BULLETIN. OF THE DEPART. . MENT. OF SECONDARY-SCHOOL | PRINCIPALS OF THE NATIONAL |. EDUCATION’ ASSOCIATION, © ; “Issued Five Times‘ a Year ante 2 ‘January, Moreh, Abed May. and December APRIL, 1934: "BULLETIN NUMBER st PA PERS. ic | afte HEP ‘Washington side » : a ing _ Pobllobad by a es ?HE woapaieiigite OF. SECONDARY-SCHOOL PRINCIPALS. t OF THE NATIONAL: EDUCATION ASSOCIATION 5 Coe uh _ Bab Kimbark Avene, Chicago AOR if Nei ss cs sulin bhabes pacas Wicca mas i 2 at Chicago, Minois, under the Act of August 24, 1912.’ Acceptance for ee TORRE Ab FaOein) Rte Gl DOMED: PONS Bed fn. Settlon SE, Sat ot ae S sbrecgilig foyer agra a ‘nef 80 Cents Reh hey een #9000 our. DEPARTMENT OF SECONDARY-SCHOOL PRINCIPALS NATIONAL EDUCATION ASSOCIATION 1934-1985 OFFICERS President: CHARLES F. ALLEN Supervisor of Secondary Education, Little Rock, Arkansas First Vice President: Harrison’ C. Lyseru State Supervisor of Secondary Education, Augusta, Maine Second Vice President: WitnarD N. VAN SLYCK Principal of High School, Topeka, Kansas wecutive Secretary:. H. V.. CHURCH 5836 Kimbark Avenue, Chicago’ EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE Roperr B.. Clem | Principal Shawnee High School, Louisville, Kentucky Director of Admis signa University f California, ssions, versity 0 Berkeley, California “ “W. L, Newron Principal.of Rome Free Academy, Rome, New York NATIONAL COUNCIL OF THE NATIONAL HONOR SOCIETY M.'R, McDANrEL, President Principal of Oak Park and nd River Jerk Township High School, _ Supervisor of scan Fees Rock, Arbintes\’ Principal of North ih Wichita, Kansas Principal of West ee ido High Beheo 1, Denver, Colorado Principal of mies High Scot i i A Minnesota Principal of Lincoln High § School, Cleveland, Ohio Harry C. McKown Gilson, Mlinois : Louis E, PLUMMER .- Principal of Puleten | Union ein, orate School and Junior College, Pri 1 of mus fer cing Junie High School, ncipa’ pony IT or “ Los A Kg Tan H. V. 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If the data opposite your name in the Directory of Bulletin 49 is incomplete or incorrect, please send correct ma- terial at once to the Department address, 5835 Kimbark Ave- nue, Chicago. If you do not have access to Bulletin 49, please fill blank below and send it at once. Bencfits of Membership in the DEPARTMENT OF SECONDARY-SCHOOL PRINCIPALS 1. Five Bulletins (each year) 2. Reduced rates for: (a) Uniform Certificates (transfer blanks) (b) Personal Record Cards (for scholastic and personal trait records) 3. Opportunity to members to have in their schools: (a) Chapters of Senior Honor Society (for third and fourth year pupils) (b) Chapters of Junior Honor Society (for grades eight, nine, and ten) 1. Group Life Insurance (at very inexpensive rates) Automobile Insurance (reduction through our dividends over manual rates) 6. Fire Insurance (reduction over regular rates because of our dividends) 7. Health Insurance. 8. Dividends based on aggregate participation in the offer- ings of the Department. 9. Back numbers of the Bulletins of the Department at 50 per cent off. 10. Magazines at reduced rates. DUES, TWO DOLLARS A YEAR. Direct all inquiries in regard to the above to H. V. CHURCH, 5835 Kimbark Avenue, Chicago. TEAR OFF AT DOTTED LINE, AND MAIL TO H. V. CHURCH 5835 Kimbark Avenue, Chicago. As | a eee eee eee een ie i sista isaac salad ecards allan incache iecaates Degrees ________---_-.- area Ss ini se lel a cas a eee (Bachelor's, and year) ee Se See ane e SS mee es — (Year in which you came) (Title of position) (Name of institution) I i a Se ws cae akan aap des lee ee en eee (Give street and number) (City) (State) REVISED PROPOSALS FOR ATLANTIC CITY PROGRAM OF DEPARTMENT OF SECONDARY- SCHOOL PRINCIPALS FEBRUARY 25, 26, and 27, 1934 I MONDAY P. M. (A session arranged for by Mr. Allen and not concerned with the Tercentenary Celebration.) II TUESDAY A. M. Tercentenary Program THEME: Secondary Education in Retrospect 1. The First American Secondary School Jesse B. Davis, Professor Boston University, Boston, Massachusetts The Philosophies that Have Guided Secondary Education in the Past George M. Wylie, Assistant Commissioner University of the State of New York, Albany, New York 3. Great Leaders in Secondary Education in the Past W. J. Cooper, Professor George Washington University, Washington, D. C. 4. Three Hundred Years of Education for Girls Miss Lucy W. M. Wilson, Principal South Philadelphia High School for Girls, Philadel- phia, Pennsylvania. bo bh TUESDAY P. M. Tercentenary Program (Continued) THEME: The Secondary Schools at Work To-day 1. The Unique Characteristics of Secondary Education To- de r ‘William McAndrew, Editorial Department School and Society, East Setauket, New York . What the Private Secondary Schools Are Contributing to American Life To-day B. W. Fowler, Head Master Tower Hill School, Wilmington, Delaware . Responsibilities of Public Secondary Education in an Age of Leisure R. D. Lindquist, Director of the University School Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio . Forces that Are Handicapping Secondary Education To- day J. B. Edmonson, Dean of School of Education University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan TUESDAY EVENING Tercentenary Program Joint Meeting with the Department of Superintendence THEME: Secondary Education as an Assential Factor in a Na- tional Development Program 1. The Historical Development of Secondary Education in America C. H. Judd, Director of School of Education University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois 2. The Philosophy Which Must Guide Secondary Education To-day T. H. Briggs, Professor of Secondary Education Teachers College, Columbia University, New York City 3. The Financial Policies Which Must Be Worked Out for Secondary Education J. K. Norton, Professor of Education Teachers College, Columbia University, New York City 4. Bringing the Public to Codperate More Fully in a Pro- gram of Secondary Education G. F. Zook, President American Council of Education, Washington, D. C. III WEDNESDAY A. M. (Program arranged by Mr. Allen independent of the Tercen- tenary Celebration.) WEDNESDAY NOON (Program arranged by Mr. Allen independent of the Tercen- tenary Celebration.) WEDNESDAY P. M. Joint Mecting with the Department of Secondary Education THEME: Special Aspects of Secondary Education 1. Secondary-School Curriculum Changes during the Past Three Hundred Years George Counts, Associate Director, International Insti- tute, Columbia University, New York City 2. Changes in Methods of Teaching in Secondary Schools During the Past Three Hundred Years Harl R. Douglass, Professor of Secondary Education University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota 2. Three Hundred Years of Changes in Teacher Training for Secondary Schools William Wetzel, Principal Central High School, Trenton, N. J. . Three Hundred Years of Changes in Secondarvy-School Administration lL. V. Koos, Professor of Education University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois BULLETIN NUMBER 51 DEPARTMENT OF SECONDARY-SCHOOL PRINCIPALS OF THE NATIONAL EDUCATION ASSOCIATION APRIL, 1934 CONTENTS PART I Papers delivered at the summer meeting of the DEPARTMENT OF SECONDARY-SCHOOL PRINCIPALS of the NATIONAL EDUCATION ASSOCIATION Monday and Tuesday, July 2 and 3, 1934 The Ballroom, Hotel Raleigh Washington, D. C. An Interpretation of the Work of the Dean of Girls.......... Dorothy Stratton The Functions of the Secondary Schools in the Peace of the World... 0................... Arthur Charles Watkins Proposed National Revisions of Secondary-School Stand- ards to Meet the New Democracy Joseph Roemer Methods of Instructing Large Classes in Secondary Schools of the New Democracy William H. Gray How the Guidance Programs of Secondary Schools May Function in the New Democracy................0scar Granger How the High-School Library May Function in the New Democracy.. ocs-eee.s------....Anna Clarke Kennedy* PART II NATIONAL HONOR SOCIETY Method of Electing Members to the National Honor Society_.63 PART II] Department Matters *Will be published in Bulletin 52. o PART | AN INTERPRETATION OF THE WORK OF THE DEAN OF GIRLS Dr. DOROTHY STRATTON Dean of Women, Purdue University Lafayette, [udiana The beauty of a picture is affected by the frame which surrounds it. The intensity of a color varies with its back- ground. Should we need more than our own experience to verify these statements, we have only to turn for support to the teachings of the Gestalt psychologists with their emphasis upon the interrelationship of figure and background. Simi- larly, evaluation of the work of one school official can be made only in the light of the setting in which she works. Therefore, in attempting to interpret the work of the dean of girls, we must consider first the goals toward which secondary educa- tion is directed, the background against which her work is cast. Dean Russell made the statement recently, ““‘We have mas- tered our environment, what we cannot control is ourselves.” The force of this statement comes home to us as we view the contemporary scene. We are a clever enough people mechan- ically. We can invent electric washing machines, vacuum cleaners, and refrigerators which run for the price of one light bulb and which are so ingenious that Einstein goes down on his knees to examine the machinery and exclaims, “Marvelous”. We seem not to have learned, however, to make human beings happier, to lower our divorce rate, to reduce our percentage of suicides, to give men a feeling of the worthwhileness of work, or, in fact, to be able to provide work of any kind for many of our citizens. We who are working with the human element cannot point with pride to the progress which has been made toward the solution of social problems. Whether we will or not, we are responsible to a certain extent for the kind of edu- cation which is being offered in high schools to-day, and it 7 8 1934 WASHINGTON SUMMER MEETING seems, therefore, that it behooves us to be rather certain that the goals we have in mind are worth accomplishing. What are worthwhile objectives for a secondary school? We hear a great deal currently about a return to the three R’s. The schools, say some critics, should eliminate everything but the core of the curriculum, the three R’s. Certainly no one would question the necessity of teaching the three R’s, but to emphasize these as the core of the curriculum seems a rather barren equipment to offer students who are to live in our pres- ent complicated environment. Chemistry, plane geometry, Latin, and English composition are rewarding fields of study for many adolescents, but a study of any or all of these sub- jects may easily prove a poor preparation for contemporary life. May it not be that the emphasis of the secondary schools must shift from the three R’s to the three C’s—character, cit- izenship, and culture? If we consider for the time being that the development of character, citizenship, and culture may be worthwhile ob- jectives for the secondary school, we may proceed to consider the contribution which a dean of girls may make to the guid- ance program of a school of this type. By the use of the term guidance I mean to include educational and vocational guid- ance, social guidance, and personal counselling. Upon first viewing the work of a high-school dean as re- vealed in time schedules, one is tempted to ask not what does a high-school dean do, but what doesn’t a high-school dean do. One sees a long series of disconnected items running, perhaps, somewhat as follows: 8 :00—Conference with Mary Jones regarding repeated ab- sences. 8 :15—Adjustment of academic program for girl who must go to work at 1:30 each afternoon. 8 :30—Conference with high-school principal and dean of boys on plan of enrolling students from junior high schools. 9 :00-9 :40—Teach—World History. 9:50—Conference with sophomore class sponsor regarding plans for sophomore party. 10 :20—Conference with senior girl regarding college entrance. DEPARTMENT OF SECONDARY-SCHOOL PRINCIPALS 9. 10:40—Conference with President of Parent-Teachers’ Asso- ciation regarding Fathers’ Night. 11:30—Conference with Mary Brown regarding poor work no- tice in United States History. 11:45—Conference with head of Physical Education Depart- ment regarding plans for underweight girls. 12 :00-12 :45—Lunch. 12 :45-1:15—Series of brief conferences with students regard- ing cutting, excuses, and so forth. 1:15-1:45—Conference with Girls’ League officers to plan for reception to new girls. 1 :45-2 :30—Meeting of committee to plan the home room pro- gram. 2 :30-3 :00—Check up on seniors with delinquency notices. 3 :00-3 :30—Miscellaneous period; mostly students stopping in at the close of school on minor matters. 3 :30-4 :00—-Conference with parents of girl who has been ab- sent because of illness. 4:00-4:30—Work on talk to local Y. W. C. A. group. 4:30-5:15—Home for breathing spell. 5:30—Dinner and speech. 9 :00—Home. At first glance, this schedule may appear to be a series of items without continuity and having little significance. It has, however, much in common with the familiar illustrations testing perception, which are found in all beginning psychol- ogy books. One’s first impression of such an illustration is of a series of unrelated lines which convey no meaning, but as one examines it more closely the lines suddenly seem to become a unit, to take on meaning and one recognizes a familiar object. So it is with the time schedule of a dean. If one brings to the study of this schedule a background of educational theory and an understanding of the major objectives of the dean’s work, the apparently unrelated items take on a different meaning. Because the real significance of the dean’s work is often obscured by the mass of detail with which she deals, I should like to use one more illustration to project the main outlines 10 1934 WASHINGTON SUMMER MEETING of her job against the background of the goals of secondary education as we have conceived them. From Seattle, Wash- ington, on a clear day, one may see the majesty and beauty of Mt. Rainier. Many days during the year its outlines are not discernible. Often fog obscures it. Even on a clear day some comparatively small object, such as a skyscraper, may hide the mountain from one’s view. However, those whose homes are in Seattle learn to have a feeling of the nearness of the moun- tain and of its greatness and strength even when it is ob- scured by clouds, fog, or skyscrapers. So with the person seeking the meaning of the work of the dean, he must have a penetrating eye which will enable him to see through the fog of detail to the stark outlines of the real job. What then are the major functions of the dean of girls? She has her best opportunity to be of service in a school which recognizes the importance of the development of character, citizenship, and culture in its student body. The dean contrib- utes to the achievement of these objectives in two ways: First, she studies constantly the school environment to see whether it is making as constructive a contribution as possible to the life of the students. Second, she works with the individual student to help her attain the best adjustment and develop- ment of which she is capable. Let us consider the first of these two major divisions of the dean’s work; that of studying, in codperation with other school officials, the school environment with the purpose of discovering whether it is conducive to the kinds of responses the school wishes to develop; in short, whether it contributes to the development of character, citizenship, and culture. It should not be the major function of a principal or dean to deal with infractions of rules after they occur, but rather to pre- vent in so far as possible their occurrence. That is to say, our chief aim should be a positive one, that of building an environ- ment which encourages desirable responses. This, of course, is not a dramatic plan of administration or one which often receives full appreciation from faculty members or commu- nity, but it is, nevertheless, a most effective method. Dewey says: “We cannot change habit directly: that notion is magic. But we can change it indirectly by modifying conditions, by an intelligent selection and weighing of the objects which engage attention and which influence the fulfillment of desires.”” With DEPARTMENT OF SECONDARY-SCHOOL PRINCIPALS 11 this in mind, the dean may study those elements in the school situation which encourage a person to take the property of others, to falsify an.excuse, to boo a performer in assembly, or to crib in examinations, and may then make a definite ef- fort to modify them. May I give several illustrations of the type of preventive action I have in mind. Suppose, for example, that a particular school is having considerable difficulty with paper being torn in small pieces and strewn through the halls. This, of course, is a minor annoyance, but one which makes the appearance of the hallways unsightly and arouses the ire of caretakers. There are at least two ways of attempting to correct the situa- tion; one is to spend one’s time picking up the pieces of paper, piecing them together, ascertaining who the offender is and endeavoring to correct the habits of the particular individual or individuals so discovered. Another method of approach is to see whether waste baskets are conveniently located and whether they are at frequent enough intervals so that the stu- dent is encouraged to throw his paper in the waste basket rather than on the floors of the halls and classrooms. Some- times a small expenditure of money on waste baskets will save considerable time for school employees. At least, it appears that this method is worth a trial before one begins to work on the individual offenders. Again the attendance office may be having repeated and increased difficulty with students who are tardy between classes. What are the possible ways of solving this problem? One might, of course, if there were money in the school budget, add an additional attendance clerk, or one might admit stu- dents to classes without tardy slips, or one might scold the offenders, or one might study the external situation. Pos- sibly the students who are repeatedly late have unusually long distances to come; perhaps they are members of the orchestra and have to put away instruments after the close of the period ; possibly some teacher is holding a class beyond the time of passing. Should any of these conditions be found, they can be corrected much more easily and with less expenditure of time and effort than can individual students be harangued about their continual tardiness. Moreover, the dean is not put in the position to be continually fussing about trivial matters. Or, again, let us suppose that there is difficulty with the order in 12 1934 WASHINGTON SUMMER MEETING assembly. One may study first the plan of seating, the acous- tics of the room, the type of program presented, and the length of the assembly period. Possibly a certain percentage of stu- dents cannot hear and, therefore, become restless, or perhaps they are entirely uninterested in the type of program pre- sented. It seems that the day has passed, if, indeed, it were ever here, when students will sit peacefully through a forty minute assembly program which they cannot hear or in which they are not interested. In her study of the school environment, the dean will in- clude a careful consideration of the extra-curriculum program of the school to see whether it is contributing to the general objectives of the school. She will be interested particularly to learn whether large numbers of individuals are having an op- portunity to participate in it or whether participation is re- served for the chosen few. Intramural games, school elec- tions, musical programs after school hours sponsored by some school organization, special displays from the art classes, active work by students in the home room periods, discussion of current social problems in the home room periods, all offer opportunity for the development of the three C’s. These ac- tivities are motivated. They call forth the best effort of stu- dents. They give that sense of worthwhileness which the cur- riculum work sometimes lacks. They will not, of course, auto- matically accomplish the desired goals. The dean must see that their “set-up” favors desirable reactions. None of these goals, is of course, achieved by the dean alone. She works in close codperation with the principal and with parents, faculty members, townspeople, physicians, den- tists, social workers, committees of students, student organi- zations, and faculty committees. Believing that character is but the sum of the daily habits of a life time, she knows that it is essential that actual testing situations be given frequently. The daily life of the school provides an excellent laboratory for these experiments. The second major division of the dean’s job is that of working with the individual student. The office of the dean is one place in the bustle of the secondary school where the indi- vidual reigns supreme over textbooks, courses of study, and routine regulations, and where she is considered not in the light of how much social science she knows or how good an ath- DEPARTMENT OF SECONDARY-SCHOOL PRINCIPALS 13 lete she is, but in the light of all that is known regarding her entire personality. In order to be of help to the individual student, the dean must have easy access to the cumulative records of the school. She must have some background of information concerning the ability of the student, her particular subject matter weak- nesses, her home environment, the present family situation, the girl’s health, and so on. She must be aware of the fact that the problem which appears to be uppermost may be merely an indication of some more serious maladjustment. For example, one of the most annoying problems with which principals, teachers, and deans have to deal is that of the chronic cutter, the serious attendance case. It sometimes takes years of experience for a dean to realize that the cutting is not the major difficulty but is merely the symptom of trouble elsewhere. The cuts from classes may mean that the girl is bored with school work, feels inadequate to the tasks assigned, is worried over an unhappy home situation, or is running away from some problem which appears insoluble. Jean is an example of the last mentioned type of difficulty. In her junior year, she became a chronic cutter. Whenever she could secure a car she was off for several periods or, per- haps, a day. When questioned about these repeated absences she was always courteous and pleasant, but her attendance did not improve. Finally, when the situation was growing acute, one of Jean’s chums came to the dean and asked very simply, “Did you know that Jean’s father and mother are getting a divorce and that Jean is very fond of both of her parents?” The dean, in her inexperience, had failed to see that the cutting was only a danger signal and not the real difficulty. The principal who recognizes in the school a laboratory in which the students may grow in character, citizenship, and culture will find in his dean of girls a person trained in the knowledge and skills necessary to the development of his pro- gram. Fortunate will be the dean of girls whose principal sees through the morass of detail which adheres to her office and who recognizes in her a guidance worker with the two main functions of improving the school environment through work with community, faculty, and student groups, and of assisting in the adjustment of individual students. 14 1934 WASHINGTON SUMMER MEETING THE FUNCTIONS OF SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN THE PEACE OF THE WORLD ARTHUR CHARLES WATKINS Director of the National Student Forum on the Paris Pact As there is at the present time in our country something of a spirit of discouragement over the prospects for world peace, may I not create an atmosphere for my paper by read- ing an Associated Press report of an interview with Hon. Frank B. Kellogg which appeared in The Washington Post under date of June 11? “Forseeing no possibility of another world war, Frank B. Kellogg said yesterday he was ‘extremely gratified’ the Senate had authorized an investigation of munitions manufacture, and predicted its committee would uncover ‘startling revela- tions!’ “*The Nye investigating committee will strike real pay dirt’, the former Secretary of State and long-time peace advo- cate asserted with emphasis. “The Nobel Peace Prize winner of 1929, now approaching his eightieth year, tapped his walking stick with vigor as he expressed his belief that there was a close and definite con- nection between ‘war talk’ and the selling of armaments, and he expressed his hope the Senate committee would dig deep into the whole ‘revolting business.’ “ ‘T see no probability of a world war again’, the co-author of the Kellogg-Briand pact said. ‘Nations and peoples have come to their senses, and have not forgotten and will not soon forget the awful horror, misery and beastliness of the last con- flict, which still has the world prostrate. “ ‘Civilization nearly succumbed in that conflict, and it would be ruined in another.’ “Kellogg said he was convinced peace machinery built up since 1919 had had and would continue to have a real effect in preventing future conflicts, but beyond that he said he was convinced no people on the face of the earth to-day wanted war. “Questioned by reporters about pleas for ‘adequate Na- tional defense’, he said: DEPARTMENT OF SECONDARY-SCHOOL PRINCIPALS 15 “Adequate defense is the shibboleth of every big navy and army man the world over. Back of it is war scare talk and the desire for profits from making munitions. It is munitions salesmanship that is rushing all nations into an armament race to-day, and causing them to arm to the teeth. I pray the world will learn the real truth, and expose the profiteers.’ “Kellogg said he now was ‘farming a little, practicing a little law and enjoying life generally’. The optimism and the boldness of this great peace leader should impart encouragement and optimism to all of us. In attempting to deal with the topic assigned, it may be the easiest approach if we consider the second part first. Be- fore anyone can work effectively, he must clear away any rub- bish that may lie around him. The best way to do this is to do it good-naturedly. Let us try to understand what “peace” is not. By “peace” we do not mean the lull between spasms of fighting, nor spineless submission to an attack by some bully, nor standing idly or helplessly by while somebody beats your mother-in-law (however much poetic justice you might feel there would be in such a procedure!), nor peace at any price, nor any of the suppositionary situations indicated by the classic fool expressions which we have heard hawked about ad nauseam by people who either could not think intelligently themselves or did not want to facilitate clear thinking on the part of others. By “peace’”’, we mean a way of life—the living of a “peace- able” life made possible by the development of a “peaceable” mental and moral attitude. By “peace” we mean the extension of this attitude and way of life beyond the individual to the home, to the school, to the community, to the nation, to the family of nations. A state of “peace” does not contemplate an absence of questions, problems, conflicting interests—either physical, in- tellectual, economic, ethical or religious. It simply means that we have decided not to fight about them. It means that we have developed mentally to the point where we are unwilling longer to let anyone prevent our seeing one of the most obvious things in the world—the fact that fighting over questions does 16 1934 WASHINGTON SUMMER MEETING not help to solve them but does make the solution of them far more difficult if not, in our time, utterly impossible. Except for those occasional black instances of physical fighting in families and of group killing or banditry in the community on the part of individuals who, because society re- fused or failed to do its duty by them, became criminally vio- lent, this conception and state of “peace” is very general to-day throughout all lands. It is the accepted normal way of life. If we have thought it was less the accepted mode in the last fifteen years than it used to be, let us not be astonished. The world could not witness four years of carnage and all kinds of violence on the part of nations without many individuals also concluding that violence was the easiest, quickest, and there- fore most approved way of getting what one wanted. By the “peace of the world” we mean the adoption of tne consultation, conference, adjustment, codperation method on the part of nations for dealing with all questions and prob- lems of an international character. The organization of the League of Nations at the close of the World War was the great expression of the world’s determination to get onto a higher level of world life. If clear intellectual and political vision and judgment had ruled in the formulation of the League Cov- enant and if the black and menacing shadow of national arm- ies and navies had not been allowed to remain in the back- ground of the League organization—in other words, if mili- tarists had not overwhelmed the men of peace in the formation of a world league to deal with the world’s problems—all the na- tions of the world would probably have entered the League of Nations, peaceful methods and only peaceful methods would have been approved, and the peace of the world would by now have been to a great extent consolidated. To-day we should have had a powerful world organization because built on the principle of “peaceful methods”. But the gun-makers and the leaders who were frightened by the gun-makers car- ried the day, sanctions were incorporated in the Covenant, and to-day it is a question whether or not the League will live.- It is neither a “league of peace” nor a “league to enforce peace”. Many noble souls are working to make it a “league of peace” and optimistically believe it can be made such. Russia may join the League in September, Germany may be persuaded later to return, and, when convinced that it is truly going to DEPARTMENT OF SECONDARY-SCHOOL PRINCIPALS 17 be a “league of peace’, the United States will doubtless become a member. America’s fundamental idea of “peaceful methods” for dealing with international differences was clearly and strongly expressed in the Paris Pact, proposed by M. Briand, French Foreign Minister, in 1927, perfected by him and Mr. Kellogg, the United States Secretary of State, signed by fifteen of the leading nations in 1929, and since adhered to by prac- tically all the nations of the world. Argentina, Bolivia, E) Salvador, and Uruguay have not yet adhered but they expect to do so. In this treaty the nations of the world actually renounce war as an instrument of national policy and agree to use only “pacific means” in dealing with international problems. Only militarists or peace people with defective or perverted think- ing-machinery refer to the Paris Pact as a “noble ideal’, a “pious gesture’, a “motion in the direction of peace’, “one of the many good peace treaties”. As a matter of fact it is the most revolutionary step in the entire history of international relations, it is international law, and it is a part of the supreme law of our country. A conviction of the sanctity of contracts and agreements between or among nations is what is needed to provide a solid foundation for honest thinking on this subject. Here is the actual renunciation of the war method. Here is the actual pledge of the nations to use only “pacific means”. As President Butler of Columbia tersely says, all that is now needed is for nations to keep their promise. It goes without the saying, perhaps, that the nations are represented by their administrations or governments, that these change from time to time, and that these are generally guided by public opinion, but only if this public opinion has an adequate expression. There is no doubt that the public sentiment of the United States is back of the Paris Pact. At the time it was negotiated, Secretary Kellogg said the treaty was proposed in response to the demand of the public senti- ment of the nations of the world. President Hoover pro- claimed it as a binding international agreement. Secretary Stimson said it marked a new epoch in international relations and he shaped American foreign policy in the light of it. The present administration is basing its actions upon it and hopes to strengthen it in practice. When the Covenant of the League 18 1934 WASHINGTON SUMMER MEETING of Nations is harmonized with it, we shall have a world asso- ciation pledged and equipped to utilize only “pacific means”. In this discussion to-day the “peace of the world” means the development of “pacific means” to replace war methods now renounced by the nations of the world. Although the na- tions of the world have renounced war, the institutions and agencies of war—war and navy departments, armies, and warships—still remain and the war habit and war psychology still remain. Furthermore, all the special interests back of these insti- tutions and agencies still remain. Motivated and inspired by the desire for and the probability of large profits or by the determination to maintain their present means of livelihood, they are more active and effective than ever before in prac- tically all the countries of the world and especially in the United States. These special interests are, first, the manu- facturers of warships, guns, ammunition, and all kinds of ma- terial used in war, as well as, second, the large professional class of army and navy people, active, retired, reserve, and ex- service. These special interests act more or less in codperation to prevent the development and utilization of “peaceful means”. The rise of nationalistic feeling and bitterness over economic conditions and the encouragement to develop a general arma- ment and navy-building race during the last three years is very largely their handiwork. Their representatives have had places on all delegations to international disarmament con- ferences and naturally such conferences have so far shown a minimum of success. These special interests work through various publicity and propaganda agencies, particularly the daily, weekly, and peri- odical press, the movies, and the radio, to encourage the loose thinking that makes it possible for many citizens to accept without question the outmoded and disproved doctrine of na- tional security through military preparedness. The War De- partment in this country, under the so-called National De- fense Act, is even permitted to take its propaganda into many public high schools in the form of what goes under the name of military training. Appropriations for this propaganda are voted by the Congress year after year under the most extraor- dinary pressure from these special interests. DEPARTMENT OF SECONDARY-SCHOOL PRINCIPALS 19 These things must be kept in mind by all educators in order that they may not in this critical period become dis- heartened over the apparently meager prospects and possibili- ties of world peace. Although the Paris Pact has been adhered to by practi- cally all the nations of the earth and is therefore international law, although it is the law of our own land, in order for it to become actually effective, the great body of public opinion back of it in this and other countries must not only be constantly reénforced but must find ways of effective expression so that administrations and governments may know that the people expect them to make all possible efforts to develop and utilize “pacific means.” Practically all schools of thought in the educational field agree that it is one of the chief functions of education to train boys and girls for citizenship. “The public education of a great democratic people has other aims than the extension of scientific knowledge or the development of literary culture,” said Nicholas Murray Butler, addressing the N. E. A. in Buffalo, N. Y., July 7, 1896. “It must prepare for intelligent citizenship. .. . That democracy alone will be triumphant which has both intelligence and char- acter. To develop them among the whole public is the task of education in a democracy. Not, then, by vainglorious boasting, not by self-satisfied indifferent withdrawal from par- ticipation in the interests and government of the community, but rather by the enthusiasm, born of intense conviction, that finds the happiness of each in the good of all, will our educa- tional ideals be satisfied and our free government be placed beyond the reach of the forces of dissolution and decay.” In another address before the Schoolmasters’ Association of New York and vicinity, March 8, 1890, Dr. Butler says: “It should be the aim of the secondary school, I take it, by instruction and discipline, to lay the foundation for that cultivation and in- spiration that mark the truly educated man. In endeavoring to attain this ideal, the secondary school must not lose sight of the fact that it is educating boys who are to assume the duties and responsibilities of citizenship.” As 80 per cent of the high-school population in the United States never goes on to higher school training, it is clear that eee, 20 1934 WASHINGTON SUMMER MEETING a large part of the duty of citizenship training falls upon the secondary schools. We used to think narrowly and say that we should prepare for citizenship in the country in which we live. That is still true, but that is not all the truth. Everybody knows that none of us is to-day living only in the United States. We are living in the world. All its problems are laid on our doorstep and are becoming our problems. Education would not be educa- tion to-day if it did not train for citizenship and for world citi- zenship. It is essential! to describe what kind of citizen we would like to see developed in our own country and in other countries. The desirable citizen is a reasoning person. It is difficult to say whether we are born with any great power of thought. The importance of acquiring the ability to reason is beyond question. The value of the teacher in this training cannot be doubted. A clear-reasoning teacher of mathematics can ac- complish wonders with a class of students, beyond all mathe- matical formulae and processes. A teacher of social science who knows how to reason and can give a daily demonstration of straight thinking can become a shining inspiration to stu- dents. It may not be desirable to teach formal logic in the sec- ondary school (though a strong case may easily be made for the suggestion) ; but, so far as the teacher has power of incul- cation or demonstration, every subject taught should give proof of a realization of the importance to the student of learning how to think and reason correctly. Many of the absurd views on public questions held to-day would be impossible if citizens had ever learned in youth how to reason and had continued its practice. The desirable citizen is fundamentally an adaptable per- son, intellectually able and willing to adjust himself to the thinking and acting of other people. He is not the set, deter- mined, driving, brow-beating type. He is not the tantrum- throwing, self-willed, stage-pre-empting sort. He is not the kind that can be mollified and made tractable only by wheed- ling, cajolery, or subtle scheming. The desirable citizen is an industrious, purposeful, unself- He is an individualist in the sense that he under- ish person. DEPARTMENT OF SECONDARY-SCHOOL PRINCIPALS 21 stands or knows instinctively that he is in the world to be and to become a real person, able to think for himself and act for himself. He must, however, be a socialized individual, able, in the midst of all influences and impingements upon him of other individuals, to be a considerate, adaptable, kindly worker with a definite but socially defensible purpose to his life. Clearly he should not be a “rugged individualist” in the sense of being possessed with the idea that the home, the block, the school, the town were made to be dominated by him for his own or any other’s benefit. Obviously he should not seek to gain his own objectives or the objectives of his group without consideration for the rights of others and without regard for his responsi- bilities to them. “Much of the distress of the world to-day is traceable to the inadequate training of the citizenry in social and govern- mental codperation,” said Walter L. Bissell, a teacher in Cen- tral High School, Cleveland, Ohio, speaking before the Depart- ment of Secondary-School Principals, February 26, 1934. “The teacher and school must meet this challenge by training for citizenship more seriously than ever before. Splendid school projects carried out by members of a student council or by a few pupils voluntarily working for an honorary service award suggest the possibilities of the school as a laboratory for train- ing in social science. Why not broaden the scope? We have courses in applied art; why not a course in applied social science? It could be handled in a manner analogous to that of physical education. It would be a correlation between the his- tory department and the home room teacher. Credit would count for graduation. In such a course the theory of commu- nity living might be taught perhaps one day a week, but the greater part of the credit would be earned by actual service performed in the school and in the school neighborhood.” It is important to define not only what pattern of citizen- ship we have in mind as most desirable but also what proce- dures and methods are likely to be most successful in producing that type of citizen. They have done us a great disservice who have tried to convince us that citizenship training is a matter of marching, clicking heels, saluting, carrying and manipulating guns, bay- onets, and sabres, blindly obeying orders, and learning how to kill people. Whatever citizenship training is, it is not that and EEE 1934 WASHINGTON SUMMER MEETING does not include that, as every real educator not in slavery knows. With the adoption by the nations of the world of the Paris Pact a new era dawned, as Secretary Stimson showed in his great New York address, August 8, 1932. Citizens must now be trained to the straight thinking required under the Paris Pact. The start of straight thinking on this or any other great public question cannot be made when the person has come to adult life or even when he is in college. The young citizen’s thinking must be given the right trend while he is yet in school. The high-school period is none too early. As the Paris Pact is the supreme law of the land and rep- resents the highest peak of our foreign policy, it is the duty of the schools to teach it, as Commissioner Cooper said four years ago. This may best be done in correlation with history, civics, problems of democracy, or other social science classes. It has been done in this way in 8,000 American high schools in the last five years. Teaching the Paris Pact is not simply a statement or dis- cussion of its two great pledges, that of the renunciation of war and that of the obligation to use pacific means. The underlying philosophy of the Pact should be taught—the su- periority and practical value of pacific means in meeting all the problems ot life—family, school, community, national an? international. it is international relations in the light of the Paris Paci. It is all life relations in the light of the philos- ophy of pacific means. The teacher should show that the consideration and ad- justment method is the only one that has ever succeeded in meeting those differences in point of view and those conflicts of individual interest which make up the complex we call life. The teacher should also show the tragedy and the futility of the violence method all the way from the family of father, mother, and child, through all community groups and classes, up to the nation and the family of nations. The teacher should also, himself or herself, be an embodiment and exemplar of the pacific means type of life. The school too should be or- ganized and administered in accordance with this principle. This all means that citizenship training is fundamentally and essentially character education—of individuals, groups, DEPARTMENT OF SECONDARY-SCHOOL PRINCIPALS 23 communities, nations, the family of nations. Obviously, the coéperation of all other educative agencies as well as the school is necessary. It is advisable to recognize at the outset that, as we are faced with all problems of heredity and of environ- ment, we have a task neither easy of achievement nor suscep- tible of immediate realization. There is no possibility of em- ploying magic here. He who interests himself in this kind of education must be content to plan carefully, to work patiently, and to expect only partial results in his own lifetime. Character training is the objective of all education. In high school formal character training for the higher citizen- ship will seldom if ever be practicable. Even if its desired outcomes were not in the nature of by-products, there would be difficulty in finding room for a set course in the curriculum. Actually it is to be taught and is being taught after some fash- ion in connection with every subject offered. From the earliest grades, through high school, college, and professional school, whatever his major subject, activ- ity, or interest, the real thing a student should be learning is how to live effectively, usefully, comfortably, in association with his fellows. This, simply put, is the objective of all edu- cational endeavor. The whole thing is a matter of learning adjustment. The way an individual is affected by his en- vironment, including all his associates, and the way he ex- presses himself indicate his character. His environment is teaching him knowledges and skills and he is constantly help- ing to prepare a new and changed environment for himself and his fellows. Clearly subject matter is not simply facts and information to be acquired; it is even more truly “atti- tudes of tolerance, truth seeking, and thoroughness; habits of thinking clearly, judging accurately, and speaking concisely ; appreciation of our debt to the past and of our obligation to the future.” This is only another way of describing the com- plex that goes under the name of peace-mindedness. Young students, as you all well know, are constantly deal- ing with two distinct groups of subject-matter—things to be learned: the fundmental knowledges and skills, and the emo- tionalized attitudes and ideals. “Success” in life, so far as it depends on facts and skills, calls for learning the fundamen- tals and, broadly speaking, has to do with health, family re- lations, occupation, the mechanics of the common branches, 24 1934 WASHINGTON SUMMER MEETING use of leisure time, ethics, and international relationships. The emotionalized attitudes—the developing of right disposi- tions, mind sets, appreciations, purposes, and ideals—consti- tute character or personality. A knowledge of the laws of the country and skill in the machinery for carrying out these laws would constitute the fundamentals of learning in the field of citizenship. The will to develop respect for and obedience to those laws would be the emotionalized subject-matter. On the basis of the knowledges and skills and as the fitting and inevitable associ- ates of them, to develop the appropriate emotionalized atti- tudes in the field of citizenship—that is the specific concern of teachers and students alike who would teach and learn how to elevate individual and concerted action to the plane of the Paris Pact where all adjustments are made by pacific means. Through the narrower fields of family life, school- group life, club-group life, and community life, thought and feeling are to be brought into consonance. Practice must be made to square with theory. No one doubts that the development of the individual’s character not only begins but makes large advances in the home and neighborhood during the pre-school years. Often- times the influence of the school environment, however salu- tary, is not able to counteract the effect of the home environ- ment. In ill-adjusted families, in which wilfulness and vio- lence prevail and in which there are disagreements of parents or inharmonies between such other members as grandparents, aunts, and uncles, there is little chance for the character train- ing of the child to gain the right trend. In a well-adjusted family in which a democratic spirit expresses itself in all re- lationships, a boy or girl may learn attitudes and obtain mind sets which will be maintained throughout the school years however inauspicious the school environment may be. When, however, a boy or girl falls heir to a helpful set of relation- ships in both home and school, he is peculiarly fortunate. If the boy or girl, even in early years, is shown the reason for all conduct requirements and is reasoned with on all sub jects until his willing codperation is secured, it will be compar- atively easy to obtain those emotional attitudes and ideals that will make him or her a good young citizen while yet in the home. This procedure calls for attention on the part of par- DEPARTMENT OF SECONDARY-SCHOOL PRINCIPALS 25 ents and teachers at the time when the situation develops. It is not the short cut of the peremptory demand for unreasoned obedience, but it saves time and difficulty in the long run. A child reared in such an atmosphere of courteous consid- eration, reasoning reasonableness, and genuine tolerance is sure to enter school with a minimum handicap in adjusting himself to members of the new and larger group made up mainly of those of his own age, with some older and some younger, all with different degrees of facility in making the adjustments life in the school community requires. The home that sends a child with such a training into the school sends a coadjutor to the intelligent teacher who is seeking proper out- comes of adjustment in the school group. The child who comes from the kind of home just described is sure to be a helpful factor in all plans of the school for self- government and home room organization. Even in the grades student codperation and student participation in the conduct of school affairs are necessary if the will to adjustment and the coéperative spirit brought from the home are to be preserved and developed. Skillful school administrators allow student governing organizations to grow and help them to grow; they do not try to organize them. In this natural way an under- standing of fair play, duties, and rights is sure to develop. From experience of this kind in the grades, students will enter the high school equipped to form the membership of stu- dent-government organizations, in which, because individual leadership is neither over-emphasized nor overwhelmed by guidance, all the students have a fair chance to come upon many varied moral, political, and social experiences. Students who are given the advantage of the home room organiza- tion, student council, student assembly, clubs, and other stu- dent organizations in junior and senior high schools nearly always testify to the value of these forums for talking things over, for learning the facts in a case, for becoming more ac- curate, for helping students learn self-control, respect for the ideas of others, and consideration for the rights and privileges of others, and for encouraging helpfulness to one another. The value of providing a place where students may discuss all kinds of life situations and the problems growing out of them is obvious to all who think about it. The value of all kinds of physical training for character education does not have to be argued to-day. It is not, how- 26 1934 WASHINGTON SUMMER MEETING ever, always clearly understood how important it is that all the activities of physical training be thoroughly democratized. Even when this is recognized in theory it is frequently true that the supervision and organization of these activities do not give encouragement to the individual to develop his initia- tive in proper relationship to the initiative of others. Group gymnastic work is, of course, well calculated to de- velop habits of instant, voluntary control, and of discipline in obedience to orders. The danger, however, to be guarded against is that of simply inculcating habits of automatic obe- dience—of regimentation—which are inconsistent with the ideals of democracy. That is the fatal objection to military training in schools or colleges. It has no sufficient element of free codperation such as is found in games of football, base- ball, basketball, and the like. Even here there is the danger that the school may feature one team and become excessively eager to gain victories instead of providing teams enough to include all available students and of keeping the competitive motive well within proper limits. The values for character training are the cultivation of a spirit of teamwork and of honorable rivalry, with all that this implies of fair play, courtesy, and generosity both in victory and in defeat. In other words, the objective is to train the in- dividual to act with vigor and purpose but in such a way as to do no violence to the body or personality of his fellows. American history as taught in this country until recently was mainly a story of the wars in which we have engaged, in which we are represented as always unselfish in motive and always victorious. Our part in the World War has given en- couragement to an increased emphasis in some quarters on this conception of history. In general, however, there is a tendency to provide textbooks in which history is presented as an attempt to describe and understand to-day’s problems, not simply its military or political problems, by trying to see how people met their problems in the past. The great civic problem to-day, as always, for all people is that of learning how to live together. The problems that press upon all to-day, as all you teachers well know, are such as these: ways of earning a living; attitudes toward those who differ—tolerance, intolerance, appreciation, and encourage- DEPARTMENT OF SECONDARY-SCHOOL PRINCIPALS 27 ment; patriotism and the concept of loyalty; standards of eth- ics, war and peace. These problems were the same fundamentally generations ago. The history of to-day’s dealing with them grew out of the history of yesterday, reaching back through Europe, Asia, and Africa, to the beginnings of the race. The recognition of to-day’s debt to all the yesterdays in all lands has great value for character education. The clear understanding of the fact that the inheritance of the past lays upon the citizens of the present the duty of helping to make all possible improvement in their time is both encouraging and inspiring. It is well, also, to remember that, while all great changes take time and often much time, appreciable and sometimes conspicuous prog- ress is made in a generation. History study should lead to the cultivation in both teach- ers and students of a policy of fair judgment. In the study of wars and of political and social conflicts, a class effort should always be made to discover and formulate the case for both sides and then to appraise the case as justly as possible. Al- ways the student should be helped to remember that no nation or party or individual had all the right or all the wrong on its side. There is much to be said for the suggestion that history textbooks should be written by a group or commission repre- senting disinterested as well as interested points of view. The most-to-be-desired outcome of the study of history, civics, problems of democracy, international relations, and the one most important in training for the higher citizenship is that of patriotism. A really fruitful study of history, cover- ing the story of how our country has grown out of the past, with all the precious vital offerings that have been made to its present state, should lead every student to a deep and genuine respect and love for the country in which he was born or for that into whose life he has been adopted. Genuine patriotism will contain no boasting of superior qualities or fortunate cir- cumstances. It will be marked by a consciousness of the high and special calling to the nation, through its unique gifts and advantages, to serve the world at large. Patriotism will un- derstand that, whatever skills or advantages have come to us as a nation, in the world economy these lay us under obligation to utilize them in behalf of all neighbor peoples. Moreover, the true patriot will desire no present or future advantage for 28 1934 WASHINGTON SUMMER MEETING his own country at the expense of or to the disadvantage of a neighbor country. In other words, patriotism must never de- generate into what is known as nationalism. America is indebted to all the rest of the world for what she is to-day. She has a deep responsibility to share her ad- vantages with the rest of the world. She may and should offer her benefits but she should never think of herself as resting under “the white man’s burden,” as imperialistic thought has expressed it. In humility she should endeavor to become con- scious of her faults and eager to correct them before the eyes of her neighbors. Above all else, she should strive to become the ideal citizen-nation among the nations, decently, actively coéperative, inasmuch as she is dependent upon all and they are all to a great degree dependent upon her. THE PROPOSED NATIONAL REVISIONS OF SEC- ONDARY-SCHOOL STANDARDS TO MEET THE NEW DEMOCRACY JOSEPH ROEWER Director of Instruction in Junior College Demonstration School, Peabody College for Teachers Nashville, Tennessee The cataclysmic changes that have been felt in commerce and industry in many ways reshaping practices and profound- ly modifying procedures, have been felt equally strong in the educational world. Old objectives are being rewritten; long established procedures are being abandoned; venerable stand- ards are being discarded; and almost every educational philos- ophy, belief, dictum, or practice is being given the acid test. So thorough is this educational renovation that practically ev- ery standard of procedure is under fire. This unrest has been gradual in many quarters. For the past few years there has been a growing restlessness and dis- satisfaction on the part of many educators with the standards and procedures of the regional associations. The feeling ex- ists that some of the standards now in force are so mechanical, arbitrary, and unscientific that they hurt rather than help the progress of secondary and higher education. Many of our educational leaders like Dean P. P. Boyd, of the University of DEPARTMENT OF SECONDARY-SCHOOL PRINCIPALS 29 Kentucky, Director Jesse H. Newlon, of Columbia University, and President S. P. Capen, of the University of Buffalo, are at the point of belligerency in their speech and action, and go so far as to take the stand that unless the regional associations rework their standards and regulations and profoundly mod- ify their procedures their day of usefulness is over, and should be abandoned. Their chief criticisms are, they: 1. Stress common practices instead of deriving stand- ards through experimentation. Many standards lack the validity of scientific formulation. . Do not measure accomplishments, products and quali- ties. . Stress the letter rather than the spirit of school work. . Mix “shalls” and “shoulds” too much with their pro- cedures. . Fight malpractices too much and do not give enough time and attention to building for greater excellence. . Say too much about standardizing procedures and not enough about educational problems. . Are restricting schools from doing their best work by forcing too close adherence to arbitrary standards. . Measure machinery rather than programs, products, outcomes, results, and achievements. Practically all educators are in complete agreement that for more than a quarter of a century the regional accrediting agencies have been rendering a valuable and voluntary service to colleges and secondary schools. As a guide and help in do- ing this work, standards have been developed for use in eval- uating the effectiveness of these institutions. For the most part, these standards have been satisfactory until within the last few years. The main objections of the critics that the standards are arbitrary, mechanical, and unscientific are in a measure true, for they were derived primarily from experi- ence with little or no scientific bases and were necessary dur- ing the formative period in which they have been used. When looked at historically, this is what one should ex- pect. At the time the Southern Association was organized in 1895 there was not a single textbook in existence on statistics ete ee 30 1934 WASHINGTON SUMMER MEETING and statistical procedures; not a single standardized test printed; and not a college or university in America offering work in educational research. Consequently, the standards evolved were of an empirical nature, grounded on experience and common sense. Since 1890, five years after the first one of these regional associations was organized, the secondary-school enrollment has increased from 300,000 to approximately 6,000,000; the number of high-school buildings has grown from about 2,500 to about 30,000; the number of secondary-school teachers has risen from about 15,000 to something over 250,000; and the value of secondary-school buildings, grounds, equipment, and the like, has increased from a very small amount to approxi- mately three billions of dollars. These standardizing agencies have had a very stimulating influence upon the growth and de- velopment of both public and private secondary education. It would be difficult to enumerate all the advantages and services the regional standardizing agencies have rendered American education in the past. Where criticisms are popu- lar it is very easy to lose perspective and let the real merits in- volved become dimmed. For this reason it is important that we keep in mind some of the chief benefits that have accrued to secondary education as a result of the work and influence of these agencies. In the forty-nine years that have elapsed since the first regional association was formed in New England in 1885 they have: 1. Conducted numerous important investigations. 2. Provided extensive territory for experimentation. 3. Furnished extensive means for publication. 1. Afforded ample opportunity for concerted action on problems during a time of unparalleled change, un- precedented growth and unequalled sean in sec- ondary schools. Increased endowments in higher institutions. . Improved salaries in secondary schools. Lengthened terms in secondary schools. . Improved science equipment in secondary schools and higher institutions. 9. Brought standard libraries with trained librarians in both secondary and higher institutions. aonNnan DEPARTMENT OF SECONDARY-SCHOOL PRINCIPALS 31 10. Brought a gradual differentiation between secondary and higher education. 11. Standardized the teaching loads in both secondary and higher institutions on a reasonable basis. 12. Fostered both academic and professional training among secondary teachers, and higher academic train- ing among’ college teachers. . Held up ideals of educational achievement for local communities. . Created a field for preparatory schools in which to live. . Defined admission requirements to college. . Exercised wholesome influence on higher education by eliminating entrance examinations and by standard- izing certificates of entrance to college. . Stimulated programs of guidance in secondary schools. . Practiced a more rigid selection of students by higher institutions. . Stimulated the creation of new organizations to meet the needs of varying aptitudes and abilities of stu- dents. . Brought about a closer codperation between the schools and public libraries. . More clearly defined and stressed the importance of majors and minors in teacher training. . Fostered better relations and understanding between large and small secondary schools. . Aided in shifting the emphasis from competitive ri- valry in interscholastic athletics to intramural sports. . Fostered the use of standardized tests in secondary education. 5. Furthered the nation-wide study of teacher training’ on a secondary level. . Created a wider interest in and a greater knowledge of magazines, periodicals, and other reading materials for secondary-school pupils through expanding library service. . Stressed better training for administrative personnel in secondary schools. ete eeet-eiisendintt 32 1934 WASHINGTON SUMMER MEETING At the risk of a controversy, the writer is going to take the position that in the process of the rapid evolution of the secondary school, it was necessary that the first stages of standardization by these agencies be organized on a mechan- ical, objective, arbitrary, and more or less unscientific basis. The first big task, and one that had to be attended to immedi- ately, was to build houses, buy desks, order science equipment, purchase books for the library, etc.; in other words, erect buildings, equip them, employ faculties, and start school. There was no time in which to arrive at a working program on a scientific basis of procedure; school had to start and the au- thorities had to do the best they could under the circumstances. This expansion, building, and construction lasted until about 1930 when financial conditions slowed it down. During that period the physical side of secondary education was fairly well established. As indicated above, the buildings were erected, equipment installed, libraries established, faculties employed, curriculums organized, and schools put into opera- tion. With these essential first steps completed, secondary edu- cation now is just entering its second stage, that of a refine- ment of its program. With the physical wants attended to, it is now possible through painstaking research, investigation, and experimentation to refine its techniques, and professional- ize its procedures. Numerous problems like refining curricula ; improving methods of teaching; introducing extra-curriculum activities ; organizing classroom supervision; employing stand- ard tests as aids to supervision, etc., can now be given a great deal more attention. The job of education for the next decade or so is one of refinement of techniques and improvement of procedures, rather than one of securing physical facilities. In this new task of education a new type of standard will of necessity be evolved. Just as the mechanical objective, and arbitrary type of measure served the period of rapid growth and material expansion in the past, so in the period immedi- ately ahead, when the more spiritual, social, and moral values will be stressed, a very different means of evaluation must be had. This new type of standard needed will have to swing in its emphasis from the objective over to the subjective; from the physical over to the spiritual; from measuring machinery DEPARTMENT OF SECONDARY-SCHOOL PRINCIPALS 33 with which to work, over to an evaluation of programs, prod- ucts, outcomes, results, and achievements. The change will be one largely of emphasis. It is clearly evident that many of the standards in use now will be a part of this new program. It will still be necessary to maintain certain minimum physical equipment; require cer- tain training of the faculty; demand that certain norms in length of the class period, the school day, the academic year, etc., be approximated ; but instead of these being ends in them- selves, they will constitute the beginnings. These physical things will be taken for granted, and the real work and pro- gram of the school evaluated in terms of them. At the risk of being specific, I am going to propose at this point some standards which I think are in line with this philos- ophy of the new deal in education. You will recognize the first four as those proposed by Judd at the Cleveland meeting; they are quoted without comment. Of course it must be under- stood that the wording or form of the others is tentative. It is the earnest belief of the speaker that the spirit embodied in these eleven proposals must be the spirit that pervades the new standards. The eleven proposals follow: I. Experimental Modification Indicate some particulars in which experimental modifica- tion has been undertaken during the past year in the curricu- lum, class organization, methods of dealing with the public or the pupils, or in some other phase of school work. This report shall include a clear description of the plan of the experiment undertaken and an evaluation of the results obtained by the experiment. II. Personnel Work With Pupils teport six cases in which pupils showing signs of malad- justment in their courses or in their general social relations were fully readjusted through special attention given them by the school staff. Describe the way in which these cases were discovered, the way in which they were treated, and present the evidence that the treatment was successful. Ill. Cultivation of Reading Habits Transmit one or more statements from committees of the faculty with regard to pians which they have matured during ee Rae aba ae Res TE agg TO eto - z Duletheuaneonraubersmeens on ee 34 1934 WASHINGTON SUMMER MEETING the year for the cultivation in the pupils of the school habits of reading or independent effort wholly outside the assignments of any course. Lists of books read or of constructive activities undertaken or of excursions organized and carried to success- ful completion should be submitted as a part of each state- ment. IV. A Well-Balanced Inclusive Curriculum Give an account of the kind of population which surrounds the school, the kinds of positions to which graduates of the school go, the available resources of the community for the support of schools. On the background of the foregoing state- ments, the principal shall give a description of the curriculum administered by the school, describing the reasons for each course included. V. Extra-Curriculum Activities Program Submit data showing there is an organized, functioning extra-curriculum activities program in the school. These data should include such items as: An itemized daily schedule of activities, names and types of clubs, sponsors, membership, regulations, dues, etc.; length, number, type of programs, participants, etc., of assemblies; types of organiza- tions, programs, sponsors, etc., of home rooms; kinds of publi- cations, how financed and how sponsored; whether there are such organizations as National Honor Society, Camp Fire Girls, Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, Junior Red Cross, Hi-Y, Girl Reserves; Student Council, etc., etc. The speaker can scarcely conceive of a live, dynamic high school where there is not a well organized, well balanced, well sponsored, functioning activities program. Of course the size and type of school considered, type of community served, train- ing and talent of faculty, and the details of the school plant are factors that would influence the program. Each _ school should adapt its program to local conditions, keeping ever in mind the social and moral development of the pupils. VI. Intramural Program Present schedules and other data showing the intramural program of the school. These schedules should cover such items as: tennis, golf, hockey, marbles, volley ball, basket ball, baseball, handball, DEPARTMENT OF SECONDARY-SCHOOL PRINCIPALS 35 football, in short the whole range of sports and games organ- ized on some basis as: (a) inter-class, (b) inter-home room, (c) inter-club or in some other way that will provide oppor- tunity for every pupil to participate in wholesome, recrea- tional sports. This standard will seek to discover what is being done to bring joy, play, sport, and recreation into the life of every pupil as aids to his physical, moral and social development. VII. Guidance Program Sketch the guidance program as operating in your school and show that it is well adapted to it. Data submitted on this standard should show: (a) set up in the school for the guidance program; (b) types of guidance given; (c) agencies and persons giving guidance; (d) special training of those responsible for the guidance work; (e) office records used in carrying on the guidance program, and (f) something of results achieved. In considering this standard it is understood that the con- ditions peculiar to each school will influence the set-up and program of it. However, every secondary school, no matter how small it is, should have its forces organized on some def- inite guidance basis. VIII. School-Community Relationship Program Present in brief outline a statement of school-community relationships that exists and state some activities planned for the current year, or that have already transpired. This stand- ard refers to such activities as P. T. A., Community Fairs, Book-Week, Education Week, Community Clean Up Week, Community Chest Drive, Annual Red Cross Roll call, Commu- nity Projects such as, plays, water and milk supply investiga- tions, Community Library (in rural areas), etc. It is the purpose of this standard to ascertain whether the school in its program is reaching’ out into the life of the com- munity and carrying its influence into the homes. It seeks te find to what extent the school is functioning in the lives of thre adults of the community in bringing light and service to othe~ than high-school students. Pi ae ei ag PONS. <6 ce eee See ee z See ego Spe > a Raat EA 36 1934 WASHINGTON SUMMER MEETING IX. Professional Activities of Faculty Submit data showing the professional activities of the fac- ulty. The items of information desired here should deal with: (a) summer school study; (b) professional magazines read; (c) travel; (d) membership in and attendance upon local, dis- trict, state, and national educational organizations; (e) publi- cations by faculty, etc., ete. It is not enough to know that a teacher has a degree from some standard college. It is highly desirable to know that he is keeping up with his profession through occasional summer school study, membership in and attendance upon certain edu- cational associations, reading’ of some good educational jour- nals, and other like activities. Life and growth are stressed in this standard rather than mere possession of a degree. X. Health Program Submit data giving in considerable detail the health pro- gram of the school. These data should include such items as: (a) school nurse, (b) health room service, (c) process of cleaning building, (d) first aid facilities, (e) classroom instruction in health, (ce) co- érdination of classroom instruction in health with cafeteria or lunch room, (g) medical and dental examinations, (h) use made of results of medical and dental examination records in planning and executing the health program of the school, (i), etc., ete. It should be the purpose of this standard to get a general idea of the larger phases of the health program. Effort should be made to ascertain whether the school has a well organized, well balanced, inclusive health program in operation and is not just jogging along in the traditional way with emphasis on the major sports with a little sporadic play handled in a more or less desultory sort of way. In other words, the emphasis in this standard should be on health and program. XI. Office Records The office set-up should carry such cards, records, blanks, and forms as to centralize in the administrative office the en- tire program, both curriculum and extra-curriculum, of the echool. DEPARTMENT OF SECONDARY-SCHOOL PRINCIPALS: 37 In addition to the usual permanent record card, transfer card, promotion card and the like usually found to-day, there should be data on such items as student officers and faculty sponsors of: home rooms, clubs, student council, Hi-Y, Girl Reserve, and other similar organizatiobns. Where Girl Advis- ers, Boy Advisers, Directors of Guidance, Directors of Extra- Curriculum Activities and the like are found in the large school suitable records provided for them, also should be included. The basic philosophy underlying this standard is the thought that there should be found in the office of any well or- ganized high school, a set of records which serve to concen- trate in the administration the various lines of activities of the school that have been thought through and planned with sys- tem and insight. In conclusion let me call your attention to the fact th- little is said in these suggestive standards about arbitrary ‘rules and regulations. In each case the principal is required t- submit data on “programs of service” that he justifies in terms of the peculiar conditions found in his school. They assume each school to be individual and distinct in that it is organized and administered so as to be of the greatest assistance possible to the community it serves. Since no two communities are exactly alike, consequently, no two schools will be required to be exactly alike. Ample provision is made for individual free- dom and the exercise of great initiative on the part of each school, in order to stimulate individual institutions to continu- ous growth and wider service, rather than static satisfaction. In the proposed national revision of secondary-school standards, which the six regional standardizing agencies are trving to launch at this time, where it is hoped this new type of evaluation is to be developed, an earnest effort will be made to find an answer to these four proposals as fundamental to a standardization program on this new basis in modern secon- dary education: 1. What are the characteristics of a good secondary school ? 2. By what means and processes does a good school de- velop into a better one? 3. What practicable means and methods may be employed to evaluate the effectiveness of a school in terms of its objectives ? 1934 WASHINGTON SUMMER MEETING 4. How can regional associations stimulate secondary schools to continuous growth? The eleven proposed new standards submitted above stress growth and development. They will presume, as a working hypothesis, that regional standardizing agencies exist for the purpose of stimulating secondary schools to continuous growth and all procedures and physical facilities of the secondary school will be judged in terms of this hypothesis. All the means or instruments of measurement derived will have to do with evaluating the effectiveness of a school in terms of its program and its stated objectives. Then, on this new basis of standardizations, the characteristics of a good secondary school will be sought in terms of its growth, its development, its pro- gram, its effectiveness, its output or product. Physical facili- ties will only be considered as a necessary means—the machin- ery needed to turn out the product—the real thing to be con- sidered. Evidently, a goodly portion of patience and common sense must be exercised in working out this program. Too much is at stake to act hastily and without due deliberation. It is go- ing to be necessary to make some adjustments in this two or three year transition period. Present standards, properly mod- ified, will have to function until the new ones are ready. METHODS OF INSTRUCTING LARGE CLASSES IN SECONDARY SCHOOLS OF THE NEW DEMOCRACY WILLIAM H. GRAY Instructor of History, J. Sterling Morton High School Cicero, Illinois The purpose of this talk is to suggest two things that may be done when a teacher faces a large class. One might say a large class is one which is larger than the customary number: thirty-five to one who has been accustomed to twenty-five; forty when one is used to thirty; and perhaps sixty when one has had only forty. James Truslow Adams in the Epic of America (p. 407) has said, “Unless we can agree in what the values of life are, DEPARTMENT OF SECONDARY-SCHOOL PRINCIPALS 39 we clearly have no goal in education, and if we have no goal, the discussion of methods is merely futile’. What shall be our goals? The New Democracy is chal- lenging the teacher with larger classes. It is demanding that the individual be developed to the fullest extent possible, and at the same time, that he be trained to put the welfare of the group above his own selfish well-being. The teacher of to-day should have these two objectives in mind, and should never lose sight of them. Two methods that are in keeping with these objectives, and which have helped me in this new status of larger classes are: (1) The use of printed and mimeographed aids, and (2) The training of pu- pils to aid the teacher. Recognizing a widespread need, the United States Office of Education published, last September, a bulletin entitled Techniques for Teaching Large Classes. It is Circular No. 114 and is one of a series on Economies in School Administration. Therein is an excellent summary of experiments in teaching large size classes, and synopses of educational journal articles on the same subject. The two methods suggested here are elaborated upon in this bulletin. For the purpose of developing the individual pupil to the fullest extent possible in large classes, the use of printed or mimeographed aids is advocated. For the background of the use of printed aids, we may use the abstract of a book with which you all may be familiar, Fontaine’s Ways to Better Teaching in the Secondary Schools: “True teaching is not mere lesson hearing. Testing the pupils’ preparation should occupy in general less than a fourth of the recitation; development and assignment of new work should follow, occupying nearly half of the time; and directed study of the advance assignment should take the rest. The above proportion of time cannot be allotted every day. Some- times the whole period may be required for testing; but in general, forward-looking work should be given by far the larger part of the class time. Professor H. C. Morrison’s five- step procedure is favored: (1) Exploration, to find out what students know of the unit of instruction; (2) Presentation, wherein the teacher shows what is involved in the unit; (3) Assimilation of the material by well directed study in class 40 1934 WASHINGTON SUMMER MEETING and out, guided by outlines and references; (4) Organization, or outlining of the unit independent of books, and (5) Recita- tion. With the younger students it has been helpful to break up the longer units for assimilation, and to spend more time from day to day in class discussion. Much failure in teaching résults from the lack of well defined aims or objectives. Much planning is necessary to realize the aims. Lesson plans should proceed from the known to the related unknown, and the in- ductive method of arriving at rules, laws, and definitions should be used even in language study. That part of the class period given to directed study should enable the teacher to give instruction in the proper technique of study applicable to the work in hand”. The unit plan goes under a wide variety of names,—Dal- ton plan, Winnetka plan, Morrison plan, long unit assignment, individualized instruction, control plan, laboratory plan, prob- lem method, project method,—and is the most widely used plan to accommodate individual differences. To many, these names simply signify that the old wine is now put in new bottles. Professor Koos points out that a detailed analysis of practices in schools reporting to use them with unusual success finds these practices to be essentially identical, no matter what name is applied. A significant implication here is that terminology is needlessly elaborate and complex and that the educational world will be better off if it discards most of this jargon. The use of printed instructions for large classes need not imply that the unit plan of organization of content must be followed. Regardless of how a course is organized, printed instructions as to what to do, in the hands of-the pupil, is a stimulant to individual activity. One may buy printed materials or make them. Buying them, of course, is easier. When I wrote to a dozen publishing houses asking for literature on their printed aids for teaching, I was deluged with advertisements. One company offers four- teen forms of workbooks, map books, etc., for the teaching of social sciences, and eleven forms of printed material for teaching English composition. Another company sends out an order blank listing high-school workbooks in English, mathematics, social science, natural science, modern lan- guages, and commercial subjects. One company writes: “Use workbooks. They cost no more than the paper ordinarily used in drill work. They mo- DEPARTMENT OF SECONDARY-SCHOOL PRINCIPALS 41 tivate the study, save the teacher’s time, provide an effective method for diagnostic and remedial work, and assure a higher grade of achievement”. Another company advertises, “The purchase of this work- book is a practical economy, in line with wise spending. It teaches the pupil to be efficient in mastering tasks, to analyze and organize his own ideas. It provides an accurate, thorough check upon his work by his teacher in the minimum of time”. One workbook in American history supplies the follow- ing activities: pre-tests, study guides to direct pupil’s work, minimum activities for all pupils, supplementary activities for superior pupils, map activities, review exercises, and review tests. The second way of getting printed materials is to print them yourself. Where there is a central mimeographing bu- reau in a school system, that is comparatively simple. But even where there is not, a ditto or duplicating machine can be secured very reasonably, and the work can be done by the pupils. In our own school the English department started out with mimeographing its material and ended with publishing workbooks which are now widely used. There is a workbook in English composition for each year of high school. Each book is divided into ten units, the intention being to have one unit each month. Each unit contains a pre-test to show what the student should emphasize in his study of the unit. Next is a style sheet which contains the material to be assimilated. After six to ten pages of exercises, there is a preliminary try- out test to determine whether the unit has been learned; in a separate envelope is the teacher’s test to demonstrate mas- tery. The particular value of these books for large classes is the self-scoring device. For each exercise there is printed on the back of a page farther on, a key to the exercise. The pages are glued down in an order best suited to working’ and scoring the exercises. The teacher’s test is the only one that need not be checked by the pupil. In the front of the book is a scoring sheet for the exercises and tests, from which the pupil may analyze the results of his work at any time. Norms for stand- ardizing the tests are being established. A former member of our faculty now teaching in Cali- fornia writes in the American School Board Journal of how FRENTE ant rh gp See SAT is pe ers 7 "eae Pg en nn Par ee i ae 42 1934 WASHINGTON SUMMER MEETING lesson sheets are used advantageously in large history classes. His school at Lindsay was faced with the task of constructing a new high-school course in the social sciences which would most adequately care for individual differences. The task was accomplished by using lesson sheets and tests, thus permitting individual progress supplemented by oral explanations and ex- position to the class as a whole, or to small groups. Individual aid is given freely where its need is recognized by the teacher or pupil. At least half of the recitation period is used for oral and written testing and assignments for study. Using the American history test of the Columbia Research Bureau, it was noted that the pupils had met the standard of that test satisfactorily. With half of a recitation period devoted to in- dividual work and half to testing, classes of fifty to sixty have been handled satisfactorily. The second method that is advocated for teaching large classes is the use of pupil aid. The term “socialization of classes” has been avoided, though pupil aid carried to its fullest development would mean a socialized procedure. Part two of the Thirty-third Yearbook of the National So- ciety for the Study of Education deals with what is known as the Activity Program. This quotation from it should be ap- plicable to high-school classes: “Whether one says activity or project or ‘work’ or whatever, the true educationist is contin- ually seeking to put life into education in addition to mere memorization of facts—to bridge the gap between theory and practice of life itself’. Dr. William McAndrew has said that the millstone around democracy’s neck is the furtive, and often not so furtive, love of autocracy and European standards of scholarship. We need to use a method which, in addition to helping the teacher, will train pupils to become self-sufficient, capable, and desirous of pursuing work deeply. We need to provide an at- mosphere which encourages and provides opportunities for growth of independence and self-reliance. In large classes, pupils can and will codperate in carrying on the work to be done. Their activities may be directed along three lines: (a) Subject matter, (b) Classroom routine, and (c) Self-initiated projects. Printed aids and pupil aids dovetail smoothly in regard to subject matter. Mimeographing of study sheets or duplicating DEPARTMENT OF SECONDARY-SCHOOL PRINCIPALS 43 needed materials is a legitimate student activity when no cler- ical force is available. Assignments seem much more reason- able if reported by a committee that has worked with the teacher. Tests can be checked and recorded by the pupils. In large classes objective tests seem to be the most practical solu- tion to the testing problem; if they are carefully made, a pupil can correct them as accurately as a teacher. Another legitimate aid is to have the stronger pupils as- sist the weaker ones. In West High School of Akron, Ohio, an extensive and successful use of student tutors is made. As to routine classroom activities, there are a number, de- pending upon the local situation in which pupils may partici- pate. Attendance can be cared for by a student secretary. Seat plats can be made and maintained by that secretary. Copy work of all kinds and clerical work of many kinds can be done by students. The collection and distribution of papers can be efficiently done with pupil aid. Care of ventilation, black- boards, pencil sharpeners, and beautifying the room are works on which committees may function. Self-initiated activities might be considered by many as being the most valuable of all. A class which had elected its officers, after drawing up a constitution, felt it needed a gavel. Immediately one of the boys who was taking woodworking of- fered to make one. Often the minds of a class will run toward entertainment: a picnic, a baseball game with another class, refreshments after a special program. Invariably they will turn to things they have done before, a dramatization, a play, a con- test. In an American History class last year we were making a study of cartoons. The teacher wanted the class to make a notebook of cartoons; the idea fell on stony ground. But be- fore long the class had decided that it would like to have a paper of its own. The result was a little edition which they named Monthly Gossip. The copy I have here was the last issue of the year. On the front page is a story of an easy read- ing contest. The essays were on the Peace Movement, both the idea and the essays being furnished by a member of the class. Next comes a report of a debate on the subject, “Can the World Keep Out of Future Wars?” It ended with a round table discussion and a decision by the class as a whole. In the next column remarks are made about a heated basket ball game, a device used for reviewing factual material. On the other SEG REET Oa can aN ae * IS OR ag FEMA 15 eee neg: 44 1934 WASHINGTON SUMMER MEETING side are comments, criticisms, and commendations. One pupil speaks in a weak voice and cannot be heard (which is a com- mon weakness in large classes). Another seemed to be able to explain herself better by drawing a picture of a torpedo on the board, which merited approval. In the “Want Ads” some- one is wanted who can talk to the class about outside readings without boring them. This class had a regular organization with a student chairman each day. The program committee, with the aid of the teacher, prepared daily programs which were rendered by members of the class. Fifteen minutes of the period were re- served for the teacher for organization and development of the centent of the course. The work consisted of an assignment book kept by each pupil, a textbook, written notes on refer- ence materials, current history, and map studies. The almost daily objective tests were corrected, recorded, and sometimes made, by members of the class. In the departmental tests the class kept the rank which its classification index indicated. Most of the members enjoyed the year’s work. And if culture is what we have left after we have forgotten all we have learned as information, they will have profited greatly. May I use one other illustration of classroom procedure. In a recent book Class Size in High-School English, Dr. D. V. Smith reports a technique of instruction in a class of fifty-one in the University High School of Minneapolis. In caring for routine work, an administrative group or- ganization was used. Eight or nine pupils sat together in a group, a capable pupil acting as leader. To record attendance, the leader reported the absentees. For the collection of papers each leader had a large manila envelope with the names of his group on it. After collecting the papers, he checked the names of those who handed in work. The envelope was returned to him for the distribution of corrected papers. A group method of recitation was used. A definite pro- gram was prepared several days in advance. Under each of the topics of the program were listed references and opposite the references were seven or eight numbered blanks. Each pupil would sign up on a blank for the topic and reference that most interested him. On the recitation day all the pupils who had signed in the blanks numbered “one” would form a group; all the “two’s” would form a group, and so on. Each group DEPARTMENT OF SECONDARY-SCHOOL PRINCIPALS 45 then would have a pupil reciting on each topic. It was not found that various recitations going on in different parts of the room at the same time was distracting. The small group of- fered opportunity for story telling, dramatization, oral and written composition, letter writing, and drill work. When the class met as a whole the better pupils were al- lowed to take the lead. Their eagerness and enthusiasm seemed to inspire the class. Developing and assigning new work became a major activity of the lesson hour. The necessity for motivation was met in several ways. Mob psychology added zest. Many variations of the contest idea were used. The class was divided into two sides for spell- ing contests and reading contests based on points. In review- ing Ivanhoe a “tournament” was held between “knights” of the class. Each pupil made ten questions, and the joust con- sisted in hurling rapid fire questions at the opponent. Project activities were used. For letter writing the class was divided into pairs: one serving as a secretary, and the other dictating as a business executive would do. In the study of literature a modified contract plan was used to stimulate individual reading. Self-competition in com- position was encouraged by keeping individual records of drill results and the five standarized tests given during the year. The testing program consisted of frequent short mimeo- graphed tests, corrected—and errors analyzed—in class. Ob- jective tests also were used in literature. Not all the ideas used in this experiment could be used in every class. But it is believed that in most secondary-school classes, written aids may be used to develop pupils individu- ally; and in large classes pupils may be trained in unselfish codperation to lighten the burden of the teacher. HOW THE GUIDANCE PROGRAM OF SECON- DARY SCHOOLS MAY FUNCTION IN THE NEW DEMOCRACY OSCAR GRANGER Principal of Haverford Township High School Upper Darby, Pennsylvania Before outlining a guidance program for our secondary schools in the days that are before us, one must define the aims POPS SAGE SOIT TNE PTT cee ee Se Ee A z Sy ee a GIES SR AT gE eee 46 1934 WASHINGTON SUMMER MEETING and purposes of this type of school. The aims and purposes must be defined in terms of the growth of the boys and girls entrusted to its nurture, who will be the citizens in the society of to-morrow. What is the purpose of secondary education? And by secondary education, I mean education beyond the mere mastery of the tools of learning, education during the adolescent period, education from the time the child first thinks he is grown up, until the time parents and teachers are willing, in some degree at least, to grant him or her, as the case may be, the prerogatives of the matured individual. This question is not easily answered. Perhaps it can not be answered in any definite way. Different answers have been made at different times in our brief professional life. Looking back over the past fifty years, which include only one-sixth of the life of secondary education in America, but the period of most all of its growth, we see that different ideas have dom- inated the philosophy, and consequently, the growth of our high schools. Once, the high school was a one-course institution leading to college. All that had the special privilege of attending this institution pursued the same course of study. The student came out of it ready to go on to college, either for cultural de- velopment alone, or for that and training in one of the profes- sions. Guidance in this institution, as we have thought of guidance, was quite unnecessary. When once the individual was launched in the program, he traveled on with the stream, or sank and took a place with the common majority. We need not dwell on guidance in this early high school. The history of our secondary-school development shows that about the beginning of this century a much larger pur- pose became evident. People evidently considered this public institution should serve a much larger purpose in American society. This change in public opinion (obviously the result of the influence of industrialism) had been taking place generally during the last quarter of the 19th century. There is abundant evidence of the influence of commercial institutions demanding of people entering the trades and semi-skilled activities be equipped to work the machines, and in other ways be better prepared to produce the material things for the competitive DEPARTMENT OF SECONDARY-SCHOOL PRINCIPALS AT markets. And so we have commercial departments and com- mercial schools, industrial departments and industrial schools entering the secondary field. Concomitant with this change in curricula came the great masses of adolescent youth. Why did the masses come? Be- cause the American public believed that here the son and daughter would be so trained that they would be able to earn a living more easily than the parents had been able to do. Here the public thought they saw an institution that made a road to success-—a success measured in terms of dollars. We in the school talked of education in terms of dollar value. It was worth $10.00 a day (or was it $40.00 a day?) to stay in high school. How many of us used this means to get boys and girls into our high schools and to keep them there! Need we ask what kind of guidance served this institution? Here we had vocational guidance—the guidance of the boy or girl into the course that led to the job and to money return, directing him into employment in terms of money success. We assumed, at this stage in our evolution, a major purpose of secondary education was to prepare the boy and girl to do his work. Work became an end and the great task of learning the laws of com- munity living were neglected. A by-product of this vocational guidance was educational guidance. We soon discovered the school could not provide educational training for all, and so we evaluated the rest of the curriculum in terms of the necessary background for voca- tional training. Spanish was necessary for commercial train- ing. One took algebra for advanced scientific courses, and even Latin was justified in this manner. Into our secondary schools the masses came. We strug- gled with these masses and we became obsessed with the psychosis of quantity. Our professional literature was col- ored with terms to measure the school work of groups. We drove flocks of children through the green pastures of litera- ture measuring their speed and memory, but never giving the poor creatures time to enjoy the abundance of nature about them. Looking out upon a state of business competition and rug- ged individualism we were led to motivate the masses within our schools in the manner of the life without. Education was made highly competitive. Students competed for marks within i ; j ] j | ; 48 1934 WASHINGTON SUMMER MEETING the school as they would for dollars later. The reward went to the one who accomplished the most in reading, arithmetic, his- tory, etc. The quantity side through objective measurement was the goal. We got the students in our secondary schools to do the things we wanted them to do, by appealing to their self-seeking and selfish impulses. We provided educational experiences that rewarded the motive of self-assertion without regard to the motive of self-negation in terms of the rights of others. We did this at a time in the life of the individual when we should have been emphasizing the social motives—the consideration of others. (Even the tribal ceremonies of the aborigines recog- nized this principle.) We did this to such an extent that self- seeking, self-assertive attitude was stamped into the thinking of the American youth, and we have the inevitable results in the codes of the N. R. A. The rugged individualism that could conquer a frontier and build a great industrial system must now be tempered with a social pattern that will preserve what we have. We in the schools must see this and direct our train- ing to that end. This child, the secondary school, has just grown up as a result of some struggle for culture, some altru- ism, and much commercialization. It stands able to save De- moceracy. Will it? It will not if we do as we have in the past— by just following the procession. We must be out on the very frontier and be guided by the facts the social scouts bring in to guide this onward march of civilization. Some school people however have been among the first to see the evil in this highly competitive procedure. And during the past few years there has been some swing away from this self-seeking point of view by certain pioneers. This has no doubt come about through the emphasis given our social sciences, and because secondary education is almost universal in America, but more perhaps because we found our vocational objective did not serve any very good end, for the industrial world moved so rapidly that some more general training was needed. The students themselves may have had something to do with the emphasis given to things other than the material. All of us will grant that the desires of the students are heard and often they become the desires of the parents. The home has given the child much freedom. This we must recognize as this condition of freedom is, so to speak, the new job for which the student must be prepared. DEPARTMENT OF SECONDARY-SCHOOL PRINCIPALS 49 For a spirit of freedom is abroad in our land. A freedom and a possibility of freedom the like of which is not recorded in human history. Civilization will be either guided by intelli- gent social control or be regimented by a dictator. And we must ask ourselves what to do about it, or some Mussolini or some Hitler will rise up to tell us. If we review our American history, we readily observe the constant struggle for freedom. We see the restless and the adventurous break away from the established community into the frontier. From the days of the Pilgrims to the dawn of our century there was a safety valve for individual liberty on the American frontier. The rugged individualists spent their energies there. Now the days of rugged individualism are over. This motive power in the life of an individual we call self-assertion must be directed by a new point of view. It may be directed by a Mussolini or a Hitler or by some institution set up by society to limit the in- dividual. On the other hand it may be directed in a democratic way. It may be directed by the intelligence of the individual so schooled, that he realizes where his rights end, and the right of others begin. This latter means seems to me to be the chal- lenge to the guidance program in the schools of the New De- mocracy. To-day in America we need citizens as we have always needed them, who are able to see their greatest self-satisfac- tion in service to others; people who believe that the greatest development of the individual comes through the development of a sense of individual responsibility in a group, rather than the exaggeration of individual rights; people who feel their greatest self-assertion in their opportunity to serve others, and not in the defeat of others. We are beginning to see wherein society as a whole bene- fits so much more through the codperative self, rather than through the individual self. It has been aptly pointed out in this connection that under a competitive form of society, man is pitted against man, and society receives only their differ- ence; where as in a coéperative society man works with his fellow man and society is the beneficiary of their product. Since Democracy is predicated on the theory of the high- est good for the greatest number, does it not follow that the new definition of individualism expressed in terms of self ab- COTS z ae Sgeo — TOE POT RS RETR en se oe a ener eee ie Nai tn ni SSR terete Z | ; | ] | 50 1934 WASHINGTON SUMMER MEETING negation to the common good be the keynote of the new free- dom we hope is dawning’? This may be a new kind of individualism for the masses but it is not new in human society. Our literature is filled with men and women who exemplify this kind of individualism. If human progress is the stepping up of the masses to the new levels set by those who are looked up to as an ideal, we can hope for success in the general cultivation of this virtue. Many may question if it is possible to retain an individual- istic society, such as America has had in the past, in this new age. I believe we can. And if we can a great force will be pre- served for human progress. Freedom has made possible hu- man progress to this point, and if human progress is not to be retarded, it is necessary to preserve it in American life. Human progress has always been a struggle for some kind of freedom for the individual. Religious freedom marked one stage in human progress, and freed the mind from fears so that some degree of thinking could be done by the common man. Political freedom marked another step, and gave to man a larger concept of his place in the world and his choice of companions. To-day the struggle is for economic freedom and economic security. Science has freed the natural resources of the world and they pour forth in abundance. A few kings of the economic order may as the medicine men of old, and the despots of the Middle Ages check human progress by their selfishness for a while, but not for long. The masses will soon discard an institution that so inadequately distributes the products of human labor—providing they have the freedom to do so. Guidance in the right use of freedom, meaning by the right use, the use that best serves all, becomes the type of guidance for the new secondary school. We want a society where the code of human rights is writ- ten in the consciousness of the individual and where the major enforcement program is in the ability of the individual to see that his act to help others is in the last analysis an act to help himself, and conversely an act to push self forward without regard of others is in the last analysis suicide. Secondary education will then teach people how to live to- gether, and will leave to more specialized institutions the busi- DEPARTMENT OF SECONDARY-SCHOOL PRINCIPALS 51 ness of teaching how to make a living. This secondary school will keep functioning’ in the community teaching, both old and young, the important facts about community life. The aid that will come to the local community will make the schools emphasize the state and national program so that the citizen of the local community will appreciate his duties and responsi- bilities to all groups both large and small. Now that we have determined the purpose of secondary education we can define the functioning of a guidance program in that institution. Who will be responsible for the program and what will the organization be? These are questions we must answer. And the answers must come from a careful study of the needs of the individual student, his present needs, and his future needs. I wish to outline a program by first setting up the organiza- tion; then designating the people who must carry on in the or- ganization, and the point of view they must take in the work; and finally the details of a program. To begin then with the organization—the first thing a so- ciety must do to insure desirable progress for its individual members is to establish a residence—a desirable place in which to live and to develop a sense of security in the social situation. And so a student in our school has a right to a permanent resi- dence in the school situation with a congenial group of his fel- low students having common interests. A school made up of any number of these small groups affords its students the op- portunity to develop a sense of responsibility to his home group and to other groups of which his group may be a part. This experience of group loyalty requires that the student be assigned to a home room upon entering the school, and that he make this his permanent residence during his life in the in- stitution. The teacher in charge of this group can under these circumstances become well acquainted with the individual, his characteristics, and also his parents and friends. These facts in the hands of the home room teacher are essential to a guid- ance program, for the home room teacher is the key person in the program. Back of the home room teacher must be the specialist who is the director of guidance, the dean, or the principal. These people are responsible for the set-up and the enforcement of the program. Home room teachers do not take to this pro- = 7 x > TTS TRESS er eager 52 1934 WASHINGTON SUMMER MEETING gram of home room work with any degree of clarity of purpose and in many cases attitude of willingness. They must be en- couraged and in some cases directed. The administration and the teachers must recognize the opportunity for the develop- ment of attitudes exists here in the home room situation. The student government organization is another institu- tion necessary to make a guidance program function. Matters of extra-curriculum life and self government are all matters for home room discussion and home room expression. The home room representative in the student government is like a state or national representative in adult society. He expresses the will of his constituents to the assembly and carries back in- formation to his home group. Here we have real training in self government—better far than courses in civics. The classroom may afford the best means in the guidance program if teachers think in terms of student development rather than subject matter. The subjects and the general rou- tine of school life are all very important in the program of guidance. Here we have the machinery of administration but ma- chinery alone is not adequate. The will and spirit of the lead- ers and the teachers is the important factor. There must be a new emphasis to change the attitude of teachers who see only subject matter motives. When the teachers take on this spirit, it will develop in the students. Most home room programs fail because teachers fail to make an effort. They do not wish to be bothered with this new responsibility. It is much easier to say, “Here is my subject, if you do not like it, leave it.” The spirit so important in the success of this program is a result of growth. It is the true democratic spirit, the give and take, of American life. Here in the home room situation stu- dents can be trained to think out many of their problems. This business of thinking out problems is quite in contrast with the old method of having the teachers do all the worrying. Here students will learn to do the right thing because it is for the good of their society and they will learn when they act for the good of their society they are well rewarded. Con- duct here is based on rules of reason, and if the student is gradually guided into larger and larger spheres where he ex- ercises self control based on his own thinking he grows in abil- DEPARTMENT OF SECONDARY-SCHOOL PRINCIPALS 53 ity to participate in a democracy. Discipline here is guided to come from within, a kind of self discipline, not mere adherence to rules of social order because of fear of penalty, but an indi- vidual consciousness of the welfare of society and one’s respon- sibility in the life situation. Here we see the functioning of a positive motive, rather than the old negative one of fear. What are the very definite things a guidance program shou'd do to develop this ideal citizen, and consequently the ideal society? Before I give you the detailed outline I wish to make several observations by way of further developing the point of view I wish so much to express. Let us look for a moment at our system of marking and classification of students into groups based on some kind of intellectual achievement. Here we emphasize material accom- plishment. Here we reward individuals by giving to one more than we give to another, yet in our promotion system we take them all along together. Because one can add more rapidly, or read more rapidly, he gets more recognition by means of a higher mark. We do these things in our classes, yet over in the field of sports we try to make the substitute believe he is as important as one of the regular players. At present our sys- tem of marking emphasizes material accomplishment instead of social adjustment. If it is advisable to group students in any kind of special groups why not take those who, because of improper home training, in the first place and poor elementary training in the second place, never developed right attitudes regarding con- duct in a school society. Section these students into a special group and give them a special course in the understanding of social responsibility. These students should be classified after careful study of their case histories. Not on the recommenda- tion of one or two teachers, but after a careful study of the in- dividual case. Let us recognize that the period of secondary education covers a period cf physical development in the life of the indi- vidual, a period of mental development, and a period of social development. Here, we are not concerned with the mastery of subjects and marks and promotions, but rather with the indi- vidual’s growth physically, intellectually, and socially. Let us disregard the grade classification of subject matter and courses, and provide an opportunity for a student to live on rere ao ne - + Semen 54 1934 WASHINGTON SUMMER MEETING the physical level, the intellectual level, and the social level where he is fitted to live because of his development. Here we would be able to give every student an opportunity to work at a task he could master and where he might have the satisfac- tion of being successful in his own eyes and those of his friends. In such a program the school would treat each student as an individual and reward him according to his contributions. In other words, the school could really be honest with the stu- dent, and honesty we all know is the most important trait of character. Guidance here would be a daily matter in the life of each student and not an annual affair where teacher and student talk about subjects and courses in a set conference. The con- ferences would be a daily affair of informal questions and an- swers between the student and his teachers—teachers who look upon the home room work and the classroom instruction as an opportunity to guide a growing citizen. Here the teacher would guide the growing citizen toward his future with constant and accurate records of his growth in the three sides of his development—physical, social, and intel- lectual. To arrange the intellectual pursuits of one school so that students would be enabled at all times to work at tasks within their ability is not impossible. This is being done in many schools. To arrange a program of physical instruction ad- justed to the needs of the individual is likewise not impossible, and the same is true of the social program. The social side of the high-school student’s life is most neglected at present. Few of us know, and many of us would not believe, what is going on in the social life of our high-school community after the six hours of the school day. Do we not have a responsibility here? The graduation requirements in the high school of to- morrow will emphasize these rounded individuals who are physically fit to live and reproduce the race, who are informed concerning the intellectual life of the day; who are able to pre- pare themselves for some useful work; and who understand their duties as a citizen. To promote a student into training for one of the profes- ° sions or on to any type of higher learning leading to larger fields of service there should be evidence of proper social at- titudes. DEPARTMENT OF SECONDARY-SCHOOL PRINCIPALS 55 What have we done for society if we fill our medical pro- fession with people who would limit their numbers to increase their income, while in many sections there is not adequate medical attention? What have we done for our industrial situation if the lead- ers think in terms of self to the extent of holding back the use of known science that would render better service because the business would not profit ? What have we done for society if men are trained to feel successful in collecting incomes from invested capital while the workers in the same business are unemployed and in need? What have we done for society when we produce lawyers who seek by legal technicalities to interfere with justice and to take pride in their anti-social success ? Our problem in a guidance program for the New Democ- racy is to develop citizens who will work for the community good because they have the proper social consciousness. Here follows a guidance program as set up by Mr. Gran- ger. A DETAILED GUIDANCE PROGRAM The Principal and the Program. The principal delegates responsibility to the director of guidance and the teachers and leads them in an understanding of their duties. He makes clear that the work of guidance is not done as it was at one time, by just enrolling a student, or as it was later by just assigning a student to a course, but that now it is an individual matter and a matter of daily concern. The principal supervises the student government, person- ally, and makes every effort possible to have this organization assume more and more responsibility and participate more and more in the routine of school life. The principal works in this community, leading parents to realize the importance of their codperation in the school pro- gram. In the early part of the school year all parents will spend an evening in the school just as the student spends it during the day. From about 8:00 in the evening until 9:30, the parents will follow the student’s daily program, reporting to each class for about ten minutes. Here the subject teachers 56 1934 WASHINGTON SUMMER MEETING will have an opportunity to inform parents about the work done in the various classes. Later in the year, the students will invite the parents in and tell them about the extra-curric- ulum life of the school. In the spring, the home room teachers will meet the parents of their home room students to discuss the work of the student and his future plans. The principal must realize the growth of such a program is a matter of slow development, and he should constantly be alert to have teach- ers realize what progress is being made. The Home Room Teacher and the Program. The home room teacher in the key person in the guidance program, for this teacher has the contact with the students so necessary in the functioning of a desirable guidance program. The home room teacher should be considered as a foster par- ent to about thirty-five students who have been assigned to him and he is to continue in this relationship during the full time that these students are in the high school. All matters of record keeping, programing, parent conferences, vocational plans, in fact all duties that can come under guidance become the duties of the home room teacher. The home room teacher and the students are together at least twice daily for attend- ance and other matters of school routine and they meet for longer periods when matters requiring group discussion arise for their consideration. The real home room teacher treats each member of his home room group as a good parent does his son or daughter. He watches and guides the development of right social attitudes. He advises in an informal way the participation of the student in all phases of school life. He knows what each of his students is doing day after day in his curriculum and extra-curriculum work, in his home, and in his leisure time affairs. He knows this from discussions between students and from his own informal treatment of the social sit- uations in the home room. He keep other teachers informed about his students’ problems and interests, and tries himself to be informed by things he hears from other teachers. The good home room teacher knows the parents of his students. He vis- its in the home when possible and he finds ways of meeting the parents at school affairs. He helps one parent meet other par- ents of his home room students. He uses the information he gets from his contact with parents in better guiding the stu- dents. A good home room teacher does not forget the student DEPARTMENT OF SECONDARY-SCHOOL PRINCIPALS 57 when he leaves the school, but follows him in his work, at col- lege, and in the community. He studies the results of his in- fluences on these alumni and uses that experience in better guiding the next group assigned to him. It might be worth mentioning in passing that at present it seems advisable to me to segregate the sexes in different home rooms, placing the boys in a home room with a man teacher, and the girls, with a woman home room teacher. Little problems of guidance arise daily where the advan- tage of this division is most helpful to the home room teacher in advising the students openly and frankly without the handi- cap of arousing adolescent reactions so common in mixed groups. The Director of Guidance and the Program. This office contains vocational information of various kinds, in the form of posters, magazine articles, newspaper clippings, and a few books on vocations. In addition there is a shelf devoted to catalogues from various colleges, universities, preparatory schools, vocational schools, etc., kept up-to-date by three members of the guidance committee of the student gov- ernment. This office is supervised by the dean, or guidance coun- selor, but at all times there is a student in charge to help any one coming in for information. The students have free ac- cess to the material on hand, and if any of it is lost, it is always quite easy to replace it, as most of it is free material. The guidance counselor advises and counsels the students on various phases of their school life, and future plans; makes curriculum and extra-curriculum adjustments as an aid to the home room teacher. He endeavors to interview each student in the school for the purpose of getting acquainted with the stu- dent, learning’ his needs, his interests, his abilities, etc., in so far as this interview will enable him to do, and also to deter- mine the amount of guidance the student has received in his home room and to supplement that when necessary. _ Inter- views and conferences with the home room teachers are often necessary, thus affording opportunity for the guidance di- rector to aid the home room teacher in this guidance work with the welfare of the student as the ultimate goal. a a SR I te I i re st ne 58 1934 WASHINGTON SUMMER MEETING The guidance committee composed of a representative from each home room, helps to coérdinate the work of the guidance office with the home room. It meets every two weeks and encourages free discussion of such problems as failures, absences, tardiness, and needy cases, the latter particularly at Thanksgiving and Christmas time. It also serves to select, ar- range for, and announce the various talks by well qualified men and women who bring first hand information to the students in a series of vocational talks given every two or three weeks. The attendance is voluntary, the teachers issuing permits to those who wish to attend. At the beginning of each term they select the lists for seniors who are to act as big brothers and sisters to the incoming’ sophomores in helping the latter orien- tate themselves in the school. There is also a guidance staff, usually composed of sen- iors, who assume full charge of the guidance library. The function of this staff is to organize the material received, take charge of bulletin board, help students find available material and information, take care of correspondence, files, ete. An ex- cellent opportunity is offered here for commercial students who desire such experience. The Student Government and the Program. The student government will assume many responsibilities now taking the time of administrators and teachers and, in carrying out these duties, under supervision, they will expe- rience the best possible training in community life. The stu- dent government organization will grow gradually as students are successful in participations and management of certain phases of school work. It is not an organization imposed by the administration, but rather a growth in the student body of that most desirable product, self-control. If the student gov- ernment organization can be like the institutions of govern- ment in adult society, it is most desirable. However, students should be guided to realize that institutions of government are established to serve society and not as a benefit to a certain individual. The good student government has a representative assembly where the representatives of the various home rooms meet to discuss school regulations over which they have been given authority by the faculty. Here they discuss matters of right conduct and are thus informed for necessary leadership in their home room. There may be another representative DEPARTMENT OF SECONDARY-SCHOOL PRINCIPALS group made up of representatives from special interest groups such as athletics, publications, ete. Another department of stu- dent government that is most necessary is an executive com- mittee formed of students who have been active in the com- mittee work. The work done in committees includes care of traffic, planning of assemblies, sanitation, property, guidance, and the social program of the school. Each committee is made up of this chairman and one representative from each home room. The president of the student government and the chair- men of the executive committee are: the administrative officers of the student government and are responsible for the carry- ing out of all its plans. The principal sponsors the executive committee and attends all assembly meetings. He appoints a faculty member as a sponsor of each committee. The guid- ance director, for example, sponsors the guidance committee. The task of properly guiding these students in the many func- tions of school life that they have been able to assume is a major task in the guidance program and a most vital one. The Faculty Meeting and the Program. The faculty meets each week on school time while their classes are being conducted by students who are interested in becoming teachers. The teachers are expected to report to the meeting not later than five minutes after the beginning of the class period and should return about five minutes before the end of the period. In these meetings, teachers will not waste their time discussing new books in educational theory or talk- ing about general methods, but they will talk about the case of John and the case of Mary. The teachers’ meeting will be a clinic and discussion will be about a case that needs some kind of special treatment. The case history will be presented by a teacher and will include the facts in the history and the pres- ent status of the problem case. Teachers will participate in the suggestions of a program for remedial treatment. Refer- ences will be made to other cases which have been considered and the experience in other cases will be used in determining the treatment of the case under consideration. The meeting may afford time to discuss some new cases that have been con- sidered. Perhaps the remedial program has failed and a new treatment must be determined. The point of view assumed by the teacher will be that the curriculum and extra-curriculum program provides experience for the development of right so- 59 ees I AS Sc i 60 1934 WASHINGTON SUMMER MEETING cial attitudes and that it is the business of the teacher to shape the program so that it serves this purpose. This type of meet- ing is not a party to lament the failure of students. The following is a suggested case procedure method: Classification of Symptoms— The following classification of symptoms lists undesirable student behavior under six divisions. Type “A” suggests phys- ical defects. Type “D”, ineffective habits of work. The unde- sirable behavior we see in the classroom is usually a symptom rather than a cause of the difficulty. We must get at the cause to cure the case. We must treat the cause, not the symp- tom. A. PHYSICAL DISABILITY: (1) absences (2) fatigue (3) under-nutrition (4) frequent colds (5) toothache, earache, etc. (6) failure to see and hear (7) failure in physical compe- tition (8) restlessness (9) immaturity (10) personal unclean- liness (11) bad posture (12) uncontrolled appetite (13) un- controlled elimination. B. MENTAL DISABILITY: (1) lacks normal discern- ment (2) unable to remember (3) irrational behavior (4) speech defects (5) incodrdination (6) nervous disorders (7) lack of muscular control (8) poor control of attention. C. INTELLECTUAL DISABILITY: (1) slow reader (2) rapid careless reader (3) bad handwriting (4) poor usage (5) lacks ability to express ideas orally (6) lacks ability in fun- damental subjects (7) lacks fundamental general information (8) lacks basic knowledge for a particular subject (9) lacks basic skill for a particular activity. D. INEFFECTIVE HABITS OF WORK: (1) lack of sustained application (2) uneven distribution in use of time (3) dominant interest in other work (4) failure to use facts known (5) failure to follow directions (6) failure to complete tasks (7) dependence on others (8) wastes energy in useless movements (9) no plan of work (10) does not bring tools to work (11) irregular attendance. E. SOCIAL MALADJUSTMENT: (1) too self assertive (2) too negative (3) disobedient (4) disregard for property (5) bullying (6) intollerant attitude (7) unpopularity (8) un- DEPARTMENT OF SECONDARY-SCHOOL PRINCIPALS 61 conventional (9) interference with others (10) lies (11) steals (12) cheats. F. PERSONALITY DIFFICULTIES: (1) nursing a dis- like for a subject or teacher (2) a “don’t care” attitude (3) highly imaginative (4) too self-satisfied (5) superiority com- plex (6) inferiority complex (7) cries easily (8) petty (9) ex- uberant (10) temper outbursts (11) sulks. In the above classification of behavior types, we have a starting point for diagnosis. The procedure in diagnosis must provide ways for the teacher to know the facts about the case, and it must give the teacher the understanding that wiil help him interpret the facts and carry on the right program of rem- edial work. Four methods in diagnosis are suggested below: A. OBSERVE THE PUPIL AT WORK to get facts about his habits of work, social response, attitude toward school, ac- tivities outside of school, behavior in home. These facts can be gathered by classroom teachers during supervised study pe- riods, by library or study-hall teachers, home room teachers, by special workers in the system, and in home visits or con- ferences with parents at school. B. STUDY WRITTEN WORK AND TEST RECORDS for facts about his ability as shown by standardized tests, diag- nostic tests, general intelligence tests, new type examinations ; also other school records including absence, health, scholastic and extra-curriculum records, and rating charts by teachers. These data can be gathered by the teacher. Much of it should accumulate for every student in a student folder in the princi- pal’s office and so be available for study. C. SELF STUDY BY THE STUDENT to get facts re- garding the student’s explanation of his difficulty, his ideas on how he can do satisfactory work, his attitude toward the sub- ject or teachers, his interest in improvement, his desire for any kind of teacher attention. Provide self-inventory outlines suitable for his difficulties and self-rating forms. Provide sam- ples of his work, with suggestions for his interpretation. Have him discuss his difficulties with good students. D. CONFERENCES WITH THE STUDENT to get more facts and further basis for interpretation. Conferences with parents and with others who know the students. These con- ferences should always be private. stale Pe Reena — en ; ; ! } | } | ‘ | 62 1934 WASHINGTON SUMMER MEETING Remedial Program. The diagnosis gives one an idea of the cause of the diffi- culty. Knowing a cause, we can proceed to find a cure. Reme- dial treatment may reveal that the diagnosis is wrong. It may show that a goitre is the cause of trouble which had been classi- fied as social. We may find cases falling under several classi- fications. All that we can learn about the case should be used as facts to solve the problem. The remedial program should proceed with the case history as a guide. Successful treat- ment should be continued and likewise unsuccessful treatment stopped. Record from similar cases should be a helpful guide. While we work to help these students to-day our labors leave with our profession two valuable products, one tangible and one intangible. The intangible product is our professional attitude which is pupilized and humanized. A teacher can not work on a case and do something for the boy or girl without catching the vision of what real education is. When the teacher goes back to his class after helping a boy or girl to succeed in school, he goes back not to teach subject matter but really to teach pupils. The other more tangible product is the body of data on how problem cases have been successfully treated. The Community and the Program. The community will have a planning committee and this planning committee will have a sub-committee on education. This committee will be unaffected by politics and will work with the school officials in using every possible public means to make the educational program of the community most ef- fective. This committee will be made up of men and women who have proved themselves to be desirable for such a respon- sibility by previous participation in some phase of school work. Their work will be advisory. They may advise the board of education or the Parent-Teacher Association, and even the public. Their function is to discuss policies and never person- alities. Such a committee helps the school serve the commu- nity in the fullest way and it naturally follows that the com- munity will serve the school. PART II National Honor Society ONE METHOD OF ELECTING TO THE NATIONAL HONOR SOCIETY IMOGENE KEENE GILES In one of our large high schools, we faced the problem of electing members to the National Honor Society. For a num- ber of years, it was my duty to serve as the chairman of the faculty committee appointed to solve this problem. The com- mittee consisted of two men and two women. Through the years our plan of procedure has gradually developed so that now it can be described as a series of six steps: I. A list was made in the office of all eligible seniors, i.e., of the third of the class who had received the highest grades. Copies of this list, alphabetically arranged, were posted in the office to be examined exclusively by teachers. II. Communications from the committee were sent to the teachers asking: First, that they copy from the lists the names of all pupils with whom they were acquainted. Second, that they obtain from the office blanks on which to record their votes. Third, that they fill out a blank for every pupil of whom they had classroom or other acquaintance. A definite date was given for turning in the votes to a member of the committee. The blank was in the following form: " | Name of pupil | Character oO Service |” Scholarship [| Leadership I recommend this pupil { do not recommend this pupil (Draw a line through the one not meant.) A ett 64 1934 WASHINGTON SUMMER MEETING In the small oblong the pupil was to be graded, E (excel- lent), G (good), F (fair), or P (poor), according to the teach- er’s estimate of him in regard to the characteristic named in the large oblong. The large oblong was for comments. The space below the characteristics was used to record activities engaged in by the pupil. The teacher voted for or against rec- ommendation by crossing out one of the statements. III. Since each vote was signed, it was easy to check a list of all the teachers’ names and to make an appeal to those who had not voted. Within a few days the committee had an expression from each member of the faculty. IV. We obtained from the board of editors of the school annual records for the extra-curriculum activities of all sen- iors. V. A tentative list of likely pupils was made according to the number of favorable votes cast for each. VI. In choosing the actual members, we were obliged to take into account, not only the number of favorable votes cast, but the grades and comments given under each requirement, the actual activities on record, and the scholarship rank in the class. The committee spent much time in changing the prob- able list into a definite list. The same procedure (mutatis mutandis) was followed in choosing members from the junior class. Two other considerations we have felt it wise to add. We obtained from the office records the I Q of each candidate. Ex- perience taught us to allow this to influence our final decision, for the I Q record gave the committee additional assurance that the pupil was of college calibre. Thus a pupil was elected to the Honor Society, and for that reason alone, parents who could ill afford it made every sacrifice to send him to college. Probably on account of temperamental difference, there are likely to be more girls than boys chosen in such an election. The result is that more and more boys lose their interest in the organization. It seems to them too much like a girls’ so- ciety. For this reason, in drawing up our final list, we made the number of girls and boys equal. This we have felt was a wise stipulation, for year by year we have found more and more boys on the eligible list. DEPARTMENT OF SECONDARY-SCHOOL PRINCIPALS 65 We are convinced that there is no easy way of doing this work. Mathematical schemes do not seem fair. The judg- ments of the teachers in regard to the four requirements for election must be carefully weighed, much as a judge or jury weigh evidence in a trial, but after considering all the evidence procured as above, we found we made very few mistakes. Ld i | | ee 66 1934 WASHINGTON SUMMER MEETING NATIONAL HONOR SOCIETY _ Over ten vears ago the Department of Secondary-School Principals (then the Na- tional Association of Secondary-School Principals) organized the National Honor Society with the end in view of stimulating scholarship in the secondary schools of the United States. To-day there are over fifteen hundred chapters and these are in the best high schools in the country. The four objectives of the society are: to create an enthusiasm for scholarship, to stimulate a desire to render service, to promote worthy leadership, and to encourage the development of character. Every high-school principal who has a chapter is enthusiastic over the productive results of this organization in his school. Direct all requests for literature to H. V. Church, 5835 Kimbark Avenue, Chicago. WARNING The National Honor Society has met with such great suc- cess that imitations are springing up in different parts of the country. These pseudo honor societies seem to have largely a commercial objective, and plan to exploit scholarship for finan- cial ends. Members of our department are warned to beware of any plan to sell pins or emblems to pupils under the guise of scholarship, and are urged not to lend their aid or influence to such organizations. The Department of Secondary-School Principals recom- mends only the National Honor Society and the National Jun- ior Honor Society. FOURTH PRICE LIST OF NATIONAL HONOR EMBLEMS The prices of emblems were lowered during the summer of 1933, but the NRA code and the rising price of gold has made two subsequent increases necessary. The latest prices are below: Senior Emblems ee $3.63 ere $2.78 ge | ee 3.00 See 2.34 Gold Filled Charm___----.--~ 1.60 Geld Filled Pin ...cc<. DEPARTMENT OF SECONDARY-SCHOOL PRINCIPALS 69 STANDARD HIGH-SCHOOL PERSONAL RECORD BLANKS The standard record forms which were approved by the Department of Secondary- School Principals at the meeting at Boston are now printed on cardboard suitable for vertical filing systems. This card, 5x8, is especially designed for small and medium size high schools. Space is provided on these blanks for scholarship records for five years. The extra year is included for pupils of four-year high schools who may desire to do graduate work. It is recommended that six-year junior-senior high schools use separate cards for the rec- ords of the junior and of the senior schools. When the guidance information called for in the lower right hand corner seems to be of a changeable nature, as would often be true of such items as ‘Vocational Pref- erence” it is suggested that it be written in pencil so that it can be erased and changed when necessary. The schedule of prices, post-paid, follows: NEW PRICE LIST Zones 100 200 500 1000 S © Bic cencccccessetessminnsdsnmmaion $1.70 $3.00 $6.00 $11.00 8 ancccncccccccceenccccccccccccenees 1.75 3.0 6 11.15 yes = 1.80 3.10 6.20 11.35 5 1.85 3.15 6.30 11.55 oe 1.90 3.20 6.45 11.70 T paaipiaiead 1.95 3.30 6.60 11.95 C: . msenie 2.00 3.40 6.75 12.10 Twenty per cent discount to dues-paying members. Direct orders to H. V. CHURCH, 5835 Kimbark Avenue, Chicago. ene GROUP LIFE INSURANCE The Department offers to its members life insurance in its most inexpensive form. The salient features of the plan are: 1. Low premium. The premium is ten dollars a year a thousand for those insured for $3000.00. See table below for rates for those over forty-five years of age. 2. No medical examination (with exceptions). 3. Total and permanent disability benefits. If an ins ber b totally and permanently disabled, his insurance will be paid ‘2 monthly installments. 4. Conversion privilege. When an insured member leaves the profession to enter another profession or economic group, he may convert his group policy into any of the policies (except term insurance) customarily issued by the insurance company for the same amount at the current rates of the attained age. Age limit is sixty-five years. Individual policies. These show rights of insured, t, and beneficiary. Current protection. There are no savings, accumulation, or paid-up features, Insurance is for one year at a time, and is renewable each year, at the option of the insured member. 8 Amounts offered: $3,000 for all ages from 21 to 45 (nearest birthday) inclusive. $1,500 for all ages from 46 to 65 (nearest birthday) inclusive. Annual Rates per $1,000 for those 45 or older: SRT PES cs SAPe A SE er ee Lee - Send for application blanks to H. V. CHURCH, 5835 Kimber. Avenue, Chicago. AUTOMOBILE INSURANCE The members of the Department who own motor cars may now procure complete, sound automobile insurance protection with efficient nation-wide service at annual sav- { ings of 25% off the usual cost of such covering. Send for application blank, to H. V. Church, 5835 Kimbark Avenue, Chicago. If you will fill the application blank and send it to the Executive Secretary, he will quote the special rate to members. hen you receive this quotation, you can then de- ; | cide if you can save money by accepting this special rate. : | FIRE INSURANCE A new service, fire insurance, is now open with reduced rates to our members. This coverage is with the Central Manufacturers’ Mutual Insurance Company. If you are in- : terested, send for a blank to the Executive Secretary, H. V. CHURCH, 5835 Kimbark Avenue, Chicago. The secretary will be glad to give you quotations. OTHER INSURANCE Perhaps the Department can effect you a saving in the following kinds of insurance: Accident, Earnings Replacement, Indemnity, Sickness, and any other type of coverage. Write for information to H. V. CHURCH, 5835 Kimbark Avenue, Chicago. 70 1934 WASHINGTON SUMMER MEETING DEPARTMENT COMBINATION OFFERS (All Subscription Rates Are for One Year) Junior-Senior High-School Clearing House LET LOR SE LS I 3.00 The CRO Bio occ cnn intcieninwnmiinsbicimitinaaalieeaeds y Membership’ in Department____....____--. he paeahniemsiginiiemeniiniiesin COMBINATION’ OFFER If both new 3.00 If either a renewal 3.25 The Atlantic Monthly henna ae alana neonrastnintitstsiastinndgditaamnmicntnne ry Membership in Department______---- EEE RS RE SR ee 2.0 COMBINATION OFFER If both new 4.00 If either a renewal 4.25 The New Outlook___ ee, ee ee ee Le Se SS 2 ro Membership in Depa GERI REE ee NN ee Wi MADE COMBINATION OFFER 3.25 The New Republic _ ee ee ee a SN Ay SR as Membership in Department_._ senate dptitedninaitenitiaten edema COMBINATION OFFER 5.00 eee? 06 Ta... cccncmandecndnsnmasbéiinedinmeteeneeeeeee ras I LLL LEE A ~ COMBINATION OFFER 3.50 Survey Graphic eee ee HS RSS ER Os by Membership in . Department jpqundperenntencinnieinaingidiiniinaiaamiaeliatdieamemeads COMBINATION OFFER 3.00 Write to the Executive Secretary if you desire a combination offer with some other periodical. H. V. CHURCH, Executive Secretary, 5835 Kimbark Avenue, Chicago. USE TYPEWRITER, OR PRINT; DO NOT WRITE APPLICATION BLANK DEPARTMENT OF SECONDARY-SCHOOL PRINCIPALS NATIONAL EDUCATION ASSOCIATION 5835 KIMBARK AVENUE, CHICAGO I enclose $2.00, for one year’s subscription for membership, whereby I shall be fur- nished with all the publications and granted all the privileges of the Department of Secondary-School Principals, to begin..................------- » Msca, (Month) Name - adeeuienatinantadii timate hcaeiamead i ss ceiiatiecsasabidapiiiaeieastaalial Dc siacticiseneiatevcisitiasaeia-eaiics tiiahamelaiaicadia “(Family) (Given Name) ee ‘ ee © ee: entities (Bachelor’s, year) (Master's, year) (Doctor’s, year) Position _ a eT Te! Fn aL Sena NE ee Ben TN (First year here) (Title) (Name of institution) Address - : jatnne a mee) ye ee NP ME ee EN (To which mail should be sent) Make checks payable to H. V. CHURCH, 5835 Kimbark Avenue, Chicago.