“The Bulletin of the Department of 
Aecond ary-School Principals 


_yamtonat(aovcar ASSOCIATION: : 


CONTENTS 


Function of the Modern Secondary School, 


Ss. D, Guizzm 
High School in Conservation, ‘Prank Jones Clase... 


Objectives in Conservation Education, W. Lionas mm mm I 
Peer Raisose, = Salen s BAER Be ae 


Now Features of the Sehoa Ald Program, Ric 









































SECONDARY-SCHOOL, PRINCIPALS 


NATIONAL EDUCATION ASSOCIATION 


OFFICERS 
1937-1988 


sident: Picrig om h ry 
Principal of Union High School Huntington Beach, California 


Principal of Nevtion High School Newonville, Masschuostts 
Principal pera hag S55 oar the woe Colorado 
es ee 
EXECUTIVE COMMITTER 
Principal ne Fh Schook wanes Alabama 


Principal of Pipkin and of Reed Juslor High School, SpringSeld, Misoes 
N. Van Stycx- 
Principal of School, Topeka, Kansas 
Principal Central High School, Flint, Michigan - 


NATIONAL COUNCIL OF THE NATIONAL BONOR SOCIETY 


Principal of Oak Park and % Rive Forest Towaship High ‘School 


Seer bases 
sect «SAPS Th sate 


Penal of Wick High Bebo! East, Wichita, Kansas ; 
Pec of Menten High Scat Newent, Mamachte 
Principal of West Side High School, Deaver, Colorado 

AE 
Principal of Washburn High School, Minneapolis, Minnesots 
H. J. Pauxea 
Principal of High School, Corvallis, Oregoa 
Piiipal ot Piblartin Cplee thee bekeeh lek fale Claes 
x Palen Eker erg 5 


W. L. 
Santa Wheat Segatans Montgomery, Alabama 


HV. Secretory 
Lorn ert, 














fe 9 
057 
The Bulletin hie 


of the 


DEPARTMENT OF SECONDARY-SCHOOL 
PRINCIPALS 


National Education Association 








VOLUME 22 JANUARY, 1938 NUMBER 71 








THE COORDINATING FUNCTION OF THE MODERN 
SECONDARY SCHOOL 


E. D. GRIZZELL 


Professor of Education, University of Pennsylvania 


rh 


The transmission of the accumulated experience of the 
race has always been a dominant function of the secondary 
school as a social institution. The secondary school has also 
been the agency for the selection and development of leaders 
for the existing regime. When revolutions set up new regimes, 
the secondary school, either the existing institution or another 
better suited to the new order, became the instrument for rais- 
ing up a new coterie of leaders. 

The American public high school is unique among secon- 
dary schools only because the American conception of leader- 
ship is not limited to a select group. Leadership in a democ- 
racy is intermingled with the masses. Ideally every citizen is 
a potential leader in something, and it is the function of the 
secondary school to identify the potentialities of each youth 
and provide the appropriate opportunities for development. 
It is obvious that such an expanded concept of secondary edu- 
cation demands fundamental departures in educational pro- 
gram, institutional organization, administrative control, and 
community support. 

This conception of American secondary education in- 
volves a modification of the traditional function of the secon- 
dary school in that it assumes responsibility for the selection 
and preparation of youth for service—social and vocational— 
as well as for leadership. It assumes that every leader is also 
a coéperator in numerous activities in the democratic com- 
munity life. Such a conception of extended education for the 
masses of youth must recognize the need for radical departures 
from the program of secondary education traditionally pur- 
sued in foreign countries in the training for leadership of 








DEPARTMENT OF SECONDARY-SCHOOL PRINCIPALS  [January, 


highly selected groups. It must ignore aristocratic social 
forms and adapt itself to every level of human experience. It 
must recognize the tremendous variations in intellectual abil- 
ities and interests and discover ways of education now foreign 
to the traditional secondary school and its exclusive depend- 
ence upon formal instruction. These new ways of learning 
are essentially the oldest learning processes known to man— 
learning through direct personal experience in a variety of life 
situations. 


SOURCES OF EDUCATION IN A COMMUNITY 


Every modern secondary school serves a community which 
may be conceived as varying in its scope and influence from 
the neighborhood which surrounds it to a world-wide relation- 
ship. Most secondary schools, however, are limited in their 
interests and influence to the area from which they draw their 
pupils. For public schools this is largely the supporting unit, 
while for independent schools it is the region or in a few 
cases the nation with certain international relations. Most 
American secondary schools are concerned primarily with local 
and state relations since the local and state units are their sup- 
porting units. This discussion will be restricted to the consid- 
eration of the public secondary school with occasional refer- 
ence to significant departures possible in the independent school 
that may, because of its greater freedom and the superior eco- 
nomic competence of its pupils, extend its contacts beyond its 
local environment into more remote areas through travel, ex- 
change of pupils, and other similar procedures. 

The major possibilities or sources of education outside 
the school itself are found chiefly in the normal experiences 
which are afforded by the general environment. Formal 
schools frequently ignore the fact that the human race is what 
it is because of its response to environmental conditions. The 
institutional forms and the tested solutions to life problems 
are the results of centuries of problem solving engaged in by 
the best minds-of men. It is obvious that for some young 
people, a very select group, the experience of the race may be 
assimilated vicariously and may become in a measure their 
own experience. The proportion of the population that can 
learn most effectively from vicarious experience is small and 
consequently large numbers of young people when forced to 
engage in formal learning are going through mere formalities 
and are not having a real experience. They are not learning 
in a truly significant sense because they are not able to profit 








al 
It 
l- 


1. 


1938] THE COORDINATING FUNCTION 3 


to any important degree by generalized race experience as 
recorded in books. 

The expansion of the democratic ideal has placed an added 
responsibility upon the American secondary school for meet- 
ing the needs of types of youth that have never, from primitive 
times to the present, attended any secondary school in any 
country. Every community affords, in its material environ- 
ment and setting, many opportunities for education that for- 
mal school situations cannot duplicate. Geographical condi- 
tions, climate, temperature, weather conditions, geological for- 
mations, plant and animal life, peculiarities of physical phe- 
nomena—the whole natural environment provides an intro- 
duction to science that has a far greater educational possibility 
for the youth of limited intellectual competence and interest 
uuan the formal science of the classroom and laboratory. Even 
the youth of talent and interest in the scientific field is stimu- 
lated to original and creative thinking when the theory of the 
classroom and laboratory is approached psychologically from 
the practical personal experience of the learner. 

The social environment with its variety of institutions 
provides the most extensive opportunities for informal edu- 
cation. In primitive societies and to a certain extent in more 
highly developed communities the essential social agencies— 
the home, the church, the occupations, governmental agencies, 
recreational and cultural institutions—all participate in defi- 
nite ways in the induction of youth into membership in the 
community. In recent decades, there has been a strong ten- 
dency in America to transfer the responsibility for much of 
this valuable educational experience to the school. Unfor- 
tunately, the school has attempted to formalize this experience 
into standard patterns that have failed to keep pace with the 
changing character of social institutions. The result has been 
over-crowding of schools with educational activities that are 
artificial and poorly suited for application to actual life situa- 
tions. 

There is a great need for the extended development of 
school and community relations in order that the natural set- 
ting of the experience be maintained and properly codrdinated 
with the necessary theory which the school must select and 
provide in appropriate ways. The school as a specialized social 
agency has for a long time served merely as an agency to sup- 
plement the educational experiences provided informally by 
chance contact with other social agencies. Its contact with 
and control over youth has been so limited in time that fre- 




















4 DEPARTMENT OF SECONDARY-SCHOOL PRINCIPALS [January, 


quently this supplementary education which it provides has 
little effect because there is little recognition of the influence 
of other social agencies. The two frequently work at cross 
purposes, leaving the unsuspecting youth helpless when he 
attempts to assume his place in the community. It is essen- 
tial that the school become a general agency for stimulating 
the participation of other social agencies to recognize their 
educational responsibilities and at the same time for giving 
effective direction to each agency’s participation. This func- 
tion of the school is not new but it requires increased emphasis 
in modern education. No other community agency is in as 
strategic a position as the school to evaluate, supervise, and 
codrdinate the educational resources afferded by community 
agencies. 

The changing character of democratic society renders 
of little real value to youth much that the school provides in 
its formal program. The tendency of the school’s educational 
program to remain fixed is too well-known. This very ten- 
dency, which has made of the school a stabilizing force in so- 
ciety, constitutes a serious problem in a democratic social order 
in which constant change is an essential characteristic. This 
condition is well illustrated in the current efforts of thousands 
of American secondary schools, public and independent, to 
meet the needs of increasing numbers of youth who have been 
forced to remain in or return to school because of lack of op- 
portunity for employment. The formal educational program 
now available demands abilities and interests which the lower 
twenty to thirty per cent of youth do not have. The abilities 
and interests which they possess demand natural life situa- 
tions for their development and enrichment. Although this 
group of low intellectual and vocational competence is at 
present a major problem for the school, there is also a large 
percentage of youth, perhaps thirty to forty per cent, requir- 
ing special vocational preparation; and, furthermore, there 
are many who need general social and cultural orientation, 
who would profit greatly by codperative programs of educa- 
tion both vocational and general. If community agencies were 
utilized in the education of these young people who are at 
present poorly served by the conventional program of secon- 
dary education, the intellectual standards could be raised for 
those who have abilities and interests in the fields of general 
scholarship. For this intellectually gifted group the cultural 
agencies of the community have facilities for general cultural 























1938] THE COORDINATING FUNCTION 5 


enrichment not generally utilized by young people at the pres- 
ent time. 


PECULIAR CONTRIBUTIONS OF COMMUNITY AGENCIES 
AND INSTITUTIONS 


These contributions can be characterized in relation to 
the major areas of the program of secondary education: the 
mother tongue,—its language and literary elements,—the social 
studies, the natural sciences, mathematics, the foreign lan- 
guages and literatures, the fine arts, the practical arts, phys- 
ical and health education, and the preparation for vocations. 
It is easy to see that these fields of human learning have de- 
veloped out of human experience and represent specializa- 
tions which have resulted from scientific classification and 
organization of race experience. It is also obvious that human 
needs might be better expressed perhaps in terms of areas of 
life activity in which each individual may be expected to par- 
ticipate. The activities or experiences necessary to the educa- 
tion of the individual have been variously stated by educa- 
tional philosophers. A convenient category would include: 

(1) Activities essential to the development of desirable 
physical and health conditions of the individual and 
the community. 

(2) Activities involved in the preparation of the indi- 
vidual for his life’s occupation. This is of concern 
to both the individual] whose livelihood depends upon 
his occupational efficiency and to society whose 
standards of service are of paramount importance to 
all members of society. 

Activities involved in developing efficiency in civic 
and social life of the individual. It is obvious that 
these activities have as great a significance for the 
general social welfare as for the efficiency of the indi- 
vidual as a member of the community. 

Activities concerned with the development of recre- 
ational and cultural interests of the individual. Al- 
though this area is, to a greater extent than any of 
the other activities a matter of prime importance to 
the individual, it has significant relationship to the 
general welfare of the community. Appropriate em- 
phasis upon recreational and cultural factors repre- 
sents enrichment of cOmmunity life and unless the 
rising generation is constantly encouraged to develop 
such interests there can be little possibility of sur- 




















[January, 





DEPARTMENT OF SECONDARY-SCHOOL PRINCIPALS 


vival of such experience in the institutional life of 
the community. 

It is comparatively easy for one to catalog the community 
resources that may be made to contribute to these several 
areas. The following will illustrate possibilities in these sev- 
eral areas: community playgrounds, clinics in hospitals and 
community centers, community-wide health and physical ex- 
aminations sponsored by local physicians and dentists, sani- 
tary surveys of the community with the codperation of the 
local board of health and other agencies interested in the im- 
provement of sanitary conditions represent possibilities in the 
area of health and physical development. Codperative ar- 
rangements with the various employer and employee groups in 
the community in the development of a vocational education 
program, utilization of community occupational agencies as a 
means of occupational orientation and guidance, the develop- 
ment of non-competitive work projects as educational projects 
for youth finding it difficult financially to remain in school, the 
CCC Camp and other federal emergency agencies suggest the 
possibilities in the direction of vocational education. The va- 
rious social agencies of the community and their programs for 
social improvement, the courts and other agencies for law en- 
forcement, participation of older youth especially in planned 
programs of community service, numerous youth organizations 
concerned with the enrichment of the social life of youth— 
scouts, 4-H Clubs, and similar organized youth activities— 
would aid the school in making a program of citizenship vital 
and functioning. Libraries, museums, little theaters, organ- 
ized sports, special organizations interested in developing the 
cultural opportunities for youth such as travel clubs, musical 
groups, agencies for the promotion of art interests are a few 
of the significant possibilities in this area. These types of 
agencies are in general suggestive with respect to the possi- 
bilities for the development of a broad and enriched commu- 
nity educational program that could be made to serve all the 


youth of the community. 


IDENTIFYING AND COORDINATING COMMUNITY RESOURCES 


If community resources are to be used effectively in the 
education of youth, it is essential that these resources be iden- 
tified and their potential contributions made known to the 
school. The process of identification involves a detailed sur- 
vey of the community. This survey should search not only for 
the organized resources but also for the unorganized resources 









































THE COORDINATING FUNCTION q 





1938] 


referred to in a previous section. Natural environmental fac- 
tors and characteristics frequently offer many possibilities for 
the illustration and application of principles in science, mathe- 
matics, social studies, and the fine and practical arts. The 
agencies that may contribute to a vital physical and health 
program should be identified in each community. The general 
interest in improved health in the community demands con- 
stant attention on the part of all health agencies of the com- 
munity. Perhaps the most fertile field for development is in 
the various occupations of the community. A vocational sur- 
vey technique is already available and every community should 
develop a continuing survey of this area. A vocational survey 
should reveal at least three types of information: (1) the rela- 
tive need for various types of qualified entrants, (2) the na- 
ture and standards of preparation required, and (3) the possi- 
bilities for utilizing existing occupational agencies in provid- 
ing the educational program. 

An area in which very little if any progress in the use of 
community agencies has been made is in the area of civic and 
social education. The procedures in the survey of this aspect 
of community resources have been developed to some extent 
and it is now possible for a community to attempt the identi- 
fication of resources with excellent results. There are numer- 
ous organizations for youth now functioning more or less in- 
dependently of the school which could be codrdinated effec- 
tively with the educational program of the secondary school. 
Many of these organizations contribute largely to the recrea- 
tional and cultural needs of youth. Complete dependence 
should not be placed upon existing organizations for youth 
to the neglect of other community agencies with which youth 
has constant daily contact. It is a general observation of any 
one acquainted with the work of youth organizations that they 
fail to reach a very large proportion of young people who need 
such opportunities most. The resources for civic and social 
education of the entire community should be identified by the 
secondary school. In this connection attention should be called 
to the possibilities of utilizing the resources of larger and 
more remote areas than the local community. This has been 
well demonstrated in the travel-group social study projects 
carried on in one of the Minneapolis high schools. Illustra- 
tions of these projects are the firsthand group study of the Hull 
House in Chicago, and a trip to a Canadian city in which an 
intimate acquaintance was made of the community life of the 
city. The annual Washington trip by the graduating classes 




















8 DEPARTMENT OF SECONDARY-SCHOOL PRINCIPALS [January, 


of many secondary schools has great possibilities in this con- 
nection. In foreign countries the study of community life in 
other countries is effectively promoted through travel clubs 
and school journey associations. These activities have great 
possibilities in the development of international understand- 
ing. Each secondary school should canvass as completely as 
possible these regional, national, and international resources 
for civic and social education. The recreational and cultural 
resources of the community have generally been neglected in 
most secondary schools except as individual teachers have at- 
tempted to utilize them. There are perhaps greater possibili- 
ties in this area than we realize. A complete survey of such 
facilities should be made in every community. Here again the 
larger areas—state, regional, national, and foreign—should be 
included. The possibilities of the use of the radio broadcast 
are not recognized in most schools. The recreational and cul- 
tural fields of music, the drama, the foreign languages, as 
tools for broadening the literary experiences of youth, illus- 
trate the possibilities. In the local community such agencies 
as the little theater, musical organizations, physical recreation 
facilities of public parks and playgrounds, libraries, museums, 
and community groups for expression of public opinion pro- 
vide a wealth of vital educational experience. 

The survey proposed should be continuous and cumulative 
since growing communities are constantly developing new 
agencies to meet the complex problems of modern society. The 
next step is the development of experimental projects in which 
agencies willing to codéperate shall be selected. It is important 
that a community shall not attempt a program that cannot be 
properly coordinated. Typical projects might be a commu- 
nity health guidance clinic, a community work project for 
park improvement or slum clearance, a community sanitation 
study project, a community reading service, a juvenile crime 
study project, a program for older unemployed youth in which 
existing social agencies would provide leaders and necessary 
facilities. Many similar features might be suggested and de- 
veloped as the program became adjusted to the needs of youth 
and the nature and demands of the community. 


A PROGRAM FOR COORDINATING EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES 
OF THE COMMUNITY 


In a program of the nature proposed it would seem to be 
necessary at the present stage to form a community council to 
serve as a genera] advisory group to the constituted educa- 























THE COORDINATING FUNCTION 9 





1938] 


tional authority—the board for school control. This council 
should include in its membership representatives of all im- 
portant types of community agencies likely to contribute re- 
sources in any form. Through such a representative group 
direct contacts could be developed with all important agencies 
in the community. The members would also be useful as expert 
advisors in planning survey studies and in interpreting the 
agencies to the educational leaders. 

The board of education, or other authority responsible for 
the community educational programs, should provide some 
agency for the study of the needs of the total youth population 
and the identification of the educational resources provided by 
the community. In a community with one secondary school 
the problem is reasonably simple but in the larger community 
or metropolitan center due consideration should be given to 
the homogeneous areas or communities which constitute the 
larger community. Each of these smaller communities should 
become the unit for the development of the community edu- 
cational program. In this manner a close contact can be main- 
tained with the codperating agencies, and the dangers of re- 
mote control are eliminated. The central administrative 
agency becomes an expert advisory agency for each smaller 
school community and can serve largely as an agency for stim- 
ulation and general coérdination. In large population centers 
there are likely to be many overlappings in contributing agen- 
cies and this condition is a problem for adjustment by the cen- 
tral administrative authority. In the initial stages in large 
cities, it would appear highly desirable that centers for ex- 
perimental projects be developed in such manner as to avoid 
undesirable overloading of a few community agencies. 

In the typical American community the public secondary 
school is rapidly becoming conscious of at least three groups of 
youth for whom essentially different types of educational pro- 
visions must be made if they are to obtain profit from their 
educational efforts. One of these, the youth of superior in- 
tellectual ability and interests, will profit most from the formal 
program and should be stimulated to his highest attainments 
by challenging his efforts to high standards of excellence. For 

this group, community agencies present real stimulation to 
leadership in meeting successfully the problems of American 
life. Another group of youth, sometimes of superior but more 
frequently of average ability, have definite practical interests, 
particularly along specific vocational lines. This group will 
profit most from codperative educational programs to which 











10 DEPARTMENT OF SECONDARY-SCHOOL PRINCIPALS (January, 


the various vocational agencies may make distinct contribu- 
tions. The third group consists of a rapidly increasing num- 
ber of youth who are for various reasons continuing in or re- 
turning to the secondary school. For this group the only hope 
for effective further education lies in the direction of more 
extensive utilization of community institutions and activities. 
Although the secondary school may be able to provide types of 
formal education that will improve reading skills, certain vo- 
cational skills, and other fundamental abilities needed in nor- 
mal life activities perhaps the most important need is the abil- 
ity to coéperate with others in the solution of community prob- 
lems. Instead of. placing major emphasis upon formal educa- 
tion the school shall develop programs of guidance and coérdi- 
nation of the educational opportunities provided by other com- 
munity agencies. 





HIGH SCHOOLS IN CONSERVATION 


FRANK JONES CLARK 
Central High School, Providence, Rhode Island 


No matter in what part of the country a school may be lo- 
cated, conservation problems are to be found. It may be soil 
erosion in one part of the country, protection of birds and 
game in another section, the conservation of fish, the protection 
of wild flowers, the cultivation of roadside beauty, the protec- 
tion of streams from pollution, or a half dozen other types of 
problems. Public short-sightedness and its cousin, public 
apathy, are largely responsible for the seriousness of con- 
servation problems. 

Now as never before there is an imperative need for a 
better understanding of these problems by the masses. Be- 
cause the effect of the conservation movement is far-reaching, 
we believe some emphasis should be given to it by secondary 
schools. The millions of boys and girls of high-school age are 
at the time of life where the development of attitudes is most 
important. Their interest, understanding, and support of pub- 
lic conservation policies should be secured. Furthermore, 
through them vast numbers of parents and older people can 
be reached. It is a challenge to schools to concern themselves 
with material things of the environment as well as the attitude 
of boys and girls toward that environment, even if traditional 
practices must be sacrificed. It is possible to supply boys and 
girls with information concerning conservation, and to direct 
them into conservation activites which will make a distinct im- 
pression on them and their parents and result in civic attitudes 
of importance in the protection and use of our natural re- 
sources. 

The following three points of attack upon the problem of 
conservation in high schools are proposed: 

1. Let us at once go over our curriculums and supply a 
few units dealing with conservation for study or investigation. 
Select this curriculum material as much as possible from local 
situations, but at the same time keep in mind that many of 
these problems are national in scope and should be so con- 
sidered. | 

2. Stage campaigns each year which will help establish an 
interest in the problems of conservation. Get in step with 
National Conservation Week or other local or state programs. 


11 




















DEPARTMENT OF SECONDARY-SCHOOL PRINCIPALS 


3. Set up school activities dealing with conservation to 
serve as an up-to-date medium through which proper civic 
attitudes can be developed. 

These proposals are not without precedence and may be 
found in some form in certain secondary schools. Wisconsin, 
for example, has embarked on a complete program of conser- 
vation this year. Its state law may have been a little too in- 
clusive and somewhat premature, but it does provide that 
every boy and girl in the state shall be taught something about 
conservation. 

Pennsylvania is undertaking a survey of its great re- 
sources which it ‘will use as a basis for further curriculum 
additions or reconstruction. They have already done some ex- 
cellent work in teaching conservation. Virginia, Maryland, 
New Jersey, North Dakota, Michigan, California, and Dela- 
ware have made progress in the field, and other states are get- 
ting ready to enlarge their meager beginnings. 

A number of schools have observed national conservation 
programs each year, usually during the spring. California, 
Delaware, Virginia, Washington, and New Jersey have issued 
state department bulletins to assist in the observance of Con- 
servation Week. Some of these have been very elaborate and 
have had good results. Tremendous interest and enthusiasm 
is always shown by our youth in such programs. As far as we 
know, only a few schools have carried on such activities, but 
we hope they may be increased by the hundred this year. 

A club of boys in Roosevelt High School, Seattle, Wash- 
ington, has been planting trees for five years on some of the 
logged-off land of the state under the supervision of state and 
national officials. This club studies the question of conserva- 
tion in some of its bi-weekly meetings. Its project of tree- 
planting is planned far in advance each year. An advisory 
committee of local men representing the United States Forest 
Service, the State Forestry Department, the University of 
Washington Forestry Department, the State Forest Fire As- 
sociation representing private interests, and the local improve- 
ment and civic clubs, back the project. 


As a part of the emphasis on the study of conservation, 
this club sponsors the observance of National Conservation 
Week. During this week emphasis is placed on the conserva- 
tion of birds, flowers, game, forests, fish, and camp areas. As- 
semblies are held, pictures shown, exhibits set up, and bulletin 
material prepared for use on the part of the whole school. A 


[January, 



















1 














i 
































1398] HIGH SCHOOL IN CONSERVATION 13 


tree-planting ceremony is staged on the school ground, and 
rhododendrons, the state flower, are planted. 

Other schools in the state of Washington have decided to 
secure areas for reforestation. The boys of one school have 
already developed another project—assisting the state game 
commissioner in re-stocking some of the inaccessible lakes. 

Another school group reforested its city’s watershed area, 
working under the direction of the state fire warden of that 
district. The trees they planted are now ten years old and 
bear living testimony to the civic-mindedness of the boys in 


that school. 

















OBJECTIVES IN CONSERVATION EDUCATION 


W. P. BEARD 


Director, Educational Work, Forest Service, United States Department of Agriculture 





This country appears now to be awakening from a long 
period of indifference to the importance of conservation. Con- 
scientious efforts are being made for the first time in conser- 
vation education in the public schools. Some states are rush- 
ing laws through their legislatures to make such teaching 
mandatory—unfortunate, in my opinion. Teachers and course 
of study committees are seeking materials. Considerable and 
strenuous effort is being made by a strange assortment of in- 
terests, as is usually the case with an awakening of this nature, 
to climb on the band wagon. 

As with all new movements there is much trial and error 
procedure. There is evidently much misunderstanding of what 
conservation means or implies. An example of this appeared 
in a recent excellent educational publication. A section on for- 
est conservation was headed, “Woodman, spare that tree.” 
This misleading caption is characteristic of too much of the 
thinking on conservation. It unduly emphasizes the emotional. 

Let me propose the first objective of conservation educa- 
tion—to replace much of the sentimentalism about conserva- 
tion with facts and understanding. The emotional attitude ex- 
pressed in “Woodman, spare that tree’ comes from the past 
of the conservation movement. Its history is one of shifting 
emphasis. First was the concern for fuel in the early colonial 
days with their inadequate transportation. Then the patriotic 
concern for abundant supplies of timber and naval stores for 
our young navy. Next, emphasis shifted to deploring forest 
destruction because of the supposed influence on climate, par- 
ticularly rainfall, certainly wishful thinking if not emotion. 
When that interest passed, Arbor Day enthusiasm followed, ac- 
complishing a good work; but hampered by much sentimen- 
talism, it was ineffective against the current devastation of 
the forests. Even the sound virile program of Gifford Pinchot 
and Theodore Roosevelt stressing the economic and social] im- 
portance of conservation could not shake off the old senti- 
mentalism which the movement had inherited. I might men- 
tion here that it was during the administration of these men 
that the conservation movement was enlarged from the previ- 
ous primary concern for forests to include the conservation of 
all natural resources. When conservation was revived re- 


14 




















15 


OBJECTIVES IN CONSERVATION EDUCATION 


cently, this same weakness appeared. Now a certain amount 
of emotion is necessary to stir people to action, but once in 
action a solid backing of facts is needed. 

This suggests the second objective—to develop the reali- 
zation that conservation must be considered as dependent upon 
natural laws. While I realize a discussion of physical science 
is out of placé here, I want briefly to point out the relation of 
this field to the social problem. Possibly I can best explain it 
by comparing conservation to a tree rooted in science but 
fru'ted in the social and economic realm. 

These natural laws the sentimentalist calls Mother Na- 
ture. A certain scientist recently indicated that we would get 
farther in conservation if we realized that Nature was much 
more like a mother-in-law or even a step-mother. The law of 
survival of the fittest is one of tooth and claw. The hydrologic 
cycle, or the circulation of water in the atmosphere and on the 
earth, is one of continual attacks on the soil resource, espe- 
cially when man has removed the protective covering of forest 
and grass. What we call the balance of nature for want of a 
better term is a fundamental in conservation. This balance is 
not static—rather a swinging balance—sometimes swinging 
violently. When the balance approaches a static condition, we 
have what ecologists call a climax. An example is a forest 
consisting of an association of plants and animals that is so 
well adapted to the locale that invaders are resisted and ex- 
cluded for a long period of time. Catastrophes such as earth- 
quakes, tornadoes, fire, or man’s carelessness destroy a climax 
and set up a violent swing. Then follows a long period of suc- 
cessive plant and animal associations working toward another 
climax. 

This brings us to the third objective—a knowledge of the 
kinds of activities in which man engages in conservation. As 
I see it, no matter what kind of renewable resource with which 
we deal, there are seven major activities: research, inventory, 
protection, utilization, regeneration, substitution, and codpera- 
tion. These, with the exception of regeneration or renewal, 
apply also to the non-renewable or fund resources. For these 
the term reclamation may well be substituted for regeneration. 

Researth is necessary because only through this activity 
can man determine the laws under which he may use natural 
resources without suffering the penalties sure to follow viola- 
tion of the rules. It is through research that we must decide 


whether or not to shoot the sap-suckers and how to offset the 
shipworm attacks. 




















16 DEPARTMENT OF SECONDARY-SCHOOL PRINCIPALS [January, 


Inventory activities not only provide information as to 
how much of a resource there is but also show something of its 
quality and availability. We have heard the “wolf, wolf” cry 
of timber famine. A general timber famine never has occurred 
and probably will not. Timber shortage is a local matter when 
it exists. Transportation facilities appear to be the main fac- 
tor in timber supply of a locality. 


Protection was the first conservation activity historically. 
Too many people are still in this stage in their thinking. It was 
the emphasis on protection that probably led to much of the 
sentimental support of the conservation movement. Forests 
need protection from fire and insects. Soil needs protection 
from wind and water. All our natural resources need protec- 
tion from certain destructive human activities. Protection is 
highly important, but we need to move on from the idea that 
protection is the whole program. It was to get away from 
the preservative idea that the name forest reserves was 
changed to national forests. 


Utilization is the activity that gives a resource value. It 
is through utilization that man lives. Forests support commu- 
nities,—people and their schools, churches, business, and recre- 
ation. Trees, grasses, and wild life grow, reach maturity, and 
die. Man might better use them than allow them to waste. 
To deny use means loss to the human resources. After all, it 
is the maintenance of human resources that makes conserva- 
tion of natural resources important. 


Restoration, in the case of the renewable resources, may 
be either a costly activity or sound planning. Forests may be 
harvested in a way to leave an occasional seed tree so new 
growth will replace the old and protect the soil resource. It 
might be brought out here that wild life should be looked upon 
as a farmer looks upon his herd of cattle or hogs. A yearly 
increment is used or sold, but a breeding herd is maintained. 
Restoration implies that these resources are crops rather than 
mines. 

Substitution of one resource for another is an important 
activity when some renewable resource needs time for recov- 
ry or a fund resource approaches exhaustion. The idea that 
substitutes should be used for wood has often done more harm 
than good. It has meant that certain forest communities have 
had their incomes reduced. Possibly, however, some commu- 
nities producing the substitutes were the gainers. At least 
substitution as a conservation activity needs no special em- 

































17 





1398] OBJECTIVES IN CONSERVATION EDUCATION 
head 
phasis at this time. The law of supply and demand may be 
entrusted with this activity. 

Codperation is the most important conservation activity. 
This is partly due to the fact that the different resources are 
in competition with one another. Groups of people have be- 
come sponsors for one certain resource. When those who want 
more beaver begin activities, they come into conflict with those 
who want more trout. It is only through codperation that 
such cross purposes may be coordinated. 

The fourth objective may be stated—to realize that con- 
servation implies some sort of public control. Time does not 
permit a discussion of the relative merits of the different pos- 
sible types of such control. Whatever type, codperation must 
be a characteristic. Those who have given the problem consid- 
eration see three main controls,—state or federal ownership, 
state or federal regulation, and government codperation with 
private owners. Possibly the latter will be the solution in most 
cases, since the great bulk of the resources is in private own- 
ership. 

Conservation is largely a problem of land use. Our blun- 
dering land policies of the past wherein land resources were 
pushed into private ownership are now coming home to roost. 
The story has been about as follows: A land resource is devas- 
tated under private ownership to the point where the land no 
longer yields a profit. It is then allowed to revert to the public, 
usually the county, because of tax delinquency. Ordinarily the 
county reluctantly accepts it because it means a tax loss and 
added expense of administration. It is this process on large 
areas that has caused many counties to go into a financial tail 
spin, sometimes so many counties in a state being in the pre- 
dicament that the state has been carried along. Only a strong 
governmental unit can stop the process. 

While devastated land may be unprofitable to a private 
owner, it may be a good investment for the public. Private 
payrolls cannot be met by watershed protection but a city may 
well invest in such land for a water supply. A state may be in 
a position to profit from conservation, where a county may not 
and the nation may likewise profit when a state may not. 

Since natural resources do not conform to man’s boun- 
daries, their effective conservation usually means control by a 
large governmental unit or a high degree of codperation among 
all concerned. 

How this will be worked out in a democracy is impossible 
to forecast. Probably some cases will be solved entirely by 

















18 DEPARTMENT OF SECONDARY-SCHOOL PRINCIPALS [January, 


private enterprise; but we may expect that it will largely be 
the result of government ownership, government regulation, 
or government codperation with private ownership. By gov- 
ernment I mean any unit. 

Thus four general objectives for conservation education 
have been presented: (1) that sentimentalism must be re- 
duced, (2) that conservation is dependent on natural laws, 
(3) that conservation embodies certain activities, and (4) that 
some form of public control based on codperation is necessary. 
With this background of understanding a teacher should be 
better prepared to develop a better understanding of the dif- 
ficult problems of conserving our natural and human resources. 

















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1938] PuPiIL SELF-GUIDANCE IN SECONDARY SCHOOLS 19 


PUPIL SELF-GUIDANCE IN SECONDARY SCHOOLS 


A. Y. MAYNARD 
Principal, High School, Highland Park, N. J. 


Are high-school pupils as a result of the guidance pro- 
grams so widely adopted in recent years making wiser choices 
than formerly in respect to vocations and the kind and amount 
of education to be acquired? The Committee on Orientation 
of the Department of Secondary-School Principals states in its 
report, Functions of Secondary Education:' “Recent studies 
seem to prove the validity of the results from guidance per- 
taining to school choices, but afford no very tangible evidence 
that vocational guidance, in the strict sense, has borne much 
fruit.” The kind and amount of education is so closely related 
to vocation that it would seem that educational guidance would 
be considerably handicapped by ineffective vocational guid- 
ance. Both kinds of guidance are merely aspects of the same 
problem. 

However, educational guidance has no doubt done much 
to keep the choice of courses and curricula in line with the 
abilities of pupils. It has contributed to the reduction of fail- 
ures. It is difficult to say how effective educational guidance 
has been in helping pupils to choose those courses and cur- 
ricula best adapted to meet their most fundamental needs. 

It is the contention of the writer that there is a decided 
weakness in both the educational and vocational phases of 
guidance. Too many pupils make vocational choices with little 
reference to their interests or abilities, or the demand for 
workers in the vocations for fields selected. Too many pupils 
choose courses and curriculums with little thought of the in- 
herent value but merely because the course or curriculum leads * 
in the direction of a vocation, the choice of which is too often 
unwise. Too many pupils make their educational and voca- 
tional choices on the basis of whim or the advice of some other 
person and consequently fail to assume any responsibility for 
the choices or to identify themselves with the program mapped 
out. 





-1Functions of Secondary Education—Report of the Committed on 
Orientation of the Department of Secondary-School Principals, Bulletin 
No. 64, Chicago, January, 1937, (The guidance function is stated by the 
Committee as follows; To guide students on the basis of exploratory 
and revealing courses and of other information gathered from person- 
nel studies, as wisely as possible into wholesome and worth-while social 
relationships, maximum personality adjustment, and advanced study or 
vocations in which they are most likely to be successful and happy.) 


















20 DEPARTMENT OF SECONDARY-SCHOOL PRINCIPALS [January, 


Such conditions exist chiefly because the pupil is not pre- 
pared to participate intelligently in making necessary choices 
and in dealing with the vocational problems which he must 
meet. The weakness of guidance is that it does not prepare 
pupils to assume their proper responsibility for choices. 

Most high schools have some sort of guidance program. 
These programs are intended to help pupils make wise choices. 
It is agreed by all that the choice must be the pupil’s own. Yet, 
the emphasis is nearly always placed on the learning activity 
of the teacher and counselor rather than the pupil. An elab- 
orate system of gathering and recording data about the pupil 
is set up to help the teacher and counselor advise him. The 
counselor is expected to have at his command the most essen- 
tial information about his pupils and the educational and 
vocational opportunities open to them. This is necessary if 
the counselor is to be effective. But the test of the guidance 
program comes in the conference between pupil and counselor. 
There it often happens that only one party to the conference, 
the counselor, is prepared to deal intelligently with the prob- 
lem under consideration. The counselor may present his facts; 
but if the pupil has no adequate background for their interpre- 
tation, he obviously cannot contribute much to the solution of 
the problem. The pupil is likely to accept blindly the coun- 
selor’s interpretation of the data, thus renouncing both his 
right and obligation to choose for himself, or else fall back 
upon some preconceived plan formed by himself or his parents 
without adequate information or thought. Unless choices are 
anticipated and prepared for, the pupil is not likely to be 
ready when a decision is required. 

Popular misconception of the order in which decisions 
should be made and the desirable approach to the more im- 
portant decisions is unfortunate. Most pupils and their par- 
ents seem to feel that the first problem is to decide on a voca- 
tion—or at least whether or not the vocation shall be one call- 
ing for a college education—and the next to choose a kind and 
amount of education in keeping with vocational plans. This is 
not surprising when one considers how fundamental in every 
life is the problem of vocation. A little thought, however, in- 
dicates clearly enough how completely such an approach pre- 
vents effective guidance. 

It rarely happens that the pupil is prepared during the 
early years of secondary education to make his more important 
vocational choices. The pupil’s education at the secondary 
level should gradually prepare him for his choices as they be- 














4 











1938] Pupit SELF-GUIDANCE IN SECONDARY SCHOOLS 21 


come necessary. As interests are discovered and developed 
and abilities revealed, the path to more advanced work be- 
comes clearer. Educational choices should depend throughout 
the secondary school largely on interests, abilities, and the 
needs other than vocational. Whenever the pupil is prepared 
to make sound vocational choices, he is probably justified in 
choosing the curriculum and courses best adapted to further 
his vocational plans. 


But what constitutes satisfactory preparation for the part 
which the pupil is expected to play in making his choices and 
decisions? The guidance program is not likely to be more 
effective than the curriculum as a whole. If the school per- 
forms satisfactorily each of its generally recognized functions, 
the pupil should be prepared. Schools cannot prepare young 
people to make intelligent educational and vocational choices 
by providing them with scraps of information in regard to 
various occupations, brief descriptions of courses, the curric- 
ulum offered by the school, and a little information in regard 
to colleges and their entrance requirements. What is needed 
is not a special course to prepare pupils to make their most 
important decisions wisely, but a high-school education which 
undertakes to deal realistically with the fundamental needs 
of pupils. Probably the most fundamental need of every adult 
is work that is in keeping with his interests and abilities. The 
high school should discover and develop these interests and 
abilities as they apply to gainful occupation. This does not 
mean that avocational interests and abilities should be neg- 
lected, but that fundamental needs should be recognized and 
given their proper emphasis. 


If children are to be prepared to make their choices wisely, 
the whole school must help. Guidance cannot be considered 
as something independent of the rest of the school program. 
Attempting to function in a sort of compartment to itself, guid- 
ance is doomed to failure. While it is itself a function of the 
greatest importance, it depends for success on the satisfactory 
performance of the other important functions of secondary 
education. Exploration and revelation are rarely given ade- 
quate emphasis as bases of guidance. Pupils need to be made 
more definitely aware of their interests, abilities, and aptitudes 
that have significance in regard to their career objectives. In 
the study of most school subjects, organized as they are to-day, 
information and understanding of great vocational signifi- 
cance can be secured. 








DEPARTMENT OF SECONDARY-SCHOOL PRINCIPALS [January, 


The expression “vocational choice” as used in this paper 
should not be thought of as always meaning the choice of a 
specific vocation. It refers rather to all choices having to do 
with a career objective. 























{ 
: 
p 

5 








CONSUMER EDUCATION 


R. G. WALTERS 


Grove City College, Grove City, Pennsylvania 


; I should like to make one point clear at the beginning— 
that I do not presume to be an authority on consumer educa- 
tion. In fact, I doubt if there are any authorities on consumer 
education—yet. What I shall attempt to do is merely to give 
a brief sketch of the development of consumer education and 
to present some of the questions that naturally arise in the 
mind of any thoughtful teacher, which must be satisfactorily 
answered before we are likely to see further development. To 
understand the why and wherefore of the present agitation for 
consumer education, we must go back into ancient history. 
During the centuries that Greece and Rome controlled the 
civilized world, business was conducted on a rather low plane. 
Every imaginable deceit was practiced by Greek and Roman 
merchants. Food was adulterated, wine was watered, sharp 
practices were the order of the day, and bargaining ability 
was the chief factor in the success of the merchant. 
With the downfall of Rome and the coming of the Middle 
Ages, business remained on the same low plane. Partly for 
this reason, partly because of the belief that war and religion 
were the only laudable pursuits, business was looked down 
upon, distrusted, and despised. Throughout the Middle Ages 
the rule of caveat emptor held sway. For centuries, the buyer 
had to beware. For centuries it was considered good business 
to take advantage of the buyer’s ignorance. The one safe- 
guard for the consumer was the fact that his wants were few 
and the goods that were available were simple in nature and 
easily identified. Even in our own country in Colonial days, 
our good ancestors did not hesitate to take advantage of one 
another in matters of. trade, especially when trading with 
citizens of another colony, or better still, with colonists of a 
different religion. And all alike, the New England Puritan, 
the New York Dutchman, the Pennsylvania Quaker, the Mary- 
land Catholic, and the Virginia Cavalier, considered it highly 
commendable to outwit and to cheat the uncivilized Indian. 
During the past century, however, and especially during 
the last fifty years the standards of business have changed con- 
siderably. John Wanamaker, the great Philadelphia merchant, 
introduced the idea of one price for all and that price plainly 
marked on merchandise. His competitors prophesied his ruin; 


23 
















[January, 


24 DEPARTMENT OF SECONDARY-SCHOOL PRINCIPALS 
but instead, the step he took in the interests of the consumer 
became an important factor in his ultimate success. Early in 
the present century the Federal Food and Drug Act helped to 
eliminate adulterated foods, and in some parts of the country 
consumer-coéperative stores kept down prices for the con- 
sumer. A few years later Advertising Clubs of the World, and 
Better Business Bureaus began agitation in favor of “truth 
in advertising,” and private organizations such as Good House- 
keeping Institute began to look after the consumers’ interests 
in a haphazard sort of way. Within the past decade, The Con- 
sumers Union came into existence to give consumer infor- 
mation to a small group of subscribers who were able and 
willing to pay for that information, the Government started 
publishing its Consumers’ Guide, and several other periodicals 
and books devoted to consumer information appeared on the 
market. 

But in spite of these attempts to raise business standards, 
to give consumers legal protection, and to disseminate con- 
sumer information, we still spend our money foolishly. We 
still buy food which gives us neither a balanced diet nor a bal- 
anced budget. We still buy cotton and pay for wool; we still 
buy rayon and pay for silk; we still buy insurance policies that 
do not fill our needs, and stocks and bonds that do not give us 
an income; we still buy automobiles that use too much gas, 
patent medicines that do not cure, and books that aren’t worth 
reading. And so we turn at last to that great American pana- 
cea for all social ills—education—this time in a new form— 
consumer education. 

To-day the majority of educators accept the general idea 
of a need for consumer education. But, and this is a very 
large but, while we are almost unanimous in expressing our 
belief in consumer education as an abstract theory, we have 
almost as many views as to the concrete form which consumer 
education should take as we have individuals interested in it. 
These widely divergent views result from our attempts to an- 


swer six questions. Suppose we take up each of these ques- 


tions in turn. 
First, what materials, information, or principles should 


be considered as consumer education? An examination of 
printed opinions about consumer education shows that no two 
writers have exactly the same concept of the nature of the ma- 
terials to be taught. Historically speaking, probably the first 


agitation for a training which in any way resembled what we 
now term consumer education was the rather mild agitation by 





oa Fe eee le 


iv al 




















1938] CONSUMER EDUCATION 25 


a small group for a course in purchasing. A few teachers are 
still to be found who argue that the need for consumer protec- 
tion comes from dishonest advertising and high-pressure sell- 
ing, and that what we should do is to offer a course in pur- 
chasing which will enable the buying public to protect itself 
against unethical marketing methods. In examining the pleas 
for teaching purchasing, however, I have not been able to find 
a single definite statement or suggestion as to what should be 
included in such a course. 

A second group of teachers agrees with the first group 
that the problems of the consumer may be traced to the door 
of the distributive occupations. This group believes, however, 
that what is needed is not so much to train consumers to pro- 
tect themselves against unethical advertisements and high- 
pressure salesmen as to raise the ethical standards of those 
who advertise and sell. 

A third and probably the largest group of writers believes 

that consumer education should be confined to the imparting 
of information about consumer goods. Those who hold to this 
idea believe that students should be taught the fundamental 
differences between various raw materials and the relative 
merits of finished products that are now on the market. They 
stress the use of the publications of the Consumers Union, 
especially the Consumers’ Digest, as well as the use of the 
Consumers’ Guide published by the U. S. Department of Agri- 
culture. Unfortunately, the number and variety of products 
used by consumers is so great that it is almost a hopeless task 
to give students information except about a comparatively few 
articles. 

A fourth group believes that the term consumer educa- 
tion should be made to apply not so much to the study of con- 
sumer goods as the study of consumer economics. This group 
would stress the economic information needed by consumers, 
such as insurance information, investment information, bank- 
ing information, and transportation information. They be- 
lieve that information regarding codperative buying, install- 
ment buying, price fixing, and similar matters is vastly more 
important than a great number of facts about individual arti- 

_cles, many of which will disappear from the market in a short 
time. 

The second question that naturally arises is: If con- 
sumer education is to consist of information about consumer 
goods, how shall we prevent propaganda in favor of or against 
certain articles from creeping into the course? It would be 

















26 DEPARTMENT OF SECONDARY-SCHOOL PRINCIPALS [January, 


very easy for an unethical instructor to use the course to ad- 
vertise certain makes of goods which he favors. Even if the 
teacher is perfectly honest and conscientious, he may, because 
of insufficient knowledge of goods, give undue and undeserved 
publicity to certain brands. There is also the danger of un- 
scrupulous manufacturers or retailers putting pressure upon 
wholly conscientious and truthful teachers to advertise their 
merchandise. To prevent such dangers the course in consumer 
goods should be taught by a teacher who is unusually well- 
trained; who has been directed to teach the general principles 
of materials rather than to drill on special brands; and who is 
protected by teacher tenure so that he will not be in danger of 
pressure which might be placed upon him. 

The third question is: Should consumer information be 
taught as a separate course, or should it be considered as a by- 
product of the teaching of other subjects? Although many 
teachers believe that we should have a definite and separate 
course in consumer education, either one semester or one year 
in.length, there are probably just as many teachers who believe 
that such a course would be impractical and that it would 
merely mean the adding of another subject to our already over- 
loaded program of studies. They argue that much information 
about consumer goods can be given while teaching the mate- 
rials of commerce in a course in commercial geography; that 
similar information can be given in teaching such topics as 
textiles in retailing; and that the most important principles 
of consumer economics can be presented incidentally while 
teaching business law, salesmanship, retailing, general busi- 
ness, and general economics. 

The fourth question which is causing much confusion 
among those favoring consumer education is: Who shall study 
consumer education? Shall it be confined to commercial stu- 
dents or shall it be required of the entire student body? We 
must admit that commercial students will have no monopoly on 
the buying and consuming of goods. Lawyers, doctors, farm- 
ers, plumbers, baseball players, and above all, housewives, buy 
and consume clothing, food, automobiles, lawn mowers, books, 
and insurance, just as much as do businessmen and women. 
It would seem logical, therefore, to say that if consumer edu- 
cation is desirable at all, it is just as desirable and as neces- 
sary for non-commercial students as for commercial students. 

And now we come to the fifth question: If a separate 
course in consumer education is to be offered, who shall teach 
it? Thus far, three departments have been suggested as be- 


























1938] CoNSUMER EDUCATION 27 


ing fitted to teach consumer education: the commercial depart- 
ment, the social-science department, and the home-economics 
department. Those who favor consumer education being in 
charge of commercial teachers argue that buying is a business 
act, that business teachers already have a knowledge of gen- 
eral economics and of the business procedures that must be 
used by consumers, and that they already know something 
about consumer goods from having taught commercial geog- 
raphy and retailing; hence, they are better prepared to teach 
a course either in consumer goods or in consumer economics. 
But, say those who oppose consumer education being taught by 
commercial teachers, business is primarily interested in pro- 
duction and distribution, that is in manufacturing and selling, 
whereas consumer education belongs in the third great field of 
economics—consumption. They may quote the definition of 
commercial education given by Dr. Monroe of Columbia Uni- 
versity twenty years ago, that “commercial education is edu- 
cation expressed in terms of production, rather than in the 
ordinary cultural terms of consumption.” Moreover, they 
argue that there are vastly more people such as housewives, 
farmers, and laborers, who are engaged in non-commercial 
pursuits, than there are commercial employees, and since all 
these people are consumers, consumer education should not be 
treated as a commercial subject, as it will be if taught by com- 
mercial teachers. 

The two non-commercial departments laying claim to con- 
sumer education are the social-science department and the 
home-economics department. It is difficult to see any good 
reason for the social-science department attempting to give a 
course in consumer information. Few social-science teachers 
are trained in even the most rudimentary business procedures 
used in buying. Moreover, since the social sciences deal pri- 
marily with relationships between people, and not with mate- 
rials, it is difficult to see how social-science teachers would be 
qualified to give information about concrete materials such as 
would be necessary if the course stresses consumer goods. 

On the other hand, the domestic science department has 
some very strong arguments in its favor. According to reli- 
able statistics, seventy-five per cent of all merchandise is 
bought by women. At least ninety per cent of all food is 
bought by housewives and well over half the clothing is bought 
by women who buy all their own clothing, practically all the 
clothing of children, and some of the clothing of men. Since 
housewives do so much of the buying, and since domestic 








28 DEPARTMENT OF SECONDARY-SCHOOL PRINCIPALS [January, 


science teaches them how to use the materials they buy, there 
is considerable logic in the plea that the domestic-science de- 
partment is the proper agency to teach consumer goods. 

The sixth and last question that I raised naturally follows 
the preceding one: How shall we get teachers—whether com- 
mercial, social-science, or domestic-science—who are qualified 
to teach courses in consumer education? I wonder how many 
teachers who are now attempting to give such courses have 
been specially trained to teach them. How many teachers who 
discuss consumer goods of a chemical nature know anything 
about chemistry? How many teachers know anything about 
the methods of manufacturing the projects which they teach? 
It is true, of course, that any teacher can get a certain amount 
of information from a textbook, but after all, what would we 
think of a bookkeeping teacher who knew no more about his 
subject than is found in the high-school text; what would we 
think of a Latin teacher who knew no more about her subject 
than is found in a high-school Latin text? Yet, at the present 
time, we have teachers of consumer education who have no 
knowledge of the products they pretend to teach beyond that 
which they read in the books or periodicals used by their stu- 
dents as well as by themselves. This is not a problem that 
affects teachers in service only, but one that affects teachers 
in preparation as well. I wonder how many teacher-training 
institutions in the United States are actually preparing teach- 
ers to give courses in consumer information. I suppose there 
are some. But if there are any, they have not come to my 
attention. 

Thus we can see that at the present time consumer educa- 
tion is in a somewhat chaotic condition. To stabilize and 
standardize consumer education I believe we must answer the 
six questions I have proposed. I do not believe that any one 
person has all the answers, but answer them we must. Per- 
haps we can more easily find the answers if we will set up a 
set of aims for consumer education, and a set of guiding prin- 
ciples for the teaching of it. I believe that such aims and prin- 
ciples can best be compiled by some recognized authority rep- 
resenting all groups of interested teachers, commercial and 
non-commercial alike. I believe that even though commercial 
teachers may not be the only ones interested in consumer edu- 
cation nor the ones who will eventually teach it, yet they can 
take the lead in having a set of aims and a set of guiding 
principles adopted. And finally, I believe that in the future, 
society will not countenance any form of commercial education 





1938] CONSUMER EDUCATION 29 


which is antagonistic to the interests of the consumer. Hence, 
regardless of who eventually has charge of consumer educa- 
tion, we may as well make up our minds that in the future, 
every commercial subject which is capable of being taught 
from the consumer viewpoint must be taught from that view- 
point, or we shall have to give an accounting to our employers 
—the consuming public. 


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 
financial ends. Members of our department are warned to be- 
ware 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. 











NEW FEATURES OF THE SCHOOL AID PROGRAM 


RICHARD R. BROWN 


Deputy Executive Director, National Youth Administration 


Before entering upon an explanation and clarification of 
the new features of the 1937-38 School Aid Program, I should 
like to express the National Youth Administration’s appreci- 
ation of the splendid job which the secondary-school officials 
of the country have performed during the last two years in 
administering this program. Its success has been almost 
wholly the result of your efforts. 

Many of you will be interested, therefore, to know that 
in April, the peak month of the past academic year, over two 
hundred ninety-five thousand students were aided through 
your work in the schools. This present year, unfortunately, 
NYA appropriations have been drastically slashed so that the 
number of school students who can be assisted has been re- 
duced by approximately one-third. This in large measure 
accounts for the new features of this year’s program. 

Since fewer students could be aided, it was necessary to 
tighten up the regulations governing their selection. Hence 
the introduction of NYA Form 23—the student application. 
It was also considered essential to insure the selection not only 
of the neediest students but also of the most practical and use- 
ful work projects. For this reason there was drafted NYA 
Form 22—the proposed work plan. A supplementary reason 
for issuing these new forms was a desire to make a study of 
the students’ financial background as well as of the types of 
work which they perform. Heretofore, we have had only in- 
formation on these important aspects of the School Aid Pro- 
gram. 

Many reports which have been sent in by state directors 
mention the fact that the school authorities find the school 
application form most helpful to them in determining the needs 
of students. Information which previously had to be ascer- 
tained by the supervisors in charge of NYA aid is now sup- 
plied by the students. All that is now required of the super- 
visors is a reasonable check on the truthfulness of the infor- 
mation which has been given. Obviously, in determining a 
given student’s need, a rather complete knowledge of the fam- 
ily’s financial status must be obtained. If no one in the family 
is employed and most of the children are in school, the chances 
are that very little money will be forthcoming with which to 


30 


























NEW FEATURES OF THE SCHOOL-AID PROGRAM 31 
meet the expenses incidental to a secondary-school education. 
A further check on this situation is secured through a listing 
of the sources of present and anticipated income and the re- 
quirement that students’ monthly expenses be specified. 

One state has already reported, “The vast majority of 
families represented seem to fall between five hundred and 
eight hundred dollars annual income.” To the students from 
such families which make every cent go just as far as possi- 
ble, the average monthly wage of about five dollars inevitably 
makes a great deal of difference in their ability to attend school 
and perform satisfactory work. No normal student can be ex- 
pected to keep abreast of the rest of the class if he is under- 
nourished, for example, or has had to walk a long distance to 
school. Up to this time we have known only in the most gen- 
eral way that NYA school students came from low-income fam- 
ilies. And critics of the School Aid Program—there have been 
critics, as many of you know—have not been satisfied with the 
vague answers which they have received in reply to questions 
concerning the students’ need for a “mere” five or six dollars 
a month. The continuation of this program is thus in no 
small measure dependent upon being able to answer such criti- 
cisms specifically. 

Another criticism leveled at the School Aid Program has 
dealt with the usefulness of the students’ work. It has yet to 
be proved conclusively that the students are or are not “boon- 
doggling” or making a little easy money. The proposed work 
plan form was prepared with this criticism in mind and the 
information compiled from this form should prove to be most 
valuable. Too, it is believed that the formulation, in advance, 
of a work plan will counteract any tendency towards laxness 
that has existed in the past. 

Past experience has shown us that the work done by the 
students can be logically classified under twelve major cate- 
gories; and reports from the states show that many school 
officials have found this classification, as well as the proposed 
work plan, very useful to them. These categories are, how- 
ever, not meant to restrict the variety of projects that can be 
initiated but have been designed simply to make easier the 
task of compiling informaton. The categories are broad enough 
to include any projects which are socially and educationally 
useful to students. Nevertheless a review of the work plans 
that have already been sent in to certain state directors reveals 
a tendency for the school work plans to adhere strictly to the 
outline, with no breakdown, under the categories describing 

















32 DEPARTMENT OF SECONDARY-SCHOOL PRINCIPALS [January, 














individual projects. Apparently, careful attention has not 
been given to the heading at the top of the form which calls 
for a listing not only of the major categories but of the indi- 
vidual activities under each of these. It is to be hoped that 
school officials have not felt an obligation to make their work 
programs as rigid and formalized as the proposed work plan 
might, at first glance, seem to require. 

One word of caution concerning the assignment of stu- 
dents to jobs is probably still necessary. Every NYA bulletin 
from the beginning of the program has laid down as one of 
the general regulations that students shall not be assigned to 
regular classroom instruction or to any work which comes 
within the regular budget of the institution and which would 
result in the displacement of workers paid from other funds. 
Particularly, at first, was it found that some schools were as- 
signing young people to janitorial work and to such tasks as 
cleaning up the washrooms. Even though it is realized that 
school budgets have been pared to the bone, resulting in the 
elimination of many necessary services, the NYA has felt that 
jobs of this type come within the minimum regular work of 
the school. There are many other jobs under the heading of 
ground and maintenance—such as the repair of furniture and 
other equipment, the painting of classrooms, and the beauti- 
fying of school grounds—which, while useful and necessary, 
are at the same time not usually performed day in and day out 
during the school year. These jobs are supplemental to the 
minimum amount of work necessary to keep a school in opera- 
tion, and therefore come within the scope of the general regu- 
lations. 

In conclusion, let me stress the fact that the changes in 
the regulations governing the 1937-38 School Aid Program will 
in no way affect its administration on a broad, decentralized 
basis. The determination of the eligibility of the students re- 
ceiving aid is still the function and responsibility of the school 
officials. These officials are still responsible for the assign- 
ment of students to suitable work and for the supervision of 
this work, except where the authority has been delegated to a 
joint faculty-student committee. 

You who have seen at firsthand how the School Aid Pro- 
gram has been operated will testify that not once since the 
commencement of the program has there been any attempt by 
NYA officials to interfere with the affairs of the school. As 
Aubrey Williams, Executive Director of the NYA, recently de- 
clared, “It has been our consistent position from the start that 


























1938] NEW FEATURES OF THE SCHOOL-AID PROGRAM 33 


we would not ourselves, nor would we permit any of our local 
officers, seek to influence one iota the content of the curricula 
nor the administration of the schools or colleges. We submit 
that after two years we have proven our good faith, and I re- 
affirm that position for the future.” 

















SAFETY AT EVANSTON TOWNSHIP HIGH SCHOOL 


EDGAR LEACH 
Evanston Township High School, Evanston, Illinois 


Accident prevention has become a national problem. There 
are potential accident hazards in every field of human activity 
and in every individual act. Disorder in the home and im- 
proper driving on the highways affect our daily living in a very 
real sense. Prevention of accident casualties demands the 
combined efforts of children, high-school boys and girls, and 
adults. Consequently, it has become apparent that the public 
schools must accept responsibility by marshalling all possible 
aid in solving the accident problem. 

Several years ago soon after the organization of the Adult 
Safety Council, the Township High School of Evanston, IIli- 
nois, became interested in the safety problem and organized 
a safety school council. At first, this Council was looked upon 
as just another club; faculty members were generally skeptical 
and the students were merely passively interested. But to-day 
the Council is a going concern, and the many safety projects 
which it sponsors have increasingly met with the codperation 
and active interest of the students. 

Our school has the large home room or house plan of two 
hundred fifty or more pupils per unit. Each home room has 
its own executive council which appoints a properly qualified 
member to the Central Safety Committee of the Safety Coun- 
cil. The home room director also appoints another representa- 
tive to the Committee. These appointees and the duly elected 
officers constitute the Executive Board of the Safety Council. 
Each home room has its own safety committee which operates 
under the direction of the two home room safety appointees to 
the Central Committee. The Council elects the usual club 
officers.. There are a number of standing committees, each one 
responsible for directing respective phases of the safety work. 

The Safety Council is an all-school organization. Its ac- 
tivities are financed by the home rooms. Every pupil in school 
is an associate member of the Safety Council, and every pupil 
who takes an active part in carrying on the safety program 
becomes an active member. Members of the Central Safety 
Committee are representative members. 

One of the most significant projects of the Safety Council 
is the series of illustrated safety talks given by pupils of the 
school each semester to the entire student body in groups of 


34 
































35 





SAFETY AT EVANSTON TOWNSHIP HIGH SCHOOL 


about six hundred. Slides for these talks are made from charts 

furnished by the Travelers Insurance Company. The talks 
given are based upon an outline also furnished by the Trav- 
elers, and the speakers are coached by the instructor of public 
speaking. 

One of the first major safety projects sponsored by the 
Council was a school for instruction in safe driving. Many 
high-school pupils had recently become drivers or were soon to 
become drivers of automobiles. High-school students are close 
to the traffic problem—both as drivers and pedestrians. A 
program of publicity was carried on by means of speeches by 
pupils, stories in the school paper and local press, and daily 
announcements in the school bulletin. All pupils registered in 
advance for the course, which consisted of four regular meet- 
ings. Experts in the fields of safety engineering and law en- 
forcement were obtained to speak on special topics. Regular 
illustrated lessons were given on qualifications of a safe and 
competent driver: driving safely at and between intersections; 
regulations relating to signs, signals, and parking; and care 
of the car, and automobile mechanics. A question box was also 
an interesting feature of each meeting. 

Attendance was checked through admission tickets, and 
certificates of attendance were issued. An objective highway 
test was given at the conclusion of the course. 

The drivers’ school has proved not only valuable as an 
educational instrument, but it also has served to increase the 
pupils’ interest in other safety projects. The drivers’ school 
is now held every other year alternating with a series of driver 
tests—tests made with devices measuring acuity of vision, 
range of vision, reaction time, etc. These tests are open to all 
pupils of the school. After a pupil has finished the battery of 
tests, he confers with the director of the tests in regard to the 
significance of his own accomplishment and received sugges- 
tions on possible ways of correcting any deficiencies discov- 
ered. The machines are furnished free of charge by the Chi- 
cago Motor Club. 

Although not one of its special activities, the Safety 
Council codperates with the school in offering a practical 
course in automobile driving. A dual-control car which is so 
equipped that the instructor sitting beside the driver may take 
control at any time, is used. Pupils taking the course are 
given instruction in the actual manipulation of the car under 
regular driving conditions. Classroom work is also given to 
supplement the road instruction. At the conclusion of the 












36 DEPARTMENT OF SECONDARY-SCHOOL PRINCIPALS [January, 


course, each pupil is given a road test in codperation with the 
local police department and certificates are awarded to those 
who pass the examination. 

The Council also coéperates with the school in the auto 
parking and driving permit project which requires that all 
pupils driving cars to school register them at the school office. 
Two forms are used—one filed alphabetically by last name of 
pupils and the other serially by state license number. The 
school has a large parking area in the rear of the building and 
pupils driving cars to school are expected to park them in this 
space according to a designated plan. The parked cars are 
checked periodically. If a car is found for which a license 
number is not on file in the office, the driver of the car is asked 
to show reason why a permit has not been filled out. Names 
of owners of such cars are obtained through coédperation of the 
local police department. The auto permit system affords an 
effective way of obtaining data on reported traffic violations 
and other matters pertaining to student drivers. 

There is also a well-defined traffic route for incoming and 
out-going cars. More than three hundred cars are parked reg- 
ularly, and in inclement weather more than five hundred cars 
pass through the driveways before school in the morning. 

A Traffic Patrol supervises the parking areas before and 
after school for about thirty minutes during the time of heav- 
iest traffic. Traffic marshalls are stationed at each entrance 
and exit and at other strategic points to encéurage all drivers 
—both parents and pupils—to drive with care. Pupils guilty 
of reckless driving are reported to a student Traffic Court. 
The Patrol is directed by the boys’ club of the school with the 
cooperation of the junior-senior home room executive coun- 
cils. All assignments are made through these home room 
councils, and each boy may serve on the patrol for only a few 
days each school year. 

The Traffic Court is composed of a representative from 
each of the twelve home room executive councils and a repre- 
sentative from the Safety Council. 

The local police department sends to the principal of the 
school a copy of all arrest slips issued to any student involved 
in traffic violation. The Traffic Court in codperation with the 
administration may decide on whatever school discipline seems 
wise. In extreme cases, the student’s driving permit may be 
revoked for a stated time, in addition to other penalties. 

More than three hundred, or about one-quarter, of our boys 
and girls own bicycles and ride them to school in good weather. 















Cangas WAT NON ROD Se 













SOIR ASE nS Sy Bea ECS ROLES nN 


SNARE AN NEE I 


















1938] SAFETY AT EVANSTON TOWNSHIP HIGH SCHOOL 37 


There are separate bicycle entrances and separate paths to 
their special parking areas. These paths are so constructed 
that no automobile traffic lanes are crossed. At the opening 
of school each year, all bicyclists are given a sheet containing 
certain regulations for bicycle riders and a map of the bicycle 
lanes and parking shed. A bicycle committee sponsored by the 
Safety Council is responsible for all special bicycle publicity. 
Each fall a meeting of all bicyclists is called at which time 
the president of the Council discusses with them the rules gov- 
erning the use of bicycles on the streets and highways and 
the school regulations. 

Another phase of the safety work at E. T. H. S. is the ac- 
cident report system devised by the National Safety Council of 
which the school is a member. When pupils receive personal 
injuries at school or elsewhere which require the attention of 
a physician or cause an absence of at least a half day they are 
asked to report the accident on an accident report card. Both 
pupils and teachers are encouraged to codperate in obtaining 
the greatest possible coverage of such injuries. No names are 
published with the data compiled for local safety publicity and 
for statistical studies by the National Safety Council. An ac- 
cident spot map is maintained in the school covering student 
accidents at home, in sports, at school, and on the streets and 
highways. 

During Fire Prevention Week, the Council sends student 
speakers to the home rooms. Special fire posters are placed 
about the building. There are also special fire drills, and in- 
spection by the city fire marshal and a citizens’ committee. A 
number of pupils are also used as school fire marshals to help 
conduct the drills and to codperate in any emergency. 

Special committees of the Council make investigations of 
conditions about the building, grounds, and school environs. 
Reports and recommendations are sent to the authorities in- 
volved. 

The Junior Red Cross, in codperation with the Safety 
Council, conducts a first-aid course yearly for beginners and 
for advanced students. Certificates are awarded by the Red 
Cross Society to those who pass the course. 

_ In addition to these projects which are regular activities, 
some special safety features may be mentioned. The follow- 
ing list is suggestive: highway safety tests, safety essay con- 
tests, special safety publications, safety films, home safety 
questionnaire, and safety displays. 

In order to maintain and to stimulate interest in safety 














38 DEPARTMENT OF SECONDARY-SCHOOL PRINCIPALS [January, 


endeavors, the Safety Council has worked out a point system 
for competition between home rooms. Each safety activity is 
rated a certain number of points and these ratings are pub- 
licized in the home rooms yearly. The safety representatives 
to the Central Safety Committee are responsible for soliciting 
and securing pupil participation in their respective home 
rooms. Safety shields designed by the art classes and made by 
the students in woodshop are awarded on a yearly basis to the 
junior-senior and freshman-sophomore home rooms participat- 
ing most actively for any single year. 

Our safety program includes other safety activities which 
are not directly administered by the Safety Council. Mention 
has already been made of the Junior Red Cross, Traffic Pa- 
trol, and Traffic Court. Units on safety are now a part of the 
regular first-year civics course. Public safety, home safety, 
and fire-prevention units are incorporated in the text material. 
In addition to these regular units, discussion forums are held 
monthly on special safety posters supplied by the National 
Safety Council. An outline which accompanies the poster is 
used as the basis for discussion. During the course a home- 
safety questionnaire is taken home by each pupil and filled out 
with the codperation of the parents and returned for tabulation 
and discussion of the findings. Such an inspection blank tends 
to make both pupils and parents aware of accident hazards in 
the home. A highway safety test concludes the safety work in 
the civics course. Here again the results are tabulated and 
answers to each question discussed. Some classes also keep a 
safety scrapbook—many of which have been most interesting 
and attractive. 

Safety material is also presented in the shops, general sci- 
ence, physical education, English, biology, and the household- 
arts classes. In an elective course in‘hygiene open to sopho- 
mores, juniors, and seniors, a special unit in safety is offered. 
The principles of first aid are studied and demonstrated in the 
course. 

For a number of years the Adult Safety Council of Ev- 
anston has been very active. This council has at all times co- 
éperated with the safety efforts at Evanston High. The School 
Council is represented in the adult organization. Through its 
safety activities, the E. T. H. S. Safety Council plays an im- 
portant part in the safety program of the community. The 
City of Evanston may well be proud of the excellent reputa- 
tion which the school has developed in the field of safety 
education. 





























THE JUNIOR HIGH-SCHOOL LIBRARY 


PAUL A. REHMUS 


Principal, High School, Grosse Pointe, Michigan 


Any discussion of the unique function of the junior high- 
school library must necessarily be based on the philosophy of 
the junior high movement which emerged out of the recogni- 
tion that the old eight-four plan of organization was not meet- 
ing the needs of adolescent boys and girls. The transition 
from the general education on the elementary level, involving 
reading, the understanding of the fundamental arithmetical 
processes, and some geography and history, to the technical, 
specialized fields of the old high-school curriculum was so com- 
plicated that thousands of children were each year meeting dis- 
aster. 

Whereas the function of the elementary school is to pro- 
vide children of appropriate ages with integrating experi- 
ences, the junior high school is obligated to provide children 
appropriate exploratory experiences. The broad, general, 
unspecialized, exploratory nature of the junior high school is 
basic to the whole junior high philosophy, and out of this point 
of view the need for a distinct junior high library was evolved. 
The junior high library as a different institution has come out 
of this development of the theory of the junior high school 
itself. As such, in the process of library evolution, it has not 
come from the senior high-school library as the latter has from 
the university library. In most cases, the real junior high 
school has been the outgrowth of the elementary-school library. 
If we bear this fact in mind we will recognize why junior high- 
school library needs and functions differ from those of the 
senior high school. In what way then, does the junior high- 
school library differ from the senior high and what are its own 
distinctive functions? 

The junior high-school library should contribute to a great 
many varied and extensive interests. At the junior high age 
there is an avid desire to read and browse widely. The stu- 
dent often reads indiscriminately ; so it is wise to place much 
material of a varied nature before him. It seems to me that a 
big service the library gives at the junior high level is the 
stimulus to the normal taste in good reading which has been 
developed in the elementary school. Failure to make appro- 
priate reading contacts will soon cause the desire to atrophy— 
just as an unused organ or muscle atrophies. 


39 















40 DEPARTMENT OF SECONDARY-SCHOOL PRINCIPALS [January, 


The service of the library on this point cannot be under- 
estimated, for here the child either forms or fails in the de- 
velopment of permanent literary interests. The adolescent 
age is characterized especially by the formation of life-long 
habits and literary tastes. If they are not formed, the chances 
are not good for their later development. 

The first point presupposes a second, which is that the 
junior high library must have a well-rounded collection to 
meet a variety of interests and needs. The child’s natural 
curiosity to read widely is chiefly responsible for the develop- 
ment of browsing rooms in so many of our better libraries. 
If browsing rooms are advisable, then the library must be 
looked upon not as a place where the pupil has to get his les- 
sons and where he has no access to library materials until his 
lessons have been completed, but as a place to which he can 
come with joy. And more than this—periods should actually 
be scheduled for free reading each semester. But free reading 
without purpose has merit to only a degree, and that is where 
the librarian enters as a skilled technician. She should wisely 
but unobtrusively guide those whose tastes she knows, and also 
to aid those who do not know how to find free reading material 
suited to their tastes. In this way the understanding librarian 
helps shape the cultural side of the child’s education as well. 

And at this place I might well give my concept of a libra- 
rian. I believe a librarian should be a part of the school—a 
real, vital, dynamic part. She should know more about books 
than any teacher. She is distinguished from a teacher in that 
the teacher is interested in the fact; the librarian in the ability 
to find the fact. She is similar to a teacher in that she must 
know how the school functions, and also that her primary 
function is to teach boys and girls. She should be called the 
library teacher—just as we speak of the music, art, or Eng- 
lish teacher—and in that capacity be a full-fledged member of 
the school organization. She will instruct teachers, as well as 
pupils to use the library for the problem of the blind teacher 
leading the blind pupil is still too acutely with us. I agree with 
Justice Rosenbloom of the Wisconsin Supreme Court that the 
difference between a library and a warehouse where books are 
stored is the librarian. I conceive her as “not the collector of 
books, but the fountain head for the distribution of books.” 
She will be the delicate mainspring keeping the intellectual 
and literary beat of the school in balance. She will be the di- 
rector of integration, for in the library of the future she and 
the library will be the heart of the school. 



























41 





THE JUNIOR HIGH-SCHOOL LIBRARY 


A third function of the junior high-school library will be 
supplementing the work of the classroom in an ever enlarging 
manner. The better schools already have many books for it is 
not intensive reading of one textbook, but broad reading in 
many that “maketh the full man.” The part of the librarian 
in this movement is as obvious as it is significant. Some li- 
brarians already seeing the implications of this new move- 
ment have arranged to have small groups rather than the 
whole class come to the library. This plan seems to offer ad- 
vantages especially where the material is limited or the library 
apt to be overcrowded. Material is gathered on many sub- 
jects, and students use the library for background in English, 
speech, dramatics, general science, art, and language classes. 
In other cases the material is gathered and sent directly to the 
classroom and there used by the students. Where particular 
interest is shown, small collections of professiona! books, 
pamphlets, and magazines are made. 

In some schools alert librarians are now visiting class- 
rooms and conferring with teachers about their future library 
needs. Some clever librarians are actually inviting depart- 
ment heads to hojd their meetings in the library, an approach 
which has served to gain increased respect for the librarian 
and her usefulness, especially among the former non-users 
and non-readers on the school staff. Librarians have found 
time to do less policing and study-hall supervision and more 
time for the real part of their jobs by organizing library coun- 
cils which promote good spirit between the home room and the 
library by collecting fines and interpreting the library to the 
pupils. Many librarians make their unit more functional by 
initiating projects in the appreciation of books. Some study 
magazines, others develop story telling classes, others encour- 
age pupils to write book reviews, others serve the various 
school clubs—photography, art, science, debate, aviation, pup- 
petry, etc., by arranging corridor displays. Dozens of such 
schemes are used to integrate the work of the library with 
the curriculum and so-called extra-curriculum activities. Nor 
will this work lessen. For as new curricula develop, librarians 
more than teachers will be looked upon as the final authority 
on a subject. The very nature of the new education tends to 

“pull the librarian more and more into the center of the picture 
and will make her position more important. 

A fourth distinctive function of the junior high-school 
library is in teaching the students how to use the library and 
the books. At present, even the average small library is a 




















42 DEPARTMENT OF SECONDARY-SCHOOL PrinciPALs [January, 


mystery to the adult. Various studies in universities show the 
students there do not have even an elementary knowledge of 
the rudiments of the card catalog or the Dewey Decimal Sys- 
tem. This is in large part due to the failure to give instruction 
in library usage as children go through school. 

Where possible, classes should be formed under the li- 
brarian rather than the English department and work given 
through the entire three years of the junior high school. This 
work might be organized along the following lines: In 7B, 
general library rules, classification of books, the card catalog 
and its use, and the parts of the encyclopedia could be taught. 
Use of reference books might also be taught here. In 7A, the 
use of atiasses and gazeteers might be stressed. In the 8th 
grade, instruction in the use of almanacs and yearbooks might 
be considered. The Readers’ Guide, use of an unabridged dic- 
tionary, and more detailed information on the card-catalog file 
might be taught in the 9th grade. Specific lesson sheets for 
the use of the library and its tools have been worked out in 
Providence, Denver, Omaha, Los Angeles, San Antonio, and 
other places. The important fact to keep in mind here is that 
some type of instruction be given, for there is at present a 
serious lack in the training of pupils to use the library. One 
may well wonder just how seriously this lack of ability to use 
library tools has affected reading tastes, interests, and actual 
support for library extension service. 

These, then, I conceive of as the four chief and distinctive 
functions of the junior high library. First, the creation of a 
love for fine literature by catering to the natural, varied, and 
extensive interests of the growing child. Second, the provision 
of a well-rounded collection to meet this great variety of inter- 
ests and needs. Third; the supplementing of the work of the 
classroom in an ever-enlarging manner. Some day the library 
will be the center of intellectual life of the school, but since 
that day is not generally here, the immediate function of the 
library will be to aid in ever-increasing ways the work carried 
on in all classes of the school. The fourth function will be the 
teaching of the essential tools and skills necessary to use a li- 
brary to the utmost. 

In the whole process the librarian is the central figure and 
the success or failure of a library will largely be dependent 
upon her training, understanding, and wisdom. Of all the 
qualities for a successful librarian, none is more important 
than the consideration of each child as an individual. Libra- 
Pa have too often been accused of being cold or unsympa- 

etic. 




















PUPIL PARTICIPATION IN CALIFORNIA HIGH 
SCHOOLS 


HARVEY J. HOLT 
Principal, Santa Barbara, California, High School 


In modern educational practice the values of student par- 
ticipation, wisely supervised, are seldom questioned. Edu- 
cators have learned that leadership cannot be developed with- 
out practice in the solution of problems that require the use 
of leadership traits. A genuine citizenship will not take root 
and grow in the life of the boy or girl without opportunities to 
do laboratory work within his own community and school life. 

Meaningful and purposeful character growth has its foun- 
dation in the wholesome exercise of actual participation in 
the solution of problems connected with the welfare of his 
group as well as with his individual well-being. High-school 
principals and teachers everywhere testify that student par- 
ticipation in the affairs of the school and the community, when 
the activities are properly planned and adequately directed, 
give immeasurable aid in the development of the following at- 
titudes, traits, and abilities: 

1. A genuine regard for school welfare. 

2. An appreciation of the requisite qualities for efficient leadership. 

8. A reasonable respect for constituted authority. 

4. An awareness of the need for organization in an age of “associ- 

ational” arrangements. 

5. A wholesome community consciousness. 

6. A greater respect for the rights of others. 

7. The need for good sportsmanship in all situations. 

Reports from many schools in California indicate rapidly 
growing practice in the state of enlisting student participation 
in such classroom activities as the building of units; planning 
and executing field trips; outlining plans for the study and 
discussion of civic and social problems; and student codpera- 
tion in the vitalizing of subject matter. 

Typical of what is being done in many schools is the fol- 
lowing extract from a report made by a teacher in whose 
classes opportunities for active student participation are en- 
couraged. “The Social Living Class has an organization with 
officers and committees. The most important of these com- 
mittees are current events, radio-theatre, trips, social govern- 
ment, and social problems. At least once every four weeks 
(new officers are elected each four weeks) the heads of these 
committees meet, as an executive committee with the instruc- 


43 












44 DEPARTMENT OF SECONDARY-SCHOOL PRINCIPALS [January, 


tor outside of regular school time to plan carefully the program 
for the ensuing four weeks. The objects of study and activity 
are determined by the real interests of the individual and the 
group.” 

Other important activities organized for the purpose of 
community and civic service as well as for the development of 
student leadership are the student forums and the community 
contact councils. Outstanding in this respect is the work be- 
ing done at Abraham Lincoln High School in Los Angeles. A 
paragraph taken from a report of the work done there follows: 

“In their extra-mural work, through the Community Contact Council, 
the students render: assistance in branch library control; they endeavor 
to enrich the program of the city playgrounds; they teach Sunday-School 
classes; they sponsor Boy and Girl Scout groups in the elementary schools 
of the district; they furnish materials to the local newspapers; they 
conduct elementary-school orchestras; they direct dramas in playground 
assembly halls; they coach elementary sports and officiate at elementary- 
school play days and playground centers; they establish a closer rela- 
tionship between the school and community; they present to the commu- 
nity programs representative of the work done in school; and they share 
in the cultural and recreational enterprises of their community. So you 
see these boys and girls can be guidance officers of no mean ability. 
Their youth, their energy, their desire to serve are equalled only by their 
sincerity and the goodwill they engender. This year also they originated 
and sponsored eighteen Girl-Scout troops.” 


Reports from many schools indicate an expansion of codp- 
erative enterprises in which student initiative is stimulated. 
What small schools with limited facilities can do in such activi- 
ties is shown by the report from Linden Union High School: 


“Our most successful codperative enterprise last year was our 
school operetta. The plot was planned by a student committee working 
with the Glee Club director. The students suggested and wrote part of 
the dialogue which was completed by the Glee Club director. Music was 
selected to fit the story by a committee of students, plus Glee Club and 
Orchestra directors. 

“During the period of preparation, probably 89% of the students 
and all the faculty participated. The shop teacher and boys built the 
scenery which had been designed in the art department and which was 
painted by the students of tiiat department after school. Costumes were 
made by the sewing teacher. The physical education department coached 
some dances and specialty numbers. 


“After the commercial department had mimeographed the programs, 
the art department put on decorations by hand. Tickets were handled by 


the student council but sold by a large committee. Student ushers with 
a faculty supervisor seated the largest crowd we have ever had at a high- 
school entertainment. 

“We have no school auditorium so we had to use a make-shift church 


hall. The science department worked with the school janitor to build 
equipment to handle varied lighting effects. 





1938] PUPIL PARTICIPATION IN CALIFORNIA HIGH SCHOOLS 45 


“All ensemble numbers were orchestrated by the orchestra teacher 
to fit the abilities of a rather inadequate student group. Orchestra and 
Glee Club practiced together frequently to get proper balance of volume. 
Special small group practices were held at noon, before and after school, 
during study periods, and finally during other class periods. The result 
justified the trouble, so we are doing it again this year.” 





DISCUSSION GROUPS FORMED IN SEVERAL STATES 


WALTER E. MYER 
Director of the Discussion Group Project 


The work of organizing discussion groups among admin- 
istrators of secondary schools is proceeding with considerable 
rapidity. The office which the Department of Secondary- 
School Principals established last summer at the National Edu- 
cation Association headquarters, Washington, D. C., is organ- 
izing the activity in the various states. Codrdinators have 
been selected in forty states. The codrdinators select regional 
directors and divide the states into areas suitable for discus- 
sion groups. In'some cases the county is the unit, while in 
the case of more sparsely populated states, several counties are 
combined into a discussion group area. The work of regional 
and local organization is going forward. 

The purpose of the discussion group project is to encour- 
age a systematic, sustained, and codrdinated attack on the vital 
problems affecting secondary schools. State codrdinators act 
in codperation with the national headquarters. General lines 
of study and discussion are worked out; then the codrdinator, 
in conference with his regional directors, maps out programs 
which the local groups may follow. It is understood, of 
course, that these local groups may have problems of their 
own to which attention must be given. It is felt, however, 
that a part of their time may be devoted to the larger educa- 
tional problems, and that good results will come from the co- 
érdinated study of these outstanding issues. 

An important effect of the formation of a national pro- 
gram of discussion groups will be the development of machin- 
ery whereby any important report or study may be given im- 
mediate and wide-spread attention and interpretation. If 
these groups are functioning throughout the country, discus- 
sion of vital materials bearing upon secondary education will 
be more probable. For example, in several states curriculum 
revisions are now being made and are subjects of state-wide 
study. Such studies as this may find a natural channel for 
quick and sustained consideration, as soon as the admin- 
istrators are organized into groups which carry on regular, 
organized discussions. 

A good example of the way the organization of a state 
may be affected is to be found in Indiana. The codrdinator, 
Mr. M. L. Knapp, Principal of the Isaac C. Elston Senior High 


46 





DIscussioN Groups ForMED IN SEVERAL STATES 47 


School, Michigan City, has appointed nineteen regional direc- 
tors, each of whom is responsible for the formation of suitable 
local areas in his region. Mr. Knapp met with these regional di- 
rectors at the State Teachers Association at Indianapolis, Octo- 
ber 21-22. The Director of the Discussion Group Project was 
present and spoke to the Indiana Principals Association. The 
state organization was perfected, and the regional directors 
proceeded with the work of local organization. 

A similar procedure is being followed in Iowa. Mr. B. R. 
Miller, Principal of Marshalltown High School, Marshalltown, 
is the coérdinator. He met with his regional directors at a 
meeting of the Iowa Principals Association and again at the 
State Teachers Association at Des Moines, November 5. The 
movement is now well under way in Iowa. 

A beginning was made with the Missouri organization at 
the Secondary-School Principals Conference held in Columbia, 
October 1-2. The plan was explained by the National Director, 
and Mr. Fred Dixon, Principal of Columbia High School and 
codrdinator for Missouri, appointed regional directors and 
arranged a meeting for them at the next session of the Mis- 
souri Principals Association which was held at St. Louis, No- 
vember 19. 

A conference composed of principals and superintendents 
in Kansas and Oklahoma was held at Winfield, Kansas, Octo- 
ber 8-9. The National Director was present and also repre- 
sentatives of the organizations of Secondary-School Principals 
of both Kansas and Oklahoma, together with representatives 
of the state educational institutions. Mr. W. N. Van Slyck, 
Principal of the Topeka High School, Topeka, Kansas, made 
preliminary arrangements for the organization of Kansas. In 
many other states, regional directors have been appointed by 
the coérdinators and local areas are being marked out. 

At the same time that discussion groups are being formed 
among administrators, many principals are instituting the 
study of the Functions and Issues in their own faculties. The 
outlines prepared by the Washington office have been re- 
quested by several hundred schools. The first printing of ten 
thousand copies is exhausted and another edition is ready for 
distribution. One high school in New York City is using four 
hundred copies of the outlines and other schools throughout 
the nation have asked for from a dozen to two hundred or 
more. 

This outline contains a summary of each of the ten Issues 
and Functions, together with related questions or topics suita- 




















48 DEPARTMENT OF SECONDARY-SCHOOL PRINCIPALS [January, 


ble for the use of discussion groups. The topics are so pre- 
pared as to focus attention upon local problems. Copies may 
be obtained without charge by addressing the Discussion 
Group Project, Department of Secondary-School Principals of 
the National Education Association, 1201 Sixteenth Street, 
N. W., Washington, D. C. 


THE BOOK-OF-THE-QUARTER CLUB 


Early in the school year of 1936-37 the Department 
started the Book-of-the-Quarter Club. This club is composed 
of leaders in the secondary field who desire to keep abreast of 
the times. The club is based on the idea that every wide-awake 
administrator should read at least four of the outstanding 
books in his particular field. From the many and varied vol- 
umes issued each year on every phase of education, it is some- 
times difficult for the busy administrator to know and secure 
the best professional books issued in his field. 

The Reviewing Board, composed of leaders in the secon- 
dary field, of the Book-of-the-Quarter Club selects for the mem- 
bers the best professional book of each quarter. The person- 
nel of this Board are: Charles H. Judd, Chairman, University 
of Chicago; Francis L. Bacon, Superintendent, Township 
School, Evanston, Illinois; Grayson N. Kefauver, Stanford 
University ; Leonard V. Koos, University of Chicago; and Jo- 
seph Roemer, Peabody College for Teachers. 

The books selected by the Board are sent to members of 
the Club, who are billed each quarter at twenty-five per cent off 
to dues-paying members of the Department and twenty per 
cent reduction to others. An additional dividend, reckoned 
on the Rochdale plan, is paid during the summer quarter to 
dues-paying members. Books are sent postpaid to members 
of the Club. 

During the first year membership in the Club grew to ap- 
proximately four hundred. That these members look forward 
to the selection of the most outstanding book of each quarter 
is evidenced by letters received by interested members. 


The four books selected during the first year of the Club 
are: 
December 15, 1936: Rugg, Harold. American Life and the 
School Curriculum. Ginn and Co. 


























1938] THE BOOK-OF-THE-QUARTER CLUB 49 


March 15, 1937: Beard, Charles A. The Unique Function of 
Education in American Democracy. Educational Policies 
Commission. 


June 15, 1937: Judd, Charles H. Education as Cultivation of 
Higher Mental Processes. The Macmillan Co. 


October 15, 1937: Brinks, W. G. Directing Study Activities 
in Secondary Schools. Doubleday, Doran and Co. 


December 15, 1937: McKown, Harry C. Ezxtra-Curricular 
Activities. The Macmillan Co. 


The Department believes that the Club can render a valu- 
able service to secondary-school administrators. In the inter- 
est of professional growth, it is glad to extend an invitation 
to principals to take advantage of this service. Those inter- 
ested may send their applications for membership to H. V. 
Church, Executive Secretary, Department of Secondary-School 
Principals, 5835 Kimbark Avenue, Chicago, Illinois. 


Selections of books will be announced during 1938 on the 
fifteenth of each of the months of March, June, September, and 
December. In sending applications for membership in the 
Club, please indicate the quarter in which you wish your mem- 
bership to start. 














THE STUDENT PUBLICATION OF THE DEPARTMENT 

In October of this school year the Department of Secon- 
dary-School Principals began the publication of a magazine 
for secondary-school students called Student Life. 

The new publication incorporated Student Leader, a mag- 
azine of student activities and projects, which had been pub- 
lished for three years as the organ of the National Association 
of Student Officers. Student Life is designed to serve both the 
National Honor Society and the National Association of Stu- 
dent Officers. Since the range of interests and projects of 
these organizations is almost without limit, the scope of the 
magazine includes all student activities in secondary schools. 

For a number of years there has been a feeling that some 
publication should be issued for the National Honor Society. 
In the annual report of chapters covering the school year, 
1935-36, this question was inserted, “Should members of your 
chapter be interested in a publication devoted to the activities 
of student leaders and to chapter activities of the National 
Honor Society?” Approximately eighty-five per cent of the 
replies were affirmative. The Committee on Publications of 
the Department later developed plans for the proposed maga- 
zine. In April, 1937, a referendum vote was taken to find out 
if members of the Department were in accord with these plans. 
The fact that about eighty per cent of those who returned their 
ballots favored such a publication, convinced the committee 
that a student publication should be undertaken. 

Student Life is published under adult guidance, and at 
first most of the contributors are faculty advisers rather than 
students. But interest in the new magazine is developing rap- 
idly and adult contributors will soon be in the minority. 

Following the publication of the first number, encourag- 
ing comments came from principals of secondary schools, stu- 
dents, faculty advisers, and others interested in young people. 
Those who have assumed the responsibility in this new ven- 
ture are very appreciative of the support which members of 
the Department are giving it. 

The single subscription price of Student Life is one dollar 
per year. In clubs of three or more, all mailed to the same ad- 
dress, it is one dollar and fifty cents. There is a special price 
of fifty cents a year to members of the Department, sponsors 
of the National Honor Society and of the National Association 
of Student Officers. 

All subscriptions, contributions, and requests for prices 
for club rates with other magazines should be directed to Stu- 
dent Life, 5835 Kimbark Avenue, Chicago. 


50 








THE ATLANTIC CITY MEETING 


The twenty-second annual convention of the Department 
of Secondary-School Principals, which will be held at Hotel 
Traymore, Atlantic City, February 26-March 2, should be one 
of the best in recent years. According to the plans which are 
being developed by President McClellan G. Jones, the program 
will be built around new movements in secondary education. 
Eminent authorities on secondary education will appear on the 
program to interpret the significant developments of the year. 
Among the topics which will receive consideration are: ten- 
dencies in curriculum revision, evaluation of school standards, 
organization of discussion groups, and studies of youth prob- 
lems. Provision is also being made for panels and round- 
table discussions on various problems of current importance. 
Committees which have been working on various projects will 
submit reports at one of the sessions. 


The highlight of this year’s meeting will be the dinner ses- 
sion, Saturday, February 26, in honor of Dr. Charles H. Judd. 
From the founding of the Department in 1916 to the present 
day, he has been an invaluable friend of the Department and 
has been actively connected with many of the pioneer enter- 
prises which the Department has originated. Dr. Judd, who 
is on leave of absence this year from his post as head of the 
Department of Education.at the University of Chicago, is do- 
ing special work for President Roosevelt’s National Resources 
Committee as chairman of the Committee on Survey of Gov- 
ernmental Relations to Research. Members have come to de- 
pend on his wise counsel at the annual meetings and on his 
stimulating contributions to the Bulletin. He has recently 
been appointed consultant to the Department’s Committee on 
New Materials of Instruction, and his address at the dinner 
session will deal with the scope of this committee. 


The guest speaker at the dinner will be President Robert 
M. Hutchins of the University of Chicago. His topic will be 
What Secondary Education Should Not Be. Principals every- 
where will be interested in President Hutchins’ piquant views 
on this topic. In view of what Dr. Hutchins has had to say re- 
cently about higher education in America, his opinions on sec- 
ondary education should be of much interest to the many ad- 
ministrators who are in the process of revising their programs. 


51 








PROGRAM 
DEPARTMENT OF SECONDARY-SCHOOL PRINCIPALS 


GENERAL SESSION 
DINNER 
SATURDAY, FEB. 26—5:30 P. M. 
In honor of Dr. Charles H. Judd. Presiding, M. F. Mc- 
Daniel, Past President of the Department, Principal of 
Oak Park and River Forest Township High School, Oak 
Park, Illinois. 
GENERAL SESSION 
Group A 
MONDAY, FEB. 28—2:00 P. M. 
Presiding, Paul E. Elicker, Principal, Newton High 
School, Newtonville, Mass., and First Vice President of 
the Department of Secondary-School Principals. 
Outcomes of the Codperative Study of Secondary-School 
Standards. 
GENERAL SESSION 
Group B 
MONDAY, FEB. 28—2:00 P. M. 
Presiding, John E. Wellwood, Principal, Central High 
School, Flint, Michigan, and member of Executive Com- 
mittee of the Department of Secondary-School Principals. 


GENERAL SESSION 
Group A 
TUESDAY, MAR. 1—2:30 P. M. 
Presiding, M. C. Jones, Principal, Huntington Beach Un- 
ion High School, and President, Department of Secon- 
dary-School Principals. 
GENERAL SESSION 
Group B 
TUESDAY, MAR. 1—2:30 P. M. 
Presiding, Virgil M. Hardin, Principal, Pitkin and Reed 
Junior High School, Springfield, Missouri, and member of 
Executive Committee of the Department of Secondary- 
School Principals. 
GENERAL SESSION 
LUNCHEON 


WEDNESDAY, MAR. 2—12:00 M. 
Presiding, Willard N. Van Slyck, Principal, High School, 


52 

















PROGRAM FOR ATLANTA MEETING 53 
Topeka, Kansas, and member Executive Committee, De- 
partment of Secondary-School Principals. 
Brief report dealing with National Association of Student 
Officers. 
Dr. Willis Sutton, Supt. Atlanta Public Schools, Atlan- 
ta, Georgia. , 


Brief reports by Committee Chairmen. 
Business Session. 

Report of Nominating Committee. 
Election of Officers. 


GENERAL SESSION 


WEDNESDAY, MarR. 2—2:00 P. M. 
Presiding, K. J. Clark, Principal, Murphy High School, 
Mobile, Alabama, and member Executive Committee, De- 
partment of Secondary-School Principals. 
Reports on significant findings to date in state and na- 
tional studies: 


“School and College Relations in Pennsylvania.” 
T. Bayard Beatty, Principal, Radnor High School, 
Wayne, Pa., and President of Pennsylvania High-School 
Principals Association. 


“Improvement of Instruction Program in Kansas.” 
Miss Dale Zeller, Curriculum Director, State Depart- 
ment of Education, Topeka, Kansas. 


“Codperating Schools in State of California.” 
Dr. F. C. Wooton, Department of Education, Claremont 
Colleges, Claremont, California. 


“Secondary-School Curriculum Study in Michigan.” 
Robert Koopman, Coérdinator of Curriculum and In- 
struction, State Department of Public Instruction, Lan- 
sing, Michigan. 


“Evaluation in the Eight-Year Study of the Progressive 
Education Association.” 
Dr. R. W, Tyler, Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio. 


For further information about the program for the Atlan- 
tic City meeting and for instruction in regard to making res- 
ervations for the dinner session, see the February number of 
the Bulletin, which will be issued about January 25. 





















NEWS ITEMS 














PROGRESS WAS MADE DURING 1937 in practically every phase of edu- 
cation, according to the annual report made by the Office of Education 
to the Secretary of the Department of the Interior. At the high-school 
level increasing attention is being given to the needs of young people who 
have dropped out of school, whether at the end of the compulsory school 
age, before completion of the high-school course, or after being graduated 
from high school. The facilities for their future education most often 
involve some plan for part-time education, such as night school, part- 
time day school, cooperative classes, correspondence instruction, and pro- 
grams combining work and study. In the past year adult education 
has shown tendencies to regard educational provisions for adults as 
part of a regular continuing program for the preparation of individ- 
uals for full participation in modern society. Conservation educa- 
tion is gaining ground throughout the country, the report states. Other 
phases of school work which made marked progress during 1937 were: 
radio, public forums, CCC, and the accomplishments of vocational educa- 
tion in agriculture, trade and industrial education, home economics, and 
vocational rehabilitation. 


TRENDS IN THE EDUCATION of girls and women to meet present needs 
was the theme of a recent conference of Illinois High-School Deans of 
Girls. The conference concluded that the pendulum is swinging toward 
more domestic training for women and less academic and business. Ex- 
perimental courses, designed to make education more practical, which 
are being conducted in Illinois high schools were discussed. A course in 
one high school which has become exceedingly popular with the entire 
cross section of the student body was introduced in the Deerfield-Shields 
High School, Highland Park, Illinois, and is called “Problems.” “In this 
new course we take up practical problems in politics, juvenile delin- 
quency, the sit-down strike, and other current interests,” said Miss 
Emada Griswold, dean of girls in the high school. “We use no textbook, 
but get our information from magazines and newspapers and the students 
become intensely interested in threshing out the different phases of each 
subject. In another high school “consumer education” has been intro- 
duced in which the pupils analyze advertising material, watch legisla- 
tion, and discuss things pertaining to good purchasing. In Collinsville, 
Illinois, an experiment is being tried out whereby the freshmen are not 
required, as is the usual custom, to take a course in English. Instead, 
the other teachers discover in what particular way each student is de- 
ficient in his written and oral English. He is then sent for six or eight 
weeks to a class dealing only with that particular phase of English 
which he (particularly) needs. 


MANY REQUESTS FOR INFORMATION about college entrance require- 
ments have been received by the Department of Secondary-School Prin- 


54 




















NEws ITEMS 55 





1938] 




















cipals. Elsewhere in The Bulletin is an announcement of a forthcoming 
publication of the National Education Association which deals with this 
topic. One of the best references on college entrance requirements is en- 
titled American Universities and Colleges and is published by the Ameri- 
can Council on Education, 744 Jackson Place, N. W., Washington, D. C. 
This covers all institutions of higher education in the country and gives 
the details of their entrance requirements. An article in the December, 
1937, number of The School Review, “Status and Trends of College-En- 
trance Requirements,” contains information on the variances and change- 
ability of requirements. A number of colleges require entrants to pass 
examinations prepared by the College Entrance Examination Board. 
For details of these examinations address the College-Entrance Exami- 
nation Board, 431 West 117 Street, New York, N. Y. 


THE AVERAGE HIGH-SCHOOL STUDENT prefers longer school hours and 
shorter home-work assignments, according to a “survey-at-random” made 
at East Technical, East, and Lincoln high schools of Cleveland, Ohio. 
Although home-work is decreas&mg in grade schools, it is still the night- 
mare haunting the upper gradesmen. A majority of students at the 
three schools surveyed said they would be willing to stay longer at school 
and there complete their home-work if long week-end assignments and 
night work were eliminated. A National Youth Administration survey of 
eight hundred parents showed that the average student studies one and 
thirty-nine hundredths hours at home. Parents requested home-work 
assignments to be made one and seventy-one hundredths hours long, the 
survey disclosed. 


A NEW MAGAZINE for use in English classes, Everyday Reading, is 
being published by the American Education Press, Inc., Columbus, Ohio. 
The magazine utilizes the results of nation wide reading research as the 
basis for selection of stories and articles and for guiding study and im- 
proving reading abilities of secondary-school pupils. 


IN VIEW OF THE INTEREST in the teaching of conservation in the high 
schools, the following references and sources of information might be 
helpful: Conservation in the Education Program, U. S. Department of the 
Interior, Office of Education, Washington, D. C.; Teaching Conservation 
in the Wisconsin Schools, Department of Education, Madison, Wisconsin; 
Rural School Leaflets, Department of Rural Education, Coynell Univer- 
sity, Ithaca, New York; Outlines for School Courses in Conservation, 
Educational Conservation Society, Laurel Hill Blvd., Woodside, Long 
Island, New York. 


ORIENTATION OF HIGH-SCHOOL FRESHMEN is a problem in every 
school. At the Paseo High School, Kansas City, Missouri, a new method 
of orientation of freshmen has been tried. An impressive ritual for the 
induction of freshmen has been developed in order to acquaint newcomers 

“with the ideals of citizenship and personal conduct which have become 
traditional in the school. The ritual is entitled “Remember Who You 
Are,” and is the result of eleven years of coéperative experimentation 
and planning by the students and faculty of Paseo High. The ceremony ~ 
serves a real purpose in the school and is approved unanimously by par- 
ents, according to the Paseo Principal, Mr. B. M. Stigall. 




















DEPARTMENT OF SECONDARY-SCHOOL PRINCIPALS ([January, 


To SUPPLEMENT HOME TRAINING and to develop the social and per- 
sonal growth of girls, a fashion clinic has been organized at Fairview 
Youth School, Dayton, Ohio. “To make all Fairveiw girls ‘grooming 
conscious’ and to show them how to look and behave acceptably, and 
how to appear natural, unaffected, confident, and pleasing are the aims 
of the new organization”, says Miss Charlotte Farrell, sponsor. Per- 
sonality, character, and the part which personal appearance plays in 
both are topics for future consideration. 


THE CIRCULAR OF THE NEA Educational Research Service for No- 
vember, 1937, is devoted to salary schedules for school principals in 
eighty-four cities of over 100,000 population. In the eighty-four cities 
reported in this study, the range of maximum salaries paid elementary- 
school principals extends from $1,700 to $7,000. Junior high-school prin- 
cipals in fifty-nine city systems have maximums varying from $2,535 to 
$7,500. In seventy school systems reporting the salaries paid senior 
high-school principals, the maximums range from $2,850 to $10,000. 
Medians of the maximums for the three levels, respectively, are $3,591, 
$4,322, and $4,951. 


THE '’37 SENIOR Cass of the Missoula County High School, Mis- 
soula, Montana, donated an $185.00 eye-testing apparatus to the school. 
The telebinocular tests how well the two eyes work together. It discloses 
the need for glasses and many causes of poor reading. It also discloses 
inability to judge distances. 


THE CHAPTER OF THE NATIONAL Honor Society at West High School, 
Aurora, Illinois, has inaugurated a plan whereby the attention of the stu- 
dent body is focused upon its senior members during class day, baccalau- 
reate, and commencement exercises. New senior members are inducted 
into the chapter as a part of the class day exercises which usually pre- 
cede baccalaureate and commencement by several days. Upon induction 
into membership a badge of distinction known locally as “honor cords” 
is awarded to new members of the society. This badge, which is worn 
only with academic costume, consists of two white silken cords about 
three-eighths of an inch in diameter suspended from a padded disc cov- 
ered with white silk piped in gold. The emblem of the National Honor 
Society is embroidered in‘scarlet upon its face. 


THE SoutH Sipe TIMES, student newspaper of South Side High 
School, Fort Wayne, Indiana, gives an account of a new kind of club. 
It is called “The Fifteen-Hundred Club” and consists of those students 
who have worked on one of the school publications until they have at- 
tained 1,500 points and are awarded a bronze pin. When 3,000 points 
are earned, a silver pin is awarded. A gold pin is issued at 5,000 points 
and a gold-jeweled pin at 10,000 points. The pin cannot be bought but 
must be earned by journalistic work. 


A Survey AT CENTRAL HIGH SCHOOL, Cleveland, Ohio, showed that 
sixty-seven per cent of the students enrolled there were employed during 
the summer months. Some of the most unusual jobs held were nurses’ 
aid at a hospital, dancing professionally, teaching dancing, reading to 
blind persons, selling fishing worms for bait, and working in an Arizona 
copper mine. 















OO Ses eel 








1938) News ITEMs 57 


TO ENCOURAGE PEACE, to promote friendliness and sociability among 
the students of various nationalities, and to increase appreciation of va- 
rious nations, is the purpose of the Cosmopolitan Club organized this 
year at Phoenix Union High School, Phoenix, Arizona. Each of the ten 
charter members of this club represents a different nationality. The 
group is trying to get a representative of all nationalities to be found 
in the high school. 


JUNIOR SCHOLASTIC, a companion magazine to Scholastic, the Ameri- 
can High-School Weekly, was distributed early this year throughout 
classrooms in the United States and Canada. Maurice R. Robinson, for 
seventeen years editor and publisher of Scholastic, is also the editor of 
Junior Scholastic. The new publication is intended for use principally in 
the junior high schools, and especially in classes of English and social 
science. It employs a simplified vocabulary and a large and legible type. 
The text of the new magazine is profusely illustrated with pictures and 
drawings. . 


A COMMUNITY CALENDAR is a project of Abington High School, Ab- 
ington, Pennsylvania. The calendar is made up of all cates and other 
information concerning dinners, card parties, dances, musical and dra- 
matic performances, and other events of the social, scholastic, and civic 
world. All local organizations in Abington Township send in informa- 
tion for this calendar regularly. 


NINETEEN FOLK-HIGH SCHOOLS were held in rural sections of Louisi- 
ana during the past summer. Workers in many fields including teachers 
and administrators, doctors, bus drivers, and county agents participated. 
Each school offered instruction in agriculture, business, civics, home-mak- 
ing, and fine arts, with emphasis on the problems confronting the men 
and women enrolled. 


THE 1937 REPORT of the Superintendent to the Cleveland, Ohio, 
Board of Education states that home-economics courses in the high 
schools are designed to: (1) teach the individual and family to develop 
and conserve health; (2) develop ability in buying food wisely and in 
preparing and serving wholesome, palatable, and attractive meals; (3) 
create interest in the intelligent management of money through budget- 
ing and lessons in consumer education; (4) select clothing which will be 
becoming, satisfactory, and durable, according to budget allowance; (5) 
develop good housekeeping skills and standards; (6) create an understand- 
ing of the social and economic functions of the home as they contribute to 
individual growth, as well as to the improvement of the family; (7) study 
proper methods of child training; (8) arouse a strong desire on the part 
of young people for the right kind of homes; and (9) develop desirable 
personal traits. 


- A CLASS IN LANDSCAPE GARDENING has been offered at the Patterson, 
California, Union High School for the past six years. The first class 
was popular with girls as well as boys, and interest soon became so con- 
tagious that large classes, under the auspices of the night school, were 
organized for parents and adults. A by-product of the work is a flour- 
ishing garden club. 





















58 DEPARTMENT OF SECONDARY-SCHOOL PRINCIPALS [January, 


A SABBATICAL LEAVE BILL was passed by the General Assembly of 
Pennsylvania at its last session. This bill provides leave for school em- 
ployees once in seven years, with no loss in tenure or retirement rights, 
and with remuneration at half the regular salary. 


THE SCHOOL NEWSPAPER of Burbank, California, High School has for 
over two years carried review columns written by students dealing with 
radio, the movies, and the press. Reading materials in these fields are 
made accessible to students, and their thinking is directed to some extent 
by class discussion. A class in the drama department broadcasts a 
weekly program called “The Brewster Family.” The script depicts stu- 
dent life in Burbank Schools. 


THE NATIONAL EDUCATION ASSOCIATION has completed arrangements 
with the Columbia Broadcasting System for a series of coast-to-coast 
current events broadcasts. The new programs, entitled “Exits and En- 
trances,” are broadcast Mondays at 2:30-3 p. m., EST, as a feature of 
the American School of the Air. They are intended especially for sec- 
ondary-school students of the social studies. 


YOUTH IN A MODERN COMMUNITY is the general theme of the 1937-38 
Radio Forum sponsored by the National Congress of Parents and Teach- 
ers. The programs over the blue network of the National Broadcasting 
Company, last thirty minutes each and will continue weekly through 
April 13, 1938. Nationally-known leaders have been scheduled to head 
the various programs presenting P.-T. A. activities which are designed 
to aid young people in becoming useful members of society. 


HELP FOR UNEMPLOYED HIGH-SCHOOL GRADUATES who cannot afford 
to attend college is planned by the Department of Education of New 
- York State. The Department recently announced that _ tuition-free 
courses two years in length had been arranged for such persons by the 
various agricultural schools. These courses are designed to prepare 
young persons for junior-technical positions in business and industry. 


THE DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE recommends hearty school lunches 
as a sure aid to improving scholarship and attendance. Specialists in 
home economics from the Department suggested menus along this gen- 
eral pattern: First, a hearty hot dish; once a week, eggs in some form. 
On the other days, a meat or fish and vegetables, dried beans and peas, 
or a substantial milk soup. Twice a week, tomatoes in some form. Milk 
daily, to drink, and also on some days as the chief ingredient in soup, 
sauce or hot beverage. Fruit daily as the dessert, now and then plus 
a cookie. 


EXCHANGE TEACHERS FROM HAWAII are at work this year in secon- 
dary schools of the following cities: Hayward, California; Wilmette, 
Illinois; Rochester, Minnesota; Albany, California; Tucson, Arizona; 
Portland, Oregon; Oakland, California; Rochester, New York; Santa Fe, 
New Mexico; Lexington, Kentucky; Verona, New Jersey; LaCrosse, Wis- 
consin; New Haven, Connecticut; Sausalito, California; San Diego, Cali- 
fornia; Fullerton, California; Omaha, Nebraska; Seattle, Washington; 
Hastings-on-the-Hudson, New York; Banning, California; Madison, Wis- 
consin; San Mateo, California; San Dimas, California; Santa Barbara, 






























1938] NeEws ITEMS 59 


California; Wyckoff, New Jersey; Eugene, Oregon; and Linden, New 
Jersey. 


THE Los ANGELES SCHOOL JOURNAL reports many progressive ac- 
tivities which are being carried on in the schools of the city. Among 
these are the following: (1) opening of four new junior and three senior 
high schools, (2) partial restoration of salaries for teachers and princi- 
pals, (3) rating system and salary schedule for secondary-school prin- 
cipals to go into effect in February, 1938, (4) adoption of local retire- 
ment system for teachers and administrators, (5) new-type promotional 
examinations, and (6) an administrative guide, sometimes referred to as 
the “Principal’s Bible.” 


AT THE BALBOA HIGH SCHOOL, San Francisco, Mrs. Maud Oakes 
Volandri has worked out an ingenious questionnai#e to be filled in by 
seniors. The questionnaire assembles in convenient form the names of 
collegiate institutions to which the students expect to go; the informa- 
tion thus secured enables the counselor to learn plans for securing emi- 
ployment; it permits the school to prepare lists of those desiring employ- 
ment; and it supplies data upon which recommendations to employers 
can be made. A summary of the information provided by the last class 
of seniors indicated that one hundred fifteen out of three hundred sixty- 
four graduates did not expect to go to school and did not have definite 
jobs in mind. 


IF THE DANGERS IN THE USE OF VARIOUS CHEMICALS were taught in 
high-school and college chemistry courses some of the forty thousand an- 
nual accidents from this source in the United States might be avoided, 
J. O. Frank, Wisconsin State Teachers College, told the 1937 conven- 
tion of the American Chemical Society. Burns from using chemicals in 
the home, the breathing of carbon monoxide and other poison gases, food 
poisoning, and the mistaking of wood alcohol and other poisons for medi- 
cines are among the commonest of such accidents, he said. Yet no high- 
school textbook on the market now deals with the topic. 


PERSONS INTERESTED IN COLLEGE SCHOLARSHIPS will want to examine 
the revised pamphlet on Scholarships and Fellowships Avgqilable at Insti- 
tutions of Higher Learning issued in May by the United States Office 
of Education. It is listed as Bulletin No. 10, and may be obtained by 
sending fifteen cents to the Superintendent of Documents, Washington, 
D. C. 


THE FIRST BLIND PERSON who was taught to read and write, Laura 
Bridgman, was admitted to what is now Perkins Institution at Water- 
town, Massachusetts, one hundred years ago, October 2, 1837. This year, 
the Works Progress Administration produced 15,000 talking-book ma- 
chines, using a new recording process, for the 80,000 blind people in the 
United States who can not read Braille, the system of raised figures 
which the blind, with their sensitive fingers, identify as words. 


A COOPERATIVE TWELVE-YEAR PROGRAM of curriculum study and revision 
in the public secondary schools was started this year by the Michigan De- 
partment of Public Instruction. Present plans indicate a division of the 
study into four segments: (1) a review of the potential contributions 
from previous and current studies throughout the United States, the 

















60 DEPARTMENT OF SECONDARY-SCHOOL PRINCIPALS [January, 


maturing of plans for the twelve-year period, and the introduction of 
variant practices in many high schools (one year), (2) experimental 
trial and evaluation of the immediate results of variant practices (four 
years), (3) transfer and extension of practices of evident merit (four 
years), (4) summarization and appraisal (three years). 


VOCATIONAL COUNSELORS WILL BE INTERESTED in the recently an- 
nounced public-relations program of the National Industrial Advertisers 
Association which includes plans for an Industry Week to be held next 
spring. During this week “open days” at industrial plants will provide 
pupils with an opportunity to be shown through many manufacturing 
concerns formerly inaccessible to the public. 


ONLY ONE-TENTH OF THE GRADUATES from the high schools of Louis- 
ville, Kentucky, were found to be either unemployed or staying at home, 
according to a survey recently made by the University of Louisville. The 
majority of these employed were store clerks and stenographers. Others 
were preparing for office work, married, attending college, or employed at 
one of fifteen miscellaneous occupations. In considerable contrast to the 
occupational placement of the graduates who did not attend college were 
the occupational aims of the college freshmen; a strong trend towards the 
professions was indicated, with business administration, medicine, and 


teaching in the lead. 


AN INTERESTING PLAN OF CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT is reported by the 
public schools of Birmingham, Alabama. The board of education each 
year adopts a slogan for character development to be emphasized in the 
schools. To date twelve such slogans have been in effect for twelve con- 
secutive years. They have concerned the development of character 
through health, sportsmanship, work, the love of the beautiful, thrift, 
courtesy, the study of nature, the worthy use of leisure, wonder, service, 
coéperation, and self-reliance. 


THE SOUTHERN ASSOCIATION OF COLLEGES AND SECONDARY 
SCHOOLS, through its recently created Commission on Curricular Prob- 
lems and Research, has launched a plan of curriculum study designed to 
produce an educational program suited to adolescent boys and girls. The 
plan is proceeding on the assumption that the secondary school in modern 
industrial society has a special obligation to provide a suitable form of 
instruction for those pupils who cannot or will not adapt themselves to 
the demands of the present program of instruction. It is further as- 
sumed that an adequate program can best be developed through experi- 
mentation conducted in a wide variety of situations. Each participating 
school is expected to originate and work out its own experiment, receiving 
only as much supervision from the Commission as will give a general 
direction to the work and assure usable results. 


OKLAHOMA HIGHWAY COMMISSION has issued the following sugges- 
tions for greater comfort and safety on the school bus: don’t stand in 
road while waiting for bus; don’t talk to the driver while bus is in mo- 
tion; don’t get on or off moving bus; don’t stick your head or arms out 
of the bus window; don’t cross the road after getting off bus until you 
are certain no car is approaching, then cross in front of bus; don’t hitch 
on or try to ride on outside of bus; and don’t forget that the bus driver 

















1938] News ITEMs 61 


has the same authority as a teacher, and the same rules of conduct apply 
in the bus as in the classroom. 


THE ASSOCIATION OF AMERICAN RAILROADS has prepared a list of one 
hundred fifty books, booklets, and periodicals suitable for boys and girls, 
ranging up to advanced high-school age. This list covers every conceiv- 
able subject relating to railroad transportation, past and present. A free 
copy will be sent to any superintendent, teacher, or librarian, if he will 
write the Association of American Railroads, Transportation Building, 
Washington, D. C. 


A FIFTY PER CENT CUT IN FAILURES in the St. Louis high schools has 
been effected in the past few years. This sharp reduction has been ac- 
complished without a corresponding lowering of scholarship standards, 
according to Superintendent Henry J. Gerling, who has introduced two 
changes to cut down high-school failures. One of these checks the mental 
maturity of an eighth-grade pupil for algebra, Latin, and other high- 
school work. For three years, two types of eighth-grade certificates 
have been available. One sends the pupil directly to high school; the 
other admits him to a special preparatory class giving an extra year be- 
tween the eighth and ninth grades. The second change has inaugurated 
two types of high-school diplomas allowing a pupil more liberal electives 
during his high-school course. 


DURING THE SPRING OF 1937, teachers in the Greeley, Colorado, sec- 
ondary schools attempted to discover the best methods of evaluating stu- 
dent growth. They believe that a single-grade symbol is a very inade- 
quate means of evaluating accomplishments of students and effectiveness 
of teaching. The procedure used consisted in making out for each student 
a sheet upon which were listed the outcomes for each curriculum area. 
Traditional type tests were used for measurement of facts and skills. 
Many new-type tests were tried out in an attempt to measure such out- 
comes as understanding of principles and ability to solve problems. Ob- 
servation techniques were used to determine the status of students in re- 
gard to outcomes which could not be measured by paper and pencil tests. 


Oxn10 ScHeOL STANDARDS, prepared in 1937 under the direction of 
G. H. Reavis and issued by the State Department of Education of Ohio, 
is the result of a coéperative undertaking by secondary-schools and in- 
stitutions of higher learning. A number of county and regional confer- 
ences on the subject were held. In the preface, E. N. Dietrich, State Di- 
rector of Education, says, “The purpose of these standards is to provide 
general guidance and direction for the high schools of the state in har- 
mony with a basic democratic philosophy of education. They aim to 
articulate harmoniously the school’s activities with the objectives of 
higher and lower schools and with the interests of the community.” 

















CALENDAR OF PROFESSIONAL MEETINGS 


Progressive Education Association, Washington, D. C., January 14-15. 

International Council for Exceptional Children, Buffalo, New York, Feb- 
ruary 17-19. 

American Council on Guidance and Personnel Associations, Atlantic City, 
New Jersey, February 23-26. 

Department of Secondary-School Principals of the National Education 
Association, Atlantic City, February 26-March 2. 

American Association of Schoo] Administrators, Atlantic City, February 


26-March 3. 
National Council of Teachers of Mathematics, Atlantic City, February 


25-26. 
National Society for the Study of Education, Atlantic City, February 26. 
Society for Curriculum Study, Atlantic City, February, 26-28. 
Department of Vocational Education, Atlantic City, February 26- 


March 3. 
National Federation of State High-School Athletic Associations, Atlantic 


City, February 28. 
National Association for Research in Science Teaching, Atlantic City, 


February 27-March 1. 
Department of Rural Education, Atlantic City, February 28-March 2. 
National Association of High-School Supervisors and Directors, Atlantic 
City, March 1, 
American Camping Association, Inc., Hotel Pennsylvania, New York, 


March 3-5. 
American Association of Junior Colleges, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 


March 4-5. 
Columbia Scholastic Press Association, New York City, N. Y., March 


10-12. 
Junior High-School Conference of the Middle Atlantic and Northeastern 
States, School of Education, New York University, March 11-12. 
Southern Association of Colleges and Secondary Schools, Adolphus Hotel, 
Dallas, Texas, March 31-April 1. 

Association for Childhood Education, Netherland-Plaza Hotel, Cincinnati, 
Ohio, April, 1938. 

National Occupational Conference, New York City, N. Y., April, 1938. 

Northwest Association of Secondary and Higher Schools, Spokane, Wash- 
ington, April 4-6, 1938. 

North Central Association of Colleges and Secondary Schools, Stevens 
Hotel, Chicago, Illinois, April 6-9. 

American Council on Education, Mayflower Hotel, Washington, D. C., 


May 6-7. 
National Congress of Parents and Teachers, Salt Lake City, Utah, May 


15-20. 
American Library Association, Kansas City, Missouri, June 13-18. 


62 




















BOOK NOTES 





The Challenge to Education. By the Stanford University Education Fac- 
ulty. New York: McGraw-Hill Book Co., 1937. Pp. xiv+471. $3.00. 
This volume is an introduction to education and is intended to give 

prospective teachers an insight into the profession. Part of the book is 

devoted to the opportunities offered new teachers in such rapidly develop- 
ing fields as adult education, guidance, instruction of backward or handi- 
capped children, etc. 


Kiesling, Barrett C. Talking Pictures. Richmond, Virginia: Johnson 

Publishing Co., 1937. Pp. xi+332. $1.40. ($1.05 wholesale.) 

At the suggestion of the U. S. Office of Education, Mr. Kiesling has 
prepared the first textbook dealing with talking pictures. It contains a 
history of the motion picture industry, explains how pictures are made, 
gives criteria for evaluating pictures from the point of view of educa- 
tion, and other information which the author thinks is essential for an 
appreciation of talking pictures. 


Kirkendall, Lester A. Factors Related to the Changes in School Adjust- 
ment of High-School Pupils. New York: Bureau of Publications, 
Columbia University, 1937. Pp. viii+90. 

The factors related to changes in school adjustment were studied 
in their relationships to selected factors in the home environment. No 
relationship was found when the pupil population was studied as a group. 
The study emphasizes the importance of building a good home environ- 
ment for the child in his early and formative years, the importance of 
dealing with the adolescent as a personality, and the need of codperation 
between home and school. 


Knight, Pearle E., and Traxler, Arthur E. Read and Comprehend. Bos- 
ton: Little, Brown and Co., 1937. Pp. x+233. $1.28. (Paper.) 

In the average high school from ten to twenty-five per cent of the 
pupils are so seriously handicapped in reading that they cannot do effi- 
cient school work, according to evidence presented in this book. The 
authors have attempted to present materials and ideas for use as a guide 
in improving instruction in reading. 


Newson, N. William, and Long, Forrest E. Problems of the Teacher in 

the New Secondary School. New York: Inor Publishing Co., 1937. 

Pp vi+202. (Paper, Revised Edition.) $1.55. 

Intended as a workbook containing previews and guide sheets for 
the study of the extra-instructional activities of the secondary-school 
teacher, much of this book deals with the personal growth and community 
relationships of teachers. 


_ Rand, Helen, and Lewis, Richard. Film and School. New York: D. Ap- 
pleton-Century Co., 1937. 

This is a handbook in moving picture evaluation for classes, units, 

and clubs, especially designed for correlation with different departments 

—English, social studies, science, art, etc. It is published for the Com- 


63 











64 DEPARTMENT OF SECONDARY-SCHOOL PRINCIPALS ([January, 


mittee on Standards for Motion Pictures and Newspapers of the Na- 

tional Council of Teachers of English. 

The official high-school debate question for 1938 is: “Resolved, That 
the several states should adopt the unicameral system of legislation.” 
The following publications dealing with this topic have been prepared for 
use by debate coaches and students: 

Buehler, E. C. Unicameral Legislatures. New York: Noble & Noble, 
Inc., 1937. Pp. viii+331. $2.00. 

Hallett, George H., and Hoag, Clarence Gilbert. Proportional Represen- 
tation—The Key to Democracy. Washington, D. C.: The National 
Home Library Foundation, 1937. Pp. xiii+177. $0.25. 

Heath, A. W. Unicameral vs. Bicameral Legislatures. Waverly, Illi- 
nois: Forensic Press, 1937. 

Pelsma, John R. Essentials of Debate. New York: Thomas Y. Crowell 
Co., 1937. Pp. x+168. $1.00. 

Smith, Everett Phoenix. The Unicameral Legislature. Turner Center, 
Maine: Turner Center Debate Bureau. Pp. 231. 


SEND CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE BULLETIN 


The Bulletin is interested in receiving from the offices of 
principals and others connected with secondary schools ac- 
counts of outstanding activities and accomplishments in the 
field. Items about significant developments in schools such 
as curriculum revisions, group studies, experiments, new 
courses, unique activities, problems and methods of solution, 
are appropriate for the news section. Many individual schools 
are making important contributions to educational progress. 
If your school is one of these, you can secure the educational 
recognition which it deserves by sending an account to the 
Committee on Publications, Department of Secondary-School 
Principals, 5885 Kimbark Avenue, Chicago.