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VOL. VIII, NO. 2 JANUARY, 1929 


BULLETIN 


ss OF THE 


Department of Elementary 


School Principals 








Teaching as a Fine Art, the Principal’s Contribution—Spain. 67 
Tendencies in Supervision—McGaughy................e000: 72 
The Mastery Unit Plan of Individual Instruction—McDade. 78 
The Future of Piano Class Instruction in the Schools—Maddy. 81 


ERO ROACHIAE OF EMT — RONG soo 66. 6 56bd 0 wsswedsceencnees 84 
The Parent-Teacher Association—Irwin................000- 87 
A Health Club Experiment—Marston.............seeeeees gI 
Citizenship Training in Elementary Schools—Marx......... 93 
Allen School Campus Club—Caradine.............ceeeeeees 97 
Interesting Non-English Speaking Parents—Herron......... 99 
Radio an Innovation in the School Room—Keith............ 103 
Pittsburgh Citizens’ Salary Committee—Reitell............. 106 
An Experiment in Group Teaching—Siehl.................. 110 
Cooperation of Parents and Pupils in School Picnics—Witter. 113 
The Cleveland Meeting—Pinkston..............2sceeeeeeee 116 
Wobee ANA AMROUMCOTIOTER . o.6.o.oc cc ccsecccssccrsvedscercecos 117 
NS FUN 5. hii betise0es caisasiaenesiewnteeadnduses 123 








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. 


Entered as secondclass matter November 20, 1922, at the Postoffice at 
Washington, D. C., under act of August 24, 1912. Acceptance for mailing 
at special rate of ne provided for in Section 1103, Act of October 3, 1917, 
, 1922. 


authorized December 1 




















BULLETIN 
of the 
DEPARTMENT OF ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PRINCIPALS 
HERBERT C. HANSEN, EDITOR, 315 Plymouth Court, Chicago 


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. 

The payment of $3 active membership dues entitles a member to 
attend all meetings of the Department, to hold office, and to receive the 
Bulletin quarterly. 

Two dollars of each membership fee is for a year’s subscription to the 
Bulletin. 

Subscription to nonmembers is $3 per year; single copies, 50 cents; 
Yearbook, $2. 

Members are requested to report at once any change of address, giving 


old as well as new address, 


Entered as secondclass 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 
1928-29 
President, Eva G. PINKSTON 
Sam Houston School, Dallas, Texas 
First Vicepresident, HELEN B. SHOVE 
Longfellow School, Minneapolis, Minnesota 
Second Vicepresident, JoHN A. SPARGO 
Ashland School, East Orange, New Jersey 
Third Vicepresident, F. H. Durry 
1616 Ridge Avenue, Steubenville, Ohio 
Fourth Vicepresident, Cassie F. Roys 
2609 Bristol Street, Omaha, Nebraska 
Fifth Vicepresident, A. J. HAMILTON 
University Elementary School, Berkeley, Calitornia 
Secretary, HERBERT C. HANSEN 
315 Plymouth Court, Chicago, Illinois 
Executive Committee 
Mrs. Jesste M. Fink, Buchanan School, Grand Rapids, Michigan 
(Term Expires 1929) 

M. E. Peterson, Twentieth Street School, Los Angeles, California 
(Term Expires 1930) 

EL1zABETH McCormick, Howe School, Superior, Wisconsin 
(Term Expires 1931) 

Joun Merritt, Lingemann School, Detroit, Michigan 
(Term Expires 1932) 

Editor, 19290 Yearbook 
ArtHur S. Gist, State Teachers College, San Francisco, Cailfornia 
National Chairman, Enrolment Committee 
HERMAN RitTow, Fort Sheridan, Illinois 











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1 





TEACHING AS A FINE ART—THE PRINCIPAL’S 
~ CONTRIBUTION 


CHARLES L. SPAIN 
Depuiy Superintendent, Detroit, Michigan 


E CANNOT get an adequate picture of the elementary principal’s 

job without taking a look backward toward its origin. The elemen- 
tary principalship was not always as inconspicuous as it has been during the 
last two decades. When the old New England Grammar School admitted 
the primary school to its first floor thus making the modern elementary 
school, the principal of the grammar school became a person of consider- 
able importance. Many elementary principals in the middle west as well 
as in New England were men of independence of thought and qualities of 
leadership, men who were respected for their scholarship and disciplinary 
powers and left a lasting impress upon their communities. Dr. John D. 
Philbrick, Principal of the Quincy Grammar School in Boston, the first 
graded school in the United States, was a man of this type and a real 
educational teader. 

As time went on and the scattered elementary school districts in any 
community were merged into one unit making a city school system, the 
need for concentrated educational effort brought forth a new figure in 
education, the superintendent of schools. 

With the coming of the superintendent of schools the principal’s influ- 
ence and power began to wane. Formerly the principal made his own cur- 
riculum, and supervised his own instruction but now these functions began 
to slip away. The superintendent at first tried to assume the supervisory 
duties himself. The superintendent of schools of St. Louis, Missouri, in 
1858 reported with pride that he had visited 1400 class rooms during the 
year. The superintendent of schools of Cleveland stated in his report that 
he had examined 3000 pupils during the year just passed. Ultimately, how- 
ever, the job of supervision became too strenuous for the superintendent to 
perform along with his other duties. For relief he did not turn to the ele- 
mentary principal but to a new type of educator, a supervisor of instruction, 
who became the personal representative of the superintendent in the class 
rooms. 

The real relationship between elementary principals and supervisors was 
not in the beginning clearly defined nor is it at the present day in many 
school systems. As a result we have had much clashing of opinion and of 
authority between principals and supervisors. In time the function of super- 
vision to a large extent passed from the principal to the supervisor and the 
principal thereby lost considerable prestige. 

As school systems became larger and principals became more absorbed in 
administration there was a distinct decline in the prominence and influ- 
ence of the elementary principalship. In many places, especially in large 
Cities, principals were chosen whose claims for preferment were based not on 


[67] 











68 NATIONAL EpuCATION ASSOCIATION 





professional training but rather upon long service as teachers of the discipli- 
nary or military type. They were persons capable of maintaining order, of 
handling routine matters, but were in no sense able to exercise educational 
leadership and usually were not expected to do so. 

With the growth of modern educational ideals and the feeling that this 
should be an age of expression rather than of repression, a new type of prin- 
cipal seems to be needed. So today we have a new vision. There is what 
might be called a renaissance of the elementary school principalship and there 
is every indication that the office is to be restored to its former place of 
power and influence. 

It is clearly evident, especially in large cities, that centralized control 
of the supervision of instruction is too remote, too haphazard, too ineffective 
to produce the results for which we have a right to hope. If the control of 
supervision is to be decentralized the elementary principal is the one person 
who is in a strategic position to assume the responsibility. Some such solu- 
tion is in the offing. 

It is significant that the Elementary Principals group of the National 
Education Association has been able to enlist in its cause some of the most 
prominent leaders in education because they are beginning to realize that 
the hope of better instruction awaits a new alignment of the work of super- 
visor and principal. This does not mean that the importance of the super- 
visor will be minimized. On the contrary in this new adjustment both 
supervisors and principals will exercise larger powers and be more effective. 

Detroit for the past seven years has been trying to realize this relation- 
ship in practice. In the plan used these principles are involved: 

First, the supervisor is primarily an expert. He is the best informed person 
in the system in his field. He is a constructive thinker ready to contribute 
the results of his thinking and effort for the benefit of the entire system. He 
is responsible for the maintenance of present levels of instruction and for 
the raising of these levels to a higher standard. One of his functions is to 
note exceptional advances in instruction made by individual teachers or prin- 
cipals, to make it possible for them to receive recognition, and to make the 
results of the creative work of individual teachers or principals available 
to the entire system. 

The functions of the supervisor are: 

(1) Research—the development of new methods through experiment. 

(2) Training—training of teachers and principals. 

(3) Field Work—visiting schools largely on request. 

Research is a formidable word but it merely means that the supervisor is 
to experiment and to do constructive thinking. He is to cooperate with 
groups of teachers or individuals in setting up experiments, in testing and 
appraising the results of new methods, and in setting up objectives and stand- 
ards for their use. He is to present new methods to principals for criticism 
and approval before their introduction into the class room. 

When a new method with its technic has been accepted by principals 
the second function of a supervisor—training—begins. 











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ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PRINCIPALS 69 





‘TRAINING 


Training of teachers and principals involves: 


(1) Conferences. 


(2) Demonstration lessons usually given by teachers trained in the subject and 
followed by discussions led by the supervisor. 


(3) Visits to schools on request, for the purpose of diagnosis and aid in solving 
individual problems. 


(4) Distribution of bulletins, mimeographed material, type lessons and ref- 
erences. 


(5) Organization of extension classes for teachers and principals. 


There is a striking difference between the policy here outlined and that 
commonly followed. After principals accept a program of instruction as out- 
lined by the supervisor the responsibility for the development of this pro- 
gram then rests upon the principal, not upon the supervisor. The initiative 
then lies with the principal. If he needs help the supervisor is ready to give 
it when requested. This changes the situation materially from that which 
ordinarily exists. Differences between principal and supervisor cannot easily 
arise. he supervisor now comes not as one having authority to criticize but 
as one bringing aid. When a teacher and supervisor approach a problem on 
a cooperative basis there is little opportunity for controversy. Together they 
analyze the situation and agree on remedial measures. The supervisor comes 
not to tell the teacher what to do but rather to assist the teacher to dis- 
cover what it is necessary for her to do. 


Fietp WorkK 


Visiting classes for inspection, which ordinarily is the supervisor’s prin- 
cipal job, now becomes a minor function. He may visit classes on his own 
initiative to make himself familiar with existing conditions and he may at 
such times comment on the teacher’s work. In making such comment, how- 
ever, the supervisor must always keep in mind the fact that the responsi- 
bility for the quality of instruction of individual teachers does not belong 
to him but to the principal. His comments, therefore, should be made to 
the principal or at least with the principal’s knowledge. 


TEACHER DIRECTION AND TEACHER TRAINING 


In the proposed alignment of the duties and responsibilities of principal 
and supervisor there is a clear distinction between teacher direction, which is 
the function of the principal, and teacher training, which is the function 
of the supervisor. Supervisors aid principals in setting up individual and 
general standards for their aid in judging class room work. Principals 
are not expected to have the expert knowledge of content and method 
which supervisors must have. Principals should have, however, a general 
knowledge of the principles involved and of the methods to be followed to 
enable them to judge and direct the work of teachers. Principals must also 
be able to direct teachers to class rooms where good teaching is to be found. 











70 NATIONAL EDUCATION ASSOCIATION 


The plan here outlined has been in operation in Detroit for some years. 
The principles involved have been accepted and approved by the majority 
of principals and supervisors but the relationships which these principles 
imply as yet have not been realized to the extent of 100 percent, because the 
plan makes necessary : 

(1) A new point of view and attitude on the part of supervisors. 

(2) A new attitude and better training on the part of principals. 

In this discussion we have been thinking of Teaching as a Fine Art. There 
can be no art without idealism and no principal without a philosophy of 
education to determine his ideals can be an artist. 

In a study reported in the Fifth Year Book published by the Elementary 
Principals group of the National Education Association the figures indicate 
that seventy-five percent of the elementary principals in the north central 
section of the country had studied no philosophy of education before they 
became principals and that only ten percent of them have thought it neces- 
sary to study this subject since. No one can do an artistic piece of work 
without an historical background for his guidance. The same study shows 
that sixty-five percent of the elementary principals in this area had not 
studied the history of education before becoming principals and only eleven 
percent have studied it since. Further, fifty-five percent of the elementary 
principals had had no educational psychology before they were appointed to 
their present positions and only twenty-two percent have studied it since 
they have become principals. This group of principals are faced with the 
alternative of bringing their training up to date or of having their adminis- 
trative and supervisory ability challenged by a large group of scientifically; 
trained young teachers who are now leaving our higher training schools. 

This same report shows that the median age of principals in the larger 
cities of the north central area is 49.9 years and that the upper one-fourth 
of the group have a median age of 55.7 years. It is evident that the elemen- 
tary principalship has been reserved as a reward for long service as elemen- 
tary teachers. Many of the persons indicated did not become principals until 
after they had reached the age of forty. 

All of the figures in this report tend to show that the group of elementary 
principals employed in large cities in this part of the country is likely to 
offer serious resistance to radical changes in view point and is likely to 
respond slowly to ideals greatly at variance with those which they have long 
held. 

There is at present a tendency to multiply administrative machinery and 
reports in elementary schools. This may offer an obstacle to more atten- 
tion to the supervision of instruction on the part of principals. Only twenty- 
one percent of principals in large cities in this part of the country have 
clerks. However, if the other seventy-nine percent did have them we have 
no guarantee that they would give the time saved to supervision. In Detroit 
where full time clerks are supplied in schools having 800 pupils or more it 
was found that often the time saved was not used for supervision of 
instruction but for more administration. It was also found that neither the 

















ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PRINCIPALS 71 


size of the school, the nationality of the children, or the absence of clerical 
help are determining factors in the distribution of the principal’s time. The 
chief influence seems to be the attitude of the principal himself. If he has 
the will to supervise he seems to be able to do so. Some principals of larger 
schools in the most difficult foreign districts, with limited clerical help have 
devoted more time to supervision than other principals in smaller schools, in 
English-speaking districts, with ample clerical assistance. 

Unless signs fail the elementary principalship is on its way to better 
things. A change is coming through evolution rather than through more 
drastic means: We can all help evolution along. If those who have vision 
will keep up a campaign of education we can look forward to a time when 
not only a new generation of principals but many of those long in service 
may attain a training and an attitude of mind that will make them truly 
artists in their work. 


EVALUATING SUPERVISION 


| UPERVISION is simply putting into practice the principles 

of teaching, knowing when a teacher sees or doesn’t see them, 
and giving constructive criticism, which is so essential to the better 
methods of instruction. It should be the duty of the principal to 
organize the school so that each child gets as much as he is capable 
of getting because the duty of democracy is for each member of 
society to give as much as he can to the group. 

The nature and scope of the supervisory process must be taken 
into consideration to evaluate supervision. The teacher is the unit | 
| of instructional process. She makes the single adjustment that is | 
| required between herself and the child. The conscious needs to be 
obtained are set forth in the course of study. The unconscious needs 
are those evaluations, ideals, and expectations held by society rela- 
tive to character, conduct, and morals. It is the business of the 
principal, who is the real supervisor, to evaluate the conditions and | 
to secure the cooperative supervision which is so necessary for ad- 
| vancement, the aim being to administer education so that the 
| school shall bring about the bettering of society—Eva G. Pink- 
| ston, President, Department of Elementary School Principais. 

















TENDENCIES IN SUPERVISION 


J. R. McGaucuy 
Teachers College, Columbia University, New York City 


OMETIME ago, I returned from a professional trip of nearly twelve 
thousand miles. On this trip I visited the elementary schools of many 
of our large cities, spending from one to three days in each city. The main 
objective of my trip was a study of the professional job which we call 
supervision, both as to its organization and as to its method of functioning. 
On my return I was asked to present to this group some of my conclu- 
sions concerning present tendencies in elementary school supervision in our 
American cities. 

1. The first tendency which I wish to report to you is in the field of school 
organization. There is a good deal of idle talk concerning “ conflicts ” 
between building principals and elementary supervisors. In a public school 
system with a sound organization such a “conflict” is impossible and 
unthinkable. In the administrative sense the principal is always right. I 
mean by this that in a sound organization the elementary supervisor is a 
staff officer attached to the office of the superintendent of schools or to that 
of the assistant superintendent in charge of elementary schools. The super- 
visor is therefore a person without authority in a well-organized system. 
He is an expert helper and adviser, a sympathetic professional leader of 
principals and classroom teachers. 

The principal, on the other hand, must be a person of authority. This 
authority is delegated to him by the superintendent of schools. To have 
a complete understanding of the administrative necessity of this arrange- 
ment it may be profitable to trace the line of authority from its origin to its 
end. It is important to note that at each step this line of authority is a 
single line. No school officer or agency should ever be held directly respon- 
sible to two different superior authorities 

Under the “ elastic’ clause of the Federal Constitution the state, or 
commonwealth, is given complete authority with respect to public educa- 
tion. The people of the state make their will effective through a repre- 
sentative state board of education. —The members of this board are chosen 
directly by the people or by the governor of the state who is an elected 
representative of all the people. The state board functions administratively 
through a state superintendent of public instruction whom this board should 
choose. It is a most unsound procedure and is greatly to be regretted that 
many state superintendents are elected directly by the people. The state 
superintendent with his staff makes up the state department of education. 
It is from this department and the state board of education whose policies 
it executes that the single line of authority leads down to each local unit of 
school administration, whether it be a tiny district, a village, a county, or a 
city. Those duties and powers which the state does not reserve unto itself 
are delegated straight down this line to the people of each local unit. 


[72] 











ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PRINCIPALS 73 





The people of the local unit make their will effective by delegating this 
authority to a local board of education. Its members should be elected at 
large by popular vote on a non-partisan ballot. This local board then 
chooses its executive officer, the local superintendent of schools. He should 
be its sole executive officer and all agencies of local school administration 
shoul'd report to the board of education through him. Some boards of 
education have two or three or four executive officers of coordinate author- 
ity. In some cities there is an executive committee—a board of superin- 
tendents—with a superintendent of schools acting as chairman of this board. 
Any one of these other organizations facilitates delay in reaching important 
decisions and leads to confusion and a lack of coordination in school admin- 
istration. There is a strong tendency toward making the superintendent of 
schools the sole executive of the local board of education. 

Of course the superintendent of schools finds it necessary to delegate to 
others many of the administrative duties and powers which are vested in 
him by the board ot education. In the case of each school building this line 
of authority runs directly and in a single line to the principal of that build- 
ing. To him must be delegated full responsibility and authority with respect 
to the functioning of the educational program offered in his building and 
with respect to the administration of his building and grounds. Just as 
the local board of education and the superintendent of schools must function 
in conformity with the minimum standards laid down by the state, so must 
the building principal be guided and ruled by the general policies of the 
board of education and by the administrative orders of the superintendent 
of schools. The principal in turn delegates to each classroom teacher a 
certain amount of authority with respect to instruction and discipline in 
his own classroom. 

We have now followed the straight, single line of authority from its origin, 
the people of the state, down to its terminus, the pupil in the classroom. 
In no case has it been possible for a pupil or teacher or other school official 
to choose any one of two or three lines up which he may go to a superior 
authority. 

The whole point of this rather lengthy discussion of the line of authority 
in school organization is to make it clear that there is no possible position in 
the line at which we may place the elementary supervisor. If we place him 
in the line between the principal and the classroom teacher and give him 
authority over the teacher, we no longer have the right to hold the principal 
responsible for the success of the educational program offered in his school. 
We also place the teacher in the embarrassing and confusing position of 
having two superior officers—a choice of two lines of authority up which he 
may go to a superior. On the other hand, if we place the supervisor in the 
line between the principal and the superintendent of schools or the assistant 
superintendent in charge of elementary schools and give the supervisor 
authority over the principal with respect to matters of instruction, we again 
have overlapping of authority and uncertainty and confusion in general. 











74 NATIONAL EDUCATION ASSOCIATION 


From such a process of elimination we must conclude that it is not sound 
administration to place the supervisor at any point in the line of authority. 

Entirely apart from the necessities of sound organization it is highly) 
desirable that the supervisor shall not have authority over the teachers 
whom he supervises. The successful supervisor must be accepted as a friendly 
and sympathetic helper, a wise, well-trained, professional adviser. His 
relationship with the teacher is therefore a most delicate and subtle one; 
seemingly trifling matters will make or break his effectiveness. If the teacher 
recognizes in him a person of authority with power to coerce him and en- 
force his recommendations, the effectiveness of the supervisor has been put 
under a serious, almost insurmountable handicap. 

I am pleased to report that the tendency to organize the supervisory 
function with the supervisors on the staff of the superintendent of schools or, 
in larger cities, on the staff of the assistant superintendent in charge of 
elementary schools, now prevails widely in American cities. 

Another important tendency in the administrative organization of super- 
vision is worthy of honorable mention. It is that of making the special sub- 
ject supervisors an integral part of one supervisory staff instead of having 
two separate groups—or even the half dozen separate organizations of some 
cities. This is making possible the more rapid and effective adoption of a 
modern philosophy of education in such fields as music, drawing and indus- 
trial arts. At the same time it serves the important function of bringing 
about a more perfect correlation and integration of the whole subjectmatter 
of the elementary school curriculum. 

Up to this point we have spent a good deal of time in discussing ten- 
dencies in school organization. During the remainder of our discussion we 
shall be directly concerned with the functioning of supervision in our cit) 
school systems. In this connection we will mention two or three pronounced 
tendencies. One is that of the use of standard tests and objective measures 
to determine the needs of teachers and pupils and thus to provide a basis 
for improving instruction. Another is that of delegating to the building 
principal more and more responsibility for the individual supervision of 
classroom teachers. A third tendency is that of requiring a great deal of 
research and experimentation on the part of supervisors, particularly in the 
field of the curriculum. 

Much has been said of the use of tests and measurements as a basis for 
determining a point of departure in supervision. I need not take much time 
for further discussion now. The most important function of supervision 
is the improvement of instruction in the classroom. Instruction can be im- 
proved effectively only if we have scientific knowledge of the strengths and 
weaknesses of individual teachers and pupils. Such scientific knowledge can 
come only through diagnosis—sympathetic, detailed, scientific diagnosis. | 
shall not waste your time to say over again the obvious and important 
things which all of us must recognize as to the important contribution to 
supervision made by the measurement movement. No one is more heartily 
in sympathy with its scientific adaptation to the problems of supervision 











ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PRINCIPALS 75 


than am I, but in our enthusiasm for things new and scientific in education 
there is a growing tendency to become lax and unscientific in our use of these 
instruments and in our interpretation of their results. 

One of these dangers is found in what I sometimes call the “I. Q. 
fallacy.” We should not forget that the I. Q. is an average—that a pupil’s 
performances in several separate stunts are averaged together and a single 
score is given him. Neither should we forget that the intelligence tests we 
are using undoubtedly are lopsided—that they test particularly, and almost 
exclusively, an abstract intelligence which is able to react to spoken and 
written words. The I. Q. measure may therefore be entirely valid to predict 
a pupil’s success on the “ book-larnin’” side of education but it is most 
unscientific to suppose that it yields a complete and scientific diagnosis of 
the whole of a pupil’s mental capacity and ability. 

Another procedure which I believe to be unscientific is that of rating a 
teacher or judging his success on the basis of the test scores of his pupils. 
Too small a part of the total educational product is now subject to scientific 
measurement—too many variables are working with the teacher’s influence 
to add to or subtract from his effectiveness—to justify us in rating teachers 
on such evidence at this stage of our advancement in the science of education. 

2. The second tendency observed in the functioning of supervision in the 
elementary schools of American cities is that of delegating more and more 
responsibility to the building principal. In general there are two methods 
of working to improve instruction: First, with individual teachers in their 
classrooms, and second, with groups of teachers or principals. There is a 
growing tendency for supervision of the individual type to be done almost 
entirely by the principal. This is especially true in the larger cities. It is 
safe to predict that the work of the general supervisor serving as a staff 
officer of the superintendent of schools will for some time be confined largely 
to training principals and teachers in groups. Much of this training will be 
done through discussion of demonstration lessons taught by regular teachers 
and through group study of professional problems under the leadership of 
the supervisor. 

The principal reason for this development seems to be an economic one. 
The typical large city has a staff of elementary supervisors which is not more 
than twenty or thirty percent as large as it would have to be if it were to 
do adequate classroom supervision with individual teachers. Another way 
of expressing this fact is to say that it would probably require an added 
expenditure of two dollars per year per elementary pupil in average daily 
attendance to make it possible for a board of education to provide anything 
approaching adequate supervision of each classroom teacher by a specially 
trained elementary supervisor. In a city of two hundred fifty thousand this 
would mean an increase of about fifty thousand dollars per year in present 
budgets. In a city of one hundred thousand or fifty thousand, the necessary 
increases would be proportionately smaller. 

A trip such as mine leaves no shadow of a doubt that supervision is here 
to stay, or that it is becoming increasingly important. It is no longer con- 











76 NATIONAL EpuCATION ASSOCIATION 





sidered fair or economical to leave even the best of good teachers without 
professional advice and counsel concerning the problems he faces in his sepa- 
rate classroom. Since the supervisory staff is too small to do the job ade- 
quately, the full burden of this individual supervision is falling upon the 
building principal. This fact has most important implications for the future. 

In the first place, principals must learn how to supervise their teachers 
effectively. New principals will be chosen on the basis of their ability to do 
so. Principals already in service must be trained for this function. Many 
supervisors are now devoting the major portion of their time and energy to 
this work of training principals. Another implication for the principal is 
that he must learn to systematize his office routine and to delegate to others 
those administrative details which do not absolutely demand his personal 
attention. 

The scientific study of the administration of elementary schools is one of 
the most important and challenging needs in the field of elementary educa- 
tion at the present time. Until this problem is solved many elementary 
principals will honestly believe that it is necessary for them to sit in their 
swivel chairs from eighty to one hundred percent of each school day and 
that they have little or no time for classroom supervision. It is just possible 
that if principals would set about proving that they can use their time to the 
best advantage when they are not sitting in their offices they would have 
little trouble in prying adequate clerical assistance out of hard-headed 
boards of education. 

3. The third very definite tendency in American cities is that of assigning 
to supervisors increasing responsibility in the preparing and validation of cur- 
riculum materials. In a few cities this function of supervision is considered 
more important than any other. This requirement makes it essential that 
the staff supervisor be trained professionally so that he is able to conduct 
and direct curriculum research and experimentation. Just as heavier respon- 
sibility for classroom supervision is requiring of principals more professional 
training and study, so are these newer duties of the supervisor making the 
same sort of demand on him. Perhaps the most important implications of 
these facts are for training institutions such as our own. Courses must be 
reorganized so that they will be truly professional. It is not enough that 
we hand out to principals and supervisors who come to our institutions 
some cut and dried theories with respect to supervision and research and 
experimentation. We must equip them in such a way that they can go back 
to their positions and solve these newer professional problems which they 
must face. 

In conclusion, then, we would repeat that there seem to be two distinct 
tendencies in the organization of city school systems to provide for ele- 
mentary school supervision. One is the perfectly sound one of organizing as 
a staff function with head of the staff reporting directly to the superin- 
tendent of schools or to the assistant superintendent in charge of elementary 
schools. In his relationship the supervisor is not placed in the line of author- 





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ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PRINCIPALS 77 





ity at all. His function is a strictly professional one. He is an adviser and 
leader; he cannot be a driver or enforcement officer. 

The second tendency in school organization is likewise a most healthful 
one. It is that of making the special subject supervisors a part of the super- 
visory staff of the superintendent of schools under the leadership of a general 
supervisor. This facilitates a desirable correlation of all of the activities of 
the educational program. At the same time it insures the operation of a 
modern philosophy of education in the special subject fields. 

Three general tendencies have been noted with respect to the functioning 
of supervisory service in city school systems. One is a very pronounced ten- 
dency to base definite proposals for the improvement of instruction on the 
results of standard tests and other objective measures. ‘This tendency is to 
be commended highly as it does away with much guesswork and the waste 
from misdirected energy. At the same time there is genuine danger in this 
movement. There is a growing tendency for us to become lax and unscien- 
tific in our use of these measuring instruments and in the interpretation of 
the facts which they reveal. 

A second tendency in supervision is that of placing upon the building 
principal the major responsibility for the improvement of the instruction of 
the individual teacher in his classroom. This results in an increasing demand 
that the principal learn how to systematize his office routine and delegate 
to others many of the minor administrative details. At the same time it 
obligates him to learn how to supervise classroom work effectively. The 
third tendency noted is that of holding the general supervisor responsible 
for an increasing amount of reasearch and experimentation particularly in 
the field of the elementary school curriculum. 

It is our sincere belief that each of the tendencies reported to you 
today is leading very directly and definitely toward desirable progress and 
improvement in elementary education. I am more than ever convinced that 
supervision is not an evil made necessary by the fact that many teachers and 
some principals are not adequately trained. As these defects are remedied 
there will be an increasing need for more of supervision of the highest type. 








CORRECTION 


We apologize for the error that appeared in the October bulletin 
of the Department of Elementary School Principals when the name 
of Stanley H. Rolfe, author of the article entitled “The Prin- 
cipal in Supervision,” was spelled Stanley H. Wolfe instead of 
Stanley H. Rolfe. 




















THE MASTERY UNIT PLAN OF INDIVIDUAL 
INSTRUCTION 


James E. McDaApE 
Assistant Superintendent of Schools, Chicago 


T IS the purpose of this paper to outline the plan of managing individual 
instruction which was developed by the writer when principal of the 
Wentworth School, a large Chicago elementary school. For the past ten 
years the faculty of this school have been devising material for individual 
instruction, and working out a practicable plan of administration adapted 
to large classes. The final plan has been operating successfully for over two 
years, is being used widely in Chicago and elsewhere, and has now attained 
a definiteness of technic that makes it available for general use.’ 

The units of work are embodied in separate pieces of material. This is 
an important feature which has not heretofore been made use of in conduct- 
ing individual work. The advantages are numerous, the greatest, perhaps, 
being economy. It is not necessary to have as many copies of any given unit 
as there are pupils in the class, because at any moment only a very small 
number will ever be working on precisely that unit. By serving the units 
of material to the pupils from a room file, not only may the number of copies 
of each unit be reduced to the minimum, but the number of available kinds 
may be enormously increased. 

The pieces of material which constitute the teaching units are never mere 
reading assignments, but are in all cases formulated as work to be done, or 
as specific skills to be mastered. They are made to be selfadministering, and 
are called “ mastery units,” as the completion of each involves the attain- 
ment of a definite mastery of some element of the subject studied. No 
credits are given except for errorless completion, so there is ordinarily no 
need for tests to cover the field in which the pupil has been working. Every 
‘““ mastery unit ” is carefully devised to be at the same time a practice unit, 
and convenient means of demonstrating mastery. 

The units of material are preferably of uniform size for convenience in 
filing, and each is designated by a number. Each pupil has in his possession 
a work record card on which are listed the numbers of the units which con- 
stitute his program of work. This is a growing list, to which may be added 
at any time the remedial or supplementary units which from time to time are 
found to be necessary. After each unit number on the work record card is 
a blank space, in which credit is entered when the pupil has completed the 
unit. The teacher's control is exercised through inspection of the work 
record cards. The status of each pupil's work is evident at a glance. The 
teacher is relieved of all the duties of routine management, and is free to 
supervise and to answer the requests of pupils for assistance when they meet 
special difficulties. 


*James E. McDade, Manual of Individual Technic, The Plymouth Press, Chi- 
cago, 1927. 


[78] 





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ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PRINCIPALS 79 





It is quite evident that if so great a variety of work were to be made avail- 
able to children on the booklet or textbook plan of individual instruction, 
the volume of material would be far beyond the capacity of any child’s desk, 
and the expense would be prohibitive. The plan here described involves 
what may be called a library of work material of very wide extent, any 
part of which can be made use of by any pupil at a moment’s notice. The 
operation involves five different processes, all of which need to be carried 
simultaneously. It is desirable that these processes should be conducted by 
the class organization without taking the teacher's time, and without con- 
fusion or moving about on the part of the children. These processes are the 
following: 

(1) Supplying the units to the pupils as needed. This is simply a problem of 


enabling the pupil at his seat to secure from the central file at any moment any 
particular unit which his work demands. 

(2) Testing the pupil’s mastery of a unit after he has done the work. Since 
this is to be done by pupils, special arrangements must be made so that either 
the marker comes to the pupil’s desk to make the test, or the finished work is taken 
to the marker to be checked. 


(3) Recording the credit. The pupil having completed a piece of work satis- 
factorily, the record is entered on his work record. 

(4) Returning units to the file. When a pupil has finished with a piece of 
work, and has demonstrated his mastery of it, the unit of material is released, and 
is then returned to the central file. 

(5) Assistance by the teacher. The pupil may meet with difficulty in some part 
of his work, and provision is to be made for his securing assistance without inter- 
rupting the work of other pupils. 


It has been found entirely practicable to have all but the last named of 
these operations carried on by pupil officers assigned for the purpose. It was 
one of our early difficulties that children had to be out of their seats to go 
to the file to get new units and to return units on which work had been 
completed. A very effective solution was found in the plan of assigning a 
special pupil, called a collector, to pass about the room from time to time 
and collect all units ready to be returned to the file. 

The file clerk is assigned to the care of the central file. This officer re- 
turns each unit to its numerical place immediately on its return, so that it 
is at the call of other pupils if they need it. The collector brings to the file 
clerk the requests of the various pupils for the units they are in need of, and 
on the next trip delivers these units to the desks of the pupils. This sounds 
like a rather difficult and complicated process, but in practice it works very 
smoothly and without the least confusion. 

For convenience in delivering materials to the pupils, the desks are num- 
bered. Those in the first row are 11, 12, 13, etc.; those in the second row, 
21, 22, 23, etc.; and so on across the room. Desk No. 42 means fourth row, 
second desk; desk No. 58 means fifth row, eighth seat. For all pur- 
poses of interchange of materials these numbers are used instead of the 
children’s names. Each pupil has at his desk a supply of little cardboard 
tickets called transit cards, each calling for one kind of service to be ren- 
dered, and each bearing the pupil’s desk number. 











80 NATIONAL EDUCATION ASSOCIATION 





When the pupil has occasion to send material to the file, he simply clips a 
“ Return-to-file ” card to it, and lays it out for the collector to pick up as 
he makes his rounds. Material to be delivered to any pupil has clipped to it 
a little card bearing the pupil’s desk number. At the same time he clips a 
‘““ New-unit-wanted ” card to his request for the units he desires. The 
passing collector picks these up, and a few moments later the returned unit 
is back in the file, and the pupil's order has been filled by the delivery to him 
of the material which he ordered. 

The pupils who act as officers, it has been found, need spend only a small 
part of their time on these duties. The rest of their time is spent on their 
own work. The pupil remains undisturbed at his seat and, without leaving 
his desk, finds it possible to return material, to secure new material, to have 
his work checked, to be given formal credit, or to secure the assistance of the 
teacher. When help is wanted, a pupil simply lays out for the passing col- 
lector a “ Teacher’s help” card. The collector hands this to the teacher, 
who knows by the desk number upon the card who is asking for help. The 
whole process is quiet, orderly, and efficient. 

The marking or checking of the work is a function which has ordinarily 
been reserved for the teacher. If we can relieve her of this tremendous bur- 
den, we have gone a long way toward releasing her energies for more use- 
ful functions. By carefully designing the units of work it has been found 
quite practicable to have the marking done by pupils without sacrificing 
accuracy, and without unduly burdening the pupil officers. 

The keys used for the objective marking of standardized tests are an 
illustration of one type of device which can be employed. With a little 
ingenuity a great variety of materials can be made available. It is not neces- 
sary that the pupil who is doing the marking should have mastered the sub- 
- jectmatter, but only that he should be trained to accurate checking of work 
by the key. Marking is done by a considerable number of different pupils, 
each of whom has in his possession for the time being the keys necessary for 
the marking of certain assigned groups of units. 

Very often it happens that the work which we wish the pupil to do in any 
subject is not contained in the regular course for that grade, but belongs 
rather to an earlier grade. If a sixth grade teacher has in her room file the 
units of work necessary for her grade, and also a limited representation of 
the work of earlier grades, she is in a position at any moment to assign 
remedial or preparatory units to a pupil who needs special treatment. Thus 
the plan makes it easy to assign to pupils individual programs of work 
adapted precisely to their needs. 

In practice it has been found that children working under this plan de- 
velop a closeness of application utterly beyond what is usual in school work. 
The air of quiet industry has to be seen to be appreciated. ‘The removal of 
the pressure of teacher control and the outlet afforded for pupil initiative 
produces a wholesome atmosphere of responsibility and efficiency. 





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THE FUTURE OF PIANO CLASS INSTRUCTION IN 
THE SCHOOLS 


JosEPpH E. MAppy 
Chairman, Committee on Piano Class Instruction, Music Supervisors National 
Conference and Head of the Public School Music Department, University 
School of Music, Ann Arbor, Michigan 


LASS instruction in piano is not a fad or an experiment. It has come 

to stay because it is pedagogically sound and economical. More chil- 
dren become interested in learning to play the piano when they can learn 
in classes, for the old private lesson scheme was lonesome and devoid of 
interest to all except the most talented children and the “ plodders ” who 
substituted persistence for talent. Group psychology or “ gang spirit” is 
capitalized in the piano class and competition is one of the primary incen- 
tives to rapid progress. 

Modern piano class methods are built upon approved pedagogical prin- 
ciples designed to maintain the interest of the pupils and to inspire them 
through beautiful music. Exercises and drill are used only as a means to an 
end rather than as an end in themselves, as is usually the case with private 
teachers. Sight-reading, transposition, and ensemble playing are integral 
parts of the piano class lesson while these are woefully neglected phases of 
private instruction. 

Many school systems now employ regular piano class teachers who go 
from schooi to school and teach as many as 300 pupils per week, in classes 
of twelve to fifteen each. A good teacher can double the number in a class 
if two pianos are available. When organized on this basis piano instruction 
is as economical as any other type of instruction offered in the schools. 

Instruction in music is as valuable to the musical child as any other sub- 
ject he is permitted to study at school. And tests have proved that ninety- 
five percent of all children are musical. This accounts for the musical wave 
which has swept the nation in the past few years, resulting in symphony 
orchestras, concert bands, and fine choirs in thousands of schools. 

Returns from a questionnaire sent out. recently by the Committee on 
Piano Class Instruction of the Music Supervisors National Conference 
showed over 500 cities as having piano classes in the schools and as many 
more that were seriously considering adding them this year. This com- 
mittee has made a study of piano class instruction and the results of this 
study are available in the form of a booklet entitled, “ Guide for Conduct- 
ing Piano Classes in the Schools,” which may be had (free) by writing 
Mr. C. M. Tremaine, Director, National Bureau for the Advancement of 
Music, 45 West 45th Street, New York City. 

The success of piano classes depends about ninety-five percent on the 
teacher and the remaining five percent on the school principal. The mere 
fact that a teacher has been successful with private pupils is no indication 
that she will be successful with a class. No teacher should ever be placed 
in charge of a piano class unless she is trained specifically for that type of 


[81] 








82 NATIONAL EDUCATION ASSOCIATION 


work. There are a number of training schools offering summer courses at 
which piano teachers may become proficient in the class method of teaching. 
Any teacher who wants a position as instructor of piano classes should be 
willing to spend a summer in preparation for the work. A list of training 
schools offering such courses may be had from the above address. 

A well trained teacher who has the interests of the children at heart may 
fail utterly without the cooperation of the building principal. The prin- 
cipal should supervise the work closely until well established and see that 
the pupils are in their places promptly, that the classroom (usually the 
kindergarten room) is properly equipped and available at the time ap- 
pointed for the piano class. The principal should also assist in organizing 
the class by sending out notices to parents announcing the classes and ar- 
ranging for the collection of fees by the semester in advance, if the classes 
are conducted on the fee basis. 

Piano classes should begin in the fourth grade, the class meeting once or 
twice a week, preferably during school hours. The piano class may take 
the place of the regular music lesson once a week if desired, though the 
piano class period should be forty minutes in length. The class should be 
limited to fifteen pupils if only one piano is available and double this number 
if two pianos are available in the classroom. All children should be ex- 
posed to instrumental music instruction of some type at some time during 
their school lives. The fourth grade is the logical place to expose them for 
they should have learned to read music vocally by that time and their 
progress in instrumental music should be very rapid with this foundation. 

The child's experience in instrumental music should grow out of a pre- 
vious experience in vocal music. The music material should be of similar 
type at first, preferably songs the children have sung. The familiar song is 
the best vehicle for introducing instrumental music, the song teaching the 
playing of the instrument if properly guided by an understanding teacher. 

Technic should not be mentioned until the child has learned to “ pick 
out’ numerous familiar tunes in correct rhythm at the piano. When he 
can do this his ambition is fired, and carefully planned doses of technic may 
be administered in increasing quantities as the need for them becomes evi- 
dent to the pupil. The technical dose should never be so large as to dampen 
the interest of the student. Here is where the private teacher fails in 
ninety-four cases out of every 100, as shown by statistics. 

The successful conduct of piano classes requires the most expert teach- 
ing, for the teacher must be able to hold the interest and keep the entire 
class purposefully occupied at “ dummy” keyboards while only one pupil 
at a time can be at the piano. For this reason it is far better to not begin 
piano class instruction at all than to risk failure at the hands of an inex- 
perienced or untrained teacher. A six or eight weeks’ intensive summer 
course will enable an otherwise successful piano teacher to master the prin- 
ciples of class instruction, but even then the teacher should be closely super- 
vised for several months by the building principal to prevent .“‘ back- 
sliding” into private lesson tactics, which translated mean following the 








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ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PRINCIPALS 83 





line of least resistance. The private teacher is so accustomed to giving 
individual instruction that she is very apt to split the class lesson into 
numerous short private lessons, while the unoccupied members of the class 
cavort around the room and building at large. 

With a competent teacher the students in a piano class will progress more 
rapidly than with private lessons. They will become better musicians by 
means of ensemble work, sight reading and the necessity for keeping strict 
rhythm. They will work industriously in preparation for the competition 
which is a part of every class lesson, and their interest will increase as the 
class advances and the music becomes more interesting. The cost of class 
lessons is so much less that many more children will begin the study of 
piano than otherwise. Children who forge ahead should be placed in a more 
advanced class or sent to a private teacher, while those who fall behind 
should be dropped or placed in a beginners’ class. 

All arguments are in favor of the class lesson, providing well trained 
teachers are available, and the spread of piano class instruction in the 
schools of America will continue its proportion as efficient teachers become 
available. 





MUSIC 
ERVANT and master am I: servant of those dead, and master 
of those living. Through me spirits immortal speak the mes- 
sage that makes the world weep, and laugh, and wonder, and 
worship. 

I tell the story of Love, the story of Hate, the story that saves, 
and the story that damns. I am the incense upon which prayers 
float to Heaven. I am the smoke which palls over the field of 
battle where men lie dying with me on their lips. 

I am close to the marriage altar, and when the graves open I 
stand near by. I call the wanderer home, I rescue the soul from 
the depths, I open the lips of lovers, and through me the dead whis- 
per to the living. 

One I serve as I serve all; and the king I make my slave as easily 
as I subject his slave. I speak through the birds of the air, the 
insects of the field, the crash of waters on rock-ribbed shores, the 
sighing of the wind in the trees, and I am even heard by the soul 
that knows me in the clatter of wheels on city streets. 

I know no brother, yet all men are my brothers; I am father of 
the best that is in them, and they are fathers of the best that is in 
me; I am of them, and they are of me. For I am the instrument 
of God. 

I am Music. 














THE ‘TEACHING OF THRIFT 


LuLtu M. Moore 
Principal, Lincoln School, Toledo, Ohio 


HE TEACHING of thrift as a part of the regular school curricu- 

lum has a distinct educational value. It prepares the children for the 
handling and budgeting of funds and also shows them the desirability of 
providing themselves with a reserve against a sudden or future need. Besides 
the idea of conservation carries over into other things than simply saving 
money. 

Until an actual and definite good could be seen and felt in the teaching 
of thrift the instructors accepted the addition to their weekly routine in an 
apathetic manner. They followed the easy principle of permitting the chil- 
dren who wished to put their pennies in the bank to do so and to those who 
deposited their money in the candy store no appeal was made. ‘The matter 
of conserving and preserving anything took care of itself in the same indif- 
ferent way. It was not long, however, until the teachers themselves began to 
see that the habit of thrift had a more farreaching effect than just to cause 
them additional weekly responsibilities or to supply the banks with an in- 
creased number of depositors. 

For the progressive teacher to become convinced that a thing has value 
is to touch the flame to the dry tinder. She burns with the desire to put 
across her convictions and to make them function normally. 

Lincoln School, Toledo, Ohio, was among the first to recognize that the 
thrift habit was one of the greatest needs of its children. Ways and means 
were devised so as to inculcate the principles of conservation in the least 
painful manner. ‘The teachers were allowed the widest latitude in the mat- 
ter of methods they wished to employ to awaken and stimulate wholesome 
interest in the children. 

In a first grade an ingenious teacher built a bank out of paper and placed} 
the structure on the sand table. By the side of the table, in a box, lay ah 
number of paper dolls. Each little first grader who deposited money in the 
bank was allowed to select the paper doll that appealed to his or her fancy. 
The name of the youthful banker was inscribed on the doll and the little ¥ 
paper: image was set on the sand table in the path leading to the door of the 
bank. At first, fifty percent of the paper dolls marched to the bank; but 
very shortly after the establishment of the unique attraction all the little 
paper boys and girls were kept busy on each bank day. Before many weeks 
had passed the dolls were quite worn out from their weekly trips to the 
bank. Just as soon as the small folks had become accustomed to the idea of 
putting their pennies in the bank each week the teacher no longer needed the 
incentive to induce the children to conserve. Indeed, no! The teacher soon | 
found herself a banker each day of the week. Pennies were brought to her 
toe save for the owner until the regular banking day. Parents who found 
their offsprings shunning the indigestible candies and obnoxious chewing 
gum became much more liberal and generous. They dug down into their 
pockets and increased the children’s weekly allowance. 


[84] 




















ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PRINCIPALS 85 


In addition to the saving of spending money many lessons in preserving 
shoes, clothes, and like articles, were taught. Johnny could easily under- 
stand that if he did not scrape his shoes or tear his clothes mother would 
have the money it took to replace these things. Both mother and Johnny 
would reap the benefit of his careful preservation. 

In Lincoln Junior High there are over 500 pupils in eleven classrooms— 
six seventh grades and five eighth. Four of the latter are located in a wing 
of the building. The methods herein mentioned were originated by the 
teachers of these rooms who believe firmly in the worthwhileness of thrift 
and who expended much time and thought on how to get their ideas across 
to the pupils in the most effective manner so that the saving habit would 
sprout and bear fruit. 

The first reaction of these upper grade pupils toward the School Savings 
Bank idea was probably the usual one—they seemed to view banking as a 
privilege to be enjoyed only by their smaller brothers and sisters in the 
lower grades. They had more money than the latter, but spent it with 
profligacy for gum, candy, toy balloons, marbles, any old thing—so long as 
it was not useful. This certainly reflected anything but the ‘true conditions 
in their homes—homes in which many of the parents were actually slaving 
to keep these young spendthrifts in necessities. 

In one of the eighth grades the teacher adopted what is possibly a new 
variation of the “team” idea. The entire class was divided into teams. 
Each team took as a symbol something that was built for speed, a racing 
automobile, an airplane, a speed boat, a locomotive, and the like. For every 
deposit made by a member of the team the speed machine advanced a mile. 
To the teams that made the greatest advances each bank day an American 
flag was awarded. Banking became, over night, a pleasure and not a hard- 
ship. Everybody banked—every week. The habit took root. The waste of 
money stopped. At the end of the year all the pupils had saved enough to 
buy themselves something useful and desirable. The teacher had stressed a 
worthwhile saving objection to each pupil. They spent some of their savings 
for trips to Boy Scout and Girl Scout camps, graduating clothes, books to 
enter high school. In spite of what they spent, the children still had com- 
fortable balances remaining in their bank accounts. 

The following year, another eighth grade teacher, in charge of a nearby 
home room, evolved an idea even more ingenious than the one related. Her 
pupils, whose record had been deplorable, observed the “ speed contest ”’ in 
the first eighth grade room with disdain. They would not bank and the 
teacher was in despair. “Then she made the discovery that her pupils were 
wildly enthusiastic about a radio. Questions elicited the information that 
the other eighth grades were equally enthusiastic on this subject. And so 
each of the rooms became a broadcasting station with its slogan W S G 
(We Save Gum) ; W S F F (We Save for the Future) ; L L B (Lincoln 
Loyal Bankers) ; and others similarly. In each room the children were 
divided into groups with a cashier for each group. Each cashier sees that 
every member of his team faithfully brings his passbook and deposits, bal- 











86 


NATIONAL EpucATION ASSOCIATION 





ances, computes his team’s participation percentage, and then turns in money 
and balance sheet to the teacher—a splendid arithmetic project, by the way. 
This week’s percentage is, of course, always compared to the last week’s to 
show a gain or loss. 

The cashiers hand their deposits and figures to the Announcer who com- 
putes the total bank deposits and percentage for the whole room. At the 
close of the Bank Class the Announcers from all the rooms meet in the cor- 
ridor at the head of the central stairway, thus enabling all grades to hear 
the announcements, and with a megaphone announce the “ grand finale ” 
results which are at once set up on a big poster in the hall. 

The amounts saved do not affect these computations; but the children 
are urged to save one-half of all spending money. At first, each team that 
saved 100 percent was given a red star. Three consecutive red stars earned 
the team a small gold star, and when three gold stars had been won, a large 
gold star was awarded. These were easily obtained from any stationery 
store at small cost. The big poster in the hall recorded, similarly with stars, 
the progress and standing of the rooms or stations. This matter of award- 
ing stars is now done away with as the habit of thrift is sinking deeper into 
their consciousness and is functioning normally. 

While the telling of this has taken some time the entire actual performance 
of banking and announcing lasted from 15 to 20 minutes each Banking Day. 
The scheme worked like the proverbial magic charm. Station W O C an- 
nounced five percent one week and eighty-four percent the next. Station 
W T OB reported thirty-three percent one week, the next week sixty-three 
percent and then 100 percent; Station C F L B had fourteen percent one 
week and sixty percent the next; Station W I N reported eighty-five per- 
cent one week and ninety-seven percent the next. The interest grew and 
kept growing. All these rooms are now reporting 100 percent participation. 
The seventh grades have come in as stations and the entire school has seized 
upon the idea with avid enthusiasm. 

Is it all worth while? Why not? What is worth doing is, of course, 
worth doing well, but more important, as has been said, this teaching of 
thrift in the handling of money leads inevitably to the thrift lesson in other 
things. The older children readily grasp the thrift lesson reaction in the 
care of clothing, shoes, household goods, school books, the school building 
itself. If they are careful of the things they already have, these things will 
repay their care by lasting a long time. Then the money that would other- 
wise be spent to replace wornout garments and shoes may go to provide 
something that might otherwise be unavailable. That’s logic, is it not? 

The far reaching effect of this teaching of thrift is quite remarkable. The, 
reaction on the parents is something to contemplate with surprise and - 
pleasure. Children of preschool age, fathers, and mothers have accounts in 
the School Savings Bank. In one room alone, five outsiders send in their 
weekly sums to be deposited on Bank Day. And finally, every Bank Day, 
Lincoln School absorbs another lesson, a lesson in loyalty to team, room, 
and building, stimulating that wonderful ideal “one for all and all for 
one.” 

















THE PARENT-TEACHER ASSOCIATION 


Forrest A, IRWIN 
Principal, Nishuane School, Montclair, New Jersey 


HE underlying theory of the parent-teacher association must find 

its basis in a sound philosophy of education. But the meaning of 
education is ever being refined and extended. One function of education 
is to adjust the individual to the ever changing social order of which he is 
becoming increasingly a part. It is inevitable, therefore, that the parent- 
teacher association should be an evolving, changing, more purposeful organ- 
ization. 

It is generally understood today that all the education of the individual 
does not take place within the school. The assertion is repeatedly made that 
the experiences of the child before he is five years of age significantly condi- 
tions all his future learning. Even after he enters the public school much 
the larger part of his day is spent without the school. There are those who 
seriously question that the school is the major factor in the total education 
of the child. Be this as it may, the fact remains that the home, the church, 
the public play grounds, the motion picture—in brief, the community— 
exert their powerful influence for good or ill. Modern education is con- 
cerned with the maximum utilization of the community’s resources for the 
enrichment and ennobling of child life. 

The parent-teacher association is potentially one of the effective instru- 
ments in this process. The purpose of this article is to suggest one way in 
which this organization may be made to function smoothly and somewhat 
adequately in a school community. 

It is an accepted principle of school administration that the principal of 
the school is its responsible head. Rightly conceived his position is one of 
leadership and influence. It is assumed that he has developed a working 
philosophy of education that clearly defines the aims of the school. More- 
over, he must possess some technical knowledge of how these aims are to be 
realized. No principal who is professionally trained can ignore the poten- 
tial benefits of the active, sympathetic support of the parenthood of his com- 
munity. In a very unique sense is it true that the principal does not live by 
his own ideas and ideals alone, but by virtue of all that issue forth from 
the creative urge and desired progress of his local community. The prin- 
cipal may argue that the creative urge and desire for progress do not exist 
among the flock that he is called to shepherd, but his reasoning is not con- 
vincing. His community may fail to respond with alacrity to his enlight- 
ened overtures, but this does not nullify the desire of the typical parent to 
seek for his children better opportunities than he himself enjoyed. Fortunate 
is the educational leader in any locality who can sense his people’s noblest 
aspirations for their children and make these aspirations in some measure 
realities. This, in fact, is the essence of statesmanship and the very stuff of 
which progress is made. 


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88 NATIONAL EpUCATION ASSOCIATION 





We have suggested thus far: (1) That the program of education of any 
school must include the sympathetic and loyal cooperation of the parenthood 
of the community with the administration of and instruction in the school. 
So many of the factors that condition learning and determine behavior are 
outside the four walls of the school. Much of the total education of the 
child takes place in situations over which teachers have no control. The 
purpose of the parent-teacher association is to create a vehicle by and 
through which the cooperative relationships of the school and home may 
find effective expression. (2) The principal is the responsible leader of the 
school. If desirable cooperative relationships exist between the school and 
the home they must come through his initiative, his program, and his efforts. 

The successful principal must have a comprehensive educational program 
for his school. This program will comprehend the nature and scope of ac- 
tivities of the parent-teacher association. ‘The community has a right to 
expect the educational leadership to be within, and not without, the school. 
While the principal should not be an officer of the parent-teacher associa- 
tion, he should in large measure determine, or at least voice, its policies. If 
he is a wise and tactful person he can get his policies accepted without arbi- 
trary measures. The typical community in these days comes to the schocl 
for expert advice regarding many aspects of child life and training. It will 
probably continue to come unless in asking bread it receives a stone. 

There are principals who have had unfavorable experiences with parent- 
teacher associations. Sometimes they inherit associations that have gotten 
beyond the control of the school, organizations which misconceive their 
function and misuse their energies. It is in no sense the business of an asso- 
ciation to concern itself with technical problems of the classification of 
pupils, the employment of teachers, the making of curriculums, methods of 
instruction, policies of administration, and the like. What are the legiti- 
mate activities of an association ? 

In the first place, vision is as indispensable to a parent-teacher association 
as to any other type of organization. The average layman (the typical 
parent) is interested in the major trends in education. He wants to know 
toward what definite goals we are headed. He knows that significant changes 
have come in education in the last two decades, but he probably does not 
know why they have come, or their wider implications, or what they mean 
for the future. He knows that both the subject materials and the methods 
of teaching them are different from those of his own school days, but he does 
not appreciate the points of superiority in the classrooms in which his chil- 
dren belong. Bits of evidence have repeatedly come to his attention that his 
children are happy in their school life. TThey seem to possess an enthusiasm 
which contrasts strangely with his own boyhood experience. The fact of 
his children’s happiness and enthusiasm is gratifying enough, but he some- 
times wonders about their source. In his less credulous moods he questions 
whether son and daughter spell, write, or even add as well as did their 
father and mother at their age. The home report cards have on them marks 
in qualities of good citizenship. He hears the children discussing their 

















ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PRINCIPALS 89 








assembly programs and their club activities, but his business has never per- 
mitted him to attend even one of these programs. ‘These and many other 
things suggest to the modern parent that education is more complex than it 
used to be, that it is apparently more interesting, and certainly it is more 
objective and scientific. 

The opportunity of the school principal under these conditions is obvious. 
He can so direct or advise the program committee of his association that 
they will welcome the discussion of these and related matters, by persons 
competent to discuss them. Suppose, for example, that he visualizes the work 
of the association over a period of five or six years, and that this work is 
to be related definitely to the educational program of his school. What are 
the subjects that the people of his community will probably wish to hear 
discussed, and about which they would like to ask questions and become 
somewhat more familiar? 

The following list of subjects is offered as typical of those that associa- 
tions have found helpful and interesting: 


Modern trends in education; the elementary school curriculum; the educational 
program of the junior high school for early adolescents; the contribution of educa- 
tional measurements to the instruction in the schools; vocational guidance; child 
accounting in a modern school system; some causes of maladjustment in the 
typical child; the expansion in educational service of a good school system. 


All the above listed subjects are general in nature and designed to give 
increased insight into and appreciation of some of the characteristic features 
of a modern city school system. ‘They are designed to create a background 
for a more intelligent view by the average citizen. 

But in time these very general subjects should be followed by some more 
specific discussion of problems closely related to the local school. They 
should be concerned with the progress of John and Mary now. The gen- 
eral view should help the busy parent to appreciate and support the work 
of the local board in making their schools constantly better. The application 
of those more recent instruments of education in the local school should 
help to explain to fathers and mothers why their children are or are not 
making satisfactory progress in their school life. The facilities of the school 
and the resources of the home will often find the solution of a difficult 
problem which neither the school nor the home alone could solve adequately. 

In this part of the program, or this stage of development, specific phases 
of the more general subjects could be profitably discussed. The principal, 
general supervisors, heads of departments (in case of the junior or senior 
high schools), and classroom teachers might well be selected to appear on 
the programs. But it is also highly desirable that from time to time well 
informed, understanding, and sympathetic parents address the meetings. 
The cooperative approach to education means that certain responsibilities 
will still rest with the home. And with these responsibilities must go rea- 
sonable prerogatives also. 

From what has already been said it is not to be inferred, however, that 
a parent-teacher association should be a “listening” organization. They 








90 NATIONAL EpUCATION ASSOCIATION 





should be very active indeed. There is much work for the association to do, 
for there always exists the possibility of supplementing in some way the 
equipment or advantages which the board of education can reasonably be 
expected to furnish. In one community it may be the extension of play 
ground facilities; in another, beautifying the building with good pictures or 
statuary; and again, purchasing a radio to make the Damrosch concerts 
available for the children. In some rural communities both labor and money 
are donated to make an athletic field possible. Some communities may have 
a sufficient interest in dramatics to supplement the stage equipment, or sup- 
ply it entirely. In other instances the stimulation of scholarship may be 
their particular pride. 

The point may well be emphasized that the parent-teacher association, 
like any other organization or individual, has an increased appreciation ot 
and interest in that in which it invests time, energy, or money. Any progres- 
sive community, large or small, rich or poor, may have relatively better edu- 
cational advantages for its children by the type of cooperative effort here 
suggested. Moreover, the people of such a school community may have a 
perfectly splendid time doing these things. The people of a given locality 
become a community largely by virtue of the things they have in common. 
What better opportunity exists for a commonality of interests than the pub- 
lic school—the one institution that affects the lives of practically all the 
children of all the people? 

There is one thing more that should be understood. Every local parent- 
teacher association should adjust its program to its own particular needs. 
Every community is in a sense unique. It has its own problems, its own 
resources, its own interests. Stimulating educational leadership will direct 
the total community resources toward the constant remaking of an even 
better community. 





INFLUENCE OF THE TEACHER | 
HEN WE speak of the inspiration of the schools we think 
at once of the teacher whose personality inspires respect and 
confidence, provokes effort, makes indolence and indifference seem 
unworthy, arouses ambition, and whose knowledge and wisdom 
are a constant lure to effort on the part of the students. The 
teacher is the inspiration of every school . . . and rarely does a 
teacher fail! The men and women in America today know this; 
they who bear the responsibilities of the families, the communities, 
and the nation, do not forget to attribute their ability to carry on 
to the inspirational influence of teachers. Great teachers are found 
at some time in every school; when they linger long enough and 
when there are enough of them, the community becomes great— 
there is no resisting their inspirational power.—Mrs. Susan M. 
Dorsey, Superintendent, Los Angeles. 
































A HEALTH CLUB EXPERIMENT 


C. E. Marston 
Garfield School, Kansas City, Missouri 


HILE the acquisition of desirable health habits is a major objective 

of education, it cannot be said that their practice is a natural tendency 
of childhood. On the contrary, the child is apt to select indigestible food ; 
keep late hours; and disregard the time-honored maxim that “ Cleanliness 
is next to Godliness.” It is idle to preach length of days, freedom from 
pain and disease, or the need of a strong body for comfort and social service 
as motives for observance of health rules. The child’s appetite is strong and 
his life experiences limited, so to achieve results in health education incen- 
tives must be tangible, desirable, and immediate. 

It was with some such philosophy of child life that the writer, a prin- 
cipal of an elementary school of 900 pupils, set about the organization of 
a health club. From the beginning it was recognized that certain basic 
principles must be followed. The plan must call for active participation of 
all: pupils, parents, teachers, school nurse and the principal. It must be 
of interest to all concerned and cover all grades. It must be possible to check 
the practice of health habits and thus see that the child honestly earns his 
membership. The rewards must appeal to elementary pupils. 

The Garfield Health Club now in operation its fifth year imposes the 
following duties: 

1. The classroom teacher teaches hygiene daily and inspects pupils for 
cleanliness, posture, and other health habits. She sees that each pupil desir- 
ing membership knows the health pledge which is: 

I cannot be happy or helpful to others without health. I will therefore learn and 
practice the rules of healthful living. 

I will keep my mind and body clean. 

I will work or play out of doors at least two hours each day. 

I will sleep eight or ten hours each night with windows open. 

I will brush my teeth; clean my hands, face and finger nails, and comb my hair 
regularly. 

I will not use tobacco in any form. 

I will not drink coffee, tea or other drink that would injure my mind or body. 

I will eat fruit and vegetables and drink milk to build up a strong body. 

I will do this for the honor of Garfield School and that I may enjoy life and 
better serve my community. 


2. Then the pupil is sent on to the nurse, who inspects for defects of the 
eye, teeth, throat, and ears that can be easily remedied. She withholds ap- 
proval of the candidate till such correction is made. Through home calls, 
she checks to see if the pupil lives up to his health pledge. If the applicant 
passes these tests, he goes to the physical education teacher. 

3. The gymnasium teacher requires suitable feats of strength, skill and 
endurance. If the child meets these, he is recommended for membership 
and the principal forthwith places him on the roll and presents him a mem- 


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92 NATIONAL EpUCATION ASSOCIA‘110N 








bership button. This emblem is made in the school colors and bears the 
inscription ‘‘ Garfield Health Club.” 

To see that each child remains physically fit, his membership is for only 
one year. Even so, some have been dropped from membership when certain 
undesirable habits developed, as biting finger nails. In such cases the teacher 
takes the initiative. About fifty percent of the school are able to boast of 
membership at the close of each school year. The room having the most 
members holds a school banner till surpassed by a competing room. 

Finally, what are the attractions of the Health Club to pupils? Members 
hold monthly meetings in the auditorium where health plays are presented 
or enjoy games in the gymnasium. They help edit the /7ealth Club Booster 
and receive copies. When the weather is favorable, room members occa- 
sionally go on hikes or have a picnic. Participation in the work of the Club, 
e. g., ofice holding; dramatizing; preparing a program for the P. T. A.; 
making posters; arranging an exhibit for a teachers association and similar 
projects are enjoyed by the members. 

The test of any school enterprise is whether it works. The writer has 
had the satisfaction of seeing the Health Club idea grow in spirit and ac- 
complishment. Through it the health work of the school has been unified. 
Cooperation of pupils, parents and teachers has been easily secured. The 
plan is simple and democratic. It calls forth the energy and vision of the 
teacher and purposeful activity of the pupil. It makes use of some know]- 
edge of hygiene, but in accordance with the demands of modern pedagogy 
emphasizes healthful living. As long as health is a vital aim of education ; 
as long as pupil activity is a desirable way of learning; so long will a health 
club be an important factor in the life of an elementary school. 





THE PRINCIPAL’S OPPORTUNITY IN TEACHERS’ 
RETIREMENT ALLOWANCES 


OW efficiently the teachers of a school are studying and 
solving their problems generally depends on the type of | 
leadership of the principal. 

One of the outstanding problems in Education today is the one 
of Teachers’ Retirement Allowances. When teachers are well in- 
formed of the best principles of sound retirement and the best 
practices, they are usually actively interested. 

Active interest on the part of all the teachers soon brings the | 
needed legislation for a given city or state. No greater service to 
education can be given by a principal than to stimulate the active 
interest of every teacher in Teachers’ Retirement.—E. Ruth 
Pyrtle, Chairman National Education Association Committee on | 

| 





Teachers’ Retirement Allowances, Lincoln, Nebraska. 














—-- = 


—" 











CITIZENSHIP TRAINING IN ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS 
ELLIE Marcus MArx 
Principal, Henry Clay and James Barron Hope Schools, Norfolk, Virginia 


ARELY do we hear an educator make an address to a professional 

group or see a copy of any professional magazine without such topics 

as Junior Citizenship Training and Conservation of Supervising Principal’s 

Time for real constructive work frequently mentioned. From the popu- 
larity of the themes, they seem to be problems demanding to be solved. 

As the result of a happy experience lasting over a period of six years, I 
have found that the success of one, achieved through actual student par- 
ticipation in extra curriculum activities and school government has brought 
about the other. The experiment has passed the theoretical period and is 
now the routine of school work. Since the practicability as well as the 
feasibility of such a plan has been proved, it may interest others to know of 
our limited student government, civic clubs, and free periods in an elemen- 
tary school made up of kindergarten and six grades. 

The first and most important step in adopting such a program is for the 
principal to have his teachers with him, for without their active cooperation 
the experiment is doomed for failure—with their assistance, as has been 
true at the Henry Clay and Hope Schools, much can be accomplished in 
developing such character traits as to help the child to a higher plane of 
living and through this the principal is given greater opportunity to observe 
the work and to lead teachers to further accomplishments. 

In order to reach the individual child, to develop the best that is in him, 
a Free Choice Period, devoted to individual effort, has been placed on al! 
daily programs. During this individualistic period the child has the thrill 
of finding expression in the task he sets himself to do. The great effort of 
creating is to be released on this proud task. He wants to do it. He sees 
the completed object, which has stirred his energies and is making the pro- 
cedure one of joy, with all the ecstacy of play. It is the one dominant, all 
but irresistible wish of human beings to create. From the time of making 
mud pies and wooden pistols to the Panama Canal, the passion is the same ; 
but so often society thwarts this desire in man, and he becomes quite a differ- 
ent person than he would have been had he had the opportunity to follow 
his own instinct. 

Beginning with the kindergarten and extending through the entire ele- 
mentary school the pupil has the right at this special period to pursue his 
own activity along the line of his desire, as long as it does not interfere with 
the rights and privileges of the other children, and as long as he is engaging 
in a worthwhile activity. The teacher sees that neither time nor materials 
are wasted. In each school room it is the aim of every teacher to let every 
boy and girl be free to make the things he wants, when he wants, in the 
way he wants, and as far as possible without interference from the teacher. 
There is, therefore, a need of intelligent instruction and direction; a con- 


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94 NATIONAL EpuCATION ASSOCIATION 





versation with the teacher to give him only the cooperation he needs. There 
is the greater need that the child should be left to make himself a producer, 
and then he will have the joy that cannot be hushed when he makes the 
thing he wants. Here we have taken the energy of desire and turned it into 
production. Not only is there developed the special gift of the child, but he 
begins to learn the first lesson of good citizenship in a democracy. 

In carrying on this work the child has the expert supervision of the 
teacher, who has surrounded him with natural suggestion for further work 
from a most generous equipment of this phase of education. The child has 
the right to follow these ideas or any of his own; but he must do nothing to 
hurt himself or to interfere with the rights and privileges of others. During 
this free choice period the pupil has the use of the library, the art, and 
manual training departments. This work can be seen to correlate with 
the entire course of study, but particularly with the social studies and 
English. The one so often gives the idea; investigation follows, and he uses 
the result for a weekly report of the lanes explored and results achieved 
during this period of selfinitiated activity. It is the aim to unfold before 
the child the best sources of inspiration and training of his every capacity 
for productive effort, so that there will be no time left for the destructive 
influence of those greatest foes to human happiness—idleness, indecision, 
and unrest. At this time the child not only is able to develop his special gift, 
but begins to climb the ladder of junior good citizenship. 

In the Free Choice Period the clumsy child finds joy and reclaimed self- 
respect in planning and accomplishing big, spectacular, heroic things; while 
the child with the delicate, sure touch and the appreciation for sensitive, 
fragile things is more than compensated by the joy of creating. More grati- 
fying than either of these alone is the fact that they have learned that 
neither group of pupils is complete without the other. Children learn early 
and without jealousy their dependence upon the abilities of each other. 

We are finding that education, to be most effective, must satisfy the needs 
of mind and body. It must prepare the child to cope with his own environ- 
ment by creating a school environment which shall offer experiences ap- 
proximating real life as nearly as possible. Our aim is to encourage the child 
to originate and to make judgments, by giving him every opportunity to 
work as an independent individual in a group of interdependent pupils. In 
a Free Choice Period the child has an opportunity to express himself, he has 
the thrill of finding expression in the task he sets himself to do. 

Each room has its own civic club which meets on Friday afternoon and 
the first Friday in each month these separate units have a joint meeting to 
discuss the problems that affect the school as a whole. Through these clubs 
an environment is created in the school room which offers as nearly as possi- 
ble the same situations and experiences which must be faced in real life. At 
these meetings, which are conducted as formally as it is possible, the child 
learns how to preside over public meetings, to analyze situations, to pass 
judgment, to express his views, to see that justice and fairness is granted to 
all. The result of this work has been most gratifying. These meetings 





pi 


de 





ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PRINCIPALS 95 








develop patriotism and loyalty to the school, to the home, to the community. 
In learning the first lessons of good citizenship in a democracy he gains a 
constructive knowledge of governing himself and others, he finds the joy 
of serving, and at the same time develops his own initiative and individual- 
ity. These clubs were organized to create a spirit of citizenship and responsi- 
bility in the child at an early age, so that he may ultimately learn through 
constant practice that he must regulate his own actions so that they will not 
interfere with the rights and privileges of others. The qualifications and 
characteristics acquired by his enthusiastic adherence to the laws of his club 
create a spirit of cooperation and true fellowship which are so essential to 
the development of the boy of today who becomes the citizen of tomorrow. 
In acquiring the true meaning of citizenship through their own active par- 
ticipation, the boys and girls of the Henry Clay and James Barron Hope 
Schools give the teacher more time to teach and the principal more time for 
constructive leadership in the school—rarely does a case of discipline come 
to the principal’s office. More often a committee of pupils ask for an 
interview to suggest ways and means which they think will make us hap- 
pier with our work. 

Student participation in school government had its basis in freer class 
room discipline. The freer life in the school caused two general rules to 
grow in the mind of each child: I must consider the rights of others and I 
must be profitably employed. Since these boys and girls must learn not 
only to govern themselves but to place limitations upon the acts of others 
when they become older, there is no better time in which to learn the art 
of living in a democracy than in the early years at school. Unlimited student 
selfgovernment for elementary schools is foredoomed to failure as the pupils 
are too immature to exercise complete control over their own activities, but 
socially conscious selfgoverning citizens can be developed only through some 
degree of exercise in actual selfgovernment to form these habits so as to 
become a living part of the child. A limited participation in school affairs 
will go far to form a true concept of good citizenship. 

Our Student Council is made up of two representatives from each room. 
These are elected by the pupils from a list of A pupils in scholarship and 
citizenship. They function as Congress making laws, with the approval of 
the principal, for the good of the school. It is an honor to be elected a mem- 
ber of the assembly and there can be no greater disgrace than to be dropped 
from it which is the automatic procedure should any member break a rule 
made by the body. From the Student Council nine judges are elected from 
pupils in the fifth and sixth grades to form a Supreme Court. They hear all 
new cases and keep a written account of all the laws they make. Three 
teachers are appointed by the principal to act as advisers to the Court and 
the Council, but when they find it impossible to reach a unanimous decision, 
the case is then appealed. This does not often happen. It is by these means 
that the schools are governed. From the first boys and girls were enthusi- 
astic about their own government for play grounds, corridors, basement, but 
as usual there were those who feared and rather loved the rod and thought 











96 NATIONAL EpUCATION ASSOCIATION 


to step roughshod over the elected representatives of this august assembly. 
Soon, however, the minority learned to recognize the supremacy and justice 
of this body. All pupils respect and fear the decisions of the Court and there 
are rare occasions when a case has to be appealed to the principal. That this 
work is a success at Henry Clay and James Barron Hope Schools is no doubt 
largely due to the interested teachers, who help the pupils to feel and to 
appreciate the privilege granted and to the hearty cooperation of the home 
and school affiliation. 

As we view our work we see a happy, well organized school, where the 
pupils learn to live the lives of worthy junior citizens and its chief byproduct 
is that the principal is freed of minor disciplinary matters. Time only will 
prove that the habits formed at this early age in elementary schools will 
make of our boys and girls worthy American citizens. 





AMERICA FIRST 


OT MERELY in matters material, but in things of the 
spirit. 

Not merely in science, inventions, motors, and skyscrapers, but 
also in ideals, principles, character. 

Not merely in the calm assertion of rights, but in the glad as- 
sumption of duties. 

Not flaunting her strength as a giant, but bending in helpfulness 
over a sick and wounded world like a Good Samaritan. 

Not in splendid isolation, but in courageous cooperation. 

Not in pride, arrogance, and disdain of other races and peoples, 
but in sympathy, love, and understanding. 

Not in treading again the old bloody pathway which ends 
inevitably in chaos and disaster, but in blazing a new trail, along 
which please God other nations will follow, into the new Jerusalem 
where wars shall be no more. 

Some day some nation must take that path—unless we are to 
lapse once again into utter barbarism—and that honor I covet for 
my beloved America. 

And so, in that spirit and with these hopes, I say with all my 
heart and soul, “America First.’”—Bishop G. Ashton Oldham. 














ALLEN SCHOOL CAMPUS CLUB 


JANE CARADINE 
Principal, Charlotte M. Allen School, Houston, Texas 


HE CAMPUS club of Allen School was first organized as the answer 

to an appeal from the principal for a general straightening up of the 
down-at-the-heel appearance of a once beautiful school building and grounds. 
The old building, vine covered and rich in a heritage of long and honorable 
prestige, sits well back in a large city block. Rich shrubbery is set informally 
and very old oaks, elms, and maples grow like guards on the parking all 
around the building. The lawn had once been carefully tended, but some- 
how the lovely old place had a dejected appearance. The children seemed 
to have caught the spirit of untidyness, for they were cutting corners, wear- 
ing deep paths across the lawns, tramping with little concern on the edges 
of flower beds, scattering papers, seemingly utterly indifferent to the unkempt 
appearance of their campus. The principal had but lately come to assume 
control of Allen School, and wanted above all else to make friends early with 
the children. To begin at once with sudden changes, or to find fault with 
the existing order, could not be the best way to make friends. Here was a 
real situation and it was eagerly seized upon. 

The call was made to the High Fifth, which was the highest grade in the 
school. The principal went to the children with a direct appeal, suggesting 
that they form a plan of some kind which would accomplish the things she 
wanted done. The children suggested the club, its name, its statement of 
purpose. They named the working committees and their duties. They 
elected their officers and immediately assumed control of the school grounds 
and basements. 

When the question of gaining the cooperation of other children came up 
for discussion, it was decided to frame a pledge, printed on a card for the 
club to sign first and then to be offered to all of the other children to sign. 
The children planned the pledge card which reads as follows: 

I promise to try my very best to pick up after myself in the basement, in the 
cafeteria, and on the campus, and as a token of my promise I accept this button 
from the CAMPUS CLUB OF ALLEN SCHOOL. 

Badges for the active members and buttons for the associate members, 
the assuciate members being all of the children outside the high fifth grade 
who signed the pledge card. On the button was printed the club motto, 
“ Courtesy and Order.” The Parent-Teacher Association bought the but- 
tons and badges. Committees were appointed to go into the other class- 
rooms and invite the children to cooperate. The pledge cards were dis- 
tributed and the children told they were to gain their parent’s consent to 
signing of the pledges. Then the signed card was exchanged for the button. 

Anyone who has worked with such activities knows about the enthusiasm 
which is displayed in such a movement among the children. At first the 
high fifth grade abandoned all play in their eagerness to carry out their 


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98 NATIONAL EpuCATION ASSOCIATION 





plans. They met problems, chiefly in the nature of children who rebelied 
at being reminded to pick up after themselves, when the wary eye of some 
club member saw children forgetting as children will. These were reported 
to the Chief Director who politely explained that he would handle the 
matter the first time and the second time; but the third time, the officer 
making the charge should accompany the offender to the principal’s office. 
The members themselves were not always polite; sometimes they took priv- 
ileges they would not allow in others. These children were raked over the 
coals at the club meetings, and went through the humiliating experience of 
feeling the condemnation of the group of their peers. Sober discussions of 
the best way to bring recalcitrant ones to see the light brought out lessons 
in consideration for others who might not hold like views. Children who 
were brought to the principal were reasoned with kindly, and were never 
made to feel that the principal believed they had wilfully sinned against 
popular opinion. They seemed to appreciate the consideration given them, 
for one of the most troublesome children went out of the office to his home 
and reported the incident, saying, “ Dad, I tell you she treats us kids like 
real people.” In discussing what to do with one very naughty child, one of 
the club members said, “ Just take him in to Miss ————; she will make 
him see the light and will treat him square about it.”’ 

When the enthusiasm died down, the campus saw less stir and less of 
admonition from child to child; but also, it saw less of untidyness about ; 
it saw the trend of little feet turn away from the flower beds back to the 
wide walk; it saw grass which was set out to fill old pathways growing 
fast. There came days when the campus would be cluttered up with paper, 
but a call to the campus club brought instant response with only a day or 
two away from sports. 

This is now the third year. ‘The new Campus Club to serve the school 
for the 1928-29 terms is well organized and working. The committees 
have gone into the rooms reminding children of their responsibility. ‘This 
year it was decided that only those who held high scores in attitude were 
eligible for office. This has made a profound impression on the children. 
But it is right that only children who themselves are happy and good 
natured toward their fellows should be placed in control of others. They 
have controled their own affairs and are better able to control others. 

The success of the present activity is entirely due to the wise and capable 
leadership of the high fifth grade teacher, and the friendly help of other 
teachers throughout the school. When the first appeal went out three years 
ago, the teacher threw herself into the activity and led without making her 
presence the dominant force. And the organization this third year is in 
equally capable hands. The teacher’s work in such activity either makes 
it a success or failure. That the Campus Club of Allen School is a perma- 
nent and valuable aid in the management of that phase of the school is 
entirely due to the wise guidance of sympathetic teachers. 

















INTERESTING NON-ENGLISH SPEAKING PARENTS IN 
THE WORK OF THE SCHOOL 


Joun S. HERRON 
Principal, Lafayette Street School, Newark, New Jersey 


SCHOOL is as good as the service it renders. In the last analysis, 
this service will determine the hold which the school exercises on its 
immediate community. “ It pays to advertise ” is a truism recognized by all; 
yet with equal certitude it may be asserted that no inferior commodity can 
sustain itself for long in the competitive market, solely through the medium 
of publicity propaganda. As with business, so with the school: a reputation 
that is worth while must be built on service, and service alone. The best 
judges of a teacher, or a school, are the pupils, and through the pupils the 
school neighborhood comes finally to a fairly accurate evaluation of the 
worth of the school as a community institution. In reply to the question, 
“How may non-English speaking parents be made interested in the work 
of the school?” there is but one answer. The answer that will apply to any 
type or group of parents, whether native or foreign born, is ‘‘ Render the 
service.” 

Parents, like pupils, are the same the country over. Each father or 
mother, with rare exceptions, is intensely interested in the welfare of his 
or her children. Whether the school be in a residential suburb or in the 
congested part of a large city, the school will appeal to the parent only to 
the extent that it serves the wellbeing of its precious pupil body. In dealing 
with parents who do not speak English, the problem is naturally more com- 
plicated, but the underlying principle involved is the same. 

The writer is principal of a city school of the all-year platoon type which, 
together with its annex, has an enrolment of approximately 2100 pupils. 
The distribution of the languages spoken at home is as follows: Italian, 
sixty percent; Spanish and Portuguese, ten percent; Slavish, six percent ; 
English, twenty-four percent. The neighborhood is in the industrial zone, 
although not far removed from the business center of the city. The follow- 
ing is an account of some of the policies and features employed by the 
school in its attempts to bring about a live, sustained interest on the part of 
the parents in its work. 

1. Policy of courtesy—lIt is a cardinal principle of the school that cour- 
tesy shall predominate in all dealings with parents and visitors, as well as 
with pupils. The humblest father or mother coming to the school is made 
to feel that he is welcome. A pleasant smile and a show of friendliness cost 
nothing but they bring large returns. The school must purposely sell the 
idea that it is as vitally interested in the welfare of the pupils as are the 
parents; that the school is acting in place of the parents and is the big help- 
ing agency of the family; that the school is real, sympathetic, and human. 
There is no better way of putting this message across than by directly taking 
fathers and mothers into the common partnership. Dealing for the most 


[99] 











100 NATIONAL EpucCATION ASSOCIATION 





part with parents who, at best, speak English brokenly and working regu- 
larly through pupil interpreters, the school is apt to be misunderstood and 
misjudged ; hence, it is all the more urgent that principal and teachers exer- 
cise the utmost kindliness and patience in contacts with parents. 

2. Making “ satisfied customers ’’—A second method by which the school 
endeavors to win the support of parents is through the application of the 
principle of making “satisfied customers” of all parents who come to 
school with complaints. In this respect, a progressive school must follow 
ihe practice of successful business concerns. Parents come with grievances, 
both real and imagined. When a principal or teacher is faced with such a 
situation, he should say to himself: “‘ Here is a problem I must solve. If 
this parent goes away disgruntled, he will voice his feelings to perhaps a 
dozen other families. The distorted story may reach scores of homes and 
the reputation and influence of the school may be impaired. I must clear up 
the situation now.”’ In such a case, the thoughtful principal will invite the 
parent into his office, seat the latter comfortably, force a smile or a laugh 
into the situation, create a friendly atmosphere, and then ask the parent to 
tell his story. Courteous and sympathetic attention on the part of the school 
authority is understood. In nine cases out of ten, the principal, if he is tact- 
ful and sympathetic, will have little difficulty in convincing the parent that 
the school is right and all is well. The incident has taken some of the princi- 
pal’s time but it is time well spent, for now the neighborhood will hear praise 
of the school instead of criticism. 

If the parent’s complaint is a justifiable one, the facts must be faced. If 
the school has been at fault, the fault must be acknowledged and a remedy 
provided. Candor and frankness in such a situation will create in the mind 
of the parent a confidence in the school which will reflect a better under- 
standing all around. 

3. Inviting parents to school—Parents should be made to feel welcome at 
any time but special invitations may profitably be sent to small groups of 
mothers to visit the school during the time school is in session. Girls of the 
domestic science and sewing classes occasionally invite their mothers to visit 
their classes when they give cooking demonstrations or show their completed 
garments. Classes which have prepared special auditorium programs invite 
their parents to see the performances. Individual parents, from time to time, 
are invited by the teachers to visit the classes of their children. 

In all Newark schools where nutrition classes are in operation parents 
visit the school once a week to meet with the teacher and the members of the 
class, to note the progress made according to the individual weight charts, 
and to receive instruction on safeguarding their children’s health. 

This school fosters the plan of having large groups of parents visit the 
school on special occasions such as graduation. Being an all year school, 
graduation is held four times a year. Most of these exercises are held in the 
evening so that parents and friends of the graduates can attend. ‘The schooi 
has a glee club, a harmonica club, an orchestra of twenty pieces and a bugle, 
fife and drum corps of thirty-five boys. During the year, these organiza- 
tions perform in the auditorium from time to time in the evening, so that 





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ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PRINCIPALS 101 








parents may enjoy the endeavors of the school in a musical way. Once or 
twice during the year, school entertainments and motion picture shows are 
given in the evening as school benefits, the parents paying a small admission 
fee. During the recent celebration of Education Week, Wednesday after- 
noon was set aside as visitation day for parents, each pupil personally carry- 
ing an invitation home. 

4. Home visitations—A most effective method of securing the coopera- 
tion of parents is through the visit of the teachers to the homes. This is a 
practice followed by many of the teachers which is appreciated by the 
parents. The school, however, is served more regularly and consistently, in 
this respect, by three agencies which carry on a splendid work of mercy and 
helpfulness; these agencies are the visiting teacher, the school nurse and the 
attendance officer. Perplexing “‘ problem ”’ cases of the school are handled 
by the visiting teacher who goes to the home, gains the confidence and sup- 
port of the parents, studies the entire life of the pupil problem, enlightens 
both teacher and parent on the cause of the trouble and usually spreads hap- 
piness in all quarters. (Visiting teachers in Newark work under the direc- 
tion of the Department of Child Guidance through the principal.) The 
school nurse and the attendance officer, who go to the home in the spirit of 
sympathy and helpfulness, and not as minions of the law, assist the school 
to a degree little realized by one not cognizant of their work. 

5. School lunch room—For nearly ten years luncheons have been served 
in the school during the noon hour for the children of parents who are com- 
relled to work. Each day from 100 to 150 boys and girls are supplied with 
hot luncheons at cost. A regular work of this nature, year in and year out, 
is bound to make friends for the school. (This service was originally car- 
ried on by the school itself but for some years past has been conducted by 
the High School Alumnz Association of Newark.) 

6. Pupils’ booklets and folders—All parents are pleased with evidences 
of the progress their children make. A plan in operation in the grammar 
classes of this school for the past two years has been to have each pupil keep 
a folder in which are filed his written papers, maps, and drawings. Each 
month these folders are taken home so that parents may inspect them and 
then brought back to class to be kept until the end of the term. In all grades, 
special emphasis is placed upon the making of booklets which correlate the 
work in the various subjects. These project booklets and the folders are con- 
crete evidences which father and mother love to see of the progress of their 
children. 

7. Safety patrol—Like all other Newark schools, this one also has its 
safety patrol consisting of twenty boys who work under the direction of the 
two police officers assigned near the school for trafic duty. The streets ad- 
joining the school are particularly dangerous because of the heavy traffic. 
Parents, as they pass near the school, cannot help but be impressed by the fact 
that the school is stretching its hand beyond the building in the interest of 
their children. Because of this service, parents do feel their children are 
safe from injury during school hours and, in return, cannot help but feel 
indebted to the school. 














102 NATIONAL EpuUCATION ASSOCIATION 





8. Publicity—A school owes it to itself and to the system of which it is 
a part to give publicity to legitimate and outstanding features of its work. 
Pupils like to read accounts of their school in the papers or see pictures of 
some of their school activities. Through the interest of the pupils, the par- 
ents also become interested and the school is the beneficiary. Last winter 
the school orchestra broadcast a half hour program one evening over a local 
radio station and plans are under way to repeat the same this year. 

9. Cooperation with the community—The school, to function properly, 
must be part and parcel of the neighborhood ; it cannot be dissociated from 
the latter. The interests of the neighborhood should, in every legitimate 
sense, become the interests of the school. This school cooperates wherever, 
and whenever, it can in matters affecting the welfare of the immediate com- 
munity. It has worked hand in hand with the local churches and in return 
has been helped by them. On the occasion last year of the dedication of the 
Christopher Columbus statue, a gift of the Italian people of Newark, the 
school, headed by its bugle, fife and drum corps, paraded in the municipal 
demonstration. For the teachers involved, this meant giving up a holiday, 
but they did so readily because they recognized their duty to have the schoo! 
actively participating in an event which meant so much to the people of the 
neighborhood. 

This school does not have a parent-teacher association. Although the 
value of such an organization is today a mooted question among school 
people, the reason one has not been started in the school has been due to the 
inability of the great body of parents to speak and understand English. If 
at any time it appears that a parent-teacher association will properly func- 
tion within the school, one will be organized. 

10. The principal as adviser and confidant—As the influence of a school 
grows, the principal will come to be looked up to by the people of the neigh- 
borhood as one to whom they may go for trusted advice and assistance. This 
is an enviable role and one which should be appreciated. The principal 
should be ever ready to lend a helping hand, to advise sympathetically and to 
soothe, as far as he can, the heartaches of his troubled clients. A little note 
with his name signed to it may land a job for a worthy one in need of 
employment; a visit to the judge may throw much needed light on the good 
qualities of a lad who has started wrong and “ got caught’; a phone call 
to the Social Service Bureau may hasten relief to a family in dire need; a 
letter to the Director of Public Welfare may be the means of securing a 
prolonged vacation at the shore for the orphaned Patsy and Tony. Innu- 
merable are the opportunities of the principal for leading his school in the 
service of the community and of bringing back to the school a “ full measure 
of devotion,” rising from the grateful appreciation of the father and mother 
for the service the school has given. 

Angelo Patri, in his classic, “4 Schoolmaster of the Great City,’ says: 
“Unless a school enters deeply into the lives of the people, that school will 
not enter deeply into the lives of the children or into the lives of the teachers. 
Unless the school is the great democratic socializing agency, it is nothing 
at all.” 





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RADIO AN INNOVATION IN THE SCHOOL ROOM 


ALICE KEITH 


Director of Division of Education for the Radio Corporation of America 


ADIO is at last making a place for itself in the field of education. 
The thousands of letters received weekly by Walter Damrosch, 
Director of the RCA Educational Hour, which is broadcast nationally each 
Friday morning at 11 A. M. (Eastern time) indicate that “ young people ”’ 


from seven to seventy are enjoy 

All of the students in certain 
grades in Chicago have written 
letters of appreciation; a girl 
from the Missouri state school 
for the blind wrote in Braille, 
“You don’t know what happi- 
ness you have brought us”; a 
young piano student from Geor- 
gia said he expected to learn to 
play the “ Sax ”’ sometime, as a 
result of the inspiration re- 
ceived; a Pennsylvania high 
school girl wanted to purchase 
records of numbers played in or- 
der to extend her knowledge of 
music; a lady from Colorado re- 
quested that her favorite, “‘ Ride 
of the Valkyres,” be played dur- 
ing the season; a teacher of a 
school for “ problem” boys in 
Michigan wrote that her charges 
remained “ quiet and happy ”’ 
during the entire radio concert ; 
and an old lady expressed the 
hope that she might meet Mr. 
Damrosch and his orchestra 
some time beyond the “ pearly 
gates.” 

Such are a few of the enthusi 
first series of radio concerts eve 
America. 


ing his children’s concerts. 





Mr. DamroscH TEACHES His THREE YEAR 
O_p GRANDCHILD SOMETHING ABOUT THE 
CHILDREN’s CONCERTS HE IS BROADCASTING 
EAcH FRIDAY TO THE CHILDREN OF THE UNITED 
STATES, 


astic comments sent to the conductor of the 
r broadcast nationally to the schools of the 


Although the unprecedented success of these concerts is manifest in let- 
ters received, these letters express the thoughts of only a small portion of 
the actual radio audience. Hundreds of thousands of children listen in each 
Friday morning and large numbers of adults are reached in their homes. 

It would be difficult to estimate the far reaching influence of these radio 
concerts broadcast to schools distantly removed from cities where sympho- 


[103] 











104 NATIONAL EDUCATION ASSOCIATION 


nies may be heard in music halls. Within a few years the children of the 
entire country will be receiving the cultural benefits formerly enjoyed only 
by city dwellers. Space and time will no longer serve as obstacles and the 
rural child, without giving up any of the superior advantages to be found in 
country life, can have the arts brought to his very door. 

In practically every city in the United States within the radius of the 
network of stations broadcasting the Damrosch concerts, schools are fast 
becoming equipped with receiving sets. 

Radios are sometimes loaned by dealers; sometimes they are purchased 
by music clubs and parent teacher associations and often they are bought 
by boards of education. 

Many county superintendents are encouraging their rural schools to re- 
ceive the Damrosch symphony concerts. In fact, one county in Texas already 
has every school equipped with receiving sets. 

In order that programs might be prepared in the best manner possible, 
Dr. Damrosch has called to his assistance the advice of a council and a com- 
mittee of some of the country’s leading administrators and musical educa- 
tors. Such well known names as Will Earhart, John A. H. Keith, R. G. 
Jones, P. W. Dykema, Mabelle Glenn, Russell V. Morgan, David E. 
Weglein, Willis A. Sutton, J. W. Studebaker, W. F. Webster, Paul C. 
Stetson, Florence Hale, Paul Weaver, Edith Keller, Lenore Coffin, Edwin 
N. C. Barnes, Alice Rogers, Frances Kessler, Louis Mohler, Grace P. 
Woodman, Helen Roberts, John A. O’Shea, Sudie Williams, Inez Field 
Damon, Frances Dickey Newenham, Sara Conlon, Max Krone, George 
Oscar Bowen, Helen McBride, Margaret Lowry, Glenn Woods, Joseph 
Maddy, and John Beattie may be found on the list of sponsors. 

But regardless of the care exercised in planning programs, and selecting 
artists, educational broadcasting will succeed only when school authorities 
recognize the necessity of developing a technic in group reception. 

Classroom conditions should be maintained whenever possible. It has been 
found that when large groups of children of differing ages are crowded 





Apvisory Council. oF THE RCA EpucationaL Hour Wuicu MET WITH 
WALTER DAMROSCH. 














ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PRINCIPALS 105 


together for a long period of time, no benefit whatsoever is derived from 
the listening period. Only students of college age are able to concentrate in 
large groups. 

A teacher should be in charge of each listening class, giving necessary 
information before the period commences and leading a brief discussion at 
the close. Visual aids should be used freely. In musical concerts, pictures 
of instruments, composers, and artists should be shown; in lectures, pictures 
pertaining to matters under discussion. 

Program notes and recorded music should be used in previous prepara- 
tion for concerts whenever this is possible. Only children of the age speci- 
fied on the schedule of concerts should listen in. There is as much differ- 
ence in the musical taste of a third grade child and a junior high school 
student as there is in their literary taste. 

It will be an interesting thing ten years from now to look back upon our 
‘early ” enthusiasm for radio in education. Undoubtedly, at that time all 
schools will be equipped with speakers in each room and students will be 
able not only to hear but to see events transpiring in all parts of the world. 


‘ 


—— a a SS ne E 7 -—, 


BELIEVE that my mother tongue is worthy my admiration. 
respect and love. 
I believe it is possible for me to speak my native language cor- 
rectly, fluently and elegantly. 
I believe that this takes time, patience and care. | 
I believe that slang is language in the making and that until it is 
made, it is not proper for children to use. 
| I believe that the use of slang kills one’s power to speak fluently. 
I believe the proper accompaniment to pure, clearly-enunciated 
language is a musical voice. 
| I believe this voice can be cultivated for it is every one’s right by 
| inheritance. 
I believe it is possible to live up to this creed. 
I believe it is worth while. 
| I believe I’ll try it.—Harriette Taylor Treadwell, Principal, 
| Scanlan School, Chicago. 


MY ENGLISH CREED 
| 
| 

















ELEMENTARY PRINCIPALS—SALARIES IN THE PROPOSED 
PITTSBURGH SCHEDULE 


CHARLES REITELL 
Research Director, Citizens’ Committee on Teachers’ Salaries in Pittsburgh 


NEW salary schedule for the Pittsburgh schools is recommended to 

the Board of Public Education by a Citizen’s Committee. This Com- 

mittee which has been working for a year on the problem of school salaries 

is made up of forty leading business and professional men. A research staff 

was organized which made a nation-wide study of the problem. Particular 

attention is given to the salaries of principals and this phase of the Commit- 
tee’s recommendations should be of great interest to our readers. 

In the construction of the proposed schedules, the Committee laid down 
four fundamental principles which it followed. It should be noted that one 
of these principles deals with superior personnel in principalships. 

Before analyzing in detail the elementary principals’ schedule, it might 
be well to give the four principles that guided the Committee’s action. They 
are as follows: 


Principle one—rewards for superior service 


The Committee is of the unanimous opinion that such salary schedules as are 
proposed should lay the basis for giving definite rewards to those teachers who are 
rendering superior service in the schools of our city. The Committee is not un- 
mindful of the difficulties that are in store when attempts are made to reward 
teachers on such a principle of salary payment. But it is also fully aware that 
even though occasional injustices may occur in the administration of a plan for 
rewarding superior teachers, they are of minor significance when contrasted with 
those very grave injustices that exist in the present schedules, whereby glaring 
overpayments are made to inferior and mediocre teachers at the expense of teachers 
who are rendering conspicuously able and high grade service throughout the school 
system. 


Principle two—salaries should meet living costs 


Salary adjustments should be made so that as far as possible every teacher in 
the school system will receive a salary sufficient to afford a standard of living in 
keeping with the needs and the demands of the teaching profession. In the light 
of this principle, flat increases, totaling approximately a quarter of a million 
dollars additional per year, are recommended for the teachers on the elementary 
schedule. It is they who are the lowest paid teachers in the system. Their fiscal 
status presents the most unfavorable condition considered in terms of living costs, 
and their present salary schedule is the fartherest out of line when compared with 
elementary teachers’ salaries in other leading cities. 


Principle three—superior personnel in principalships 


The Committee is of the firm and deep conviction that in the proper operation 
of salary schedules lies the possibility of obtaining better and superior teaching 
in the public schools. To gain this high objective however, the schools must have 
forceful and intelligent leadership. In short, superior teaching is predicated upon 
superior leadership. The Committee, therefore, places great stress upon having 
strong outstanding principals. Thus, it recommends such salary changes for 
principals as will attract and hold the highest type of persons, with outstanding 
educational and teaching leadership. 


[106] 





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ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PRINCIPALS 107 


Principle four—taxation 


This principle deals with the problem of taxation. The foregoing policies which 
the Committee feels are both sound and desirable have but one limitation; namely, 
the amount of additional tax burden than can be reasonably carried for the 
establishment of the foregoing principles. The Committee appreciates the need 
for higher salaries for our teachers, but it also recognizes its definite responsibility 
to the taxpayers. These two issues were constantly before the Committee in its 
work. It realizes that the finest contribution that could be made to the citizens of 
Pittsburgh would be to provide an efficient teaching corps for the public schools. 
The dominant thought in its proceedings has been the hope that it might be pos- 
sible to construct such salary schedules as would bring into our school system the 
best teaching ability obtainable. 

On the other hand, the Committee realizes that the taxpayers must pay the bill 
for salary increases. In attempting to be fair both to the teachers and to the tax- 
payers alike, the Committee believes that in the light of all the facts that salary 
increases reaching approximately nine per cent annually in six years, and the 
necessary additional taxation that such increases would entail, (three-quarters of a 
million dollars, or three-fourths of a mill increase in taxes at present assessed 
valuation) constitute an equitable adjustment of the problem. 


When specific consideration is given to that portion of the schedule which 
covers elementary principals, three distinct factors are given great weight. 

First, the quality of service is recognized in the schedule by having superior 
service rewards which go beyond the automatic maximum. 

Second, the training necessary for elementary principals to qualify in the 
salary levels for superior service has been greatly increased. Outside of the 
principalships for small schools (less than ten rooms) no principal can hope 
to gain the salary rewards above the automatic maximum who has not had 
at least four years of post high school preparation. 

For principalships of schools having more than fifteen rooms the neces- 
sary training for reaching superior service levels calls for a baccalaureate 
degree plus one year of graduate work of a professional nature. 

The Committee further recommends that a possible maximum salary of 
six thousand dollars shall be available for a limited number of elementary 
school principalships whose professional qualifications are of an exception- 
ally high order and who have demonstrated themselves to have such excep- 
tional qualities of leadership and preparation as to justify such action on the 
part of the Board of Public Education. 

The whole Pittsburgh schedule, including that portion covering elemen- 
tary principals’ salaries stands in bold contrast to the typical salary sched- 
ules which make for standardization of income, regardless of the specific 
worth of the individual teacher or principal. In short, merit pervades the 
schedule from start to finish. 

The following table gives a synopsis of the recommended schedule for 
elementary principals. .The term “teaching units” as distinguishing the 
different groups of principals, may be interpreted by the reader as “ rooms.” 











108 NATIONAL EpuUCATION ASSOCIATION 


ELEMENTARY PRINCIPALS’ SCHEDULE 





Modified schedule 





























Group a Minimum and Minimum and 
automatic maxim um tor 
maximum superior service 

Group A $2100 to $2500 $2350 to $2750 $2750 to $3200 
6-9 Teaching- Increment Increments Increments 
units $237.50 2 at $200 1 at $200 
1 at $250 
Group B $2400 to $3000 $2650 to $3250 $3250 to $3600 
10-15 Teaching- Increment sncrements Increments 
units $237.50 3 at $200 1 at $150 
1 at $200 
Group C $2900 to $3600 $3150 to $3850 $3850 to $4250 
16-19 Teaching Increment Increments Increments 
units $237.50 1 at $200 2 at $200 
2 at $250 
Group D $3600 to $4000 $3850 to $4250 $4250 to $4750 
20 Teaching- Increment Increments Increments 
units and over $237.50 2 at $200 2 at $250 
Note: By Special 
Action of the Board 








to $6000 





The Committee in recommending merit in its schedule was not unmind- 
ful of the difficulties of administration that are involved. To meet this 
hazard another innovation is found in the Pittsburgh schedule. 

There is established a distinct and separate department of personnel with 
an associate superintendent in charge whose sole function is to deal with the 
problem of administering personnel, particularly that phase of personnel that 
deals with determining superior service and in directing the training of 
teachers and principals. 

Some of the more important duties to be assigned to the Personnel De- 
partment will be: 


(1) To develop an organization and the necessary technic for the purpose 
of determining where and by whom superior service is being rendered, so that the 
provisions for rewarding conspicuously high grade service as provided for in the 
various schedules can become operative. 

(2) To use his organization in cooperation with other administrative depart- 
ments and with supervisors and principals, for the early development of superior 
teaching during the automatic increment years of the teacher’s experience. 

(3) To make specific recommendations for the advancement of such personnel 
who are rendering superior service and who have met the necessary requirements, 
to the salary levels provided in the schedules. 

(4) To give direction to the training of teachers and principals in service who 
aspire to qualify for the superior service salary levels. Such direction necessarily 
must include both the nature of the training pursued, and the amount of such 














ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PRINCIPALS 109 





training as a teacher may be permitted to carry at any one time. This provision 
will properly tend to protect the health of the teacher and to prevent a lowering 
of the quality of class room instruction. 

(5) To develop a program for the selection of new teachers brought into the 
school system. The personnel department should stimulate the enlistment of the 
finest of recruits to the teaching service. 

(6) To recommend to the Superintendent of Schools the transfer, demotion, or 
dismissal of personnel whose services are manifestly unsatisfactory. 

(7) To develop under the direction of the Superintendent of Schools a program 
in connection with the Frick Training School for the proper selection of high school 
graduates for elementary teaching and to assume jointly with the Frick Training 
School and the Department of Curriculum Study the improvement of the curriculum 
of that institution. The Committee further recommends that as soon as practicable 
the Frick Training course be extended to four years. 

(8) To act as a clearing house for adjusting personnel complaints arising from 
the teaching and administrative forces. : 

(9) To develop and operate a system of personnel records for the entire school 
system which will be cumulative and comprehensive. 

(10) To cooperate with the fiscal officers of the school system in order to make 
such adjustments in the organization of personnel as are necessary to meet budget— 
are requirements. 


Although the plan brings into the school system another difficult problem 
of administration, it also lays the basis for a fairer treatment of the success- 
ful teacher than he has obtained heretofore. The Committee thus feels that 
its plan is fundamentally sound. 





AN APPEAL TO MEMBERS 


OU, who are enjoying all the benefits of participation in the 
activities and fruits of the Department of Elementary School 
Principals, can easily double our enrolment and therefore our use- 
fulness by telling your fellow-principals all about our good works— 
our semi-annual conventions and programs, the monthly journal, 
the quarterly bulletin, the yearbook, and the broadening of educa- 
tional vision. 
Urge your friends to join!—Herman Ritow, National Enrolment 
Chairman, Department of Elementary School Principals. 

















AN EXPERIMENT IN GROUP TEACHING 


B. H. SIEHL 
Formerly Principal, Hartwell School, Cincinnati, Ohio 


HE HARTWELL SCHOOL in which this experiment in “ Group 
Work ” was carried on is situated in one of the suburbs of Cincinnati. 
It comprises the kindergarten, primary, intermediate and high school depart- 
ments. It is the only public school in Cincinnati in which a pupil can re- 
ceive his entire education from the kindergarten through the senior high 
school. The building is new: the school, as equipped at present, was organ- 
ized in the fail of 1925. At that time moveable furniture was installed, and 
that fact made group teaching feasible. For some time an activities program 
had been carried on in the primary department of many Cincinnati schools. 

Hartwell was one of these. 

During the early part of the fall of 1925 the principal of the Hartwell 
School suggested that group teaching might be done in grades, four, five, 
six, seven and eight. There was no compulsion in the matter; each teacher 
was left to experiment as she wished. No organized effort at direction was 
undertaken, as it seemed wise to let the teachers work out the problem for 
themselves. By spring such definite progress had been made that the teach- 
ers generally felt that “ grouping ” was desirable. They believed that better 
work was being done although less ground had been covered. During the 
year 1926-27 group teaching was again carried on, but again the teachers 
were left to themsclves, receiving little guidance. 

After two years of such experimentation, the principal felt that the job 
should now be tackled in some orderly, carefully thought out way. With 
that thought in mind he held a conference with each teacher on the subject, 
and decided that together they would develop a procedure or technic for 
group work. In accordance with this decision, the teachers met each week 
to discuss the problems developed in that time. The school secretary was 
present at each mecting to take down the discussion verbatim. During these 
periods many questions were brought up for consideration including the 
following: 

I. Desk arrangement and grouping 

A. Whenever possible, proper precaution should be taken to secure proper 
lighting. 

Pupils in each class should be organized in groups varying in number 
from five to seven members. 

There should be not more than five groups per room, 

Each group should be placed in charge of a chairman, usually appointed 
by the teacher. 

Each group should be provided with a book rack made by the Indus- 
trial Arts Department. Here are placed all books for the use of each 
group. 

Il. Grouping 

A. Shall groups contain pupils of approximately equal ability? In mixed 
groups the brightest child would do most of the work. On the other 
hand, if the group were homogeneous, a good leader might not be 


[110] 


Pp 0 ® 














ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PRINCIPALS 


111 





developed. After much discussion it was suggested that each teacher 
experiment with her class to discover which grouping gave best 
results. 
III]. Work of each group 
A. After the groups had been organized, several methods of procedure 
presented themselves: 

1. Shall each group work on the same topic, letting each member con- 
tribute his portion, and finally, let the chairman organize and 
present the material for the entire group? 

2. Shall each group work on a different topic, each member again 
contributing his portion, the whole to be worked over, and pre- 
sented by the chairman to the entire class? 

3. Shall each group be given a different topic, and each member of the 
group contribute a portion and have the chairman compile the 
whole? 

It was decided that it was impossible to use any one method exclusively ; 
all methods should be used at the discretion of the teacher. At the conclu- 
sion of the lesson, it was agreed, the teachers gather together and point out 
the salient facts to clinch the subjectmatter. The entire class is held re- 
sponsible. A test each week serves as a check upon the thoroughness of the 
work. Each week a banner marked “ Honor group ” was presented to the 
most deserving section. This reward was greatly coveted. The sensible 
teacher wiil, of course, see that, occasionally, each group has the banner. 
Even a dull group can do a job well. 


IMPRESSIONS 


This is a brief account of one of the lessons which I happened to see in 
American History—grade seven. The class was studying the Jacksonian 
Period. The commonly accepted metiod of considering this period is from 
the political side only. In this case, the teacher assigned a definite topic to 
each group. 

Group I —The political aspect. 
Group II —The industrial phase. 


Group III—The literature of the time. 
Group IV—The religious life. 


At the end of a specified period the chairman of each group presented a 
report to the class. In this way the period was covered much more 
thoroughly and extensively than was otherwise possible. Another interesting 
point in this group method was the good influence exercised on members in 
general. The force of public opinion in a group often compelied obstreper- 
ous pupils to work. When the group work was introduced, a former prob- 
lem boy did the unheard of thing of staying in at recess to get his assignment 
in shape. His explanation was that he might as well do it, for the other 
pupils were hounding him to get it done. Again in a fourth grade in health 
work, pupils had clean hands and finger naiis because group opinion forced 
them to watch these matters. 











112 NATIONAL EDUCATION ASSOCIATION 


DIscIPLINE 


The question of discipline was bothersome. ‘Teachers, used to formal 
methods, felt that the freedom given to pupils when the group system was 
used, would be looked upon as poor discipline. The discussion of the subject 
made clear that whispering indulged in, when getting out the work, was 
not disorder. There is a great difference between controled and uncon- 
troled noise. Every teacher realizes this difference. “The uncontroled noise 
is poor discipline. Some teachers felt that to an observer it might seem that 
the teacher was doing no work. We finally agreed that the very best teach- 
ing was that which forced the pupil to do the work under thoughtful and 
well thought out guidance. Teachers felt that boys who had been difficult 
discipline cases under formal methods were easily controled with this newer 
and freer system. 

After a discussion which lasted several weeks, and after ample oppor- 
tunity had been given for experimentation, each teacher was asked to list all 
of the advantages and all of the disadvantages of group teaching. The fol- 
iowing is the result: 


a. Develops the child socially bringing about that feeling of giving and taking, 
which will be most valuable in later life. 
b. Teaches him to organize material, weigh it, and cast aside that which is irrel- 
evant. 
c. Teaches him to use the library with its catalogs, and card indices, and ref- 
erence books, intelligently. 
Teaches him to stand before an audience and talk at some length. 
Teaches him to be accurate in his statement, for he knows he may be challenged. 
Teaches him to question all statements, not to accept them passively. 
Encourages cooperation. 
Develops leadership and initiative and makes pupils more independent of teacher. 
Subject matter is covered in a more comprehensive manner. 
More children can take active part in the lesson at one time, and the room is not 
dominated by the bright pupils. 
Children are made to feel responsible for a definite piece of work. 
l. Furnishes a fine introduction to a wider range of reading, for material outside 
of text books is constantly used. 
Group work is the beginning of research work. 


TRS TR 


» 


3 


After a careful consideration of the advantages and disadvantages pre- 
sented by those who have worked with the system, I think that the advan- 
tages far out-weigh the disadvantages. The one really impressive objection 
is the nervous strain on the teacher. This is manifest in many ways. The 
careful preparation which this method demands, the amount of outside 
material and knowledge which must be obtained to handle it satisfactorily, 
the noise which is not objectionable but which is wearing, the extra vigilance 
and alertness which are necessary ; all these are nervous and physical strains. 
However, the teachers very generally disregarded this, and said they pre- 
ferred this group system to the more formal method. The joy and satisfac- 
tion which is developed in the heart and soul of the worker by a piece of work 
which really achieves something, brings something more lasting than that 
which comes from careful selfpreservation. 











THE COOPERATION OF PARENTS AND PUPILS IN 
SCHOOL PICNICS 


CHARLES E. WITTER 
Principal, Bryan Hill School, St. Louis, Missouri 


HE annual school picnic is an important institution in our school. 

It is the largest event in the school year to most of the children and 
their parents. Children look forward to it during the entire year. Patrons’ 
associations prepare for it months in advance. If the picnic is held in late 
May or June the patrons begin their work of preparation usually in March, 
securing a place and date, appointing their committees and getting every- 
thing in readiness for advertising and granting concessions. The picnic 
serves as the annual reunion of friends of the school and often of families. 
Family relations frequently return to the city from distant points to attend 
it. This means esprit de corps, morale, renewal of loyalty on the part of 
graduates and whole families. It serves to cement the ties between homes 
and teachers and principal. 

Considerable sums are raised and spent on this annual event. They 
range from $500 to $2500 annually. The average annual sum raised for 
a large school may be in the neighborhood of $1000. This sum is used to 
employ a band of musicians, to furnish prizes for races and games and the 
athletic equipment therefor; to provide abundant lemonade for all pupils 
and parents, to secure the services of entertainers for the day-minstrels, 
clowns, punch and judy shows. Often the park selected has its own forms 
of amusement, such as merry-go-rounds, scenic railways, and booths for con- 
tests of various sorts. But nearly always the patrons’ association of the 
school adds to these standing advantages special features of their own to 
make the day an abundant success. 

Funds for giving the annual picnic are raised in various ways. When 
the picnic is held in a private park, the usual method is to sell tickets, as is 
done in giving an entertainment. Usually these tickets carry with them so 
many coupons for amusement events and also coupons for lemonade. When 
picnics are held in the public city parks, the ticket method is not feasible 
because admission to public parks may not be charged. The patrons then 
resort to voluntary subscriptions and contributions by envelopes distributed 
to all the children. They frequently also take in considerable sums by ad- 
vertisements on the printed program of the day. The latter method, how- 
ever, is open to the criticism that it develops into a nuisance to the business 
houses and professional men of the district and is frequently eliminated for 
that reason. But individuals and business firms still make generous contri- 
butions of prizes for games and contests. 

The raising of picnic funds often results in a substantial surplus for the 
school. The rules of the Board of Education require a careful accounting 
of all receipts and expenditures for school picnics and the placing of the 
surplus in the school educational fund. The Board requires that, in re- 


[113] 











114 NATIONAL EpUCATION ASSOCIATION 








quests for school picnics, the principal and his patrons shall state the amount 
of money in the school treasury and the cost of the picnic to each pupil. 
It is explicitly stated that the permit to hold the picnic and to charge a 
necessary admission fee does not give the authority to sell tickets promiscu- 
ously through the whole neighborhood. The principal and his patrons are 
minded that the day is primarily for the enjoyment of the children and not 
for the purpose of raising money. Ambitious patrons’ associations have 
sometimes raised such large surpluses on picnic day that funds amounting 
to several thousands of dollars have been deposited in banks as “ sinking 
funds” for the future. This practice has received the condemnation of 
the Board of Education. It leads to a confusion of motives in giving picnics. 

It may readily be seen that the conduct of an annual school picnic neces- 
sitates careful organization by the principal and patrons of his school. 
Standing committees on time and place, finances, granting of privileges, 
program, care and safeguarding of children, and transportation must 
be appointed. Concessions are often sold for the serving of dinner and 
refreshments, for the selling of balloons, the taking of photographs on the 
grounds, the running of amusement booths, and other features. Sometimes 
the Mothers’ Club assumes the obligation of dinner and other features, 
thereby realizing a larger sum through their selfdenying efforts than could 
accrue through the granting of concessions. 

There have been difficulties in the past over the selection of proper parks 
in which to hold school picnics. The city itself has three beautiful public 
parks for such purposes—Forest Park, Carondelet Park and O'Fallon 
Park—and the majority of school picnics are held in these three natural sur- 
roundings. Sometimes a considerable number of patrons object to taking 
their children to distant parks, fearing the possibility of accident in trans- 
portation. Yet the number of accidents has been very small through a period 
of sixty-five years. 

The rules of the Board of Education are designed to protect the children 
from being taken to any improper parks. To safeguard this the principal 
is required to make his application for the day and the place before he sub- 
mits the signatures of his patrons who are willing to assist him. The first 
petition for picnic must be submitted over his own signature alone, making 
him responsible as to the character of the grove selected. Having received 
the necessary permission, he then submits a list of at least twenty names 
of patrons who obligate themselves to assist in the arrangements for the day. 

When the picnic is held at a distant park the question of transportation 
becomes important. Formerly street cars were chartered for the day. Of 
late the use of busses chartered in sufficient numbers has largely superseded 
the riding in trolley cars. Automobiles are used in great numbers by the 
parents of many of the pupils. 

The school picnic parade has been and is quite a feature on the day of 
the picnic. When the park is within marching distance the parade takes 
the place of cars or other vehicles. Even when the picnic is to a distant point 
it is customary for the patrons to arrange a parade before the busses or cars 











ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PRINCIPALS 115 








are boarded. Patrons and business houses love to have the school parade pass 
their doors. They decorate for it and await the event. Children love to 
march with brass bands and students’ drum corps playing. Rooms vie with 
each other in banners, in tissue paper creations, and other decorations for 
the day and frequently prizes are offered to those rooms that make the great- 
est showing. Prominent citizens often act as officials and judges in the 
awarding of these room prizes for the picnic parade. In isolated instances 
the parade has taken the form of an immense pageant, but this is not en- 
couraged by the Board of Education. 

Altogether, it may be seen that the annual picnic is the event of the 
year. Patrons and children may be quite willing to surrender the annual 
entertainment, especially when sufficient funds are in the school treasury, 
but woe betide the principal who undertakes to abolish the annual school 
picnic. 

The question has often been raised whether too much energy and expense 
is not entailed in giving these annual events. Would it be better to revert 
to the simpler arrangement of taking the children out for the day with their 
dinner baskets as the typical Sunday School does? Would it be better for 
individual rooms or groups to have their picnics? 

In answer to this it may be said that the children in our school want the 
school picnic day. For rooms to go singly or in pairs might interfere more 
with the school machinery and program than for the Board to grant one 
day for the whole school. Moreover, the school patrons prefer the picnic 
which includes the whole school. Apparently the sentiment for an annual 
school picnic has become too strong to be eradicated. 





HELPFUL RULES FOR A WORKING DAY 


| | Never show your temper. 

Indulge in no sarcasms. 

Permit other people to have views. 

Never contradict an irritated person. 

Keep unpleasant opinions to yourself. 

Be considerate of the rights and feelings of others. 
Always use pleasant words. 

Take time to be polite. 

Never order people about. 

Be gracious and accommodating. 

Always grant reasonable favor. 

Don’t try to fool your caller; he may be a smart man. 
Make sure your way is best before insisting upon it.—Thomas 


Brady. 

















116 NATIONAL EpUCATION ASSOCIATION 





PROGRAM OF THE DEPARTMENT OF ELEMENTARY 
SCHOOL PRINCIPALS AT THE CLEVELAND 
MEETING 


Eva G. PINKSTON 
President, Department of Elementary School Principals, Sam Houston School, 
Dallas, Texas 


R. FRANK D. BOYNTON, Superintendent of Ithaca Schools, New 
York, and President of the Department of Superintendence of the Na- 
tional Education Association, has chosen for the general theme of the meeting 
at Cleveland: How Can the Public Schools Better Serve Democracy? He has 
asked that the Fourteen Allied Organizations build their programs around 
this theme. 

I have chosen for the Department of Elementary Schools Principals this 
subject: How Can the Elementary School Principal Better Serve Our 
Public School? I believe that the principal holds the key to education and 
I feel that in the last few years the elementary principal has been literally 
born again. He is in the robust adolescent stage and needs guiding. As in 
any invention, there are many stages for him to pass through before he even 
begins to think of perfection. With these thoughts in mind I have asked 
for the Cleveland program outstanding speakers, who know the type of 
work which should be done, who know the type of work we are doing and 
who know the type of work we are failing to do. 

The program is as follows: 


PUBLIC AUDITORIUM—BALLROOM—NORTH WING 
Monday Afternoon, February 25, 1929 
How Can the Elementary School Principal Better Serve Our Public Schools? 


I. VocaL ENSEMBLE. 

Pupils of Cleveland Public Schools. Mr. Russell V. Morgan, Director. 
II. THe Tecunic oF DEMOCRATIC LEADERSHIP. 

Dr. James F. Hosic, Teachers College, Columbia University, New York 

City. 

III. THE PRINCIPAL AS A PERSON. 

Miss Bessie Bacon Goodrich, Assistant Superintendent, Des Moines, Iowa. 
IV. THe First PRoBLEM OF THE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PRINCIPAL. 

Dr. Robert B. Binnion, Peabody College for Teachers, Nashville, Tennessee. 


Wednesday Afternoon, February 27, 1929 
How Can the Elementary School Principal Better Serve Our Public Schools? 


I. INSTRUMENTAL ENSEMBLE. 
Pupils of Cleveland Public Schools. Mr. Russell V. Morgan, Director. 
II. THe Type, THE KIND, AND THE AMOUNT OF SUPERVISION WHICH ELEMENTARY 
PRINCIPALS SHOULD KNow AND SHOULD BE ABLE TO GIVE. 
Dr. W. H. Burton, University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois. 
III. How an EpucaTionAL MuseuM WILL HELP THE PRINCIPAL AND His SCHOOL. 
Miss Amelia Meissner, Curator, Educational Museum, St. Louis, Missouri. 
IV. ADMINISTRATIVE PROBLEMS OF ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PRINCIPALS. 
Miss Sarah Horton, Principal Tremont School, Cleveland, Ohio. 








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ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PRINCIPALS 117 





The banquet of the Department of Elementary School Principals will be 
held in the Hotel Statler Ballroom, Tuesday evening, February 26, at 
6.00 P.M. P. P. Claxton, Superintendent of Schools, Tulsa, Oklahoma, will 
be the speaker. Miss Mary G. Ryan, 1075 East Fourteenth Street, Cleve- 
land, Ohio, will make reservations at $3 per plate. 

There will be breakfasts Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday mornings at 
the Hotel Statler at 7.30 A. M. Martha A. Stewart, 1777 Carlyon Road, 
East Cleveland, Ohio, will be in charge. These breakfasts furnish the 
opportunity for principals from all sections of the country to become ac- 
quainted. Committee chairmen will present brief reports. Every elemen- 
tary school principal is invited to be present. 

The headquarters of the Department of Elementary School Principals 
will be at the Statler Hotel. 


NOTES AND ANNOUNCEMENTS 
Tue ATLANTA MEETING 


The dates of the Atlanta Meeting of the National Education Association 
are June 28 to July 4, 1929. The first general session will be held on Friday 
evening, June 28. The meeting will close with a patriotic session on 
Thursday, the fourth of July. 

The Representative Assembly will hold a session each morning. The 
afternoons will be given over to the meetings cf departments. There will 
be a general session each evening. 

No meetings of the National Education Association have been held in the 
South Atlantic section for many years. A fine opportunity is presented to 
learn at first hand the great industrial and commercial expansion of this 
section. 

For hotel reservations, application should be made to Fred Houser, 
Executive Secretary, Atlanta Convention Bureau, 218 Wynne-Claughton 
Building, Atlanta, Georgia. 


COMMITTEES OF THE DEPARTMENT 


The chairmen of the several committees of the department have been 
active in the work of outlining plans and effectively organizing sub- 
committees for the study of the various problems assigned to them for inves- 
tigation. Opportunity will be given the committee chairmen to present 
their reports at the department breakfasts on the mornings of Monday, 
Tuesday, and Wednesday of the convention week at Cleveland. Elementary 
school principals are invited to be present and take part in the discussions. 


RESEARCH COMMITTEE OF THE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PRINCIPALS 


The purpose of this committee is: (1) To locate individuals and groups 
at work on problems of the profession; (2) to collect data from individuals 
and groups of principals; (3) to interest individuals and groups in research 
on the problems of the principal; (4) to project committees for the study 
of specific problems of the principal. 











118 — NATIONAL EpucATION ASSOCIATION 








The committee will work in cooperation with the Research Division 
of the National Education Association and will in that way avoid dupli- 
cation of effort as well as receive helpful assistance along other lines. 

As principals we are in a position to work out original problems in the 
laboratory—our school—in a way which would be impossible in an un- 
natural and model environment. I am sure many experiments are success- 
fully performed in this laboratory every year. 

It is the hope of your committee to encourage this and disseminate it for 
the help and encouragement of other principals —E. W. Cober, Chairman, 
Principal, Holmes School, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. 


THE 1929 YEARBOOK 


“Activities of the Principal ” has been selected by Mr. Arthur S. Gist, 
the editor, as the title of the Eighth Yearbook of the Department of Elemen- 
tary School Principals. The general plan will be the same as that used in 
the first six yearbooks, namely, to treat a variety of topics with the major 
emphasis upon supervisory activities. The 1929 Yearbook will treat fewer 
topics and these more scientifically and exhaustively than has been the case 
with some of the former yearbooks. The Research Division, with Frank 
Hubbard as Field Worker, is assisting the editor in outlining and working 
up scientific studies among individual principals and principals’ clubs. 

Mr. Gist would be glad to hear from individual principals or groups of 
principals regarding contemplated studies or investigations in progress. 


LocaAL PRINCIPALS’ ORGANIZATIONS 


Presidents of local principals’ organizations are requested to send to 
Herbert C. Hansen, Secretary, 315 Plymouth Court, Chicago, the name of 
their organization, the names of the officers, copies of programs, reports, 
yearbooks, and news items of general interest. 

The Secretary would like to keep the membership of the department 
informed with reference to the activities of the various local organizations. 

Data relative to new salary schedules and the general improvement of 
the professional and economic status of the principal are especially requested. 


CITY AND STATE ORGANIZATIONS 


BOSTON ELEMENTARY PRINCIPALS’ ASSOCIATION OFFICERS, 1928-29 


President, William L. Phinney, Master, Dudley. School ; Vice-President, 
Edward J. Muldom, Master Bigelow School ; Secretary, Lillian M. ‘Towne, 
Master, Bowdoin School; Treasurer, James A. Crowley, Master Shaw 
School. The standing committees are the program and flower committees. 

Under the leadership of the principal, Rose A. Carrigan, the pupils of 
the Shurtleff School, South Boston, gave in November a most unusual 
demonstration of piano playing as taught to classes of fifty pupils in the 
public schools. 





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ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PRINCIPALS 119 





Anna M. Niland, of the U. S. Grant School, East Boston, and Miss 
Mary A. Thomas, of the Narcross School, South Boston, were pioneers 
in forming rest and nutrition classes, as organized by Dr. John A. Ceconi, 
Director of School Hygiene in the Boston public schools. 

Mr. Patton is chairman of the Character Committee, and is to read at 
the December meeting of the Boston Elementary Principals a paper upon 
“Studying Individual Differences with Teachers,” a cooperative project 
carried out by Mr. Patton in his former district, the Edward Everett. 

Katherine C. McDonnell, Master, Gibson School District, is giving a 
course on ‘‘ Progressive Education in Grammar Grades” in the Graduate 
School of Education, Boston College. 

John C. Riley, Master of the Dearborn District, is giving at the Gradu- 
ate School of Education, Boston College, a course for prospective princi- 
pals upon the “Administration and Supervision of an Elementary School.” 

Lillian M. Towne, Master of the Bowdoin District, spoke at the 93d 
annual meeting of the Plymouth County ‘Teachers Association upon 
“Factors in Citizenship ”’ stressing health and linkage with the home. 

Charles 1. Gates, of the Edmund Tileston District, chairman of the pro- 
gram committee, is leading a group in the study of kindergarten problems 
as affecting first grades. 

Salaries: An increment of $144.00 for two years beginning September, 
1928, for principals of elementary and intermediate schools on their maxi- 
mum, which was thus lifted from $4608 to $4896. 


CALIFORNIA ASSOCIATION OF ELEMENTARY PRINCIPALS 


This association functions through a central body with sections follow- 
ing the pattern of the California Teachers’ Association which had six 
sections. The State President is A. J. Hamilton, who is Fifth Vice- 
President of our National Department. The Southern Section of the Cali- 
fornia Association of Elementary Principals has the following officers: 
President, C. A. Pugsley, Principal, Longfellow School, Pasadena; Secre- 
tary, O. D. Enfield, Principal, Eastman Street School, Los Angeles; 
Treasurer, W. C. Conrad, Director of Library Activities, Los Angeles. 


CAMDEN PRINCIPALS’ ASSOCIATION 


The Camden Principals’ Association holds meetings on the third Thurs- 
day of the month at 2.30 p. M. The officers are: President, Mark G. 
Messinger; [ice-President, Elizabeth A. Mathews; Secretary, Victor M. 
Heflefinger ; Treasurer, D. Y. Furber. 

The subjects for discussion during 1928-29 are as follows: Principals’ 
Supervision Program, Principals’ Daily Program, Minimum Requirements 
for Promotion, Merits and Limitations of Objective Tests, Discussion of 
Professional Books and Magazine Articles. 

In June, 1928, a testimonial dinner was given for Lillie T. Osler. She 
had been connected with the Camden schools for fifty-one years. The last 
thirty-five years she was principal of the Fitters School. 











120 NATIONAL EpUCATION ASSOCIATION 





CHICAGO PRINCIPALS’ CLUB 


Last summer eleven Chicago principals were appointed to important 
positions as assistants of the new Superintendent, William J. Bogan. The 
Club has a well equipped office in the City Club Building, and employs a 
full time Special Secretary. The budget of the Club for the year 1928-29 
is $12,000. 

The Third Yearbook of the Club is a volume of 200 pages and is the 
work of two sub-committees of the Education Committee. The first report 
is that of the sub-committee on curriculum and the second that of the sub- 
committee on supervision. 

The officers are: President, Herbert C. Hansen; Vice-Presidents, Irvin 
A. Wilson and Katherine S. Rueff ; Secretary, Edna R. Meyers; Treasurer, 
Walter J. Harrower ; Special Secretary, Enos L. Keezel. 


PRINCIPALS’ CLUB OF CLEVELAND 


The Principals’ Club of Elementary Principals of Cleveland holds meet- 
ings once a month, at which matters of business are discussed and speakers 
of educational note address the principals. 

Lecture courses for teachers are sponsored by the club. Throughout the 
year there are open meetings at which principals bring before the club 
questions of a professional nature for discussion. Miss Albertina Kolb is 
the secretary of the club. 


DAYTON PRINCIPALS AND SUPERVISORS ASSOCIATION 


The Dayton Principals and Supervisors Association is an organization 
of all the administrative officers of the educational department of Dayton. 
Under the presidency of Minnie M. Munday, the association issued a year- 
book as the result of an attempt to professionalize their principals’ and 
supervisors’ meetings. 

The following topics will be discussed at the meetings this year: Mill 
Levy, Training Principals for Service, Problems in Articulation, Evaluat- 
ing and Rating the Work of Principals and Supervisors. B. B. Thresher, 
Arthur S. Gist, James R. McGaughy, and Cameron Beck are on the list of 
speakers for the year. 

The officers are: President, L. Daisy Hammond, Principal, Patterson 
School; Vice-President, Frank C. Stanton, Director of Industrial Arts; 
Secretary, Lou Gray, Principal, Edison School; Treasurer, E. G. Pumphrey, 
Principal, Night School; Adviser, Paul C. Stetson, Superintendent of 
Instruction. 

LONG BEACH PRINCIPALS’ CLUB 


The officers of the club are: President, Douglas A. Newcomb; VJ ice- 
Presidents, John H. Wilson, John L. Lounsbury, and Emma F. Weeks; 
Secretary, D. O. Robinson. 





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ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PRINCIPALS 121 

Committees are at work upon the following problems: Standardizing 
marks in the elementary grades, financing delegates to national conventions, 
a code of administrative procedure, the part principals should have in the 
selection of teachers, the possibility of arranging “ exchange” principal- 
ships between school systems. 


ELEMENTARY PRINCIPALS’ CLUB OF LOS ANGELES 


The Elementary Principals’ Club of Los Angeles, under the leadership 
of Nora Sterry as President, has acquired a beautiful Club House not far 
from the center of the city. This is an old mansion near West Lake Park, 
roomy enough to accommodate the various teacher organizations of the city. 
This club house is a realization of a dream many years old. Social and pro- 
fessional functions are being held there weekly. A series of card parties and 
afternoon teas will be maintained through the winter. It is hoped that in 
time the associated teacher organizations of Los Angeles may own in fee 
simple a fine building which will house all their activities and provide a 
clearing house for the interchange of professional ideas and ideals. 


PITTSBURGH PRINCIPALS’ CLUB 


The officers are: President, Bertha C. McEntee, Washington School; 
Vice-President, R. C. Deevers, Allerdice School ; Secretary, Bertha V. Law, 
Glenwood School; Treasurer, Joseph Shartung, East Street School. 

The following committees will present reports at the monthly meetings 
throughout the year: Research and Reference Committee, Salary Commit- 
tee, Civic Committee, Professional Relation Committee. Edward E. Mayer 
and Eva G. Pinkston are listed as speakers. 

The Research and Reference Committee, H. G. Masters, Chairman, has 
completed a study on the “ Classification and Promotion of Pupils.” Another 
study is being carried on which deals with “ The Problem of Guidance in 
the Elementary School.” This report will be ready in April, 1929. This 
committee is planning its work so as to cooperate fully with the Research 
Committee of the Department of Elementary School Principals. 


PERSONALS 


Olive M. Jones, Principal, Public School No. 120, was elected president 
of the New York Academy of Public Education on October 25, 1928. 

Arthur S. Gist, Editor of the 1929 Yearbook of the Department of 
Elementary School Principals, gave an address at the annual meeting of 
the Michigan Education Association, October 25, 1928. 

Elizabeth R. McCormick, Principal, Howe School, Superior, Wisconsin, 
was elected a Vice-President of the National Education Association, at 
Minneapolis last July. 











122 NATIONAL EDUCATION ASSOCIATION 


J. D. Williams, Principal, Avondale School, Birmingham, Alabama, is 
the National Education Association State Director for Alabama. 

F. E. Howard, Principal, Public Schools, Hamakuapoko, Maui, T. H., 
is the National Education Association State Director for Hawaii. 

Effie MacGregor, Principal, John Burroughs School, Minneapolis, is 
the National Education Association State Director for Minnesota. 

Alexander J. Glennie, Principal, Miller Street School, Newark, is the 
National Education Association State Director for New Jersey. 

Bertha S. Armbruster, Principal, Tilton School, Chicago, was a mem- 
ber of two important convention committees at the Minneapolis session 
of the National Education Association—the Budget Committee and the 
Committee on Committees. 

Helen B. Shove, Principal, Longfellow School, Minneapolis, was a mem- 
ber of the Committee on Committees and also the Committee on Appoint- 
ment of Delegates and Kindred Questions. 

E. Ruth Pyrtle, Principal, Bancroft School, Lincoln, Nebraska, is the 
Chairman of the National Education Association Committee on Retirement 
Allowances. 

At the meeting of the Board of Directors of the National Education 
Association in July, at Minneapolis, the following principals were elected 
to membership in the National Council of Education: Jessie M. Fink, 
Principal, Buchanan School, Grand Rapids, Michigan; Arthur S. Gist, 
Principal of Training School, San Francisco, California; FE. Ruth Pyrtle, 
Principal, Bancroft School, Lincoln, Nebraska; Helen B. Shove, Principal, 
Longfellow School, Minneapolis, Minnesota. 

Elementary principals were well represented on the membership lists of 
important committees of the National Education Association at Mlinne- 
apolis. Many of the principals who attended the meetings of the Depart- 
ment of Elementary Principals were delegates to the Eighth Representa- 
tive Assembly. 

“ Standards and Ideals of the National Education Association ”’ was the 
subject of an address given at the National Education Association Con- 
vention in Minneapolis by Mary McSkimmon, Principal, Pierce School, 
Brookline, Massachusetts. 

Katherine Steinmetz, Principal of the Barton School, Chicago, spoke 
before the Department of Visual Education, at Minneapolis, on the subject, 
“Visual Instruction in ‘Teaching the Natural Sciences.” 

In the issue of the Journal of Education for October 29, 1928, E. A. Win- 
ship characterizes Ellen Samworth, Principal of the Bayard School, Wil- 
mington, Delaware, as a master of educational statesmanship. He states that 
her paper on School Gardening which was read at the Educational Confer- 
ence of Wilmington this September, was a masterful presentation of the 
statesmanship of education, and a brilliant description of the salesmanship of 
education to teachers and the community. 





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ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PRINCIPALS 123 . 





ARTICLES IN EDUCATIONAL JOURNALS 


In the School Board Journal for August, 1928, Payne Templeton, Prin- 
cipal, Flathead County School, Kalispell, Montana, in his article, The 
Principal Examines His Work, cautions ambitious principals against making 
excessive demands upon the energy, time, ability, and strength of his teach- 
ers. He suggests a steady, solid, but slower advance. 

Florence M. Miller, Principal, Whittier School, Boston, Massachusetts, 
in an article on Parent-Teacher Associations in the September issue of 
American Education, discusses what the parent-teacher associations should 
do and what they should not do. 

Worth McClure, Assistant Superintendent of Schools, Seattle, Wash- 
ington, in the September number of the American Educational Digest dis- 
cusses the Principal's Objectives in Supervision. He shows that the principal 
who would be a leader must analyze the problems in supervision into their 
component parts and set up standards and procedures of his own. He was 
president of the Department of Elementary School Principals, 1922-23. 

The chief difficulties encountered in appraising the work of teachers is 
discussed by Frank M. Rich, Principal, School No. 2, Paterson, New 
Jersey, in an article, Rating Our Teachers, in the Educational Review for 
October, 1928. 

Ethel M. Johnson, Principal, Brickett School, Lynn, Massachusetts, 
in the October number of American Education, in an article, Building Up a 
School Spirit in an Elementary School, brings out the importance of good 
play organization and well organized group activities as big factors in 
developing a good school spirit. 

Warren A. Roe, Principal, Belmont Avenue School, Newark, New 
Jersey, is the author of an article on The Principal and Administrative Prob- 
lems which appeared in the October number of the American Educational 
Digest. He makes clear the vital part the modern principal must have in 
training, leading, and inspiring his teachers. 

Arthur S. Gist, Editor of the Eighth Yearbook of the Department of 
Elementary School Principals, in the American Educational Digest, Novem- 
ber, 1928, under the title, Organizing the Life of the Elementary School, 
outlines a plan for democratic school organization. 

The Journal of the National Education Association for October, 1928, 
contains an article with the title, Building Our Profession. This is a state- 
ment prepared by a committee of principals for the Yearbook of the Dayton, 
Ohio, Principals’ Association, and points out the value of cooperative effort 
and the need for professional organizations. 


ENROLMENT NEws 


Don C. Rogers, former national enrolment chairman of the Department 
of Elementary School Principals, has been made Director of Building 
Survey of the Chicago Public Schools. His new responsibilities have made 
it necessary for him to give up enrolment work. During the peak of Mr. 











124 NATIONAL EpUCATION ASSOCIATION 





Rogers’ enrolment campaign, memberships were received at the rate of fifty 
a day. The best of luck to Mr. Rogers in his new work! , 

Miss Pinkston has corresponded with leading principals throughout the 
country. The city and state superintendents in every state in the Union 
have been asked to suggest names of persons for city and state chairman- 
ships. These acceptances of appointments indicate the marvelous response 
to these appeals. However, some sections of the country have not shown 
the interest evidenced by the majority of the states. The list below gives 
the names and addresses of enrolment chairmen thus far appointed. 


STATE AND CITY CHAIRMEN OF ENROLMENT COMMITTEES 


Alabama—J. D. Williams, Avondale School, Birmingham, Alabama—State 
Chairman; Mrs. Elizabeth Flock, Pritchard School, Mobile, Alabama; James V. 
Pogue, Gibson School, Birmingham, Alabama. 

Arkansas—J. A. Day, Peabody School, Fort Smith, Arkansas—State Chairman; 
Emma Reiman, Mitchell School, Little Rock, Arkansas. 

California—A. J. Hamilton, University Elementary School, Berkeley, California— 
State Chairman; Lucy Cotrel, Le Conte School, San Francisco, California; Mrs. 
Verna L. Cushman Hale, San Pascual School, Los Angeles, California. 

Colorado—Mrs. Mary Mendenhall Smith, Mitchell School, Denver, Colorado— 
State Chairman. 

Delaware—A. M. Easterbrook, Richardson Park School, Richardson Park, Dela- 
ware. 

District of Columbia—Mary Sheads, Bryan School, Washington, D. C. 

Florida—Olga D. Benson, 1050 S. W. Sixth Street, Miami, Florida—State Chair- 
man. 

Georgia—Mrs. W. P. Davis, Grant Park School, Atlanta, Georgia. 

Illinois—Cecelia Schimek, Mason School, Chicago, Illinois—State Chairman. 

Indiana—Celia Galvin, No. 3 School, 23 N. Rural Street, Indianapolis, Indiana— 
State Chairman; Mona P. Hale, Forest Park School, Fort Wayne, Indiana; Corinne 
Rielag, Horace Mann School, Indianapolis, Indiana. 

Iowa—Earl E. Bovee, 1620 S. Palmetto Street, Sioux City, lowa—State Chairman; 
Frances Umpleby, Greenwood School, Des Moines, Iowa. 

Kansas—Allen E. Ecord, Lafayette School, Topeka, Kansas; Bertha McKinley, 
Morse School, Kansas City, Kansas. 

Kentucky—Roy J. Bell, F. T. Salisbury School, Louisville, Kentucky—State Chair- 
man; Blanche Lindley, Roosevelt School, Louisville, Kentucky. 

Louisiana—L. S. Rugg, West End Grammar School, Alexandria, Louisiana—State 
Chairman; Florence Wilson, Lafayette School, New Orleans, Louisiana. 

Maine—Helen M. King, Clifford School, Portland, Maine—State Chairman. 

Massachusetts—Julia A. Sheehan, Hunnewell School, Wellesley, Massachusetts— 
State Chairman; Blanche E. Doyle, 44 Crosman Avenue, Beack; Bluff, Swampscott, 
Massachusetts; Joseph J. Kiley, Gage Street School, Worcester, Massachusetts; 
Lillian M. Towne, Bowdoin School, Boston, Massachusetts. 

Michigan—Earl R. Laing, Burt School, Detroit, Michigan—State Chairman; 
Mrs. Lettie Marsh, Harrison Park School, Grand Rapids, Michigan; Alice Shattuck, 
Baldwin School, Pontiac, Michigan. ; 

Minnesota—Helen J. Mather, Hiawatha School, Minneapolis, Minnesota—State 
Chairman; Elizabeth Stanley, Holland School, Minneapolis, Minnesota. 

Mississippi—Bess Clements, Public Schools, Meridan, Mississippi—State Chair- 
man. 

Missouri—Isabel Tucker, 5122 Ridge Avenue, St. Louis, Missouri—State Chair- 
man; W.T. Longshore, Greenwood School, Kansas City, Missouri. 





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ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PRINCIPALS 125 








Nebraska—Cassie F. Roys, Walnut Hill School, Omaha, Nebraska—State and 
City Chairman. 

New Jersey—John A. Spargo, Ashland School, East Orange, New Jersey—State 
Chairman; Mary C. Booz, School Administration Building, Trenton, New Jersey; 
George I. Brinkerhoff, Webster Street School, Newark, New Jersey; Robert P. 
Brooks, Public School No. 8, Paterson, New Jersey; James R. Floyd, Jefferson 
School, Plainfield, New Jersey; Forrest A. Irwin, Nishuane School, Montclair, New 
Jersey; Alberta M. Johnson, Monterey Avenue School, Atlantic City, New Jersey. 

New York—Jessie B. Colburn, 52 Gramercy Park North, New York, New York; 
Fmma E. Kingsley, School No. 7, Elmira, New York; H. D. Vincent, School No. 16, 
Troy, New York. 

North Carolina—E. T. McSwain, David Caldwell School, Greensboro, North 
Carolina—State Chairman; Annie Bostian, Henderson School, Salisbury, North 
Carolina. 

North Dakota—Mrs. Sadie A. Walker, 730 Ninth Street, North Fargo, North 
Dakota—State Chairman. 

Ohio—Belle Torrey Scott, Fulton School, Columbus, Ohio—State Chairman; 
Mary A. Haddow, Caldwell School, Youngstown, Ohio; L. Daisy Hammond, Patter- 
son School, Dayton, Ohic; Mrs. Mae B. McLaren, Shaker Heights School, Cleveland, 
Ohio. 

Oklahoma—B. E. Koonce, R. E. Lee School, Tulsa, Oklahoma—State Chairman; 
I]. V. Jennings, Lincoln School, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. 

Oregon—Carl S. Zook, Route 2, Milwaukie, Oregon—State Chairman; H. E. 
Webb, 746 E. roth Street, Portland, Oregon. 

Pennsylvania—Morey V. Kerns, 2526 S. Cleveland Street, Philadelphia, Pennsyl- 
vania. 

Rhode Island—Henry W. Robinson, 27 Clarke Street, Newport, Rhode Island— 
State Chairman. 

South Carolina—George D. Grice, Julian Mitchell School, Charleston, South 
Carolina—State Chairman. 

T ennessee—W. O. Hornadan, Bedar Hill School, Chattanooga, Tennessee—State 
Chairman; D. Moore Andrews, Elliott School, Nashville, Tennessee; Pearl Markey, 
Cumming School, Memphis, Tennessee. 

Texas—James T. Whittlesey, 317 South Marsalis Avenue, Dallas, Texas—State 
Chairman; Nellie Anderson, 1212 Center Avenue, Brownwood, Texas; P. C. Cobb, 
Richard Lagow School, Dallas, Texas; Arvin N. Donner, Franklin School, Port 
Arthur, Texas; Loula Greer, Pennsylvania Avenue School, Beaumont, Texas; 
Mabel Grizzard, Central Ward School, Waxahachie, Texas; Roy R. Kay, 1421 
Ashby Place, San Antonio, Texas; Dora B. Lantrip, Eastwood School, Houston, 
Texas; F. M. Mathis, Gary School, 118 S. Beverly Avenue, Tyler, Texas; Edward 
Munden, Sagamore Hill School, Fort Worth, Texas; W. B. Newby, Reagan School, 
Temple, Texas; I. N. Odom, Brook Avenue School, Waco, Texas; J. E. Park, 
Alamo School, Wichita Falls, Texas. 

Utah—Joseph B. Driggs, Hamilton School, Salt Lake City, Utah—State Chair- 
man; Florence G. Brown, 9 Farnsworth Apts., Ogden, Utah; Olive Ferris, Lafayette 
School, Salt Lake City, Utah. 

V ermont—May I. Donnelly, Lawrence Barnes School, Burlington, Vermont—State 
Chairman. 

Virginia—Forbes H. Norris, Robert E. Lee School, Richmond, Virginia—State 
Chairman; Lillian M. Johnson, Patrick Henry School, Norfolk, Virginia; Elizabeth 
Kizer, 226 Norfolk Avenue, Lynchburg, Virginia. 

W ashington—Lester L. Reeves, West Queen Anne School, Seattle, Washington— 
State Chairman. 

Wisconsin—Elizabeth McCormick, Howe School, Superior, Wisconsin—State 
Chairman; A. T. Hornaday, Matt Carpenter School, Superior, Wisconsin; W. C. 
Koepke, Island Avenue School, Milwaukee, Wisconsin. 











126 NATIONAL EDUCATION ASSOCIATION 


Applications for membership and dues may be forwarded to any member 
of the enrolment committee or to the Department of Elementary School 
Principals headquarters, 1201 Sixteenth Street Northwest, Washington, 
D. C. 

There are still some states and large cities with no enrolment chairman. 
Members of the enrolment committee are urged to send to Eva G. Pinkston, 
Sam Houston School, Dallas, Texas, the names of principals recommended 
for enrolment work. 

A meeting of the enrolment committee will be held at Cleveland, Ohio, 
February 24, 1929, at the time of the semi-annual meeting of the Depart- 
ment. We hope to meet every member of the committee at this meeting. 
The program will be informal with the object of getting acquainted and 
exchanging views. Let us start the year right by one hundred percent 
attendance of the committee at the Cleveland convention.—Herman Ritow, 
National Enrolment Chairman, Department of Elementary School Prin- 
cipals, Fort Sheridan, Illinois. 


LocaAL PRINCIPALS’ ORGANIZATIONS 

Presidents of local principals’ organizations are requested to send to 
Herbert C. Hansen, Secretary, 315 Plymouth Court, Chicago, the name of 
their organization, the names of the officers, copies of programs, reports, 
yearbooks, and news items of general interest. 

The Secretary would like to keep the membership of the department 
informed with reference to the activities of the various local organizations. 

Data relative to new salary schedules and the general improvement of 
the professional and economic status of the principal are especially requested. 








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ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PRINCIPALS 127 














EDUCATION IS THE BIG BUSINESS OF 
THE NATION 

FFICERED by a million teachers, the “ grand army of the 

republic,” an army of 25,000,000 children is marching 
against the citadels of ignorance and superstition and race hatred, 
upholding the traditions and defending the ideals of the republic— 
an army assembling from hill and dale, from city and village, from 
the farm, the workshop, the mine; from industry and commerce, 
from the homes of the rich and of the poor, with the blood of the 
Orient and of the Occident coursing through their veins; destined 
in each of the forty-eight states of this American “ league of na- 
tions” to become citizens, not subjects; an army whose wellbeing 
places an obligation upon every American to support to the limit 
the stronghold of our democracy, the bulwark of our free institu- 
tions.—Frank D. Boynton, President, Department of Superin- 
tendence. 








REMITTANCE FOR MEMBERSHIP 


‘To THE DEPARTMENT OF ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PRINCIPALS 
1201 Sixteenth Street Northwest, Washington, D. C. 


I am a member of the National Education Association. I enclose my fee 
of $3 for membership in the Department of Elementary School Principals. 
This fee is to include a year’s subscription to the Department Bulletin and 
a copy of the Eighth Yearbook, to be issued in April, 1929. 


Address all publications to me at the address given below. 

Name eeeeats om 
(Typewrite or print) 

Mailing address 
(School or street) 

(City and State) 


My present position is . 
Make checks payable to DEPARTMENT OF ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PRINCIPALS.