DOCUMENT RESUME ED 328 373 RC 017 787 AUTHOR Dawson, Howard A., Ed. . TITLE Adjustments in Rural Education. INSTITUTION National Education Association, Washington, D.C. Dept. of Rural Education. PUB DATE Feb 37 NOTE 120p. PUB TYPE Historical Materials (060) EDRS PRICE MFO1/PCO5 Plus Postage. DESCRIPTORS xBlack Education; Consolidated Schools; *Educational Development; Educational History; *Educational Objectives; Elementary Secondary Education; Leadership Responsibility; *Rural Education; Rural Schools; *School Administration; *School Districts; School Supervision; Small Schools; Staff Development; Teacher Attitudes ABSTRACT This 1937 compilation of articles covers a wide range of problems within the scope of rural public education. The rural education issues discussed fall under the following general headings: (1) professional leadership; (2) rural school supervision; (3) staff training; (4) rural school district organization; (5) physical plants and equipment; and (6) education for rural blacks. Eighteen articles describe rural education programs at work at that time. The article titles are as follows: "Professional Leadership in Rural Education"; "Differentiated Curriculums for Rural Teachers"; "Significant Attitudes for Rural Teachers"; "Program of Training for Rural School Administrators"; "State Stimulation and Supervision of an Enriched Program"; "A County Program for Inservice Training of Rural Teachers"; "A Program of Health Service and Instruction in Rural Schools"; “Educational Objectives of a Public School Program in Rural Areas"; “Procedures for Obtaining Adequate Organization and Administration"; "A Countywide Program of Consolidated Rural Schools"; “Functional Planning for a 12-Year Consolidated School"; "The Arrangement and Equipment of a Model One-Room School"; "A (Virginia) State Survey of Rural School Building Adequacy"; "Experiments and Demonstrations for Improvement among Rural Schools"; "A Curriculum for Small Rural Schools"; “Library Service in Rural Areas"; "Factors Affecting Rural Schools in the South"; and "Financing Rural Negro Schools." (TES) . KRAEEKKKKEKEKRKEKKEREKEAREKEREKREKREKKKKAEKEKRAEKRAKEARKEEEARRREKRKEEKREEREKREKEEEKEEKEEKRKREREE x Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made x x from the original document. * REEKKKKEEKKKKKEKKEKKKEKRARKKKKEKAKKRARKRKRKARARARARKARARKKEKRREKKEKKKKKKRKEEEKEKKRERKEEEE a ADJUSTMENTS IN * RURAL EDUCATION ED8 28373 “PERMISSION TO REPRODUCE THIS U &. curanTuent oF EDUCATION N GRANTED BY Office of Educational Research and improvement MATERIAL HAS BEE EDU a 2” - ala taaataiae DENTER (ERIC) leon ore | hs document has been reproduced as , received from the person or organization nginating it Ro bi "Sow Minor changes Nave been made to improve reproduction quality TO THE EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES ” iment do not necessary represent oficial INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC).”’ Elm gestion or entice PUBLISHED BY THE DEPARTMENT OF RURAL EDUCATION NATIONAL EDUCATION ASSOCIATION FEBRUARY 1937 Ec 017787 ‘Bulletin of THE DEPARTMENT OF RURAL EDUCATION 1937 FEBRUARY Published by the Department of Rural Education of the National Education Association of the United States and sent free of charge to all active members. Executive and editorial offices, 1201 Sixteenth Street, Northwest, Washington, D.C, Sale price per copy, 50¢. Discounts: 2-9 copies, 10°.; 10-99 copies, 25°%; 100 or more, 331/3%. Copyright, 1937, by Department of Rural Education of the National Education Association DEPARTMENT OF RURAL EDUCATION Officers PRESIDENT VICEPRESIDENT Francis L. Baitey Heten HEFFERNAN State Commissioner of Education Chief, Division of Elementary Montpelier, Vt. Education and Rural Schools State Department of Education Sacramento, Calif. SECRETARY Mrs. KatHertne M, Cook Chief, Division of Special Problems U. S. Office of Education Washington, D. C. EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE Fannie W. Dunn, Professor of Rural Education, Teachers College, Columbia University, New York, N. Y.; O. H. Bennett, Superintendent, Hamilton County Schools, Cincinnati, Ohio; Fred C. Fischer, Superintendent, Wayne County Schools, Detroit, Mich.; Chloe C. Baldridge, Director of Rural Education, State Department of Public Instruction, Lincoln, Nebr.; R. D. Baldwin, Pro- fessor of Education, West Virginia University, Morgantown; Sue M. Powers, Superintendent, Shelby County Schools, Memphis, Tenn.; President and Vice- president ex-officio members. MEMBERSHIP The payment of $2 active membership dues entitles one to attend all meetings of the Department, to hold office, and to receive the Bulletins. Membership in the National Education Association is prerequisite to active membership in the Department of Rural Education. HISTORICAL NOTE The Department of Rural Education of the National Education Association was organized at the Chicago meeting in February 191g. It was an outgrowth of the former Department of Rural and Agricultural Education authorized by the Board of Directors in 1907. Its chief purpose is “to promote the general advancement of Rural Education thruout the United States.” It meets twice a year, in February and in July, and welcomes all types of rural education spe- cialists to its membership. COMMITTEE ON PUBLICATIONS AND CONSTRUCTIVE STUDIES J. E. Burrerwortu (1937) Grace SHepnerd (1939) Professor of Rural Education Professor of Rural Education Cornell University Northwest Missouri State Teachers College Ithaca, N. Y. Maryville, Mo. CaroLinE Evincson (1938) Frank W. Cyr (1940) County Superintendent of Schools Assistant Professor of Education Fargo, N. Dak. Teachers College, Columbia University New York, N. Y. Kate V. Worrorp (1941), Chairman Professor of Rural Education State Teachers College Buffalo, N. Y. [3] CONTENTS PART I. PROFESSIONAL LEADERSHIP Chapter I. VIIL. Educational Objectives of a Public School Program in Rural Areas Frost IX. Procedures for Obtaining Adequate Organiza- tion and Administration Morphet X. A Countywide Program of Consolidated Rural Schools _. George PART V. PHYSICAL PLANT AND EQUIPMENT XI. Functional Planning for a Twelve-Year Con- solidated School Viles XII. The Arrangement and Equipment of a Model One-Room School Baldridge XIII. A State Survey of Rural School Building Ade- quacy Long PART VI. EDUCATION FOR NEGROES IN RURAL AREAS XIV. Experiments and Demonstrations for Improve- ment among Rural Schools Favrot XV. A Curriculum for Small Rural Schools Embree XVI. Library Service in Rural Areas Wilson XVII. Factors Affecting Rural School Areas in the South Johnson XVIII. Financing Rural Negro Schools Caliver . Significant Attitudes for Rural Teachers . Program of Training for Rural School Ad- Professional Leadership in Rural Education Baldwin PART II. TRAINING PERSONNEL . Differentiated Curriculums for Rural Teach- ers Turner W offord ministrators PART III. SUPERVISION IN RURAL SCHOOLS . State Stimulation and Supervision of an En- riched Program Palmer . A County Program for In-Service Training of Rural Teachers Fischer . A Program of Health Service and Instruction in Rural Schools Bennett PART IV. ORGANIZATION OF RURAL SCHOOLS piee Gaumnitz Page / gl 100 101 107 114 Foreword Many of the tactors affecting the educational programs of rural communities are entirely subject to the influence of social policies adopted by the nation, by the states, and by local units of government. To assume that the people of a great and powerful nation cannot or will not face facts squarely and shape policies consistent with need would reflect an unnecessary attitude of fatalism and an undesirable acceptance of laissez faire. Practically all the major problems in rural education can be put well on the road to successful solution thru intel ligent adjustments in social and economic policies, in local and state adminis- tration of public education, and in instructional technics and procedures. The annual program of the Department of Rural Education held at St. Louis, February 1936, because of its comprehensiveness and because of the reputation of the persons contributing to it, invoked many favorable comments from lead- ers everywhere. Frequent requests have been made for copies of the addresses delivered there. For that reason the Committee on Publications and Construc- tive Studies has decided to publish the addresses in bulletin form. The problems treated here cover a wide range—problems of protessional leadership, of supervision, of training personnel for rural schools, of the organi- zation of school districts in rural areas, of providing physical plant and equip- ment tor rural schools. The subjects are treated in a practical way, and the addresses constitute a symposium of modern opinion on the best things to do in rural education. Special attention is directed to the series of addresses on “Education for Negroes in Rural Areas.” The problems in this field are among the gravest to he found in the nation. They are, however, in many respects typical of educa- tional problems among underprivileged classes of other races and many white communities, and should command the attention of educators and social and political leaders thruout the nation. It is hoped that this bulletin will invoke wide discussion of the problems with which it deals. Howarp A. Dawson Director of Rural Service National Education Association [5] ADJUSTMENTS IN RURAL EDUCATION Editor: Howarp A. Dawson, Director of Rural Service, National Education Association, Washington, D. C. Contributors: Rosert D. Bacowtn, Protessor of Education, West Virginia University, Morgantown; H. L. Turxer, Director of Laboratory Schools and Rural Education, Michigan State Normal College, Ypsilanti; Kare V. Worrorp, Protessor of Rural Education, State Teachers College, Buflalo, N. Y.; W. H. Gaumnirz, Senior Specialist in Rural Education, U, S. Office of Education; James B. Parmer, Professor of Education, New York State College for Teach- ers, Albany; Frep C. Fiscuer, Commissioner of Schools, Wayne County, Detroit, Mich.; THomas Gorvon Bennett, Educational Adviser, Third Corps Area, CCC, Baltimore, Md.; Norman Frost, Professor of Rural Education, George Peabody College for Teachers, Nashville, Tenn.; Epcar L. Morpuet, Associate Director, Study of Local School Units, U. S. Office of Education; Joun H. Georeg, Principal, Nicholas Blackwell High School, Shelby County, Tenn.; N. E. Vires, Director of School Building Service, State Department of Education, Jefferson City, Mo.; Cutor C. Bacpripee, Director of Rural Educa- tion, State Department of Public Instruction, Lincoln, Nebr.; Raymonp V. Lone, Director of School Building Construction, State Department of Educa- tion, Richmond, Va.; Leo M. Favror, General Field Agent, General Education Board, Baton Rouge, La.; Epwin R. Emsree, President, Julius Rosenwald Fund, Chicago, IIl.; Louis R. Witson, Dean, Graduate Library School, University of Chicago; Cuarves §. Jounson, Director, Social Science Department, Fisk Uni- versity, Nashville, Tenn.; Ambrose Cativer, Senior Specialist in Negro Edu- cation, U. S. Office of Education. “J [6] PART I Professional Leadership CHAPTER I PROFESSIONAL LEADERSHIP IN RURAL EDUCATION Robert D. Baldwin N TYPICALLY PREGNANT PHRASE Abraham Lincoln made articulate the persistent American dream—government of the people, by the people, and for the people. Thus succinctly he comprehended democracy, the plan- ning society wherein men might in freedom progressively create more abundant life for all. The price for such creative freedom, as our early states- men fortunately perceived, is eternal vigilance, a vigilance not so much physical as of the mind and spirit, a deep discernment of truth. Therefore, early in America’s vibrant life they sounded the call for a system of free and widespread public education, to nourish this love of freedom and to probe the depths for truth that real liberty might never die. Thus to the profession of public education there falls the peculiarly responsible function of help- ing all Americans, young and old, to learn to know the truth, to love the truth, to make the truth prevail. Leaders of our profession stand as high priests of democracy, champions of freedom, earnest seckers after and protagonists of truth, consecrated servants of all the people. Theirs is no leadership of rapt devotion based on personal magnetism, of blind following, of crushing force, or temporal power; theirs is leadership which commands a following because it can discern in and reveal to the minds and hearts of the people their own profoundest needs and aspirations. Thus more than any other profession, save possibly the ministry in the broadest view of its mission, leadership in public education, in the view of its earliest proponents, in present outward profession, and in actual daily practise consists in self-forgetful, sympathetic, understanding guid- ance of a free people in its search for truth. It may not, like political leadership, indoctrinate to forward the interest of a party group; like commercial, industrial, or labor leadership, propagandize on behalf of the greater profit or advantage of a certain group; or even like the professions [7] 8 of law, medicine, and engineering, attempt to organize thinking on vital issues in terms of the relatively specialized frames of reference of these professions. Rather, it must present issues and render decisions looking toward the public welfare. It is the genius of American public education that its leadership, and that means its entire personnel, saves its life by losing its identity in the search for the common weal; makes itself immortal by mortifying personal bias; finds supreme freedom under the rigorous reign of truth; wields invincible power as the humble servant of democracy as it strives forward toward more abundant life for all. Such clearly was its role as conceived by Washington, Jefferson, and Madison in America’s infant years; such must it be in her lusty years of adolescence. If this is our conception of leadership in public education, then pro- fessional leadership in rural education can be satisfied to accept no less comprehensive goal. It will not view its services to rural communities thru too narrow frames of merely rural reference, but will conceive its task to be the discovery, release, and guidance of the aspirations and energies of rural people into whatever channels give promise of developing therefrom the steadiest surge of power into the lines that serve the common life. Need for professional leadership—It is a matter for general concern that 23.5 percent of the teachers of one-room schools in this country are twenty years of age or younger; that the average years of experience and of train- ing beyond elementary school for the one-room teachers are two years, eight months, and four years, two months, respectively; that the value of school property averages $99 per child for rural schools and $299 for urban schools; that the average salary for teachers of one-room schools is $883 as compared with $1771 for city teachers; that 75.8 percent of rural high schools have an enrolment of 100 or less, while 66.1 “percent of urban high schools have an enrolment of over 300. These conditions alli quite obviously affect the quality of the educational offering that is available to rural boys and girls, and speak volumes as to the need for professional leadership in rural education. Then, too, there is the characteristic pattern of rural school organization, with the small, isolated, typically unrelated one- and two-teacher school, with its poorly trained and inexperienced teacher deprived of the benefits of professional contacts that stimulate and of supervision that can direct professional development. Again there is the character of the thinking and experience of rural people themselves because of their infrequent contact with schools noticeably superior to those in their own community, tending to be complacent with respect to the local educational offering and even resentful of suggestion that more adequate facilities are neededsif their children are to share significantly in the ongoing American civilization. Present statis of rural leadership—lf we assume that the heavier respon- sibilities of leadership rest upon principals and superintendents, here are [8] 9 the objective facts as to their qualifications for such responsibilities. The experience of principals in charge of elementary, secondary, and union elementary and secondary schools in rural districts averages seven years and eight months, seven years and three months, and eight years, respec- tively; their training beyond the elementary school averages five years and seven months, seven years and three months, and seven years and three months, respectively. Among county superintendents, under whose general oversight most rural teachers work, according to Butterworth’s findings, 57 percent have no degrees, 33 percent have the bachelor’s, 9 percent the mas- ter’s, and 1 percent the doctor’s degree. In eight years immediately preced- ing the study only 22.8 percent of them had attended summer school. Granted more adequate preparation, this failure to get away for additional training might be less significant; but, considered in relation to the lack of sufficient preparation, it tends to create the impression that most of the legally authorized guides of rural teachers lack professional discrimination and sense of responsibility, not to say enthusiasm. Not to go farther in citing evidence, and acknowledging readily the meritorious service rendered fre- quently by those whose opportunity for professional preparation has been somewhat circumscribed, many instances of which each of us will recall, still it must be admitted that, in comparison with those who serve city chil- dren as principals, supervisors, and superintendents, trained professional potential in rural educational leadership does not measure up. Surely there are reasons for this generally low average status of county superintendents. In the first place, the tradition is that of a clerical rather than a professional officer. Of course it is true that, in many instances, the city superintendent evolved out of a clerk of the board of education; but in many others, the superintendent was first the principal teacher, with professional duties and qualifications prominent. In the county super- intendency, however, the office was initially a semilocal clearing-house between the state and the small local units, caring for state lands, trans- mitting instructions from the state to local units and reports from local units to the state. In case after case it has been strictly a part-time office job, and seldom in the past has it challenged professional leadership. It simply was not in the nature of the set-up. In the second place, the professional con- tacts, even with those legally entrusted to the oversight of the county super- intendent and who, therefore, expected to receive rather than to give inspiration, were relatively rare, due partly to the number of teachers per superintendent, partly to the long distances and poor roads between schools, but mostly to the fact that clerical duties, court house loungers, and political activities took much time. This leads to a third consideration, that the county superintendency has typically been an elective, political office, subject to the ins and outs, the ups and downs of American partisan politics. Even aside from the “rotation in office” principle, so common in county aifairs, such a method of accession to office makes for insecurity [9] 10 of tenure at best, and at worst requires that the bulk of the incumbent's time be devoted to securing reelection. The median salary for elected county superintendents who reported in Butterworth’s study was trom $400 to $goo less than the median salaries rec cived by those county super- intendents who came to their positions by appointment. In the face of the facts recited, which are by no means exhaustive, it is not strange that men and women of professional outlook and administra- tive capacity have in general either passed by the county superintendency entirely or embraced the first opportunity to plant their feet on firmer and more promising ground. It is abundantly clear that the typical pattern of county school administration either directly or indirectly militates against the more complete realization of the possibilities for leadership in rural education, not only in the county superintendency but also in the principalship and in the direct leadership of the teacher, for thesé local professional workers are necessarily somewhat affected by the comparative lack of challenge from the leader. Patterns for improved leadership—The writer recalls as one of his earliest concepts of administration the insistence by institute speakers, professors of education, and rural school leaders that the remedy for sluggish progress in rural schools, and indeed, in whole rural communities, was the county unit for rural school administration. Of course this county unit was not an altogether uniform pattern, but it had certain essential characteristics which were its heart. These were, briefly, that county school organization ought to adopt the best practises of city school organization, the nucleus of which was a board of education with jurisdiction over the rural schools jof the area and empowered to select the superintendent of schools asAts pro- fessional adviser and executive. Thus were the rural schools to have the benefit of unified control, of continuity of administrative leadership, and of equalized educational opportunity within the county. Now, obviously, no mere scheme in itself creates good schools. The West Virginia plan of school organization adopted by the legis- lature in 1933 came into being largely as a result of the financial emergency faced in many of the districts because of the amendment to the constitu- tion limiting the tax upon property. It liquidated all existing school districts and created 55 county school districts, one for each county, the same to embrace all schools in the county. Thus city as well as rural schools came under the jurisdiction of the county boards of education, the five members of which are elected at the regular elections each two years, for four-year terms, from nominees selected thru party primaries, with terms so arranged that two retire at one election and three at another. There is a further pro- vision that not more than two members of the board may be from any one of the old districts. In operation, certain weaknesses have appeared which have caused the educational leaders of the state to urge changes providing for election at large, at a separate election, on a non-partisan [ 10 ] I] ballot, and for terms so arranged as to render it likely that board policies will be subject to gradual, evolutionary rather than sudden, revolutionary change. These proposals are in the interest of eliminating partisan political influences, of having a board representative of the whole county, of hav ing educational matters considered on their merits instead of being ued up with extraneous political issues, and of conuntity of educational development. The original bill established the standard of protessional preparation for the superintendent at the bachelor’s degree including « ight semester hours in the field of school administration. The state department and state board of education, however, recognizing the complexity of the task confronting the superintendent of this all-inclusive county school system, have exerted their professional leadership by setting up a certificate for county superintendents of schools which requires the completion of master’s degree in a standard university with a minimum of sixteen grad vate hours in education, among which the specific requirements emphasi7¢ the particular administrative functions of the administrator. This certih cate is not now requisite for eligibility for a superintendency, but it ts setting a standard of professional preparauon which the educanonal administrators are striving to attain and which it is believed. boards ot education will come to regard as the real qualification instead ot the mini mum legal requirement of ‘the county unit bill. Going yet a step tarther, the faculty of the College of Education of West Virgimia University, in setting up the master’s degree for county superintendents, has made the requirement of rather specific courses geared definitely to the professional activities engaged in by county superintendents in addition to those required for the state certificate. The total hours prescribed in educanion for the degree are twenty-four out of thirty. These additional courses are in the somewhat specialized fields of school finance, school buildings and equipment, staff personnel administration, and school surveys. The action of the faculty of the College of Education in prescribing was based on rather clear definition of the professional job to be performed and an under- lying philosophy that professional training should always be as com- pletely functional as possible. While this decision, we believe, rests on sound, strictly educational sanctions, it may be compared with the rather specific prescription of courses for the professional training of physicians, lawyers, and engineers. Responsibility of other agenctes for improving leadership—Those in direct field contact with the job of providing educational services for rural children must of course shoulder the bulk of the responsibility. But, inter- woven as are the strands of the fabric of modern life and education, it can hardly be fairly maintained that this is the end of the matter. Surely state departments have a heavy responsibility in matters of financing an ade- quate program, stimulating statewide consideration of the problems of rural education and their relauon to the structure of the commonwealth, [11] 12 lifting certification standards, legislating toward more equal educational opportunities, and many other things that help to hold up the hands of local rural leadership. Certainly teachers colleges have the responsibility of adjusting their curriculums to the probable destination of their gradu- ates, which in the majority of cases, at least at the beginning of their pro- fessional careers, is a responsibility for children in rural areas, and of giving them insight into and concern for the educative resources of rural life, and an appreciation of and devotion to their opportunities for leader- ship in the community as well as in the school. I believe they have the further responsibility of attempting to provide professional stimulation for and in cooperation with principals of rural elementary, high, and con- solidated schools, rural supervisors, county superintendents, and teachers during their periods of service as well as training. The state universities and agricultural colleges also have very marked and definite responsibilities to improve rural educational leadership. Their curriculums for administrators should recognize the importance of a functionally efficient discharge of the duties which weigh upon administrators in rural areas. To be sure, administrative problems in general are pretty much alike wherever found; but so far as they are different, to the extent that they require a somewhat specialized technic for solution, the courses for administrators should recog- nize and reckon with and adjust to these. When this sort of thing is attempted, it is often discovered that the contributions which those with rural experience make to the more adequate definition of the general problem, open doors which previously had been only ajar. When this recog- nition is accorded, then will rural and urban school administrators look with level eyes at the great, all-embracing problems of school administra- tion, and in a spirit of mutual regard and wholehearted cooperation attack and bring them nearer to solution. Current prospect for professional leadership—What are some of the straws in the wind that show trends? In brief they are as follows: 1. The recently reported growth of the Department of Rural Education 2. The recent appointment of a director of rural service on the headquarters stall of the National Education Association, which may have some causal rela- tion to item I 3. National recognition to professional leaders in rural education in the elevation, within five years, of two outstanding rural education leaders to the presidency of the National Education Association 4. The designation of two county school systems out of three school centers chosen by the United States Commissioner of Education for demonstration public forums 5. The decentralization movement of industry and the back-to-the-soil trend of disillusioned urban “evicts,” if | may use that term. This constitutes one of the great challenges to rural leadership to capitalize the experiences of these people, integrate them with the realities and the educative resources of rural life, [ 12 | 13 and build therefrom not only a deeply significant rural education but also a satistying, soul-expanding, comprehensively participating rural community. 6. The recent growing attention to rural life and the dramatization of the economic dilemma in the AAA, You will recall that Secretary Wallace at the very beginning pointed out that limitation of production tor increase in price was fundamentally unsound as long as there were human beings underfed and underclothed; but that the farmer must resort to such a plan if he is to be on a competitive par with the industrialist. The realistic demonstration of the limitation of output furnished by the AAA plan, if its factual content 1s capitalized, must surely call into question the soundness of our current profit economy and draw attention and perhaps even support to a use economy, Of an economy of abundance. This AAA experiment has surely dramatized the current economic situation, the great sore thumb of American and world lite today, and to no one more vividly, if rural leadership can guide to its realistic implications, than to those more immediately dependent on primary production tor their living. Here then is one more realistic educational resource of rural lite to be exploited, not in the interest of educational motivation, but rather in the interest of making the school a means of definite economic and social Jrogress out on the front lines. prog Protessional leadership in rural education, it it will but capitalize these situations in rural life and the sturdy boyhood and girlhood of the country side, may help significantly to raise up leaders and intelligent truth seekers everywhere who may evolve the social and economic democracy which has been our perennial quest. You will recall the faith of Jetlerson in’ the soundness of husbandry as the guardian and pertecter of tree institutions The challenge to professional leadership in rural education today is domy nothing less than contributing significantly to the realization of his tarth and our common American dream, nw 14 PART II Training Personnel CHAPTER II DIFFERENTIATED CURRICULUMS FOR RURAL TEACHERS H. L. Turner ‘9 HE IMPORTANT QUESTION to be considered here is: How should the curriculums for the training of rural teachers be differentiated from the curriculums for the training of urban teachers? This problem has been treated both intensively and extensively by students of the subject during the past decade. It is interesting to observe, however, that opinion on the topic is rather definitely crystallized and the pattern fairly well set. No doubt this is due to the careful work and wide influence of one person in this field, Mabel Carney of Teachers College. Hence, the most we shall attempt here is a review and evaluation of expert opinion and practise as revealed in the literature on differentiated curriculums for rural teachers and the submission of a recent pattern as suggestive of the present thought on the subject. The extent and nature of differentiation in the training of rural teachers is not marked, but the importance of that recommended is vital. William C. Bagley ' holds that marked differentiation is unnecessary and unwise for three very good reasons: (1) the cleavages between rural and urban America are already too numerous and acute to justify an educational program to accentuate them; (2) the basic culture and training acquired in the elementary school are needed alike by rural and urban children; and (3) the constant, and perhaps increasing, flow of rural people toward the urban centers, and vice versa. Miss Carney, on the other hand, holds that a certain amount of differentiation is essential because of (1) the physical environment of country life—isolation as contrasted with congestion; (2) this physical environment leads to differences in social and economic environment thus resulting in differentiated conditioning of the experi- ences of rural children and adults; and (3) this leads to needed differen- tiation of the training of rural teachers to equip them for properly and effectively guiding an intelligent program of rural education. ' Bagley, William C. “Nature and Extent of Curriculum Differentiation in the Training of Rural-School Teachers.” U. S. Dept. of the Interior, Bureau of Education, Bulletin, 1928, No. 6. Washington, D. C.: Government Printing Office. 1928. p. 16-21. | 15 | 15 Dr. Bagley * presented his views as to needed differentiation before the conference in Boston on February 25, 1928, in rather concrete form. It is interesting to compare his outline of needed specialization for rural teachers with the views so often expressed by Miss Carney. His outline follows: “(1) A’ substantial course in nature-study-agriculture; (2) specialized courses in observation, participation, and responsible student teaching in rural schools and under rural school conditions; (3) a substantial course in rural education which will deal particularly with the different emphases and the different methods of approach which rural teaching demands as contrasted with urban teaching; and (4) a course in rural sociology and economics.” One could hardly tind fault with the picture as presented by Dr. Bagley because it is so nearly in harmony with other expert opinion in the field. It is virtually the same recommendation as outlined by Miss Carney * for the Thirticth Yearbook in 1931. Her suggestions are here given for their clearness of expression and emphasis of the picture: 1. One course in nature study and agriculture, or elementary science, to explain the physical environment of country life. The agriculture presented here is to stress the appreciation aspects of farming, not the vocational. 2. A course in rural sociology and economics (or rural life problems) to explain the social-economic aspects of rural living. The chi@Kfunction of this course will be to develop appreciation and to define the functions and relation ships of the rural teacher and the school in rural society. 3. A third course in rural education (various titles are used) to consider the necessary adaptations of the educative process to rural school conditions and the farm child’s experience. This course should begin with an introductory survey of the significance, conditions, and needs of rural schools throughout both the nation and the local state; then include a study of desirable adaptations in curriculum, technique and method, organization and management, com munity relations, and phases of rural school administration and supervision, 4. Some special practice teaching tn typical rural schools under good supervision, 5. Membership in a Rural Lite Club during the period of training. This experience will aflord training in social and educational leadership but should not mean exclusion from other student organizations. The above picture as presented by Miss Carney in 1g3t is. virtually repeated in her recommendations contained in the report of the National Survey of the Education of Teachers! and hence represents, perhaps, Thid., p. 19-21 *Carney. Mabel. “The Preparation of Teachers for Rural Schools.” Thirtieth Yearbook Part I. National Soctetv for the Study of Education. Bloomington, HI.: Public School Pub- lishing Co.. 1931. p. 167-68. "U.S. Department of the Interior, Office of Education. National Survey of the Fducation f Teachers. Vol. V, Spectal Survey Studies. Bulletin, 1933. No. 1o. Washington, D. C.: Government Printing Office, 1933. Chapter V, “Recommendations.” p. 376-77. (A reprint of Chapter V is availab [ 16 | 16 j her latest thinking on the subject. This is probably about as far as expert opinion will go on the problem. In fact it is just what will be found in most patterns in the recognized leaders among our teacher-training institutions. While the patterns outlined by Dr. Bagley and Miss Carney may seem to be merely the result of philosophical opinion, yet it is reasonable to assume them to be the result of two types of activity analyses as defined by William S, Gray of the University of Chicago. He says there are varios ways of making activity analyses: (1) engaging personally in teachihy: (2) direct observation of teaching; (3) have teachers record in diary form all the activities they perform for a period of time; (4) personal interview and conference with workers and supervisory officials; (5) ascertain the major difficulties encountered in teaching to determine the most important duties and functions involved; and (6) an analytical study of printed instructions or other literature relating to teaching activities.” Certainly Dr. Bagley and Miss Carney availed themselves of the first two and it is likely they utilized results from the fourth and sixth procedures. Verne McGuffey ® used a combination of numbers three and six in an attempt to arrive at the activities peculiar to rural school teaching. The list of activities compiled by Charters was used as a basis for beginning. From this a checklist of activities was submitted to rural teachers and others to determine what activities are performed by rural teachers and not by urban teachers. The result of this study indicates rather clearly that rural teachers do need considerable differentiated training for the activities in which they engage. Others have resorted to different procedures to evaluate the curriculums of institutions preparing rural teachers. William) McKinley Robinson used the questionnaire to determine the attitude of rural students before and after taking their training. It is reasonable to infer from his findings that those who have taken the courses are fairly well satisfied with the offerings but would prefer much more emphasis upon the observation and practise teaching phases of their preparation. Opinion of teachers in the field has been gathered by Helen Hay Heyl * of the New York State Department of Education and by Anderson and Kibbe of Wisconsin.” *Gray., William S. “The Use of Activity Analysis in Constructing Curricula for Rural Teachers.” U. S. Dept. of the Interidt, Bureau of Education, Bulletin, 1928. No. 6. Wash ington, 1). C.: Government Printing Offices1g28. p. 3-12. “MceGuftley, Verne. “Analysis of Duties Pertatming to the Job of Teaching in the One-Room School.” U. S. Dept. of the Interior, Bureau of Education, Bulletin, 1r9o28, No. 6. Wash ington, D. C.: Government Printing Office, 1928. p. 12-16. * Robinson, William McKinley. “The Rural Curriculum as Judged by Graduates.” U.S Dept. of the Interior, Bureau of Education, Bulletin, 1928, No. 6. Washington, D. C.: Govern ment Printing Office, 1928. p. 21-25. “Heyl, Helen Hay. “Redireeting the Training Program otf Teachers of Rural Children.” Proceedings, 1935. Vol. 73. Washington, D. C.: National Education Association, 1935. Pp. 413-15. ® Anderson, Charles Joseph, and Kibbe, Delia FE. Freld Problems of Wisconsin) Rural Teachers. Madison, Wisconsin: Dept. of Public Instruction, 1929. 74 p. | 17] 17 While all of these studies are rather limited in scope they do point to the fact that efforts are being made to evaluate the offerings of teacher-training institutions for rural elementary teachers. One is forced to the conclusion that rural teachers need specific training for their work, but that breadth of vision and promulgation of basic principles are essential. Now let us turn to a pattern for the two-year course as recommended by an extra-legal advisory committee in Michigan recently for the training of rural elementary teachers in the teachers colleges of that state: THE STATE GENERAL LIMITED CERTIFICATE-REQUIRED CURRICULUM To qualify for a State General Limited Certificate the candidate shall complete work as specified below: Term hours Group 1.—Language and Literature 12 Literature for Children 4 English Composition 8 Group II.—Science 16 Agriculture 4 Elementary Science 4 Arithmetic 4 Geography 4 Group III.—Social Science 12 American History 4 Political Science 4 Sociology 4 Group IV.—Education 20 The Teaching of Reading 4 Classroom Management, Course of Study 4 Principles of Teaching 4 Practise Teaching 8 Group V.—Fine Arts 8 Public School Music 4 Public School Art 4 Group VI.—Physical Education and Health 4 Health Education 4 Physical Education, 4 terms, 48 weeks Electives 24 Groups I, II, II 8 Unrestricted 16 Additional requirements Handwriting, 1 term, 12 weeks Total 96 | 18 | 18 It will be observed that this suggested two-year course includes agri- culture, sociology, elementary science or nature study, rural education courses, and practise teaching—the essentials of the pattern outlined by Miss Carney. As a final suggestion reference should be made to the excellent course developed in New York state, largely the work of Muriel J. Bardwell and associates under the direction of Miss Carney. This “Short Course in Rural School Teaching” in mimeographed form was copyrighted by the Department of Rural Education of the National Education Association in 1935. It gives in excellent brief detail the special differentiation needed in the training of rural teachers as recognized today in America. It offers the best possible thinking on the question and will no doubt have con- siderable influence in shaping the practise in institutions preparing rural clementary teachers for some time to come. In conclusion, may we suggest that the next step should be in the direc- tion of some effort to measure objectively the quality of work done by those people who have taken the differentiated courses in comparison with other teachers who have not had such differentiated training for rural schools but who find themselves teaching such schools. ‘Bhis will be difh- cult, but necessary, before we can answer any more definitely than on the basis of opinion and superficial research just how the curriculum for the training of rural teachers should be differentiated from the curriculum for the training of urban teachers. | 19 | 19 CHAPTER III SIGNIFICANT ATTITUDES FOR RURAL TEACHERS Kate V. Wofford HE ABILITY TO THINK in terms of human values rather than in terms 7 of subjectmatter is an attitude which should probably take precedence over all attitudes in the education which seeks the development of teachers. This is, of course, another way of saying a long accepted truth, namely that schools be child centered and the welfare of children placed first in all educational programs. While this theory has been long acceptable in the field of education it has been, unfortunately, slow in development into practise. The reasons for this slow development have been many. In the first place, too many teachers of education hold exactly opposite attitudes to- ward teachers in preparation. Their chief concern lies too often in Dewey, Thorndike, and Cubberley, rather than in the development of Mary, James, and John. In other words, the subjectmatter about education is the important item; it mugt be properly presented, memorized, and the class whipped into shape for a test and later flattened out into the normal curve. Hence, every man for himself and the devil take the hindmost! The tendency to imitate is a well-known characteristic of the average student teacher, and the attitudes of those who prepare him for teaching take on here a double significance. He is, for instance, quick to sense lip service to the philosophy of Dewey, and is apt to give forthwith like service in his own teaching. He will state by pen and word that he believes that children are more important than subjectmatter, but every move he makes in the class room may belie his statements, thus completing a vicious circle which began with his own teachers. Further, many schools are bound by a system of district, county, and state examinations which place undue emphasis upon the rewards for the mastering of subjectmatter-to-be-learned, and too little upon. satisfac tory child development. This fact unhappily hinders the teacher in trans ferring his own attitudes into practise. Discouraged, he may find himself slipping into the old, accepted, and respectable way of teaching school rather than teaching children. Another reason for the slow development of this theory into practise cannot be overlooked. It lies in what the average parent expects of edu- cation. He, himeelf, is usually the product of a subjectmatter dominated school. He is apt to measure the school success of his child in terms of grades in reading, writing, and arithmetic. He can understand and appre- ciate the location of his child in the upper quartile of the class. It means to him that his child is succeeding. That the child may at the same time be developing into a selfish, uncooperative, and unsocial being is apt to [ 20 <0 trouble him less than the failure of the child to master fractions. His point of view precludes, or at least hinders, the teacher in accepting the respon sibility for the development of the whole child, Personal interest in the individual student has long been a characteristic of good teaching. Apparently this is best achieved if the teacher maintains a sincere appreciation of pupil worth under conditions of simulating rap port. While this attitude of thinking in terms of children appears desirable for urban teachers, it is essential for those who teach in small, rural schools. Unless the teacher shifts often from school to school he will teach the same children from year to year. There is no promotion of children trom room to room, no relief which often comes from special teachers of art, music, and health. He is literally all things to all the children. It is therefore extremely important that in addition to his enevelopedic characteristics there be found a high quality and capacity for understanding and Cealing with child nature. The second attitude which seems most important in the preparation of rural teachers is one which substitutes new values for old authorities. On the whole, education in the past has accepted two: the authority of the printed word, and the authority exemplified in the person of the teacher. Not only was the school subjectmatter dominated; it was at the same time teacher dominated. In an institution which trained future citi- zens for a democracy there was set up an incongruous autocrscy with one adult who was bailiff, judge, jury, and bell ringer. He set the pace for the school with a nod of his head, a movement of his hand: he gave and denied permission for children to go and come, Under this constant man ifestation of authority the child had three choices: he could submit; he could stay and fight; he could take flight. If he submitted too often and too completely he became a conformist, a yesman —at variance with our conception of an individual in a democracy. The founders of this govern ment conceived of a democracy as a way of life, participated in by a com pany of free men who willingly and intelligently gave consent to those who governed. They knew then, as we know now, that freedom is rarely achieved. It is nearly always the result of inner controls, and in a system of free public schools they placed their faith for the delicate task of build ing such controls. If he stayed to fight, as desirable as this may appear for development, it was fraught with many possibilities for maladjustment. In flight the child definitely entered upon a period of maladjustment for which remedial work sooner or later must be provided. All this suggests the necessity of either restricting the authority of the teacher or of educat ing him to manifest his authority as unostensibly as possible. The latter procedure seems best and definitely lies in the area wherein attitudes are formed. Like the first attitude, the second seems desirable for all teachers and essential for the rural group for the reason that the rural school inherently [21] 21 has in it the qualities of a little democracy. It is a cross-section of the com- munity and has in it children of varying ages, backgrounds, and experi- ences. It is like a democratic family with older and younger children liv- ing with an adult in the same house. Each member of the group is im- portant in his own level of attainment. Each has certain abilities and cer- tain lacks. Each has his contribution to make and in turn expects certain contributions from the group as a whole. There may not be a janitor. If not, there are responsibilities to be shared. The room must be kept warm, water must be brought, and the house of the little community must be kept sanitary. Here are possibilities of real cooperative living and under wise guidance may be made as truly educational as the multiplication tables. The third attitude which seems desirable for development in rural teachers is respect for the inherent worth that lies in what is commonly called the rural heritage. Unfortunately many teachers never recognize this self-evident truth. They are so busy gazing at the lacks in the rural environment and wailing at what they see that the fine quality of the rural environment and life is lost to them. There is no elementary-school situation anywhere, for instance, which offers such laboratory possibilities for the teaching of the sciences as does the rural field. The natural world in miniature lies about the average rural school. Valleys, hills, streams, the winter habits of animals, the call of birds in the spring, and the beautiful order of the seasons offer educational opportunities for the sensitive and wideawake rural teacher and child. Much of the beautiful music of the world has had its inspiration in nature, in the natural harmonies of the wind, the beneficent blessing of the sun, and the cadences of water on its way to the sea. Art, too, has gone to the country for beauty in form, color, and line. These, too, are inherently a part of the heritage of the rural child. The rural school environment is rich in educational possibilities for the teaching of history and mathematics; and there is perhaps no other set-up in America which offers better natural opportunities for the teaching of civics and government at first-hand than is found in the meetings of the average rural community. Upon the attitude of the teacher toward the rich inheritance of the rural child depends in large measure his attitude toward the wonder and glory of commonplace things. All these are a part of the rural heritage and are available for the modern teacher. Tied up closely with the appreciation of the educational possibilities of the rural teaching environment is another attitude, important from the standpoint of teacher education. It is the attitude of appreciation for the place occupied in the national welfare by the American farmer. The farmer has not only suffered from economic handicaps in the change from an agricultural social order to an industrial one; he has also suffered sociologi- cally and psychologically. His courage, his long suffering, his ability “to take it” during a depression which began ten years before the urban crisis [ 22] : PP) has set for America an example of heroism and of dependability never equaled by the hero of any war. These qualities give him nobility, and a lengthening shadow in the national life. We need, in a democracy, to pre serve these precious qualities. One of the first steps toward preservation 0! them is thru an appreciation of the teacher for this great body of adult members of the rural community. Summary—The following attitudes are suggested as desirable for the development of modern rural teachers: (1) the ability to think in terms ot human values rather than in terms of subjectmatter; (2) the attitude which tends to substitute new values for old authorities; (3) a respect for the inherent worth that lies in the rural heritage. While all three attitudes are important the first-named takes precedence, perhaps; for once this attitude is accepted and practised the other two naturally follow. CHAPTER IV PROGRAM OF TRAINING FOR RURAL SCHOOL ADMINISTRATORS W. H. Gaumnitz r pokS NoT Mvrrer trom what angle one studies the problems of rural | education, one comes inevitably to the conclusion that the county supet intendent is a very important, if not the most important, factor in the entire rural school situation, On his ability to discharge the multitudinous duties thrust upon that office and still keep his mind and his energies free to give some thought to the formation of fundamental educational policies and to the inauguration of new and forward-looking movements, depend ina large measure the progress and welfare of the rural schools of this country. Anyone even slightly acquainted with this functionary knows that the various developments of the recent emergency have infinitely added to both the number and the complexities of his duties. It is no wonder that one county superintendent recently stated that the require ments for success in this phase of public school administration are the patience of Job, the wisdom of Solomon, the forbearance of Moses, the gentleness of the good Samaritan, the grace of God, and the perseverance of the devil! The history of the county superintendency is one of unusual interest because it is the outgrowth of a peculiar evolution. It is not too much to say that the origin of this school office has left an imprint upon it which still largely determines its fundamental nature as well as its functions. The original unit of rural school administration was, as we all know, the one-room school; its attendance area was naturally determined by the distance children could readily walk to school; its administrative control at the beginning rested entirely with those who lived upon the farms from which the children came. As time went on, it became evident to the more progressive states that this local, small, independent unit no longer served adequately many of the growing needs of an effective unit of school administration. It also became apparent to such states that the legal limits of the local school district must either be greatly enlarged or that new ways and means must be devised whereby the needed services could be provided cooperatively with the neighboring districts. This led naturally to the beginnings of the county superintendency, the county being the logical next unit of civil government, ? But this shift of authority from the local trustees to the county superin tendent brought about a division of control which the local unit) has persistently, and too often effectively, opposed. Immediately the spirit of home rule, fortified by the private and family nature of education, asserted | 24 ] c4 itself. More often than not this spirit was motivated by political if not pecuniary interests. Any transfer of control from the local district to the county was, therefore, tenaciously resisted. Only by the strongest efforts o! real educational leaders has reform been possible, It is only as the local districts continued to demonstrate their inability to operate on their own resources that important administrative functions have been wrested from the local school trustees and assigned to the county and to the newly created school officer. It is, of course, natural that in those states in which the district, as the local unit of control, had been most prevalent, there should be the greatest opposition toward the county superintendency. Ino such states this officer was practically ignored in every particular except as concerned those limited matters specified by law. The local school directors looked upon this county office as a usurpation of authority, an infringe ment upon their rights. They thought they could sce the time coming when they would no longer be permitted locally to levy the school tax, make and expend the local school budget, determine the course of study, select and purchase the textbooks, pass judgment upon the qualifications of the teachers, employ, place, and dismiss teachers, and the like. All these pre rogatives the local schoolboards had always exercised as a matter ot course. The coming, first, of the county school examiners, and finally the county school superintendents, was resented as an intolerable intrusion upon time-honored rights. The transition in the administration of rural schools from lay to pro fessional control has, therefore, been and still is a tremendous struggle. Many of the states created the othce of county school superintendent only to repeal the law at the next session of the legislature and to go back to the old system. And when such laws were finally allowed to stand, the functions assigned to this officer were too often clerical in character rather than professional. I wish to point out, then, that in this whole struggle in the evolution of this school office we may still find some of the basic weaknesses in the county superintendency. The natural result of this contlict was to hedge this office about with limitations. Even today this office has in many states progressed very litthe bevond the first step. The county superintendent is still hedged about in his professional services with many legal limitations. There are in nearly every state many important professional functions which are today withheld from the county superintendent, altho every- hody recognizes them as logically belonging to any administrative officer regardless of whether he is employed in the administration of public educa tion or in the realm of industry, To make matters worse the cities leading the van of educational progress withdrew from the struggle and set up independent superintendencies, With no similar evolutionary traditions to retard them, the city superintendents were free to develop that office along functional rather than legalistic lines, One of the best evidences of | 25 | 25 the legal rather than protessional nature of the county superintendency ts to be found in our school laws. You will find article after article and sex tion after section stipulating minutely what the county superintendent shall do and how he shall do it. No such detail ot legal specification is found tor other types of school administrators. Other school otheers arc placed in general charge of the school, The allocation of administrative and professional detail is taken for granted. The one point where, in my opinion, the county superintendent tails most often is that he has come to accept his legal limitations as final. He has come to conceive of his whole work in terms of legal requirements and preseriptions rather than in terms of an important, growing, pro fessional service. He tends to keep so busy discharging the multitudinous details assigned to him by the laws that he frequently does not “see the woods for the trees.” The great duties of teacher building and the task ot the schools in the physical and moral development of boys and girls tre quently are crowded out by the making of numerous inspectorial Visits, tie filing of lengthy reports, and the carrying on of an infinite number ot routine office activities. | do not wish to imply that county superintendents have deliberately chosen to be legalists rather than inspired leaders ot rural school progress. What I am saying is that the background of this othce and other circumstances have conspired together to make this school oficer think of his job and to make him act in terms of the status quo rather than in terms of a responsible and capable educational leader. I get the impression as I meet and talk with county superintendents that they do not fully realize that laws are neither fixed nor final. The legal origin of their othice seems to make it hard for them to realize that thru united effort and thru properly interpreting the schools and their purposes to the public the laws can be changed. I wish, therefore, to emphasize, first, that it is just as important that the county superintendents work cooper- atively and insistently for the enactment and modification of the laws upon which the successful administration of the rural schools depend as that they should execute faithfully the laws now on the statute books. I have often wondered whether county superintendents do not as a group expend more time and energy operating in spite of the legal limitations imposed upon their offices than in a careful study of what is needed in an ideal scheme of rural school administration and in planning how such a scheme might most effectively be brought into reality. If the peculiar evolution of the county superintendency explains many of the legal limitations of this office it cannot justify the passive attitude into which many of its incumbents have apparently fallen. To accept the present status of this office as final is to admit defeat in the struggle from a lay to a professional attitude toward rural school administration, So long as county superintendents continue without protest to accept the present: divided status of rural school administration, just so long they will be ignored as [ 26 ] 26 capable rural school leaders. Unless the county superintendents of a given state can and will bring forward a constructive program of legal reform which will give into their hands those functions which are essential to the effective administration of rural schools, can they hope to be recognized as capable of carrying such responsibilities? It seems to me, therefore, that one of the most important changes needed in improving the administration of rural schools is a change among the county superintendents themselves from an attitude of passive acceptance of the present status of their posi- tions to one of cooperative study of the administrative needs of the rural schools and concerted attack upon their limitations. As suggested above, the legal or static conception of the county super- intendency is by no means limited to the incumbents of that office. The student of rural education searches almost in vain in our educational literature for factual or reliable information on what county super- intendents do or how they do it. With the exception of one or two very limited attempts, no study has been undertaken to discover how the county superintendent spends his time; which of his numerous duties he regards us most important; which of his functions he finds most difhcult to do; where or to whom he goes when he finds himself in need of specialized training; or to what agencies he resorts for prepared aids and devices which are most definitely geared to his peculiar tasks. The above statement sug gests studies of job analysis, of functional evaluation, and the development of professional devices which investigations reveal are now all but absent. Studies which have their beginning not in some theoretical ideal but in the actual duties and problems with which this school officer is daily con- cerned, need, in my opinion, very much to be made. It is of little value to say that the county superintendent should have the same powers and should attack his problems in the same way as the city superintendent. That is an expression of wishful thinking which does little to solve the actual problems to be met. Long distances, a rural psychology, material limitations, limitations in staff, and many other factors make his job different from that of the city superintendent. Both the problems and the methods of attack are different. I find it quite easy to learn from published studies how much the county superintendent is paid, how old he is, whether male or female, whether married or single. I can even find out how many children he has, computed by median, arithmetic mean, and interquartile range. The various status studies of this school officer also yield ready information on the amount and character of his education. His progress in his battle for the M.A. or Ph.D. can be fairly accurately gauged in almost any state. His experience status is also available both by type of schools served and by total number of years he has been in the profession. I can find out readily how he comes into his office, how long his term of office is, and how often he is reelected. The number of his assistants, and the number of teachers and schools [ 27 ] c7 under his jurisdiction are all matters which students of education have delved into and recorded for our enlightenment. But all of these things, important as they may be, are again chiefly concerned with the present status of this school officer. The point is that there is little in such information that is helpful to the county superintendent himself as he struggles with the various problems which devolve upon him as a leader and administrator of rural schools. 1 do not wish to be understood as condemning or depreciating che studies which have been made in this field. They have no doubt all been helpful. Before an attempt is made to improve the performance of this school officer it is probably essential that we know who he is and what his peculiar personal characteristics are. The trouble is that studies of status, either legal or personal, do not go far enough. They do not discharge the profession's obligation toward this phase of public education. They do not deal dynamically with the present functions or with the great possibilities of this office in the educational scheme of things. Somehow educators seem to be unaware of the large responsibilities resting upon the county superintendent. They seem unmindful of the fact that 55 per- cent of the enrolment of the public elementary schools attends schools in centers of 2500 or less population, and that 85 percent of all the schools and 55 percent of all the teachers are to be found in these rural communi- ties. Also, apparently few seem to recognize that distance, lack of equip- ment, lower standards of teacher certification, fewer supervisory assistants, more limited funds, and numerous other factors combine to make the county superintendency not only the most difhcult administrative school ofice but that this whole field of service is most seriously in need of the best help that educational leadership can give. I wish, therefore, to raise the question of whether it is not high time for school leaders and research students to attack the problems of the county superintendency which have to do with vitalizing and improving the schools in charge of this school office rather than merely to continue to discover and deplore the personal and legal shortcomings of this school officer. It seems to me, also, to be high time to take the county super- intendent where and as he is professionally, and to do something to improve his work while he is in office, regardless of how he has come into it, or how short the period of time he is likely to occupy that position. I wish to propose some definite ways and means whereby the performance of the county school superintendent can be improved. Experimentation along these and similar lines of attack appears to me not only to hold much promise of hope for the rural schools but it suggests a very greatly needed shift of attitude on the possibilities of this school office. Why should not our colleges of education proceed to develop courses of study and other vital materials thru which this school officer can secure specialized training and information geared to the peculiar problems and [ 28 ] 28 duties of this job? Why, for example, should not the state universities offer short courses which deal as vitally with this field of service as many of them now do with dentistry, journalism, and farming? In my studies of the interests of our educational institutions in rural education I find comparatively few institutions which offer courses devoted to rural school administration; much less do I find well-conceived programs which look definitely toward the training of the county superintendent for and in his job. Why should not each state have, first of all, at least one institution, possibly the state university, which would make careful studies of the nature of and the optimum procedures for attacking the problems of this school officer? With the objective data thus assembled such a center could then evolve a training program which would attract not only those who look toward rural school administration as a field of service but which would undertake the more immediate task of raising the professional eth ciency of those already occupying these school offices. Such a program could be so arranged that the newly elected superintendents could receive instruction in fundamentals, while those longer in office could deal with more advanced problems. Study and experimentation could be carried out on the job; term papers or other evidence of growth could become duc if and when a given project were completed. Such evidence of accomplish- ment could then be made accumulative and recognized as accepted units in a definite scheme of professional training. Perhaps it would not be amiss to suggest at this point that we experiment with correspondence and extension courses for this busy and overburdened school officer. I have no doubt that many of them would welcome such a service. Why should not our educational leadership devise useful instruments and plans of attack whereby this officer can more effectively do long dis- tance supervising in the rural schools? Distances are great; supervisors arc few; the training of rural teachers is small. Therefore, every possible effort should be made to give these teachers all the help that methods of long distance supervision can supply. Are there certain county superin- tendents who have been unusually successful or who have devised unique instruments and technics? Why should not their experiments be carefully studied and accounts of the results achieved as well as the methods of attack made available to others either by bulletin, by picture, by demon- stration, or by a planned program of intercounty visitation? Such a pro gram would not only stimulate professional growth but it would no doubt encourage more and more experimentation which is so greatly needed in the rural communities. Why should there not be several rural school experts working out from our state departments of education studying and conducting experiments in county school administration and supervision? Would not high divi- dends in rural school progress result if these overburdened school officers could turn to such experts for help, not only for a single inspectorial visit | 29 | 23 or for an occasional inspirational lecture, but for a week or two of sustained study and counsel on some baffling and critical problem with which the county superintendent has long been concerned? Why should not newly elected county superintendents become the special wards of such experts in order that they may be carefully oriented in the duties and possibilities which this office entails? If the term of office is short and if political con- siderations enter into the election to office, is not this the more reason why every effort should be made to get the highest type of performance from the very start and thus make the break in continuity between predecessor and successor as small as possible? Has the profession any right to say that county superintendents as a group are lacking in professional spirit or that they coastitute the “mired wheel” of our educational system until, with a sympathetic appreciation of the difficult problems which confront them, it has made every effort to remove the legal fetters and to attack con- structively the problems of this important school officer? What we need to do, it seems to me, is to call a halt to our tendency to accept the status quo or to condemn this office for its shortcomings, while leaving this school othcer and the rural schools under him to their fate. a PART IU] Supervision in Rural Schools CHAPTER V STATE STIMULATION AND SUPERVISION OF AN ENRICHED PROGRAM James B. Palmer tional narrow confines. It breaks down the restrictions under which teachers have labored for years; it provides an effective, functioning mas- tery of the needed tools of learning; and it focuses learning on the life of the individual, the community, and the world, and the work of each, in order that individuals may function to an increasing capacity. The primary responsibility for the education of our boys and girls rests with the state. The extent of enrichment of the education of the rank and tile of children within the state is a measure of the adequacy with which the people of the state discharge this primary responsibility. The actual agency thru which the state undertakes to realize its educational objectives is the state department of education, set up thru constitutional provisions and legislative enactment. {n spite of the consideration given to it, one may say with conviction that a large, in fact as a rule the major, concern of state departments is that of the education of rural boys and girls. Several officials of the state department are assigned the administrative and supervisory oversight of this field. Ordinarily the basic, immediate, tangible demands of an administrative nature absorb the bulk of these oticials’ time. Whatever time is left over, or whatever time can be taken from administration, is devoted to supervision. A state supervisory program of enriched rural education is susceptible to two lines of attack. First, there are those functions which on a statewide basis may be handled most systematically, perhaps more effectively, by centralizing the control and direction in the state department. These are (1) certification of teachers; (2) compulsory attendance; (3) length of the school term; (4) general outlines or courses of study; (5) pre-service teacher preparation; (6) maintenance of minimum standards; (7) cer- tain necessary physical equipment—sites, buildings, and premises; (8) de- sirable safeguards of the health and welfare of boys and girls; (g) school library loan service; and (10) perhaps some other phases. Most of these me EDUCATION Of boys and girls frees the school from the tradi- [ 31 ] I] functions are administrative in nature. They are, however, so far as they affect directly the improvement of instruction, supervisory functions. But they are externals, forms, impersonal provisions. Second, there are those functions that are purely supervisory in nature. These are never adequately handled in absentia, thru impersonal organiza- tion and control. They involve cooperative human endeavor. For example, consider: (1) actual curriculum revision—not just printed courses of study; (2) improvement of methods of teaching in-service training of teachers; (3) stimulating and encouraging the life and spirit of the school. Not having this means no advance is possible. Having it means advance in the face of obstacles, handicaps, and very undesirable conditions! In stressing the importance of the human relations that are of first and paramount importance in furthering enriched education, I was taken to task the other day by one of my friends who is a superefficient adminstrator. He said sentimentality should not carry one away. When we get to the place where supervisory programs in cities or in the country are so ad dicted with the efficiency cult that they operate without the invigoratung quality of democratic cooperative endeavor, the education of boys and girls becomes so stultified, so formalized, and so futile as to be an indict ment of our supposed intelligence as educators. The supervisory staff then must be made up of personable individuals who carry on their work thru stimulating contacts, cooperative endeavor with individual teachers and groups of teachers. Regional conferences, an abundance of school visitation, follow-up service, professional faculty meet ings, and the like must be procedures that such persons prefer to use. This kind of supervision is a decentralized program; its effectiveness depends on the extent to which it is decentralized. It grows only thru the intimacy of contact with the local setting. It involves only a recognition of what we have in this particular school, what we can get, and what we want to do under the conditions. Large state departments of education are, in the nature of the case, limited because of circumstances to the provision of the externals, the material provisions, and the creation of a setting for an enriched program. Actually working out such a program is largely a local matter. The county as a unit functions somewhat better in this respect. It is true that circulars, bulletins, supplementary aids, library loans, etc., are of tremendous help. But if enriched living for boys and girls is to result, there must be a decen- tralized program which includes the invigorating, vitalizing morale of teachers working alone or in small groups on their challenging problems —freed from all the domination and compulsion that can be removed. ‘Teachers are becoming more and more professional. They should be aided in this and challenged to accept such responsibility as the profession necessitates. In the zeal to improve conditions we cannot afford to let lifeless prescriptions kill all possible growth. [ 32] 32 CHAPTER VI A COUNTY PROGRAM FOR IN-SERVICE TRAINING OF RURAL TEACHERS Fred C. Fischer HERE ARE stiLt in this country many thousands of rural schools of : ee one-room and two-room type where all of the subjects of the elementary grades, comprising some twenty-five to thirty-five classes, are taught by one or two teachers. For many years we have considered and approved several solutions to the so-called rural school problem. We have been supporters of consolidation movements, of larger units, of super- visory programs. Much has been accomplished along these and other lines, and much more will be accomplished as the years go by, but as has been the case in the past, the one-room rural school continues to be many in numbers and constantly referred to as the weak link of the educa- tional chain. We still have faith in consolidation and larger units of administration as a means of improving efficiency of schools in the open country, but because of an uneducated public opinion, and the bugaboo of higher taxes for schools, legislatures have been slow to provide means to bring about these changes, undoubtedly questioning the wisdom of legislating faster than public opinion will warrant. In the meantime, we have in our rural areas today many of the conditions which have existed for generations. Old box-car buildings with improper lighting, ventilation, and heating are still serving the needs of the rural communities. Not only are the buildings out of date and unsatisfactory, but the equipment and supplies for the most elementary requirements of the teachers and children ar often lacking. Even with these conditions, much valuable teaching is often done if the teacher is equipped with a training for his job, and a readiness to accept the challenge to improve conditions and win the public to a better support of the school’s program. The inadequately trained teacher still is the one employed by many rural schoolboards, because the towns and cities have provided for higher standards of training as well as higher schedules of compensation. Also, it is true that many teachers having been fairly well trained in our teachers colleges, seem unable to apply the principles and methods of teaching presented and practised in these training centers and find it necessary to revert to the methods used when they were pupils in the elementary grades. In the larger systems, the principals and supervisors are constantly checking as to methods and technics. In many rural areas there is little or no supervision and thus no uniformity of procedure. It is the purpose of this discussion to outline a plan for counties having many districts and many rural schools, by which the teacher continues to [ 33 ] 53. be trained while in service thru the suggestion and stimulation of a countywide supervisory program. The aims of such a program are ‘c¢ ir fold, The first aim is to improve instructional procedure. The major objective of every supervisory activity is the improvement of learning. Any pro- gram--county, city, or district--which fails in this objective, by which teachers are constantly aiming to improve learning conditions, has failed in carrying out the most important function of the school. The second aim is to unify the county school program and to acquaint communities with the needs and practises of the schools. This is, in reality. the public relations function, by which the interest of school patrons is enlisted in behalf of the school’s activities. The third aim in improving the value and efficiency of teachers while in service, is to provide conditions by which higher professional attitudes are developed, and wholesome social activities are encouraged. These op- portunities are provided not only by teachers meetings, but are largely stimulated by means of teachers theater parties, community programs, picnics, and other social gatherings. Association of teachers who have the same professional interests and problems is conducive to increased pro- fessional growth. Isolation is often destructive to morale and ambition. Contact with co-workers is stimulating to pride, self-assurance, and professional consciousness. There should be a social and personal pleasure aspect built into each teachers meeting thru the songs they sing, the gen- eral sociability at a luncheon, and the mutual enjoyment of any project where there is the common interest of all. The fourth aim of the in-service training program for rural teachers is to acquaint them with the most recent findings and the newer technics in the fields of mental and physical hygiene in order that the problems of the individual child mav be recognized and treated. Practically every problem in a school involving attendance, delinquency, or behavior has its cause or source in a social or a health condition—sometimes in the school, more often in the home. The untrained teacher cannot be expected to cope with such problems. There should be the tactful social worker and the skilful school nurse to whom the teacher may go for advice and for personal help in the solution of such problems. The aims of an in-service training program for rural teachers cannot be realized without a definite county organization composed of super- vising teachers, school nurses, and social workers. A county may be divided into as many divisions as there are supervising teachers and school nurses. This geographical division of a county should have approximately forty- five teachers. If the schools are of the one-room type, each division may be divided into two or even three zones or groups of teachers. If of the more than one-room type, the groups may be classified according to grades— [341 3q that is, the primary grade group, the upper grade group, etc. The county organization must include one or more skilled social workers, cither for the county as a whole or one such worker for each division. The social worker should have the training and experience of a teacher and an extensive background in psychology and social work. She must be one who can serve as a counselor, rather than a person who writes case his- tories and hands out welfare aid, Teachers should be visited regularly during the year by this staff of helpers. Following each series of visits, is the monthly group meeting either on Saturday or from three to five o'clock on a regular school day. Saturday meetings consist of a professional meeting from ten to twelve, of teachers, supervising teacher, school nurse, and social worker, a com- munity luncheon from twelve to one-thirty, and a business session and program in the afternoon. The noontime and afternoon. sessions are participated in by school officers and patrons. Usually an institute speaker is provided for the afternoon session. At the beginning of the school year, a calendar of activities lists the time, place, and purpose of the various meetings and events as far as they can be planned in advance. Special emphasis is given each year to certain subjects and teaching procedure, such as units and activities. Standardized tests are used to determine which subjects need special emphasis. In formu- lating a program to improve the efficiency of instruction, a number of principles must be recognized. It should not be difficult to secure the interest and cooperation of teachers in a program which aims to bring success to them, and which provides the machinery and the guidance which make for an efficient and a happier school. Among the principles recognized in such a program are: (1) common professional interests among teachers; (2) the desire of both teachers and field workers for professional advancement; (3) concerted effort on the part of a group of teachers to improve their work along one particular line at a time; (4) a cooperative relationship among a!l persons and groups in the entire school organization; (5) discussion with children as to goals to be attained and means of attainment; (6) the supervising teacher as both a Aelper and a teacher, not a director, inspector, or critic; and (7) the principle of individual attention and instruction given to each teacher and to each problem. Most states have a course of study for their rural schools. These vary from mere guides or manuals to comprehensive and sometimes complicated treatises on the curriculum. The untrained teacher is often puzzled by what he regards as the indefiniteness and incompleteness of the course of study. One teacher interprets it one way, and the next district has a teacher who reads into the guide a different idea of procedure and practise. The staff of supervising teachers, with the assistance of suggestions that are made in teachers meetings, should make it its business to have a uniform 35 [ 35 ] interpretation of the course of study and provide such supplementary helps as may be needed. Administering standardized tests is another activity of the supervisory program. Tests are administered and scored in part by the supervising teacher. Teachers also should participate and learn the details of the testing program. Pupils and parents should be taken into the confidence of teachers regarding achievement tests, and plans for improvement are discussed by all concerned. Like the clever golf player, the individual child learns that he must compete with himself to secure a better score rather than with some other individual. The county activity program will enlist the interest and cooperation of teachers, because it is a planned program. This may consist not only of the instructional phase built largely around the teachers meetings and the supervising teacher's visits, but will include counseling with parent-teacher associations and school officers. It also includes sponsoring a junior citizens club in every schoolroom of the county in which a definite program in character education and good citizenship among the children is provided. Among the professional and social activities in which the county super vising stall provides leadership of and cooperation with are: the county teachers club, the annual school officerteacher banquets, the county council of parent-teacher associations, the discussion groups, the book clubs, and the music festivals. In developing the county program, the supervising teacher should visit each schoolroom on the average of once each school month. ‘There are three types of school visits--the scheduled, the unscheduled, and the requested. The most important of these, perhaps, is the scheduled visit, Dates and even the exact hour of the supervising teacher's visit are an nounced in advance, in order to see schools and teachers at their best. This establishes a close bond of sympathy and confidence between teacher and supervising teacher. It fixes for both teachers and pupils an ideal, below which they are at other times unwilling to drop. After a few months, the teacher gains confidence in his work and is better acquainted with the supervising teacher, which makes it possible for him to discuss his difh- culties and problems, and to accept suggestions. Standards, objectives, and achievements in learning should be spe cifically stated. Pupils may prepare during the month specific pieces of work for the supervising teacher to see and to appreciate. The social attitudes and standards of conduct of the pupils should be mede a major part of the program. This may be done thru the organization and correct functioning of the previously mentioned junior citizens club in every schoolroom. Children have learned to greet the supervising teacher, school nurse, county superintendent, and other visitors in a manner as a host would greet a guest. Each child has his obligation to meet as a citizen of the school, and performs his obligation with dispatch and correctness which [ 36 ] 36 would do credit to our/older citizens. In participating in programs, demon- stration classes, and.jh other work where they can help, the attitudes of rural children will improve immeasurably when given such opportunities. The unscheduled and requested visits by county workers are for the purpose of giving definite assistance in classroom procedure, or for special conferences with teachers or school officials. The supervisory visits thus provide for: (1) observation of the learning situation; (2) discussions with children regarding special interests, activities of the school, and individual progress; (3) conferences with the teacher regarding teaching technics and methods, organization of instructional program, difficulties and progress of individual children, progress of children as reported on monthly progress report to parents, and progress and promotion of children at end of year. The monthly group meeting of teachers has been referred to earlier in this discussion. The group meeting follows the completion of the schedule of visits by the supervising teacher and school nurse. Whether the teachers meeting is on Saturday or in the late afternoon of a regular school day, about two hours should be devoted to the professional problems. Among the activities of this part of the group meeting may be mentioned: . 1. Supervising teacher (a) reviews the work observed during visit, (1) pre sents thru discussion and by mimeographed outlines the work of the coming month, 2. Teachers discuss the past month’s experiences in carrying out the Program of special subjects tor the month. 3. Teachers may make an assigned report on some phase of the instructional program, 4. Teachers or supervisor may teach demonstration lesson—this ts followed by an evaluation of the lesson. 5. Supervising nurse and social workers present their programs. 6. Specialists often present material which will supplement the county instructional program. Almost any county has a number of cooperating agencies which may be used in formulating and carrying out a county program for the so provement of rural schools. Among these may be mentioned the county library, the 4-H Club activities, the parent-teacher associations, the Jocal training schools, the colleges, the social service organizations, etc. These groups are always ready to provide counsel and material assistance to those in charge of the program for better county schools, Some sixteen years ago, a demonstration was first scientifically evaluated in Brown County, South Dakota. The results were recorded in two books entitled The Value of Supervision and Successful Teaching in Ruyal Schools, by M. S. Pittman, now president of the South Georgia State Teachers College. Other investigations in four counties in Michigan con- firmed the earlier conclusion that supervised rural teachers show an [ 37] 37 improved training, and children show an improvement in learning far in excess of that seen in the traditional unsupervised rural schools. In Wayne County, Michigan, there has been such a program for eleven years. No attempt has been made to prove that the rural schools of this county are superior to those of any other county. However, standardized tests have been given to the children of the rural schools of this county over a period of several years, and the scores year after year indicate achievement as high as the average for the whole country, and as high as the averages of the urban children in nearby towns and cities. Superin- tendents and high-school principals have repeatedly stated that the boys and girls from the rural schools of the county, after becoming adjusted to the new conditions found in the city or village high schools, show as careful preparation in the elementary branches and have as. satisfactory attitudes and scholarship in high school as the resident high-school students of the city, In view of these apparently satisfactory results, it would seem that one could safely say that teachers can be trained while in service in rural schools, it a carefully prepared program is provided and sufficient help is given to the county school superintendent's office to carry out the program, 38 [ 38 ] CHAPTER VII A PROGRAM OF HEALTH SERVICE AND INSTRUCTION IN RURAL SCHOOLS Thomas Gordon Bennett SCHOOL HEALTH PROGRAM for the children of a county or other rural A area tikes its place as a detinite unit in the accomplishment of a rural health program, It represents the placement and adjustment of the pur poses and activities of the factors that enter into the development of such « program, These factors are: (1) an opportunity for the health of each individual child to improve until the child will be most effective in his own development and in his relations with others; and (2) an integration of his health experiences with his life at home and in the community, ‘The activities of home, school, and community are thus evaluated and co ordinated, and each becomes the more essential because of the fuller realiza tion of the other in forming a complete school health program, The school health program can function as a series of vital experiences in the growing life of the child only if those responsible for its administra tion become more conscious of the essentialness of its demands, are willing to assume an active and sympathetic supervision, and will provide a more nearly adequate financial support. In addition, the importance of the place of the classroom teacher must be recognized, and consistent support must be given him at all times, for upon him devolves a great responsibility in the actual carrying out of a school health program. If provision is made by which a more accurate knowledge may be obtained in the laboratories of the health and medical care service, a more dependable method observed in instruction pro cedures and activities, a more effective guidance provided in the practise of health habits and the correcting of defects, then a more thoro under- standing of the benefits of good health will be gained. Then will the teacher, because of his increased knowledge of scientific facts, methods, and guidance, be able to inform children of the fundamental facts and rela- tionships of life in such a way that a more satisfactory behavior may result. Furthermore, he will be able to transform his ideals into constructive ideas of the responsibilities, uses, and benefits of good health in meeting daily problems. In many aspects a health program is built upon the experiences that have come from the preventive health principles and practises of our heritage: but a program for any unit must also include the facts that portray actual health conditions as they exist in home, school, and com- munity. Such a school health program includes the following: (1) respon- sibility of the board of education; (2) teacher training; (3) health in the 39 " | 30 | school including both health service and health education; (4) physical education program; and (5) organization, administration, and financial support. RESPONSIBILITY OF THE BOARD OF EDUCATION If the gap between theories and accomplished practises of a well-rounded school health program is to be bridged, then of necessity the board of education and the superintendent of schools as its executive officer and representative should have a clear conception of the relative health values fundamental to the present and future welfare of society, and a more accurate knowledge of the individual needs of the child in his home, school, und community, These specific responsibilities include: educational leadership, financial support, administrative staff, training of teachers in service, and representa tion on the county health governing board, TRACHER 'TRAENING If teachers are to take their places and etheiently perform their duties ina school health program, they need certain training for health service, health education, and physical education, This training may be acquired thru two sources: teacher-training institutions and in-service training of teachers in the field. Whichever source of learning is made available, either in part or in whole, there are certain desirable health objectives that should form an integral part of the training if the meaning and pur- pose of a sound, effective school health program is to be realized. These objectives are: teacher orientation, scientific foundation, health service, health education, physical education, social case work, and social health survey, For the teacher properly to orient: himself, he should appreciate the significance of the meaning of a healthy personality and the purpose of a school health program. Personal good health must then mean not only the absence of disease but the positive presence of health. The content of the program for the training of teachers must have a scientific foundation, The biological and general sciences may contribute the facts essential to a knowledge of the workings of the human body; studies pertaining to preventive health activities may contribute health information that has been tested thru observation and experimentation; and studies in the psychology of childhood and adolescence may show how the child, in varying stages of growth, adjusts himself to an ever-changing environment. The training of teachers should include a continued oppor- tunity for observing the actual preventive and corrective medical care practises as they are exhibited in the daily child health clinics. It should also give Opportunity for participation in these practises. | 40 | 40 The principles of philosophy underlying a health-teaching program are the same as those underlying a teaching program in other fields. The dif ference in content requires a difference in application, but the technic and foundation of all good teaching are based upon thoro knowledge and proved methodology. In a program for the training of teachers, physical education should take its place as a human science based upon the philos ophy of human living. These activities should be encouraged Not solely to develop the physical nature in its own right, but to make this development contribute to a more complete preparation of the child for present and later needs in life. To the teacher must come the realization also that health knowledge and practises enter more or less into the child's experiences early in life and that these experiences will continue to accumulate thruout his devel opment. To the school health program comes the responsibility of con tinuing the processes of selecting out of these experiences the ones that are desirable. These should be strengthened and others should be added. and the undesirable ones should be eliminated. Thruout the preschool period, community agencies have influenced the health conduct of the child. By means of a continuous health survey of social needs the school and social case workers are able to understand, appreciate, and correlate the purposes and methods of each other. Whatever the elements entering into a school health program for the training of teachers, the final test of the usefulness of such a program is determined in the application of its principles and methods in attempting to solve the individual health needs discovered in the home, school, and community. Methods of health surveys should, therefore, be analyzed and evaluated for practicability in various limited are4®, for upon the accuracy of such a survey must depend the promotion of the proper corrective follow-up program of service and teaching. Character may be interpreted as the assimilation of the child’s mental, physical, and social habits for better health behavior. And as the disabilities of each child are discovered and remedied, so will opportunities be afforded for the child's character to be strengthened in its development. Upon such a survey, then—broad in principle, accurate in knowledge, scientific in research technic, and definite in determining individual and local needs—must a school health program depend for its accomplishment. TEACHER-TRAINING OPPORTUNITIES Teacher-training institutions Yo students in teacher-training institu- tions there is provided in an organized form of procedure an opportunity for attaining the objectives presented, together with the other instruction necessary for a well-rounded health curriculum. Selection of subjectmatter, however, is only part of the problem. Teachers in training learn what to [ 41 | 4] teach and how to teach it far better by example than by precept. Therefore, not only must sound scholarship in the fundamental sciences be insisted upon, but there must be such practical teaching in those sciences as will surely bear fruit in action. Teachers in service—For teachers actually in the field, there are fewer opportunities for receiving instruction in health service and in health education. K the objectives here presented are to be accomplished, the problem of the training of teachers in service is more difhcult. Teachers in service are for various reasons sometimes unable to accept the opportunities provided in comprehensive instruction units of the cur- riculum of organized institutions; but they should avail themselves of the opportunities afforded by the board of education and the teacher-training institutions and should complete such requirements as have been estab- lished in schools prepared for the training of teachers in child health. In order to make these accomplishments possible, there should be a definite obligation upon the part of the board, institutions, and teachers mutually to adjust their programs so that part of the periods of the teacher’s leisure time may be made available for a gradual broadening of health knowledges and activities by careful study of health facts and actual participation in health service activities in successive health instruc- tion units, each of which will complement the others. HEALTH IN THE SCHOOLS The purpose of a school health program is to bring together all the factors essential to carrying out the health service and health education programs. The skills, attitudes, knowledges, experiences, and observations of each of the other fields might contribute to these programs and be assimilated by them. The undesirable elements might then be eliminated and the desirable elements fused and strengthened into a more definite régime of health achievement providing for the needs of each child as he develops in home, school, and community. To realize such health achievements and opportunities in the program of health service and health education, a study should be made of the actual health needs of the school life. This would reveal the conditions upon which these programs might build their objectives and procedures. Health service—In carrying out a health service program in a rural unit it is proposed to limit the usual accepted interpretation of such a service and to include only the activities that may be actually performed by the schools. It is proposed to set up a health service in which the school and facilities would provide opportunities for the child to come into con- tinuous relationship with the clinical and medical care services in their preventive and corrective health programs; also, this service would insti- [ 42] AY’ tute a participation in and control of certain general health services pertaining to activities of the individuals and groups within the school and outside the school. Procedures for carrying out such a program would include the following: Administrative Procedures in the School Preliminary to the Entrance of the Children to the Health Center 1. In the daily program given over to school health the school should set aside a definite per‘od in which conferences with parents, pupils, teachers, or auxiliary agencies would take place. 2. The school should communicate directly with the health center in refer- ence to cases that demand immediate attention, Reports should be prepared so that the visiting technician service may study them and comparisons may be made during inspections, particularly in times of epidemics or other emer- gencies. 3. Pupils should be sent to the health center direct from the schools for regular periodic examinations or for special examinations during the epidernic of a communicable disease, and for any other cause, to determine certain con- ditions and to report the defects so that the corrections may be made without unnecessary delay. A room for temporary isolation of cases of communicable disease should be provided until the pupils can be sent home. 4. Every pupil whose absence has exceeded a designated period should bring a certificate from his family physician stating that the child is free from con- tagious disease and should be allowed to return to school. In cases where a physician has not been in attendance, the health center will issue such certifi- cates upon examination. 5. All pupils taking part in special gymnasium exercises or athletic events or belonging to athletic teams should be reexamined by a physician in the schools or in the health center. 6. There should be cooperation to facilitate the arrangements made for the free transportation of pupils from the school districts to the health center as provided for by either the board of education or the health center. >. There should be cooperation in the plans for the preparation of teachers in the establishing of training classes so that they may pursue a definite course of instruction under the supervision of a specifically designated director in the health center. Follow-up Work Required for the Individual in His School Life upon His Return from the Health Center 1. Whatever the diagnosis of treatment rendered to each child, there usually follow certain precautionary or remedial measures that, altho they should be checked daily, do not require technical service. The school will perform a very valuable service in this respect, By reporting to the visiting technician service at designated periods or at such times as the emergency directs and by cooperating with this service, the school can help the child in regaining a normal condition. It is in follow-up work that the cooperation and influence of the home will be of very great value. | 43 | 43 Thru the daily morning health inspection of the group, with special attention to the more serious cases, thru weighing at regular intervals, and thru investigat ing the personal health programs at school and at home, will the follow- “up work become effective as an important factor in the health practise of the in dividual child. A guidance program should be inaugurated under the supervision of as well-trained counselors as it is possible for each unit to provide. Provision should be made for special classes for the mentally and physically retarded. An Instituting of Certain General Health Services Pertaining to Individuals, to Groups within the School, or to the School as a Whole . The school nutritionist should supervise and direct the activities of the sc oa lunch service so that the nutrition program may meet the general and individual requirements of a balanced diet. Aid should be given in the round-up made during the school year for ad children who are to be examined for entrance into school the follow ing autumn. There should be cooperation with the programs of activity for the summer vacation, This period may become a valuable asset if rightly directed. It is proposed that a summer camp under proper supervision be established at small cost to the individual so that corrective resuits would follow more quickly and right health habits become more firmly fixed. 4. A program should be instituted in the school plant in which good house- keeping 1s recognized as essential to the welfare of the children. Attractive and healthful classrooms and lunchrooms, sanitary lavatory and toilet facilities and equipment, and well-kept school grounds should be obtained as quickly as available support wall allow. Instituting a First-aid and Safety Program Phere should be provision for supplies, equipment, and space in each school tor the administering of first-aid service. As this responsibility in the absence of the nurse will rest largely with classroom teachers, training of this character should be included in the preparation of teachers. \ definite accident prevention program should be introduced in which the lactors influencing satety measures and results form an active part of the child’s daily activities. Health service would include (1) the observation of safety measures and such instruction as is necessary to form conscious safety habits, and (2) the coopera tion of the school with outside organizations whose interests are for better child protection. Health education—As a program of activities and instruction in this rural unit, health education should be limited to simple and fundamental objectives and procedures. It should function as a vital force in the child’s life, correcting unhealthful and unsound habits of health. The goal of health education should be the inculcation of desirable health habits. [ 44 | 4a Health educauon, like other fields of the school curriculum, depends upon the classroom teacher for successful development. Thru the teacher, health activities and instruction will become of vital significance. It is essential, therefore, that all the elements entering into the health education program in both home and school be coordinated in their support of the classroom procedures. The elements needed for developing health edu- cation include cooperation between the home and school, time allotments, goals of achievement, curriculum content, materials and activities as aids in health teaching, methods of teaching, and measurement in health teaching. Every effort should be made to create and maintain in the minds of teachers, pupils, and parents the significance of the essentials and values of good health. Altho the greater part of the pupil's time is spent in tic home rather than in the school, it is difficult to estimate at what time or place the greater number or the most important experiences occur. In a health teaching program, adequate time must be provided in the daily school schedule for the specific health education periods needed to accom- plish the objectives. Time allotments or claims of other subjects should not be allowed to crowd out sufficient time for appropriate health teaching. Altho it is proposed to set up goals of achievement with instructional requirements for each of these grade levels, it is recognized that health behavior is the goal, with a difference in the sigrificance of the levels of elementary- and high-school divisions. Whatever standards are set up, the time of reaching them would be of different lengths for varying types of children. Such standards would include continuous regular school attend- ance, the growth of habit formation and development of skills, as thru knowledge these skills and habits function for the better health of the individual. In order to set up an individualized program, simple and fundamental in nature and yet sufficient to cope with the actual conditions of life, it is expected that conduct with regard to certain situations would become auto matic habits, while in new situations the judgments exercised would be based on the child’s experiences and would produce satisfactory results in good health. The contents of a curriculum in health teaching may be as broad as time allotments, instructional opportunities, and advantages will permit, In a rural program, which must of necessity be limited, there could b« taught only the simple facts with their applications arranged tentativels along progressive grade levels. Methods of teaching—For a great length of time, research activities in varying degrees of accuracy and completeness have been entered into for the purpose of determining the scientific basis and relationships in the teaching of the established fields of subjectmatter. A working technic that makes use of the clements that have already proved of worth in the 45 teaching of other subjectmatter is necessary in the presentation and assimi- lation of a health program if factual knowledge is to be secured. We have much to learn from the examples of excellent teaching. However, em- phasis is to be placed upon learning processes and desirable outcomes, upon knowledge of facts as a part of and an influence in the daily activities of a personal health program of the child rather than upon some highly specialized form of technic. Personal health is a real project in terms of life values for each indi- vidual, and is influenced by the school, the home, and the community. In order to aid in the establishment of right habits, it was proposed to sct up positive constructive ideas of “what to do” and “how to do” in a health activities program, rather than “don’t do this or that.” Many spe- cific health habits will become automatic only after continuous, consistent efforts of direct teaching. PHYSICAL EDUCATION PROGRAM In the inauguration and adjustment of a physicai education program in the schools of a rural unit, many difficulties will be experienced and many will be the varying degrees of success in their solution. Whatever degree of success is manifested, however, the interpretation of physical education as a naturalized movement of activities should become an in- tegral part of the philosophy upon which the principles of a physical education program are built. Development of a physical education program will vary according to conditions in the various types of schools in a rural unit. Whatever oppor- tunities are offered, however limited they may be, it is essential that the development be for the best interests entering into the complete training of the individual child. A more solid foundation of actual factual knowl- edge, a greater degree of skill in the teaching of various types of activities, and a clearer conception of the interpretation of physical education in its contribution to the health of the child in the forming of desirable health habits, are absolutely essential, whatever the degree of opportunity offered for their practical applications. ORGANIZATION, ADMINISTRATION, AND FINANCIAL SUPPORT School health and physical education should be a complete separate de- partment of the school system. For purposes of administration and control this department should be under the direction of the superintendent of schools, who is responsible to the board of education and represents it on the county health governing board. Upon his recommendation the board of education may appoint a supervising director of school health and physical education who would be responsible to the superintendent of schools for carrying out the policies and programs of the department of school health and physical education. [ 46 ] 4é PART IV Organixation of Rural Schools CHAPTER VIII EDUCATIONAL OBJECTIVES OF A PUBLIC SCHOOL PROGRAM IN RURAL AREAS Norman Frost HE Mosr practicaL and needed work in providing education for Tenitadren in a rural area is that of determining what shall be provided, what we can reasonably hope to accomplish. This is the “grass-roots” aspect of the task, and without its achievement only confusion can prevail. To make this program feasible, to be really pragmatic about the matter, it is necessary first to recognize the distinctive nature of educational service and of educational objectives for rural people. So long as marked differ- ences exist between country people and town people, between country environment and town environment, between country life and town life, the school in its objectives must recognize such differences. Some dif- ferences should be eliminated and some maintained; these become dis- tinctive objectives. The objectives must provide for a more perfect adjust- ment between the individual and his environment. This involves a two- fold adjustment: first, the individual must be helped in fitting himself into the situation; and second, he must be helped in changing the situation to fit himself. It becomes a problem on the one hand of changing and controlling himself, and on the other hand of changing and controlling his environment. Environment, in this sense, means everything that affects the individual in any significant way, or that may be made to affect him. It will include the physical things with which he is surrounded, both natural and arti- ficial, the people, institutions, organizations, ideas, customs, language, and any other factor which is of real significance to individuals. The first requirement in the determination and setting up of an edu- cational program in a rural area is the recognition of this distinctive aim or purpose of education in that area. This aim or objective must be recog- nized as distinctive, not only as between rural and urban areas in general, but as between specific rural areas. One of the real difficulties in attempt- ing to recognize the essential differences between urban and rural edu- [ 47] 4” _S ee cation has been the tremendous difference between rural areas. The cotton area of the South is different from the grain areas of the Northwest. There is much in common, to be sure, but there is also much that is different. These differences must be recognized while they exist. Recognizing, then, the distinctive nature of the educational task in a given area, means must be provided which may reasonably be expected to accomplish it. The providing of educational services adequate for this purpose constitutes an entire series of objectives. The Twelfth Yearbook of the Department of Superintendence (1934) lists eight types of such services, no one of which can be omitted. Abbreviating the excellent and careful, descriptive wording of the statements there made, these may be listed as (1) supervision, (2) health service, (3) research, (4) guidance, (5) education of exceptional children, (6) attendance service-—including transportation, (7) library service, and (8) recreational and leisure-time activities. Each of these has an important place in the satisfactory educa- tion of the children of any area, and each has distinctive problems to face and adjustments to make in serving a rural area. Some of these problems and adjustments of library service receive particular attention in’ the current yearbook of the Department of Rural Education, entitled Rural School Libraries, It becomes of supreme importance that a situation shall be created which will make possible the satisfactory and economical provision of these necessary services. This means, of course, the large administrative unit. Dawson's monograph, Satisfactory Local School Units, analyzes the situ- ations needed to allow for such services, and points out clearly that the administrative units that are to provide such services should include approximately five or six thousand children of school age. A study made in ‘Tennessee, as yet unpublished, shows that administration is most economical in units including seven to eight thousand children, and that educational results, as measured by an educational index, are best in units having over eight thousand children. The creation of special districts, so far as it results in administrative units smaller than this, should be strenuously resisted, The problem of attendance units, local buildings, is another one, and strange as it may seem, is one where even less assurance is possible. Work by Foote, and others, shows quite conclusively that one-teacher schools are not satisfactory, and many surveys have shown two-teacher schools also to be unsatisfactory. Unfortunately, results from larger schools are usually grouped under the general heading, three and more teacher schools. Where such data are more specific there is little control of such factors as teacher training, teacher experience, and equipment. The general opinion seems to be that there should not be more than one grade to a teacher, but evidence is not available to show that teachers may not do satisfactory work with two grades in one room. If only one grade is to [ 48 | AR be allowed in one room, and if generally recognized standards of class size are accepted, the minimum satisfactory attendance unit for a six- grade elementary school would be 210 to 240 children. If two grades might be allowed per teacher, making due allowance for heavier enrolment in the lower than in the upper grades, four-teacher schools might be satis- factory, with an enrolment of 150 to 160 children. Kor high schools the evidence is even less conclusive. Arguments based upon the “comprehensive secondary-school program” call for about six or seven teachers for a four-year school, and nine or ten for a six-year school. Present standards of pupil-teacher ratio would call for four- year high schools of 175 to 200 pupils, or for six-year schools of 250 to 300. It is quite possible that the last word in regard to size of high schools has not been said. It may be that by careful alternation of subjects and provision of special teachers serving more than one school, smaller schools may be satisfactory, but it is quite likely that the cost would be greater, probably enough greater to make transportation to the larger schools the more economical policy. With the distinctive educational task in a rural area well in mind, v_ th satisfactory local administrative units and the services they can render established, and with attendance units selected and made effective, another set of objectives in a rural area must be attacked. These objectives will include the following: (1) a well-defined curriculum; (2) improved teaching personnel; (3) raised levels of school support; (4) improved housing of schools; (5) better equipment and supplies; (6) good business management; and (7) cooperation between schools and parents. It is significant that many of the objectives of education in a rural area are to be achieved largely thru statewide action. The matter of satisfactory local administrative units is one for state legislation; state aid requires state action rather than a shrewd and possibly tricky attempt to get all one can from state funds; teacher training and certification is a state matter. In most instances, free textbooks are provided, or not provided, by the state. The state has even used rather meager aid to enforce its ideas (so-called standards) as to supervision, health service, guidance, and so forth, matters much better left in local hands if local units are set up on any adequate basis and funds are made available. Among such a multiplicity of objectives it is quite likely that many rural school officials will become confused, making ineffective efforts along these lines. In the formulation of a program for a specific area it is im portant that wise selection shall be made of objectives for concentrated attack and immediate, or at least imminent, achievement. For selecting such objectives, the following principles are proposed. The words “other things being equal,” should be understood as preceding each statement. 1. Those things meeting the general approval of the school patrons should be done first. Their accomplishment will have an educative effect, and the next [ 49 ] 49 | plaaaaaiaaamacaaaai aaa sean, step will be ready when this one is accomplished. Further, leadership in the direction which people want to go prepares in part, at least, for leadership in other directions. 2. Those things in line wi.h state and national educational policies should be undertaken. Theze is a corce behind a statewide movement which is ex- ceedingly helpful, and special assistance is usually provided by outside agencies. 3. Those things for which financial support is available should be done at once. This principle cannot be inverted. If financial support is not now available it may be equally necessary to undertake it, and create the financial support as the work progresses. 4. Those things within the abilities of available personnel should be done first. There is no use wishing for perfect teachers, or the ideal supervisor. There are no such individuals. The particular abilities and weaknesses of the people doing the work help determine the work which may be done. 5. Those things of most advantage to the children should be done first. Com ment concerning this principle would seem unnecessary were it not that the federal government seems to have overlooked it completely in its so-called edu- cational programs. Many of the worthy objectives of this federal program have been made abortive by putting first the interests of unemployed teachers. With this example before them local boards can hardly be blamed for considering things other than pupil welfare in some of their actions, The unfortunate part of this lies not only in ineffective service to young people, but in the dis crediting of a worthy purpose. 6. Those things most likely to add to further improvements should receive first consideration. For example, the establishment of satisfactory units of local administration may do more for supervision, health service, research, guidance, and curriculum revision, than would a direct attack on any of these problems, so long as the administrative unit remains unsatisfactory. >. Probably not more than two or three objectives should be pushed vigor- ously at any one time. A universal emphasis ts impossible. Such principles for the selection of objectives are distinctly local: in character. Approval of school patrons, state policies, financial support, available personnel, immediate child welfare, significance for future development—each of these is different for different sections of the country, and for different communities within sections. In the same way the objectives mentioned differ in significance and in their inherent nature from place to place and from time to time. It is by putting together these local considerations and objectives on the one hand, and on the other the principles for their selection, that a local program for a given rural area can be made. It is by such means that school officials and teachers mav achieve their highest and most worthy ambition: better educational service for the children of their areas, 50 [ 50 ] CHAPTER IX PROCEDURES FOR OBTAINING ADEQUATE ORGANIZATION AND ADMINISTRATION Edgar L. Morphet ANY promising developments in rural education have taken place M during recent years, yet we are far from satisfied with the present organization of our rural schools when we look at the 148,000 one- teacher schools in the country, when we see that more than half of the high schools have fewer than 1oo pupils, when we realize that there are still more than 127,000 administrative units, many of which have only a few teachers. We are particularly dissatisfied when we contrast the results derived from the present organization with the results that might be derived were thé organization more nearly adequate to meet the needs of a modern age. Feeling dissatisfied with the present system as we must, we can be in better position to plan consciously and deliberately for better organization and administration in the future. Before proceeding with the topic, it seems desirable and, in fact, neces- sary that we attempt to find common ground to which we may tether our thoughts. When we begin to discuss the organization and the ad- ministration of rural schools, just what is involved? Are we referring to buildings, pupils, teachers, school officials, or what? During June 1935 the United States Commissioner of Education called a conference of school officials to consider the reorganization of school units. In the findings and recommendations of that conference, printed in United States Office of Education Bulletin, No. 15, 1935, we find some significant distinctions that have not always been made. Dawson, for example, as he had previously done in his Satisfactory Local School Units, called attention to the fact that failure to recognize that there are two kinds of school units with different functions and problems of organiza- tion has “resulted in the organization of many inadequate administrative units and in greatly misguided effort in the consolidation of schools and school districts.” When we are discussing rural school organization, we may be referring to “attendance areas” or “administrative units” or both. Let us see exactly what is meant by each of those terms. An attendance unit or area, again quoting from Dawson: “comprises the geographical and population area served by a single school. It does not necessarily constitute a local taxing unit nor have an independent system of administration.” Thus we may have an elementary school serving an elementary attendance area, an clementary-junier high school serving an elementary and junior high- school attendance area, an elementary, junior-senior high school serving an [51] 51 elementary, junior-senior high-school attendance area, or any combination of these schools serving corresponding attendance areas. An attendance area may comprise only a few square miles of ter- ritory or several hundred square miles, depending on the size of the school, density of population, amount of transportation, and other factors. An administrative unit “comprises all the area under a single system of local school administration.” It may include only one or may include several attendance units or areas. The members of the conference previously mentioned recommended further that the term “principal” should be used to apply to the person in charge of a school serving a given attendance area, while the term “superintendent” should apply only to the person in charge of all the schools in an administrative unit. Acceptance of these definitions and terms will still leave room tor some uncertainty in thinking, due to the fact that existing attendance areas and administrative units follow no uni form rule in organization. However, it does obligate us to state whether we are discussing the organization and administration of the attendance areas or of administrative units, and does provide some fairly uniform concept when we mention principals or superintendents. DEVELOPMENT OF ATTENDANCE AND ADMINISTRATIVE UNITS It is easy enough for anyone to understand why so many of the present administrative units are inadequate if he will but become acquainted with how they have developed. It is hardly too strong to state that there has been no plan or planning of attendance or administrative units on any statewide basis until very recent years. Even yet tradition and inertia are so strong in many sections that planning has had only limited prac- tical application. In the early days the location of schools was determined largely by where groups of people settled. The attendance area was represented pretty generally by walking distance. Sometimes groups with different interests would locate in fairly close proximity. Each group would prob ably organize its own school. Small schools were usually the only schools that were possible even in those states which organized on a district or township basis. In more recent years improved roads have opened the possibility for transportation. Schools have been graded and functions have been differ- entiated, Within the past generation the development of the motor bus and the graveling or paving of highways have made possible large cen- tralized schools. Conditions have changed rapidly and materially, yet the small school attempting work in all grades still serves thousands of rural communities, [52] 92 The early administrative unit coincided pretty generally with the at- tendance unit. The teacher was hired and the school was run by a small group of laymen representing the community. The teacher was hired to teach school, to teach Sunday school, and to set the example for the young people. As the population increased certain schools grew larger. The problem of running a school, particularly a large school, grew more complicated. The more populous centers began to select men with special adminis- trative ability as head teachers and later as superintendents. School ad ministration developed in many of those centers as a science requiring special training, but many of the rural centers retained their lay ad ministrators. If districts were organized on a township basis there was, and still is in many states, the township trustee to hire and fire the teachers and run the school. If schools were organized on a county basis, all too often the people decided to elect the man who would run the schools. All too often he had little special ability or training for that work. All too often the schools remained as they had been during pre- ceding years—only becoming more inadequate as conditions changed. STANDARDS FOR ADEQUACY OF ORGANIZATION Fortunately, this picture is not true for all sections. In a number of states or parts of states scientific studies have been made to determine the needs of the schools and the type of organization that can best meet those needs. Fairly definite standards have been established and can be used for guidance in further reorganization. Many attendance areas have already been reorganized, and a number of small administrative units have been eliminated. In fact, even the once all-powerful township trustee has, in certain states, been stripped of some of his power and the school administrator given a chance to organize the schools on a sound basis. It has been shown pretty conclusively that the small attendance area served by a school attempting to provide the work of all grades or the small administrative unit involving the services of only a few teachers does not meet satisfactorily the demands of modern life. In such a situa tion it is probable also that the school program is too costly or that the children are not being given the opportunities they should have. At least until further evidence is available, the minimum standards pro- posed by Dawson in Satisfactory Local School Units, can be accepted for guidance in any program for improving the organization and administra- tion of rural schools. Those standards are determined by the functions of a school or a school organization in modern society. Dawson recommends that an elementary-school attendance area should have sufficient elementary pupils (Grades I-VI, inclusive) to warrant em- ploying seven teachers, or at the very least, six teachers. This means a 3 [53] minimum of 240 to 280 enrolled pupils per school. A high school should have enough pupils for ten teachers, or at the very least, seven teachers. The enrolment in Grades VII to XII should, therefore, be from 210 to 300 pupils for a six-year school, or nearly the same number of junior or senior high-school pupils for a separately organized junior or senior high school. Dawson also found the minimum size of the administrative unit to be 1600 pupils and 46 teachers, and the preferred size to be 9800 pupils and 280 teachers. That brings us face to face with a very practical problem. What pro cedure can we use to obtain better organization and administration of rural schools? HANDICAPS IN THE WAY OF BETTER ORGANIZATION AND ADMINISTRATION First, we shall have to face frankly some of the handicaps, for without at least a general knowledge of those, procedures may prove relatively ineffective. The first handicap is tradition. The people in the various areas have grown up with their schools, inadequate tho they may be. They do not know anything better. They are likely to be afraid of any change simply because they cannot visualize what the change will mean. Any procedure used to bring about better organization must take into consideration these traditions, and provide means for overcoming them and winning the sup- port of the people. Existing laws often present a very serious handicap. Frequently these laws were enacted at a time when conditions were far different from pres- ent conditions. They may present almost insurmountable obstacles to cen- tralization of schools or change in administrative units. In such cases, the laws must be changed, a procedure which may involve educating the peo- ple, or at least the legislature, to the need for a change. Political boundaries often present a handicap in that they have fre- quently been arbitrarily drawn and that people tend to associate school units with political units. In bringing about a dissociation, or for that matter any necessary change, powerful personalities and personal interest may become involved and unless care is used may wreck or delay the entire program. One of the greatest handicaps arises from lack of facts and evidence necessary to show the desirability of a change. The only way to overcome this handicap is to set up a plan for getting the evidence needed and for arranging and presenting it in convincing form. PROCEDURES FOR BRINGING ABOUT BETTER ORGANIZATION With these handicaps in mind we shall now attempt to outline pro cedure that should aid in bringing about more effective organization of rural schools. [ 54] 24 The first step is to set up a plan for getting all the facts necessary not only to show the present situation but to project the needed improvements Altho certain facts needed for a study of attendance areas will be of value in any study of administrative units, we shall confine our «tention first to the facts needed in the study of attendance areas. Maps are of the greatest importance for this study, It is necessary to have available several copies of a good basic map of the area to be studied, This area should include at least a county. If a county map is used, there should be available maps of adjoining counties as school attendance areas frequently are not bounded by county lines. These basic maps should show clearly: (1) township, range, section lines, and numbers, if the rectangular survey has been used for establishing land lines in the state; (2) the lo- cation of all towns or centralized communities of 500 population or more; (3) the location and course of principal streams; (4) the location of all roads, with main roads distinguished from secondary roads; (5) the county boundary; and probably (6) topography, if the county is at all mountain ous. Blueprints are not very satisfactory. Black or brown line maps are most satisfactory, particularly if the map is to be photostated. With these maps available for guidance in studying the county, and for use at the proper time, the next step should be to secure information under at least the following headings: 1. The soil conditions in various parts of the county—perhaps classifying the soil as (a) well adapted to agriculture, (b) fair, and (c) very poor. The classifi cations which will be of most value will be determined by conditions within the county. If all land is at least fairly well adapted to agriculture, this informa tion may not be needed, 2. General and school population trends in various parts of the county over the past thirty or forty years. 3. All data possible concerning community life and centers, including where the people trade, bank, attend church, ete, 4. The location of schools, the number of teachers in each, the enrolment, and grades taught. 5. Where each elementary, junior, and senior high-school pupil attending each school lives (by land description where possible); also the location of pupils of school age who are not attending. 6. The boundaries of each school attendance area, if these have been defined. >. The size and condition of each school building and site; also rather de tailed data regarding the plan and construction of each building. 8. The location and condition of all roads used for transportation, and of roads likely to be needed. 9. Length of each route, number of elementary, junior, and senior high- school pupils transported, and time required for the trip. to. Unit costs, where possible, in terms at least of teachers’ salaries, trans- portation, and total current expense on the elementary, junior, and senior high- school levels. 11. Data regarding the effectiveness of the various schools are likely to Lv very useful, such as retardation, holding power, and achievement of the pupils The next step after these data have been assembled, or perhaps a companying the assembling of data, is the preparation of maps, charts, and tables. Maps could profitably be prepared, using the basic maps dis cussed above showing (1) soil conditions in various parts of the county; (2) community, trade, and religious centers; (3) location and condition of all buildings and sites, using the three-way classification (a) suitable for permanent retention, (b) suitable for temporary use, (c) should be abandoned or replaced; (4) location and size (number of teachers) of all elementary schools, and the location of all pupils attending each school; (5) location and size of all schools in which junior or senior high-school pupils are attending, and location of all pupils attending each school; (6) location of children of school age who are not now attending public school; (7) location and condition of all transportation routes serving each school, and condition of roads that might be needed for transportation. Similarly, a great many tables and perhaps charts summarizing various types of data effectively should be prepared. These maps, tables, and charts should then be studied from every possible angle with a view to deter- mining the most desirable location for school centers to meet at least the minimum standards discussed above. First, the obviously permanent school centers should be selected for elementary, then for junior high-school, and finally for senior high-school purposes. In practise these latter will usually be elementary-junior high-, or elementary-junior-senior high-school centers. Gradually, the less obvious centers can be selected leaving finally only those schools that will have to be continued temporarily because of bad roads or other conditions, but which should not serve as permanent centers. In se lecting these centers, political boundary lines should not be permitted to interfere as school attendance and political boundaries should not neces sarily coincide, The final step in this process involves the preparation of the proposed program map and of accompanying tables to show the location of the pro posed centers, the boundaries of proposed attendance areas, and the pro posed routes of travel for pupils who are to be transferred to the new centers, The steps outlined above show only how the proposed program is pre- pared, Getting it adopted and put into practise may be even a more difficult matter. However, if the whole procedure has been carefully planned to include, when advisable, competent outside help, particularly of an ad- visory nature, an influential local advisory committee of representative lay and professional citizens who have been kept in touch with every step, and a carefully prepared program of education for the patrons and citizens, there should be no insurmountable obstacles. In fact, a carefully planned [ 56 ] 28 4, long-time program involving several well-timed and not too radical steps may be advisable. Eliminating upper-grade work in one small school, abandoning another, and getting an unimproved area set aside as a forest reserve during a year, if followed by other well-planned steps, may mean more progress over a period of time than if too much is attempted at once, particularly where funds are limited, as they are likely to be. Reorganization of administrative units, altho involving the same basic principles and procedures as reorganization of attendance areas, will, in most states, probably meet more difficulties and obstacles than the reorgan ization of attendance areas. Boundaries of administrative units are fre- quently closely tied to the boundaries of political units. Even schoolmen do not readily think of an administrative unit except in relationship to some political unit. The first step in any case is to gather data to show the present status. The fact that such data are gathered does not mean that a change is to be recommended. It merely means that the adequacy of the present units is to be studied. Suppose present units are too small to meet even the minimum standards suggested by Dawson. What then is the next step? Surrounding units should also be studied in relationship to proposed attendance areas to de- termine practicable combinations. If the existing unit is a district, perhaps districts can be combined to make a township unit. But that probably still leaves us with township trustees and a number of units that are still in- adequate. The next step may be to combine townships until we have the rural county as a unit. That still leaves towns of a few thousand inhabitants that certainly represent inadequate units, so the county unit may be ex tended to include a town up to 10,000 population, But even counties vary greatly in size and population even within the same state. Can the smaller counties be combined, not necessarily politically, but into one school unit? Perhaps so, or at least certain more specialized services can be arranged in common. If we go a step further and suggest a unit that logically combines attendance areas but does not necessarily coincide with county boundaries, we at least have suggested more than will be carried out in practise in most states within the next generation. The significant point to keep in mind is that statistics prove that many administrative units are still too small for adequacy and that they can gen erally be made more adequate if we set about the task scientifically. LOOKING TOWARD BETTER ADMINISTRATION Let us assume that all attendance areas and administrative units have heen organized so that they are adequate. Our problem is still not neces sarily solved. Adequate organization does not necessarily mean adequate administration, Probably many of us have visited large consolidated schools in large administrative units that were little better than one-teacher dis cy | Y/ 57 trict schools, The organization may have been good but the administration Wats poor, There we face a problem fully as critical in this country today as the problem of arranging more adequate organization. Far too often the su- perintendent is not any more competent or better trained than the prin- cipal or, for that matter, than the teacher. There are, of course, outstand- ing superintendents of rural schools in every state. But for one who is out- standing there are likely to be several who are not. The tradition that the rural superintendent is to be elected by the people is far too common to be comfortable to a progressive-minded administrator. Popular election and competent administration are not sisters under the skin, In fact, in most cases they are not even remotely related. Rare indeed is the superintendent who, for more than one election, can keep his ear attuned to the traditions and prejudices of the people and his eye set on a long-time constructive plan. Popular election, however, is not by any means the cause of all the administrative dithculties. Low standards of training and competence on the part of superintendents who use political tactics to perpetuate them- selves in office; board members who aspire to dominate and attempt to enhance their own glory by dictating to a meek, bookish administrator; and in some areas, politicians who want to use the schools to further their own selfish ends, have all contributed to handicapping the schools. America is still nearly half rural and will probably continue so for many vears to come. Plans for state aid tend more and more to assure financial support for rural schools comparable to that afforded to city schools. An equitable educational opportunity for every rural child is a worthy ob- jective, but financial support alone will not assure that opportunity. Along with that must come higher standards for rural school administrators. Rural superintendents as well as principals must be trained for their work instead of learning it as in times past, at the expense of teachers and chil dren, and often at the cost of taxpayers,.The rural administrator of the future must not only be trained for his actual school work, but more and more must have the type of training that will enable and encourage him to collect data bearing on the adequacy of existing attendance areas and administrative units and that will impel him to take the leadership in making needed changes and improvements. Scientific and objective pro cedures such as those proposed herein, and discussed in much greater detail in a recent Handbook of Procedures for Planning the Reorganiza tion of Local School Units, Circular 156, recently issued by the United States Office of Education, capably applied by competent, well-trained personnel will, in the long run, tend to assure more adequate organization and administration for rural schools. [58] 98 CHAPTER X A COUNTYWIDE PROGRAM OF CONSOLIDATED RURAL SCHOOLS John H. George N Examination of the history of consolidating schools thruout our A own country shows that as far back as 1853 in the state of New York the legislature passed an Enabling Act whereby the directors of any two school districts might consolidate their several school populations for the purpose of creating a larger school. In actual practise, however, little was done until about 1890 when to the state of Ohio seems to have fallen the honor of actually creating the first school bus route. During the thirty years immediately following 1890 we find the states of the Middle- west, then of the East, followed by other sections of the country, adopting as almost universal the idea that by transporting pupils to a central point better schools could be had. It will be readily conceded by those present that the words “consolidation” and “transportation” are indissolubly linked where schools are concerned. The school history of Shelby County, Tennessee, in which I teach and which I present as a type, perhaps in many respects reflects some of the problems that would be experienced in almost any county of the United States. Shelby County is the most southwest county of Tennessee situated on the Mississippi River and Mississippi state line. It has an area of some- thing over 800 square miles, a population of a little over 300,000 by the federal census of 1930. Parts of the county are slightly hilly, but the topog- raphy is such that there are no great problems in road building, most of the land being rather flat. The city of Memphis is located in the extreme southwestern part of the county. This means that the city is so far removed from the northern and eastern limits of the county that they present rural situations almost as remote as any county that might be imagined. As might be expected the schools located immediately beyond the city limits are those which grew most rapidly. About thirty years ago the first modern brick and stone schoolhouse was constructed, The one-room frame school- houses which were in the neighborhood of this school were closed and a few years later the first horse-drawn bus began serving the territory. By ror the idea of bigger and better schools had so gripped the minds of the citizens that they were willing to vote the first large bond issue to public schools. The results of this first building program proved satisfactory and several other bond issues followed with the result that modern buildings were being constructed, even in the remote portions of the county. It is perhaps wise to remark in passing that Tennessee has always had and has yet an elementary-school law which makes it manda- [59 | og tory to present an eighth-grade certificate or diploma to every student who has finished the elementary-school work. This has seriously hampered at all times the development of the junior high-school program as it is known in other states and parts of the country. Altho Tennessee recognizes four years of high school, namely, the ninth, tenth, eleventh, and twelfth grades, up until about fifteen years ago three-year high schools were very common. This did not mean that the student finishing such a school had completed the course, but was merely a device whereby county boards of education could offer a type of edu cation to the students without having to meet the standards set up for a regular senior high school. Shelby County was one of the first in the state to ordain that nothing but four-year high schools would be maintained. In the first great rush of enthusiasm for consolidation, high schools were created at almost every school point or in every town which wanted one. In the year 1918 we find high schools at twenty different points in the county, of course, exclusive of the city of Memphis. By that time all points in the county were served by regular bus routes, and most of the small schools had been closed. The next phase of consolidation was entered into about 1920 or 192 when the acute financial panic curtailed school revenues and means had to be sought to reduce further the school budget. It was found most practical to transport the children for certain small high school groups to neighboring schools than it was to maintain so many high schools. This particular phase of the problem was attacked with courage and vigor, and at the same time an attempt was made to educate the school patrons as taxpayers to the idea that efficient education was the goal sought. High schools thus were made into grammar schools of cight grades and for several years twelve high schools were maintained. The next step in consolidation was to eliminate six more high schools leaving only the ninth grade, and so create six junior high schools of nine grades and six senior high schools of twelve grades. There were also twelve schools doing eight years of work--or elementary schools. At this time the small school had three teachers or more and all of the school plants had been rebuilt or remodeled. The present depression forced an- other step to be made in consolidating school populations. A’ survey of the six junior high schools, that is, those having the ninth grade only, was conducted by a representative of the State Department of Education and his figures tended to prove that the cost per unit of instruction was prohibitive. Under the Tennessee law, instruction in the ninth grade must be administered by a faculty, three-fourths of whom are college gradu ates, and instruction must be given in science, domestic science, and agriculture, all of which necessitate some expensive equipment. The board of education was also made aware of the fact that the students preferred to attend schools of the larger four-year type. In one drastic step all of the junior high schools were eliminated and cut to eight-grade | "60 schools, and at the same time several of the eight-grade schools were reduced to six grades. This gave the following set-up which is preserved in the county until today: six-grade schools, five; cight-grade schools, eleven; senior high schools, six. The board of education has been able to satisfy the patrons of the various school communities that their boys and girls were being more efficiently served under this plan. The administrative organization of a countywide system of schools is of the utmost importance. Under our school law we have a board of seven members elected by the county court or local magistrates. Our county superintendent is also elected by the local magistrates. The term of office in each case is four years. By way of exact definition, the office force and supervisory force employed are as follows: one department secretary, one financial secretary and business manager, one bookkeeper, two stenographers, one elementary supervisor, and three truant officers. The county superintendent is the executive head of the system enjoying the complete support and confidence of the county board of education. She is in direct contact with the quarterly meetings of the Worshipful County Court to which reports are made. It is this body which elected the superintendent and it is this body which sets the tax rate thereby providing school revenues. Textbooks in school administration maintain that the most forward-looking plan is for superintendents to be elected by the schoolboard. You are all well aware that in many communities superintendents are elected directly by the people. Whatever plan may be used will prove weak in the opinion of this county if the superintendent is too far removed from the taxlevying source. There must of necessity be a close entente between them. The textbooks used in the various schools are identical; the elementary courses of study in the various branches are prepared by cor mittees of teachers working under the clementary supervisor; a testing program is carried on thruout the entire twelve grades and comparative figures and tables prepared. Thus the several schools are led to interest themselves in maintaining that type of instruction which is best calculated to produce results. The county superintendent is furnished a car and chauffeur for school visitation. The visits are made by both the superintendent and the elementary supervisor, leaving the routine of the central office largely in the hands of the secre- taries who have been trained for the work. The budget for the Shelby County School System for the vear 1935-36, shows a total of $682,200 divided as follows: for elementary schools, $483,900; for high schools, $198,300. The tax levy for elementary schools is 30 cents per hundred; for high schools, 5 cents per hundred. The total tax rate is 89 cents per hundred. One half of the elementary tax levy goes to the city of Memphis. The figuses quoted are the actual money employed in the running of the county schools alone. A few of the larger [ 61 | 61 items included in the total budget might be of interest. Some of the figures are as follows: Transportation $-s 000 Instructional Cost 424,000 Insurance Premium 20,000 Administration 29,000 New Equipment 25,000 Maintenance 25,000 A careful budget is prepared and submitted to the April meeting of the Worshipful County Court at which time the county tax rate com- mittee is appointed. The superintendent appears before the tax rate committee as often as requested, and the budget as submitted is often trimmed to meet the peculiar necessity of that year. It is to be understood, of course, that certain benefits ure obtained from the state of Tennessee and also from the federal government which are in no way peculiar to this county. For instance, each of the six high schools has a full-time teacher of vocational agriculture, with five-eighths of the salary paid by the federal government. Also by way of example, Tennessee gives certain help to the counties toward maintaining their school systems. It is to be understood that the city of Memphis has a separate school board and superintendent. Also, Memphis has the city tax rate for schools and shares in the distribution of the county tax rate for elementary schools only. The amount this year as stated above is $483,900 for the city’s part. The county high-school fund is not divided, The attention of school superintendents thruout the nation has been focused upon the construction and care of school plants everywhere since the present government agencies have set about providing federal funds for this purpose. It is probably true that there is no greater need at present for well-built and comfortable schoolhouses than there was twenty years ago. It is also probably true that the public has become more conscious of the appearance of school buildings than in the past. It has not been found possible in Shelby County to build schoolhouses of any size or description out of current budget revenues. Only by the issuance of bonds or of notes has revenue been available. There is one exception. An eight- room school with auditorium, stage, and lunchroom situated at Levi, Tennessee, was built entirely by current funds. It is also interesting to know that it was built entirely by the workmen laboring under the main tenance superintendent. To this service for which this county claims some originality, I now desire to make reference. About 1921 the board of education found that it had approximately one hundred buildings in their charge. These included small colored schools, large colored schools, colored high schools, and the waite schools as described to you. ‘That many buildings bring a constant threat of bad roofs, wornout stairs and [ 62 | 6 2 doors, broken window panes, dingy walls, leaky plumbing, faulty drink- ing fountains, burned out grate bars in furnaces, etc. At this particular time the county was fortunate to have elected as a manual training teacher in one of the schools a young man who had some practical knowledge of building as well as the required technical knowledge of woodworking and drafting. It was decided to relieve this young man from his active teaching duties of meeting manual training classes and give him the job of maintenance superintendent of county schools. A moderately large but well-equipped shop was then built at a convenient point. A storeroom for supplies carefully catalogued was constructed, and the double service of building furniture for county schools and making all necessary repairs was started. The board of education was fully conscious that it was treading upon the toes of legitimate manufacturers of school furniture, as well as the various craftsmen who had been called upon from time to time to make repairs in the schools. The maintenance department grew very rapidly and young men and some older crafts- men who were available were added as it became necessary. Many of the school plants have had enormous additions made to the buildings without letting any formal contract. This meant that each school plant was being rearranged to take care of a capacity enrolment, while at the same time it was clearly impossible to issue any more bonds or build any more school- houses. Practically speaking, I wish to say that there is no service for which more value has been received than this. It has meant more com- fortable schoolhouses, cleaner schoolhouses, and schoolhouses kept up to date during a time when school funds were being constantly lessened and enrolment was growing. By way of summary of this service, the following work has been done at my own school in Bartlett, Tennessee, since 1930 by the maintenance department, all without contract or bid: addition to the gymnasium with modern dressing rooms, new ten-year three-ply composition roof over the entire building, lunchroom rebuilt, ianchroom tables and chairs built new, library furnished thruout, including all standard library pieces of fur- niture, modern water system and filter plant installed, new septic tank built large enough for twenty years, restrooms completely rebuilt, building painted with three coats inside and out, new teacher desks and tablet-arm chairs built for nearly all rooms in the building. When it is considered that other schools were getting similar im- provements at the same time, it can be readily seen that Shelby County points with considerable pride to the maintenance service now being supplied. As has been previously mentioned, in any county which undertakes a program of consolidated schools, transportation immediately becomes a problem of first rank. A study of the transportation problems in the various states of the Union will show that the coming of the automobile and olf [ 63 | 63 good roads were simultaneous with the immense growth of school trans- portation. I readily concede in the very approach to this subject that if any county finds itself without a road program or finds the population very sparse it would be difficult to begin a system of transportation. Also, it is evident that worthwhile schoolhouses cannot be abandoned, neither can usable school plants be always found where concentration of pupils would be most economical. However, since Shelby County has now had transportation for over twenty-live years, a few of the steps which have been taken may be of interest today, This particular county would repre- sent an average as to the factors to be considered in setting up a system of school bus routes. The first school buses, called wagonettes, were horse drawn, of course, open, except for some very flimsy curtains, and had a double step at the rear. The route was rarely over five miles long. No route was scheduled over dirt roads where it could be avoided. The stock and wagonette had to be furnished by the driver. The first salary paid was $85 per month for nine months, or one hundred and eighty driving days. The advent of the automobile brought the first power-driven school buses about 1918. These were mostly home-built bodies on a model “T” chassis. The idea of the open door and step at the rear was still kept. The pay had advanced to $120 per month, but the routes for the most part were the same. The drivers were selected by the local board members and too often on the basis of political activity rather than any especial fitness to drive a school bus. The transportation system remained untouched until 1929-30. By that time the inequalities of pay and service rendered had grown so glaring that the entire board of education decided that the system must be modernized. For example, some of the conditions exist- ing in 1929 were: A few drivers had invested in standard bus bodies with good chassis. Many drivers were using the same bodies which they had invested in eleven years before. Breakdowns were common; pay in some cases had risen to $160 per month. The pay of the drivers was absolutely without reference to the size of the load or the length of the route. The drivers were in many cases elderly men totally unfit for the work. I realize that there are some counties in the United States that probably have a better system worked out than this county has, but a few of the salient features that are making for progress today will be reviewed. The main tenance department of our school system built and we now have in use sixty-five bus bodies of modern plate steel and frame construction. The door is, of course, at the right front with local control by handle as in the case of a commercial bus. The safety door in the rear is of the standard pattern. Glass windows are small and high enough that putting a head out of the window is almost impossible. The seats are upholstered in fabrikoid. The bodies are mounted on regulation factory truck chassis. The driver buys and owns his chassis. The county furnishes the bus body. The bus [ 64 ] RA bodies are kept in repair by the county maintenance shop. They are re- paired from time to time. At present, the county has adopted a national color scheme of red, white, and blue which was recommended by the Safety Council of America. The bus drivers are elected by the county board of education after having first been made to stand a physical examination by the county school physician. The city of Memphis has an auto testing station containing all modern appliances. Thru this station the school buses must pass successfully every sixty days. Every driver is compelled to carry liability insurance on the life of each child to the extent of $25,000. This is paid for by the drivers by deduction from their pay. Some of the drivers carry other forms of insurance, such as, fire, theft, property damage, and collision. It has been found by our county that there is no particular limit for the length of a route for concrete roads. In fact, high-school children can be transported very readily for fifteen or twenty miles. While we do have some transportation of very tiny children, this county does not favor it and if possible would not have it. The drivers are paid a salary at the rate of $2.75 per driving day and 8 cents per mile for every mile the bus travels loaded or empty in the discharge of their duties. By way of illus- tration the average pay of our drivers today is $125-130 per month. The number of routes today is less than we had in our county ten years ago, but the school population is greater. This seeming paradox has been brought about by the device of the double route, that is, a driver may have a long route and then a shorter route following it, usually arranged in loop form. Since the high-school students have necessarily fewer schools to go to, it is not uncommon for them to transfer buses. Double transfers are not unknown. A large group of students coming to my school at Bart- lett ride three different school buses every morning and every evening. School opens at 8:15 and closes at 3:15. No child has to leave home before >:00 a.m. or get home later than 5:00 p.m. It is my opinion that a more forward-looking plan would be for all of the high-school students to put in the long school day and allow the children of the first six grades to arrive at g:o0 a.m. and leave at 2:00 p.m. Students living under one and one-half miles from any school building are forbidden to ride by Tennessee law. It might be of interest to this group to know that about 85 percent of the students in the six senior high schools of the county are transported. This is merely to show that there is no particular concentration of popu- lation once you leave the city limits of Memphis. Safe transportation is an eternal problem. It should be well controlled. Much has been said in recent N.E.A. conventions and similar meetings about school libraries. The high-school accrediting associations have taken the lead in making demands upon high schools seeking membership in their respective associations. I submit that the grammar-school students are entitled to a proportionate share of help from libraries also. In libraries as in [ 65 ] 65 everything else there must be a nucleus from which the program can be expanded. Since the object of my talk is to present the aspect of consoli- dated schools, I shall not analyze the problems of a library as they would be met in a county seat, town, or in a city, or in any other similar school situation. The board of education in our county was fortunate in learning that the Rosenwald Fund was willing to finance the original cost of a program which would take seven years to institute, with library service brought to all schools both colored and white. It is useless to state, Tam sure, that this was a stroke of intense good fortune on the part of our county, first, as it came ata time when the depression was setting in, and secondly, at a time when libraries were coming to be most needed. The Rosenwald Fund was used to enable the Cossitt Library of Memphis to extend its service to the limits of the county. The Cossitt Library of Mem- phis is a public library so far as the citizens of Memphis are concerned be- cause it is supported by a city tax. It had never been opened to the citizens of the county, for the same reason. The program was considered to be a seven-year program. The Cossitt Library staff visited all of the school- houses of Shelby County, white and colored, and took possession of what books they found there in the name of the central librarv. This was nothing more or less than the usual accession procedure. Each school. however, was _given a distinctive initial or mark or stamp so that a book once in the possession of a school remains there. The standards of the Southern Asso- ciation of Colleges and Secondary Schools were met both as to the li- brarian and to other requirements. Most interesting of all, into everv ele- mentary room in the county there is brought each September and left until Mav a package of books suitable for that class containing as many as equals the gross enrolment of the room. The seventh- and eighth-grade students in the high schools participate in the usual loan privileges given to the older students. All binding and reconditioning of books is done in the central library. The central library, of course, has a supervisor of school libraries with a light delivery truck at his disposal. Two or three com- munity libraries which are really branches of the parent library have been set up. An interesting summer service has been worked out whereby the same service truck, which would otherwise not be in use during the sum- mer, visits each schoolhouse locality and sets up an outdoor bookrack during a two-hour visit once a week for the circulation of books. The same identical service is given to the colored schools as I have described above for the white. The problem of outside reading for English is already solved. The cultural effect of a large group of students reading a number of books thruout the year is not to be underestimated. Some attention must be given to the teachers and to the method of their selection in any consideration of consolidated schools. Beginning about thirty years ago, as mentioned with the closing of the small one [ 66] 66 room school, the teachers were absorbed in the larger units without ex- ception. In other words, experience has not shown that there is much chance to have fewer teachers. On the other side of the problem, with the growth in population there has not been a corresponding increase in the number of teachers employed, which had the same effect. Our teachers are elected by the county board of education upon the sole nomination of the county superintendent. The county superintendent in turn asks for and uses the advice of the various school principals. While the election is, of course, for one year the tenure of teachers in this county ‘s a more or less stable factor. A successful teacher may expect to remain. figuratively, forever. Every teacher miust pass a rigid physical inspection. Every beginning teacher must be a college graduate. This rule has been in force for five vears. Even during the last few troublous years the county line and even the state line have been crossed when qualified teachers were sought. Let it be said here and now that this county does not subscribe to the rather sweeping move which has kept boards of education from employing any- body not reared in their own particular county. The teachers are given a duplicate copy of a rather elaborate contract, which sets forth what is expected of them. Summer school attendance is urged, but not required. Membership in the National Education Association, the Tennessee Edu- cational Association, the West Tennessee Educational Association, and the local county association is taken as a matter of course and all of the teachers without exception join every year. The esprit de corps of the group is high. We have not been troubled with strikes, worries about flag salutes, oaths of loyalty, or oaths to uphold the Constitution. Every teacher enjoys life insurance to the extent of $1,000 on the group basis which costs the teachers $6 per year. An old age retirement plan has heen worked out for age sixty-five for the men and age fifty-five for the women which will provide $30 a month and costs the teachers now $30 a vear. The principals of the various schools are promoted from within the system. Changes in the principalships are few and the turnover of teachers has not exceeded 5 percent for the last five years. Married teachers are not employed and have not been for five years, but those in service have not been dismissed. The board of education leaves to the principal the man- agement of the school. While at all times they are obliged to carry out the policies of the administration, a large degree of freedom is nevertheless theirs. It has been deemed best that the principals have responsibilities, thereby giving some individuality to their efforts. In conclusion may I add that an examination of the proceedings of this department for the last several years shows that the trend of the programs has been towards demonstrating that the county is the logical unit of school administration in rural areas. This county which has had consoli- [ 67 ] dated schools now over a period of years is happy to present these f2-is and developments most of which have stood the test of time. It is our hope that our school system may grow along with other progressive counties, that we may share the ideas of others and in turn share ours, to the end that the boys and girls may have brought to them the privileges of school which are theirs by right of birth. 68 [ 68 ] PART V Physical Plant and Equipment CHAPTER XI PUNCTIONAL PLANNING FOR A TWELVE-YEAR CONSOLIDATED SCHOOL N. E. Viles N onpER 1O DETERMINE the facilities needed to house a twelve-year con- solidated school it seems essential first to know what a twelve-year consolidated school is. A study of 334 twelve-year consolidated schools lo- cated in the central part of the United States indicates that the term “twelve-year consolidated school” has little significance other than that eight years of elementary work and four years of high-school work are offered. This study shows a variation in the number of pupils enrolled, in the assessed valuation, in the building facilities available, and in the curri- culum offering. In these particular schools the enrolment varies from 61 to over 4300 pupils, with an average total enrolment of about 312 pupils per school. The enrolment in Grades IX to XII, inclusive, varies from 19 to 1630 with an average high-school enrolment of g2. The elementary school enrolment varies from 42 to 2730, with an average enrolment of 220 pupils per school. The assessed valuation back of each pupil enrolled, which is an impor tant factor in determining the school plant facilities that may be provided, varies from S600 to $20,000 with an average assessed valuation of $2330 per pupil enrolled. The number of teachers employed varies from 5 to 142 with an average of 11.6 teachers per school. In the high-school the number of teachers employed varies from 3 to 60 with an average of 4.8 teachers per school. The number of elementary teachers varies from 2 to 82 with an average of 6.8 teachers per school. There is little variation in the curriculum offering, when judged by the names of the courses, in the elementary schools. The curriculum offering in the high school shows a wide variation. The range in the number of units offered varies from 16 to 46 with an average of 18.7 units per school. Practically all of these schools offer at least four units in English and speech. Most of them offer about five units in social science including the [ 69 ] 69 subjects of citizenship, world history, American history, and American problems. About 60 percent of the schools offer some form of commercial vork, with typewriting, bookkeeping, and shorthand leading the list. The average school of this group offers 2.46 units of science, with general science and biology predominating. However, 8 percent of the schools offer chem- istry and about 2 percent of the schools offer a course in physics. Some form of physical education or hygiene is being offered for credit in about 60 per cent of the schools. A course in general agriculture is offered in about 70 percent and vocational agriculture in about 7 percent; general home eco nomics in about 21 percent and vocational home economics in about 7 per cent of the schools. The mathematics courses most generally offered are algebra, general mathematics, plane geometry, advanced algebra, and ad vanced arithmetic, The average offering is 2.8 units per school, with a ta jority of the schools offering courses in advanced algebra and advanced arithmetic. Only about 50 percent of the schools offer music for credit, and about 2 percent of the schools offer art. Languages, ancient and modern, are offered in about 20 percent of the schools; industrial arts courses, includ ing manual training and metal work, in less than 4 percent of the schools, There seems to be no typical program of study in these schools, but the courses offered most frequently are: English—four units; social science— four to five units: mathematics—two to three units; commercial work— one to three units. A majority of the smaller schools seem to limit their courses to the subjects that can be taught in the conventional classroom with the least dithculty and to subjects which may be taught to a com- paratively large group of pupils at one time. The smaller consolidated schools seem to limit their offering to: English—four units; soc:al science four or five units; mathematics—two or three units; commercial work one or one and one-half units; general science—one unit. Courses in miscellaneous subjects complete the sixteen or eighteen units offered. Some of these courses seem to be alternated by years, since in many of the smaller schools the total offering each year is only twelve to fourteen units. This record is not offered as a criticism of the curriculum offering in the average small consolidated school. It is an attempt to indicate that the term “twelve-year consolidated school” carries no particular meaning with reference to the offering or the facilities provided the pupils in each par- ticular case. In fact, the curriculum offering seems to parallel that provided In most non consolidated schools of similar size. FUNCTIONAL PLANNING ESSENTIAL Functional planning in the development of a school building program includes the making of detailed educational specifications for the building ’Womrath, George P. F/ nt Busines ldministration of Public Schools. Chapter Il. “Educational Specificat School Buildings,” p. 33-62. Milwaukee, Wisconsin: Bruce Publishing Co., 1932. to be erected. These specifications should be based on a comprehensive study of the needs of that particular district. It is true that there are general standards to follow, but specific study and planning are needed for any new building. The lack of similarity in the curriculum offering and in the type of organization of the various schools makes it clear that stock plans cannot be developed for a twelve-year consolidated school. The variation in enrolment, in the funds available, and in the facilities needed, makes it essential that each building be planned to meet local conditions. The com- pleted educational specifications should include a detailed description of the number of rooms, the size of each room, exit facilities, sanitary facili ties, service systems, special rooms and facilities, together with a financial statement showing the funds available and the amount of funds that must be raised each vear by the local district to pay for the building. Theo retically, it seems desirable to plan the building and then to provide sufh cient funds to pay for it. In practise it is found necessary to study carefully the financial program that the essential facilities may be provided without undue strain on the finances of the district. There is definite need for intelligent functional planning’ before an architect is authorized to prepare plans and specifications for a new school building. We realize that school officials cannot become specialists in each phase of the educational program. Many of them have not had an oppor tunity to obtain training in the principles and methods of preparing edu cational specifications for new buildings. To aid local school officials in this all-important task, many state departments of education have estab lished bureaus of school building planning directed by an educator spe cialist in this particular type of work. It seems unwise for school officials to depend on architects and engineers to make a study of the school pro gram and the needs of a particular community in order to plan a building for that district. Educational specifications developed by school officials should be backed by years of study and experience in educational trends in enrolment, in curriculum offering, 2% ¢ in financial administration. In too many cases architects have been commissioned to draw plans with no other instructions than that the building must house a given number of pupils. In many such cases it is found that the school organization must be adapted to the building rather than the building to the school. This is not in any sense a criticism of the architects since it is clearly the duty and obligation of school officials to provide leadership in educational plan ning. Many of the school building architects have made and will continue to make worthwhile contributions to our educational program. We should welcome their cooperation, but we should not expect them to do the job for us. As a rule they have neither the training nor the facilities needed to do a complete job of educational planning. Schmidt. H. W. “Some Fundamentals of School-Building Planning.” American School Board Journal o2: 17-19; January, 1936. itis el PRINCIPLES OF FUNCTIONAL PLANNING There are several major principles or regulations to be observed in de veloping an educational plan for a twelve-year consolidated school. The school officials responsible for functional planning should study these principles before attempting to prepare educational specifications for a new luilding. While some of these principles are applicable to all types of school buildings, it seems desirable to discuss here briefly those principles relat ing to safety and sanitation, adequacy and convenience, attractiveness, flex ibility, and economical construction. It seems obvious that one of the first principles to be considered in plan ning a building to house several hundred children is that of safety to the lives and the health of the children. It may not be possible to provide fire resistive buildings in all of the poorer areas where consolidated schools are to be erected. It will be possible, however, to erect only one-story buildings, or to see that all buildings over one story in height have fire resistive cor ridors and stairs, and that all exit doors are fitted with anti-panic devices that permit them to be opened from the inside, at all times, with a mini mum of inconvenience. ‘The building can also be made a safeguard to the health of the children. \dequate lighting facilities may be provided by properly placed windows, adequate artificial lights properly located and controlled, and a room finish that aids in giving the desired light diffusion. Adequate heating and ven tilating systems aid in maintaining a desirable room temperature and in controlling the amount of air flow needed in each of the rooms. The health of the pupils may be further safeguarded by giving proper attention to sanitation in planning the building. Dirt-catching corners may be elim inated and the cleaning process simplified. Modern plumbing fixtures set at the proper height may serve as teaching devices in aiding children to develop proper health habits and in setting up standards of modern con venience. A second principle to be considered in outlining the educational speci fications for a building is that of adequacy. Regardless of the amount of money to be invested in a school building it will not serve the purpose for which it was erected if it does not provide the needed facilities for the school program desired in that district. A large number of classrooms or a number of large classrooms does not necessarily mean adequacy in planning. Classrooms should be adapted in size and arrangement to the school organization and the type of work to be done in each room. No building that is to house a consolidated school should be considered complete if it does not provide facilities for teaching physical education, music, and the needed vocational subjects. If the building is to serve as a community center, ¢n auditorium and probably a community kitchen [ 72] ow AP) should be provided. Stairways and exits should meet the standards pre scribed by the exit codes. Administrative units properly planned mak« it easier for school officials to supervise the activities of the school. Storage space for supplies and a place for the safekeeping of records should not be neglected. Adequacy and convenience are closely related. Four bare walls do not provide the facilities needed in the classroom any more than bare walls provide the facilities needed in the home. Bookcases and storage closets in each classroom should be considered basic needs. The heights of the blackboards should be regulated according to the grade and age of the pupils using them. Cloakroom spaces should be provided tor the grade children. They should be ventilated and should open only into the class rooms, and if the children bring lunches a screened shelf for the protes tion of the lunches should be provided. Outlet plugs in classrooms and the corridors are essential and should be considered in the preliminary building specifications. Rooms for certain related subjects should be placed near each other. Rooms in which much noise or confusion is found should he isolated as much as possible either by location or by insulation against the transmission of noise. It costs little, if any, more to provide in a building the conveniences that aid in making the building livable as a school home. The new building should be pleasing in appearance. In fact, it should probably be one of the most attractive spots in the community. While exterior design may properly be left to the architect, the school official who is responsible for the functional planning should not forget that for twelve years the new building will be the workshop and the school home for a number of children. For some of them it may be the best appointed and the most attractive home that they will ever know. Attractiveness need not be costly. Proper landscaping, simple design, and some attention to finish will aid in the development of a building to which the peopl of the community will point with pride and which will be an inspiration to the pupils at the present time as well as a pleasing thought in thei future memories. The next principle, that of flexibility, is closely tied up with that ot utilization, and to some extent with economical construction. The record of the 334 consolidated schools previously me ntioned show that 94 of them lost in enrolment during the last ten years, and that the average increas was about five pupils per school per year. However, we should remember that the building being erected will probably be in use for forty or fitty vears, and that in time further consolidations may be effected, making 11 essential to provide added facilities in each school. It seems wise to recom mend that all buildings be planned so that future additions may be made as needed without excessive cost and if possible without marring the appearance of the building. t _ The fitth principle is that of economy in construction. Funds for build- ing purposes are usually limited in consolidated school districts, and some study is required to secure the facilities needed with the funds available. The school ofhcial responsible for functional planning may play an import- ant part in securing economical construction. The new building will prob- ably be the most costly in the district and functional planning is essential if the people are to secure the greatest possible returns for the money spent. Economical construction involves many factors, the chief of which is planning. Let us stress the fact that economical construction does not necessarily mean cheap construction, or the omission of needed features in the building. Economy in construction may be effected if building specifications are based on a comprehensive study of the school district and its educational needs. We are getting away trom the idea that each teacher should have a4 room assigned to him and that this room should be reserved for his use, regardless of the number of periods he teaches each day. There is no justification in asking for a home economics department of three or four rooms if there is only one home economics teacher in the system. Greater utilization may be effected in the small schools if each unit is so planned that it may be used by various classes during the day. In some of the smaller consolidated schools there is a demand for a combination audi torlum gymnasium and at the same time there is a request for a study hall that will seat all of the high-school pupils. On the other hand, there is frequently a demand for an auditorium that will seat all of the population of the district, altho the auditorium is to be filled only once or twice each vear. One department requests that its classrooms be made to include about f twenty-four pupils, S50 to goo square fect ol floor area for a class and in addition it desires a shop, an othce for each instructor, and other added hac ilities. STEPS IN FUNCTIONAL PLANNING The first step in functional planning is to determine the type of school program tor whiclr housing facilities are to be provided. The tendency of our people to move from one locality to another seems to make it necessary to offer a general training for all pupils regardless of their location. In spite of the mobility of our population it may still be the primary function of the consolidated school to provide training that will aid the pupils to fit in and to become a part of the community. It is impossible to determine the facilities needed until we know the type of organization that is to be effected in the school. Classes in voca tional agriculture, physical education, industrial arts, music, and soca Eells, Walter Crosby. “A Missouri Argument for Federal Aid." School and Community N\NI: 260; September, 1935. tional home economics, need different facilities from those provided for English, history, and mathematics classes. Room sizes, room locations, exit facilities, and the interior room plan will depend to a great extent upon the type of organization and the subjects offered. The building which is to house a platoon type school will not need the same study hall and library facilities as that needed in the traditional type school. A second step is that of determining the location of the building. Nor- mally we shoujd expect that the building be located near the center of the population to be served. However, the proximity of roads and the location of a small town in the district will be important factors in the location of the building. The site should be large enough to provide for all of the recreational and play activities, and if desired to provide a held laboratory for the vocational agriculture classes. The drainage facilities available on the site and the slope ot the site will be important factors in the planning of the building. The location of the site will also be an important factor in planning the building so that the classrooms may have proper onrentation, A third step in functional planning is a detailed study of the needs of the school, This study cannot be made without a survey of the district showing the enrolment by graces, This necessarily involves a study of the trends in enrolment in past years with a projection into the future to esti- mate the enrolment that may be anticipated for several vears in advance. This step must be based on a knowledge of the trend in organization for consolidated schools so that the building may be planned to fit the type ot organization best suited to that particular location. Before determining the number and size ot each class and activity room, it will be advisabie to determine the probable number otf pupils tl ticular classroom each period in the dav. rat will be in each par The school officials responsible for tunctional planning should recog nize the apparent trend toward larger classes, paralleled with, or perhaps in part counteracted by, the trend toward freer pupil activities and pupil choice of subjectmatter. Libraries and group activity rooms should be planned in a way to promote ease in administering the educational pro gram needed for each community. With this information it should be possible to determine the number and size of class and activity rooms, the size of the library, and other units needed. Detailed descriptions of these units should be set forth in the educational specifications. After developing a list of the rooms and other units needed, a study should be made of the service system needed. When completed this should include recommendations for the type of heating and ventilation system to be installed; for the type and location of electrical fixtures and switches; for the type, size, location, and number of lavatories, fountains, } sinks, urinals, and toilet stools, together with anv other service units that mav be needed to make the building habitable ow A= A fourth step in functional planning should be to prepare a recom mendation of the special features and refinements desired in the building.’ The work outlined in the first three steps should be considered basic and the number of refinement and special features that can be added under step four will depend to some extent on the funds available. Special attention should be given to the needs for acoustical treatment, for com munity rooms, a community kitchen, special shop units, bus storage, and a public address system. If funds are available special attention should bx given to the recommendations for the finish and trim of the building including tile, linoleum, or terrazzo floors. A number of these features the architect may include, but the school official responsible for functional planning of the program should study in advance the needs for these features and be prepared to recommend certain features in preference to others if money is not available for all of the desired improvements. The fitth step in functional planning should be that of setting up th financial program. This would involve a study of the financial condition of the district, and the trend in assessed valuation and tax levies. Th ability of the district to pay for and maintain the building may determin the type of building to be erected and the added facilities to be provided A schedule of the bond and interest payments to be made each year, with a statement of the tax levy needed, should be prepared for the board. A complete record of the conditions found and of the recommendations for the building should be included in the educational specifications set up for the new building. In fact, functional planning should result in a complete outline of the facilities needed and standards to be observed for the architect. It should provide for the people of the community an outline of the facilities to he provided, standards to be observed, and clear-cut statements of the financial obligation involved. SUMMARY Functional planning is essential. Detailed educational specitications should be prepared by school officials after a study is made of the loca] school system. Some of the principles that should be observed in functional planning for consolidated schools are: safety, adequacy, attractiveness, Hexibility, and economical construction. The various steps to be followed in preparing educational specifications for a new building are: a study of the type of school program to be housed, the selection of the location: a study of the room facilities and service systems needed; a study of the special features to be included; and the development of a financial pro gram to be followed by the district in providing the building needed. *Callendar, John Ea k. “Functional Approach to the Design of Schoo! | CHAPTER XII THE ARRANGEMENT AND EQUIPMENT OF A MODEL ONE-ROOM SCHOOL Chloe C. Baldridge ~ acceptep ricHtT of the childhood of America as listed in the Children's Charter is a school that is safe from hazards, sanitary, properly equipped, lighted, and ventilated. Let us consider first, certain equipment that will make the school safe from all hazards or dangers; second, school equipment for health and sanitation; and third, equipment for instructional purposes. Each year, approximately 146 tornadoes sweep across this country, destroying life and property, according to United States Weather Bureau statistics. Loss of life due to these storms may largely be prevented if cvclone cellars or storm caves are constructed near schoolhouses and homes. If a cyclone cellar is placed near the schoolhouse, parents are assured that during severe storms their children will be in a place of safety. The ordinary basement may be hazardous on account of falling debris. Cyclone cellers have been constructed in 1258 rural districts in Nebraska. Most of these storm caves are in northeast Nebraska. After a bitter experi ence, parents quite generally resolved that in time of peril their children and teachers should be safe. There, two teachers, Helen Rooney and Phyllis Stewart, were heroines in the face of a tornado. Helen Rooney succeeded in saving her boys and girls by getting them out of the building while sh :, unmindful of her own safety, lost her life. The storm struck just as she was standing with one hand on the door knob, after heiping the last child to escape from the falling building. Phyllis Stewart was warned of the tornado but had no place to go. She gathered her pupils together and attempted to quiet their fears by playing some popular song as they huddled near the piano. Miss Stewart was seriously injured. School fires are too common in every state. While we were writing and proof-reading the material for our Fire Prevention Manual in 1931, there were nine schoolhouse fires in Nebraska. By the time I received the manual from the printer, there were six additional fires, thus making fifteen schoolhouse fires during the time the manual was being prepared. One measure to make our schoolhouses safe from fire hazards is the legal requirement that all doors open outward. Another is in regard to the fuel bin which is occasionally placed near the entrance. If the fuel bin is in the hall, the partition must extend to the ceiling so that, in the event of spontaneous combustion, the burning fuel will be enclosed and the children will have an opportunity to escape thru the hall to the [ == | 77 outside door. A separate fuel room is recommended. The schoolhouse should have more than one door for an exit. Heavy screens or bars placed over windows should be in a frame that may be easily loosened and removed from the inside. Nailing such obstructions across the window constitutes a fire hazard. A fire extinguisher is important equipment for making a school safe from tire dangers. The Illinois law prohibits the use of wood shingles and provides for fireproof or near-freproof shingles. Our Nebraska law provides that not less than thirty minutes shall be devoted to instruction in fire prevention each month and that one fire drill shall be held each month. Signs of warning to automobile drivers on the highway constitute important safety equipment for the children. Electric light companies should not be permitted to extend their lines for carrying electric current of high voltage on a school ground. A telephone in the school is a great help in time of danger. During the recent blizzards, warnings of oncoming storms have been given over the radio, Thru our compulsory education laws, the state claims every child as a future citizen. Therefore, every child has a claim against the state, namely, the opportunity to become a healthy, happy, efficient citizen. Children are entitled to attend school in a well-lighted, well-ventilated, and comfortable school building. They should have good, comfortable seats and desks placed the correct distance apart. For example, the smallest desks, size numbers 5 and 6, for children in the first three grades, should be placed nine inches from the seats while the seats for the seventh- and eighth-grade pupils, size 2, should ordinarily be placed twelve inches from the desks. The proper distance between the desk and seat is approx imately correct when the desk and front edge of the seat, when lowered, overlap two and one-half inches. Round shoulders, spinal curvature, and other physical ailments may often be traced to improper seating. The desks of only one size should be placed in a row. Movable chairs are quite frequently used. If there are stationary desks, it is advantageous to have the desks fastened to cleats of wood long enough for three desks to be fastened together in a group, thus enabling the desks to be moved easily, The seating arrangements in a schoolroom should provide for the best lighting possible. Two things are well established with reference to lighting the schoolroom: first, the window area should be equivalent to one-fifth of the floor area in our section of the United States; and second, the light should come from the left and rear of the pupils after they are seated. This arrangement prevents the shadow of pen or hand from falling on the paper as the pupil writes. Let us not forget, however, that the left-handed child is entitled to have the light come over the right shoulder in order to prevent shadow. [ 78 ] Light from both right and left has a tendency to irritate the eyes. At no time should children be seated facing the windows. The lighting should be carefully studied when tables are used in primary rooms, and facing the light should be avoided. Adjustable shades furnish the preferred regulation of light. Window sticks, window ventilators, and screens are uselul, The unjacketed stove should not be tolerated in any district. Such a heating unit does not provide for an even heating of the room. Not only must a proper oxygen content be maintained but the humidity of the room must be considered, If possible, the heater should be located in the end of the room and preferably near the entrance. The cold air coming in thru an open door will thus be more easily heated. If the heater is at the end opposite the entrance, the cold air will pass over the feet of the children before having a chance to be heated, In order that every child may attend a school that is sanitary, the teacher should be provided with sweeping compound or dampened saw- dust for sweeping, or the floor should be varnished and waxed. Facilities should be provided so that good housekeeping will be characteristic of the activities of every classroom teacher. Orderliness and cleanliness are important factors in any good school program. Liquid soap and paper or individual towels are necessary supplies. Shoe scrapers and a door- mat will help materially in keeping the building clean. Since the import- ant task of a school is to bring about desirable changes in human beings and to modify human behavior and conduct, then certainly the influences of good housekeeping may be looked upon as being of vital value. Hot lunch equipment is a part of our equipment for health. One thousand seven hundred and ninety-two rural teachers in Nebraska served hot lunches in their schoolrooms last year. The serving of hot lunches has been a means of bringing about better health and a greater power and desire to study, and of inspiring students to share in work and responsibility. Students have been taught table manners and courtesy, proper methods of setting the table, and how to take care of dishes and other hot lunch equipment. We should like to pay a sincere tribute to the rural teacher who is providing for hot lunches. Play also contributes to health and brings about maximum efficiency at a minimum cost. It is a positive aid in decreasing the number and charac- ter of disciplinary problems. Every rural school should be supplied with at least four types of playground equipment. For playground and recrea- tion, a committee of our county superintendents listed bean bags, teeter totter, baseball equipment, basketball, ropes and rings, giant stride, slide, indoor ballequipment, baseball diamond, indoor diamond, building blocks, table ere mquet, toys, and games. Many do not realize the importance of good drinking water and a sanitary method of supplying it. In order to safeguard the health of pupils [79 ] 79 and teachers, the school must be supplied with plenty of pure, clean water. There should be a good well on the school grounds for supplying pure water, and a bubbling drinking fountain. In discussing equipment for instruction, we should like to include sup- plies. The small, non-permanent materials that are readily consumed and must be replaced are ordinarily considered to be supplies iather than equipment. Equipment constitutes the larger and more permanent items used in furnishing the school plant and maintaining it. The school must have good, modern textbooks (free textbooks are provided by the local districts in Nebraska), good reference books, dictionaries, library books, a library table, a good set of up-to-date maps, a good globe, and good black- boards. The sand table, a bulletin board, a bulletin rack, a chart printing outfit, adequate primary supplies, and tools for woodwork are now a part of the regular equipment. Our Nebraska school laws provide that flag poles shall be erected and maintained in all school districts and that the national flag of the United States of America shall be conspicuously and continuously displayed on the interior wall of every schoolroom and chapel of public school build ings of the state of Nebraska. A musical instrument is essential in the rural schools. Music should be a part of the rural school program. A child turns to music as a natural expression of beauty, grace, rhythm, and the joy of living. “More music, less crime,” said Burns, The county and state rural school choirs, singing at eighth-grade promotion exercises, at county fairs, state fairs, and Christ mas programs, have delighted their audiences with the beautiful tone quality that has been developed in the singing of the boys and girls by the rural school chorus method, Howard Kirkpatrick, director of the Uni versity of Nebraska School of Music, believes that the rural school choit plan will solve the problem of how to get music to the one-room school house and believes that the future of music even in higher institutions depends very largely upon interesting the youth of the state in music. He has gone on record as sponsoring this idea. The child responds unconsciously to the beautiful. A schoolroom deco rated in soft coloring with growing flowers here and there, with two or three fine pictures on the walls, has been found to have a most desirable influence on pupils. It is undesirable to have too many pictures in a room. It is better to have a few good pictures and to have them mean something to us. All pictures should be of such a nature as to contribute to the restfulness ot a room. Pictures that show cruelty, grief, or suffering are not good pictures for children. A study of masterpieces and of the ideals of the artists who created them may have a part in character building. For illustration, hope may be made a part of one’s character by a study of the “Song of the Lark” by Breton. Gratitude may be taught thru a study of “The Angelus” by Millet. Farm [ 80 | 80 work may be dignified by a study of the picture “Behind the Plow” by Lucy Kemp-Welch. The thought of kindness and reverence will be with the pupils when they study “Sistine Madonna” by Raphael. The lesson of thrift may be developed from “The Gleaners” by Millet. Courage is per- sonified in “Sir Galahad” by Watts. Purity is typified in the “Age of hades” by Reynolds. Respect and patriotism may be inculcated in the pupils by a study of the pictures of Washington and Lincoln and many others. To certain states we owe a word of congratulation. Delaware rural teachers are paid in accordance with the same salary schedule as village or town teachers except that rural teachers who rank A or B in their efficiency are given a bonus for teaching in rural schools, depending upori the distance the school is from the railroad, trolley, or bus line. Connecticut has few one-room rural schools left. Utah is building larger centralized school buildings and rapidly abolishing the one- and two-room school buildings. Louisiana makes no distinction between country schools and city schools. They are both financed out of the same funds, operated tor the same length of session, taught in the same types of buildings and by teachers with the same qualifications, and pursue the same courses of study except that many of the large country schools have departments of agriculture. Notwithstanding these splendid achievements, we are proud of the products from our small rural schools in the Middlewest. Our great task at the present time is to take the rural school as it is and to make it the best school that can be made. During the past eight vears our department has distributed 62,000 manuals in the interests of rural education. With the cooperation of the county superintendents and local school officials, we have better supe vision and more ethcient teaching in the rural schools. We have an increased number of standard and superior rural schools furnished with adequate libraries and good healthful equipment. By means of greater cooperation between home and school, rural education is moving forward. For every child a school that is safe from hazards, sanitary, well lighted, ventilated, equipped for health and for the finest type of instruction. [ 81 ] §] CHAPTER XIII A STATE SURVEY OF RURAL SCHOOL BUILDING ADEQUACY Raymond V. Long INCE THE ADVENT of the federal works program, originating in the sum- S mer of 1933, all of us who are primarily interested in education have been either directly or indirectly concerned with the effect of the federal works program on the improvement of school buildings. With the an nouncement from Washington that grant money would be available for buildings, including school buildings, most communities immediately be came enthusiastic about securing a portion of this money toward the devel opment of school buildings in practically every local community. The very nature of the federally aided program demanded that large sums of money be allotted and spent hurriedly on socially desirable projects, with little time or opportunity to consider expenditures in the light of a long-range and carefully planned building program. In March 1934 the United States Commissioner of Education called to Washington a group of men from different sections of the country spe cifically interested in the development of school building programs, to discuss the possibility of undertaking immediately a large school building program, to be completed in May or June of that year. The consensus in that group was that this could not be done successfully, but, what was thought by some to be far more important and far reaching, the services offered by the federal works program could be used to excellent advantage in making surveys, on a statewide basis, of schoolhousing, and from the compiled data we should be in position to plan more intelligently in the light of a long-range school building program. Those of us who have been intimately associated with school building programs are painfully aware of the fact that in far too many cases school buildings have been erected largely as the result of a local clamor and demand, often political in nature, rather than in the light of a carefully studied statewide need. Any state that tolerates or permits local communi ries to erect school buildings, unguided and unadvised as to the location, shifting population, transportation system, consolidation program, and educational offering, all measured in terms of a statewide program, is put in the indefensible position of encouraging, due to lack of active leader ship, many extravagances, both in first costs and operating costs, as well as in many cases passively permitting the construction of buildings that have not been planned or located in terms of a coordinated statewide program. The federal works program has resulted in the accomplishment of much worthwhile and permanent good by aiding in the construction of [ 82] §2 school buildings. However, many school buildings have been built that should have been built in different locations, and should have been planned for a different type of educational program from that which they are now planned to accommodate, all of which points to the necessity of a master plan, statewide in scope, covering a longtime school building planning program. The state of Virginia in the spring of 1934 undertook a survey of public school plants in the counties in the state, with the thought in mind that by collecting and compiling certain definite information we could, thru the State Department of Education, offer guidance and leadership to rural communities in planning for future school buildings. Many diff- culties were encountered in gathering the desired data, but by correspon- dence and visitations the needed information was secured and compiled within a period of approximately six months, thru the joint efforts of the State Planning Board and the State Department of Education. Inciden- tally, Virginia is fortunate in having a State Planning Board, appointed by the governor under legislative authority, that is actively interested and concerned with the problems of public education. This report of the Virginia School Building Survey is not made with any thought of exhibiting any new technics in conducting a survey, but rather with the thought of calling attention to some rather startling facts revealed in studies of the compiled data. It is felt that other states have problems similar in many respects to those in Virginia, and that many of the facts revealed in the School Building Survey of Virginia are common to many other states. Many mistakes have been made in the past in planning and locating school buildings which it is felt are common to many states. Some of these I wish to call to your attention: First, the federal government has embarked on a program of dé veloping parks and forests, thru the purchase of submarginal lands. The Land Use Survey, which has been mapped by the State Planning Board, involving submarginal lands and forest development, points to the fact that many schools have been built in areas that are now-being purchased, or are subject to option, by the federal government and the state for park and forest development. The des elop ment of these parks and forests will eventually cover approximately one-third of the state, and will mean the gradual climination of school buildings now exist ing in these areas, or a changed school program for the few buildings that may remain in these areas. This Land Use Survey, as proposed by the National Resources Board, involves considerable areas in most states. The areas proposed to be set aside as uncultivated areas is much larger in 17> states than is the pro portion in Virginia, yet Virginia’s portion recommended for non-farming areas is approximately 8 million acres, or one-third of the state. This immediately becomes a problem with which every state involved should become seriously concerned in the location of school buildings in and around these areas. A master plan for the state should show very definitely what these proposed areas [ 83 ] 83 will eventually include, and how these areas and adjoining areas will affect future school building programs. Second, school building dispersion varies in Virginia from 1.4 square miles per white school building, which is the greatest dispersion, to 188 square miles in one county, which represents the least dispersion, the average dispersion be- ing 13 square miles per white school building, and 38.8 square miles per colored school building. Generally speaking, those counties with the greatest dispersion have the greatest number of one-room school buildings, with relatively little consolidation. Those counties having little dispersion of buildings have in many cases gone too far in transporting small children. It is not uncommon to find small children waiting along bus routes in inclement weather, and being hauled fifteen miles or more to a consolidated school. It is very questionable if ele mentary-school children, particularly those in the primary grades, should be required to travel more than six miles from their homes to school. Barring ex- ceptional cases this would mean that a school building serving not more than 50 to 60 square miles should be located to accommodate at least the first four or five grades. Those counties with a high dispersion of school buildings must, in most cases, develop a plan of consolidation that will aflord a more nearly adequate program of education than can possibly be developed with a large number of wofully inadequat one-room schgols. In Virginia 48 percent ot+he-fotal school buildings are one-room schools, as compared with 58.3 percent average for the states of the nation, It appears, therefore, that in the light of the 58.3 percent average for the nation most states need to he re itly concerned with less dispersion, and fewer one-room s« hools. It appears that those states which have a relatively small number of one-room buildings are regarded as the more progressive in public education. It would seem to indicate that this is a matter of serious importance to those states with a high percent of one-room buildings. Whether the county falls in with that group with a high dispersion of school buildings, indicating a need for greater consolidation, or in that group with low dispersion, which perhaps indicates the need for some decentralization, future consolidations and building programs in Virginia will be undertaken only in the light of a long-time planning program, involving both highways and schools Third, in Virginia there are approximately 400 accredited high schools in the counties, and an additional 100 schools offering one or more grades of high-school work. Of these 400 accredited high schools, 46 percent have an enrolment of less than 100, and 86.5 percent have an enrolment of less than 200. In most cases these high schools with small enrolments are poor, struggling, mediocre schools that can offer at best only the very minimum educat» «al program necessary for accrediting purposes. The unit cost of operation is ex travagantly high in comparison. Generally speaking these small enrolment high schools are poor schools in poor school buildings. The dispe rsion ol high schools in the counties Is high, the average being 100 square miles per high school. In many cases high schools are not more than five or six miles apart, where highway development is well advanced and can afford excellent transportation facilities for high-school consolidations. What is worse, high schools have bec n developed close to county boundaries in adjoin- [ 84] 84 ing counties, resulting in expensive and extravagant unit costs, duc to over lapping. With our 400 accredited high schools serving an average of 100 miles each, we have an average traveling distance per pupil of six to eight miles. ‘There seems to be no good reason opposing the increased travel to twelve or fifteen miles, which would increase the area served per high school from 100 square miles to 250 or 300 miles, thus reducing the number of high schools to one-third or one-half the number we now have. Further, it is generally con ceded by authorities that it is impractical to attempt to conduct a good high school with an enrolment of less than 250 to 300 pupils. Fourth, the survey study revealed that the transportation system as developed in Virginia in many respects is extravagant and unbusiness-like. There is wide variation in methods employed in transporting children as well as wide varia tion in unit costs. Counties that have similar geographical conditions, and about the same population densities, vary by as much as 100 percent in unit costs of transportation. The unit cost of transportation in these counties which farm out their transportation by contract is considerably higher than those counties that operate their own transportation, yet 77 percent of the counties in Virgimia continue to have the majority of their transportation done under the contract method. It is dificult to plan a business-like system of transportation unless school buildings are so located along improved highways that economical and well-ordered transportation systems may be organized. By the same token 11 highways are not developed with some regard and relationship to school build ing planning it is impossible to organize an economical system of transporta tion. It seems, therefore, that school buildings and highways should be planned in some definite relationship to each other, and that each should operate and develop on the basis of a definitely organized long-range planning program. Fifth, while many of the newer school buildings in Virginia provide reason ably adequate facilities for a good educational program, many of the smaller and older buildings are seriously lacking in facilities, such as adequate ward robes or cloakroom space, libraries, bookcases, storage for instructional mate rials and supplies, bulletin board space, reasonably sanitary provisions, adequate playground facilities, reasonable provision tor recreation, and, in fact, reason able comfort to both pupil and teacher. Virginia compares favorably in its school building development with other states in its per capita wealth bracket, but it would be necessary to make an immediate expenditure equal to the present value of school buildings in the counties of the state to put Virginia's older and obsolete school buildings in position to offer satisfactory school } housing conditions in which to conduct a satisfactory educational program. That is a condition that would apply to probably almost every state in the coun- try. It is noticeably revealed in studies made of the compiled survey data, that ot the 4919 buildings in the counties and towns in the state of Virginia, 83 percent score 50 or less out Of 100 possible score Sixth, while Virginia has been operating under the county unit system since 1922, the effect of the district system that prevailed prior to that time 1s stil] noticeably felt in many sections of the state. Instead of school buildings being consolidated for the county as a whole there are many sections and counties still ] indicapped by bu ld nys hav ing been located in light ol the old district | 85 | 85 The next step we must take in Virginia is a gradual disregard for county lines in the erection of public school buildings. County lines in Virginia, and in many other states, have been laid out according to natural barriers such as mountain ridges and rivers; such conditions no longer are barriers in the light ot modern transportation facilities. It is not uncommon in Virginia to find school buildings erected close to county lines in adjoining counties, thus dupli- cating the work that should be done in a joint school, and this no doubt is true In many states. : Seventh, the size of administrative units in Virginia varies greatly, a condi- tion again that 1s common to many states. We, in Virginia, have been able, for- tunately, to consolidate many of the smaller counties into larger administrative units so far as schools are concerned, but each county in Virginia still has its own schoolboard. Even with the county consolidation that we have been able to effect there is a variation in the size of administrative units from the smallest, containing 171 square miles, with a superintendent of schools, to the largest, containing 1015 square miles. In this smallest unit the school census is 2283, employing 53 teachers, and operating 52 classrooms, as compared with the largest county, having a school census of 19,231, employing 366 teachers and operating 370 classrooms. The school population density in the smallest unit is .g per square mile, and in the largest unit is 10.3 per square mile. Obviously one or the other of these extreme conditions cannot justify the administrative set-up. Authorities realize that the smallest of the two illustrated units of ad- ministration cannot operate with the same economy, socially and financially, that can be exercised in larger units of administration. We are convinced that we must continuously bend every effort to increase the size of administrative units so far as the operation of schools is concerned. Emphasis is now being placed upon increased units ot administration by the State Planning Board and by the Commission on County Government, which will simplify the problem of an early combination of these smaller units into larger units of administra- tion, at least so far as schools are concerned. Eighth, the State Department of Education in Virginia has for twelve years been emphasizing the importance of a better system of maintenance of school plants. It is not uncommon to find school buildings with various items of needed repair unattended to because of a lack of any organized attention to these minor repairs. Leaking faucets, broken window glass, broken hardware to doors, falling plaster, broken doors, broken and unused pupil and teacher desks, unused globes, maps, and chairs, are all mute evidences of unorganized attention to maintenance problems. We have been recommending and urging the appointment of competent, tull-time, county school mechanics, with the result that to date approximately one-third of the counties in Virginia are maintaining such full-time mechanics, providing them with trucks, a central workshop and storage house, into which all broken equipment is gathered and repaired, if practicable; new equipment such as sand tables, shelving, display boards, and lockers are made and dis- tributed; repair parts are stocked for plumbing, heating, and other mechanical equipment, making possible quick and inexpensive repairs. These mechanics familiarize themselves with the construction and equipment in a given build- ng and know where and how to go about a speedy correction of breakdowns. [ 86 ] 86 The survey shows that those counties maintaining county school mechanics show an appreciably higher scoring of buildings than those counties where no such service is maintained. Furthermore the counties which have given seri ous attention to the employment of competent county school mechanics report that there is distinct economy effected in employing such services. Generally speaking, the item of repairing furniture alone usually pays such mechanic’s salary and expenses, to say nothing of savings ciTected in the main tenance, repair, and upkeep of school buildings. Some of the larger counties have three and four men continuously at work on maintenance, repair, and upkeep. A similar program is urgently recommended to states that have not undertaken such program of maintenance and repair. Ninth, most states have failed to recognize a marked decline in birth rate, and have failed often to recognize reasonable indications of shitting population, with the result that buildings have been built in far too many cases that now show unused space due to these two factors. While the decrease in the number of births in Virginia has not been so great as the decrease for the nation as a whole, yet based on the number of births as reported by the Bureau ot Vital Statistics, the school population in Virginia will decrease approximately 18 to 20 percent by 1042. It is predicted that the births in the nation as a whole il] decrease by 1960 to approximately 30 percent less than the number of births in 1930. Whether increased attendance and enrolment will offset the decrease in births it is doubtful if anyone can definitely predict, but certainly the decline in birth rate should be seriously considered in the design and location of school buildings. Tenth, school buildings generally have been planned and erected with the sole thought in mind that they are to Le used from tive to six hours per day . five days in the week, for thirty-six weeks in the vear. We thus have large in vestments in school buildings, with relatively small utilization. This short period of utilization no doubt justifies the expense of constructing these build ings, but we talk and write much concerning school buildings as community centers, to be used for real and legitimate community purposes, and still con tinue to plan school buildings almost solely for the regular day school program. We hear much about the use of a school center as a distributing library center, and utilization of the school library for community purposes. We hear much j about the utilization of auditoriums, gymnasiums, and recreation rooms tor community activities. We hear much about using school centers as agricultural and home economics demonstration points, open to the community twelve months in the vear. We talk much about using the school center as a health center, tor examination purposes at least tor physical de fects, vet Wwe have not sold communities on the idea of erecting school buildings as real community centers. We continue to design buildings for day school purposes in rural com munities, and do not design them to be used, except at great inconvenience, for well-rounded community centers The above evidences of rural school inadequacy as found from studies made from the Virginia school survey are a few of the defects we note in eur rural schoolhousing problem in Virginia. Thes« several points have been emphasized because it appears that many, if mot most, states mn the 87 Qa Union, consciously or unconsciously, suffer from similar school adminis- tration maladies, and we in Virginia are suffering along the lines as out lined. We lament the fact that we do not have more money for capital outlay, teachers’ salaries, instructional supplies, and other investments that are regarded as essential to a progressive educational program, and yet we permit, and often encourage, this maladministrative practise by our very failure to recognize and discourage the ineffective and inefficient prac tises that contribute to inadequacy in our rural schoolhousing. It is not an easy task to persuade a community to give up its struggling high schools and consolidate with some larger center; to give up some cherished plan for a large new school in order to consolidate with some other school at a logical location in the interest of a better educational offering; to forget its district or county lines in locating school buildings: in fact, to abandon almost any phase of public government and admin istration that has become fairly well fixed by custom and tradition. It is, however, just as distinctly an obligation of a courageous leader in public education to take the initiative in persuading a community to abandon a poorly conceived educational program, as it is to discharge any other func tion of his office. We, in Virginia, propose to correct some of the bad administrative prede tises revealed from studies of our school building survey by: First, making a spot map of the entire state, which will include pertinent information concerning the inhabitants. In addition we hope to have air maps made of Virginia which may be used to good advantage by different state de partments in administering state functions. The data compiled from = such studies will be invaluable in determining proper locations and future planning of school buildings. Second, we propose to develop a master plan for the entire state, showing present locations of school buildings and recommended new locations in terms of a long-range planning program. This master plan will be developed as a joint activity by the State Planning Board and the State Department of Educa tion by calling group conferences of schooiboards and superintendents in small groups, disregarding district and county lines as far as practicable, and in joint conference agree on a future planning program. Third, we propose to make an intensive study of our transportation system as a joint enterprise between the State Planning Board and the State Board ot Education. This involves a closer coordinated planning program between th« highway department, the State Planning Board, and the State Board of Educa tion. Our present system of transportation is an undirected outgrowth of th: early beginnings of consolidation. Transportation is supplemented from year to year to care for gradual expansion and increased demand, with little or no thought to a well-organized system of transportation that might to some degree parallel commercial systems. One evidence of extravagance and waste in our transportation system is the fact that school buses are in actual service only about three hours per day in | 88] QQ most cases. With the development ot large consolidated centers, particularly large consolidated high-school centers of 250 to 400 pupils, it is quite possible and feasible to develop a staggered school schedule that will permit buses and bus drivers to be used for a longer period each day, and in many cases utilize all buses and bus drivers twice as long as they are now being utilized. We pro pose to study the transportation system as it now exists, using the compiled data to point out glaring detects, and make definite recommendations tor a revised transportation system in terms of a master plan which will be developed as reterred to above. Fourth, we propose definitely to discourage the organization of any addi tional high schools, and decrease the existing number of high schools. consol) dating the smaller high schools into larger consolidated centers wherever prac ticable, with enrolments of not less than 250 to 400 pupils. We have already been able to make marked progress in this respect. During the past three years, four counties have consolidated all of their high-school work into one high school each, which has meant closing up approximately twelve small high schools. In one county operating seven accredited high schools it was con templated making extensions to cach ot these buildings, but as the result of several joint meetings of local and state authorities the county has adopted th plan ot building one central high school for the entire county, and for the present transporting the upper grades of high school, and eventually the entire high school, from each of the seven high schools to this one consolidated high school center. In another county with eight high schools, where expenditures were contemplated at each plant for enlargements, it has finally been agreed to develop these plants into good elementary schools, and transport the high school pupils to not more than three high schools for the entire county. We are convinced this program will make for a far better educational program than would be possible by attempting to maintain a number of small, mediocre high “A hools. Fifth, we propose in the development of the master plan to include recom mended locations tor small buildings for sparsely populated areas, thus limit ing the distance that small children will be required to travel. It is turther pro posed to conduct a progressive campaign to add such tacilities to existing rural buildings that will make possible the utilization ot these school plants for full community activities and provide for these buildings the necessary facilities for a progressive educational program. Particularly is this true in the smaller buildings that in many cases are limited to four walls only, wich desks and STOVES. Sixth, itis proposed that this master long-range planning program will con template, in the development ot larger consolidated high schools, what is com monly called the junior college. The early age at which pupils graduate from high school, and the expense of sending them to college is automatically de manding that we develop, where large consolidations make such development possible, the equivalent of two years’ work beyond the high-school level, and closer at home. Seventh, 1t 1s proposed lo eneourape Wi cvery Way possible thie de \« lopn of a maintenance program for all counties that will include the employment ot al competent county school mechanic, in some cases for two or three counties SY 89 jointly. This type of maintenance program has proved its worth in better main- tenance, salvaging of equipment that would otherwise in many cases be thrown away, at a less cost than employing from the trades the necessary skilled labor to make repairs. The county school mechanic plan has the additional advantage of having repairs made when and where they should be made, when so often maintenance is passed up due to the expense of employing skilled mechanics from the trades to do the work Through the joint activities of the Commission on County Government, the State Planning Board, and the State Department of Education, we contemplate and definitely propose to consolida 7 1 1 , larger units of school administration, with the definitely expected result 1 1 te the smaller counties into } } that where larger units of administration exist there will be better edu tional offering and more efficient administration. PART VI Education for Negroes in Rural Areas CHAPTER XIV EXPERIMENTS AND DEMONSTRATIONS FOR IMPROVEMENT AMONG RURAL SCHOOLS Leo M. Favrot His Toric is limited to the consideration of the education of the mass Tor the Negro people in the rural sections of the South. It leaves out of account the provision of a more advanced education for those fitted to profit by it. It is admitted, of course, that the general progress of a people depends on a steady increase of highly trained leaders in all walks of life, but it is no less true, on the other hand, that without a steady improve ment in the health, economic stability, intelligence, general efficiency. and social cooperation of the general population, the foundations of a sound social life will be wanting. Our higher institutions of learning, generally speaking, are geared to provide training for those desiring or selected to fill posts in administrative and highly professionalized services, but compara ively little thought is given to preparation for leadership in rural areas. This is due, of course, mainly to the limited opportunities for-employment in this field, and few institutions are striving to create new opportunities. The experiments and demonstrations referred to in the title are designed to emphasize the rural community background, environmental factors in rural education, and school organization and instruction, as these affect the teachers in service or in preparation for service in the small rural schools. In a memorandum issued in 1935 by the Advisory Committee on Edu- cation in the British Colonies, the following paragraph on education in rural communities occurs: Experience of the education of rural communities in different countries tends to show that efforts to educate the voung are often largely wasted unless a simultaneous effort is raade to improve the life of the community as a whole. The problem has to be attacked from various sides, if progress is to be made. Poverty, malnutrition, insanitary conditions and habits, ignorance, superstitious beliefs, hampering traditions, defects in social organizations, are all* interde pendent factors, no one of which can be dealt with effectively in isolation. Edu [or ] =P cational thought appears to be moving steadily towards this broader view of education. It is recognized, for example, that in England there has been too great a tendency in the past “to regard the school as an isolated unit, and educa tion as something apart from the main stream of life,” and that “the system of education in vogue in any highly civilized community at any given time ts only one aspect of the national life, and is conditioned and influenced at every point by contemporary social and economic factors.” So far as the school is an isolated unit and apart from the main stream of lite, there is a parallel between the situation in many of the rural districts of the southern states and the rural village schools of the British Colonies. The education of the children in rural schools cannot be perma nently effective without consideration of community life. An intimate connection exists between educational policy and the economic develop ment of a territory, and that policy must be planned with reference to the kind of life which most pupils may be expected to lead when they leave school. Health is recognized as a foundation of any improvement in the lite of the individual and the community. But health propaganda among the young will be to a large extent wasted effort unless linked up and supplemented by reforms in the general habits of the community. An intimate relation should exist between the rural school and agriculture. To quote again from the memorandum previously mentioned: It is not the function of the elementary village school to produce or train practical agriculturists any more than it is its function to turn out carpenters or masons. But, apart from the use of illustrations from local life and pursuits such as well4trained teachers would naturally employ in the teaching of such sub jects as reading and arithmetic, nature study should have an important place in the rural school. An intelligent interest in the processes of nature aroused at school will provide a soil in which the advice and suggestion of the agricultural department can more easily take root and the school may help in this way to increase the number of progressive farmers prepared to cooperate in the im provements which the administration and the agricultural department are secking to bring about. In places where there ave no resident agricultural dem onstrators, the village teacher whose training has been related to the practical needs of village life can grasp more quickly than the ordinary villager the new ideas which the agricultural agent is secking to propagate, and in the intervals between his visits can do much by advice and explanation to encourage thi villagers to persevere in experiments. There may also be simple improvements in agricultural methods which can be introduced in the cultivation of school plots and which the pupils, after practising them for some years in school, may be expected to carry out when they become farmers on their own account. The village teacher can also, by the promotion and assistance of young farmers’ clubs, and in other ways, keep alive the interest in rural life aroused in school. The agricultural department, on the other hand, can assist the school by the preparatton of sunple textbooks on nature study and on the local flora and fauna required by the village teacher. I 92 | 92 Quotations corresponding to those given above may be multiplied, Similar statements might be found in books and pamphlets relating to rural education in Mexico, in Dutch colonial possessions, and in American island possessions. Thruout civilization, a reappraisement of values in rural education is going on. The quotations that have been used may seem to present a purely ideal statement outlining an impossible task. This is particularly true when we consider the present status of the small rural school for Negroes in the South, the school of one or two teachers, in which the majority of Negro teachers are employed and the majority of Negro children enrolled. For the most part these schools are at this time utterly inadequate to meet the social demands of the region. To those acquainted with the situation jts inadequacies and handicaps are obvious, The job of teaching a one-room school is perhaps the most dithcult of all teaching jobs. We have thought of this difhculty in the past as lying primarily in handling pupils of varying ages and of varying degrees of advancement, and in having to hear many lessons. This is still a major ditheulty for many teachers. In the small rural school there is little or no division of labor. The one teacher is often handicapped by lack of education, professional preparation, and vision. In recent years, the tendency has been to enlarge the scope and increase the number of curriculum offerings. The state course of study brings to the teacher in the small school only contusion, for without educational guidance and supervision he cannot be expected to select his materials and plan his instruction so as to assure a well-rounded and well-organized educational diet tor each and every one ot his pupils. How can the teacher in the smal! rural school learn to meet presentday educational objectives and adapt the school services to the needs of the group it is designed to serve? Compelled too often to carry on in an uncomfortable, unattractive school building with littl or no educational equipment, the magnitude of his task is tremendous. With little realization of the importance of the rural scene and ot his own importance in it, with little inspiration to k the problems most fundamental to the children and the community, tis not surprising that he falls into the dull and dreary routine of hearing lessons and that the children stagnate and quit school after three or four vears of unprofitable grind. The small rural school suffers the handicap of neglect. Its frequent remoteness and inaccessibility are partly to blame. But it is also truc that it does not fit into the administrative and supervisory pattern in vogue. The consolidated rural school more nearly fits the pattern. There it is possible to have grade specialists for each level of advancement. Administrators and supervisors have to a large extent centered their thinking upon the graded school type and are often themselves unequal to the task of coping with the problems of the rural teacher. Then the [ 93 ] I3 normal school has not generally made provision for the training of teachers for this type of school. The normal school has striven to find desirable positions for its output, and this has meant training teachers for the town and city schools and for consolidated rural schools. When its products, driven by necessity to teach in small rural schools, assume their duties, they are generally at a loss to know where to begin and what to do. The state and nation tend to neglect the small rural school. In large measure, it has had to rely for its support upon the meager resources of the local community. This is likely to mean inadequate buildings and equipment, and a teacher often chosen by school district trustees inade- quately educated and improperly trained for his task. By and large, it may be said that the small rural school for Negroes in the South is the for- gotten school, enrolling the forgotten children of the nation. We are not unmindful of the splendid efforts put forth by the Jeanes supervising teachers in the southern states. These county workers have done much to improve the small school and to bring into the schoolroom the everyday interests and experiences of the children. The Julius Rosen- wald Fund, thru the aid extended in the building of 4977 rural school- houses and the distribution of thousands of libraries, has made a contri- bution of tremendous importance to rural education. The state agents of Negro schools have for more than twenty years given time and thought to the education of rural children. But a large and necessary objective in rural education has been to increase facilities, to have more and _ better schoolhouses and equipment, more teachers and particularly more with advanced standing, and larger opportunities for children ready for high school. And this worthy objective has been reached over vast areas in the South. However, until very recent years, little has been done to try to alter the educational philosophy of the rural teacher, or to make it possible tor those with a real vision of the possibilities of their tasks, to render the kind of service calculated to achieve their aims. A few private schools, like Hampton and Tuskegee Institutes, have envisioned the needs for community development; the Penn School on St. Helena Island, South Carolina, the Calhoun School in Alabama, and others have exerted a strong influence in the community; but public schools are only now begin- ning to catch the vision. While no one would deny the rural child the opportunity to broaden his horizon by letting him become acquainted with the larger world, the means to this end appear to be first to make full use of his environ- ment or the smaller world he knows. Rural life in America today, and particularly life in the South, with all the progress that has been made in the building of roads and schoolhouses, is far from being an adequate and satisfying existence. There are factors in the situation about which the rural school can do little directly. The economic position of the farmer, the increase of farm tenancy, the absence or inadequacy of many [ 94 ] 94 forms of social service and welfare—all of these make the situation extremely difheult, and yet the small rural school, existing still in’ such tremendous numbers, can play a larger part than it has played as an instrument in the reconstruction of rural and community life. It is, therefore, from a background of the apparent needs in country lite and of the present inadequacy of the small rural school to supply those needs, even in small measure, that the presentation of the subject is approached. The dithculties in the situation should present a challenge to all of those interested in American life, city or urban. Because fate ordained that a child be born in the country and spend at least his earlier vears there, is no reason why he should be neglected or forgotten. It is in the interest of the country child, and particularly of the Negro child in the country, that something be done for the small rural school to the end that it may become a more effective instrument in the development ot rural life. The experiments and demonstrations that have come to my attention have been centered about the training of Negro teachers in service at highe institutions of learning in the summer schools. The state agents ot Negro schools in the southern states became interested in devising wavs of helping these teachers of small rural schools to do their work morc effectively. It was felt in the beginning that service could be rendered along two lines, In the first place, teachers in service should have an oppor- tumity to see a worthwhile demonstration in teaching a school either genuinely rural or bearing marked features of the small rural schools. \ccordingly, rural demonstration schools, beginning in 1932, were estab- lished in) connection with summer schools at higher institutions of learning in most of the southern states. A competent person was selected to teach them. The second feature of the experiment was to provide courses of instruction for rural teachers that would deal with the really vital problems of the one-teacher school. The schools of education of state higher institutions and state supervisors of rural schools were repre- sented in a conference to determine the content of such courses. Advice was sought from such specialists in rural education as Mabel Carney and Fannie W. Dunn of Teachers College, and others. The courses first prepared were tentative. They were used in summer schools in selected institutions in the South in the summer of 1934, and revised in the winter of 1935 on the basis of the criticisms of those using them. These revised courses were printed in a pamphlet, entitled 4 Suggested Program for the Training of Teachers for Rural Schools, and used again in 1935. This program is divided into two parts, each part being subdivided into two sections. The four sections constitute four short courses in rural education, The first of these courses begins with the rural community background and includes rural school organization and management. The assumption is that no teacher can do very effective work without [95 ] 95 knowing the rural children and the community. “Po quote trom. the introduction of the pamphlet just mentioned : A teacher needs to know not only the children committed to her care, but she should have knowledge ot the homes trom which they come, the family life and cultural opportunitics in these homes, the ways the people make a living, the kind of living they make and the standards of living they main tain, the types of churches they attend and the activities in which thev en gage, the recreational opportunities the community provides, the health con ditions prevailing, and the agencies that operate in the community tor th betterment of the people. But a mere knowledge ot the institutions, organ: zations, and agencies, a census of occupations and statistics on health, will not suffice. It is essential to know the people, the parents of the children, the ministers that serve the churches, the leaders in various activities, th: key persons and families—their interests and the kinds of intluence they exert, the human forces that strive to build up community lite and those that tend to tear it down. She should know the ideals toward which they their aspirations for their children, tor better homes, better food, are striving, clothing and shelter for their families, for those things that enrich life and make it more worth living. In planning the daily schedule and the daily activities of the child the committee that organized the courses decided that effective wor could hot be done by following the strictly vraded system current in the graded school. This has long been recognized as a handicap to proper instruction in a small rural school. Teachers offering the courses 1 rural education recommended, and teachers operating the demonstranoy schools followed, the practise of organizing the pupils into not more than ICSSOT) four groups. This plan did away with the hurried hearing of that prevailed in the type of school attempting to teach all the subjects usually required for each separate grade. Many other problems relating to the management of the small rural school were presented tor sideration in this course. The topics selected and their arrangement wer determined by people who had an intimate knowledge of the condition prevailing in this type of school. The second section comprising another course dealt specifically with the school’s activities in the rural com munitv. This was felt to be essential not only for demonstrating t service of the school but also for bringing it into relationship with tl 1 problems bearing on a more wholesome and. satistving lite in rural districts. The second part of the suggested program for the traning of teacher for rural schools had to do with the adaptation of teaching to the rut situation and with special problems in rural instruction. This also divided into two parts and constituted two distinct courses. One ,ot 1, courses had to do with the handling of the tool subjects of reading. guage, spelling, and arithmetic; the other was concerned v [ 96 ] ac selection and organization of the materials and the teaching of the social studies and elementary science. Growing out of this effort at adaptation of courses in education to the needs of teachers working in this special field, some interesting results have come. One of these stressing education as a joyous experience, 1 shall attempt to describe. At the A. M. and N. College in Pine BluiT, Arkansas, a group of twenty carefully selected Negro teachers of small rural schools came from as many counties for a special course for a period of ten weeks. These were called “key” teachers. Not only did they follow one of the courses in rural education and observe the demonstration in teaching a rural school, but they were provided with special instruction and guidance in several fields. In industrial arts, for example, the regular teachers ot art and shop work cooperated in providing a course containing a variety of activities. The student teachers made useful objects out of wood and stained or painted these objects for use in their schools. They experimented in making stains at low cost with used cylinder oil and tar. They modeled in clay, being instructed in this art by a boy eleven years old who had shown marked ability in his work in the demonstration school. The instruction in music provided a course especially adapted to the rural school in which there is no piano. Suitable action songs were taught and teachers learned to use the harmonica and to make music from glass tumblers by tuning them to the notes of the scale with varying quantities of water and tapping them with small, flexible wooden mallets. The professor of botany met the group oace a week to teach them the names and uses of the trees on the campus and how to recognize them by leaf, bark, and general appearance. The wife of the president taught them the names and uses of wild flowers and how to recognize them. The college librarian gave a course comprising the selection of reading material for children and the care and use of the rural school library. The feature of the school that was most impressive was the attitude of the “key” teachers toward this work. Their faces and manner reflected theit happiness and enthusiasm for the work. It is hardly possible fo. teachers who underwent the happy experience of participating in this work to go back to their posts of duty and continue the dull and dre: wy grind that has characterized the work of so many small rural schools. With such an approach to their task, school work will become for the children also a far happier and more wholesome experience. The state department ot education of the state inviting the “key” teachers to the special summer school course has arranged follow-up plans to keep in touch with the “key” schools, both to check the nature of the classroom work and to determine the school and community relationships. The effect upon the higher institutions of learning carrying on such demonstrations has also been wholesome. Some of these institutions have far] I7 adopted a small rural school within reach of faculty and students, and are using it as a demonstration center for teaching. Some have gone further and have interested their departments of agriculture and home economics, sociology and health in studying the needs of the community served by the small school, and in working with the adults to improve it. While this interest had its beginnings in connection with the summer school demon- stration, several institutions continue their interest in these rural schools and communities thru the regular session and bring into their curriculum for training teachers more of the problems peculiar to this type of school. If the rural school is to fulfil its proper function to play a part in mak ing country life more satisfying and pleasant, the higher institutions of learning that train teachers must provide courses not only in education but in many subjectmatter fields that are related to the improvement of country life. Departments of health, science, agriculture, home economics, sociology, economics, and other fields must be made aware of the special needs of this group of teachers and provide offerings adapted to then needs. Agriculture not only constitutes the means of livelihood for thou sands of rural families but the agricultural operations are familiar to the rural child, and their teaching value must not be ignored. The status of the rural homes from which the children come is a large factor in determining what these children need to be taught and the means to be used in teach ing them. If better health habits and more sanitary health practises are to prevail in rural areas, these habits and practises must grow out of the situation that prevails there. If children are to have a knowledge and appreciation of their environment, courses in nature study or natural science should provide an approach that will enable the children to derive desirable satisfactions from living in the country. If the social and economic conditions of a rural community are entirely ignored in the preparation of a teacher for his task, how can we hope to have the rural school play any part in the reconstruction of country life. Very recently a group made up of representatives of a number of southern states and of the higher educational institutions for Negroes in those states came together for a week at Tuskegee Institute in order to discuss ways in which they might cooperate in having a part in the preparation of rural teachers for their task. These persons came from the special fields of agriculture, home economics, natural science, and health. They spent the week in working as separate groups and as a large com- mittee to determine what special topics in their several fields were of the greatest importance for this purpose. Their findings will result in two courses to be offe red at many schools under the general title of “Special Problems in Rural Home and Farm Life.” By this means, another step in the preparation of rural teachers is taken. Instructors in our higher institutions of learning have thought together about special needs in rural education and have cooperated in producing suggestive material. The i 98] d§ awareness of the needs, rather than the development of specialized sub jectmatter courses, form the basis of their recommendations. There is probably nothing novel in what has been presented here, but it may be said that many more people charged with the responsibility for educating and training teachers for service in small rural schools have given thought and attention to this problem during the last four years than ever before. No imposition of material from the outside will accomplish results so effectively as the devising of ways and means of dealing with this problem by the men and women who actually teach in our higher institutions of learning. Another factor must be mentioned. Because of small salaries and of inadequate buildings and equipment, many rural teachers are a little ashamed of their jobs. In some instances they do not wish to be stigmatized by the term “rural teachers.” As a compensation for a lack of adequate salary and for modern appliances and conveniences for their work, there must be developed in the teacher of the rural school not only a larger vision of service, but also a missionary zeal for his task. For it will take zeal and consecration to entice real teachers to the rural areas and to hasten the day of a better chance for the forgotten child in the country. If the small rural school is to serve the present and future generations of country children effectively, it must have power to do it. In North to the Orient, Anne Morrow Lindbergh describes a Sunday school class she attended at Point Barrow. The wise minister conducting the class knew how to adapt his materials of instruction to his class, using his imagination just as did the Master Teacher: “We have gone astray like sheep,” began the reading. Sheep, what did that mean to them? I saw stony New England pastures and those gray backs moving among blueberry bushes and junipers. “Like the reindeer,” explained the minister, “who have scattered on the tundras.” The listening heads moved. They understood reindeer. “Your garners will be filled.” Big red barns, I saw, and hay wagons rumbling uphill. But the Eskimos? “Your meat cellars” the minister an swered my question, “will be full of reindeer meat.” “Your oxen will be strong,” read the next verse. “Your dogs for your dog teams will pull hard,” continued the minister. “The Power of God.” How could he explain that abstract word Power? “Sometimes when the men are whaling,” he started, “the boats get caught in the ice. We have to take dynamite and break up the ice to let them get out. That is power—dynamite—the dynamite of God!” “For Thine is the Kingdom, the dynamite, and the Glory forever and ever, Amen,” I said over to myself. The Negro rural schools of the South need dynamite, some perhaps, literally, to blow a few wretched shacks out of existence, but all the dyna- mite of God, or power for the task at hand. | 99 ] 99 CHAPTER XV A CURRICULUM FOR SMALL RURAL SCHOOLS Edwin R. Embree Tw EDUCATIONAL NEEDS Of Negro rural children are so identical with those of rural children that I shall place my discussion squarely on the general theme of rural education. The present curriculum has been largely made up by people in cities and has been chiefly aimed toward urban schools. Much of the rote learning is of little value, even to children who are growing up to become clerical and industrial workers. But it is even less appropriate for children of the farms and countrysides. During recent decades, when we were hypnotized by industrial pros- perity and urban glamor, we ceased to think of the country except as a place from which to escape. Formalistic schools were as active as any of the other forces of the past half century in carrying children’s attentions and ambitions from the country to the city. In fact schools were a kind of sieve for separating the smart from the dull and it was an axiom of the times that the smart would quickly migrate to the cities, leaving only the dullards to make country life even more dismal and soggy than it had been before. The first and great reform in rural schools, therefore, is that education shall direct itself to the peculiar needs of country children with a view to making them happy and useful citizens of country life. Let us look for a moment at the kind of preparation children need for rural living. Five items stand out: 1. The ability to read and write clearly and understandingly 2. Some skill in the use of figures 3. Knowledge of farming, including some general understanding of bi ological processes and an appreciation of nature 4. Manual dexterity, especially in the handling of wood, tabrics, and other materials, and in simple mechatiics 5. Health. These are self-evident necessities for any successful life in the country. It seems naive to argue the need of education in such obvious items. But the simple fact is that rural children are not getting from their schools anything approaching adequate preparation in these fundamentals. These five suggestions I submit as the essentials of the elementary-school program in a rural district. If children gain competence in these, they may live happily and successfully. The learning of five broad topics is more important than superficial acquaintance with a great multitude of “lessons.” The problem, especially in rural communities, is to restrict teaching to something like the directness to life of earlier education, to make both teachers and pupils realize that learning is vital to the happiness and ef- fectiveness of the individual child and of the community. [ 100 | 100 CHAPTER XVI LIBRARY SERVICE IN RURAL AREAS Louis R. Wilson CCORDING to information supplied by the American Library Association, 45,000,000 people in the United States live in areas in which service thru public libraries is not available. Another 40,000,000 people, altho hav- ing public library service, are served very inadequately. The remaining 40,000,000 enjoy service Which can be termed “adequate.” An analysis of these data reveals three facts: (1) the 45,000,000 people without any kind of library service reside almost exclusively in rural, agricultural areas; (2) the 40,000,000 with inadequate service live in towns and small cities: and (3) the 40,000,000 with libraries that provide abundant materials are to be found primarily in the larger cities and metropolitan areas. If the analysis is carried still further and the data are broken down among the various regions of the country, it is found that the library facilities in the South are far less extensive than thruout the nation generally. Ot the 33,000,000 people who live in thirteen southern states, 22,000,000 are without library facilities. Stated another way, of the 45,000,000 of the coun- try as a whole who lack library resources, one-half of these live in the South, altho its population constitutes only one-fourth of that of the nation. The percent of the total population without service for the United States is 37: for the South it is 66. During the decade 1926-35 the percent for the United States fell from 43 to 37; for the South it fell from 72 to 66. How- ever, While 3,284,816 more people in the South have library service today than did in 1926, the total number without service is 832,717 greater, be cause population increased faster than library service. Of the 22,000,000 or more persons without library service in the South, 19,750,000 live in rural areas, While 2,500,000 live in southern cities. Similarly, per capita library support, number, of volumes per capita pos sessed, and number of volumes per capita circulated in the South as con- trasted with other regions are lower than they are elsewhere. The $2,558,262 spent in the South for public libraries last year represents a per capita ex- penditure of eight cents. For the nation as a whole, the amount was thirty- eight cents. The 7,830,353 volumes possessed by these libraries represents holdings of one-fifth of a volume per capita. The per capita holdings for the nation are four-fifths of a volume or four times as great. And the 33,931,539 volumes circulated represent a circulation of one book per inhabitant. The corresponding figure for the United States generally is three and two-thirds. Measured by any index involving library resources, the circulation of maga- zines and newspapers, and the presence of bookstores and rental libraries, the rural South ranks far below all other sections. [ rox } 10] In the preceding statements T have dealt with the general distribution of library resources of the country with particular emphasis upon the scarcity of facilities in the rural South. 1 now wish to point out some ot the conditions which have given rise to this situation, or at least which must be considered in projecting any program of library service to the schools in the rural South. First of all, it must be noted that the number of persons per too popula tion nineteen Vvears of age or under in the South is greater than in Any section in the country. The average for the United States is 39: for the South, it is 46. In Coahoma County, Mississippi, one ef the southern coun ties Which has county library service for urban and rural populauions and for schools for both whites and Negroes, 50.6 percent of the population is nineteen years of age or under. That means that for each person under twenty for whom schools and libraries and public health and other services must be provided, there is only one person over twenty years old to pro- vide these services. Marin County, California, another county which main tains a countywide library service, has three persons over twenty, to one under that age. The exact ratio is 74 to 26. Stated differendy, North Caro- lina and Chicago each have approximately three and one-half million population. North Carolina, however, has a school population of goo,000 whereas Chicago's is only 700,000, and the number of persons nineteen years old or under in an equal number of California's total population would be considerably lower still. Not only is the total number of children in the population in the South relatively higher than that of any other section for whom school library service has to be provided, but this service must be provided tor two races with administrative and supervisory costs increased accordingly. Furthermore, So percent of the population of the South is rural and agricultural. In library service, as in school service, this fact tends to increase the difhiculties of operation as contrasted with oper ation in more highly concentrated urban centers. Even more significant than these facts, however, is the further fact that the per capita wealth and’ current income of the South are lower than that of any other region. The av@age per capita income in the South from 192g to 1933 Was $252: for the Northeast it was $681. The accumulated per capita wealth of the two regions would show similar differences. The ability to support library services, which, with urbanization, seems to bear a more definite and positive relation to the provision of librarians than any other factor, is consequently less adequate in the South than elsewhere and adds to the difficulties occasioned by the high percent of children in the popula- tion, by the necessity of providing a dual form of service, and by the dis tance which separates the residents of a sparsely settled rural area. Closely associated with the lack of wealth as affecting the ability of the South as a whole to provide adequate school library service is the inade- quacy of the average southern county as a satisfactory unit to provide finan- | 102 | 102 SC cial support for libraries. The average area of the county in the South, excluding Texas, 1s approximately goo square miles, the population of 54 percent of the 1284 counties 1s less than 20,000, and the total assessed valu- ation of property from which local taxes may be derived is less than S10¢ oo0,000 in 60 percent of the southern counties. In view of these c mditions, unless an excessive tax 1s imposed, or aid from state funds is provided, the county affords an unsatisfactory base for adequate library support. A third group of facts which requires consideration is of those that have to do with the means which states employ 1n providing library service for schools. Libraries, unlike schools, have generally been a charge against a local political unit rather than against the state, and provision for school libraries has not been made mandatory in many INstances in the way that school service generally has been. General plans for prov iding school library support are suthciently common to be worthy of descripuion, Some states require thru statute that a certain amount of money per teacher be pro vided locally by the school. It may be as much as 559 per teacher. In lowa the school must provide fifteen cents per pupil. In North Carolina the state allots, thru the state educ: tional commission, three cents per pupil in aver age daily attendance. This amounts to approximatels $24,000 for the cur rent year, to which schools may add funds provided locally outside the school budget. The total for the state 1 1934 35 raised mn this way was about $80,000. Alabama, thru the State Department of Education, makes certain amounts available on a matching basis to those schools which rats certain amounts loc lly. In sul other states, a part of the regular school budget can be used for library purposes depending upon the decision ot the school authorities concerned. In the southern states, several of these methods are followed and in SIX ot them school library supervisors oper ating in the state departments of education have supervision of the usc made of these funds. Against this general background, the status of library service to Negroes. particularly 1 the rural areas of the South, may be presented. Outside the South, library service for Negroes is the same as that for whites. Bat in the South, where a dual service has been developed, the service to Negroes has not been developed on an equal basis. The same kind ot inequality that exists in the provision for schools appears 10 the provision for hbra rics, Except that i is greater, and for four reasons. (1) the support ol schools is mandatory | all states, whereas legislation prov iding for library support 1s Permissive; (2) the state provides a considerable part of the funds for the school. whereas the library ts largely dependent upon local resources: (3) the state has provided « stensively for the training of teach ers. whereas it has only a minimum ot responsibility for the training o! librarians: and (4) there still lingers mn the South the feeling that book Jearming. os distinguished trom schooling, for the Negro is not essential. The inequality of the support tor schools as represented by the per capita 103 103 expenditure of $44.31 for whites as against $12.57 for Negroes would be evén greater in the case of library service, if service were provided at all. Of the 8,633,437 Negroes in the South in 1935, 1.494.982 were within the, service area of 95 libraries. Eighty-three percent, or 7,138,455. were with- out access to public libraries, and where this service was provided, book collections were meager and badly worn. They were usually poorly housed, they were not as carefully chosen as they should be to meet the require ments of those for whom they were made available, and the training of the custodians in charge of them was at best of a most limited nature. This has been less true in the case of the service provided for Negroes in the dem onstration libraries which have been assisted since 192g in eleven southern counties by the Julius Rosenwald Fund. In these counties library service has been provided for whites and Negroes, urban and rural, in school and out. For city service to Negroes, a branch library has been used as headquarters, and service to the rural areas has been generally provided thru the schools. Service to whites in rural areas has been considerably better but even in these cases, rural service has not been as complete as urban service. In counties without county service, library materials are provided, if provided at all, thru the county rural schools. In_ several southern states, particularly in Alabama and Texas, the county superin- tendents of public instruction have organized school library divisions in their ofhces and books are made available to schools thru teachers. The exchange of books is made at the monthly teachers meetings. The value of this service, however, is limited, because the distribution of materials depends upon the voluntary cooperation of teachers and does not have the careful library supervision which such service demands. If the person in charge of the service were library trained and could devote considerable time to the training and supervision of teachers and custodians. it could be greatly improved. In spite of these limitations in Negro library service, however, progress of an encouraging nature has been made in the past decade. The Library School at Hampton Institute has trained more than 100 librarians who are now serving in southern libraries, many of them in colleges wher: teachers are being trained. Thru these librarians better library. practis« is being demonstrated and effective instruction in library use is provided. Within the same period the Julius Rosenwald Fund has assisted in pro viding approximately 1900 special school libraries of a very excellent kind. Altogether the funds provided in this way and by the schools locally has amounted to $165,000 and the number of volumes acquired is approxi mately 200,000. An institute for the training of Negro librarians has been held in Atlanta, some training in library use has been provided in a “number of Negro summer schools, and Jeanes teachers and the library supervisors in the state department of education have given valuable assistance in promoting library efficiency. In North Carolina, 14 of the [ 104 | 104 73 Negro high schools accredited by the Southern Association evidently have been able to meet the library standards as to training of librarians, number of books and periodicals, ete.: and the total number of volumes in the Negro school libraries in the state in 1933-34 Was 129,000. It should also be pointed out that where library service has been pro- vided for Negro rural schools, it has been highly appreciated and exten- sively used. Visits to such schools in the Rosenwald demonstration counties disclosed the fact that children in the primary grades were supplementing their grade readers with books from the library; and in the higher grades, children could frequently give the titles of a half dozen books they had read with interest during the term. In several schools the grades had formed a library organization and all library materia's were handled by the children in a very orderly and intelligent way. In Webster Parish, Louisiana, where service to the Negro schools is supervised by a former student of Hampton Institute and the University of Indiana, special em phasis is placed on the use of books in the rural schools and homes which deal with health, as well as books which are of interest for recreational reading. Two of the important findings in the survey of the Rosenwald demon- stration libraries relating to Negro library service were: (1) that the type of books read by the Negro pupils in the schools of those counties was much higher than that of books read in schools in counties not having county libraries: and (2) that the childrea in Negro schools who had access to the kind of books contained in the special Rosenwald collections read a greater percent of non-fiction titles than white children in rural schools. There is an abundance of evidence that good books are effectively used, and that increased speed and comprehension in reading can be noted on the part of pupils where library materials are present as con trasted with that of pupils in schools where such materials are not available. If the problem of meeting this situation is to be properly solved, how ever, something more than the present methods will have to be em ploved, and much more financial support will be required. I offer, there fore, the following program for rural school libraries. 1. That state departments of education require that a certain definite amount of money be set aside in the budget of every rural school for the purchase of library materials, Calitornia has handled this matter with greater success than any other American state and has developed an unusually effective school library service. The state educational code requires that in rural schools a minimum ot $25 per teacher must be set aside for library purposes, including supplementary texts, general recreational and cultural books, reference books, professional and teaching aids, program material for various types of school programs, magazines, pictures, and maps. As much as $50 per teacher may be used under the code. Towa requires fitteen cents per pupil, and North [ 105 | 105 Carolina provides three cents from state school funds—an amount obviously too small to make anything like adequate provision for library materials. 2. That in the event there is a county library in a given county, the board of education contract with the library to provide the vural school library service. This provision in the California school code has added greatly to the effectiveness of the school library program as it results in making available practically four volumes to every one that could be provided by an individual school. Certain reference books are placed permanently in all schools, but other materials required for curriculum purposes and recreational reading are supplied thru postal or book truck delivery when required. ‘This method in- creases the number of books available to all the schools and it insures expert selection and supervision which an individual school would otherwise have difficulty in obtaining. 3. That in counties in which it 1s impossible to provide county libraries thru which schools may be served, the county superintendent organize a countywide school service under the direction of a supervisor trained in library management. Thru this type of service some of the benefits which county library service makes possible can be secured and the basis for countywide service can be laid. The total book resources available to all the schools will be increased at least three- or fourfold, depending upon the skill of the supervisor and teachers in effecting exchanges. This plan has been considerably developed in Alabama and Texas. For the provision of general library service for rural sections, | recom- mend the following. 1. The development of county libraries where the population and assessed valuation of property are sufficient to insure proper support. 2. The combination of two or more counties into a regional library in in stances where the population and assessed valuation of the individual counties are not suffi tent to support adequate SETUICE. 3. The close cooperation of county school, library, agricultural, and publi health interests in the development of cooperative programs in order that the limited finances can be made to serve the greatest number possible. For the promotion of library interests generally thruout the rural sections of a state, 1 propose the following recommendations. 1. The provision of funds to be used as a state aid fund to libraries vende ing countywide or regional service, including school library service. 2. The support of library extension agencies in all states. 106 CHAPTER XVII FACTORS AFFECTING RURAL SCHOOL AREAS IN THE SOUTH Charles S. Johnson HE RURAL NEGRO POPULATION is confined almost exclusively to the South. Over half of the Negroes in America still live in the southern rural areas, despite a constant draining off of this population to towns and cities. Historically, they have been related to the plantation and to rural life. Their migration has been due partly to the expulsive force of stag nating agriculture in the old plantation areas, and partly to the breakdown of isolation and the increase of communication with the urban world and its attractions. There is no one South, solid or otherwise. There are distinct regional differences which take their patterns from the dominant economic folk- ways, the historical background, and the degree of isolation from the active cultural areas of the section as a whole. The South, in general, is primarily an agricultural section, with its economics designed for the production of agricultural goods for export, chiefly cotton and tobacco. In the southern states 52.4 percent of all farms are devoted to cotton, and y.2 percent to tobacco. The two major tobacco growing states, North Carolina and Kentucky, have 37.1 and 28.6 percent, respectively, of their farms in tobacco. A system of agriculture of the single cash crop variety, which is essen- tially exploitative of the soil, has laid waste millions of acres of the vital agricultural land of the South. Its labor has been historically the directed slave worker in the more fertile areas, and the small non-property holding white worker in the poorer areas. In testimony to the character of the organization of this agriculture, the small white farmers have joined the Negroes as perpetual tenants; the great estates have begun to disintegrace thru mortgages and debts into impersonal control; the waste lands have accumulated; and a point has been reached at which, authorities indicate, the soil itself cannot adequately support its population. More than half of the total rural farm population live in the South, and a fourth of all southern farm families are Negroes. The section has reflected a number of disturbing tendencies. There is, and has been over a number of years, a constant draining off of the active members, after the area has supported their non-productive years as children, to more promising regions. In the last decade the largest percent of increase has been shown in the upper age groups, suggesting an increas- ing burden of non-productive persons. There are fewer industries for the absorption of the population and the creation of wealth. There is greater population density, smaller buying, earning, and taxing power per capita than in any other section of the country. The wealth of the area is lowest, [ 107 ] 107 the money incomes being from one -hird to one-halt less than = national average. This is a first index to the provisions fot education, health, and general well-being possible tor such an area. In 1929 the ie incomes in America were sings in the southern states, Wi th the Carolinas, Mississipp!. Arkansas, Georgia, and Tennessee at the very bottom. Most important, the dependence upon the staple crops Hot only keeps the rut i} population dependent, in turn, upen uncertain fortunes, but it credtes 1 adc ition a his gh rate of ten. mecyv, with all the evils assocl ited \\ ith this status te the section as a whole 42.4 percent ol the farms are oper edd by tenan in the cotlon belt. OO percent. Nearly halt ol these tenants Are cropy The rates of Tenancy range from 25.1 percent 1 Virginia to over 72 cent 1 Mississipp!. In the profitable growing ot cash crops . cheap labor supply < revard as essenth il. In times ot depression su ich as these, not even cheap libot profit. ble. and no expedient ot the government has vet been able to prove Very much the condition of 60 percent of all the tarmers 11) who are tenants, bevond tempor. Ary reliet for those whe t ul dl Considered a ‘ 1 whole. the rural areas ot the South have remain nearer the economic MAT; gin of subsistence than anv other mayor section and have felt gener. i) changes more severely. Farm income has averaged less. the value ot land and buildings has been less and, as a consequence the level of living has been lower than any other mayor agricultural section The South Adlantic and East South Central divisions have 15 percent ot the land area and 21 percent of the population, but only 11.7 percent ot the income. The ten southern states, 101 example, lead in the incidence of pellagra, well named “hidden hunger. ‘Vhe income mt 28 tor these aaakee 1 states was less than half the country’s average. Soc! iL amstate tions and pub slic facilities, —— provided thru taxation, have had to be meager. If, tor ex. imple, we take the school, which is the most com mon of these Institutions, It appears that the rural areas . demonstrating an increasing inability to suppor anvthing approaching adequate stand ards. In the South will be found the most rapid increase of COUnTTY chil dren in both the village high and elementary schools. The one important source of finance for rural institutions and programs has passed with the failure of appreciation in land values. The Negro rural family has been the marginal worker in agriculture. This is as much a matter of history, and the section’s traditional . yttitude toward the Negro, as a matter of simple rural economics. Only a small proportion of them have been a ible to follow the trek to the Southwest, where the logic of land exhaustion and the expanding frontier directed. In the Southeastern areas, where the position of importance ot the cotton cash crop now declines. are sull to be found the great masses ot the Negro population. In South Carolina and in Mississippi their numbers equal or surpass those of the whites. ros ] 108 A result of no little significance is to be observed in the increasing pres- sure of the Negro population against a soil which is constantly losing its vitality, in high death rates, lower income, and a standard of living moving backward from an already unfortunate level. Various studies have revealed the extremely low incomes of these Negro families. Recent studies of Negro farm families who are chiefly tenants and share croppers show that few are able to earn beyond a bare living. The average annual earnings in 1934 of a selected group of more than 2000 of these families were $105.43. Distributed among a family of five persons, this represents a monthly income of about $1.75 per person. Living standards are, of necessity, on the low level of these earnings. Farm owners earn more, but they represent scarcely more than a fifth of the total. A study of 600 Negro families in an Alabama rural area, in 1932, showed average annual earnings of $105. Arthur Raper of Atlanta studied two counties in Georgia in 1927, and again in 1934. They averaged $302 in ig2>, in the first county, and $380 in the second; but in 1934 the annual earnings were $150 and $299. Families doing farm labor earned as low as $86 annually. Some of these families spent half of their incomes for food alone. The owners spent a smaller proportion. There is an immediate reflection, however, of the food expenditures in the diet. Detailed studies of diet made at various points indicate serious deviations from the standard in calories. A group of Georgia rural white families showed 28.8 percent deviation, and Mississippi Negro cropper families showed a deviation of 61.5 percent. These figures may be compared with a group of so-called typical American tamilies with a deviation of 14.6 percent. It is both ditheult and dangerous to generalize about the various areas and political units of the rural South, where the majority of the Negroes live. As one means of providing a more exact picture, five widely sepa- rated counties, in which careful studies have been made, are measured against a selected list of social and economic items, and one of these, approximating an average, is described more fully. These counties are Laurens in South Carolina, an old cotton area; Bolivar in Mississippi, an wtive plantation area; Limestone in Alabama, a cotton area with white ind) Negro cotton farmers; Johnston in North Carolina, a tobacco and mixed tarming area with high Negro ownership rates; and Greene in Georgia, an area of declining fertility. The average value of all farm dwellings ranged from $719 in Johnston to Sga8 in Bolivar, where there are six times as many Negro as white tarmers. The richest land, however, is in Bolivar County, and the poorest in’ Limestone Counry, according to the average tax per acre. Highest cummings per acre were in Bolivar County, $48.16, Where the largest plantations were found; next in order was Johnston, which has the highest Negro ownership; and lowest earnings were in Greene County, $41.30, where the tarming paid less. The Negro population was highest in [ 109 ] 109 Bolivar and lowest in Johnston. The percent of educables enrolled in schools was about the same in each county for whites and Negroes, but the total varied from 60 in Laurens County to So in Johnston County. Wide variations appeared in the figures for illiteracy. Illiteracy among whites was lowest in Bolivar County, 2.8 percent, and highest in Laurens; Negro illiteracy was lowest in Johnston County, 21.3 percent, and highest in Limestone County, 34.3 percent. As a further test of general literacy, newspaper circulation was lowest in Laurens and Bolivar Counties and highest in Johnston County. Relating these economic and social factors to the school, the average value of school buildings, for whites and Negroes, Was highest in Johnston County, where consolidated schools are a feature of the school program, and lowest in Greene County. The greatest racial disparity existed in Greene County, where the average salary of white teachers was $537.45, and of Negro teachers, $142.00. The disparity was least in Johnston County, where the average salaries were $790 and $511, respectively. More detailed data are provided from Limestone County. Here the Negro population is nearly the same average for the South, 27.3 percent, and there has been a small but constant decrease since 1880. Twelve per- cent of the Negro farm families are owners. The average size of farm owned was found to be 35 acres. The typical dwelling for all Negro farmers was the two- and three-room house. Eighty percent of the farmers had less than a fifth-grade education. Schools—In Limestone County the administration of all Negro schools comes under the office of the county superintendent of schools. The principal of the white high school is also the city superintendent of schools, but the small Athens two-teacher school for Negroes is allowed to come under the county, both in administration and support. In 1933-34 there were twenty-eight public schools in the county for Negroes. There is no Negro high school. Most of the schools offer only six grades of instruction; in some few cases the teachers will add the seventh and eighth grades for the convenience of older students who are unable to leave home to attend the private Trinity School at Athens, which does furnish high-school instruction. Of the total, ten are two-teacher schools, the remainder, one-teacher schools. A Negro supervisor is em- ployed for the schools, at the same time giving attention to the develop- ment of community organization. In 1930, 45 persons were employed as teachers in the Negro schools. Data subsequent to this date are not typical, for the financial distress of the public school systems of Alabama for the past three years has made payments uncertain, where it has not entirely curtailed them. In the vear 1930 a total of $13,557 was paid for the salaries of the Negro teachers. The average salary was $301 per year. The expenditures for teachers’ salaries amounted to 87.4 percent of all expenditures for Negro schools, [ 110 | 110 Enrolment—In 1930 the Negro school enrolment totaled 2441, or 67.8 percent of all Negro children aged five to nineteen. This enrolment was distributed as follows: Number Percent First 1,22] 50.01 Second 310 12.70 Third 392 16.06 Fourth 254 10.41 Fitth 166 6.80 Sixth . gI 3.73 Seventh 6 0.25 Eighth I 0.04 In other words, Limestone County presents the unprecedented spectacle of a school system in which more than one-half of all Negro school chil- dren are in the first grade of school. Accompanying this exposition of the efficiency of a school system are the illiteracy rates for 1930, showing that 34.3 percent of the Negro population over the age of ten years is illiterate. More than go percent of the children are enrolled in the first four grades. Less than thirty out of ten thousand Negro children in Lime- stone County can expect to reach the seventh grade. This showing is the result of a miserably supported school system. It is also a function of the system of agriculture in which the majority of the patrons of this school system are enmeshed. It will be observed that less money is spent for Negro children than is appropriated by the state of Alabama because of the Negro school popu- lation. In 1930, $58,464 came to Limestone County on account of a per capita state apportionment from the state school fund. This apportion- ment was made on the basis of the number of children of both races be- tween the ages of six and twenty. The 3478 Negro children in these age groups were responsible for the receipt by the county of $15,442 from the state. Total payments for Negroes are listed as $16,890. Of this amount, $2717 was received from the Julius Rosenwald Fund. Accordingly, from the Negro share of the state apportionment, the county was able to divert more than a thousand dollars to be used in the education of white children, and to devote every cent of local taxes for schools, whether levied on Negro or white property, to the support also of the white schools. This is not to mention the twenty thousand odd dollars received from the state from statewide taxation for other schoo! purposes in which Negroes did not share, including vocational education funds (federal in origin), attendance funds. The environment of the Negro child—The social institutions into which the Negro child is born define, initially, his status, however carefully he might be sheltered from their implications by his family. The first condi- [oi | 11] a tioning of any child is a matter of modifying his impulses to these insti- tutions, as a practical means of surviving them. In the case of the Negro child, such modification of behavior carries with it, unfortunately, the implication of inferior social status which must be accepted because it cannot be changed. Where there is self-consciousness in the adjustment it is impossible to escape the conflict between the educational philosophy, which assumes participation in the culture, and the Negro child's fixed status of limited participation. Most often, however, the process is not self-conscious, and his defined status is accepted, along with its limitations, as a matter of course. Then it is that the prestige of the dominant pattern prompts idealization and adoption of its forms, even when the substance and meaning are missing. Another important element of the Negro child’s environment is the social life of the Negro group itself—and of his family in particular. Since communication determines, in large measure, the extent of cultural isola- tion, the cultural level of the community will tend to vary with the freedom of this communication. It is lowest in the physically isolated plantation areas where contact with the outside world is scant, and where contact with representatives of the dominant culture, if possible, has im- portant limitations in the fact that the relation calls for recognition of respective racial roles, and it may involve a backward, or narrow, or stagnant white element of the culture, and thus offer no advantage. The isolation of the Negro group is responsible for the general cultural lag of a large volume of this population, and this lag is represented in the longer survival of old folk beliefs and customs taken over from early American colonists, together with the special adaptive practises of the Negroes to their environment. As a consequence, the Negro child inherits a set of folkways which, while perhaps quaint and, in a manner, useful, are nevertheless based upon different and outmoded values. Examples of this are found in the folk medical practises, habits with respect to per- sonal hygiene, notions of social and personal morality, the etiquette of race relations, and speech idioms. The world of the Negro child narrowly limited. The cultural factors referred to take on a cold tangibility in the actual physical provisions for their education. The amount speat for the Negro child in the separate school states is one-fourth the amount spent for the white child, and one-eighth of that spent for the average pupil in the country at large. No small part of the child's environment is the very social tradition which supports the practise of unequal distribution of school funds. In the separate school states as a whole. the amount spent for the Negro children is only 37 percent of what would be expected under an equitable distribution. About three-fourths of these children, as a result, are enrolled in the first four grades, and most of them never go beyond the fourth grade. Of those in school, only about 65 percent are [ 112 ] 112 classed as “retarded” and the majority retarded by more than one year, These facts in themselves have importance as a reflection, both of the influence of the environment and of the educational process. There is further limitation of the environment in the kind of teacher made available. In spite of improvements in this respect over recent vears, the teachers who instruct the Negro children are, in large measure, bound in by the same backward folkways which limit the children. In the state of Georgia, for example, of 5685 Negro teachers, only 2747, or 47 percent, have been able to quality for state certificates.’ Back of the level of the teacher is the low salary provided by the state, which makes impossible support of the living standard implicit in a superior type of instruction, Personality problems—1f an individual's personality is in any sense determined by his role in the social organization—and his conception of himself in this role—it is not difficult to forecast many of the problems of the Negro child. Students of personality overlook an important field in Negro child life. Here the jutting angles of these problems may be viewed in suthcient exaggeration for easy identification. In the school, along with the essential tools and technics, a child is expected to get some of his social and moral codes. For the Negro child the situation has deep-lying conflicts. It is difficult to escape the implications of his status, and these considerations conflict sharply with the moral and social codes embodied in the educa- tional philosophy. Three conclusions seem inescapable: (1) The economic level of Negro life must be lifted as a first essential step in the improvement of social life; (2) public provisions for education must be greatly improved if a dull and costly peasantry is not to be fostered; and (3) finally, a protective realism in the education of Negroes must go along with those changes, long demanded by reason and the public good, in those binding racial traditions which are a hampering heritage of the past. * Beale, Howard K. “The Needs of Negro Education in the United States." Journal of Negro Education Wi: 8-19; January, 1O84 [113] 113 CHAPTER XVIII FINANCING RURAL NEGRO SCHOOLS Ambrose Caliver N ORDER TO UNDERSTAND the special educational needs of Negroes it is | necessary to keep in mind their peculiar historical relation to the American social order. Their former slave status has subjected them to a stream of unfavorable social, economic, and cultural influences which find reflection in the functioning of every phase of their existence. These influences are clearly evident in the provision for and operation of their educational activities. In spite of these retarding influences, education among Negroes has made considerable progress since Emancipation. The advancement during the past two decades has been remarkable. How- ever, great inequalities in educational opportunity still exist, and Negroes cannot effectively function as citizens, nor can the practical ideals of democracy be attained until these inequalities are removed. These inequalities exist in varying degrees in every state and com- munity where separate schools for the colored and white races are main- tained, but they are pronounced in those states and communities that are predominantly rural. In rural areas, the problem of financing the edu- cation of Negroes has relation not only to their unfavorable educational status but also to many other factors which characterize them in their rural setting. PROBLEM OF FINANCING RURAL EDUCATION FOR NEGROES ACUTE Large proportion in rural areas—Why is the problem of financing rural education for Negroes particularly acute? One reason is that the majority of Negroes live in rural areas. Not only does a larger proportion of Negroes live in rural sections, but a larger proportion of them are of school age than in urban sections. There are 6,697,230 Negroes, or 56.3 percent of the total Negro population, living in rural areas of the United States. Of these, 2,547,072 are five to nineteen years of age, inclusive. The percent of Negroes living in strictly rural areas who are of school age (five-nineteen) is approximately 45, as contrasted with approximately 30 percent for those who live in urban communities. This larger propor- tion of children of school age represents a relatively larger education! and financial obligation. Greater illiteracy in rural areas—-A second factor in the problem of financing rural schools for Negroes is their excessive illiteracy. Wherever ‘Data upon which this paper is based are found in the following publications of the author: Bulletin, 1935. No. 12, Avarlabilitry of Education to Negroes tn Rural Communities, Bulletin, 1933, No. 10, Vol. IV, Education of Negro Teachers; Bulletin, 1935, No. 6. Fundamentals in the Education of Negroes; and Bulletin, 1933, No. 5, Rural Elementary Education Among Negroes under Jeanes Supervisors. [ 114 ] 114 illiteracy abounds, poverty and disease are found. And wherever this trinity of evil forces exists it affects the entire population and community in general; and its influence is felt in efforts to improve every phase of life. It is well known that illiteracy among Negroes is higher in rural areas than in urban centers. In a recent representative study, it was found that among Negroes in the age groups ten to fourteen and fifteen to twenty-four, in rural areas, the percent of illiterates ranged from 2 to 6 times as high as in urban centers. Greater child labor in rural areas—Another factor closely associated with the ones just discussed is that of child labor. That the problem of child labor is one of serious proportions among Negroes is illustrated by the following facts: (1) 240,055, or 24.80 percent, of all the children ten to fifteen years old who are gainfully employed are Negro children. (2) Of the Negro children who are gainfully employed, 196,199, or 81.73 percent, are employed in agricultural pursuits in the farming areas. (3) A large proportion of Negro boys are gainfully employed. ‘The proportion in the designated age groups who are gainfully employed follows: ten to fifteen, one-fourth; sixteen to seventeen, two-thirds; and eighteen to twenty, nearly nine-tenths. The percents of these employed youth of the respective age groups who are attending school are 66, 27, and 7. (4) Ap- proximately 80,000 Negro boys in rural areas from the ages of ten to twenty inclusive are neither working nor in school. In addition to the economic problem which this situation reflects, it is also a reflection of a school finance problem; namely, the lack of avail- able and accessible schools of a quality to attract and retain boys. Disorganization of rural life an important factor—The disorganization of rural life is another factor which makes the financing of rural Negro schools an acute problem. Farm tenancy, the one-crop system, land pov- erty, and the introduction of machinery on the farm are among the important factors that have changed the whole character of rural life and produced a restlessness and instability that are unparalleled. As a result, great masses of Negroes are migrating to the cities. More than a million moved from the rural areas of the South between 1920 and 1930. While the factors mentioned above greatly influenced this migration, perhaps, the two most important causes of it have been the lack of security of life and property and the lack of equality of educational opportunity. Both of these causes are associated with a disregard of the sacredness of the personality of Negroes and of their inalienable rights, promulgated by the Declaration of Independence and guaranteed by the Constitution. A little analysis will show how closely related are these factors to the problems of school finance. While predicated on the basis of cold logic and tangible elements, school finance is, nevertheless, greatly influenced by attitudes and emotional factors. [115 | 115 Therefore, the complexity and pervasive nature of the social and economic problems in rural life in general, and among Negroes in par- ticular, greatly accentuate the problem of financing rural schools. And hence, a consideration of the educational needs of Negroes in rural areas must be made in light of the several influencing factors previously discussed. WHAT ARE SOME OF THE PROBLEMS IN NEGRO RURAL SCHOOLS ? It is generally conceded that the major problems of school finance rest upon three major principles, namely, (1) that equalization of educational opportunity should be provided; (2) that the fundamental purpose of egualization efforts should be to approach a desirable program of edu- cation; and (3) that an approach to a desirable program of education should begin with a foundation program, the minimum essentials of which should be available and accessible schools, reasonable term length, adequate number of qualified and well-paid teachers, enriched curriculums adapted to the interests and needs of pupils, and decent buildings and necessary equipment and facilities for effective teaching. We shall attempt to show the significance of these essentials in relation to the financing of Negro rural schools. Available, accessible, and enlarged schools needed —X \arge proportion of Negro children in rural areas, many of whom are very young, live great distances from the schools they attend. Many of them live 2, 3, and 4 miles from school. One-fourth of the children living these excessive distances are eight years old or younger, and one-seventh of those who live 5 miles or more from their school belong to this age group. Not only are the schools for Negro children in rural areas long distances from their homes, but a recent study shows that little transportation is pro- vided for them, and that most of the roads over which they travel to and from school are dirt roads, in need of repair. Many of the schools that are provided are small schools. “Ninety-three percent of all Negro schools are of the one-, two-, and three-teacher type, 64 percent being one-teacher schools; and 24,400, nearly one-half of all Negro teachers, teach in one- and two-teacher schools.” Partly because of the lack of availability and accessibility of schools, practically a million Negro children of school age do not attend school. In 1930, in 15 states, there were 230 counties with a large colored popu- lation that ‘id not provide a single high school for Negroes. Thus it is seen that a major problem of school finance as it concerns Negroes is to provide enough schools of effective size, within reasonable distance from the homes of children. School terms should be lengthened—Nt is common knowledge that the school terms for colored children are short as compared with the accepted 116 | 116 | standard. The average number of days Negro schools are kept open in seventeen southern states is 135, which is approximately one and a half months less than the accepted standard in those states. The cumulative effect of this annual loss over one school generation of 12 years means a difference of 18 months, or two school years. The situation in strictly rural areas, of course, is even worse than this. In a recent study of 50,000 Negro children in rural areas, it was found that 18 percent attended schools with terms of 80 to 100 days, and 50 percent attended schools with terms of 101 to 140 days. Referring to accessibility of schools, discussed in the preceding section, this same study revealed that Negro children in rural areas suffered the double handicap of inaccessibility and short terms, for it was found that in general the farther children live from school the shorter the term available. Qualified, well-paid teachers needed—The poor preparation and com- pensation of the Negro teacher in rural communities are too well known to require more than passing notice here, In the National Survey of the Education of Teachers, it was found that two-thirds of the Negro teachers in the open country had only 4 years of high-school education or less. It was also found that of all the Negro teachers having 4 years of high- school education or less more than half of them teach in one- or two- teacher rural schools. A large percent of teachers in rural areas receive salaries as low as $200 a year, the median being considerably less than $400. There is great need for more Negro teachers. If the demand were calculated on the basis of optimum need resulting from an equalization of educational opportunity, it is estimated that a total of 30,000 additional Negro teachers would be required. Curriculums are narrow and ill-adapted to needs—With small schools and poor teachers, narrow and ill-adapted curriculums are to be expected. “The traditional subjects are less expensive!” This is the ready argument which is advanced by those who are unwilling to substitute the “practical,” laboratory subjects and type of instruction for the “cultural” and classical. It is not the implication here that these so-called cultural subjects should be eliminated, but rather that more emphasis should be placed on “how to live well, here and now.” The high morbidity and mortality rates among Negroes, the occupational maladjustments, the disorganization of the home, and the general social and personal problems found in rural life indicate the need of revamping the curriculum in terms of these urgent needs. Buildings and necessary equipment and facilities needed—Thousands of Negro rural schools are housed in private homes and in churches and lodge buildings. (In one state alone more than 1000 schools are so housed.) Practically all of the regular school buildings are of frame structure, and [117] 117 a a large percent of them are in need of repair. Desks, blackboards, textbooks, and other teaching aids are frequently conspicuous by their absence. Effective supervision lacking—Ilf there is any one problem in the edu- cation of Negroes in rural areas that is more acute than others it prob- ably is supervision. Practically the only supervision given Negro schools in many counties comes from Jeanes supervising teachers, who are so overloaded that they cannot hope to provide the type of professional supervision required. In the absence of Jeanes workers, the average Negro teacher in rural sections is frequently left alone to do the best he can, because the county superintendents and supervisors “have all they can do t» look after the white schools, and, therefore, are unable to give personal attention to the Negro schools.” This should be one of the first problems attacked when a better system of financing is provided. EQUALIZATION FUNDS REQUIRED TO MEET THE PROBLEMS The factors and problems discussed thus far are of such magnitude and complexity that it is impossible for local school districts to solve them. And, because of the mobility of the population and the interde- pendence of communities, it is only logical and proper that some central agency of the people attack the job of attempting to equalize educational opportunity. The report of the National Conference on Fundamental Problems in the Education of Negroes clearly stated the case of the equalization of educational opportunity as it relates to Negroes as follows, Authorities in school finance believe that equalization funds should guaran- tee a minimum educational program for a// the children. If all the children of the area being aided are not given equal opportunity to receive an education in keeping with their interests, needs, and capacities, then the system of equitable support made possible is vitiated and the principle of democracy is violated. Among the elements to be considered in a minimum educational program, the following appear to be essential: (1) Available and accessible schools, (2) term length, (3) number and qualification of teachers, (4) curriculum offerings, (5) equipment and facilities, (6) transportation, and (7) tuition of nonresident students. In the states maintaining separate schools for the two races it has been shown that in practically every case Negroes fall short of approximating the accepted standard. And when the minimum program for whites is below standard, as is frequently the case, the Negroes’ deficiencies are greatly accentuated. Serious inequalities exist between colored and white schools in practically all the essentials of the minimum program listed. In considering educational need of jocalities and states, this fact should have significance. Also, in consid- ering the effort of communities and states to support education, their attempt to equalize the educational oppertunities of all their children—rural and urban and colored and white—shoula be an important criterion. [ 118 ] 118 In all discussions of minimum programs of education, the qualitative aspects should be borne in mind as well as the quantitative. Need—There are no absolute indexes of educational need that may be applied universally; however, it is believed that within a given state a “de- fensible minimum educational program” can be established and a measure of need derived in terms of the extent to which communities and districts within the state fall below that minimum and the funds required to bring them up to it. In all such calculations a true measure of need cannot be attained without treating Negroes on an equal basis with others. However, there is not as much danger of their not being included in calculating need as in distributing the funds after they are received. Ability—From the broad point of view ability of a district or state to support a minimum educational program should be based on potential wealth as well as actual wealth. There would then be a tendency for the districts or states to adopt progressive measures in developing their natural and human resources. However, ability will be discussed here from the narrow point of view, namely, the extent to which revenue can be obtained through the operation of the taxing system. Viewed from this angle, it is possible to increase the ability to support an educational program by improving the taxing system. Some of the factors that should be considered in determining the ability of a district or state to pay for education are: 1. Size of the taxing unit (small districts increase inability) 2. System of assessments (uncoordinated assessment systems result in in- equitable assessment) 3. Plan of collections (inefficiency here results in great loss due to tax delinquencies ) 4. Economy in expenditures (securing adequate returns for each educa. tional dollar spent). As previously stated, the fundamental purpose of all equalization efforts has been or should be to approach a desirable program of education, equitably distributed to all the children. If this is not the assumption on which equali zation funds are requested and granted, then they would seem to have no justification. In some of the states now providing equalization funds the Negro not only ails to receive equitable treatment but, notwithstanding the fact that his edu cational status is improved along with that of whites by such funds, the in equalities between the two are increased. The plea made for aid in the report of the conference committee on financial support of Negro education is predicated on the assumption that states needing to do so will increase their own ability by improving their taxing systems, It is also assumed that those states which have been derelict in applying the demo cratic principle of equality in the distribution of equalization funds shall give assurance that this situation will be remedied in the future, if and when addi- tional funds are made available. PUBLICATIONS 1931 Special Problems in the Education of Rural Children, 64 p. 25¢ 1932 Agencies Contributing to Rural Education, §1 p. 25¢ 1933 Organization of Curriculum for One-Teacher Schools, 44 p. 25¢ 1934 Economical Enrichment of the Small Secondary School Curriculum, 96 p. 50¢ 1935 The Preparation of Rural Teachers. (Available after March, 1937) 1936 Rural School Libraries, 96 p. 50¢ 1937 Adjustments in Rural Education, 124 p. 50¢ Publications of N. E. A. of Interest to Rural Education The Outlook for Rural Education, Research Bulletin, Vol. IX, No. 4, September, 1931, 72 p. 25¢ Safety in Pupil Transportation, Research Bulletin, Vol. XIV, No. 5, November, 1936, 48 p. 25¢ Minimum Health Requirements for Rural Schools, 8 p. 1o¢ Health Essentials for Rural School Children, 24 p. 15¢ Health Improvement in Rural Schools, 52 p. 25¢ Discounts on quantities of same book 2- 9 Copies 10°, 10-99 Copies 25 1o0-or more 3343% Orders for $1.00 or less must be accompanied by funds, If re- mittance accompanies those for larger amounts, it will greatly facilitate handling in this office, Transportation will be charged on billed orders, All checks should be made payable to NATIONAL EDUCATION ASSOCIATION and mailed to 1201 SIXTEENTH STREET, NORTHWEST WASHINGTON, D, C, [ 120 ] 120