. Longshore, Secretary Jessie 
M. Fink, Executive Committee members Anna Laura Force and Mary McSkimmon; 
First Vice-President J. D. Williams; Third Vice-President George A. Beers, and 
Editor of the current Yearbook Arthur B. Gist. 

The subject of the Fourth Yearbook came in for discussion and suggestions were 
in order. The advisability of an Editorial Council for the Bulletin was presented by 
the Secretary and favorably considered by the Board. 

It was moved and seconded that an organization of a Department of Elementary 
School Principals be organized in every State association on the same basis as is 
organized the Department of Elementary School Principals in the National Educa- 
tion Association. Carried. 

Our Department has had a phenomenal growth, It is now nearly four thousand 
strong. It has been doing constant work in the matter of the status of the principal. 
This meeting brought out the fact that several cities of the country have solved the 
vexed question of supervisors. Chicago, Detroit, Minneapolis, Oakland, Seattle, 
Duluth, and others gave evidence of their satisfaction. That the principal in these 
cities is unhampered in supervision and adequately recognized, is a step in the 
ultimate adjustment of the less favored localities. That superintendents the country 
over are agreeing with our point of view is a thing in itself for congratulation. 

It only goes to show that when our premises are sound and then effectively 
presented a way for their incorporation into a policy is immediately opened up. 

The Chicago Principals’ Club, of which Miss Rose Pesta is president, is unique. 
This Club is a National inspiration. When we can so believe in a cause as to pay 
thirty dollars for annual membership dues in it, we may hope to stand for some of 
the things that does the Chicago Principals’ Club. 

Don C. Rogers is the special secretary of this organization. His is the research 
and statistical work. Retained for his services he is alive to the activities of all 
similar organizations and keeps this BULLETIN in constant touch with the field of 
his endeavors. 

This Club has principals of all departments in its membership—that is, elemen- 
tary, junior high, and senior high school. 

A pace was set us by Payson Smith and Olive M. Jones that will keep us stepping 
right along for the next few months and possibly years. Every time either of them 
enunciated a syllable it was one of inspiration, of virility, ennobling, quickening 
our faith in our vocation and filling our hearts with a deep sense of gratitude for the 
opportunity which is ours to serve. 

Our own President, W. T. Longshore, provided our Department with a program 





unsurpassed, if ever equalled, and to him we owe a debt of appreciation. Upon 
every program he represented us not only in our sessions, but Also in those of the 
various activities. 

At every great dinner we (vicariously) sat at the tables of the great. Our Depart- 
ment is at the front line of active service. It is growing daily in importance and 
numbers. New avenues of endeavor are constantly opening up to us and we must 
be ready to respond to every call. Community singing was led by Mr. John Beattie, 
supervisor of music in the schools of Grand Rapids, Michigan. 














ENDORSEMENT BY THE DEPARTMENT OF ELEMENTARY 
SCHOOL PRINCIPALS OF THE EDUCATION 
BILL AT CHICAGO, FEBRUARY 27, 1924 


T= ELEMENTARY School Principals of America have had borne in upon them 
the great and unjust inequalities in educational opportunity afforded in America 
to the children of the country as compared with the children of the city, to the 
children of our poorer sections as compared with the children of the richer sections 
of our land. 

The democratic and just spirit of America has always demanded a square deal 
for every citizen and especially for our future citizens, the children. 

Many sections of our land are burdened with great and unusual tasks of citizen- 
training, occasioned either by centuries of negro slavery on this continent or by the 
great and continuous immigration of foreigners to our shores. The responsibility for 
training the enfranchised negro and the unassimilated foreigner and their children 
for American citizenship, is a National, more than a State or sectional responsibility. 

Moreover, the free and continuous intercommunication of the people of the various 
States, makes the problems of one the problems of all and turns the weakness or 
misfortune of any State or section into a National weakness or menace. The handi- 
caps of ignorance, of traditions of slavery, and of unassimilated foreign populations, 
and the resultant poverty which accompanies all these conditions, seriously hinder, 
if they do not incapacitate, the State or section suffering from these evils from 
effecting their cure. 

A well-conceived measure for the removal of these conditions has been before 
Congress for four years. Every year of delay in coming to the assistance of the 
children means many thousands more of poorly trained American men and women 
who will be entitled to the suffrage. This Department of Elementary School Prin- 
cipals of the National Education Association does, therefore, vigorously endorse 
the provisions of the Education Bill, the Sterling-Reed Bill now before Congress. 

We express our conviction that the expansion of education is of such vital 
importance to the Nation as to demand the undivided attention of the proposed 
Secretary of Education in the President’s Cabinet. 

We heartily approve the wisdom and fairness of the proposed voluntary and 
equal coéperation of State and Nation in providing increased revenues for teacher 
training, for the training of illiterates, for the Americanization of foreigners, for 
health education, and for the equalization of educational opportunity of children. 

We approve of the carefully drawn provisions of this bill insuring to the educa- 
tional authorities of the States full control of the administration of their schools. 

We approve also the contemplated formation, under the provisions of this bill, 
of a National council of education, under the chairmanship of the proposed Secre- 
tary of Education, to consist of the superintendents of public instruction of the 
various States and of fifty other educators and laymen of prominence, which Council 
would serve as a National clearing-house for educational ideas. 

We vigorously oppose any compromise to this measure by loading down the pro- 
posed Department of Education with other responsibilities which would tend to 
slow up the momentum which must be given to educational expansion. 

We are deeply sensible of the strength of the support of our President, Calvin 
Coolidge, to the formation of this Department of Education. 

We pledge ourselves as a Department to the National Education Association and 
as individual principals and citizens to urge upon our representatives in the Senate 
and in the House of Representatives the prompt and whole-hearted consideration of 
this bill and its passage at this session of Congress. 

Report submitted by 
AMBROSE Cort, Chairman, Brooklyn, New York 
Jessie M. Fink, Grand Rapids, Michigan 
Etta M. Prosst, Minneapolis, Minnesota 
W. T. LoncsHore, Kansas City, Missouri 


[190] 














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ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PRINCIPALS 















THE THIRD YEARBOOK 


HE THEME of the Third Year- 

book of the Department of Ele- 
mentary School Principals is the status of 
the principal. The book has been pre- 
pared under the editorship of Mr. Arthur 
S. Gist, principal of the B. F. Day School, 
Seattle, Washington, and will be ready 
for distribution before June 1. 

Section I is devoted to the Evolution 
of the Principalship. Section II, on the 
Professional Aspect of the Principal, is 
divided into five parts—The Principal 
Himself, The Principal and the Teacher, The Principal and the 
Pupil, The Principal and Educational Accessories, and Miscella- 
neous—in turn each part is divided into.chapters, each of which is 
the result of years of experience and study on the part of the 
individual principals who have written them. Altogether the book 
is a contribution not only to the professional growth of the prin- 
cipal but to the entire teaching profession. 

As in the previous Yearbooks there will be a list of members of 
the Department of Elementary School Principals. It will also 
contain a revised roster of principals’ clubs. 





ARTHUR S§. GIST 












THE WASHINGTON MEETING 


NE OF THE great programs’ of the National Education 
Association to be held in Washington will be the general 
meeting, Tuesday, July 1, 1924, under the joint direction of the 
Department of Superintendence, Department of Elementary School 
Principals, Department of Classroom Teachers, and the great 
public as represented by the National Parent-Teacher Association. 
The President of the National Education ‘Association, Miss 
Olive M. Jones, will introduce the President of the Department of 
Elementary School Principals, Mr. W. T. Longshore, who will 
introduce the representative of the Department of Elementary 
School Principals, Miss Mary McSkimmon, of the Pierce School, 
Brookline, Mass. Miss Ida Christine Iverson, president of the 
Department of Classroom Teachers, Mr. William McAndrew, 
president of the Department of Superintendence, and Mrs. A. H. 
Reeve, president of the National Parent-Teacher Association, will 
represent their organizations. 











NATIONAL EpucATION ASSOCIATION 








DEFINITION OF MEMBERSHIP YEAR 


HE membership year in the Department of Elementary School 
| Principals corresponds with the school year. Article Eight of 
the By-laws states specifically that the fiscal year begins July 1 
and ends June 30. Members receive Bulletins for October, 
January, and April, together with the Yearbook, which is published 
in June. The cost of publishing the Yearbook is over one dollar 
a copy, hence back numbers or duplicates cannot be furnished free. 





‘ 


REMITTANCE 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 1923-24. One dollar of this fee is for a year’s subscription 
to the Department Bulletin. 

Kindly send all publications, including the Third Yearbook, to be issued 
in June, 1924, to me at the address given below. 


Name Pileslicnet sialjpeiatiasinng ovens greipielisnininseicas cen iapenaiagalabtnetaailtaiteaiens magia pebsiiacnieinin . — 
(Typewrite or print) 


PEE OEE LIE ES LS 


(School or street) 


NS ith AE Bete hata eo A