NATIONAL ASSOCIATION SECONDARYSCHOOL P : SD ‘ : r es NATIONAL COUNCIL OF THE NATIONAL ONCE rh Cnances Fornast ALLEN, | EC 1°? 1940 ©cis 479312 — “ The Bulletin OF THE NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF Secondary-School Principals $d. A Department of S dary of the NATIONAL EDUCATION "Eeaeerasion Issued Monthly, October to May Inclusive DECEMBER Contents February Convention I i sisintsiccinernsicincietcnetilischipeiiincsitictienetisabtitiiale A Challenge to Action enniinntebiadciiaapimaaiaad Briggs Present-Day Challenges to Guidance _..... Rosecrance Inducting Youth Into the Adult Education Program . _....... Mann Speech in the Secondary School _. sesbleesisiadetid ..... Mitchell The Growth and Development of the Secondary-School Student Prescott pS a What Should Graduation From the Secondary School Mean? _.... French Basic Elements of the Junior High- School Curriculum _. Home Economics in a Re- organized Program of Secondary Education - Spafford 57 The Home-Living Course in the ‘Secondary School 61 An Intra-mural Athletic Program for Boys 64 An Evaluation of the N.Y.A. Student-Aid Program 68 A Residence Training Project 73 A Training Program in Aircraft Mechanics... Hitchens 76 Dormitories for Secondary-School Pupils 80 Educating for Democracy Hull 83 Job Security for the Young Man Campbell 88 The Program of the Four-Year ae reed 94 Financing the State’s Schools ... uh Chisholm 105 Chemurgy Points a Future McMillen 111 News Notes 114 TO I I nastier 118 Educational Events Sipenieidinsdcliieniitnapreteleibianinincrapieand aE THE CONTENTS OF THIS BULLETIN ARE LISTED IN “EDUCATION INDEX" Moore and Van Loan ( Copyright 1940 by THE NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF SECONDARY-SCHOOL PRINCIPALS Paul E. Elicker, Executive Secretary Walter E. Hess, Managing Editor 1201 Sixteenth Street, N. W., Washington. D. C, Jwenty—Aitth Anniversary Meeting NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF SECONDARY-SCHOOL PRINCIPALS February 22, 24, 25, 26, 1941 Hore, Happon Hatt ATLantic City, New JERsEY Convention Theme: SECONDARY EDUCATION AND NATIONAL NEEDS OUR PART Reservations: A large attendance is expected and all single rooms in Board- walk hotels are already reserved. Twin-bed accommodations and double rooms are still available. Make your reservations now with A. S. Chenoweth, Chairman, Housing Bureau, 16 Central Pier, Atlantic City, N. J. SATURDAY AFTERNOON, FEBRUARY 22 6:00 Registration Begins Headquarters, Hotel Haddon Hall 6:30 Twenty-Fifth Anniversary Observance Topic: Seconpary Epucation Looxs Forwarp Chairman: Oscar Granger, President, National Association of Sec- ondary-School Principals; Principal, Haverford Town- ship High School, Upper Darby, Pennsylvania Speakers: Dr. Charles H. Judd Others to be announced later. MONDAY, FEBRUARY 24 9:00-6:00 Registration Headquarters, Hotel Haddon Hall 2:00 First General Session Hotel Haddon Hall Topic: Tue Democratic Spirit in EpucaTionat PRAcTIcE Chairman: Hugh H. Stewart, Principal, Davis High School, Mt. Vernon, New York Speakers: “Promising Practices in Secondary Education” Walter’E. Myer, Former National Director, Discussion Group Project of the National Association of Secondary- School Principals Panel: “Learning the Ways of Democracy” A description of democratic practices in ninety sec- ondary schools by a visiting committee of educators. TUESDAY AFTERNOON, FEBRUARY 25 2:00 Second General Session Hotel Haddon Hall Topic: Our Association aT Work on Our Nationa NEEDS Chairman: John E. Wellwood, First Vice President; Principal, Cen- tral High School, Flint, Michigan Speakers: Our Occupational Adjustment Study Edward Landy, Director Secondary Education and the National Defense Thomas H. Briggs, Professor of Education, Teachers College, Columbia University Business Meeting WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON, FEBRUARY 26 2:00 Third General Session in three sections Junior High School Section— Topic: Hicu Scuoor Pupits Evacuate THE Junior HicH ScHooi Chairman: Virgil M. Hardin, Second Vice President; Principal, Pipkin and Reed Jr. High School, Springfield, Mo. Speakers: Pre-Educational Program of the Harding Junior High School, Oklahoma City, Okla. d- A Motion Picture in Technicolor id Interpretation by George N. Sturn, Principal th Evaluation by a Group of Ninth Grade Pupils of At- Tr, lantic City High Schools, New Jersey Leader of Pupil Group, Lloyd N. Morrissett, Assistant Superintendent of Schools, Yonkers, New York Senior High School Section— Topic: Work Expertence—A Puase or EpucaTion Chairmen: Truman G. Reed, Member Executive Committee; Principal, Lewis and Clark High School, Spokane, Washington Paul B. Jacobson, Chairman Youth Committee; Prin- cipal, University of Chicago High School, Chicago, IIl. Speakers: Secondary Education and N.Y.A. G. C. Mann, Director, Div. of Student Work, N.Y.A. Program of State School Work Council ill Robert S. Gilchrist, Chairman, Colorado Student Work 11 Council; Principal, Greeley High School, Colorado Panel: What Is the Value of Secondary Education? t. Panel of graduates of secondary schools. Leader and panel to be announced later. Junior College Section— yn Topic: Tue Junior CoLLecE AND NaTIoNAL DEFENSE y- Chairman: E. R. Jobe, Member, Executive Committee; State Su- pervisor Secondary Schools, Jackson, Mississippi Speakers: The Program of the Private Junior College C- Constance Warren, President, Sarah Lawrence. College, Bronxville, N. Y. The Post-School Program at Passamaquoddy Speaker to be announced later. The Program of the Public Junior College Speaker to be announced later. , i EVALUATING COMMITTEE K. J. Clark, Chairman, Past President, National Association of Secondary- School Principals; Principal, Murphy High School, Mobile, Alabama ill Dhe C biter (aad Tue Eprror, like many others in the field of educational administra- tion, strongly felt the urge to venture courageously, yet hesitantly, among the sacred fields of tradition and custom and change in early September that which had been for a long time. Beginning with the school year, the October number of THe BuLLETIN appeared in a new cover, and had a changed arrangement of material and pages of illustrative activities in our American Secondary Schools. The editor gratefully acknowledges the many letters of generous approbation that have been coming to his desk from many sources, principals, super- intendents, members of state departments of education, professors of secondary education, and even other editors of educational periodicals. Typical of these comments are sentiments expressed by a city super- intendent of schools in Pennsylvania, “THe Buttetin is certainly a contri- bution to the field of secondary education which will have a telling effect over all the United States,” and by an extract of a longer letter from a secondary-school principal in Illinois, “THe Buttetin (October issue) is indeed a most constructive contribution.” — 08 fee Many reports have been received of the extensive and profitable use of the contents in THe Buttetin for October, “Promising Practices in Second- ary Education,” a collection of 727 school practices in the fields of Guidance, Curriculum, Citizenship, etc. Faculties of secondary schools are making a systematic study of these practices; discussion groups are evaluating and appraising these school procedures; and classes in secondary education have found the practices to be valuable source material. —e. The November number of THe Buttetin is devoted to a report of the first year of the Study of Occupational Adjustment of Youth in the secondary school, that is being made through the /mplementation Com- mission of the National Association of Secondary-School Principals’ special grant. The findings of six secondary schools, from their 914 former students now in occupational life, are reported. At this writing, we are encouraged to know that many people are interested in this publication. —-0if fee Tus Montu a series of articles is presented to our subscribers cover- ing many aspects of administration in junior- and senior-high schools and in the junior college. Some of the proposals and challenges in secondary education are new and others have had the critical test of time and experi- ence. They are recommended to you for your considered attention. We live in a changing world and education must preserve all that has lasting value and accept enough of the new to free itself from the shackles of traditionalism. Are you fully cognizant of national trends as well as the educational needs of your community so that you can continue to merit the confidence that has been placed in you for the welfare of youth? A Challenge to Action THOMAS H. BRIGGS Teachers College, Columbia University Without pausing to express a natural wonder why one of the great philanthropic foundations appropriated a half million dollars to finance an inquiry into the character and cost of education in the richest State of the union, we are grateful that the study was placed in the hands of men so competent, so impartial, and so broad in their outlook. Naturally educa- tors throughout the country are interested to know what in the several re- ports may be of value to them in directing the work of secondary schools either in New York or in other sections of the country. Fortunately the several reports,’ especially High School and Life, which is from the pen of Dr. Francis T. Spaulding, are so planned and written that they are very easy to read, The summaries at the end of each chapter and the italicized statements of the major findings and recommendations will enable anyone in a very short time to get a fair idea of the contents, but of course a full understanding requires a careful study of all that is presented. As with other studies, it was not possible for the Inquiry to publish all the data that it collected; but there is no reason whatever for anyone to doubt that the conclusions are justified by objective evidence. The purposes of the Inquiry, as stated by the Director, Dr. Luther Gulick, were “to find out what the educational system of the State is ac- complishing, how well its total program fits present-day needs, and what the costs of that program are and should be, and to assist the Regents in considering the present needs and problems of the school system, and in re- formulating the fundamental educational policies of the State.” Later he says that the Inquiry was interested “in isolating major issues and in ham- mering away at the problems which presented themselves in order to find a reasonable comprehensive solution which would commend itself to the foward-minded people of the State of New York.” It may be stated here that the Inquiry did not wholly succeed in achieving all of these ends; the purposes are too comprehensive and. the needs are too great for even the able staff in the time and with the resources at its disposal. But its contributions are great, not so much in the novelty of its recommendations as in the emphasis given to reasonable and cogent ideas that have many times been expressed elsewhere in different language. 1 Education for American Life, General Report High School and Life, by Francis T. Spaulding ‘ Preparation of School Personnel, by Charles H. Judd State Aid and School Costs, by Alonzo G. Grace and G. A. Moe Adult Education, by F. W. Reeves, T. Fansler, and C. O. Houle Motion Pictures and Radio, by Elizabeth Laine When Youth Leave School, by Ruth Eckert and Thomas O. Marshall Education for Citizenship, by Howard E. Wilson Education for Work, by Thomas L. Norton The School Health Program, by C.-E. A. Winslow School and Community, by Julius B. Maller Published as The Regents’ Inquiry by McGraw-Hill Book Co., New York, 1938-1939. 6 Nationat AssociaTIoN oF SgconpARY-ScHooL Principats [December I should like to register the opinion that such criticisms of the reports as are most common—that the Inquiry did not sufficiently consult local administrators, that it did not recognize the excellent achievements of some schools, that secondary-school principals were already concerned with some of the problems presented and discussed, that the schools selected for in- tensive study are not representative, that all the collected data were not published, and the like—are neither important nor of real interest to the general profession. As one important leader wrote, “The report points out definite responsibilities which the secondary-school people must assume, responsibilities which they have not been willing to assume heretofore. It is thoroughly pragmatic and furnishes a technique that we may follow in examining and re-examining our own practices and their results.” At this time we may ignore the consideration given by the reports to matters peculiar to New York, such as the Regents’ system and examina- tions, the state department of education, costs and proposed economies, especial weaknesses of the rural schools, consolidation, and achievements of the pupils as measured by tests. Because they are not wholly new, I call attention without discussion to such recommendations as the following: that secondary education include grades seven through twelve, the exact form of organization being determined by local conditions, with a gradual extension where feasible to an inclusion of two additional years for new cultural and sub-professional courses; that pupils be admitted, whatever their previous preparation, when in the judgment of local authorities they can profit from the secondary school, and that they be graduated when judged by the same authorities as ready to leave school, being given a diploma on which is stated what they have gained from secondary-school education; that separate vocational and continuation schools for pupils below the twelfth grade be abolished, their pupils being given general education* and preparation for unspecialized vocations; that pupils be recognized as individuals and each one provided with an education appropriate to his abilities and needs, especial attention being given to the least and to the most gifted through homogeneous grouping with consequent intelligent dif- ferentiation in courses; that effective guidance, both educational and vo- cational, be provided for all; and that more attention be given to mental and emotional health. It is difficult to refrain from emphasis and com- ment on these several recommendations, each of which is likely to com- mend itself for approval and challenge schoolmen to still more earnest and more continuous effort to carry it out in their own school program. GuIDANCE The discussion of guidance is especially worthy of attention. The report presents evidence that “high schools in general know little about many of their pupils beyond the facts implied in records of school marks,” most about those from well-to-do homes who graduate from the college prepara- tory curriculums and least about those who probably need most help; 2General education is defined by Wilson in Education for Citizenship as that which results in a degree of social competence which will enable youth to participate not only harmlessly but alsa con- structively in the operations of society. 1940] A CHALLENGE To ACTION 7 (S. 159)*; that more than half of the pupils choose their courses without having received definite advice from anyone (S. 169); tHat “high school pupils tend to elect subjects which, in the judgments of school officers, are least likely to yield valuable educational returns, and not to take the sub- jects which are likely to be most fruitful” (S. 168); that the educational plans of the majority of those just out of high school “are strikingly un- realistic, even if not wholly incapable of fulfilment” (S. 38); and that they lose touch completely with anyone who can give them intelligent advice and assistance, only one in ten ever returning to the school for either, being ignorant that they can do so or indifferent (S. 30). Particularly striking is the fact that only a few youth are known by adults outside the family. Similarly challenging is the report on pupils’ need of vocational guid- ance. “Large numbers on the point of leaving school either have no vo - cational plans or have plans which are quite out of line with their own demonstrated abilities and with opportunities for employment” (S. 55); the schools are willing to recommend the majority of their leaving pupils for employment, but their “opinions of their pupils’ vocational competence bear little relation to the actual success . . . in getting jobs,” the schools’ judgments usually being based on the curriculum taken and on observed in- telligence and personal traits (S. 59); the same proportions of graduates and of non-graduates and of those recommended and not recommended got jobs, success depending on luck, accidental contacts, and personality (S. 61); “more are concerned with the superficial conditions of their work, or the satisfaction of having any kind of job, than with particular opportunities which their jobs offer,” paying little attention to chances of advancement and unmindful of the future (S. 64-65). Spaulding therefore recommends that each school earnestly seek to learn as much as necessary about each and every pupil for a sound estimate of his ability and needs (S. 274), that it use this information “as a basis for systematically adapting its teaching to the individual pupil’s particular needs,” giving positive educational guidance; that all teachers be made concerned with “pupils’ relations with other people, the share they take in civic affairs, their recreations and their further studying, as well as their work on their jobs” (S. 278); that the school not only help pupils in making their first out-of-school adjustments, whenever they leave, but also to gain a pragmatic measure of their own teaching (S. 276-77). Whether novel or not, such recommendations challenge every schoolman to inventory anew the situation and the activities in his own school and to advance his program for more effective guidance, both educational and vocational. The Inquiry report advocates that “for every pupil who is to complete his formal education in that school, each secondary school ought to provide a necessary minimum of definite preparation for a vocation,” without seek- ing to make him “a highly skilled craftsman” (S. 269-70) and that some schools carry vocational preparation beyond the twelfth grade (Education for American Life 47-49). The Inquiry goes beyond former recommenda- 8The references marked S are to Spaulding’s High School and Life. 8 NaTIoNAL AssocIATION OF SECONDARY-SCHOOL PRINCIPALS tions of a similar nature in that it makes this one of tie essentials for civic competence. It foes beyond these further in arguing that when no normal vocational opening is found, society through the secondary school should provide truly educative work experiences (S. 279). Practical proposals are that there shall be co-operation by neighboring schools so that increased specialization results and that schools work with other agencies. The Inquiry paid especial attention to the youth who are not college bound, though not neglecting the others. It holds that for all youth the purpose of education is to develop social competence, which will enable them “to take an effective part in the life that lies ahead of them beyond school” (S. 3). Critics of the report have complained that the term social competence is not adequately defined; but it seems to me that in every * chapter there are not only definitions but also elaborations of its meaning. Spaulding defines it as “a composite of those abilities and dispositions which lead a person to make his own best contribution to the life of the various social groups to which he belongs.” One highly important point made by the Inquiry is that a school should be evaluated not in terms of its program but, rather, in terms of the out- comes of that program. The soundness of this principle cannot be ques- tioned, and yet it is so usually denied in actual practice that it deserves the emphasis given it in the report and also most careful consideration and application. If social competence be accepted as the primary objective of secondary education, can the school justify its expenditures of time and effort and money by the improvement that has been manifest in the boys and girls who have left school? The evidence presented by the Inquiry reports is convincing that the New York schools cannot. The youth are not “aware of the problems that are likely to confront them immediately after they leave school” nor are they “equipped to deal with those prob- lems;” and they do not have “the interests, the knowledge, and the apti- tudes which will help them to become acceptable citizens.” This is a serious indictment, one that should stir not only every educator but also every citizen as well to make inquiry concerning the contribution of the school in his own community to the desired competence. The Inquiry does not deny that the schools of New York are making positive and important contributions to the objective that is obviously necessary in our society; every principal can produce evidence of some suc- cess, perhaps of a considerable degree of success; but the questions that must concern all are: Has social competence been made the main objective? and Has it been achieved in such degree as reasonably to satisfy the needs of society? If not, the proposed objective must either be rejected or else be materially modified to achieve more highly, or our professional consciences will haunt us even if the public does not raise an uproar. Unfortunately the public is not likely to do this, for it obviously has been “educated” to give to conventional programs far more respect than they deserve. Spaulding says that our schools seem far more concerned not with what youth do but with what they do not do. [ December ] r I a c 1940] A CHALLENGE To ACTION 9 Tue OBLIGATION OF THE SCHOOL The reports are full of evidence that the Inquiry staff accepted fully the obligation of the schools “to teach youth to do better the desirable things that they are likely to do anyway,” whatever the program of educa- tion, though the statement is never anywhere quoted. “The more serious problems,” states High School and Life (page 120),” are to be found in the lack of tangible connection between what boys and girls learn while they are in school and what they will need to know after they leave school. A fund of largely academic information, a set of social attitudes picked up at random, tastes and interests developed as chance may dictate, provide no stable basis for the welfare either of individuals or of the State to which they belong. If it is to deserve public support, the program of secondary educa- tion must produce more tangible results than at present in the form of systematic preparation for citizenship and leisure and jobs. If it is to ac- complish all that needs accomplishing, that program must concern itself quite as much with the young people who are not academically successful as with those whose easiest learning comes from books. Elsewhere the report shows along the same line that the school must give youth “a chance to master important abilities which the out-of-school world will require of them” (S. 149), that schools “must give much closer attention . . . to pupils’ out-of-school needs,” and that “non-academic habits and attitudes . . . can be achieved in very considerable measure by defining the qualities which boys and girls ought to possess, and by aiming as directly toward those qualities as schools now aim toward academic achievement.” Secondary-school people everywhere will be interested in what the re- port states about the actual uses made by secondary-school pupils of organi- zations for general community service (S. 29), of the radio (S. 28), of magazines and books (S. 43-44), and of the cinema (S. 46ff.). Those are activities with which the secondary-school principal certainly should be concerned quite as truly as with fundamental academic skills (S. 40-42). Implicitly the Inquiry staff also accept the thesis that secondary schools are also concerned “to reveal higher activities and to make them desired and maximally possible.” The report is concerned, as all should be, with the failure of so large a fraction of youth to be convinced of the importance of the higher activities that the schools reveal and with the consequent results that they neither master a respectable amount of the facts and principles and skills that are presented nor later voluntarily seek to make use of what they have acquired and retained. The report presents evidence regarding the hobbies that youth have after leaving school (S. 51), a deplorably few of which are either intellectual or related in any manner to the curriculum. The report of course makes numerous proposals, mostly of a general nature, concerning the curriculum. Besides advocating its extension to in- clude neglected but important activities, it states (S. 155), “If schools in general are to provide as effective teaching as certain individual schools now provide, it is evident that they must break the academic mold in which most of the programs have been cast.” 10 Nationa Association or Seconpary-ScHoot Principats [December In Education for American Life, (page 31), there is a clear advocacy of fused courses: “Education consists in development of that broad under- standing of the areas of knowledge and specialization, regardless of sub- ject matter fields.” Chapter XIV of High School and Life is devoted to “Pro- posals for an Improved Secondary-School Program.” The more important principles there presented are that “every secondary school ought to provide for those subjects of study and those forms of pupil experience which promise fullest preparation for citizenship in the broad meaning of that term;” (S. 263) “that every high school ought to provide whatever teaching of reading, oral and written expression, and arithmetic may be necessary to give all its pupils at least enough command of the tools of learning so that they are able to learn through independent study” (S. 265-66); that “every high school should provide teaching which will lead pupils to enjoy the best types of recreation open to them after they leave school” (S. 268); and that “for every pupil who is to complete his formal education in that school, each secondary school ought to provide a necessary minimum of definite preparation for a vocation” (S. 269), not “a highly skilled craftsman.” Most of the recommendations everyone is likely to approve. But verbal approval is not enough. Their importance cannot be discredited be- cause they are not altogether novel. The very fact that some of them have been heard before from other sources is evidence that they are a part of the great movement throughout the country for radical changes in our second- ary-school programs, a movement that is distressingly slow but at the same time of irresistible force. The facts of the inadequacy of the most common programs are becoming so well known by the laiety as well as by the pro- fession and the proposals for reform are so soundly based on common sense as well as on a reasonable social and educational philosophy, that I am convinced that we are at the beginning of an important and a highly sig- nificant reform. It is long over-due. SociaL COMPETENCE Why has this reform been so long delayed, when almost everyone is convinced of its desirability and of its necessity? The answer is that we do not know precisely what to do. Although there is some disagreement on fundamental principles and issues, as evidenced in the discussion groups conducted by the National Association of Secondary-School Principals dur- ing the past three years and by the data presented in the January 1940 issue of the North Central Association Quarterly by Edmonson, there is sufficient unanimity of opinion in the profession to warrant bold reconstruction of the curriculum. Practically everyor.e who has given thought to the matter agrees that education is a long-term investment by the State to make itself a better place in which to live and in which to make a living. The great majority, recognizing the facts presented in the report by the Inquiry as in general true for all communities, approve the goal of social competence and the more important recommendations for reform. But such agreement and approval are a long way from indicating the details of the program that should be adopted. Tradition is indurated and is hard to vel hist of r abur s enw —_— OS ee V VS ee ew TP ee FULT oO aS SS a oe we “em OD 1940] A CHALLENGE To ACTION 11 break. Common sense indicates that it is foolish to break it unless we have something better to put in its place. So although we recognize and freely admit the wastefulness of much of our common practice, and although we approve basic principles and idealized goals, we continue mostly along well-beaten paths, excusing ourselves by citing college requirements, large classes, lack of money, and unyielding teachers. The truth of the matter is that we don’t know precisely what to do. We might as well admit it. There are two groups who profess to wish reform. One asks for definite blue-prints and specifications. But when they are provided in venturesome syllabi and textbooks, this first group deny their authority and return to tradition—modified somewhat, it is true, but in essence the old tradition nevertheless. There can never be a final authority who will give satisfaction to everyone who wants details. We must remember that when Moses came down from Mount Sinai he found the children of Israel worshiping heathen gods, and even the divinely given tables of stone did not long keep them from demanding new authorities, each of whom they rejected in turn. The other group recognizes that no building can be substantial until there is a foundation. They dig through accumulated rubbish and lay the stones of principles. The goal of social competence is one of such stones; others are found in the reports on the /ssues and Functions of Secondary Education. This group realize that they are not giving and that nobody can give immediate and lasting detailed specifications. They know that many who dislike to think for themselves want something different and that they become impatient when asked to consider and to approve abstractions. But that is the only way to lay a foundation substantial enough to bear the weight of the structure that must be erected. Already we have developed a recognition of the inadequacy—may I say of the wasteful folly or even of the criminal misfeasance in the profes- sion?—of a large part of the traditional program of secondary education. Already a large part of the profession and a respectable part of the responsi- ble public are concerned that something different, something promising of more adequate social returns, be undertaken. Already the majority of our principals and some of our teachers—though, it may be interpolated, a disappointingly small fraction of the latter—have been acquainted with such basic matters as were presented by the Committee on the Orientation of Secondary Education, and in general have given the recommendations verbal approval. That is no small amount of progress in the past generation or less, a greater amount than democracy has known before in its entire history. It is heartening and promising for future progress. Tue Next Steps 1n Procress What are the next steps? I think they are definitely the following. First, to continue our efforts to get general understanding of the need of radical reform in the program of secondary education. Already there is abundant evidence that it fails to spend its money and its time wisely and as effectively as it might for the general social good through the appropriate 12 Nationat Association oF SECONDARY-ScHOOL Principats [December and permanent improvement of every individual youth, whatever his native endowment or his environmental development. Second, to get a more general—dare I say a unanimous?—understand- ing and approval of basic principles and ideals among all the members of our profession. Such basic principles and ideals have already been presented for consideration and, after such changes as may be necessary, approval. Third, to acquaint the interested members of the public with these principles and ideals, gaining from them both understanding of their mean- ing and implications and their approval. It must be recognized, as the practi- cal man in the field has already done far better than some theorists, that substantial progress cannot be made without the intelligent support of the public. To obtain that will require long-continued and skilled activity. Fourth, to use such ingenuity as we possess, individuals as well as groups, to invent promising educational experiences leading to the desired goals. Such experiences will be made up in part of elements of the old curriculum which can be justified by the approved principles and in part of new materials that seem good even though they have never before been used in formal schooling. Nothing is good merely because it is old or merely new; everything must justify itself in terms of approved objectives. Fifth, to be courageous to abandon the worthless, whatever its an- tiquity, and to introduce the new, by whomever invented. It is only by trial that we can ascertain what gives most success. Professor Judd wisely said some years ago that pioneering should be an essential for approval of any secondary school. You will make mistakes, of course, but you will find much valuable material that is not in the present curriculum. Venturing upon the new can hardly be less effective than a continuation of the old. Sixth, to advertise inventions of successful educational experiences. The public must be informed of them and of their contributions to the better- ment of the community through the betterment of individuals or support will be lacking for pioneering in the future. And the professional brother- hood wishes to know what has been invented both that they may adopt it and also that they too may be encouraged to adventure. Seventh, to use professional influence persistently to get the help of the most competent in the country to invent, evaluate, and develop in practical situations a multitude of new and substantiated educative materi- als which can be adopted or adapted by any and all schools that do not have the time or the competence to do more than make short excursions into the unknown. This last step should be emphasized. It cannot wisely be taken until at least the profession has recognized its necessity and has to a large extent agreed on the general direction in which we wish to move. Hence the im- portance of theories and of their tedious popularization. Every individual schoolman can do something, can do much more than he has done, by courageously attempting to modify his program as approved theory indi- cates; but eventually he is estopped, partly by his own natural limitations but even more by the necessity of giving the major part of his strength, his energies, and his time to the routine duties of his job. What he needs and ar fo sn ar what he eventually must have is the help of the more competent—of the most competent, I should say—who are provided with ample time and assistance to prepare, to justify, and to develop materials for the new curriculum. Such materials would not be “official” in the sense that they will be required of every school. Instead, they would like the results of research on the frequency and importance of vocabulary, the raw materials that any school may use as it sees fit. They would have the advantage over all similar materials previously proposed in that they would be selected as promising to forward youth toward approved goals. Is this proposal too idealistic for us seriously to consider? What is the most important instrument that society has to use in perpetuating itself and in promoting itself? Education. What is the most important part of education? The curriculum. All credit and honor must be given to those who have pioneered and ventured in curriculum reform, the practical teachers in the field who have for years labored in their spare time at their task. Let us recognize their growth in understanding and in professional spirit. But recognization must be given also to the small amount of radical progress they have been able to make. It may be objected that such a project would be more expensive than could be afforded and that it would be unending. Unending it certainly should be, for it must be continued as long as society changes and as long as the profession continues to elevate its ideals and its aspirations. But the costs are not unreasonable. I do not doubt that we have already spent in numerous local curriculum projects many times what this more promising proposal would require. When we consider the cost of the several national surveys and inquiries, a cost that easily runs into eight figures, we certainly are not presumptious to suggest that we can get what would be needed for a real program of curriculum construction. Perhaps it would cost a small percent of what has been appropriated during the past few years for any one of a score of Federal projects. The time has come for action. Numerous reports, such as this by the New York Inquiry and numerous leaders, have convinced us of the desir- ability and of the necessity of a radical change in the secondary-school pro- gram. They have indicated the direction of progress. Individuals and even individual schools are powerless to do much more than to complain at what they recognize as inadequacies in social effectiveness and to introduce minor improvements. ‘The major redirection and the major reconstruction will come only from united action by our professional associations They must prepare a general program, convince the public of its soundness, and secure the funds for supporting a continuing body of experts to prepare new curriculum materials, from which the schools can select for adaptation and development in local situations. The secondary-school accrediting associations and the National Association of Secondary-School Principals are our most powerful professional organizations. The challenge is before all, but primarily before these associations. Are they professional enough to accept it and to lead the way to making secondary education the potent agency that it can be for improving the welfare of the nation? 1940] A CHALLENGE To ACTION 13 oe ‘ . 1 Present-Day Challenges to Guidance FRANCIS C. ROSECRANCE Professor of Education, Northwestern University Present challenges to guidance in secondary education arise at home and abroad, within and without the schools. The present international conflagration has far-reaching implications for secondary education. The United States, whether it becomes involved or not, is headed for some years toward a military economy. This will impose huge new tax burdens on all of us. What effect will it have on the funds available for education? Will the trend toward “a secondary education for all” be stopped? Will all so-called “fads and frills” be eliminated? In the light of modern needs, what are the “fads and frills” in secondary education? It seems clear from reports reaching us from abroad that defeat is brought about by breaking down moral and spiritual barriers, crushing the morale and faith of people behind the lines, as well as by crushing the military barriers at the front. American secondary education has a job to perform, to build, to bolster, and to bulwark the faith of young people in the democratic way of life. Every possible step ought to be taken to see to it that while our military defenses are being built up, the means for achieving spiritual and moral defense are not being torn down. Great social and economic problems still confront us—want in the midst of plenty, inadequate housing, lack of proper nutrition, crime and delinquency, medical service for those who need it—idle capital which can- not be invested at any reasonable rate of return and idle men and women who want many things and who would give almost anything to obtain some of this capital in return for an honest day’s work at a reasonable rate of pay—secondary school and college graduates without work and unable to go to school, unable to marry, unable to live a satisfying life. How long can we afford to let such problems remain unsolved? If people become convinced that our present social, political, and economic order cannot or will not solve these problems, will they not provide excellent ground for seeds of unrest and dissatisfaction with the democratic way of life? The United States Employment Service, the N. Y. A., the C. C C., the W. P. A., adult education and recreational program, and the work of private social agencies have made great contributions to the solution of some of these problems. Local communities in the various parts of the country have attacked various ones with vigor and foresight, but the combined efforts of all the agencies have scarcely scratched the surface of a solution. PERPLEXING PROBLEMS Were not the schools in need of change, it perhaps would be fruitless to do anything but attempt to multiply agencies wherever they can be formed. But American education, especially secondary and higher educa- 1An address delivered before the meeting of the National Association of Secondary-School Prin- cipals, National Education Association convention, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, July 1940. 14 1940] CHALLENGES TO GUIDANCE 15 tion, stands at a crossroads where a decision must be made. If there is anyone that doubts this fact, let him ask himself why the C. C. C. was not set up under educational auspices? Why was the N. Y. A. entrusted to a non-educational group? Why was the Federal Committee on Apprentice Training placed in the Department of Labor? Why does the American Legion in this and other states find it necessary to organize and conduct a Boy’s State to give training in citizenship? Why is it now proposed that each able-bodied youth in the country engage in universal compulsory service of some sort under the direction of some governmental agency other than the schools? Answers to these questions will vary in each case, but let us not be afraid to face the common answer to all of these questions— that both our conception of the job of education and our school practice are inadequate to the times in which we live. Yes, indeed, American education stands at a crossroads and must make a decision. Should work camps for American youth be developed in this country, or should schools be encouraged to engage in co-operative training pro- grams? Should problems of adult education and recreation be left to private agencies or the Federal government? Should the problems of out-of-school youth be dealt with by independent youth guidance councils set up in local communities, or should schools co-ordinate all the efforts to help youth in the communities which they serve? Will the American secondary school be content to surrender these problems to other agencies and if it does, will it thereby become a sterile and ineffective institution? Will the American public school be content merely to attempt to mold the mind, leaving other asnects of the development of personality to outside agencies? Can these aspects be ignored even if it be so desired? Many of us have no doubt encountered persons outside the schools who regard these institutions as “hopeless” in the sense of their ever coming to grips with vital problems affecting the welfare of students enrolled in them. A lack of reality in the educational world is one of the challenges to guidance in education today. I hasten to add that in some places schools and colleges are tackling the real problems both of the world and of in- dividuals. But for the great majority of students enrolled in educational institutions, life is unreal. The following are some of the conclusions from the Regents’ Inquiry into the status of the schools of New York State. New York school's are good, but they are turning out a vast number of boys and girls each year who are not at all ready for adult life. They have no idea of what work means, what opportunities there are, how to look for work, or how to work if or when they get a job. They do not know how to take care of their own bodies and minds. Few have implanted in them any seeds cf individual inner life and growth, any skill in working with others, or any vrotections against mob hysteria, propaganda, sallow prejudice, or economic gold bricks. Let no one think that the schools of New York are any worse on the average than are the schools in any other section of the country. They are probably better, but this statement indicates that they are failing to deal with many of the vital factors of American life. What has caused this unreality? In the first place, the majority of 16 Nationa Association oF SECONDARY-ScHOOL Principats [December teachers at any level know too little about life. They have had little or no experience outside educational institutions. They are the product of the schools in which they are now teaching. They are not equipped to help young people face real problems. In the second place, when teachers and other educational workers have resolved to become better acquainted with the real world, they have often been discouraged by parents, Boards of Education, representatives of big and little business, and sometimes by labor itself. Laws have been passed making the teacher liable in case of accident to pupils while taking them to see what life outside the classroom is like. In many communities the teacher’s own life is narrowly circumscribed. Teachers have been punished for allowing vital, controversial issues to be discussed in their classrooms They have been dismissed for joining a labor union or engaging in politics. How then can we bring reality into the classroom if the teacher is not allowed to get out of it? In the third place, this burden of unreality is pushed down upon the teacher by a hierarchy of dominations. The graduate school makes its demands of the under- graduate college; the college of the secondary school; the secondary school of the grade school; the city school of the rural school; and the fifth grade teacher of the fourth grade teacher. Should secondary schools seize this occasion to free themselves from colleges and college-dominated accrediting agencies in order better to serve parents and children in this time of crisis? Already signs are evident on the horizon that the American public, with all its faith in the benefits of public education, is beginning to question what it is getting for the money it is spending. In May, 1940, an article on “A Youth Movement—or Youth Problem” appeared in Fortune Magazine. It concludes that “the basic weakness is obviously an educational system that does not prepare youth to meet the problems of living in the modern in- dustrial economy of the U. S.” Educators need to remember it is easier to lose public confidence and financial support than to regain it. CHALLENGES TO GUIDANCE One of the most vital contributions that guidance has to make is to bring an element of reality into the schools. Because the guidance worker has contact with employers, he is able to interpret the real demands of the employing public to the school. Because he understands the situation out- side the school as well as inside, he will not necessarily advocate narrow preparation or excessive vocational specialization. In fact, both vocational and academic education need to be open-eyed and realistic about their task. Further, since the education of young persons cannot take place wholly within the four walls of a building, guidance workers encourage teachers to take their classes on trips and excursions into the world of real life. Advisement officers help teachers understand the desires and ambitions of fathers and mothers. As the co-ordinator of guidance work in the school, the counselor assists teachers to follow up their students and thus gain an insight into the problems of after-school life. Thus guidance helps to vitalize and change the unreal life of the school by bringing it into contact with the life of the world around it. the ace, chy ler- ool ade this ing sis? lic, ion ne. hat to to ker the ut- ow nal sly ; to ife. the rht > nd 1940 | CHALLENGES TO GUIDANCE 17 A second challenge to guidance from within the school is found in the traditional curriculum. Ordinarily a prescribed, set-in-advance curriculum is to be found in most secondary schools. For the most part, it has been determined by scholars more intent on the chronological and logical develop- ment of subject matter than on the growth and development of boys and girls. Except at the lower elementary levels and in certain bright spots at other levels, primary emphasis is placed on one type of learning—verbal, symbolic, linguistic. Evaluation of the academic growth of the child still weighs more heavily at promotion time than does social or emotional development. Under a fixed curriculum boys and girls are compelled to study subjects which often are not suited to their tastes, natures, abilities, or the demands of society. In too many instances what a boy does inside school is unrelated to what he does outside school. Much of what he learns in school is of no value in solving his out-of-school problems. As a part of this educational picture, many in the guidance field have been forced to spend hours of time helping young people to plan a course of study unsuited to them. Counselors diagnose the reasons why Jane failed in mathematics or why Johnny hated foreign language when they should not have been required to take the particular courses in question. In fact, many authorities criticize guidance workers for their tendency to accept the status quo. They say in effect that deans, counselors, and guidance workers are blocks in the path of progress because they tend to make people satisfied with an unsatisfactory situation. One of the greatest challenges to guidance in secondary education today is not only to help boys and girls succeed in the curriculum that is now offered, but to get that curriculum made into a flexible organ which will stimulate their growth and development. Major problems of adult life come not because the schools have failed to teach Latin, geometry, or history. Major breakdowns arise because we spend more time on teaching subjects than on teaching children who live in an on-going world. A third force in secondary education which has interfered with the meeting of the real needs of growing boys and girls has been the depart- mentalization, compartmentalization, and the logical organization of subject matter. The adolescent study and the Commission on the Secondary School Curriculum report that the problems of boys and girls of secondary-school age can be grouped under four headings: immediate social relationships, wider social relationships, economic relationships, and personal living. The logical and chronological organization of a narrow subject-matter field interfered with a young person’s obtaining an adequate understanding of these relationships. Furthermore, departmental and subject-matter lines will need to be broken down in order that the boy or girl may gain an integrated understanding of problems vital to him. As indicated in a previous statement, the essential emphasis which guidance has brought education has been on persons rather than on subjects; on people rather than on knowledges, skills, and facts. Futhermore, if we are to accept the results of studies by such men as Herrick, Coghill, and Jennings, this emphasis must be on the total organism integrated and 18 Nationa Association oF SEcoNDARY-ScHooL Principats [December functioning as a whole, rather than on fragments of personality. it is be- cause of this consideration for the total person in his total situation that guidance is in a peculiarly strategic position to assist in the breakdown of departmentalized lines. Guidance cannot do this, if it is departmentalized. However, though schools may become more closely related to living, though the curriculum be revised and other types of learning besides verbalization be included, granted that departmentalization and logical organization of subject matter are superseded by a more functional type of learning, there still remains a fourth point which is challenging guidance in the schools today: our methods of dealing with children. Though they preach democracy, most teachers and administrators do not live democrati- cally with children. It is the exceptional classroom in which a teacher- dominated dictatorship is not to be found. Children are told what to do, when to do it, how to do it, and whether it is right when done. It is the unusual classroom in which the children determine rules of conduct to govern their behavior with the guidance and help of their teachers. And yet the only way to teach democracy is to live it. Ironically, some of the most democratic, educational activities carried on in most schools are called extra- curricular, co-curricular, or campus activities. It is the exceptional school in which the plans for the running of the school are determined by the teachers jointly with the principal. It is the exceptional school system in which the orders do not come from the top down instead of from the bottom up. Throughout a school system, ought not the principles of self-guidance be put into practice? The teacher should seek to make the child progressively more able to guide himself; the principal should do likewise with his teachers, and the superintendent with his principals; and all should join hands in the same spirit with the members of the community. IMPLICATIONS FOR GUIDANCE What are the implications of all of this for guidance in education? Certain assumptions have been implicit in the foregoing statements. The first of these is that guidance is a process, not an event; second, that guidance is needed by human beings of all ages whether in educational institutions or out; third, that self-guidance, not prescription, is the goal to be sought. Two years ago Dr. Trabue wrote for the yearbook of the National Society for the Study of Education a chapter setting forth some ideas which have been too often overlooked. I have ventured to adapt some of his questions concerning guidance work in the secondary school. Is guidance provided for every pupil? Is thorough emphasis placed both on the study of individuals and of situations and such action taken as will be beneficial to society as well as to the individual? Is guidance given in social, emotional, educational, recreational, and voca- tional fields? Are all teachers and schoo] officers active and integral parts of the school’s comprehensive program of guidance? Is guidance thought of as a continuous process of promoting socially desirable growth rather than as an event that occurs only once or twice in a pupil’s lifetime? 1940] CHALLENGES TO GUIDANCE 19 Have teachers ceased being imparters of wisdom, task-masters, hearers of lessons, conductors of examinations, subject-matter specialists, and become instead guides of the all-round development of children? Have departmentalization, set-in-advance curriculums, prescribed courses of study been discarded for flexible educational experiences which meet vital social and individual problems ? Does the guidance service make use of community agencies and co-operate with them to promote the welfare of youth and adults who need it? Does the school extend its resources to its graduates and unemployed youth? If each of these questions can be answered affirmatively for any given situation, guidance and education would function somewhat in this way: Education would be thought of as a research by the learner; the teacher as a guide-center of help for children and a master student of their needs; the school as a place of stimulation, great enricament, and resources. The task of the school would be to help each person develop himself; since each organism acts as a whole, the teacher would be concerned with other than mental aspects of human development; he would give thought also to physical, emotional, and social phases. Education would be a life-long proc- ess. Less emphasis would be placed on preparation for something far away. Though we would have subject matter, students would make a different approach to it. Our processes would suit our purposes. The real problems of individuals in their private and social living would bring reality into education. Many types of expressive activity would be considered respect- able learning—reading, dramatics, handicraft, writing, painting, sculpture, balladry, folk dancing—whatever creative arts provide a medium in which people may grow. It is possible that this would involve an extension of the co-operative training plan. Community problems would become school problems and school problems, community problems. While creative in- dividual growth would be sought, social responsibility would be stressed. Present-day extracurricular methods would be more suitable than most of our curricular methods. Democracy would not be taught so much as lived. Under such a plan of education, guidance would be the heart of the program. Principals would help teachers to become more able to guide themselves. Teachers and parents would help children to become more so- cially conscious, resourceful, independent, and self-guiding. A growing dy- namic organization would result in which every participant, continually mov- ing toward his maximum growth, would achieve intelligent, creative living. And what of the relation of guidance in education to other forces outside the school? The answer to this question will depend upon the kind of society and the kind of educational institution we hope to see in the future and our concept of the function of guidance in it. Dictatorships provide guidance, but it is regimentation in the interest of totalitarian state. In a democracy guidance is in the interest of the individual and the larger social group. Which shall it be? Will educators concern themselves more closely with the problems of real life, including the vocational employment of youth, recreation for people of all ages, active leadership in the develop- ment of the capacity in youth and adults to live democratically together, and life-long guidance—or will they persist in hiding their heads in sand? Inducting Youth Into the Adult Education Program’ GEORGE C. MANN National Director, Student Work Division of the N.Y.A. “For of the making of books there is no end” was an observation made by Ecclesiastes about 2500 years ago; and, verily, does it apply to the over- whelming literature dealing with the problem of youth in its many and varied ramifications and extensions. There are literally thousands of books, monographs, brochures, and pamphlets which not only parallel, contradict, flounder in circles, but at times even agree with themselves. Lest the student might overlook an item, there are not only annotated bibliographies but also bibliographies of bibliographies with exhaustive and exhausting indices and guides. This to reassure that he will not miss even the faintest cry of youth for education, recreation, occupation, and pacification. I propose to present a few thoughts about the induction of youth into adult education, suggesting the importance of inducting youth to continued study, indicating the methods which ought to be found and the favorable results which will accrue to America from this process. My state has a very creditable record of effort on behalf of popular education. California, even in the years of depression, never closed a door of any of its schools, manifesting an act of super-patriotism by keeping the lights burning in its night schools, ever in the vanguard in matters pertaining to forward social legislation, especially in fostering learning. Nevertheless, rich as California is in natural resources and organized as she is to conserve them—oil, forests, agriculture, fisheries—like the rest of America, the state is remiss in pro- tecting its most precious resources, its youth. That is its most neglected asset. Youth constitutes one-sixth of California’s population. One hundred ° thousand annually become eighteen years of age. In addition to making the teams in athletics, they are not backward in their marks in the arts, industries, and learning. Yet at this time, and for almost a decade, this youth has had its share of “weltschmertz” (growing world-pains), with the accompanying frustrations of hopes and dreams. Above all, this youth has been going about without “spending money” and without an immediate outlook of earning any. It was promised from infancy that its future was as least as bright as was the past of its parents. The preceding generation was troubled to decide which job had the best future, but the generation of 1940 wonders where and how to find any kind of a job. There is a modicum of consolation that while the youth of other lands are on the march to war, more than two-thirds of the eligible young people in the United States are marching through the secondary schools. Their lot is infinitely better. But whither are they destined? Some are heading for college, though half of them will not reach their destination. Many will drop out because the schedule of studies will not appeal to them. A few will get married, and 1An address delivered before a joint meeting of the National Association of Secondary-School Principals, and Department of Adult Education, National Education Association convention, Milwaukee, 20 Wisconsin, July 1940. n de ito If 1e id 0l 1940] Inpuctinc YoutH Into Aputt EpucaTion 21 a considerable number will get jobs, but most of them, with or without diplomas, will have reached a “blind alley’—we hope not a “dead end.” YOUTH AND THE PresENT Wor.Lp What manner of world has youth inherited? We have prided ourselves upon being master-builders and having made adequate provisions. We were seemingly not only level-headed but Janus-like, looking backward for in- spiration and understanding so that we might the better be forward-looking. Forces which we have not fully learned to comprehend, less so to control, have shaken our world. The economic foundations are crumbling; no wonder some of our older structures are tumbling. The mechanistic in- dustrial age has like a huge tank broken through “marginal lines” and if we do not create a firm, resolute, united front, we may have to retire before its devastating impact. It is clear that industrial development has created not only most of our present-day economic problems, but also outstanding social and spiritual problems confronting us. The problems of city life, the migrations, the new class differentiations, the changed relations of the sexes, the undermining of the patriarchal rural family, aye, the Adolph’s, the Benito’s, the Joseph’s, the extra-columnal decorations of our nation—all are a direct outgowth of the sweeping industrial changes which have come to plague us for the time being. Our system of education with its curriculum is seemingly out of tune and has no relation to the social problems of the new age. Thus the educational institutions, public and private, become a serious handicap. To stand still is to go backward, and our educational institutions tend to favor reaction and intolerance by remaining static. We must become dynamic, if we are to maintain peace, decency, and prosperity. With greater resolution and well-planned methods, we may come out of the seeming chaos into what would be almost Utopia. We must thoughtfully, not feverishly, concentrate on adult education, seeing that we are perhaps twenty-five years behind in educating our youth. We would have to multi- ply many times our present appropriations and budgets to make any dent on our educational insufficiency. We recall that it was the great President Eliot of Harvard who declared that if we really set out to educate America it would bankrupt our economic order. We are not likely to go that far, but if we are to avoid a social crisis and move ahead to better things, we shall have to give immediate thought to buttress our first and last lines of defense—our youth. We need trained man power. In these “days of our years” we must make good our pretense of installing education as the most vital agency of social leadership, or else face the diminution of freedom and independence at the instance of dictators. President Wilson, in the memorable days of the first World War, proclaimed the doctrine that the way to meet force is with more and more force. So shall we meet the assault with more and more skill, with more and more technological arts, with more and more organized intelligence which is but another designation for education. This education must be relevant to the immediate purposes of American ¢iviliza- 22 Nationat AssociATION OF SECONDARY-SCHOOL Principats [December tion. We must educate our youth so that they may fit into the citizenship of the contemporary world and not cram them full with instruction applicable to youths of centuries ago. We must be realistic and have our educational system propelled by auto-vehicles instead of the stages of the horse-and-buggy period. Our curriculum must not envisage the outlook of the days of the Greek, the Roman, and the Hebrew with their “passionless pursuit of passionless philosophy,” but must be predicated on a society which knows democracy and industrialism. EpucaTion DEFICIENCIES Luther H. Gulick, in the Regent’s Inquiry into the educational system of New York, sums up the deficiences in present system of public education. New York is turning out a great number of youths, with and without diplomas, who are inadequately educated, who are not prepared to play a helpful part in the life of the state. Many are not ready to become citizens and take part in community and family life. Many are not ready to go to work and later to adapt themselves to changing economic conditions. Many who should go on are not ready for advanced professional education, nor ready to pursue their own intellectual or technical development. 1. The educational program has not yet adjusted its program to carry the new load imposed by coming into the schools, particularly into the sec- ondary schools, of all the children of all the people, with their many new and different needs. 2. The school work for boys and girls has not been redesigned to fit them for the new and changing work opportunities which they must face in modern economic life. 3. The school program does not sufficiently recognize the increased difficulty of becoming and being a good citizen. 4. The educational system has not caught up with the flood of new scientific knowledge about the natural and social world which has been made part of life in recent decades, and fails to give boys and gir)s a scientific point of view and an understanding of the world. 5. The educational system has not been replanned to meet the new conditions of modern life and the new ways of living, in which the family, the church, and early work now exercise less influence, and in which increas- ing leisure in later life calls for a rich and growing inner life. 6. The citizens and the school leaders of the state of New York do not have a specific agreed-upon goal. Both groups are going ahead in many direc- tions, but without a destination toward which all may bend their energies. And if this is true of New York, what must be the situation in the less favored states of the Union? So, unless we are candid and face the situation and give no heed to the obscurantist we shall not make much headway. We must cease teaching useless things and see to it that useful things do not remain untaught. Let us teach our youth industrial education, manual training, and vocational training so that when they come out of school they are fitted for remunerative employment. Why spend countless millions upon irrelevant education? Why train them in unemployment? As we educate them we shall bear in mind health education as well. Our schools are our first and last lines of defense and while as Americans, as lovers of liberty, as opponents of the brutalitarian, totalitarian dictatorships, and as patriotic devotees of democratic ideals, it is well in peace as in times of threat to peace, ever to bear in mind the destructive 1940] Inpuctinc YoutH Into Aputt EpucaTion 23 features of war as against thé constructive efforts of peace. It is desirable to organize for the defense of America at all costs. The education of youth must be viewed from both the perspectives of peace and war. It is obvious and must be made clear that an educated youth is an asset of the most in- calculable value to America and American ideals, and the greatest bulwark of democratic institutions. If we neglect them, there is a danger that they may become the prey for the alluring fleshpots offered by the representatives of Egyptian darkness and be ready to exchange their normal allegiance to Americanism for the abnormal servility to dictatorships. That has been the story in Europe and it must not happen here. The term, “adult education,” as its designation and definition have been given wider scope, has of necessity become ambiguous. Specifically it embraces the following varieties of activities: continuation education, cor- rective education, functional-group education, and peoples’ colleges. More and more, adult education is coming to mean not correspondence courses, tent lectures, or public forums, but rather instruction following definite educational opportunities. And it means a schoolroom or a definite place of instruction with a teacher or leader to man it. Our conception for public education in the United States was based on the conviction that republican ideals and democratic equality could be promoted only through a general and uniform system of education provided and maintained at public ex- pense. As compulsory education involved the compelling of youngsters to go to school, we should urge our government to give adults a chance to get an education. And this education should be a continual process beginning with the birth of the child and following the developed personality through- out life. This education is not to be accepted or rejected through the calling of one kind “cultural” and the other “practical.” It is to be both, as far as they can be made useful. We shall aim for a well-rounded education upon a settled policy of curriculum, vocational and occupational, as well as the cultural studies having a social objective. We shall use all the agencies now existing for the purpose and create others, co-ordinating them into workable units. We are not concerned at the moment with the pedagogical method. Tue Prace oF Aputt EpucaTion If we are told that adult education in totalitarian states is recognized as part of their national machinery for training future members of the Com- munist, Nazi, and Fascist parties, we shall train our young adults to mem- bership in the great party of Americanism and the ideals of constitutional democratic free government. We shall not be concerned with the ideologies of educational systems and we shall not spend too much time over the nuances of tendencies in education; we shall stop fearing, for the time being, as to whether such adult training may mold our youth into one pattern. We have more factual matters to consider than the fine shades and refine- ments of pedagogic amenities. In the final analysis the systems of public education are largely determined by the political, social, and economic forces that determine a nation’s character as well as by its cultural tradj- tions and spiritual heritage, 24 Nationat Association oF SeconpaRy-ScHoot Principats [December I have referred to the extraordinary number of surveys being prepared by national, state, and local agencies—governmental and others. The very suggestive and vital reports made by the American Youth Commission of the American Council on Education and some of the selected publications on this subject which it issued are thorough and most useful. I would espe- cially call attention to abstracts of studies made in California by A. E. Jones. Through the initiation of Governor Olson of California, and under the guidance of the division of adult and continuation education, and with the co-operation of others, a survey has been completed which is entitled Youth—California’s Future. This consists of a number of special studies on various aspects of the situation and needs of California’s young people. More than 1800 representative employers from nearly all industries and counties in the state supplied data on their employment situation and policies with special reference to new and young workers, as did some 200 labor unions. A survey of 20,000 young people in ten communities through- out California was completed, as well as a follow-up study of graduates of three California colleges. Basic data on the youth population were gathered and studied, relevant recent publications on youth in California and the nation were collected, and comprehensive bibliographies prepared. Almost 400 high schools and trade schools supplied information relative to their vocational counseling and guidance and placement functions and problems. The survey took under consideration the economic problems of youth, the economic problems of youth as they affect other groups, related needs of youth, and what is being done for California youth, and it draws conclusions and makes recommendations. The conclusions discuss data as would authoritative commentators, while recommendations cover: (a) employ- ment: Work Projects Administration, National Youth Administration, ap- prenticeship, relief budget deductions, and California State Employment Service; (b) education: student aid, vocational counseling, vocational train- ing, and co-operative education; (c) recreation: the use of present facilities and new facilities; (d) health: health education in schools and medical care; and (e) study and co-ordination: community co-ordination, youth organization, occupational studies, and additional youth studies. When we found out all the facts we could find about how many youths there were in California, who they were, the rudimentary facts about their social and economic backgrounds, we went into the communities and con- tacted as many groups as could be found, and we said to them, “There are jobs if you are trained—jobs in aviation, oil, and steel industries; positions as gardeners and maids; a great many jobs ranging from very little skill to highly skilled work. For some of these jobs long-term training is required.” The altered international situation and the extensive United States preparedness and defense program will modify many of the circumstances upon which the present conclusions of the various surveys have been based. But whatever our national course may be, it is obvious that whatever ex- penditures are made for national defense, the youth of America must have first consideration, for the youth is “first in war and first in peace.” Speech in the Secondary School’ REXFORD 8S. MITCHELL President, State Teachers College, La Crosse, Wisconsin The curriculum of any secondary school should be determined by the needs and abilities of its students in terms of the solution of problematic situations in the immediate as well as the remote environment. This principle establishes the place of speech education in the curriculum. The speech act occurs more frequently in everyday living from babyhood through old age than any or all of the “three R’s.” Speech is a part of vocational, leisure, citizenship, social, and many other activities. Communication is essential to adaptation to the social and even the physical environment. Ninety per cent of all communication is oral. But the principle not only establishes the place of speech education in the curriculum; once accepted, it becomes the guiding principle in the development of a speech program. Viewed in terms of the needs of the students there is no one speech program which is right for all secondary schools. Each locality and each school must arrange its own curriculum to meet its own needs. One of the determining factors is the amount of speech education provided below the secondary level. The only sound program is one which begins in the pre-school and progressively affords instruction through the grades. It cannot be assumed that maturation alone can elimi- nate a speech deficiency. Rather, through maturation the habit may become more firmly ingrained. Neither can it be assumed that by merely providing opportunities to speak that proper habits will result when bad ones exist. Types oF Groups While the detailed character of the program will vary from school to school, students on a basis of their speech needs will fall into three general groups: (a) those with defective or deficient speech habits (a recent survey of the secondary schools of Kansas City, Missouri, showed fourteen per cent in this group); (b) those adequate in fundamentals but poor in speak- ing performance (in nearly every secondary school this group will be the , largest); and (c) those not only having adequate fundamentals but also | those who evidence skill and talent in performance (about five per cent). For the first group corrective work aimed at specific inadequacies is indicated. Experience shows that this can best be accomplished in group ' activity where numbers and other conditions permit grouping those with , similar defects. Where not possible the alternative is individual instruction. ‘ The great majority, who constitute the second group, are those whose needs have been most frequently overlooked. A careful study of the needs of this group will give a prominent place to conversation, the most common ‘ speech activity of everyday life. There will be emphasis on the various types of group discussion, for co-operative thinking and tolerance in the presence of conflicting ideas are essential for democratic living. For students who 1An address delivered before a joint meeting of the National Association of Secondary-School - Principals and the National Association of Teachers of Speech, National Education Association con- vention, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, July 1940. 26 Nationa Association oF Seconpary-ScHoot Principats [December go directly from the secondary school to vocations, speech will be made a means to better vocational adjustment. Students will be made aware of the speech situations inherent in job-getting and job-holding and will be helped to develop proficiency and resourcefuness in meeting them. There will be realization that frequently the speech problem is one of emotional adjustment rather than the development of speech habits. And last, students will be made fully aware of the possibilities, extensiveness, and joys of dramatics and oral interpretation for enriching an ever-increasing leisure. For those in the third group, the five per cent who not only are sound in fundamentals but exhibit skill and ability in performance, instruction in the more complicated forms of speech activity is indicated. To a large degree this can be provided best through “so-called” extra-curricular activi- ties. I say “so-called” because I prefer to think of the curriculum as includ- ing all school-directed pupil experiences. These extra-class activities are generally more purposeful and therefore more fruitful. We must always remember that learning activity is most productive when it is purposeful. The pupil learns best to meet the speech situations of the future by meeting the actual speech situations of the present. The teacher’s function is to provide interesting, challenging, and worth-while speech situations. Actual speech situations arising in the school and the com- munity should be utilized to the utmost. Preparations for reports, discus- sions, and other speech activities to be carried out in classes other than speech may well become a part of the activity of a speech workshop, Such a\ program will succeed only when the social science, mathematics, and other teachers have a basic understanding of fundamentals, encourage high standards of performance, and feel free to call on speech teachers to assist in planning, carrying out, and evaluating the program. Student assemblies can be made a fruitful source of purposeful speech situations. In schools where numbers of students are gainfully employed and helping to support the family, preparation for prospective application for employment will provide a real speech project, and the experiences of those who have applied can be made the basis for analysis and discussion of the speech situations involved. In other words, in building the speech program we must seek to keep the units related to life, and provide release of creative energies. If pupil needs are kept constantly in mind, and if purposeful speech situations are utilized the common pitfall of speech education will be avoided—that of allowing skills and techniques to become ends in them- selves rather than the means to better communication, and hence better adjustment. Responsive voice, clear enunciation, and proper posture pro- mote better communication, but we must always remember that com- munication and not form is the goal to be achieved. Let us build a program which grows out of the needs of the student, which utilizes immediate purposeful speech situations to promote develop- ment, and let us never lose sight of our ultimate goal—an individual integrated within himself and with his environment who approaches new speech situations with confidence and meets them with success. The Growth and Development of the Secondary-School Student’ DANIEL A. PRESCOTT Professor of Education, University of Chicago A youth is a growing and developing organism. Being this, his characteristics undergo a contingent development and change, conditioned by environing factors, experiences, and the opportunities in and through which he acts. Physique, character, and personality are the outcomes of complex bio-physical and social processes, they depend upon the order and regularity of the individual’s pattern of growth and upon the appropriate- ness of the experiences, tasks and surroundings confronting the individual during his successive growth stages. From this fact it follows that persons and institutions responsible for the general education of youth will not understand their obligations and opportunities until they understand growth and developmental processes. This article is devoted to the presentation of the newer trends of thought about the processes of growth and development in order to illuminate the problems faced by persons interested in the general educa- tion of youth. No pretense is made that the concepts set forth represent absolute truth, adequately validated by scientific research. On the contrary it is only recently that the methodology of research into growth and de- velopment has been perfected to the point of yielding genuine insights into dynamic processes involved. Many very valuable studies are only now in the process of being made and few published results are available. It is rather with the thought of sensitizing persons interested in general education to the importance and implications of findings which will be published during the next five or ten years that this is written. Foremost among the new concepts about growth is the recognition that standards or norms of growth based upon chronological age are largely bloodless abstractions with little meaning for the educator. Rather, normality and health have to be judged by the pattern of change shown by the individual. This pattern is evaluated in terms of fluctuations in rate of growth, inter-relationships between different aspects of growth, sym- metry, and correspondence to characteristic sexual or racial forms. The study of growth in terms of the pattern or profile exhibited in various stages emphasizes the essential unity of the psycho-physical organism and, while different aspects of growth have to be discussed separately in this article, in dealing with any individual it is essential that any and all measurements be considered in relation to the personality and physique as a whole. Unless the various objective measurements of special char- acteristics can be melted into a synthesis which is the individual, our educa- 1An address delivered by Dr. R. W. Tyler of the University of Chicago in the absence of Dr. Prescott before the National Association of Secondary-School Principals, National Education Asso- ciation convention, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, July 1940. 27 28 Nartionat Association oF Seconpary-ScHoot Principats [December tional policies derived from them are likely to be as lacking in under- standing as were the traditional blind men describing the elephant. PuysicaL GRowTH Physical growth is defined as increase in the size of the structures of the body. It results from the biogenic tendency of the various parts of the organism to increase in size at certain differential rates, under the stimulating effects of certain hormones and under the stimulating, limit- ing or conditioning effects of nutrition, function, infection, climate, and possibly other factors. Growth ceases when the stimulating effects of the growth producing hormones are neutralized by other hormones produced from other newly matured endocrine glands. There follows a series of generalizations about growth which seem to be true on the basis of studies of the growth of many individuals, each followed through a period of six to twelve years: (1) Physical growth is seldom a regular, even increase in size, taking place uniformly in all structures and during the whole period of growth. Different stages in the growth cycle usually are marked by differential rates of growth in different parts of the organism and by changes in the rate of growth of the whole organism as well. (2) The growth of nearly all individuals seems to follow a common pattern or cycle. Individual differences in size, proportion, and appearance result from differences in the size of the increments of growth at identical stages of the growth cycle and from differences in the duration of the different stages of growth. Thus the ultimate size of any structure is conditioned primarily by the rate of growth at the various stages and by the length of time that the individual remains in each stage. The pattern of the growth cycle is roughly the same for all and seems to be biogenic. The rate and duration of growth in each stage is determined by the inter-play of biogenic and environmental forces. (3) There appears to be some relationship between the body-propor- tions ultimately achieved by the individual and what is loosely called his temperament. This is theoretically explainable by the fact that various equilibria between the secretions of different endocrine glands stimulate differential growth patterns and at the same time influence or determine ‘the rate of energy output, the emotional liability, and the intensity of emotional reactions. These latter in turn affect the social role that the individual plays, and as time passes account for the crude, composite, characteristic temperament which is ascribed to the individual. (4) The rate of energy output in an individual changes as he passes through different stages in the growth cycle. These normal changes in energy expenditure tend to be accompanied by changes in behavior and consequently in the apparent or funcional personality of the individual. Individual differences in the rate of energy output are co-important with differences in physical maturity and with differences in size and sex- appropriateness in determining social roles and effectiveness in these roles. The above generalizations about growth yield important insights into ewe 29 1940 | GrowTH AND DEVELOPMENT OF THE STUDENT the personalities of the young people passing through them and con- sequently are very important to persons interested in the general education of youth. Every young person constantly is evaluating his own growth and developmental status against that of his fellows. The second decade is the period when the child gradually emerges from the protection and con- sideration of the family and makes a place for himself among his peers. It is the period when he is very sensitive to factors which determine his place in the group, and factors which he feels himself unable to control, such as his own growth, are particularly potent determiners of his attitudes about himself and his relation to other people. If his growth is timed with that of others in the group, and if the maturing structures place him well in the group and enable him to function effectively or in superior fashion, then he develops self-confidence, feels that he is assured a significant role in life and dares to approach the opposite sex with equanimity. But if his growth is timed later than that of his peers, or if the maturing structures are conspicuously atypical in any manner, or if he has disabilities which make him function poorly, then he develops self-consciousness, inferiority feelings, and compensatory behavior which may be asocial, withdrawing, or protest in type. These attitudes toward self and toward others and the emotional conflicts engendered by them often persist as disturbing in- fluences in the personality long after the growth process has ended, and indeed, frequently influence the behavior of persons in middle age. It is for this reason that the growth history of an individual is a matter of concern to all entrusted with his general education, including those responsible for his secondary-school experiences. Many odd personality manifestations of young persons in school are to be understood quite readily through a knowledge of the growth background of the individual, when without this information they would appear to be due to an unsocial or malicious or trivial nature. For it must be understood that many young persons who have experienced earlier failure and discomfiture later will reject as personal goals quite normal tasks and relationships and activities. Fearing repeated failure or embarrassment they often adopt elaborate rationalizations to explain to themselves and others why tiey wish to keep out of the stream of school life and activity. If permitted thus to avoid normal responsibilities and to shun normal activities, the personality will be colored permanently and a life-long pattern of failure or of only partially realized potentialities may be established. Many young persons who receive secondary-school diplomas, nevertheless, through their school experiences, have cast their attitudes and personalities into patterns which doom them forever to a needless failure or mediocrity and the school must be regarded as having failed in the best sense to educate them. MENTAL GrowTH AND DevELOPMENT In this article mental growth is taken to mean an increase in the elementary capacities for the different types of learning and for understand- ing the inter-relationships existing in reality between the facts experienced. Mental development is taken to mean the actual learning of truth 30 NatTIonac AssociATION OF SECONDARY-SCHOOL PRINCIPALS about existent reality, the actual increase in comprehension of the inter-relationships existing in reality between the facts experienced and the actual emergence of behavior patterns appropriate for dealing with these realities. Mental growth, then, is essentially biogenic while mental development depends upon the nature and scope of the experiences through which the individual passes. Both are indicated by increases in knowledge, in understanding, and in the effectiveness of behavior. Intelligence tests measure mental growth and development at the same time and should be thought of as evaluating “effective intelligence” rather than “native in- telligence,” for the test results really measure the extent to which the mental development has taken place which is normally to be expected in a child whose mental growth is normal. From this fact it is obvious that limitation of experience or unfortunate experience may prevent the actually transpired mental growth from showing itself as an “effective intelligence.” Although little can be said with scientific assurance about mental growth the following generalizations probably are safe: (1) The elementary capacities to learn, to develop valid concepts about inter-relationship, and to perfect appropriate behavior patterns vary within any large unselected population with the normal probability curve. (2) Research has indicated that these capacities increase throughout child- hood and a considerable part of youth. Neither the average age of cessation of mental growth nor the ultimate range in age at which mental growth ceases is known conclusively but there are indications that mental growth stops very early in the second decade in some indi- viduals and continues at least until the age of twenty-one in others. (3) Because of the facts presented above, the assessment of mental growth must be the common concern of persons entrusted with the general education of youth throughout the secondary school and college. This is necessary in order to differentiate the experiences offered young people in such a way that they will not be too advanced to be assimilated and at the same time they will be graduated in such a way as to induce a maximum of mental development, even in the most gifted. The remainder of this section will be devoted to mental development rather than to mental growth, because general education is charged with the task of providing the experiences which will induce the maximum “effective intelligence” possible to individuals, taking into consideration the level of mental growth they have achieved. We might look upon the task of general education in terms of cycles of mental development occurring at successive stages of mental growth while recognizing that more mental growth is taking place continuously during this process of bringing biogenic intelligence into effective function in the culture in which the individual lives. But we must not think of mental development as a jerky affair stop- ping temporarily at certain stages or floors. It must be seen as a smooth escalator progress throughout life. The necessary warning is against con- fronting the individual with tasks beyond his level of mental growth. In connection with mental-development general education can be said to have two major functions. The first of these is to supply youth with the experiences through which they can learn those facts which should have significance in determining their behavior. This implies experiences which [ December th ge tri de as of eff eff des abc saci exp they am is n SOCi: proy in |i these trans of w comr an er innat I 1940] GrowTH AND DEVELOPMENT OF THE STUDENT 31 will reveal the pertinent facts about the physical, social, vocational, political, economic, aesthetic, and ethical aspects of life as it goes on in our culture and the rest of the world. It implies that enough experiences about these aspects of life must be given to enable the individual to make intelligent decisions regulating his own behavior in these areas. It implies the kinds of experiences which will lead to effective behavior, to appropriate, adjusted behavior. Centuries ago when there were no schools, young people learned what they needed to know to live effective lives. They learned these things in the home, in the field, in the town, and at the church through concrete, tangible experience, and by listening to their elders. Now they are put into schools designed systematically to supply experience which will produce understanding and effective behavior; but all too often the school shuts them away from significant experience rather than supplies it. This is why it is so important to accept once and for all that mental development comes only through experience, that effective behavior in any aspect of life can emerge only when the individual has a rich background of knowledge of the situation with which he is dealing. In our present complex and inter- dependent culture it is highly improbable that the average young person, unassisted and unguided, would get an adequate body of experience in the various aspects of life if left to himself. So it is logical to have schools. A second major function of general education is to promote in youth the organization of the mnemonic residues of their experiences into valid generalizations, operational concepts, attitudes, and value concepts. Memory traces left by myriads of separate and diverse experiences have to be or- dered in the mind, arranged in valid relationship to each other and digested as to meaning for the individual in the light of his needs. From this ordering of the mental residues of experience come generalizations about cause and effect, concepts about how things work or about what procedures are most effective for meeting certain types of situations, attitudes about the relative desirability or undesirability of a given thing or action, and convictions about what is valuable in life and therefore worthy of sustained effort or sacrifice. These fruits of the organization of the mnemonic residues left by experience are among the most significant attributes of personality. In fact they are the factors which give structure to the personality. Nothing about a man is more important than his convictions and what he values. Nothing is more significant than his attitudes, his ideas about how nature and the social world operate, and his generalizations about cause and effect, the properties of matter and energy, about his culture group and his own role in life. Behavior finds much of its dynamic and all of its direction from these organized mental resultants of experience, for they represent the translation by the individual of the meaning of his experiences into terms of what he must do and say to meet his needs and those of the family, the community, and the nation with which he identifies himself. Character is an emergent of this organization of the meanings of experience and great innate capacities can come to fruition only after accomplished organization. Before more is said about the significance of this process of assimilating 32 Nationa AssociATION OF SEcONDARY-SCHOOL Principats [December experience into the personality, mention must be made of the habits and skills which are necessary to facilitate this assimilation. It is next to impos- sible for an individual to accomplish a valid organization of the mnemonic residues of experience unless he is very skillful and accurate in symbolizing these experiences. Language and mathematics are two major ways of sym- bolizing experience but dancing, music, and the graphic arts also are im- portant means of symbolization. Accurate symbolization of one’s own ex- perience is the basis for accurate thinking, for the derivation of valid meaning from one’s experience. It also makes possible an almost infinite expansion of experience. Through symbols a person can share the experi- ences of others, he can project himself back through time and know how men felt and thought and believed as our culture evolved. He can also pro- ject himself through space, share the experiences of people in other contem- porary cultures and get fresh viewpoints on his problems, his ethics, his aesthetics, and his religion or philosophy. By these means he can increase the variety and enhance the validity of his generalizations, his operational concepts, his attitudes, and his value convictions. It is no wonder that general education is so much concerned with language, mathematics, music, dramatics, and the graphic arts. General education should concern itself with them, not so much with study about them as with assisting the individual to develop skill in using and interpreting these symbols of ex- perience accurately. A full mental development, which actually will turn potential capacities into “effective intelligence,” cannot be accomplished without long and careful training in symbolization. These skills develop slowly and are possible of enormous improvement with motivated practice. The mental health of an individual is closely tied up with the effective- ness with which he has accomplished the symbolization and the organiza- tion of the mnemonic residues of his experience. Since behavior finds much of its immediate dynamic and direction in a person’s generalizations, op- erational concepts, attitudes, and value concepts, his success or failure and, consequently, his emotional adjustment hinges upon the validity of these components of his personality. If his attitudes and ideals are not consistent within themselves then he will be continually at war with himself and dissatisfied with all that he accomplishes. If his generalizations and oper- ational concepts are not valid in reality, then his decisions will be faulty and his behavior ineffective for accomplishing his aims and satisfying his de- sires. If his attitudes and beliefs run counter to the pattern accepted in his culture then he will be frequently in conflict with society and will be ex- cluded, punished, or frustrated by the people around him. Full self-realiza- tion then is dependent upon the assimilation of experience to the point where the whole personality is integrated around a core structure of ideals, beliefs, convictions, and value concepts. The latter not only must be con- sistent with each other but must be valid in the light of objective reality and harmonious with the culture pattern in which the person finds himself. Satisfactory self-realization will be thwarted by anything which pre- vents this effective integration of the personality, such as limited experience, ewoerFrnenrarFenrhan 2 rm eroa pa id ea pr th de an tha tint chil sig to | 1940 | GrowTH AND DEVELOPMENT OF THE STUDENT 33 lack of skill in the accurate symbolization of experience, a disinclination to ponder the meaning of experience, and lack of aid and guidance in carrying on these processes of assimilating experience. These considerations show that general education has a large responsibility for the mental health of the population. The second and third decades of life are especially important in connection with the assimilation of experience and the organization of the personality and the persons entrusted with the guidance of mental development during this period must see their obligations clearly. No ac- cumulation of credit points in a jumble of relatively unrelated courses can be taken as evidence that their work has been done well. The only acceptable evidence is healthy, effective personalities, which deal forthrightly with the problems of our time, which show emotional stability, valid social ideals, sensitive aesthetic appreciations, and a vision of a better future for humanity. General education likewise has an obligation to society, which must be translated into terms of the mental development of youth. The smooth op- eration and the orderly evolution of an inter-dependent, industrialized so- ciety is dependent upon the possession by most of the citizens of generaliza- tions, operational concepts, attitudes, and ideals which are either identical or compatible. The absence of a common body of attitudes and ideals, shared by all, results in numerous conflicts between individuals and be- tween groups and tends to disintegrate the society. If the process goes far enough revolution or anarchy results. The contemporary period is one of great stress and conflict because we have poverty in the midst of plenty, unemployment while people need the products of industry, and political corruption and scheming when the population needs leadership with vision and honesty in all parties. It is the task of general education to assist in counteracting the centrifugal forces in our society by supplying the body of experience to youth that is necessary for a valid understanding of con- temporary problems. To this is added the task of assisting youth in the as- similation of these experiences to the point where they will agree upon the goals of social life and upon the processes by which these goals may be reached. This would not be a difficult task in a dictatorship. By limiting the experiences of youth and by indoctrinating them with the attitudes and ideals decided upon by the dictator they could be*brought into line quite easily. But the United States properly is committed to a more democratic process of evolving its social goals. We rightly do not trust the judgment, the vision, or the ambition of one man; therefore the pattern of mental development in our democracy must follow another path. Our young people must be permitted to see reality as it is, must be given the chance and the stimulus to understand our problems and to grapple with them. The outcome need not be feared if adequate precautions are taken to see that our youth debate and finally think through the goals of our society. The mental development outlined in the previous paragraphs con- tinues from birth until senescence but the period between the time when a child emerges from the security of his home and the time when he finds a significant role for himself in society is the period of particular importance to his mental health and to the maintenance of an orderly, evolving society. 34 Nationa AssociaTIoN oF SECONDARY-ScHOOL Principats [December This period involves the second and third decades and includes the time when he is attending the secondary school and college. It is therefore the special task of these institutions to make his mental development their common concern, to plan and to supply the individual with a co-ordinated sequence of experiences which will reveal to him the world in all of its aspects, to stimulate and to guide him in the mental assimilation of these experiences to the point where he makes valid generalizations, holds ac- curate operational concepts, feels appropriate attitudes and devotes his life to matters of genuine value to himself and society. This is a very different task from that of assisting him to accumulate fifteen points of credit by which he may enter college, or one hundred thirty-two term hours of credit on the basis of which he may receive a baccalaureate degree. SociaL DevELOoPpMENT Turning to social development in the second decade, we see this as the period in which the individual emerges from the security and consideration of the family circle and the limited social demands of a single school class and must win membership in an expanding series of social groupings dictated by community and cultural patternings. Furthermore, in winning this series of places for himself he is confronted by the standards, character- istics, and qualifications of his peers rather than by those of his immediate family. Without doing too much violence to the ethical, aesthetic, and cultural concepts inculcated by his family background he must learn to live with and act with his classmates in the secondary school and college. In the family it is customary for the affection for the child borne by the parents and siblings to temper both the evaluation and the treatment accorded behavior which is ineffectual or inappropriate. Children’s failures and wrong-doings very properly are forgiven or treated lightly with the expectation that later they will learn better. So the child in the home feels a basic security, he cannot be rejected completely or seriously because of who he is. He knows that always he is assured a place in the family circle, a haven to which he can return for sustenance, comfort, and affection. Dur- ing the second decade he finds a very different situation outside the home. In the secondary school-and college and in the community at large failure and selfishness will be penalized and special privileges ordinarily are not granted. His place must be won and his role secured by effective behavior and by the demonstration of characteristics which contribute to the realiza- tion of the objectives of the groups to which he aspires to belong. Certainly this implies many changes in attitude, much social learning, and many personal re-evaluations of patterns of behavior formerly taken for granted. Here an important obligation of general education is defined. Only by having many experiences in getting along with different kinds of people under widely varying circumstances can the young person learn which patterns of behavior are acceptable and which are unacceptable. Only through rich experiences supplemented by much conscious evaluation and wise counsel can the individual become sensitive to the affective conse- quences in others of his own behavior. It is not enough to throw him into 35 GrowTH AND DEVELOPMENT OF THE STUDENT 1940] the complex, dazzling, and confusing turmoil of the secondary-school, college, and community “activities,” there to sink or swim according to his luck and native wit. Educators, counselors, and leaders of youth need to weigh the appropriateness of these experiences in relation to the back- grounds of different individuals and they should plan better sequences of social experience for the purpose of deepening the insights of young people. The especially important role of the personnel of secondary schools and colleges in influencing the social development of young people must be stressed. These adults should be of great assistance to young people in helping them to distinguish between inferior and superior patterns of so- cial behavior and in helping them to set realistic and appropriate social goals for themselves. This implies that social development should be a consciously sought objective of general education and that the personnel should regard their personal contacts with young people and their influence on young people as an important part of the curriculum of the institution. It might be well even to stop thinking of these persons as teachers and to regard them instead primarily as professional personnel workers. For the work which these persons must do in procuring wholesome social develop- ment requires the techniques of personnel departments rather than that of academic teaching. It cannot be accomplished by too rigid discipline or by prudish preachments. It is something to be done by an older friend and confidant whom the youth respects—not by a martinet nor yet by a person who is too easy-going; not by a libertine nor yet by a person who is too straight-laced; not by a person who is too self-conscious of his role as an adviser of youth nor yet by the person who is detached from life because of exceptional devotion to a field of study. There is a second aspect of social development in youth which must be discussed. Youth is the period during which young people learn to play their roles as members of complementary sexes. It is the period during which the affectional life is broadened beyond the home to include a mem- ber of the opposite sex and ultimately this evolution is the basis for the establishment of a new home, a new family, a new center of the affectional life of the individual. Everyone agrees that no decision a young person makes is more important than the choice of a mate with whom this primary affectional relationship is to be maintained throughout life. Yet hardly any attention is given to this basic problem by educational institutions, despite the fact that it is during youth that the individual develops his criteria for selecting the mate, tries out himself and a succession of persons of the opposite sex in many social and erotic ways, and makes a final selection. To come through the period from pubescence to marriage in a healthy emotional state requires that the individual learn the true facts about sex without the unfortunate emotional associations of vulgarity, dirtiness, shame, guilt, and sin. Since this can scarcely happen under contemporary social conditions, the institutions entrusted with the general education of youth have a serious problem of re-education on their hands, Many adolescents are grievously in need of accessible sources of valid information during this 36 Nationa AssociaTIon oF SEcoNDARY-ScHOOL Principats [December period but are too self-conscious to ask questions of most adults, including both parents and teachers. Of course, the curriculum itself should provide for the development of a more comprehensive understanding of human behavior. However, certain more specific sex questions require additional treatment. Formal instruction about sex hardly seems the answer because the problems are highly individual and the solutions depend upon the nature of the young person’s earlier emotional conditionings. Also, all young people do not have these problems at the same time and instruction that is early enough to reach the first will be premature for many. Rather there is need for a personnel in the secondary schools whose viewpoints are valid, sympathetic and seasoned, who can give the necessary information more or less informally, and from time to time as it is needed, and who have the common sense and rapport to sense the effects of their contacts with young people. Above all, confidences must be inviolate. This social process of shifting the center of the affectional life from the parents to the fiancee eventuates in marriage and the establishment of a new family. Success for the individuals involved is contingent upon a num- ber of factors and general education certainly can concern itself with some of these factors without more ado. For example, success in marriage must depend upon the two individuals arriving at agreement on a set of core values which they will jointly seek to achieve. Now it is quite evident that success is not possible unless these core values are valid for the culture in which the couple is to live and at least partially attainable by persons of their capacities, backgrounds and opportunities. Success also is contingent upon a true assessment of each other’s capacities, interests, and attitudes. Surely education should do something to help young people realistically evaluate their own goals and consider their relation to reality; surely education should help young people to develop common-sense ways of assessing each other so that love need not be dull-witted as well as blind. General education bears some responsibility for guiding the development of affectional life. EMoTIONAL Factors 1N DeEvELOPMENT When one seeks to understand emotional behavior, one must regard the human organism as a complex energy system in the process of main- taining various dynamic equilibria within certain normal limits of variation. While the person is spending energy in behavior that is effective in meeting his needs, or in working toward the realization of his desires, there is an ac- companying mood or feeling of pleasure or satisfaction, which is noted in physiological processes but is also conscious in the mind. But when the person is prevented from working toward the realization of his desires, when his behavior is ineffectual, when he is uncertain of what he wants, or when the situation in which he finds himself is inappropriate to normal physiological processes, then the accompanying mood or feeling is unpleasant and the body attempts to reorganize its economy in such a way as to make effective behavior possible. This re-organization is technically known as emotion and has various levels of intensity of feeling with corresponding differences in the physiological behavior involved. Emotions, then, really 37 GrowTH AND DEVELOPMENT OF THE STUDENT 1940] are patterns of physiologically adjustive behavior. Unpleasant emotions accompany the frustration of need, desire and security while pleasant emo- tions accompany the free expenditure of energy in effective behavior. Experiences and mental development contrive to translate the basic needs of every person into a series of concrete desires which are present in his mind. The behavior of this person then is directed toward the realiza- tion of these desires and through them of his needs as he comprehends them. Pleasant emotions result from effective behavior and unpleasant emo- tions from ineffective behavior. Of course, this is something of an over- simplification but it does describe the basic facts. It follows at once that emotional behavior cannot be considered or trained as a separate aspect of development because the nature of a person’s emotions are determined by the extent to which all other aspects of growth and development occur normally and lead to effective behavior. It is for this reason that the malad- justing effects of inappropriate growth and development were stressed. The effects of the unpleasant emotions, due to maladjustments arising from inappropriate growth and from failure to develop properly in any aspect of the personality, are dramatic in terms of physical ill health, loss of mental effectiveness, and general psychic unhappiness. Protective or com- pensatory behavior that is socially undesirable nearly always appears and should be modified. Of course, the point for persons and institutions in- terested in general education is that many, indeed most, of the persons whom they will try to educate will be suffering some maladjustment. General education cannot progressively develop and enrich the per- sonalities of individuals who are a melter of emotional conflicts, whose thoughts about themselves result in inferiority feelings and withdrawing be- havior or compensatory aggressiveness. The emotional poise and balanced view of life which general education seeks can be had only in personalities which have worked through partial failures and personal peculiarities to an understanding of their own possible roles in the culture pattern, who feel that they are in the process of achieving these roles, and who find in general education a stimulus in working further in their own self-fulfillment. CONCLUSION It is hoped that enough has been said in this article to sensitize edu- cators to the nature of human growth and development and to the con- tinuing emotional effects of maladjustments arising out of inappropriate growth and unwholesome experiences. What to do in general education to promote wholesome, balanced personality development, we cannot say with full certainty as yet, but two things are clearly implied: first, that all per- sons administering or concerned with general education should watch for and digest for themselves the findings of various studies of human growth and development now being made; and second, that experimental programs of general education should include personnel work, the function of which is to assist young people in ridding themselves of unwholesome experience, in finding for themselves a possible and satisfying role in their own school community, and in working toward achieving the same in life outside, The Slow-Learning Pupil GERTRUDE NOAR Principal, Gillespie Junior High School, Philadelphia, Pa. Knowledge of the child is of greater importance in dealing with those who do not fit into the traditional standard curriculum than when dealing with any other secondary-school children. All the facts that can be gathered concerning the emotional reactions of these pupils, their level of performance of school tasks, behavior trends, economic and social backgrounds, religious and racial elements, have implications for the teacher. These must be reck- oned with when the subject matter is laid down and methods and techniques are being considered. Careful observation of the children in these groups, pa- tient investigations of their homes, testing and measuring in classrooms and shops, and participation in lengthy round-table discussions with other teachers, are needed in order to get at some of the significant facts and to discover their implications. The chronological ages of the educationally unadjusted children run from twelve to seventeen. The mental ages run, for the most part, from nine to twelve. Occasionally a feeble-minded child of lower mental age gets through junior high school, on the basis of socially acceptable behavior, and in all schools there is a very small number of children with greater potential intelligence who seem unable to meet standard requirements. The I.Q. range, therefore, runs from 60 to 110. Examination of the records of psychological tests reveals short memory spans, short attention spans, limited reserve memory spans, and hazy or dull imagery. Because of these facts courses of study must be written with adult con- tent. Whatever books are used must contain adult appeal but must be written in very simple language. Words should rarely exceed two syllables, sentences must be simple and direct. The teacher must organize a single period in such a way that any one type of activity does not last for more than fifteen minutes. She must provide concrete examples and have ready plenty of concrete illustrative material which children can handle. Thought proc- esses can never exceed more than one step at a time. Anything requiring mental complexity of abstract reasoning is strictly tabu. These children are unable to formulate concepts of virtues such as honor and integrity. When actual learning is required provision must be made for endless repe- titive drill. For the most part classroom work should be planned so that each day’s work is a unit requiring little carry-over. It is necessary to face the fact that these children are likely not to know tomorrow what has been most carefully taught today. ScHooL ProFiciENcy The teacher is not ready to meet her class of slow learners until she has made a careful study of the school history of each child. Examination of these records will reveal the fact that all of them have worked below grade level from the first year. In most cases performance on objective 38 1940] THE Stow-Learnino Puri 39 tests is below the child’s own standard when allowance has been made for the ability correlation. A large proportion of these children have never been graded satisfactorily in arithmetic. Careful testing usually shows them per- forming on third, fourth, or fifth grade levels. Most of these children have always had unsatisfactory marks in English. Their vocabularies are small. They read mechanically on the third to fifth grade level but comprehension is rarely above the fourth grade. Spelling is usually on second or third grade level and is exceedingly careless showing little correlation with sound and the effects of very slovenly speech. “And” is always “an,” “the” becomes “th,” and the letters of any one word are often separated. These children write English at or below the fifth grade level. They usually use capital letters at the beginning and occasionally periods at the end of sentences. They can write simple sentences but have no ideas concerning paragraphing. Social studies of the traditional variety are beyond the ability of these chil- dren. Their records are scattered with unsatisfactory marks in history, geog- raphy, and civics. This is to be expected since these pupils cannot formulate concepts of time and distance. It becomes useless, therefore, to teach things which are remote from their experiences and to strive for distant goals and abstract ideals. These facts must be used as the basis for certain decisions in regard to subject matter. Since the children have failed to master arithmetical fundamentals in seven years, teachers must face the fact that they will hereafter use arithmetic only in connection with problems of living and of earning a living. They should arrange for it in connection with the prac- tical arts work and with all other problems of living which may require calculations. Should the demand arise for drills in fundamental operations they can be given for five or ten minutes daily in shops or social studies classrooms. The study of English should be placed on a reading-comprehension basis. Spelling should be related to the reading and to whatever problems of living are under consideration. Written English must be restricted to the writing of the several types of letters which most adults use. Good usage can be taught as a matter of ear training through oral drills. All attempts to teach grammatical concepts and rules must be abandoned. Social studies should be organized to include the here and now rather than the distant, the past, and the future. Civics, as good living, becomes of foremost importance. The problems of living with other people at home, in the neighborhood, and in school need to be discussed. Earning a living must be given much attention. Although some of these children are typically hand-minded, most of them perform as poorly in the practical arts laboratories as in the academic classrooms. They work slowly and without purpose. They lack co-ordina- tion. They cannot follow directions. The work there, as elsewhere, must consist of simple problems with an immediate appeal. Utility and sales value can be stressed. Directions should be made as simple as possible and only one step can be explained at a time. Although interest flags, it is 40 Nationa AssociaTION oF SEcoNDARY-ScHOOL Principats [December important, from the vocational standpoint, to include jobs which empha- size repetitive operations with skill as the goal. PERSONALITY Although there are as many different personalities as there are mal- adjusted pupils, a certain core of common problems becomes evident as we work with these children. They are restless and unable to sit still. They are growing rather rapidly and unable to understand and endure the nor- mal physical strains, stresses, and tensions. The adolescent boys and girls are becoming increasingly aware of their own physical bodies. They lack the ability and the desire to switch attention and hold it on matters outside of themselves. It is necessary, therefore, to provide opportunities for moving around the room. No teacher can expect this type to be silent and still for forty-five minutes. These children are impatient to the extent of becoming nervous. The result of struggling with a problem in fractions may be an uncontrollable jerk of the arm which sends paper and pencil flying across the room much to the consternation of child and teacher. By the time these pupils have reached the eighth year they are aware of their own inadequacy. The result is a typically defensive reaction and occasionally an attack on the environ- ment. This means surliness, impudence, quarreling, destruction of property. Much failure through the past years, plus the continual scolding at home and in school, has made these youngsters most discouraged. Some recognize their own inferiority and compensate for it by swaggering or bullying. Many will not try and all give up easily. A large proportion lack the courage to face the daily tasks so far beyond their ability, and escape in truancy. These children, like all human beings, have a subconscious craving for success. The urge to put himself across, to excell in some way, drives many a dull boy to tramp into the room, to come in late, to swagger up to the teacher to ask a question, to call out the answer, to return a volley of impudence when reprimanded, to engage in a fist fight in the classroom, to run in front of an on-coming auto, to jump a fast moving truck. Connected with this drive to excel are the poses of “smart guy” and “tough baby.” It is essential, therefore, to provide these boys and girls with many success experiences, to make opporunities for the distribution of praises and re- wards, and to encourage, and encourage, and encourage. With physical maturity comes absorption in sex. This brings the usual round of dirty stories, the use of obscene language, the familiar writ- ings and drawings on walls, and the distribution of pornographic literature. The girls, usually more mature, frequently torment the boys beyond en- durance. The boys are guilty of slapping the girls, of hair pulling, and of writing notes. The teecher must be ever on the alert to avoid unpleasant experiences. She must know what to ignore and how to handle an emer- gency. It is possible to eliminate a large part of this trouble by giving ade- quate sex instruction. Many of these children lead a very interesting life on the streets during both day and night. They are able to get themselves around town by = 2 @&o a t=, eee 1940 | THE Stow-LearninG Pupit 41 walking, on bicycles, and by stealing rides on the subways. They are able to get to other near-by towns and pleasure resorts by hitch-hiking and by stealing rides on freight cars. It is impossible for the teacher to compete with this sufficiently to eliminate truancy. She can, however, capitalize upon it by providing the opportunity for pupils to tell their experiences, and to discuss the problems which they have met. She must also remember that such experiences are of an adult nature and that her treatment of the pupils must be on a corresponding level. Many of these boys and girls do not have adequate ideas of property rights. They help themselves freely to whatever is available. They pilfer in the 5-and-10-cent stores. They pick up much of their food from grocery store displays. They steal at home from the pocketbooks of parents and other relatives. The personal belongings of their schoolmates are always tempting. These children are not able to form adequate concepts of truth and honor, so that classroom discussions of the old-fashioned character education variety become meaningless. Frequently these pupils can glibly state what is right and wrong and can even tell why, but the gap between words and deeds is appalling. These people are convinced that they are not guilty unless actually caught in the act of stealing. No one can inform on another, no matter what the situation may be, without fear of the dreaded term “rat.” Intimidation spreads by sinister fear throughout the group. It is necessary to let the children discuss these problems over and over again. Every effort must be made to create public opinion with regard to them. If wrongdoers can be made to feel uncomfortable and unpopular, then changes in behavior may be accomplished. SoctaL Backcrounps In order to understand, and then to educate the unadjusted child, it is necessary to have some picture of his home life, of the mental and emo- tional equipment of his parents, of the economic status of the family, and of the degree of culture characteristic of the group to which he belongs. A visit made by the teacher to the family is important where it is possible. If the school counsellor must do this work she should endeavor to give the benefit of her knowledge to the teacher as objectively as possible. Such visits together with in-school conferences with the child and the parent re- veal elements productive of conflict, insecurity, and emotional instability. A large proportion of the homes from which these retarded pupils come are broken homes due to the death of one parent, to desertion, to separa- tion, to divorce, to illegitimacy. There is a great deal of unemployment among this group. A considerable number are unemployable because of physical and mental illness, deformity, and mental inadequacy. Within re- cent years a large proportion have gone on relief and, lacking normal drives and ambitions, have preferred these inadequate incomes to strenuous physical labor. Many of the children have always been accustomed to the visit of the social service worker. Some have been on the streets begging since early childhood. Such families move frequently and the children must make new school adjustments every six months. 42 Nationat Association oF Seconpary-Scuoot Principats [December On the other hand, there are families in which both parents are and have been employed for years. This leaves the children to their own re- sources for meals as well as for recreation. They have never known super- vision except for thé yelling and scolding of tired mothers who come fre- quently from a hard day’s work to all the drudgery of their own homes. Incessant quarreling between parents has a disastrous effect upon the chil- dren. Where parents are foreign born the conflict of standards often becomes acute and the children are apt to escape by running away. This is also the result of cruelty on the part of parents and of their attitude toward unwanted children. Children from these homes are particularly insecure. They become nervous to the point of neurosis and occasionally psychosis. They are in- evitably anti-social, without respect for authority, and lacking in knowledge of obedience. It is exceedingly difficult to get the co-operation of the parents. They usually do not understand and frequently resent “interference.” The effect of these home conditions on the classroom is enormous. Children come into school hungry. They are unable to work or even to conform. They are irritable and revengeful. The girls have frequently done hard housework before coming to school. They have washed and dressed the younger children. They have run errands and gathered their own inadequate breakfasts and lunches. The rush to get to school on time has created an emotional and nervous condition with which the teacher must cope. If the child is late he is apt to meet the scolding and punishment, which he scarcely deserves, with a rush of impudence and defiance. He cannot tell the true story to his teacher because this would reflect upon the parent and at once the child is involved in a problem of conflicting loyalties. The consequent worry and anxiety produce emotional tension which must result in an outburst. The teacher becomes the parent substitute and re- ceives the full brunt of the child’s resentment. Disobedience is often the result of lack of respect for parents. Untruth- fulness is the reaction to cruel punishments. Lack of respect for authority arises from continual association with drunken fathers or mothers, with loud scolding mothers and with unfaithful and quarreling parents. The children’s minds are often preoccupied with distracting experiences. It is true that they do not hear when spoken to and cannot pay attention. These educationally unadjusted children are often at a great social disadvantage in school. They cannot meet the demands for money to buy the publications, to join the Students’ Association or the Athletic Associ- ation, to buy tickets for the school show, to pay for the materials in clubs, to join the class party, to provide materials for sewing, and to assist with the social service work. They are unhappy when forced to compare them- selves with more fortunate classmates in matters of dress. Boys resent having to walk around in overalls, and sweaters are often kept on to hide badly torn shirts. Girls’ dresses cannot be clean unless they are willing and able to do their own laundry. Teachers, too, in classroom discussions, are apt to set up desirable social standards of dress and of living which these chil- dren know are unattainable. Inferiority and resentment are engendered. 1940 | Tue Stow-Learnine Pupit 43 TEACHER ATTITUDES As soon as the teacher is fully aware of the characteristics and problems of her children and becomes completely conscious of the mental level on which they work, her own attitude toward them undergoes a change. She finds within herself sympathy and understanding and infinite patience. She learns to be calm at all times and is never shocked. Children soon find that there isn’t any use trying because they cannot “get her goat.” She is ready to change her plans and procedures to fit the need of the moment. Not ever does she “high hat” these children nor does she patronize them. She is always interested and considerate. She is friendly and firm. SomE CLassroom ExPERIENCES English The pupils in the typical and accurately classified lowest ability class have rarely learned to read at their age levels, and are usually anxious to learn—not for the sake of reading per se, but because they want to be suc- cessful in a commonly recognized important school activity. In the English classrooms these children are usually purposeful. They enter quickly and quietly, learn to follow the routine set up by the teacher, and experience satisfaction in the work. Difficulties occur unless attempts to teach formal grammar, the writing of compositions, analysis of poetry and prose are kept out of these classes. Miss A, scheduled for an 8A lowest ability class in English, was nerv- ous and over-wrought. She said over and over, “I do not understand these children. I can’t get along with them. They are driving me crazy.” A visit to the classroom revealed that Miss A was “determined to teach these chil- dren English.” A forty-minute drill in the selection of “subject” and “predi- cate” was producing excited, bewildered, rebellious pupils. Some were drumming on the desk, some looking out of the window, some hunting under their desks for things with which to play, some jumping up and down with frantic hand waving in their eagerness to answer questions. Reorganization of Miss A’s work, on the basis of different aims, changed the picture. The next visit revealed a controlled, quiet teacher whose voice and manner remained calm. A routine procedure had been established which varied the activity at ten or fifteen minu’e intervals. Children were no longer bewildered. They were following definite direc- tions. There was evidence of happiness which grew out of the continued praise and encouragement that followed successful work. The experiences provided were: first—an oral exercise in which pupils added the correct word in blank spaces left in sentences—the objective—speaking correct English because it sounds right. Second—a spelling lesson—a few every- day words needed in the invitation to be written to a friend for a trip to the park next week end. During this lesson some discussion of the content of the letter occurred. Third—a reading lesson—absolute quiet while pupils read an interesting paragraph and checked the answers to questions on the content. Discussion of those answers was followed by the marking of individual progress graphs. Fourth—reading by the teacher from “our 44 Nationa Association oF Seconpary-ScHoot Princtpats [December serial story,” her name for the book of adventures the pupils were enjoying. If the group of slow-learning pupils is on a somewhat higher level, but not able to handle standard content, the English experiences described above need to be more varied from day to day, and can, in all probability, be planned for longer intervals. Perhaps two types of activities in one period will fill the need, for attention spans are apt to be longer. The children can be expected to do their own book reading if time is spent in arousing their interest, and preparation is made for a period of telling the story and discussion of whatever human actions and motives fall within the comprehension of these children. Unless such groups have integrated courses in appreciation of art, literature, and music arranged for another period in the day, the English teacher must provide experiences through which children can learn to love the rhythm of poetry, the beauty of words, the imagery of description. Care must be exercised to exclude the abstract in grammar, the analysis in good usage, the dull in reading material. Social Studies All slow-learning children need lessons in social studies that are di- rectly related to the “here and now” because they cannot comprehend the distant in either space or time. One of their most satisfying experiences comes in connection with newspaper work. As Mr. B’s 9B class in problems of living entered the room, each pupil stopped at the teacher’s table, took a newspaper from the pile, and proceeded to his own desk. In a few minutes the room presented the appearance of a newspaper room in a public li- brary. There wasn’t a sound. The face of every child showed interest and many were absorbed. Soon they began to turn the pages, but all unneces- sary noise was avioded. Presently a boy went to the front of the room, sat at the teacher’s desk, watched the time, and then said, “It is the time to stop reading and listen to reports.” The children looked up and closed their papers—or turned to a special page. The class chairman said, “First we want to hear about international news.” Many hands went up. Children answered briefly, often reading only headlines. Others offered additional pertinent information. The teacher added a bit of explanation here and there. National news followed, and then local news. When a pupil at- tempted to describe a murder then being featured on the front page, the chairman stated that the class had decided not to discuss such matters. It would be well if all classes of slow-learning children could spend one or more social studies’ periods each week in this type of newspaper work, Surely it is more meaningful and results in greater growth than the type of current events lessons usually used with higher ability groups. Mathematics Experiences in arithmetic must be provided for all slow-learning pupils. The parents are not able to identify mathematics as a problem of living and the children feel when they do not have it as if they are being denied some of the educational opportunities offered to other children. There is little use in giving these classes full periods of problem work. Time should be spent in solving arithmetical problems when and where they occur—in 1940] Tue Stow-Learninc Pupit 45 the shops, in the home economics laboratories and in connection with topics discussed in the problems of living classes. Short daily periods of drill in fundamental operations can be arranged and will provide the incentive for coming to the classroom quickly. Work books can be distributed quickly, and the pupils can be trained to look at a definite space for the assignment. When slow-learning groups are scheduled for the standard courses in arithmetic, “covering the course of study” is usually accomplished only by the teacher. These classes require more time for drill. Every effort must be made to connect mathematics with life, to use simple small numbers in problems, to confine problems to those involving but one step. These classes enjoy and profit from the experiences known as elementary business only if the use of concrete devices and illustrative material is emphasized. Practical Arts If it is possible to do so, increasing opportunities in the practical arts fields should be provided for the slow-learning pupils—not solely because many are more hand minded than book minded, but because they produce more slowly, and because of the therapeutic value of hand work. The diversified home economics room under Miss C’s direction pro- vides unusually satisfactory experiences for these girls. One group is in the kitchen unit preparing a simple luncheon to be served later to the teacher, a group of girls, their English teacher, and the principal. The last two re- ceived written invitations. Two girls are setting the table. Another group is in the laundry unit. The electric washer is being emptied. Gym suits and towels were washed and are now drying in the gas dryer. One girl is already using the electric iron, and another is finishing the towels on the electric mangle. Quite a large group are sitting around a table on which is spread a patchwork quilt. They show this beautiful piece with pride. The boys in these groups thoroughly enjoy and profit from work in foods. In the shops the girls learn a great deal about simple tools and the handling and care of household equipment. No group of slow-learning girls and boys should be denied such opportunities for growth through experience. Appreciation of Art, Literature, and Music Slow-learning children do not differ from their brothers and sisters in ability to enjoy any emotional experience. They will also have as much, if not more, leisure time for which to account. It is essential, therefore, that time be given to the appreciation of art, to the creation of beauty, to the hearing of lovely music, to participation in group singing, to the re-creation of literature through dramatics, to the dramatic interpretation of social, civic, ethical problems by pantomime and simple plays. Teachers of art, music, and English must provide such activities for all slow-learning pupils. The secondary-school teacher faces a challenge in this creation of school experiences through which slow-learning pupils will grow. An even greater challenge is presented by the necessity of developing methods, techniques, and course content which will take these pupils out into the community where they can experience the problems of democracy, and can learn to recognize and assume their responsibilities as individual citizens. What Should Graduation From the Secondary School Mean? WILL FRENCH Professor of Education, Teachers College, Columbia University This is not a new question. We are not the first generation of educa- tors to ask it and neither are we the first to be puzzled by it. Graduation from the secondary school has never meant anything definite and specific for the school men and women of any generation as a whole. For a given year in a given state or city graduation may have meant and may now mean something fairly tangible and settled. For our history as a whole and for the country as a whole we have never had any standard upon which one could generally depend. Variability both chronological and geographical rather than uniformity has been the rule. Change rather than stability has characterized our practice. The uncertainty inherent in this situation under- lies the whole examination system and such efforts to improve it are repre- sented by the Co-operative Test Service. It also underlies the whole stand- ardization movement which culminated in the recent Co-operative Study of School Standards. If we could decide through the use of the standards proposed by this latter study when a school is a good school; if we could decide both quantitatively and qualitatively what a unit of credit is, as the North Central Association has sought to do; and if we could measure accurately the results of teaching, as tests seek to do, we might then get a valid and reliable answer to the question of who should be graduated from the secondary school. So far we have made progress toward appro- priate answers, but we may still legitimately ask the question. Meanwhile we may comfort ourselves that taking into account the increased scope of the curriculum and the increased ranges of ability represented in present- day student bodies, we are probably giving the public by present gradua- tion practices a better answer to the problem, all factors considered, than other generations of secondary-school principals have given it. DirFicuLty IN APPLYING STANDARDS However, we are far from satisfied with ourselves on this point. As the curriculum of the modern secondary school expands many new kinds of outcomes are sought and the difficulty of ascertaining to what degree they have been attained is increased. As particular secondary schools begin serving practically all the youth of their communities they find the old standard—in truth, any single standard—difficult to apply. Our concern with the problem is reflected in a constant though not voluminous litera- ture dealing with it. The literature is partly of the narrative type, describing the practices in use in a given city or state. One of this type recently published in the School Review, June 1938, is Paul’s account of Kansas City, Missouri's, practice. Another part of this literature is concerned with the convictions of the writers. A good example of this material is Spaulding’s 46 1940] Wuat SHoutp Grapuation MEAN 47 “Graduation without Equivocation” in the Harvard Teachers College Record for June, 1935. The following quotation fairly summarizes his point of view. The diploma could have real and important meaning if, instead of being a mere summary report on the scholastic motions which a pupil had gone through it were a conscientious statement of what the pupil’s education has made him good for. High schools presumably intend to prepare their pupils for two kinds of activity, at least: for citizenship, and for either making a living or going on studying. A diploma which had real meaning might fairly be expected to state that the pupil to whom it was granted was prepared to make a beginning at these activities, that in the school’s judg- ment he was likely to become an acceptable citizen, and that the school could recommend him as prepared to succeed in a specified kind of job or in further study in a particular type of higher institution. A pupil who could not fairly be granted such a diploma as this ought not to be regarded as having successfully completed his secondary-school work. Both types of literature illustrate or argue for many different types of practice or different bases for graduation. We therefore still seek for a set of guiding principles by which to evaluate our graduation practices and answer the question of who should be graduated. The present writer approached the question from two angles. First he wrote to a dozen secondary-school principals whom he thinks may be fairly described as “outstanding” and asked them: “Who should graduate from high school?” Second, while waiting for the answers the author re-read the Orientation Committee’s reports to discover what they implied as to the answer to this question. This committee’s work was used because it represents the development of a point of view in secondary education worked out by the National Association of Secondary-School Principals with hundreds of high-school principals contributing to its final form. It seemed fair to presume that what was to be proposed here with respect to graduation should “square” with the ideas expressed and implied here. Answers were received from ten of the men in time to use them. They ran from one to three typed pages in length. Only a summary of what they tended to agree upon and a statement of points on which varied ideas were expressed is therefore presented here. They tended to agree that (1) all who attended school regularly and worked with a reasonable degree of diligence should be graduated. (2) graduation therefore cannot mean that a fixed minimum achieve- ment in anything had been attained by all. (3) it should instead mean achievement by each in terms of his capacity. (4) one fixed pattern of graduation requirements cannot be justified and even the patterns represented by different curriculums must be flexible so that a “guidance-determined” program for each student may be freely followed. (5) graduation “exercises” should be “democratic”; i. e., any kind of achievement in proportion to ability should be equally honored; 48 Nationar Association oF SEconpaRY-ScHoot Principats [December equally high quality of achievement of any kind.should be equally honored. This means that one who is graduated with a “major” in typing, for instance, is not less honorable than one who is graduated with a major in mathematics and that, for example, if a school were graduating the best typist and the best mathematics student in the state, equal honor should be paid to each. (6) colleges and employers should accept the above procedures as socially and educationally sound and should therefore seek from the school specific information upon a student instead of basing decisions as now on the bare fact of graduation. Varied ideas were expressed by the ten respondents on (1) whether and how diplomas could be distinguished from each other without being undemocratic. (2) whether both certificates and diplomas could be used. (3) whether there should be any graduation exercise at all. (4) how and whether to reduce the conventional emphasis upon academic achievement in the community at large at the time of graduation. When the agreements and the disagreements are compared, it would seem that one is justified in saying that the former are more significant than the latter. It is apparent also that as the ideas of these principals are implemented by practices consistent therewith new meanings for the term graduation are being built in these schools and their communities. The old idea that graduation should mean a guaranteed, fixed minimum level of achievement in restricted fields of knowledge gives way before the idea that graduation should mean that each graduate has approximated levels of growth and development which, considering his ability to grow and the school’s ability to guide and stimulate him through its curricular offering, are for his good. The new standard is not fixed but “relative.” A relative standard, however, does not necessarily mean an unknown or lax one. It can be known and understood as easily as an allegedly fixed standard when what it is relative to is explained and understood. The second approach to the answers to this question was, as stated above, to consider the Issues and Functions Reports of the Orientation Com- mittee in an effort to see what answers to this question would find support there. Another purpose for this phase of this study was to note to what extent the positions taken by the principals quoted above are supported by the work of the Orientation Committee. The results of this study are stated below in a series of propositions covering theory and practice pertinent to this question which in the opinion of the writer are supported by what is expressed or implied in these reports. Basic Principies First: The most basic point in the work of this committee is that America is committed to universal secondary education. This point of view has subsequently been reiterated by the reports of the Policies Com- mission. It means that the American secondary school is a different school 1940 | Wuat SHoutp GrapuaTION MEAN 49 from other preceding and existing secondary schools. It is therefore war- ranted in abandoning traditional secondary-school practices when it is evi- dent that they are inconsistent with the purposes of the American secondary school. Second: Universal education at any level presumes that an appropriate educational opportunity is to be provided for each student. The validity of this proposition can perhaps best be illustrated by imagining how ridicu- lous a school would be if it deliberately set out to provide an inappropriate education for each student. The essential one-to-one relationship between universality of educational opportunity and appropriateness of educational opportunity is too obvious to require further development. Third: An educational opportunity is appropriate for any youth when it provides opportunity for him to make the growth and development which will help him to live better in his environment and to improve this environ- ment. This statement presumes purposes for education in a democracy which will not be developed here since those presumed are in harmony with the basic ideas expressed by those who have attempted to formulate statements of purposes for American education from Inglis to the Policies Commission. Education in a democracy which does not seek to provide such an opportunity is attempting exploitation either of the individual by society or of society by the individual. Fourth: If the educational opportunity is an appropriate one there is no reason inherent in it why the youth should not succeed with it and it with him. Factors outside of the school may of course prevent success, but genuine failure is reduced to the lowest point within the potentialities of the school when the educational opportunity is appropriate. Fifth: As the youth succeeds with this educational program he ap- proaches a point of diminishing returns where further efforts by him and the school return smaller and smaller results. Individual differences in ca- pacity, limits in human ability to teach, and the nature of the educational program all argue that in the end a point of diminishing returns will be reached. As this point is reached by any youth, the possibilities of formal universal education are approximately attained. Sixth: When the youth and the school have joined in a co-operative educational effort until it is obvious that the point of diminishing returns has been approximated, the point at which graduation should occur has been reached. The school has supplied an appropriate program; the youth, a willingness to work. The purposes of universal education have been attained and the youth is as able to enter adult life as education can make him. Compulsory full-time education beyond this would be foolish and tyrannical. Optional part-time educational opportunity should, of course, always be available but graduation should occur when the possibilities of universal educational opportunity have been attained. Higher and more specialized education should of course be available to those able to profit from it. 50 Nationa AssoctaTIon oF SecoNDARY-ScHOOL Principats [December Seventh: When a youth will not put forth a good effort, an appropriate educational opportunity being offered, he should not be graduated. He may withdraw from school without being graduated if the compulsory school- attendance age has been reached. The school may require his withdrawal when he fails to put forth a respectable effort and when his presence in school is a threat to the welfare of other students. Note that the impor- tant phrase “an appropriate educational opportunity being offered” is im- bedded in this proposition. The number of cases in which “a good effort” is not made by youth will doubtless be reduced to a small fraction of the present number if such an opportunity is offered. The prospect of non- graduation under these conditions is reduced to its lowest terms. Eighth: Full-time educational opportunity through the granting of aid to the economically needy ought to be effectively available to each will- ing youth until graduation. Lacking adequate aid of this sort youth who can and must get work should be able to move toward graduation through part-time education and through a process of accepting the out-of-school work in lieu of in-school work as a basis of graduation. Society and its school and not the youth should bear the brunt of the excessive economic inequalities now existing. Ninth: When the educational opportunity really available locally to willing youth is at best only partly appropriate to some of them, the school should graduate those who do the best they can with what is offered. Up to this point we have assumed the available educational opportunity to be appropriate and have been dealing with situations in which youth might be less than completely willing or able to take advantage of it. We now turn to the cases where youth being willing and able, the school through lack of financial resources or through lack of wisdom on the part of the faculty or the supporting public, fails to provide an educational opportu- nity appropriate for all its youth. Today this describes the situation in a great many secondary schools. Many schools and communities have been unable or unwilling to adjust their programs to the needs of all their youth. The educational needs of many youth are being neglected. They and society both lose by this. The basic guilt lies with the community, but the punishment is usually assessed against the youth, who is in reality but the victim. Nothing is done about the community’s failure to provide an appropriate educational opportunity, but the youth is charged with being negligent and derelict in his duty and is therefore denied graduation. Instead, the school knowing the disadvantage placed upon such youth will have to accept less growth and development in the youth than he could have made under better conditions as satisfactory under the existing circumstances and graduate him while apologizing not for him but to him for the community’s and state’s failure fully to capitalize on his ability. Tenth: Graduation should indicate basically that education has done what it can to qualify a youth to enter into the initial activities of young adulthood. Where the educational opportunity provided in the school’s 1940 | Wuat SHoutp GrapuaTion MEAN 51 formal program is meager, the average amount of progress from year to year toward this goal (or toward any goal) is of course smaller than where the program is an enriched one. Whatever a willing youth can do with the available program each year sets the standard. He “passes” or is “pro- moted.” Only he who won’t work fails. Eventually the willing youth is gradu- ated, but where the school’s program is inadequate it should utilize to the limit such other educative resources in the community as work in industry or at home and responsible participation in community recreational and civic activities, and base graduation upon these evidences of ability to enter the initial stages of community citizenship. If this is what graduation should mean basically, then at its upper reaches it should represent high levels of competence to enter into and carry forward the responsibilities of young adults. To be graduated “with honors” should mean that one has shown ability and willingness to participate at high levels in the major activities of adult life. Those who have grown to possess the most compe- tence to perform as an adult are the honor students. Each student repre- senting the attainment of important kinds of adult competence—civic, social, occupational, educational, recreational—should be honored; each kind of competence equally and none unless all are. The evidence of the competence of these youth should be as objective as possible. Lacking valid tests, the school should be slow to distinguish among graduates for fear that what it is actually doing is discriminating against some of them. Graduation under such standards is then a ceremony which marks initia- tion into a probationary period of citizenship which closes when full legal rights are acquired at age twenty-one—and it is to be hoped with another important community ceremony and celebration. From what has been said it would seem that American secondary- school men and women have a body of ideals and theory from which to develop a really appropriate concept of what graduation means. That they have begun to develop practices in harmony with such a concept everyone knows who is familiar with what many secondary schools are doing to provide normal and regular progress of all willing youth through high school to graduation. That a different concept of graduation is being ac- cepted by many schools is also apparent to one who inquires into the new and unique character which some schools are giving to their graduation exercises. What is most needed is a more vigorous educational leadership that will accelerate the rate at which faculties and communities are able to formulate and accept educational programs and practices that are as appropriate to the new American universal secondary school as the older ones were to the European selective secondary school. The Basic Elements of the Junior High School Curriculum those in charge believe relative to the nature and needs of the society in which the individual lives and the nature and needs of the individual himself. The acceptance of the above assumption implies a different type of curriculum development in one country from that perhaps in another. guidance to curriculum improvement. A teacher’s beliefs and understand- ings concerning the purposes of education and the psychology of learning govern classroom procedure. A subject-matter approach where the aim is preparation for life is different, for example, from where education is seen as a process of growth through rich experiencing. It is apparent then, that a statement of principles is necessary to provide guidance. of basic principles as guides. Such a list is found in Chapter IV of the “Handbook on Curriculum Study” of the State Committee. of the Eugene Teachers’ Association. Because it is essentially the same as that of the state committee and because it is somewhat briefer in state- ment, the Eugene list is given here.’ 1. 2 that the principles of curriculum development are the same for all levels of learning. The purpose of this article is to give special attention to the junior high school. Just as the principles of curriculum construction are the same for all levels, so are the aims of education. When the school has decided on the lines of growth along which it will guide the pupil, it knows its aims. This becomes a statement of desired attitudes and appre- VIRON A. MOORE AND W. L. VAN LOAN Roosevelt Junior High School, Eugene, Oregon Curriculum development in any school system is dependent on what It is necessary therefore that certain “beliefs” be set forth to provide Principces Basic To CurricuLUM IMPROVEMENT Various groups over the state of Oregon have arrived at statements Another is that of the Central Committee on Curriculum Development The school is committed to the development of democratic ideals and ways of living. The school curriculum must not only be in harmony with the rapidly changing nature of our social order but must be an agency for social improvement. Social as well as personal integration requires the development of a cer- tain commonness of ways of thinking and acting. The curriculum should provide for differences within and among individuals. In the modern school the teacher is a leader of pupil activities. Learning is purposeful activity. Learning is a growth process resulting from a continuous interaction of the individual and his environment. Education must be concerned with the whole life of the child. In the modern school, subject matter is an essential tool in the learning process—the materials with which pupils work in their learning activities. It will be noted that in the foregoing paragraphs it has been assumed 1Explanatory Statement—Core Curriculum of Eugene, Oregon, Public Schools, 1939. 52 1940] Tue Junior HicH Scnoot CurricuiuM 53 ciations, and basic understandings and abilities essential to successful social living. They arise from the nature and needs of society on the one hand and nature and needs of the individual on the other. They are avenues of growth, not objectives to be attained at a specific time. Tue Core oF THE CurRICULUM If we are to think of the curriculum as growth through rich experienc- ing, we think of the care as those common experiences essential to such growth. This point of view is implied in the set of principles mentioned above. Just what shall these experiences be and what sequence shall they follow? Under the experience approach to the curriculum this cannot be expressed in terms of subjects. The problem becomes one of what experi- ences are desirable and in what order shall they be provided? The breadth of experiences to be provided is known as the scope. In every social order there are certain functions to be performed in order to perpetuate and improve it. When these have been determined, it becomes the task of the society to provide educative experiences which will result in increased understandings of and increased abilities to perform them. The basis of the core curriculum, then, is the continuous experiencing in the performance of these basic functions of group living.’ Experience in the performance of the major functions of ‘social living must be provided at all levels. The sequence must be flexible, rich, and on the level of the maturity of the pupils. The sequence should vary with classrooms according to the ingenuity of the teacher and materials to be had. ORGANIZATION OF THE CorE CurrRICULUM Modern curriculum development implies an experience approach to education. No matter how willing teachers are to improve their teaching, such improvement can come only through years of experiencing. Changed points of view in philosophy and the psychology of learning must be the causes rather than the mastery of a new technique. Any change must not be so different as to result in teacher or community confusion. Other factors such as course of study requirements, inadequate buildings and equipment, and teacher education demand careful attention. The organization of a core curriculum does not call for breaking completely away from the organized bodies of knowledge but rather a re-use of them. “The plan sets up learning areas not too far removed, so far as terminology is concerned, from the subject-matter organization of the past. In the elementary school a considerable portion of the pupil’s day will be devoted to activities growing out of the major units of work of the social living area of the core. As the pupils progress from grade to grade other areas emerge from the social living area of the core and are organized separately.”” In the junior high school the areas of learning of the core curriculum are social living, science, mathematics, homemaking and industrial arts, recreation and aesthetics, and physical education. *Producing, distributing, consuming goods and services are examples of major functions of social living. SEugene, Oregon, Study—1939. 54 Nationa AssoctaTION OF SECONDARY-ScHOOL Principats [December Tue Prace oF HicHty Speciarizep SusyEcts Pupil experiences not included in the core might be deemed electives. Special interests and activities are just as much electives as highly special- ized courses. Most of the so-called “special activities” of the junior high school, however, are “core” activities rather than electives. If the junior high school is.to be functional, highly specialized courses will have to be severely restricted if not discontinued. In the secondary school, including the junior high school, many such courses as foreign lan- guage, algebra, economics, chemistry, some history, and others of a highly specialized academic nature would be abandoned and their desirable con- tributions merged into broader and more general experiences. The question arises, “When should specialization begin?” Wrinkle states,* The tendency in recent years has been to extend upward the program for general education until at the present time the three grades of the senior high school are rapidly becoming the last stronghold of specialized education in the public school program. Specialized courses in the junior high school are being displaced by general courses. Exrra-Curricucar Activities IN THE New ProcraM The title “extra-curricular activities” indicates the attitude school men have taken toward these student-initiated activities. These activities have their basis in the philosophy of learning-by-doing, rather than in studying about doing. Because they lack textbook status they have not been accorded the recognition perhaps due them. A few school men have granted them credit but they have on the other hand demanded more credit for gradua- tion—nothing gained! Perhaps, in the junior high school, which needs not be governed by, or be a part of the school that comes before it or follows it, the distinction between curricular and extra-curricular should be abandoned. The literature on extra-curricular activities claims highly functional educational outcomes. This is just what we are wishing for in our cur- riculum. The question of credit is of little significance. A vitalized curricu- lum will serve the purposes which the clubs are designed to serve. Probably the best answer would be that the whole credit policy should be discon- tinued. Student participation in the ‘life of the school, a well-rounded social activities program, and many other phases of the extra-curricular activities program should be recognized as significant types of experience, and should be definitely provided for in the program for social education. ConTRIBUTION OF Fusep or INTEGRATED CoursEs Some schools of recent date have been experimenting with the com- bination of broad fields or areas such as social studies, literature, art, and music. Using social studies as the base subject, the literature, art, and music, of the country or period about which the social studies program is concerned is presented. There is danger in such a program of forgetting that aesthetic experiences often extend beyond a given country or period. ‘Wrinkle, W. L., The New High School in the Making. N. Y. American Book Co., 1938, p. 32- 1940] 55 Tue Junior Hicu ScHoot CurricuLuM It should not be presumed that a fused course is all-inclusive. The fused course does attempt, however, to furnish the pupils with a connected and unified view of modern institutions and the way that traditional sub- ject materials fit into and contribute to the effective functioning of these institutions. It means “the selecting and appropriating of present materials and the putting together of this material in such a way that the pupil cannot fail to see that, from his point of view, all parts of his physical and social environment are interdependent and that the relationships are vital.” uo CHARACTERISTICS OF A JUNIOR HicH ScHoot ProGRaAM oF STUDIES Pringle suggests as guides for developing a program of studies:” The subject content must be adaptable to the interests, aptitudes, and stages of development of the pupils who find their way into our junior high school. This principle implies the complete development of the indi- vidual. The program of studies, especially the subject content, must provide for individual differences. The program of studies furnishes the meaningful activities through which the pupils gain the knowledge and abilities, form the habits and skills, and develop the attitudes and appreciations necessary to their complete development. Our study of early adolescence implies that the “subjects” be rich in content. This depends more upon the alertness and attitude of the teacher than upon the material being presented. To meet the growing interests of adolescent boys and girls in their social inheritance, to provide material for the integrating function of the school, and to guard against class stratification, the junior high school program of studies must include materials and subjects that deal in simple and direct ways with common thoughts and aspirations of the human race. No curriculum-maker can ignore the limitations imposed by the size and wealth of the community, the size of the school, and the number and training of the teachers on the staff. 5Wrinkle, ibid., page 34. Advocates social education as an area of learning apart from social studies. Pringle, R. W., The Junior High School, New York: McGraw-Hill, 1937, p. 360. Pringle, ibid., pages 94-96, °S ‘H (40) au3nq ‘S ‘H Jorun{ (‘ssepy) aauo may S173 se [Jom se skoq 3103 Suryeursusozy SUORENIIS ar] [RY Hugene (Ore.) H. S. SNS WRUEEVEISS (vES5S.) JUIOL Fi. 3. Home Economics in a Reorganized Program of Secondary Education IVOL SPAFFORD! Formerly Assistant to the Director, Curriculum Revision, General College, University of Minnesota The awakening interest of schools in home-life education both brings to home economics an unusual opportunity and places on it a grave re- sponsibility. Home economics programs within individual schools differ greatly. Some equally good have developed in different directions accord- ing to the particular needs of the students they would serve. Others have remained narrow failing to reorganize their work in keeping with changes in social and educational thinking and with the extension of knowledge in those subject-matter areas from which home economics draws. To appreciate fully the opportunity and the responsibility before home eco- nomics today and to assist those within the field in contributing the best they have to offer, it is necessary to understand developments within the broad field regardless of the emphasis within an individual school. This is especially important for the school administrator—superintendent or prin- cipal—and for the curriculum worker. Those school people acquainted with the broader programs recognize home economics as a field that has kept pace with the newer developments in education especially at the secondary-school level. The needs and interests of students, the life of the individual home and the problems of the local community have become foci for the setting up of school instruction. Those within and without the school—parents, community leaders, principals, teachers, and pupils—are planning together. The home and the school co-operate in providing a laboratory for learning. Evaluation is in terms of use in the pupil’s own living—changes in ideals in regard to human relationships, in attitudes toward family life, in abilities in getting along with people, managing money, buying goods and services, preparing food, or making clothes, in appreciation of the values in home life, in habits of protecting health or being thoughtful of others. Home economics at the secondary-school level has both broadened and enriched its program since its beginning when it dealt largely with the techniques and skills of cookery, sewing, and housewifery. These aspects have been enriched in content and made more functional. Management and use of individual and family resources, health protection and the care of the sick, the growth and development of the members of the family, the care of little children, and the immediate personal and social relations of people have long been included in home economics offerings. More recently it has become concerned with social, political, and economic con- ditions as they affect immediate personal and home living. 1Author of A Functioning Program of Home Economics. New York: John Wiley and Sons, 1940, pp. 469. 58 Narionat Association oF Seconpary-ScHoot Principats [December Many other fields are becoming interested in the application of their materials to problems of personal and family life—to the feeding, clothing, and housing of people, to personality development, and to human relation- ships. The question is being raised frequently as to whether the concern on the part of English, science, social science, and mathematics especially may not result, and wisely so, in a restriction of the scope of home eco- nomics. Certainly no field should be thought of as static on the one hand or as having unrestricted rights in any educational experiences on the other, to have and to hold without scrutiny as to whether its teachers are the best prepared to give certain instruction. The first claim of home economics to uniqueness is its concern for family living. Home economics began with an interest in home life and this interest has persisted throughout its development. No other field has developed with home-life education as its central theme. Science focuses on principles of science and their application to problems of living. Social science, English, mathematics, each has its own field. The second claim of home economics to uniqueness is its unifying of educa- tional experiences in relation to home-life activities. Concerned as science may well be with nutrition, mathematics with consumer problems of buy- ing food, and social science with the broader social aspects of how the world is fed, feeding a family is more than any one of these problems or the simple addition of them all. Focusing on home-life education, home eco- nomics has drawn on many different fields for a wide range of basic knowl- edge to serve a new purpose and thus made a new field of subject matter. The personalizing of instruction is the third unique contribution of home economics. Girls make at school the clothes they need. Meals are planned for their own families. Relations with parents, brothers and sisters, and friends form the basis for class discussion. Teachers visit pupils in their homes, becoming acquainted with family members and the home situation. Home experiences are planned jointly with the home and the school, using school learning. The acquiring of techniques and skills of everyday living is its fourth unique contribution. Home economics began with an emphasis on the techniques of food preparation, clothing construc- tion, and housewifery. It has extended its interest in the development of specific abilities to those of human relationships, health of the family, child care, management of money, and purchasing of goods and services. Tue Expanpinc ScHoot ProcRaM With a changing society many activities once a part of home life have gone out of the home. A changing philosophy of education also empha- sizes education for all the relationships of life, the use of learning experi- ences for their worth to the individual and not as having values in and of themselves. A second question then arises as to whether those experi- ences which have come to be called home economics may not, in addition to their value for home-life education, also contribute to education in such basic aspects of living as personality development, social-civic relationships, Home Economics in A ReorcaNnizep ProcraM 59 1940] vocational guidance, orientation, and preparation. Home-life education is important and no thoughtful home economist would minimize the contri- bution of home economics to such education. Its values for personality development have received all too little attention. Being well-groomed, becomingly and suitably dressed, feeling at ease in social situations add much to the poise and self-confidence of secondary- school pupils. A study of little children helps adolescents understand them- selves. Mastery of the techniques of living—learning to care for little chil- dren, to buy wisely, to plan and prepare meals, to make clothes, to manage the work of the home—are assets in giving young people confidence in themselves. They also provide means by which they may show their elders that they are growing up. Ability and willingness to take responsibility within the home may do much to earn for them the much desired confi- dence of their parents in away-from-home situations. Creativeness in the art laboratory, the English class, the music room is much talked about. The study of personal and home-life problems offers many opportu- nities to interest secondary-school students in the large problems of society. The interdependence of people in protecting health, in securing food and clothing and housing, in providing recreation are all closely related to aspects of home economics. The responsibility of the individual family for the welfare of others through its practices in buying goods and serv- ices and the care of property, its attitude toward community health regula- tions and obedience to law can be brought out most effectively in home economics today. The effect of irregular or seasonal employment upon family morale, of gainful employment of women upon home life may have more meaning in connection with a study of the problems of their own homes than in a more general study of social problems. ¢ The opportunities within home economics for increasing the general employability of both boys and girls is another aspect which has received too little attention. Achieving good grooming, becoming dress, a well- adjusted personality, wholesome human relationships may seem more worth while to many young people when looked at as an asset in employ- ment than when thought of as contributing to personality development or more satisfying home life alone. Ability to spend money wisely, to get the maximum satisfaction for the wage earned, to weigh values in using one’s resources lead to a well-adjusted person on the job. In addition to increasing general employability, home economics has many possibilities for vocational tryouts and for vocational training in wage-earning occupations at the secondary-school level. A study of the part-time work being done by students in the secondary school and the work of those graduates who have secured employment without further schooling coupled with a study of the employment opportunities of a community should provide many leads as to what the home economics department can do. The largest field open to the secondary-school girl is employment within the home—either in general housework or in such 60 Nationat AssociATION oF SECONDARY-ScHOOL Principats [December special services as nursemaid. Sych jobs are open on both a full- and part- time basis. Work in public eating places, simple catering, dressmaking, altering in dress shops, repair work in laundry and drycleaning establish- ments, sales positions in stores, receptionists in offices are jobs for which home economics at the secondary-school level can provide a part of the training needed. Girls wishing to go into work which requires special preparation at a higher level in many instances may find out through special projects in the secondary-school home economics classes whether they have an aptitude for the work in which they are interested. Tue ScHoor’s ResponsiBiLity The superintendent or principal has the responsibility for studying with the home economics staff the possibilities within home economics and the needs of the local group and for building a well-rounded program for his school extending the work to other groups and in other phases of the field when this seems desirable. More work in home economics should be offered to boys than is now being given and that which is offered should be broadly planned. Junior high-school boys like activities and are inter- ested in cookery and nutrition, in selecting and caring for their clothes, in good manners and personal appearance, in getting along with family members. Boys in the later years of the secondary school are interested in establishing a home of their own, in selecting a mate, in making a suc- cess of marriage, and in the rearing of children. Schools have developed programs labeled general and vocational home economics. Space does not permit of a discussion of the differences between these two types of programs. With the growing interest in general educa- tion those within a school should explore the values of home economics for general education. There are more and different values than have been presented in the past in the usual program of general home economics. Teachers of home economics should be urged to help in the developing of core offerings. The experiences of the field, the teacher preparation based on a well-rounded study of home-life problems as offered in many teacher-education programs are not to be duplicated in any other field. Home economics teachers may also do pioneer work in interesting other teachers in seeing the home-life values within their fields. The infor- mation they have as to how people live in the community should be help- ful to all teachers in making their work functional. Many of the applica- tions now made by these teachers are from an academic point of view and frequently not at the level of living of the students. Some teachers have not yet become interested in directing their teaching to the solving of such problems. Concerned as present-day educators are with education for demo- cratic living, few within the field of the social sciences have faced the fact that the home is society’s most influential agency for educating in the democratic way of life, and attacking the problem of home living. Few home economists would wish to keep all of home-life education within their field. They should, however, be equally unwilling for a pro- 1940] Tue Home Livine Course 61 gram to be developed within their own school without the best they have to offer being given serious consideration in the planning and without sharing in the teaching of those aspects which they can best give. Certain dangers and difficulties arise in developing such a program. Labeled as a special teacher, many home economics teachers have liked certain of the special privileges which accompanied their work at the same time that they protested against discrimination in other directions. Some hesitate to give up those special privileges. Many administrators and teachers in other fields have seen home economics as a subject for the non-academic student, the girl who lacked interest in or ability to succeed in foreign language, mathematics, and similar subjects, the girl who would not go to college. Teachers from all fields must learn to plan and work together, to appreciate the strengths and to know the limitations of each, their own field as well as others. Each school should build its own pro- gram to meet local needs, utilizing as best it can its own resources. Another point at which real danger lies is in asking teachers to do what they are unprepared to do or do not see the value in doing. It takes time and patience to lead teachers to see new values. Many must get addi- tional preparation. Some must be given new insight into the broader pur- poses of education. Any reorganization that seeks better adjustment of the pupils to life situations through a more functional program and at the same time leads to the maladjustment of the teachers is to be condemned. Teachers have prepared themselves to teach what educational leaders have said they wanted. Those in positions of leadership should make provision for the re-education of teachers as these newer programs are worked out. Teachers may be counted on to be open-minded when they realize that the school intends to help them grow in new directions. The Home Living Course in the Secondary School MRS. LUCILE RUST! Professor of Home Economics Education, Kansas State College, Manhattan The past ten years have seen an extensive growth and development of the home living course as a significant part of the home economics program in secondary education. So important has this course become that some educators are using the term, “home living” to designate the entire field of home economics. However, for the most part, the term still refers to certain phases of home economics that are generally included in home living courses. That there is still a lack of knowledge concerning the content of these courses is indicated by the frequently asked question, “What subject matter does home living include?” Questioned thus, a college student recently gave this reply, “Everything in home economics that does not belong in foods and clothing.” While more or less an evasion of the question, her answer did indicate in a homely way somewhat the nature of the course. 1Co-author of Home Living and Sharing Home Life, two books published by J. B. Lippincott Co., Philadelphia. Pa.. 1935 and 1940 respectively. 62 Naritonat Association or Szconpary-ScHoor Principats [December In general, it might be said that home living courses include such areas and phases of home economics as family and community relations, marriage and parenthood, home management, family finance, consumer buying, use of time, family leisure and recreation, family education, family health, housing, guidance and care of children, and personality development. Home living courses in their beginning did not spring into being full grown. In most instances, at that time they were introduced as units by progressive and far-seeing teachers in their regular foods and clothing courses. Pupils were so interested from the start in these new phases that more units were added, and even almost before the teachers themselves knew it, full semester and one year courses in home living were being offered. An examination of current courses of study, teaching guides, and textbooks indi- cate that a large share of secondary-school home economics programs is being given to home living in some of its various aspects. Home living lends itself well to the unit problem plan of organizing subject matter which is so widely used by secondary-school teachers. The very nature of home living seems to make this true. In fact the first sec- ondary-school textbook in home economics to be organized on this plan was Problems in Home Living which later, after its revision, became Home Liv- ing. Unit, or problem organization presents the subject matter in relation to aspects of living which meet the girls’ needs in interest, approach and content. This is shown in the following list of units that one home eco- nomics teacher includes in her home living course of two semesters;— Our homes of yesterday and today, Founding a home, Maintaining a suc- cessful home, Making the most of oneself, Providing for the advancement and higher life needs of the family, Making good use of our time, How the home and community are related, Keeping the family in good health, Our part in the community health program, Caring for the patient and sick room, How heredity and environment influence the child, Caring for younger children, How the child grows and develops, Educating our chil- dren, Our responsibility to all children, Planning and furnishing the home, Caring for our home, Selecting and caring for the equipment of the home, Good housing for all, Using the family income, Better buymanship in the home, and Laws that affect the home. Each unit is divided into problems each of which becomes a lesson. In its presentation and application the lesson is enriched with case prob- lems and other concrete examples of actual happenings in life. Home living does not end with the mere discussion of the lesson problem, for class and home experiences are also provided to give opportunity for appli- cation of the things talked about at this time. The extent to which home living becomes a vital course determines how successful it is. The objectives and outcomes desired of home living are somewhat dif- ferent than are those of some other areas of home economics. Among the im- portant ones are such intangible things as attitudes, interests, standards, ideals, viewpoints and appreciations. Developing manipulative skills and ac- quiring information are only minor goals in home living. 1940) Tue Home Livinc Cours 63 Home living is a course in which such methods as lecturing and telling do not work. Only those methods that permit free discussion and encourage thinking on the part of the pupils are successful. For each prob- lem lesson, much reading should be done by the pupils. This furnishes them a suitable background for their discussing and thinking. Fortunately now a number of books of secondary-school level are available on the various phases of home living. Current magazines also contain many articles of this nature. Literature, past and present, offers desirable reading material. Recently, the motion pictures have come into use in teaching home liv- ing courses. Many of the current films deal with various phases of home living and can serve as an excellent basis for the discussion of numerous problems of vital interest to secondary-school pupils. The motion picture showing at the local theatre often may be used with the members of the class attending in a group or at their own personal convenience. The Pro- gressive Education Association in co-operation with several motion picture companies has prepared cuttings of films for the teaching of human relations. UtiLizinc THE Home The typical home and family in the community should always be kept in mind in teaching home living. The income level, the housing con- ditions, the social life, and the customs generally prevailing, are all basic considerations in planning the course. Obviously, then, no two home living courses will be identical, even though the same units are presented. Home living is not only for girls. Boys too are given opportunity for instruction in this area. Secondary schools everywhere are reporting home economics courses for boys which accompanying descriptions indicate are definitely home living courses. This is a most encouraging situation. If the youth of today are to be prepared for satisfactory family life, present and future, boys and girls alike must be given education for this purpose. Home-makers tell us again and again that the problems in home-making which they find the most difficult to solve are those that belong in the area of home living. Surely then, no secondary-school program in home economics should fail to include some work in home living if the basic needs of the pupils are to be adequately met. It is even doubtful if any secondary- ' school should be without some instruction in home living. Whatever the offerings in home living are, the course should be a highly functional one. Family relations should present true pictures and problems of family life; home management should give opportunity for developing managerial and creative ability in carrying on a home; family health should show how health can be maintained and provide opportunity for improving family health; child guidance should make possible contacts with children. Today we need more than ever to hold fast to our concept and ideals of home and family life which has been such a vital force in the develop- ment of our social order. To do this we must provide some means of passing on this social heritage to our children. We must also help them develop a high quality of personal living that will contribute to the happi- ness of themselves and others. Home living courses can do much of this. An Intra-Mural Athletic Program for Boys SUMNER E. ROBERTS Physical Education Director, Junior High School, Eldorado, Kan. The present intra-mural program for boys in the Eldorado Junior High School was organized four years ago under the direction of the writer. From the beginning it has been an important part of the school’s regular physical education program. The intra-mural phase of the pro- gram is so closely interwoven with the regular classroom procedure that it is difficult to describe one without telling much of the other. The experi- ence of the author has led him to conclude that a close co-ordination of the two is essential to the success of a functioning physical education program. The director of physical education has charge of the intra-mural pro- gram. He is assisted by a junior high-school teacher whose major work in college was physical education and by two N.Y.A. junior college boys who are familiar with most of the sports in the program. The program is organized on a home-room basis. At the beginning of each school year the students in each of the three grades, seven, eight, and nine, are separated into home-room groups according to grade. There are six seventh-grade groups, six eighth-grade groups, and eight ninth-grade groups. A record of the outstanding leaders of the year before is kept by the physical education director and given to the principal in order to enable him to distribute the leaders evenly among the different home-room groups. During the early meetings of the home-room members, a team name and colors are chosen to be kept throughout the school year. A captain, a co- captain, and a manager are elected by the home room at the beginning of each season’s sport. THe Fart Procram As early as possible in September during regular ¢lassroom time each boy is given a physical examination, a record of which is kept for future reference. Following this general physical examination athletic ability tests and motor educability tests are given. Records of these are kept. No fee is charged for participating in the intra-mural program. The boys furnish their own equipment with the exception of some football material for the ninth.grade. Tennis or basketball shoes are worn by all boys for all sports. That they may know when to bring equipment, sched- ules for each week’s games are posted on three different bulletin boards on Monday of each week. Therefore the boys know when they are to play in time to check out their tennis shoes during their physical education classes. During basketball season they also check out their suits. They keep their checked-out equipment until they return to physical education class and then check it in. Although this is somewhat inconvenient for the players, it saves confusion and time in the dressing and check rooms. Until an individual locker system is installed this method will be used. The junior high school has its own athletic field, smaller than regula- 1940] An Intra-Murat ATHLETIC ProGRAM 65 tion, located near that of the other secondary school. It also has a shower room and dressing room, and lockers for the ninth-grade boys’ football suits, at the athletic field. The first intra-mural team sport is football. Preceding the first com- petitive game, three or four separate practice periods are held after school for each grade. Following these general practice periods for all, special practice periods are held for each home-room team in which individual plays and formations are worked out. As the season progresses, the captain and players learn to work out their own offensive and defensive plays. The seventh and eighth grade boys wear old clothes and their tennis shoes. Student leaders help to officiate, keep score, and keep time under the direct supervision of the director and his helpers. Preceding and during the season, calisthenics and relays, developing muscle co-ordination, are given in the physical education class period. Discussions about the rules, certain plays and formations, and particular situations are led by the director either before or after the class activity. Meanwhile, the single and double horseshoes tournaments are under way on another part of the athletic field. Slips are prepared and sent to each home-room teacher before each tournament. He or she fills in the name of the boy elected by the home-room students to enter that particular tourna- ment. Then the bracket is made out, and the time schedule for the week’s games is posted on the three bulletin boards on Monday morning. Following football comes speedball Since this is a relatively new game for most boys, the relays, calisthenics, and discussions in physical education classes help to promote interest and to strengthen competition in it. Tue WINTER ProcraM The next team sport is basketball. It is the only sport in which a double round robin and a tournament are run off. All of the other sports have only a single round robin schedule. A large number of calisthenics, games, and relays are devised in class work to co-ordinate with this sport. All the intra-mural games are played from 3:30 to 5:30 after school. Records are kept of each boy’s shooting average, his bad passes, the times he travels, and his fouls. Thus his improvement or ability can be quickly noted. Based partially on this record and partially on the director’s opinion, a selection of all-star teams for each grade is made. These teams play a few extra games among them- selves. During the basketball season, single and double tournaments are being conducted in ping pong, tether ball, shuffleboard, and paddle tennis. When the basketball round-robin schedule is completed, the basketball . tournament is run off. At the same time the boxing and wrestling tourna- ments take place. The following weights are used in each of these sports: Flea, fly, paper, feather, bantam, light, welter, middle, light-heavy and - heavy. Each home room may have but one entry in each weight of each tournament but may enter every weight possible. Two one and one-half minute rounds are held in both the wrestling and boxing matches. Intra-mural Athletics Augusta (Me.) High School Evansville (Ind.) High School Rye (N, Y.) High School 1940] AN Intrra-Murat ATHLETIC ProGRAM 67 THE Sprinc Program The spring intra-mural activities begin with a cross-country hike of ten miles for the seventh grade, fifteen miles for the eighth grade, and eighteen miles for the ninth grade. The course is mapped out a few days beforehand by the director and his helpers; then on the Saturday following, weather permitting, the boys begin their hikes promptly at 8 a.m. Boy scouts and teachers are posted along the way with first aid equipment and water. Each home room is allowed five entries. The home room wins high jumps, stance for putting the shot, and other fundamental skills. Track then takes the spotlight. Pentathlon and decathlon meets are held in which each home room may enter as many boys as it wishes. Fol- lowing these meets an intra-mural track meet for each grade is held. Each home room is allowed two entries in each of the twenty events. In prepara- tion for this intra-mural sport, the boys are taught in their physical educa- tion classes the methods of starting a race, forms of the different kinds of high jumps, stance for putting the shot, form in throwing the baseball, and other fundamental skills. The last team sport is softball. Preparations in the physical education class for this sport include batting contests—batting a ball suspended waist- high from a horizontal bar—pitching contests, and relays in base running. The last individual sport is tennis in which an elimination is run off. MAINTAINING INTEREST Since an intra-mural program should offer every boy an opportunity to participate in the different games, it is a standing rule that the captain of each home room will assume the responsibility of seeing that every boy in his home room who comes prepared to play does play a part of the game. Interest in the intra-mural sports is kept alive by publishing each week’s results in the school and city papers and by keeping each of the three bulletin boards posted with pictures of plays, formations, and funda- mental skills and articles on pertinent subjects as each sport is being played. Ten bonus points are added to a boy’s grade in physical education for participation in every intra-mural game of his home room during each six weeks. Another incentive for taking part in intra-murals is that at the end of the intra-mural season, pictures are taken of the team in each grade which has the highest number of intra-mural points. These pictures are hung for one year in the home room and then in the trophy case. Standings in intra-murals are computed after each team sport. The results are published in the paper and posted on the bulletin boards. Points are figured on the 10, 6, 4, 2 basis for each team sport and on the 5, 3, 1 basis for each tournament. This physical education program, complete or incomplete as it may seem to some, has yet a long way to go before reaching its fullest develop- ment. Each passing year will bring improvements and correct the past year’s mistakes. Until every junior high-school boy takes part in every activity possible and is better physically, mentally, and socially adjusted to meet life, and develops a desire to play, there will be goals to attain, An Evaluation of the N.Y.A. Student-Aid Program RALPH E. CROW Board of Education, Cleveland, Ohio The question as to the future of the N.Y.A. in the secondary schools is one about which educators should express their views to the end that the most intelligent course of action for the future is mapped. The President’s Advisory Committee on Education has recommended the continuance of the plan on a temporary basis until further experience and evidence is available on which to judge its values and decide on a future course. Al- though the program is now in its fifth year there has been a limited amount of reliable and scientific inquiry into the actual workings of the program. This article reports a summary of an extended study which was undertaken during the first several years’ operation of the program in Cuyahoga County, Ohio, where some 3,000 students in seventy secondary schools have been participating in the program from its inception. The following three ques- tions are considered: What are the characteristics of N.Y.A. students— wherein do they differ from the non-N.Y.A. students? What are the effects of the program on the pupils and the school? and How can the present plan of operation be improved? Cuaracteristics oF N.Y.A. STUDENTS Except in a few respects, the N.Y.A. boys and girls are not materially different from the general student body. The N.Y.A. students, however, come from homes which have greater financial difficulties in providing food, clothing, shelter, and other normal requirements of living; and the lack of these essentials jeopardizes school attendance. At the close of the first year of the N.Y.A., 51.5 per cent of its students were members of relief families. One-third of them came from broken homes, a handicap which is two and one-half times more prevalent than with non-N.Y.A. students. Likewise the per cent (13.0) of colored students on the N.Y.A. is twice as large as the proportion of colored people to the total population of the county. The N.Y.A. students are enrolled in all grades from 7B to post-graduate but the largest numbers are in grade 11 and grade 12. Only twelve per cent are in the junior high school. Since students must be sixteen years of age to be eligible for N.Y.A. aid, their average age in each grade is greater than that of the student body as a whole. However, retardation is not greater. In fact the over-ageness for the N.Y.A. group is 3.4 per cent less than for the total enrollment. In regard to intelligence, scholarship, and personality ratings there is very little difference between the N.Y.A. and non-N.Y.A. groups. The ratio of boys to girls in the N.Y.A. group is approximately the same as that of the total school population. Although the data on interests and attitudes are not conclusive, the groups appear to be very similar, as for instance, in the kinds of work which they wish to enter in the future. The N.Y.A. students are more concerned about getting a job and complain less about home-work. Eighty 68 1940] Tue N.Y.A. Stupent-A1w ProcraM 69 per cent of the N.Y.A. students have already made vocational choices and the remainder desire the schools to give them further assistance in making a correct choice. In general, the N.Y.A. students show a very favorable attitude toward school, and less than one per cent dislike it. Although only eight per cent definitely plan to attend college, eighty-eight per cent wish to complete the secondary school. A larger percentage of N.Y.A. students than non-N.Y.A. students “like school very much.” Errects oF THE N.Y.A. ProcraM While the N.Y.A. student aid is supposed to be available only to those who could not otherwise attend school, it is a very difficult matter to deter- mine just when this point is reached. There is very good reason to believe that most N.Y.A. students would manage to stay in school regardless of the aid. A careful check by the teachers places the number to be twelve per cent who could not attend school without the aid, whereas 15.5 per cent of the N.Y.A. students claim that the aid is essential to their continu- ance in school. When outside jobs are available, the money paid to stu- dents is not always sufficient to hold needy and deserving students in school, nor does it draw into school those who had previously withdrawn. Both teachers and principals say that the N.Y.A. aid makes it possible for many students to secure the necessary school supplies which formerly were difficult, if not impossible, to obtain; therefore, they are enabled to progress with their group They can afford to and do travel longer distances to schools, such as commercial, technical and trade schools, which offer specialized curriculums. Although the data are not conclusive, it is probable that N.Y.A. students are more regular than the non-N.Y.A. students in school attend- ance. The difference between the attendance of 1162 students for one semes- ter under N.Y.A., and for the corresponding previous semester when there was no N.Y.A. is .528 per cent in favor of the former. Although the chances are 98 in 100 that this is a true difference, statistically speaking, it is not absolutely reliable. An opportunity for students to participate more fully in the regular program of the school is not the only effect of the N.Y.A. on their educa- tional advantages. The students, teachers, and principals agree that the work projects develop new skills and experiences. Almost eighty per cent of the students like their projects. While four per cent strongly dislike them the majority of the latter are doing menial tasks such as washing blackboards and dishes. Approximately one-half of the N.Y.A. students state that they learned new things and most of the remainder say that they gained needed experience. Students who did typing increased their speed and accuracy. Those who worked with visual aids learned to operate different types of projection machines and gained some knowledge from the slides or films projected. Improvements were noticed also in library, shop, and laboratory work. No attempt is made to measure the exact amount of educational development 70 Nationat Association oF SEconDARY-ScHOooL Principats [December but its importance is attested by pupils, teachers, and principals who ob- served the work. The close contact with the school may be one reason why the N.Y.A. student likes school better than does the average secondary- school boy or girl. According to the judgments of pupils and teachers, the N.Y.A. pro- gram helps to develop interests in social and recreational fields; and par- ticularly in vocational work. The projects have exploratory and tryout values which help the students to judge their abilities. Opportunities for informal guidance are enhanced because the students work under the close supervision of the teachers for an hour each day. The school records of 1408 N.Y.A. pupils reveal that scholarship changes very little, if at all, during a semester on the N.Y.A. However, a majority of the teachers, students, and principals think that scholarship is affected favorably. Teachers’ ratings of one hundred N.Y.A. cases over a ten-week period show an improvement in sociability, courtesy, and personal appearance. For all other items, including self-control, dependability, preparation of lessons, attitude toward teachers, attitude toward school, scholarship and general behavior, the advantage is with the “control” group; however, the differ- ences are not true differences. A study of the permanent records of the personality of 457 students for one semester shows a small decline of “ex- cellent” ratings as a resylt of N.Y.A. membership, but a comparison with an equal number of non-N.Y.A. students shows that the latter declined even more. For neither group is the difference entirely reliable. Most of the pupils, teachers, and principals agree that the N.Y.A. pro- gram improves conduct. The fact that poor conduct was the cause of three per cent of the 1660 withdrawals from N.Y.A. in the county during 1936-37, indicates that removal may follow poor conduct. The project supervisors think that N.Y.A. work teaches certain es- sential features of job holding, such as: accepting responsibility, following directions skillfully, receiving and executing orders, and displaying initiative. These acquisitions must be considered as a product of the N.Y.A. inas- much as the school teachers and executives believe that the work accom- plished is not commensurate with its cost. In terms of the value of the school itself, some of the N.Y.A. services are decidedly worth while. The projects have materially assisted the teachers and, except in rare instances, the time devoted to the supervision of the work is more than repaid. Through this there was a reduction in the total hours required of the teachers. Principals also agree that the loads of the teachers have been lightened by the following work done by N.Y.A. stu- dents: Marking of objective tests and papers, recording marks, typing tests and outlines, accounting for equipment and supplies, etc. On the other hand, some of the work, particularly in the junior high schools, is inferior in quality. All of the work projects are not directly related to classroom teaching. Many contribute to the effective handling of educational supplies and materials by furnishing shelving, labeling, repairing, and by making 1940} Tue N.Y.A. Stupent-Aip ProcraM 71 inventories in the science laboratories, shop and art rooms. Others provide materials, supplies and equipments such as: new cases and cupboards for storage, new playground apparatus, shop or laboratory equipment, new replacement lantern slides, charts, posters, maps and mounts, and digests and reviews of materials for supplementary class work. One-fourth of the N.Y.A. students are assigned to administrative off- cers or to special duties. They assist in caring for the building and property, in checking and guarding lockers, and assisting in the cafeteria and library. A few take charge of the lost and found department, tutor weak pupils, work in the dispensary, run errands, work in the office and store rooms, and interview graduates. Although much of this work would be continued on a voluntary basis, some of it would have to be curtailed if the Boards of Education were required to pay for the services because the number of student assistants paid out of board funds has already doubled during the depression. Opportunities for personal and vocational guidance are broadened by the N.Y.A. The various forms and conferences which the program entails supply the teachers and counselors with better data regarding home con- ditions, family income, number in the family, and the student’s abilities and disabilities. Approximately one-fourth of the teachers and principals believe that the program teaches the students to expect aid from the government rather than to depend upon their own initiative. This belief is substantiated by the replies to the repeated form of the student’s questionnaire in which, after one year of N.Y.A. membership, the students indicate that they would rather have the school furnish this aid than to have it furnish anything else. It is unfortunate that over ten per cent of the N.Y.A. students persist in feeling that they are ridiculed by others.and are personally embarrassed by government aid. RECOMMENDATIONS FOR AN IMPROVED PRoGRAM Principals, teachers, and pupils offer the following suggestions: (1) Investigate thoroughly the need for aid, and confine aid to those actually in need. (2) Eliminate gross incompetence on work projects and demand worth-while services for the money. Have the student work for the N.Y.A. as he would for an outside employer. (3) Offset early withdrawal by ad- justing the school program to meet the student’s capacities and interests. (4) Continue the policy of requiring the student to work for the money; to pass in three-fourths of his major subjects; and to limit grants to those at least sixteen years of age. (5) Establish standards for eligibility with regard to maximum family income; and allow for families of different sizes. (6) Show preference to students with high scholastic and citizenship ratings. (7) Complete the preliminary work so that the projects can start promptly at the beginning of the semester. (8) Before assigning projects, give con- sideration to the student’s interests and abilities. (9) Distribute the students equitably among the teachers and whenever possible permit the teachers to select their assistants. (10) Transfer a student to another project for 72 Nationav AssociaTION oF SEcoNDARY-ScHOoL Principats [December trial before he is dropped for unsatisfactory work. (11) Free building super- visors of the N.Y.A. so that they may give more time to individual counseling and placement. (12) Change the wording of the statement re- quired of parents and students relative to the certification of need, to con- form to the facts. Since at least 84.5 per cent of all on N.Y.A. would be in school regardless of N.Y.A. student aid, it is considered a grave mistake to require students and their parents to certify “that the aid provided through the National Youth Administration is necessary to enable the appli- cant to remain regularly enrolled in school.” There are some items in the investigation which may be helpful in formulating administrative procedures. In the case of many of the pupils, their work assignment is the greatest pleasure the school affords; there- fore, this fact may suggest a method of procedure in planning an educational program for them. Students should not be removed from the N.Y.A. list simply because they are unable to meet the scholastic requirements. The curriculum and course of study materials need to be adjusted to the level of their interests and abilities so that they can work with a higher degree of success and satisfaction. The schoo] must not ignore the fact that these needy students often come from abnormal homes. Personal adjustment con- stitutes the chief problem of many pupils. It can no longer be assumed that the problem is solved, when by some means, the school is able to divorce the handicapped youth from it. Although there has been no discussion of the question as to the type of organizational setup used to furnish aid; thus to equalize educational opportunity, it is one which merits attention. Additional study and investi- gation is needed to formulate a sound policy and basis for effective organi- zation and administration. The effect of work assignments is uncertain. What kind of work is most helpful to both the school and the pupil? Are there particular kinds of work which enhance scholarship and others which lower it? What are the facts relative to employment after graduation —have N.Y.A. work projects helped in securing employment or in holding a job after appointment? This study gives information about these questions but specific controlled experiments are needed to clarify further these and other issues. Certainly the federal N.Y.A. student aid program is a constructive pro- gram for youth. It is a sound procedure to give young people material aid in return for needed services and thereby enable them to attend school. Admittedly it is only a partial solution of the youth problem, however, as a temporary measure it has been helping many deserving and capable stu- dents to remain in school and it has smoothed the way for many others. Students gain a valuable experience in holding a job. The schools, too, welcome the assistance, especially at present when professional loads have been so greatly increased due to reduced budgets and an expanded educa- tional program. A Residence Training Project J. R. URNESS Superintendent of City Schools, Williston, North Dakota All of North Dakota, and particularly this section of the state, is pri- marily a rural section. In many instances farm families are living fifty miles or more from the nearest secondary school. In addition to this, a number of crop failures in recent years made it still more difficult for some of the farm boys to attend the secondary school. Contact with the rural people frequently reveals boys from eighteen to twenty-one years of age who have dropped out of school upon the completion of the eighth grade, sometimes because it was difficult or impossible for them to attend the secondary school, and sometimes because they were not at the time immediately interested in continuing their formal education. After several years out of school, they often come to the conclusion that they made a mistake by not continuing in school, but they hesitate to begin again at this stage because they feel that they would be out of place among four- teen-year-old freshmen in the regular secondary-school course. About a year ago, in a conference with the state National Youth Ad- ministrator, this problem was mentioned to him. He suggested that it might be possible to work out something that would meet the needs of these people. Immediately outside of the city limits of Williston there is a State Ex- perimental Farm with good buildings on it. It had been discontinued as an experimental station a number of years ago. Recently, however, state legislation had been passed to take up experimental work again. The appropriation, however, was inadequate to secure the help needed to do the work at the Experimental Station. Contacts were made with the state director of the Experimental Sta- tion. It was suggested that there was a possibility of getting a National Youth Administration resident project at the school, provided the boys could be housed in the two residence buildings which were located on the farm. By such a plan, work for the Experimental Station could be done very largely by these boys. He suggested that if a program could be worked out such an arrangement would be considered. Accordingly, a program was worked out under the control of the loeal schools. The local school has an excellent Smith-Hughes agricultural department. As it was intended to start this project for farm boys, the Smith-Hughes agricultural work has been made the core of the school program. The first problem was to select boys of the age group as indicated above who were primarily interested in farming as a way of life and who would be able to make practical use of the agricultural training offered by the department in the school and by the work required at the Experimental Station. While all subjects offered in the local school were made available to these boys, it was felt that they might be interested in courses somewhat 73 74 Nationat Association oF Seconpary-ScHoot Principats [December different from those offered in the regular secondary-school program. For this reason, the following courses were offered to the group: vocational agriculture; practical citizenship training, with special emphasis on the study and discussion of problems affecting the average citizen in an agri- cultural community; elementary practical oral and written English; and elementary arithmetic, emphasizing particularly the phases of arithmetic necessary to carry on an agricultural enterprise. The program was not followed strictly, as originally planned. It was thought at first that the project would have boys who had not previously attended high school. It was found, however, that due to recent legislation causing a number of the smaller high schools to close, there were several boys from these closed schools in this age group who had finished a consid- erable part of their high school work and who wanted to complete their high school course. For those who had not previously gone to high school, the program above was substantially adhered to, but for this other group modifications were made to meet their specific needs. In this project is a group of 30 boys selected from a large territory, so large in fact that several have their homes more than 300 miles from the project. So far as can be told at this time from the work of these boys and from their general attitude, they have come with the idea that they would make the best of this opportunity. Evidence as reflected in their work to date indicates this to be the case. The project calls for 80 hours of work at the farm each month. For this they are paid at the rate of approximately 34 cents an hour. The proceeds of their labor is sufficient to pay for their board and lodging, provide for their medical, dental, and hospital care, and leave each boy eight dollars a month to defray his personal expenses. It is intended that the work will consume approximately one-half of a boy’s time and that the other half will be spent in school, either doing the work of the regular classes or of the special classes referred to above. Practically every one of the boys carries what is considered three units of high school work. A unit consists of one daily period of classwork and one of preparation throughout the year. In case of laboratory or shop work, a double period of classwork is required each day. ACCOMPLISHMENTS The primary purpose of the project has been to make the work for these boys as practical as possible, not only in school, but also the labor which they do on the farm. While it is recognized certain things must be ac- complished on the farm that are profitable, the primary objective is that every job should contribute toward teaching the worker that something worth while is being achieved. Perhaps a good idea of this may be gained by enumerating some of the things that have been done by the boys on the Experimental Farm. It must be remembered, however, that this station had been abandoned for a number of years and that the farm equipment and buildings were in a state of considerable dis-repair. 1940] A Resipence TRAINING ProGRaM 75 Since beginning the project, they have cleaned the shelter belt and wood lot of dead timber, weeds, and debris that had collected from time to time. They have painted two large buildings on the farm. They have completely re-roofed with new shingles one of these buildings. They have repaired and rebuilt all of the fences on the farm. They have re-lined and insulated a large attic room into commodious and comfortable sleeping quarters. They have checked and repaired machinery on the farm. Work along these lines will be continued. These young men, in addition to their work, have already organized several activities of their own; notably, a basketball team, an orchestra, and a chapter of Future Farmers of America. They have a student council that largely directs their activities as affecting the routine of their lives on the Experimental Farm. While the boys have been kept busy with these tasks and their school work, a number of difficulties have been encountered. In the first place, these buildings were not equipped for dormitory purposes. As no finances were available with which immediately so to equip them, it had to be done gradually through the effort of the boys and those who were responsible for the project. In the process of making these rooms habitable, the boys showed considerable ingenuity and also a great deal of patience. Secondly, suitable quarters were not available in which to do the shop work that needed to be done on the farm. It is hoped, however, that this year a building will be erected which will provide for a shop room and a recreation room where the boys may spend their leisure time. In the third place, some difficulties have been encountered in the in- structional program, not so much on account of the boys themselves as the tardiness of teachers in adjusting their work to the needs of the boys. A gradual understanding of the problem involved will eventually eliminate this particular problem. Several federal agencies are interested in and concerned with this project: The W.P.A., which furnishes matron and cooks; federal officers directing Smith-Hughes work in vocational agriculture; and the Depart- ment of Agriculture in its direction of experimental stations. It has not al- ways been easy to meet and co-ordinate the requirements of these several agencies. That this has been done is in a large measure due to the unfailing and sympathetic understanding exhibited by all concerned and the complete interest and co-operation of the people of the community. A Training Program in Aircraft Mechanics LESTER HITCHENS Vocational Instructor, High School, Albuquerque, New Mexico In the spring of 1939, interest in all branches of aviation was stimu- lated in the minds of the Albuquerque High School students through the mass flights, lectures, and exhibits sponsored and conducted by the TWA. The purpose of this experimental education program by the TWA was primarily to acquaint boys and girls of secondary-school age with the rap- idly growing means of safe air transportation; with the opportunities this expanding industry is opening in all of its allied fields, government, pri- vate, and the airlines; with efficient management, operation, maintenance, and manufacture of aircraft and aircraft accessories; and with the many opportunities being offered in this field to the person properly trained. Practically every student of secondary-school age in Albuquerque took advantage of this opportunity to fly and attend the lectures and exhibits offered during the week set aside for this educational program. During the course of lectures it was pointed out to the student that the need for trained ground personnel, including mechanics, outnumbered that of the pilot. He discovered that in order to qualify for one of these specialized occupations, according to the U. S. Bureau of Air Commerce, he must have adequate technical training, and that this training should start with basic fundamentals in airplane mechanics, engine mechanics, meteorology, air navigation, and allied sciences. TWA questionnaires returned by the students showed that individual interest of the boys was centered in the technical and mechanical field of the industry. Out of this program grew the present courses now offered at the Albuquerque High School. With the students’ interest aroused and their desire for the training evident, efforts of the school were turned to perfecting a practical training program in Aircraft Mechanics and Related Technical Information. To prepare a practical course of study to offer the student at the beginning of the fall term required considerable preliminary work in the organizing of material and subject matter. This preliminary work included a study as to the possibilities of the placement of students after completing the work; to the selection of students who would best profit by the instruction, their aptitude for the work and ability to master the requirements of the skilled craftsman; to the shop facilities, equipment and available aircraft to provide actual and practical training; and to the selection of a compe- tent licensed instructor. For first-hand information of the methods em- ployed by other schools having successful organized courses in this type of education, a personal visitation was made to several leading educational institutions in the heart of the aviation industry of Southern California. Among these were secondary schools, junior colleges, private and public technical institutions, and several aircraft industries. 76 1940 | ProGraM IN ArrcraFT MECHANICS 77 Tue First YEAR OF TRAINING An “air-minded” boy on enrolling for his first or sophomore year at Albuquerque High, who has decided on pursuing the Aircraft Mechanics course as a vocation, consults the Students’ Handbook. Here he finds a comprehensive description of the course requirements and the preliminary work recommended or required for his enrolling as a senior or post- graduate student in the vocational-aircraft training courses. Among these recommended or required courses are: navigation, meteorology, aircraft, drafting, vocational mathematics, general metal working, and machine shop practice. Other courses listed in the regular secondary-school curricu- lum that are recommended to the student majoring in this field are physics, mathematics, chemistry, and manual training. The beginning student, in arranging his program, selects required subjects from the above-mentioned courses. In his first year, he will register for general metal working and vocational mathematics. The class meets two consecutive periods daily for two semesters. The practical shop training received in this course allows him to cover the basic fundamentals of me- chanics through the practical use of a wide range of materials and processes common to the industry. These are considered preparatory stages for the work that is to follow. On completion of this course he has a working knowledge of the various metals, tools, and equipment of the industry. He has had individual instruction in forge, foundry, pattern-making, weld- ing, brazing, soldering, and general elementary machine operation. This is obtained principally through actual contact in the process of fabricating practical projects requiring industrial methods as followed in the industry. In addition to this shop practice, training that requires two hours daily, the student attends for one hour daily a class in general shop mathe- matics and related trade science. In the shop related course, the work covers practical application of mathematical problems of the various indus- trial subjects mentioned along with shop sketching and blue print reading. Tue Seconp YEAR OF TRAINING During the junior year, he enrolls in the Aero-Mechanics course. This course, held one period daily during the year, deals generally with the essential theories of aviation. The first semester includes a study of airplane engines, electricity and ignition, carburetion, engine instruments, and other accessories, and engine assemblies and installations. The second semester covers the airplane, structural details, materials, and processes used in the fabrication of modern airplanes, pattern layout for sheet-metal units, instru- ments, aero-mathematics, blue print reading and sketching. If not already taken in the sophomore year, the pupil will take mechanical drawing, a one-year course, one period daily. This course deals with the general principles of mechanical drawing and drawing practices. With this training in his sophomore year and the technical courses during his junior year, one of which is the required course in Advanced “SMUBIPIUT IyeIDITE INOge WIE] SJOOIPS YBIH] (“W “N) anbsonbnqyy ay jo spdng ar] pue uoneonpy” “WM'L JO ASBLYENOD VE eee ll etl ie pee, wee, ileal —=—- — 1940} ProcraM iN Aircrart MEcHANIcs 79 Machine Shop Practice, he has acquired for himself a foundation for the specialized vocational training in aircraft mechanics. Tue Tuirp YEAR oF TRAINING The senior vocational student attends one hour daily the Related Technical Information course and three consecutive hours daily the Prac- tical Aircraft Engine course or the Airplane Construction and Mainte- nance course, with the privilege of taking the other course and continuinz his training after graduation from the secondary school. The Aircraft Engine course includes practical instruction in the over- haul, assembling, and testing of aircraft engines, carburetion, ignition, engine accessories, instruments, propeller service and installation. The Air- plane Construction and Maintenance course covers such units as repairing, assembly, fabric, paint and dope, airp!ane woodwork, airplane welding and metal fittings, sheet-metal layout and forming. If not already taken in the junior year, a course in meteorology is offered to seniors. Weather forecasting and information and conditions as they affect flying are studied. A careful study is made of the composition of the atmosphere, its vertical structure, convective processes in the atmos- phere, meteorological elements, their observation and instruments used, moisture conditions and evaporation, cloud forms and hydrometers, the inter-relation of pressure, temperature and wind, the general and secondary circulation of the atmosphere, ceiling, fog, icing, climatology, optical phenomena of the atmosphere, and other factors. The Related Technical Information work is attended by the students as a group at the high school for one hour a day. This work gives the student thorough drill in the details of airplane construction, materials of the industry, construction methods of various types of aircraft, group discussion pertaining to aeronautics and the study of the Department of Commerce regulations governing the repair, servicing, and maintenance of aircraft and the licensing of mechanics. Wuere THE Tratnine Is Securep The Aircraft Mechanics classes are conducted at the airport hangar and the airport shops. Here is provided equipment necessary for practical shop training under actual working conditions and trade atmosphere. Aside from the many ships of various types and classes maintained at the hangar that are available to the mechanics class for servicing, checking, and peri- odical overhauling, others are ferried or trucked in from surrounding points for general overhauling or complete re-building. All student work on each job is strictly supervised, checked, and inspected according to the Department of Commerce regu!ations by the instructor who holds a Department of Commerce license as mechanic and pilot. The aircraft shop is equipped with necessary power wood-working and metal-working tools, welding equipment and sundry equipment nec- essary for general aircraft and aircraft engine work. Fuselages, wing mem- bers, undercarriage structures, tail assemblies, and motors are provided. Dormitories for Secondary-School Pupils E. 0. MORSTAD Superintendent, New England (North Dakota) High School In North Dakota the New England co-operative dormitory is an out- growth of crop failures and depression. Crop failures and depression prices for farm products resulted in unpaid school taxes which, in turn, neces- sitated the closing of secondary-school departments of several open-country and village consolidated schools. The same causes had resulted in a loss of population within our own, with a resultant loss in enrollment. The op- portunity seemed ripe to increase our enrollment, reduce our per pupil costs, increase our income from non-resident tuition payments from the state, and help out our neighbors. School dormitories have been operated at Elgin and Ray, North Dakota, since the fall of 1936. An investigation was made of these projects to learn how well their mode of operation and finance might fit local conditions. Much pertinent information and helpful advice was received. The plan was presented to the local Board of Education. The superintendent was author- ized to take the necessary steps to set up a project. Application for a W.P.A. project was immediately made, and in due time approved. A building was leased. Kitchen and dining room equipment was bought, borrowed, begged, and all but stolen. Since its inception the dormitory has been housed in a former store building which had living rooms and apartments on the second floor. Boys and girls were housed in the same building the first year, the boys on the first floor which was partitioned off into three large sleeping rooms, each containing four double-deck beds, and the girls on the second floor. The kitchen and dining hall were also on the first floor. The dining room served as a study hall for the boys. A separate parlor and study hall was provided on the second floor for the girls. There were separate entrances to the two floors and no particular difficulty was experienced because of the housing of the two sexes in the same building. During the current year boys and girls are housed in separate buildings. Applications for dormitory quarters coming in through the summer indicated more pupils than could possibly be housed in the one building. Hence arrangements were made to rent eight rooms, housing 14 girls and a teacher-chaperon, on the third floor of a local hotel. Thirty-eight boys were housed in the old quarters. Eight pupils, staying in private homes, take their meals at the dormitory. The kitchen and dining rooms, the latter somewhat enlarged, are on the first floor of the building and all boys now sleep on the second floor. The former first floor sleeping rooms have been made into recreation rooms. This phase of the program is under the direction of a W.P.A. recreation director. Dormitories are administered through the Women’s and Professional Division of the Works Progress Administration. All the necessary help, 1940 | Dormitories For Pupits 81 cooks, maids, and janitor are taken from W.P.A. rolls. Surplus commodities distributed through the County Welfare office materially reduce the cost of food. Beds have been loaned by the Sibley Island Transient Camp. Mat- tresses and comforters, also some small rugs, have also been furnished by welfare agencies. Students furnish their own linen, chairs, dressers, and other room furnishings. The greatest problem has always been proper supervision. The present supervisor, employed at the expense of the dormitory unit, is doing a splendid job. As a rural school teacher she has had many of the dormitory pupils in her classes. As a farmer’s wife and mother of a now-grown family she has been a neighbor and friend of many of the parents. Much of the present success of the project is due to her fine understanding of the nature and problems of the adolescent age and the confidence parents have in her ability and judgment. The cost of dormitory residence is $7.50 per month of 20 school days for boys and $8.00 per month for the girls. The higher cost for girls is caused by the higher cost for their rooms, since the rooms are partly fur- nished and each room houses but two girls. A charge of 25 cents per day is made for week ends. The charge for board alone is $5.50 per month. At the end of the year a patronage dividend will be paid as it is evident that these charges will produce a surplus unless unexpected costs arise. Last year the dividend was about six per cent. Meanwhile, by the end of March, 1940, a loan of $200 made to buy equipment and to make alterations was amortized. Such farm products as are available from the pupils are purchased at market prices. Several families have taken care of part or all of their costs of their children’s schooling by furnishing vegetables, dairy products, meat and eggs. Other families have furnished coal and have hauled out ashes and refuse. Boys often take care of these jobs on Saturdays. N.Y.A. assistance helps other pupils to pay their bills. Some of the pupils are as- signed to dormitory duties, such as setting tables, helping with the dish- washing, and other light work. Products not available from the pupils are purchased from local mer- chants. Purchases are generally made in case lots and all merchants except a chain store grant a special five per cent discount. Meats are bought in halves and quarters and refrigeration is donated, when needed, by the butcher from whom it is secured. The local merchants have all been very co-operative, evidently having concluded that the dormitory is a decided asset to the city. There can be little doubt that it has broadened the local trade territory A typical dormitory resident’s day begins with the rising gong at seven o'clock. He dresses, washes, makes his bed, and cleans up his room. These latter two tasks are well done, since a supervisor makes a thorough inspec- tion. Occasionally the school has been called, requesting that Johnny be sent back to do his work properly. That is not so good for the pupil, as it means embarrassing questions from the superintendent or principal and kidding by his dorm mates. 82 Nationat AssociaTION oF SECONDARY-SCHOOL Principats [December Breakfast at 7:45 is a substantial meal, as farm boys and girls are accustomed to a hearty breakfast. Possibly there is time to take a last look at the first period assignment or to talk over last night’s game. School opens at 8:30, and from then until 11:55 the pupil is busy with lessons. The noon lunch generally consists of a hot dish, such as Spanish rice or soup, plenty of bread, butter and jelly or marmalade (made from Surplus Com- modity fruits) milk, and a dessert. A two-hour school session begins again at 1:00. At 3:00, he has either physical education or music, each under the direction of members of the teaching staff and coming on alternate days. At 4:00 the pupil goes to work on his N.Y.A. assignment, or, if not on N.Y.A., gets out on the playground, goes skating, or perhaps gets busy with the jig-saw or turning lathe in the recreation room under the supervision of the W.P.A. recreation director or his assistant. Possibly the more romantic take a stroll in the park or have a heart-to-heart talk in the study hall. Dinner coming at 6:00 is probably best described as a typical farm dinner. After dinner the pupil may attend an organization meeting at the schoolhouse, participate in the basketball game, pitch horseshoes, play Chinese checkers, or other games. At 8:30 comes an hour of study fof all under the supervision of the matron. Those having difficulties are helped. Here it has been found a great advantage to have a certificated and able teacher as matron. The matron has a list of pupils having low grades, so that she may know who particularly needs help. By 9:30 the boys, partic- ularly, are hungry again and want to know if there isn’t a little left over from dinner. If they have all been co-operative, it isn’t so hard to find a few slices of bread or perhaps some apples. It’s just like home, except that the homes of these pupils seldom have the conveniences found here. The superintendent of schools, under authorization of the Board of Education, exercises general supervision over the project. He employs the matron or supervisor, investigates and recommends for assignment the W. P. A. help needed, makes the collections, and pays the bills. The account keeping is a joint responsibility of the supervisor and superintendent. The supervisor keeps the detailed records as to cost of meals and other items desired by the Works Progress Administration. The superintendent keeps the accounts with patrons and creditors. An N. Y. A. pupil who has com- pleted the bookkeeping course takes care of much of the detail work under the direction of the superintendent. Dormitory rules are the outgrowth of experience and were largely formulated the first year through conferences between the superintendent, supervisor, and the “Dorm-dwellers.” The best evidence that the dormitory is contributing a worth-while service is seen in its popularity with patrons and pupils. There is no doubt that these institutions, especially in the more sparsely settled sections, are making secondary-school education available to many who would other- wise be denied the opportunity. To those rural pupils who ordinarily occupy basement and small, cheerless second-floor rooms in the poorer homes of the city, where they subsist on bread, pork, and potatoes, the dormitory offers sanitary quarters, close supervision, and well-balanced meals at a price that even depression pocketbooks can pay. Educating for Democracy J. D. HULL Principal, Senior High School, Springfield, Missouri The educational policies of the Springfield Schools are determined by a curriculum committee which holds that educating for democracy means the development of individuals and encouragement of voluntary co-opera- tion between individuals and groups of individuals. This committee, composed of the superintendent, the senior high-school principal, two junior high-school principals, the curriculum director and the elementary school supervisor, has been helped by John Dewey’s exhortation to “teach pupils to work with and for others while thinking for themselves.” ADMINISTRATION In the administration of the schools there is no suggestion that one individual’s opinion is more valuable than another’s. As the professional adviser of the Board of Education, the superintendent of schools is regarded as an expert because experience has shown his judgments and recom- mendations to be sound. However, in forming his judgments he secures help from principals, teachers, patrons, and even pupils. As far as possible decisions are made on the basis of reason and evidence rather than authority. Principals, teachers, and pupils are encouraged to build wholesome personal relationships with the slightest possible emphasis on the right of any one to command ipse dixit. Pupils, teachers, and principals are encouraged to show initiative and take responsibility. Individually and in groups they are given freedom enough to carry out responsibilities assumed. Before recommending the appointment of teachers new to the system the superintendent, for a number of years, has sought the advice of five principals and supervisors called the personnel committee. This committee personally interviews applicants, examines college transcripts and testi- monials and renders a group judgment upon each applicant for teaching. There are other democratic aspects of the administration of the Spring- field schools. In the spring of 1937, it became evident that there would be available about $42,000 to be distributed in salary increases to teachers for the school year 1937-38. This presented a difficult problem, for all teachers were receiving meager salaries, and all were feeling the pinch of increasing living costs. There had been no salary increases for nine years, and many superior teachers had been in the system that long without having received a single salary increase. There had been administered in 1932, salary cuts ranging from five to sixteen and two-thirds per cent, and the recipients of these cuts were eager to have their salaries restored. The problem was solved by asking the teachers themselves to make recom- mendations as to how and where the increases should be allocated. Members of the instructional staff selected a representative committee of teachers and supervisors, and the conclusions arrived at were generally acceptable to all, 83 84 Nartionat Association oF SEcoNDARY-ScHOOL Principats [December Again in the spring of 1939 a representative teacher committee made recommendations later adopted by the Board of Education for the spending of $25,000 on annual increases to school employees. The work of this com- mittee was as satisfactory as that of the committee of 1937. Many people served on both committees. The growth of the individuals in the qual- ities of tolerance, human sympathy, and capacity for understanding an opponent's point of view was quite noticeable. Throughout the school system there are both temporary and continuing committees of pupils and teachers working on school problems. These com- mittees report to such diverse groups as home rooms, pupils classes or sec- tions, school faculties, school principals, the superintendent of schools and even the Board of Education. They consider such diverse matters as planning assemblies, beautifying the school, the housing conditions of the city, the spending of school funds, and merits of state legislative proposals. Pusuic ReExations In the public relations activities of the Springfield schools, there have been at least three fundamental characteristics. First, there has been an entirely open and above-board policy on all school matters. It has assumed that the public is entitled to know anything and everything about its schools. Second, there has been a definite and systematic effort to help laymen under- stand the part which non-school agencies must play in the educational program. This effort has been a necessary preliminary to bringing children into contact with the important affairs of the community and world. Daily living outside the school brings each child into contact with a very small segment of the important affairs of the world. Adequate living today demands of the individual more understanding and greater social sensitivity than were required for living adequately in a simpler culture. Therefore, the school has an obligation to arrange for children first-hand contacts with the community. This requires the co-operation of laymen. The third characteristic of public relations activities has been the as- sumption that efforts to interest laymen in the schools were worth while chiefly if the laymen could be induced to serve the schools in some functional fashion such as serving on curriculum committees, talking to pupils about vocational opportunities, or explaining the advantages and disadvantages of consumers’ goods. This does not mean that children have been exploited to interest laymen in the schools. It merely means that the objectives of the schools are interrelated and overlapping, and that efforts to interest laymen avoid superficiality only as they are functional in other ways. Following are some illustrations of the policies just described: Upon one occasion a survey of habits and ideals of secondary-school pupils was not pleasing enough to cause school authorities to wish to give publicity to the survey. However, the newspapers were eager for the facts, and rather than allow the situation to fester and destroy confidence, school authorities made the full facts available. The survey was so much less startling than the reporters expected that the resulting stories did not destroy confidence. It helped to build confidence in the candor of school workers, 1940 | EpucaTinc For Democracy 85 A junior high-school group took as its major problem for one semester, “How safe is it to live in Springfield?” All aspects of safety were involved in this study. Pupils not only visited sources and made observations of how affairs were conducted; they also made recommendations and sent to the authorities proposals for “How make our city a safer place in which to live.” One hundred high-school seniors interviewed all available employers of the city to learn what jobs had been filled during the past year. Thus they learned what job opportunities were in the city. During the past school year more than fifty skilled workers, business and professional men of the city came to the senior high school and discussed the advantages and disadvantages of their occupations with interested groups of pupils. In setting up the general objectives of an enlarged industrial arts program school workers held many conferences with laborer and employer groups. The high-school annual and the high-school commencement program have for a number of years been planned around social, economic or historical activities of local significance. For three years weekly broadcasts have been made over the local radio station by school pupils. The broad- casts usually have demonstrated the work of the school and aided in building common bonds of interest between the school and the community. School workers have co-operated with the local council of religious education in eliminating duplication of recreational activities for young people and also in stimulating desirable activities in neglected and barren areas. Parents’ study groups have considered such questions as the following: Do children do as they please in school today? When should John and Mary be promoted? What has happened to the three R’s? THE SECONDARY-SCHOOL CURRICULUM During the past few years curriculum work in the Springfield schools has been carried on with a minimum of emphasis on the formal preparation of outlines and syllabi and a maximum of emphasis on helping teachers to understand what they are doing. Groups of teachers over the system have studied this question: “At this particular time in the growth of our society, what are the most important purposes our schools can serve?” There has been general agreement that the two outstanding tasks of the schools are (1) to build an understanding of, appreciation of, and loyalty to democracy and (2) better emotional and physical health. In each school, groups of teachers have listed those school aspects contributing to these objectives. In the high schools, lists of objectives have been made for the various courses; problems and activities have been planned to achieve these objec- tives; tests have been designed to measure the achievement; and then the whole process has been studied and scrutinized in an effort to unify all. It has been very clear that many of the most important learnings cannot be evaluated by pencil and paper tests. Hence, between teachers and pupils there has been an emphasis on wholesome personal relationships. In the secondary school a certain flexibility has been attained in the social studies course by the use of a laboratory plan of instruction. Pupils pay fees instead of purchasing textbooks and libraries are provided for [ December 86 NaTIONAL AssocIATION OF SECONDARY-SCHOOL PRINCIPALS each section room. Since there are not enough copies of any one title to permit its being used as a text, teachers have no choice except to plan their work on a problems basis. Each semester, teachers and pupils make a decision concerning the problems to be considered. If all secondary-school people actually faced, at least once a year, the question of “what are the most important tasks to be done?” perhaps they would cease trying to solve all problems by merely adding additional courses, Activities found most helpful in educating for democracy are: Social studies sections have made investigations of housing conditions. Secondary-school boys and girls have worked part time while going to school. They have received both money and credit toward graduation for their work. They have had particular guidance in studying political and economic problems as these problems affected their jobs and industries. Similarities have been pointed out between democratic practices used in the school and practices in desirable group life outside the school. Groups have studied and analyzed political corruption in Kansas City and St. Louis but not in Springfield. In one class, in 1938, the outlook for peace was a center of interest stimulated by Germany’s annexation of Austria. The study included a comparison of the tenor of current press items with that of press reports appearing in 1917 and 1918, a discussion led by a war veteran, and an expression of opinions in essays, debates, and forum programs. The community chest drive led a class, through discussions of how the chest budget was formulated, to consider other agencies which operate on budgets. Budget planning by government agencies, by churches, and by families received attention. Tue Exrra Curriculum School activities are so inter-related that it is impossible to allocate them to compartments with no overlapping. This is especially true of the curriculum and extra curriculum. Some of the most vigorous activities in the Springfield secondary schools have come into being because teacher and pupil committees have been studying the question, “In our schools at this particular time, how can we establish and develop among the pupils, ‘interest in the major fields of human activity as means to happiness, to social progress, and to continued growth?’ As the committee members have studied their problems, there has been no thought of curriculum. or extra curriculum. The question has been merely how can we achieve the objectives of education? Often regular courses have been made flexible enough to achieve the objectives. Sometimes they have not been flexible, and activities have been set up after school or in the home-room period. Activities which have grown from the efforts of pupil-teacher com- mittees and which have helped to educate for democracy have been in international relations club, a number of large safe-automobile-driving groups, a guidance clinic, and an extension of the intra-mural athletic pro- 1Functions of Secondary Education, Washington, D. C. National Association of Secondary-School Principals, 1937, Vol. 21, No. 64, p. 161. 1940 | Epucatinc For Democracy 87 gram where every one had a chance to take part in any school sport. There have also been efforts to continue the worth-while interests of pupils after they left the secondary school. The Little Theatre and the Community Civic Orchestra have been developed through the leadership of school workers. The groups are composed almost entirely of former pupils. Efforts have been made to build independence, a willingness to take criticism, and an ability to sacrifice for the good of the group. Teachers as well as pupils have tried to be tough minded in order to profit from the antiseptic of honest though vigorous criticism. In December 1938, the pupil senate of one school was invited by a school official to join the mayor and other public officials in drawing up resolutions for publication condemning the Nazi persecutions of the Jews. After considerable discussion and deliberation the group decided that the wiser course for them was to do their bit toward discouraging intolerance and race persecution in the United States rather than in Nazi Germany. Pupil groups have taken the lead in criticizing and in promoting school-wide discussions of faculty and pupil management of school pub- lications and school assemblies. In these instances, opportunities have been provided for all pupils to express themselves by answering questionnaires concerning the problems at hand. Solutions have been worked out by teacher-pupil committees on the basis of evidence thus obtained. Pupil groups have made a practice of raising funds for the school activities and of deciding how the funds were to be spent. For several years in one secondary school, the pupil-government organization has earned about $500 each year by operating a soft drink stand during lunch hours. A few years ago in one secondary school, it was discovered that many of the pupil clubs had gradually grown to be exclusive social organizations with actual purposes entirely disconsonant with those claimed by the organizations. After vigorous encouragement from the faculty over a period of two years, pupils made interest and objective criteria basic for admission. Although school-newspaper staffs have understood that their papers are educative instruments and thus somewhat different from the com- mercial press, they have been given unusual freedom in the management of their periodicals. They have responded with an eagerness to print all the school news, complimentary and uncomplimentary, and a fondness for vigorous editorials dealing with problems both within and without the school. Equal rights for negroes, religious persecution of minority groups, and equalization of school taxes are some of the problems discussed. Making democracy work better is an extremely difficult task. It should not be inferred from the foregoing brief account of efforts in the Springfield, Missouri, Public Schools that the local school workers are complacent with pride and flushed with the thrill of achievement. Incon- sistencies are inherent characteristics of the democratic process. Many blunders have been made and many contradictory policies have been pursued. Nevertheless it has been possible to select from the maze of school activities some progress in educating for democracy. Job Security for the Young Man WILLIAM J. CAMPBELL United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois For something like six thousand years man has worked as a means of expressing himself and of gaining the things he wants in life. With the advancement toward maturity, youth’s general urge to activity becomes crystallized into definite eagerness for work as a means of acquiring certain benefits from life. His activity comes to have a purpose which we who are older readily understand. Our schools, our parents, and society condemn the lazy and exalt the industrious. We prepare the young to hold jobs. Today this means preparing them for something, the supply of which is desperately inadequate to the demand. The fact is that one-third of the present unemployed workers in America are young people from fifteen to twenty-four years of age. It has been ascertained by the American Youth Commission of the American Council on Education that the total number in these age brackets, either jobless or engaged in emergency work, is more than 3,900,000 young men and girls. Hundreds of thousands of them may be found lounging in the streets and poolrooms of the big cities, not only without jobs but without work experience and, in too many cases, without hope. Other thousands in the same predicament walk small town Main Streets from New York to California. Their noses have become flattened from having office or factory doors slammed against them. Their hearts have grown weary from repeated rebuffs. And the emptiness in their stomachs is surpassed only by a greater void in their pockets. I have person- ally talked to hundreds of them as Illinois Administrator for the National Youth Administration, and the appalling plight of this peace-time army of unemployed is as tragic as the defeat of the armed forces of war. The shriek of shells passing has no uglier ring than the stock phrases of a legion of employers repeating: “No jobs today.” . . . “you haven’t any experience.” . “we haven’t time to train you.” .. . “you can fill out an application.” The war boom industry that seems to be going on at the moment will solve some, but not all, of the unemployment problems of these young people because few war boom jobs will be open to inexperienced youth. In fact, it has been pointed out that the continued pressure of unemployment on youth, in the midst of a war boom, perhaps will add to the danger of drifting into active participation in war. Rate or UNEMPLOYMENT Recent figures show that the rate of unemployment is higher among youths between twenty and twenty-four than in any older age group, and highest of all for young people between fifteen and twenty who are out of school and seeking work. The 1937 Census of Unemployment shows that the years of greatest employability are now between the ages of twenty- five and fifty-five. For individuals over the age of fifty-five the unemploy- ment rate becomes higher again, but not nearly as high as for those under 88 1940] Jos Security 89 twenty-five. Possibly the disproportionate unemployment of youth under twenty may be the result in part of the unusual number of such youth (there are 850,000 more than in 1930) in the total population. But whether this is true or not there can be no gainsaying the fact that for many years a tendency to exclude beginners from employment has been a disquieting feature of our economic existence. In Illinois, and I say this of my own knowledge, many large employers have dropped the young workers first when cutting their forces, and some have hired them last when expansion became possible. These policies seem to have been based on a commendable desire of employers to help those workers with the largest families and perhaps on a feeling of obligation to workers of long service. Whatever the cause, the effect has been disadvantageous to youth. In a report of the American Council on Education it is stated: “Opportunities for employment on the land are restricted by the fact that the number of farm boys who reach the age of eighteen years is more than twice as great as the number of farms that fall vacant. Opportunities for work in family enterprises are reduced by the growing concentration of business and the diminution in the number of successful small businesses. The restrictive rules of trade unions and professional associations have lifted minimum ages and limited the openings for apprentices and beginners with increasing severity during the depression.” Those employers, large and small, who have established the policy of hiring and training young workers have not been numerous enough for their efforts to offset the trends just referred to. As a result, a larger up-swing in business in the immediate future undoubtedly would create an acute shortage of skilled and semi-skilled labor, without making it possible to use the hundreds of thousands of present-day young people who have never learned either work habits or the skills required in modern industry. There are four inter-related factors affecting job security for youth; the youth himself, the schools, industry, and society. I shall discuss them in order. Naturally, the most important single factor in this problem is the youth himself. Under conditions of unrestricted opportunity it might be assumed that the youth is the only factor. That condition certainly does not exist now. One hundred years ago, when this nation was first being settled, it was pretty largely up to the boy himself to be successful. However, with the complexities of modern life increasing in geometric ratios, the other-named factors may become so important as to nullify the intentions and efforts of the youth. Along with the yqung man must be considered his family and his home conditions. In times like the present, however, even if these con- ditions are favorable, they are not sufficient to insure any youth of easy access to employment. In the matter of vocational adjustments it is of primary importance that a youth’s family and home conditions be favor- able on the psychological side, even though conditions are unfavorable financially. The point I wish to make here is that youths of employable age must not be blamed for the plight in which they and their families find themselves, or for failure to improve their situations. Believe me, 90 Nationat Association oF SEcONDARY-SCHOOL PrinciraLs [December they will contribute most to the betterment of their individual situations and to the solution of the whole problem if they are aided in making adjustments by sympathetic understanding on the part of their parents. I should like at this point to say something about the qualities of young people. It is my firm conviction that young men still are more interested in adventure than they are in security. They want to be doing things, trying new ways, exploring new lands or new fields of activity. They tire easily of the old and are ever curious of the new. They are eager to advance rapidly, which I take to be more a manifestation of their curiosity and their interest in adventure than a desire for more money or greater security. They are the trail blazers and we need them as such, as much now as we did in the days of the pioneers. Just as an example of how youth is perpetually seeking to blaze trails, I would like to point out that in a Job Creation contest con- ducted by N. Y. A. in June and July of last year, more than five thousand boys and girls submitted ideas for new inventions, unique uses for farm products, and new services for the public. During that contest hundreds of the contestants actually thought their way to jobs. I have intimated that security ‘: contrary to youth’s adventurous nature. That has been true in the past and is equally true today. If I may say so, however, in the past youth has given heed to his yen for adventure, well knowing that the necessities of life somehow would be provided. Today, young men have no such assurance. Consider for a moment the essence of adventure, which is activity. Young people by nature must be active. Frequently they are active in ways that adults consider senseless, or silly, or even criminal. To my way of thinking, many young people attach little purpose to their actions—activity itself is frequently the purpose. If we provide our young people with wholesome activities, they will enjoy them. If we do not provide desirable activities, others, either of the purposeless or silly kind or of the delinquent kind, will be found. In Europe we see activities for youth highly developed. The strength of the systems of government in the totalitarian states lies in the support they get from youths because of the opportunities for action which they provide. Every one deplores the rigidity of this system. Still it does supply the young people with work opportunities which they want. It is my great hope that we shall find a better way in America before conditions might conceivably force us to accept foreign ways. In doing things—new things, different things—the youth learns. He tries out newly acquired powers and gives expression to newly awakened ideas. If we would help youths to know themselves vocationally, we would permit them to learn of their weaknesses and strengths through activity. We must understand, guide and direct these activities. There are several things about a young man we ought to know if we are to help him make the most satisfactory vocational plans. One is his abilities. Almost every youth possesses some ability which the world needs and most youths possess many abilities. The main vocational responsibility of the schools is to aid the youth in the discovery and exploration of his abilities and interests. The 1940] Jos Security 91 providing of outlets is the responsibility of industry. Society must correlate the efforts of these two factors and assist them in assuming these responsi- bilities. One final word in summary about youth. In what field a young man will work will be determined largely by his ambitions and his interests; how successful, by his ability. Of course, I am not saying that following one’s ambition will always result in good for the individual or for society. Neither do I say that ability will always determine a man’s success or that success standards will not change. Such a hope would be for perfection. THE FuncTION OF THE SCHOOL And now, what must the schools do to assume the responsibility dele- gated to them? The purpose of education is to prepare the people for com- plete living by helping them to develop the techniques of thinking, working together, and assuming responsibility. Preparing students for a specific job is not the purpose of public schools; neither is it the purpose to make sol- diers of them, nor to show them the way to marriage. These may be some of the results of the school curriculum, however. Schools which prepare their students to expect jobs as plumbers in an economic system which does not provide for all the plumbers, are producing flustrated, would-be plumb- ers and citizens badly prepared for the life they are actually living. If schools are the main agency preparing youths for living, certainly they are under obligation to fit students to meet the conditions which will confront them immediately upon leaving school. If no jobs are available for large numbers of ‘our youths and if industries cannot provide them in the immediate future, schools must prepare youth for temporary vocational idleness. Of course, not all youths will remain unemployed or idle for equal periods of time, and the idleness is not necessarily a complete loss. For young people this transition between school and the job will have grave effects. Society will bear its part of the cost of idleness even in indirect ways. It seems to me to be definitely urgent that schools tell their students the truth about possible opportunities and that they be honest in their preparation for these opportunities. A young man trained in one field may have to take any job for a living, hoping the future will bring better things. As one of the agencies of social force, education must carry some of society’s burdens. In times when employment is scarce, the schools must, to an increased extent, become custodial institutions. In addition, they must remain educational institutions. I think the time will come within the next few years when we shall have to keep our youths in school until they are eighteen years old. We shall need to establish for custodial purposes larger and more institutions on the secondary-schoo! and junior-college level, with curriculums adjusted accurately to our social and economic order. These institutions will need to pay particular attention to studies and to activities which prepare young people for making adjustments in the in- dustrial world which they will be called upon inevitably to make. Such schools must be free and numerous enough so most pupils can live at home. Of course, this distressing picture for youth may change quite suddenly. Changes in our industrial system, new discoveries and inventions, may 92 Nationa Association oF SEconDARY-ScHooL Principats [December bring new and increased opportunities for adults and youths. But in the meantime we must consider the present. I have said previously that industry has the responsibility of providing vocational outlets and, in a sense, job security for youth. I do not say it is the fault of industry when there are insufficient occupational outlets for youth. As the schools have only one main function in society, so also does industry—and it cannot be expected to remedy all of the ills of society. THE Function oF INDuUsTRY Industry’s function is to provide goods and services to supply the wants of man. However, industry cannot overlook the effects on its workers of the job which it offers them, or the consequences of its policies and actions upon them as human beings seeking happiness through gainful employ- ment. It seems to me, therefore, that the profit motive which is one of the subordinate purposes of industry, should not be permitted to eclipse the real purpose of industry—to supply services and goods. Young people as well as adults believe they have a right to help supply goods and services, particularly when they are so badly needed. They look to industry for jobs. If industry, as society’s agent, cannot supply jobs, they look to industry and society for a remedy. Let’s not be deluded about this. Another factor in the employment of youth which disturbs the situ- ation is the fact that-as youths are given work they frequently push older men out at the top. This is done sometimes because youths will work for a lower wage. There is, of course, a reason for the difference between wages paid to youths and adults where skill is obtained only through experience. On the other hand, with industry specialized to the extent that it is today, we frequently find that little experience is needed, and that youths become as capable as older men within an extremely short period of time. Under such conditions the employment of youths at the expense of older people, by paying lower wages, has a bad effect upon all the workers. Frequently, this reflects itself in another way, when industry continues to give to a youth a trainee’s salary long after he has passed through his training program. This is definitely unfair because once a youth acquires the skill of the older worker, his youthful vigor and dexterity enable him to increase production above that of the older worker. A specific suggestion I should like to make to industry is that a policy of part-time work be adopted at least for young pecple who are now seeking occupational outlets and work experience. In the N. Y. A. program in Illinois it has been shown that even a part-time job will bring remarkable returns to both society and youth. The N. Y. A. in its work program has conserved and developed the talents of these young people and prevented a break in their morale. Sometimes I feel that we are in the process of adding a new job title to the 40,000 already listed. This title would be “Work Students” and the person who holds one of these jobs may add to his part-time income by doing various other odd jobs from time to time. I should like to suggest that a high order of business statesmanship would forsee the need for a continuous movement of young persons into a 1940] Jos Security 93 training process and up the ladder to skilled jobs. Incidentally, this would sustain the purchasing power of the buying public and help to stabilize industry, as well as provide a constant stream of workers trained to man industry’s machines. These youths might be employed as “Work Students.” Their work in industry should be articulated with an educational program which together will occupy the full time of the youth. Thus, the youth may provide not only his own livelihood but, what is even more important, pre- serve his morale and develop his abilities for the advancement of industry. Tue Function oF Society The final factor in my discussion of this subject is society. As I have pointed out, the functions of society are delegated to various agencies and institutions. That agency which is all inclusive in its interests is govern- ment. Whenever the needs of society cannot be met by the agencies which have already been established, society must give consideration to new agencies or to increased support to the programs of old agencies. We have seen in America in the last few years, the government, as an agency of all the people, carrying on the functions of society in fields where society up to this time had developed no adequate mechanism to deal with new problems of the people or of the nation. When the stress which industry faces in the supplying of work to all of our people becomes too great, we turn to government once again and we have instituted new agencies to carry this old function. For the youth group, particularly, we have seen the establishment of the National Youth Adminstration and the C. C. C. Between youth and maturity, the Federal government through its youth programs has provided new means for growing up. From my ex- perience in dealing with the problem I advance two specific suggestions: (1) It seems to me that we ought to have State Agencies to study among other things the needs of young people in and out of school, the special problems of youth in blighted areas, -and to collect information on a state-wide basis for the intelligent handling of youth problems. (2) I propose further that the general assemblies of the states be urged to appropriate funds for the specific purpose of providing new work opportunities for young people out of employment. Such funds may well be used to match the Federal funds under which the N.Y.A. program is now being carried out nationally. In conclusion, let me briefly summarize by stating that youth itself, the family, the schools, industry and society by co-operative effort can—yes —must provide job security of some sort for the youth of this nation. Their skills, ambitions and ideals constitute the future heritage of America and of civilization itself. Far too much time has been lost; far too many hundreds of thousands of youths already have histories of frustration and wasted years. I submit that when industry cannot or does not provide such occu- pational outlets or job security, it becomes the duty of society through its agent and servant, the government, to do so. The most valuable, most vital asset of the United States, its youth, can thus be preserved until such time as industry again is able to put it to productive use. The Program of the Four-Year Junior College ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES JOHN W. HARBESON Principal, Pasadena Junior College, California In the treatment of this subject there are two facts which the writer should like to make unmistakably clear at the outset. First, there is no intention on his part to condemn the two-year junior college. While enter- taining a decided preference for the four-year unit, it is his firm conviction that in the present state of junior-college development there is a place for each type of institution. The four-year junior college will be considered solely from the point of view of those communities which prefer that type of institution and in which it has been given a reasonable trial. Secondly, the writer is not seeking converts for the four-year unit. Nothing in this article should be construed as propaganda. Much of the data is necessarily drawn from the Pasadena Junior College over which the writer presides as principal. It is one of the earliest of the public junior colleges to organize on the six-four-four plan. It natu- rally has experienced the most extensive development in this form of organization. A brief description will therefore be given of this institution as an example of the four-year junior-college organization. The Pasadena Junior College is the topmost unit of a system organized on what is popularly known as the six-four-four plan. Its grade span extends from the eleventh to the fourteenth, inclusive. The units are designated as freshman, sophomore, junior, and senior, respectively. The entire institution is organized as a single unit. The hard and fast boundary line which has traditionally separated the secondary school and the junior college has been completely eliminated. There is no more separation between the twelfth and thirteenth grades than between any other two years of the institution. There is a single student-body government with officers functioning over the entire four years. Athletics are organized on a frosh-varsity basis and, with minor exceptions in the freshman year maintained for the sole purpose of facilitating the orientation of new stu- dents in the institution. All of the social life, the clubs, and student activi- ties are open to all students of the college without regard to classification. There is also a single administration. The faculty members are subject to assignment without discrimination as to grade level. The Pasadena Junior College was first organized in 1924 as a two- year unit entirely separate from the secondary school. From the beginning, however, in accordance with a recommendation made by Professors Frank W. Hart and L. H. Peterson of the University of California as a result of a comprehensive survey of the Pasadena school system, the plan was to effect a re-organization on the six-four-four basis. This re-organization was consummated in the Spring of 1928. 94 1940] ProcraM oF THE JUNIOR CoLLEGE 95 The growth of enrollment in Pasadena Junior College has far out- stripped the expectations of its founders. The enrollment for the first year, 1924, then a two-year institution was 243. In the year 1929-30, the first year of the re-organization, the total enrollment for the four years was 3060 of whom forty-one per cent were in the upper division (grades thirteen and fourteen). The enrollment for last year (1939-40) was 7323 students with fifty-seven per cent in the upper division. The increased percentage in the upper division is to be accounted for in large measure by transfers of secondary-school graduates from neighboring communities. It should be at once apparent that the easy way of inaugurating a junior college in a public school system is to organize it as a two-year unit. Not the slightest change is required in the rest of the system to su- perimpose a separate and distinct two-year unit. There is, however, a very real danger in the pursuance of such a policy and one from which few two-year institutions have escaped; viz., the temptation to copy the organi- zation, curriculum, college atmosphere and many other characteristics of the standard liberal arts college. Educational literature is ful! of tirades against the junior colleges for becoming cheap imitations of the standard college. The divorcing of the junior college from the rest of the secondary- school grades as a two-year institution tends to encourage such a practice whereas it becomes almost an impossibility when the junior-college years are tied in with those of the upper secondary school as an integrated four- year organization. Said Prof. Harl R. Douglas in an address before the National Asso- ciation of School Administrators in its convention of 1936: “The two-year junior college, which has been increasing so rapidly in number in the last twenty years, is not the type of institution the original proponents of the junior-college idea had in mind and is not fulfilling several of the major functions that it was brought into being to serve. While badly outdistanced in popularity by the two-year decapitated college, the four- year type of institution, including grades eleven, twelve, thirteen, and fourteen, is by its very nature better fitted to accomplish the reforms in- tended by the extension of secondary education in the local community.” . UnpeERLYING PHILOsoPHY The educational principles’ upon which the four-year junior college organization is based may be briefly stated as follows: 1, The freshman and sophomore college years are a logical part of the secondary-school system rather than of the standard college or university. 2. Being secondary in character, these years should be closely articulated with the rest of the secondary-school system. 3. The most efficient and economical articulation is the union of these years with the eleventh and twelfth grades as a single four-year institution. 4. This junior college, as the topmost unit of the public school system, must be neither traditional secondary school nor traditional collese, but must develop character and individuality of its own, with methods and _ pro- cedures adapted to the ages with which it deals. lHarbeson, John W., The Pasadena Junior College Experiment. The Junior College Journal, October, 1931, pp- 4-10. 96 Nationat AssoctaTION oF SEcoNDARY-ScHOOL Principats [December 5. The four-year junior college is an institution of sufficient size and span to be a complete unit in itself. It is not a fractional part of a standard college transplanted from its native habitat into the local community. 6. The twelfth grade is not a logical stopping place inasmuch as it falls two years short of the completion of the secondary span. This body of principles is generally accepted by educational authori- ties as well as institutions throughout the country. An excellent illustra- tion is the following quotation from a bulletin on “Courses of Study of the Oregon State System of Higher Education” (December, 1937, p. 10): “The lower division is essentially a continuation of the student’s general education begun in high school.” The following quotation from Dr. John A. Sexson, Superintendent of Schools in Pasadena, appearing in a bulletin of the Board of Education issued in August, 1929, elaborates further the philosophy of the four-year junior college: “This plan of organization differs entirely in its funda- mental philosophy from that type of organization which conceives the addition of the thirteenth and fourteenth years to the public school system as the mere taking over by the public schools of two years of college work. While the six-four-four plan offers opportunities to complete two years of work of acceptable college grade, it accomplishes this purpose incidentally as a part of a program looking toward the downward and upward exten- sion of the secondary school to cover the eight-year period from the seventh to the fourteenth grade and covering the chronological years twelve and thirteen to nineteen and twenty. “Thus conceived, the thirteenth and fourteenth years are added to permit sufficient time in which to complete the secondary-school period and are not a fragment detached from the institution of higher learning and loosely grafted upon the secondary school. This point of view sets up an entirely new line of thinking in regard to functions, objectives, theories of administration, and the possible adaptability of the new type of organization to the varying conditions to be met in the public school systems of our American communities. It is one thing to propose that public school systems take over college functions and do two years of college work, and quite another to propose that our public school system be extended to where it may satisfactorily complete the task of secondary education—a task to which we are now universally committed.” ADVANTAGES 1. The four-year junior college makes possible a unit of reasonable span and size. Even the administrators in the two-year junior colleges will admit that the two-year unit labors under many and serious handicaps not the least of which is the short duration of its span. In the two-year college the majority of its students are new every year. A survey of the Cali- fornia state report on junior colleges shows that with the opening of the fall term approximately two-thirds of the students in the two-year institu- tions have probably never been on the campus before. To borrow a well- PROGRAM OF THE JUNIOR COLLEGE 97 1940] worded statement from President Wood of Stephens College, “The minority is obliged to absorb the majority.” Under such conditions, tradi- tions and college spirit become exceedingly difficult to develop. It is easily conceivable that such an institution might open any fall with a group of students who would change its entire complexion. The development of character and individuality peculiar to the institution becomes a genuine problem. Moreover desirable curricular re-organization throughout the secondary-school span becomes much more difficult when the upper two years are set off apart from the other grades as a separate unit. Also, except- ing in the larger communities, the enrollment is likely to be too small for the development of a rich variety of offerings and a well-rounded program of extra-curricular activities. It is also significant that the span of four years makes possible an excellent balance in the training of leaders and followers. Dr. Walter C. Eells in his excellent book on the junior college presents the thesis that in a two-year institution there are more extensive opportunities for train- ing in leadership than could possibly exist under the four-year span. If leadership is the only consideration, however, the ideal unit would be a one-year institution. Under such conditions every student would be a senior and the avenues to leadership all but unlimited. No one is fit to lead, however, who has not learned to follow and the opportunity of two years’ experience in this capacity may not be an altogether unmitigated evil. But as a matter of fact the situation in the four-year junior college with respect to training in leadership is not as disappointing as Dr. Eells implies. A proper organization of the student body and an extensive organization of activities may provide ample opportunities for leadership even to the humblest freshman. Dr. Eells in discussing the effects of junior- college extension on the standard college, points out a way by which the latter institutions might save themselves the necessity of becoming two- year institutions in case the junior colleges should become prevalent. He says: Do such suggestions imply that the present liberal arts college should limit itself to a two-year course? By no means! Why should not the ultimate objective for the majority of students in these colleges be the master’s degree instead of the bachelor’s degree? Why should they not continue their general policies of cultural training, eventuating in a year of graduate work? There is an increasing cultural need for this amount of training; there is also an increasing practical or vocational need.” . . . It im to be hoped that a number of our stronger liberal arts colleges, in parts of the country where the junior college movement is firmly established, will move forward as prophets and leaders of a new educational epoch; that they will severely restrict and gradu- ally eliminate their freshman and sophomore years; and then devote three years of intensive effort toward the development of the ideas and ideals of a new era of culture.* The facts are, however, that the four-year standard colleges have not "Fells, Walter C.: The Junior College. New York: Houghton Mifflin Co., 1931, p. 780. 8[bid., p. 781. 98 NationaL AssociaTION OF SECONDARY-ScCHOOL Principats [December shown an enthusiastic eagerness to become two-year or even three-year units. The span is too short, and excepting in the larger cities, the student body too small to make possible either economy of operation or educa- tional efficiency. 2. The four-year junior college facilitates desirable curricular re-or- ganization, Under the four-year organization the wasteful and purely fortuitous overlapping and duplication so forcefully described by Dr. Leonard V. Koos may be more easily controlled.* This condition is most prevalent in the upper secondary-school and early college years. The organization of these years into a single institution under one management makes pos- sible and almost compels a re-organization of the curriculum in such a way as to eliminate these wasteful practices. It will be readily admitted that marked improvement has taken place in curricular re-organization since Dr. Eells wrote in 1931, but this development could have proceeded much more rapidly and smoothly if the grades concerned could have been under a single instead of a dual control. Any effective curricular revision must include both secondary school and junior college. Such revision is all but impossible when the two institutions are housed on separate campuses and under separate administrations. The four-year organization also makes possible a better adjustment between general and vocational education for the terminal students. For example, most administrators of the two-year junior college feel the necessity of devoting from twenty-five per cent to fifty per cent of the students’ programs in vocational curriculums to courses in general educa- tion. In the four-year junior colleges, however, where the upper secondary- school and junior college years are under the same control, a core curricu- lum providing a reasonable modicum of general education has been worked out in the eleventh and twelfth grades thus releasing the entire upper two years for vocational education. The experience of the successful private technical institutes such as Dunwoodie and General Motors has demon- strated that two full years are all too short for an adequate vocational pro- gram on the semi-professional level. A survey in the state of California has revealed the fact that a number of junior colleges, in order to meet the situation just described, are offering vocational curriculums that require more than two years above the secondary school for completion. It need hardly be pointed out that this is an exceedingly dangerous policy inasmuch as most communities have not the resources to support an educational pro- gram of more than two years above the secondary school. The organiza- tion of the upper secondary-school and junior-college years under a single administration, providing as it does a curricular re-organization over a four-year span, makes such a policy unnecessary. 3. The four-year junior col.ege raises the eleventh and twelfth grades to a college standard. ‘Koos, Leonard V.: The Junior College Movement. New York: Ginn and Co., 1925, pp. 264-313, 1940] PROGRAM OF THE JUNIOR COLLEGE 99 The fear has been expressed by advocates of the two-year junior college that the uniting of the junior college grades with the eleventh and twelfth grades might result in a continuance of the secondary school for two addi- tional years. The experience of the four-year organizations, however, has shown the opposite to be true; viz., that the eleventh and twelfth grades are raised to a college standard. A number of studies have been made which have demonstrated the ability of twelfth-grade students at least to carry a college program successfully. But it is also true that every man is as lazy as he dare be and if these students are placed in a secondary- school situation they will settle down to that level. Under the four-year junior college the eleventh grade is an adjustment or orientation year. It is a big leap from the tenth grade to a college situa- tion. The eleventh-grade student in the four-year junior college, therefore, is subjected to probably even greater supervision and surveillance than that to which he was accustomed in the secondary school. He is placed in study laboratories during vacant periods; his classes are organized on a daily schedule; if he is absent, the home is immediately called; he is not permitted to join a fraternity; and if he falls down in his studies he is immediately contacted by his counselor. All this is for the purpose of giving the student a good start and inculcating the habit of success before introducing him to the full freedom of a college situation. Having put the freshman student through this period of orientation, it has been found that as a twelfth-grade student, he may be safely granted all the freedom and privileges of a genuine college atmosphere. His classes are organized on a college schedule, his time is his own, he joins the college organiza- tions, he may play on the varsity teams and enroll in college classes for which on transfer to the university he is granted degree credit. 4. The four-year junior college reduces the breaks in a student's progress through the public schools. Under the six-three-three-two plan there are three units in the eight years of the secondary span whereas under the six-four-four plan there are but two units of four years each. It will be conceded by all that human growth is a continuous process, and inasmuch as every break in the stu- dent’s educational career is accompanied by a gap, it follows that there should be as few breaks as possible. 5. The four-year junior college provides increased holding power in the upper secondary-school years. The following table assembled by Dean John A. Anderson showing percentage of twelfth-grade graduates of Pasadena Junior College who entered the thirteenth year during the period of re-organization on the six-four-four basis yields convincing evidence of the increased holding power of the four-year junior college as compared with that of the two- year organization. Says Dr. William M. Proctor in his survey report: The percentage of twelve-two graduates who entered the thirteen-one classes almost trebled during the three-year period covered by the table; i. e., 100 Nartionat Association oF Seconpary-ScHoot Principats [December from 22.6 per cent to 60.2 per cent. This was a phenomenal increase and must be accredited in large measure to the six-four-four organization. The four- year junior high schools graduated their first ten-two classes in 1929 and it was this group that brought the twelve-two transfers up to the 60.2 per cent level in September of 1931. There was, of course, a certain amount of influ- ence exerted upon the situation by the depression, but it could not explain so marked an increase in so short a time. Number and percentages of graduates of Pasadena Junior College who entered the 13-1 classes during the three-year period 1929-30 to 1931-32. Academic Total No. of No. Entering Per Cent Years 12-2 Graduates 13-1 Classes Entering 1929-30° 686 155 22.6 1930-31 523 233 44.6 1931-32 559 337 60.2 Three-year Period 1768 725 42.4 6. The four-year junior college facilitates the guidance program in the upper secondary-school years. The Pasadena Junior College maintains a corps of seven full-time counselors functioning under the direction of a dean of guidance. Several of these have functioned under both the two-year and the four-year organi- zations. It is the unanimous opinion of the group that guidance becomes much more effective under the four-year set-up. The counselor has his students over twice as long a period. Naturally he comes to know them better. The study programs are made out over a four-year period. Early in his career the student is led to think over and formulate his educational and vocational objéctives. Thus adequate time is available for their attain- ment. 7. The four-year junior college dignifies and promotes the extra- curricular program. In Pasadena an extensive extra-curricular program has been developed in the following major areas: athletics, forensics, dramatics, journalism, and office holding within the student-body government and other student organizations. The athletic program covers all of the major and minor sports. It is organized on both an inter-collegiate and intra-mural basis. The freshman teams compete with secondary schools of a size approximating that of the freshman class of the college. Naturally they compete at somewhat of a disadvantage on account of the presence of the older twelfth-grade students on the opposing teams. They do, however, make a reasonable showing and seldom finish the season either at the top or the bottom. The varsity teams are drawn from the twelfth, thirteenth, and fourteenth grades. Huge numbers of students try out for the squads. They usually finish the season with an excellent record in every sport. 5The 12-2 graduates in June, 1929, entered the 13-1 classes of the Junior College, in September, 1929, and thus belong to the academic year 1929-30. 1940] PRroGRAM OF THE JUNIOR COLLEGE 101 The athletic program has presented the only serious problem in the re-organization on the four-year basis. Competing junior colleges have but two years from which to draw their teams. The availability of twelfth-year men on the Pasadena varsity, therefore, has created a reluc- tance on the part of a number of our traditional opponents to meet us in competition. An effort was made in the early years of our re-organiza- tion to meet the situation by the maintenance of two varsity teams in all the sports—one chosen from the eleventh and twelfth grades, competing in a secondary-school league, and a second drawn from the thirteenth and fourteenth grades and competing in a junior-college league. The effect of this, however, proved paralyzing to school spirit. We were a house divided against itself; the loyalty of the student body and community could not successfully be divided between two varsity teams in the same institution. The experience of the four-year colleges has demonstrated the fact that the only feasible athletic program is the frosh-varsity set-up. Pasa- dena Junior College soon found by actual experience that there could be no exception to this program. It was obliged to organize single varsity teams With all students above the freshman year eligible. The re-organization on the frosh-varsity basis transformed the spirit of the athletic program. Under the old double-headed organization there was general apathy. An audience of 2,000 to 3,000 spectators was consid- ered good. Under the single varsity set-up, however, the entire college and the community are behind the same team. Attendance at football games, for example, ranges from 10,000 to 30,000. A working agreement has been reached with the Western Confer- ence, of which Pasadena Junior College is a member. Most of the com- peting colleges have come to recognize that the junior college cannot return to the old double-headed varsity organization without sacrificing the integrity of the four-year organization. The new agreement, therefore, provides that while membership is retained in the Conference, those junior colleges of the Conference which prefer not to meet in competition may decline to do so without jeopardizing their chances for the championship. Pasadena has agreed not to become a candidate for championship laurels. This agreement seems to have proved a satisfactory adjustment to a difh- cult problem. No junior college is obliged to meet this junior college in competition, but those which do, agree to meet its form of organization. Educationally far more significant is the intra-mural program. Ap- proximately a thousand boys competed each fall in the intra-mural football contests. Intra-mural schedules are also carried out in all other sports. 8. The four-year junior college results in lower costs for the junior college years. There are many economies under the six-four-four plan of organiza- tion which give to the institution a favorable position among the junior colleges of the state with respect to costs. Under the six-three-three-two plan the eight-year secondary span is broken into three divisions whereas under the six-four-four plan there are but two divisions of four years 102. Nationat Association oF Seconpary-ScHoot Principats [December each. Under the latter plan, therefore, one less group of administrative officers needs be maintained than under the former. One less school plant is required. This additional administrative and capital outlay required under the six-three-three-two plan mounts into a huge sum and is reflected in the relative costs among the junior colleges of the state. For many years Pasadena has occupied either the lowest position with respect to average daily attendance costs or next to the lowest. For the year 1937-38 the average cost among the junior colleges of California was $232.74 per student in average daily attendance, whereas the cost of Pasadena Junior College was but $181.97 for the same period. 9. The four-year junior college constitutes a unit of homogeneous character. Dr. Eells in his book on the Junior College asks, “Are high-school juniors and college sophomores sufficiently alike in physical, mental, social and personal characteristics that they can be best handled in a single insti- tution, as a single administrative unit, with a single set of regulations?” His answer presumably is “no.” He implies such a sharp and abrupt change taking place between the ages of sixteen and twenty that the two groups cannot associate together in the same institution. Dr. Eells in his volume cites a quotation from Dean H. N. Miles of the Edinburg Junior College (Texas), an institution which at that time enrolled 242 students, that Edinburg abandoned the four-year organiza- tion because “senior high and college students do not mix well,” and then adds “it may be that an ounce of Edinburg fact is worth a pound or more of educational theory.”” The writer has in his possession a letter from President Davis of the John Tarleton Agricultural College of Stephenville, Texas, a four-year junior college, stating that at the time Dr. Eell’s book appeared a large student body had been mixing well as high-school and college students for a period not of two but of fourteen years. Likewise the twelve-year history of Pasadena Junior College under the four-year plan tends to support the idea that there is not a lack of homogeneity in the enrollment. The social, physical, and mental homogeneity of the student body has been one of the most conspicuous features of the new organization. Stu- dents of all grades intermingle in the same classes, the same clubs and at the same social functions with perfect ease. In fact, no visitor has ever been able to stand in the corridors and distinguish the students of one class from those of another. One might possibly select the new freshmen with a fair degree of accuracy but above that point they all look alike, act alike, and associate together. The homogeneity of the enrollment in the four-year junior college was further established by the late Dr. William M. Proctor in a scientific study which he included in his report to the Board of Education after a year’s survey of the Pasadena system. Collaborating with Dr. Proctor was *Eells: Ibid., p. 714. ‘Ilbid., p. 717. ProGRAM OF THE JUNIOR COLLEGE 103 1940] Dr. Herbert Popenoe then of the Menlo School and Junior College. The following paragraphs are quoted from his report: The indices of alienation between grades ten and eleven and eleven and twelve do not differ very widely in any of the factors, but when it comes to the index of alienation between grades twelve and thirteen it becomes negli- gible; i. e., .05 in height and .05 in weight. In the Ventura data where mental age was also included the index of alienation for mental age between grades twelve and thirteen was only .10, whereas between eleven and twelve it was .32. Thus the implication that the smallest mean differences in physical factors is found between the twelfth and thirteenth grades is borne out. by the statistical treatment of the data to discover the indices of alienation. The implication of these data for the division of the grades into admin- istrative units are apparently that the first break should come at the end of the sixth grade as has been the general practice in the best school systems of the country; that between the seventh grade and the twelfth grade there are some definite indications of a break between the tenth and eleventh grades, but not nearly so clear cut as the break between the sixth and seventh grades; that the greatest degree of homogeneity between any two grades, seven to fourteen, inclusive, is found between the twelfth and thirteenth grades; hence, there is less excuse for a break there than at any other point in the entire gamut of grades. The first administrative break should very definitely come between the sixth and seventh grades, and the second either between the tenth and eleventh or between the eleventh and twelfth. Since, however, two four-year units would be more logical administratively in a public-school system than a five-year and a three-year pair of units, the data definitely favor a six-four- four rather than an eight-four-two or a six-three-three-two combination of administrative units. ProspLeMs ENCOUNTERED IN ORGANIZATION AND ADMINISTRATION In twelve years of experience as principal of a four-year junior college the writer has encountered no disadvantages that are inherent in the organization. There have, however, been plenty of obstacles. They have not been of a serious character and all have been frankly faced and are either already solved or are well on the way to solution. The most sig- nificant of these problems may be stated as follows: 1. The difficulty of inter-collegiate competition. The four-year junior college is relatively isolated. Its inter-collegiate activities should be organized on a frosh-varsity basis. With such an organization secondary schools cannot compete and junior colleges fre- quently will not. 2. The paralyzing effect of tradition. Most people want to continue past practices whether they are good or bad. The public has become accustomed to a secondary school terminat- ing with the twelfth grade followed by a four-year standard college. A certain university professor recently stated to the writer that the American standard college had become “crystallized” into a four-year tradition and could not likely be changed. “Crystallized” is right and crystallized for- mations are susceptible to slight growth or modification. He stated that he was opposed to the junior college in any form and that the four-year unit was the last straw. [December 104. NarionaL AssociaATION OF SECONDARY-SCHOOL PRINCIPALS 3. The lack of public understanding. The majority of the patrons and even the faculties and student bodies of secondary schools and junior colleges were trained under the old system. The changing of their points of view is no small undertaking. 4. The power of vested interests in traditional forms. Many superintendents have confessed that they recognized the supe- riority of the four-year unit but that the secondary-school principal or dean of the junior college had become so thoroughly entrenched in his position as to make impossible any change without a community revo- lution. 5. Problems of the pioneer. Most of the problems of the four-year junior college are of this char- acter. The six-four-four plan is not a light innovation in school re-organi- zation. This fact has accounted for the long period of time required to get it under way. These are the only serious obstacles that have been encountered by administrators of the four-year junior college. There were, however, cer- tain problems which were prophesied by Dr. Eells at the beginning of the movement on purely hypothetical grounds. These are discussed in his book at great length but have never made their appearance. ConcLuUSION Even as far back as 1933 the late Dr. William M. Proctor reported to the Board of Education after a year’s study and survey of the six-four- four plan as organized in Pasadena that the project had already passed the stage of experimentation. He stated: The data presented and the personal observations made by the Director of Research Studies justifies him in commending the Board of Education for its foresight in being willing to embark upon a new venture in the field of educational organization, for its courage in backing the administrative staff while the plan was being tried out, and for the continued support it has given to the Superintendent and his staff which has made it possible for them to demonstrate not only the administrative feasibility of the plan, but its educational validity. There is no purpose here to imply that all problems have been solved and that there remains nothing to be done by way of in- creased service and efficiency, but it is possible to say that the experimental stage, so far as Pasadena is concerned, is passed. Having been an advocate of the six-four-four plan of organization, on theoretical grounds, for the past fifteen years, it is now my deliberate opinion after a year of contact with an actual example of that type of organization, that it has met every reasonable test and has more than justified itself. The succeeding years have yielded an ever-increasing mass of evidence for the support of Dr. Proctor’s position. Certain it is that the present four-year junior college has the overwhelming approval of faculty, student body, and patrons alike. No considerable support could be secured any- where in the district for a return to the former two-year junior college program. Financing the State’s Schools LESLIE L. CHISHOLM Associate Professor of Education, The State College of Washington Educators in the state of Washington are focusing considerable at- tention at the present time on the problem of general tax revision. The conditions underlying current interest in securing adequate financial sup- port for the schools of the state are not unique. They exist to some extent in most or perhaps all states. For example, “Unless something is done quickly about the financing of the common school system, most of the schools will have to end their present term in January, Governor Rivers told a radio audience,” said the Atlanta Constitution recently in referring to the situation in Toledo. “There is no prospect of restoring the pay cuts in Chicago teachers’ salaries, or returning the schools to a 10-month term in 1940, it was shown in the annual budget report,” reports the Chicago Daily News. “Educators Seek Better Tax Returns” said The Daily Idahonian. “Oregon contributes only 2.2 per cent to the educational system, while the remainder is received from revenues from property taxes levied by the various school districts. .. As a remedy the council (at the recent state teachers’ meeting) suggested tax revision so that state aid for schools could be paid from a variety of sources,” states the Oregonian. “Nineteen thirty- nine witnessed a determined and alarming drive against educational expen- ditures in many communities and states. In New York, Pennsylvania, and in other states, the state contribution to the support of schools in the localities were cut, with most serious consequences,” was claimed by Jesse Newlon. The following recent statements concerning the general significance of the problem being discussed seem appropriate. “Then came the depression, and public education learned to its surprise what happens when a poorly bal- anced tax system, operating through archaic administrative organization, meets a depression, and a large social activity labors in a heavy sea of popu- lar misunderstanding. The doctrine of expediency and empiricism was reaping its logical harvest.” So states Arthur B. Moelhman in Social Inter- pretation. “Many of the weaknesses of the schools are fully explained by saying that too little money has been available for the schools to use,” is related by Jesse B. Sears in Stockton School Survey. Although the foregoing statements and others which could be added to the list indicate that the problem sought to be solved in the state of Wash- ington prevails in other states as well, there are certain features in the approach to the solution of the problem as it is being attacked in the state of Washington that may assist in meeting similar problems in other states. Backcrounp TO Present Errorts Interest in general tax revision is being encouraged by the Washington State Education Association through its educational finance committee. The major objective the Committee has in mind is to lay a more substantial and a more equitable base for the support of the schools of the state, and for the 105 106 Nationat Association oF SeconpaRy-ScHooL Principacs [December support of other essential governmental activities. This objective of the Committee, however, grew out of a need which has a background. Prior to 1933, the property tax carried almost all the tax load. During that year, the legislature passed the property tax limitation law commonly referred to as the “40 mill limit.” Under this law, property may be taxed not more than forty mills for all state and local governmental purposes and was to be assessed at fifty per cent of its value. The “40 mill limit” law allocates certain portions of the forty mills to various governmental serv- ices. Local school districts are given ten mills as their maximum limit. The district of average wealth in the state can raise approximately fifteen cents per pupil per day on a tax levy of ten mills. The average expenditure per pupil per day is approximately forty-five cents. This means that state aid for education has become substantial in amount. In recognizing the need for a reduction in the property tax the legis- lature also saw the need for tax revenue from other sources. The result was a retail sales tax. In addition to the property tax and the sales tax, the tax structure of the state includes a gasoline tax, and automobile license tax, and a series of other somewhat similar taxes. A few years ago the legislature passed a personal income tax. It was ruled unconstitutional because the court defined income as property and the constitution forbids differentials in the property tax rate on the part of a taxing agency. Thus, an amendment to the constitution is necessary before a personal income tax can be used. The foregoing situation presents the following problems: (1) no ad- ditional tax revenue can come from the property tax, because of the tax limitation law, (2) there is very little or no possibility for additional tax revenue from the sales tax, because the tax rate now is at two per cent and virtually no exemptions are allowed, and (3) the immediate possibility of a personal income tax is limited. The tax situation in the state therefore makes one of two alternatives necessary. One alternative is for the schools to operate on a limited amount of money and perhaps a decreasing amount in the future since other gov- ernmental services are expanding. The other alternative is the revision of the state and local tax structure. There are two other important items in the background of the present effort at general tax revision. Those items grew out of the foregoing situ- ations. During the past two sessions of the state legislature especially, those who represented the Washington State Education Association and the State Department of Education frequently encountered the following thought from conscientious legislators: “I am for the schools, all right, and do not want to be misunderstood in that respect. But where can we get additional money for the schools? Where will it come from?” Along with the foregoing question is a similar condition. The feeling sometimes is expressed by certain sincere taxpayers that the tax load is too heavy for the people to bear. After being confronted with the foregoing question of legislators re- peatedly during the two past sessions of the state legislature especially, those representing the Washington State Education Association conferred oO a ea ae eee 1940) FINANCING THE STaTE’s SCHOOLS 107 with certain educators in the state. Upon a careful examination of prevailing conditions, it was decided to accept the statements as having been made in good faith and to proceed from that point. In fact there is little doubt but that most of the legislators who expressed the foregoing thought were en- tirely sincere. They were legislators—representatives of the people. They did not presume to be tax experts. They saw the justice of the cause of better schools, however, and it is believed that they will see the justice of the pro- posals for general tax revision when a constructive plan is formulated. An analysis of the feeling that the tax load is too heavy for the people of the state to bear leads to the belief that in the state of Washington at least the feeling grew primarily out of a one-sided tax plan in which a rela- tively few pay most of the taxes and others who justly should pay taxes are relieved of the responsibility. Thus, although the statement about high taxes is not always justified, there are some taxpayers under the existing tax system who are carrying an undue proportion of the total load. This condition, therefore, leads frequently to the feeling that the total tax load is too great for the state to carry since the individual frequently generalizes his own experience by applying it to other people. In both cases—the legis- lators’ question about where additional funds shall come from and just complaints about undue taxation—tax revision presents a practical solution. Tue Pian oF AcTION The Educational Finance Committee, after carefully studying condi- tions in the state as indicated in the foregoing discussion, decided that the need for general tax revision presented one of the most crucial problems facing the schools of the state. The committee therefore decided upon a program or plan of action to govern its work. This program consists of five closely related major parts. Let us look at each of these five parts. The first part of the committee’s plans is the preparation of a booklet setting forth the need for general tax revision and outlining the parts of a modern state and local tax system. The aim in formulating the proposed modern tax system is to outline a practical system which will call for a con- tribution for the support of government on the part of all who justly should pay for the support of government, and in proportion to their obli- gations to that respect. One of the most important factors causing inadequate support for the schools and other governmental activities is the use of a state and local tax system which is out of harmony with present-day social and economic needs as well as the principles of democracy. The practical result is that many who justly should contribute to the support of the schools and other governmental services are not called upon to do so. One consequence of this is inadequate and unstable support of important gov- ernmental services including the schools. Another consequence is that many receive the protection and benefits of government without cost to themselves. As soon as the praparation of the booklet on a modern state and local tax system is completed, the Educational Finance Committee plans to or- ganize study groups of teachers and parents throughout the state. The aim is to organize these groups throughout the state so that all teachers and 108 Nartionat Association oF SeconDARY-ScHOOL PrincipaLs [December patrons are within a reasonable distance of some such group. Copies of the booklet previously mentioned as being in preparation will be distributed to these study-groups as a basis for discussion. Following this, from time to time, will go a series of supplementary bulletins prepared under the super- vision of the committee. Each local study-group will be free to direct its own study and discussion around the problem of general tax revision. If resources permit, sectional and state meetings will be held for local study-group leaders, and of course others who are able to attend. In any case the Educational Finance Committee plans to collect materials developed or used by local study-groups in addition to that furnished by the committee itself. Thus, intimate contact will be maintained between the committee and local study-groups. A constant flow of materials and suggestions will take place in the two directions—from the committee to the local study- groups and from local study-groups to the committee. Any material devel- oped by a given local group can be made available to all groups. The purpose in organizing local study-groups is perhaps self-evident. The aim of the committee is not in any way to dictate discussion. Rather, the aim is to stimulate free and open discussion of this vital problem facing the people of the state in and through these study-groups, and to do so along lines in harmony with the American way. When this is done, there will be little doubt as to what will happen when an equitable and constructive plan for general tax revision is submitted to the coming session of the legislature. The third part of the plans of the committee is to solicit the co-oper- ation and support of other groups in the state which are or may become interested in general tax revision. The co-operation of both state and local groups will be earnestly sought. There are many groups in the state who are or may become interested in the work the committee is undertaking. If the committee fails to use that interest in a democratic way, it will miss a major opportunity for constructive leadership. In order to facilitate the work of the committee and the local study- groups, an educational finance workshop is being set up at one of the insti- tutions of higher learning in the state. This is the fourth part of the com- mittee’s plans. The workshop will make several contributions to the work of the committee and will be in operation for some two or three years at least. Plans are that through it, superintendents, principals, classroom teachers, and local study-group leaders will be provided an opportunity for a thorough and unbiassed study of the problems of adequate school support. The workshop will be most active during summer sessions, but it will operate also during the regular school year. The particular aspect of educational finance which will serve as the central theme of the workshop will vary from summer to summer. During any given summer session the central theme will grow out of conditions in the state and the phase of the work being undertaken by the educational profession in the state. The fifth part of the plans of the committee is to formulate a program to serve as the basis for action in connection with the forthcoming session of the state legislature. Out of the work of the committee, the work of the 109 FINANCING THE STATE’s SCHOOLS 1940] educational finance workshop, and the discussion of local study-groups a proposed tax plan will evolve. This will then serve as the basis for the action of the Washington State Education Association in this respect when the state legislature meets in 1941. The five foregoing parts of the present plan indicate the nature of the task the committee has assumed for the next several months. All these efforts, however, look to the possibility of adequate support for the schools of the state, as well as to the support of all other essential governmental services. Present efforts are only the first part of a more comprehensive pro- gram and will be followed by other efforts aimed at this major objective. GENERAL Tax Revision AND Democracy It is believed that the present efforts of the committee are in harmony with the democratic way of life. In fact, it is believed that the nature of the tax system used by a people is an indication of the extent to which in actual practice they have accepted the principles of democracy, at least in a very important part of the basic structure of civic life. There was a time when the king or the feudal lord went about in a suthless manner extracting sums of money from the people of his realm. At times fines were levied on individuals, primarily for the purpose of raising money. Incidentally, such practices are used in certain of the major nations today. Be that as it may, however, such practices grow out of an ac- cepted theory of the state and the place the individual occupies in the state. Under such circumstances there was no question of equity in taxation, since the rights of the individual were considered insignificant or non-existent. Neither was the “general welfare” considered, except as it coincided with the sovereign’s welfare as he saw it. On the other hand, democracy grows out of a different theory of the relationship of the individual to the state. In a democracy the individual has certain “inalienable rights.” One of those rights would seem to be justice. Hence, the tax system used to finance democracy should be just to all, each contributing his just part to help pay for the services a demo- cratic government renders its citizens. While no state in the Union has lawmakers who exercise the powers of taxation with an attitude in any way resembling the sovereigns and feudal lords of past ages, and no doubt the large majority of our lawmakers believe sincerely in democracy, neverthe- less our tax systems frequently reflect a considerable amount of pressure from minority of self-interested groups, political expediency, and hurried or poorly conceived legislative makeshifts in an effort to meet the revenue needs. The net result frequently is inequitable taxation, with its accompany- ing social and economic repercussions, and a corresponding stumbling block to a more complete realization of the American way of life. More than a century and a half ago it was said that: “We, the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, pro- mote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this constitution of the United States ‘ 110 Nationat Association oF SEconpaRY-ScHoot Principats [December ot America.” It behooves a people who still cherish that noble passage to take stock of their practices to determine the extent they use its philosophy as the basic premises upon which the scheme of public life is designed. Certainly, our inequitable state and local tax systems should come up for careful scrutiny. For example, are those tax systems so designed as to “establish justice” within the area of taxation? Is their nature such as to “promote the general welfare”? ConcLupiInGc STATEMENTS The Washington State Education Association’s interest in general tax revision grew out of practical circumstances. Educators in the state are not therefore interested in general tax revision as a means of giving themselves some busy-work. Rather, they see general tax revision as a worthy means for the accomplishment of an acceptable aim, namely, adequate schooling for the children in the state. A great deal has been done in the state along the line of equalizing educational opportunity. But it is futile to go on merely talking about better schools and more complete equalization unless there is something to equalize with. Teachers’ salaries are not what they ought to be. New school buildings are needed, more library books, supplies, and equipment are highly desirable. In sponsoring general tax revision the committee feels that it is paving the way for better schools by laying the basis for better financial support for the schools. The committee also feels that its efforts are being expended along lines in harmony with the American way. Through free and open discussion of the problem throughout the state, and at a time when the problem can be analyzed in a rational manner rather than on the basis of emotion fed by oratory, the people will be in position to arrive at a more adequate decision on the issue involved. The committee feels that the particular program it is working on is in harmony with democracy. Government in a democracy is established to “promote the general wel- fare.” The financial support of government comes from the people. If this support is to be in harmony with democratic principles, it should be given under an equitable tax system—one that does justice to all. The policy of the committee to formulate a sound program and to pro- ceed along lines in harmony with American democracy it is believed will prevent, as nearly as possible, the opportunity for vested interest and minor- ity groups to launch a flanking attack on education in the state. The aim of the committee is to avoid the development of a feeling on the part of the people of the state that the problem being attacked is merely a “personal” problem with educators, and hence a problem to be either supported or opposed on a purely emotional basis. Efforts to secure the co-operation of interested groups in the state grow out of this aim. Results obtained thus far along this line are quite significant and afe exceedingly encouraging. It may prove to be, however, that the organizing of local study-groups so that teachers and patrons may sit around the same table and make a compre- hensive and unbiassed study of the problems will prove to be the most significant single piece of work the committee is doing. , TC we We S&S we Ss SP OE See tet e§ TH TT PR TOD wow See VS ~ ” Chemurgy Points a Future WHEELER McMILLEN Editor-in-Chief of Farm Journal and Farmer’s Wife and President of National Farm Chemurgic Council Editor’s note: In a day when school administrators are adapting curriculums and introducing new materials into our secondary-school programs to meet the present-day needs of and the newer demands on youth, this revealing and exploratory description of the field of Chemurgy, ought to be of interest to administrative and curriculum directors. The Big Thicket of eastern Texas is known to produce more than two thousand species of plants. In the edge of the village of Romayor on the banks of the Trinity River is a shack of a building equipped with a few shelves, a couple of Bunsen burners and the simple essentials of a modest chemical laboratory. The students at this school pay their tuition by gathering the Spanish moss that hangs abundantly in the thicket. They have pressed oil out of castor beans, ground up old toothbrush handles, and made a mixture that is excellent nail polish. From the castor bean stalk, they have extracted cellulose and made it into paper. From the outer fibers, they have made rope and cordage. They have gathered the seeds of wild perilla and pressed them into drying oil, and grafted tung tree scions onto Buckeye trees. Eventually this enthusiastic group of students, backed earnestly by a few forward-looking local citizens, hope to examine every one of the 2,100 forms of plant growth immediately around them in the big thicket. They want to find what every plant is good for, if anything. They hope to trans- form their section from a countryside that has reaped poverty from cotton and lumber into a thriving area where agriculture and industry yield sub- stantial prosperity. That is chemurgy in action. Chemurgy is a new idea, and a new word. The word, invented less than ten years ago, means simply chemistry at work. The idea, first advanced fifteen years ago, had its beginning in recog- nition of the fact that agriculture would cease to be profitable if it had no broader job than feeding and clothing people. Efficiency was making that job so easy that a few good farmers could feed the whole nation. It was foreseen, therefore, that farmers must find ways to produce not only eat-and-wear materials of industry. They must help supply the things for which the people’s wants are unlimited. A new science made this prospect practicable. Organic chemistry had risen with the twentieth century, and had taught industry to take all sorts of materials through processes of temperatures, pressures, and chemical re- actions to manufacture fibers, plastics, dyes and other things wholly new to human experience. The new chemical products were often. better than the natural substances which had formerly been used. 111 112 Narionar Association oF SeconpaRy-ScHoot Principats_ [December Consequently one nowadays can see chemurgy in action in some of the nation’s greatest industries. Making skim milk into casein and casein into fountain pens and pencils has long been a common practice. Now it goes a few steps farther, and skim milk becomes beautiful fiber suitable for hats and clothing, draperies and rugs. Soy beans, first grown for stock feed, have in a few years become a major crop. The oil, besides being excellent for food purposes, goes into paints in steadily rising quantities. The meal, left after the oil is pressed out, is further processed until the proteins are separated. The soy bean proteins reach a number of industrial destina- tions, not the least amazing of which is a fiber for automobile upholstery and several other probable uses. The carbohydrate of corn is turned into starch, and the oil from the germ may beome a bath sponge or a paint, while the proteins of corn are now processed into plastics. The United States is still dependent on the East Indies for a great deal of the starch that goes into laundries, glues, adhesives, textile and paper sizing. Very little rice and wheat starch is produced in the country, al- though a fair amount of corn starch is made for cooking and other purposes. With the help of the Bureau of Agricultural Chemistry and Engineering, a sweet potato starch factory was set up a few years ago in Laurel, Missis- sippi, the bustling town that advertises itself as “America’s 100% Chem- urgic City.” Its success in producing fine white starch resulted in the establishment of a private factory in Louisiana last year. Government officials now estimate that 150 such factories, processing sweet potatoes from 200,000 acres of land now producing surplus cotton or nothing at all, would make the nation independent of foreign supplies of starch. Drying oils are essential to paint, linoleum and many other manu- facturers, yet only a portion of the nation’s needs are produced in the United States. Last year along the Gulf Coast, approximately 2,000,000 pounds of tung oil were produced, but nearly 20,000,000 pounds had to be imported, mostly from war-beleagured China. Despite increasing flax production, about half the linseed oil used by paint and varnish manufacturers comes from outside the country. Test planting of chia, perilla and safflower— other oil-bearing crops—have shown promising resu!ts in the Southwest. CHEMICAL AND PLANT ReEsEARCH NEEDED The foregoing examples of chemurgic discoveries and chemurgic crops serve to illustrate two essential points of the chemurgic program: (1) chem- ical research must (and does) find new uses for crops now produced in quantity—sometimes in surplus—in the United States; and (2) plant re- search must find methods of growing new crops and new varieties of old crops in the United States—crops for which uses have already been estab- lished and which now are imported. A third point is the finding of paying markets for farm wastes. Commercial utilization of raisin seeds in Cali- fornia, and wall board manufactured from sugar cane bagasse illustrate. The four regional research laboratories that are being opened this fall under the United States Department of Agriculture are limited by law 1940] Cuemurcy Points A Future 113 to the investigation of new uses for surplus agricultural commodities. With additional funds, the state experiment stations could undertake the necessary plant research, but those funds—perhaps a total of $1,200,000 are not forth- coming. The additional chemical research, outside that in governmental and private industrial laboratories, can be carried on by school and college faculties and science students. Chemurgic courses are already being offered in a number of secondary schools and colleges. Chemurgy’s thesis is productivity—the creation of new wealth. New wealth contributes to the advantage of all. In the final analysis, new wealth comes from natural resources, soil, sea and mine. Mineral resources, once extracted, are not replaced. All plant life is regularly renewable. Ninety- eight per cent of plant substance derives from air and water, always avail- able, and the two per cent of mineral matter, mostly nitrogen, phosphorus and potash, is easily replaced in the soil. So only human ignorance limits the amount of new wealth that can be produced by the farmers. Farm families comprise about twenty-five per cent of the population— a quarter of the people directly dependent upon plant life for all the goods they acquire. Another twenty-five per cent are storekeepers, lawyers, real estate salesmen, machinery and automobile dealers, insurance salesmen who depend for their living on the first turnover of the farm dollar. Others de- pend on the next turn of that dollar. Thus agriculture really is the economic backbone of the nation. Prosperity depends upon new goods and the new dollars necessary to facilitate their exchange. Those vital new goods must come primarily from the soil, to be consumed as plastics, starches, drying oils, adhesives, totally new fibers, household and office equipment, furniture, drugs, as well as food and standard textiles. Chemurgy, in short, is a means to more markets for agriculture, new jobs in industry, more goods for everybody. Yet the chemurgists claim no overnight panacea that will result in green pastures with ambrosia trees for shade and nectar brooks for refresh- ment. Successful application of chemurgy to modern life can come only with education and research; education in schools, homes, factories, farms offices and research in secondary-school and college laboratories, in institu- tions and manufacturing concerns, in experiment stations and in the fields, and in self-sustaining curiosity mills like the Romayor school where young- sters and the young in heart are wrapped up in the immediate practical but do not overlook the future potentiality. It is the same old American way of ideas and hard work. News Votes PHYSICAL FITNESS AND EDUCATION—‘‘What can we do that we are not already doing to improve the physical health of our youth?” “How shall we undertake it?” These are two questions that must be insistently asked by every teacher, administrator, school board member, and parent, declares U. S. Commissioner of Education, John W. Studebaker. In an editorial appearing in the November issue of School Life, Commis- sioner Studebaker urges the careful consideration of all educators and citizens for the plan of action recently recommended by the American Association for Health, Physical Education, and Recreation. The plan is briefly outlined: A. Health Education—in every school, under direction of school authorities. 1. Health Service for all boys and girls in school to include: health appraisal—both physical and mental; and follow-up to secure cor- rection of defects, changes of regimen, and adjustment of outlooks. 2. Healthful school living—sanitation, schedules of work and recreation, cordial relationships between teachers and pupils. 3. Health instruction—expert teaching and supervision by worthy exem- plars of the teaching of scientific health facts. B. Physical Education—in every school under direction of school authorities. 1, Liberal time allotments during the day for vigorous physical play, utilizing the afternoon hours for sports, hikes, constructive physical work, and conditioning exercises, under medical supervision with adequate facilities and teaching personnel. Provision of school camps, for vacation experiences, week-end hikes, and physical work activities such as soil conservation, camp con- struction, forest preservation, road and trail building. to C. Recreation— 1, Preparation of recreational leadership for Army and Navy needs. 2. Preparation of recreational leadership for communities. D. Federal Aid—allotted to the states to provide for teacher preparation; improvement of facilities; salaries for administration, supervision, and teaching; construction, operation, and maintenance of school camps. INTERESTED IN RADIO?—Want to become an announcer? To attend a college offering courses in radio? To broadcast a program on safety? To obtain scripts, sound effects? Then send a request together with ten cents, to the Educational Radio Script Exchange, U. S. Office of Education, Washington, D. C., and receive the leatiet entitled “What the F.R.E.C, offers you.” NATIONAL UNITY: EDUCATION’S PART—Recognizing the need for a clearer understanding of democracy and its implications, as well as for the need of greater devotion to it, as being essential to national unity, one hundred twenty-two faculty members of Teachers College, Columbia University, have published a statement which begins with a discussion of the gravity of the present situation, and which enumerates the assets of our Nation, discusses the meaning of democracy, and concludes with a creed of democracy. Copies of this pamphlet, Democracy and Education in the Current Crisis, are obtain- able in quantities at a cost of $1.80 a hundred, single copies free, from the Bureau of Publications, Teachers College, Columbia University, New York City. FACTUAL MATERIALS ON FOREIGN RELATIONS—To meet the need of teachers of secondary-school pupils and college freshmen and sophomores for discussing intelligently the foreign relations of the United States, the American Council 114 : QO eH we Al th re va 1940] News Notes 115 on Education is undertaking the preparation of teaching materials on inter- national relations. Objectivity in appraising the world scene and the place of the United States in that scene are concisely stated. Important areas in which specific materials are being prepared are as follows: the United States and the Western Hemisphere; the United States and the Far East; the United States and Neutrality—1789-1940; Propaganda and Popular Attitudes on International Affairs; American Defense; the United States Economy in a Totalitarian World. Some of these materials are now ready for distribution. For information, write the American Council on Education, Washington, D. C. MEN BEFORE MATERIALS—“If material serves youth, it should be used; if not, it should be returned to the vault,” remarks J. Paul Leonard, of Stanford University, in his article “Current Conflicts in the Curriculum,” in the November Curriculum Journal. The writer asserts that there are arguments in the curriculum field related to four basic questions as follows: 1. What shall be the nature of the content of the curriculum? 2. Who shall select the appropriate learning experiences? 3. How shall learning be organized? 4. What methods shall receive acceptance? In re-counting a list of problems belonging to basic question one, prob- lems which arise from the experiences of boys and girls are stated in the form of questions submitted by teachers, parents, citizens, and youth themselves. “How can we establish and maintain a home of our own? What clothing is becoming to me and how can I secure it? What do we need to do to make medical service available? What should we know before we choose a mate? How do you take care of children? By what standards should we live? What can a man believe? Why can’t we stop war? What career should I choose? How can we plan for more wise use of our natural resources? HOUSING, A STUDY COoURSE—Teachers interested in the study of housing as a means of cutting across the lines of many established subjects in the curriculum will be interested in reviewing Housing Study Course. The present course is the third revision of An Outline for a Housing Study Course, first issued in 1934 under the auspices of the Housing Section of the Welfare Council, 44 East 23rd Street, New York. Brought up to date as to bibliography and legal provisions and reflecting recent thinking on the part of those working in the field, the volume now presents the following sections: Suggestions to Teachers, Why Study Housing? History of Housing, Housing Conditions of the “One-Third,” Main Underlying Causes of Poor Housing, New York as the Pioneer, Map of Federal Housing Projects, Federal Laws and Agencies in Housing, American Housing Today, Glossary of Terms, Bibliography. The booklet is available at 50 cents. ScHOOLS HAVE NEW TASK—The American education system must strive to “produce people who would be fitted to live as good citizens in a democracy,” imbued with attitudes of tolerance and of regard for freedom, rather than inculcate any one brand of democracy, said Harry Woodbrun Chase, chancellor of New York University, in an address before the New York Schoolmaster Club, as reported by the New York Times, of November 10. LUNCHES IN ALABAMA SCHOOLS—The public schools of Jefferson County, Alabama, are storehouses of food as well as of booklore. With twenty-four thousand jars of canned foods—fruits, vegetables, soup mixtures, pickles, relish, estimated at twenty cents, the schools have on hand a food supply valued at $4,800, according to the Christian Science Monitor. 116 Nationa Association oF SeconpARY-ScHOOL Principats [December The food is the result of a Work Projects Administration garden-canning project. Most of the vegetables were grown in the communities, twenty of the schools having gardens ranging in size from one to five acres. The canning was done during the summer in thirty of the county schools. Sixty-three women were employed to do the work at a rate of thirty-six cents an hour, sixty hours every two weeks. For every twenty under-privileged child in a school, one W.P.A. worker was allowed. Music AND CHARACTER—An appreciation of the Georgia Girls’ Military Band, appearing in The Christian Science Monitor, gives the following account of a unique organization which is described as a band that is “primarily an educational institution, devoted to developing a high type of womanhood.” Col. Jack Taylor, leader and creator of the band, tries to help the girls live lives that ennoble as well as play music that uplifts. Colonel Taylor himself is active in church work and directs the music of a large Sunday School. Practically all the girls are attached to churches. On applying for membership in the band, they must bring certificates of good character from a pastor or teacher. All are in school. Good marks are a requisite to band membership. None smokes or uses alcoholic beverages. When marching, the band is not preceded by scantily clad drum majorettes, performing antics. It gives its chief attention to music, not strutting. “This self-respect does not mean the young women are devoid of charm or vivacity. Their beauty is equal to their dignity and grace. Their spirits are as bright and sparkling as their brilliant costumes.” And so this group earned this tribute at the National Convention of the American Legion. EDUCATION, A CONTINUOUS PROCESS—Tennyson said, “I am a part of all that I have met.” This has its application in the fact that education cannot be cut away from all of life and placed in a separate compartment to which one goes for an occasional concentrated dose of enlightenment or inspiration when one feels the need of it,” says Roscoe Pulliam, writing on the subject “Education Is a Continuous Process,” in a recent issue of Educational Adminis- tration and Supervision. Dr. Pulliam urges everyone deliberately to set out to provide for himself a balanced ration of reading, of association and discussion, so that he may have a chance to get from sympathetic and understanding sources state- ments of every reasonable point of view on public questions, to say nothing of getting all of the relevant facts on important issues truthfully stated. FAMILY LIFE EDUCATION—The United States Office of Education, announced, in 1938, the beginning of four experimental programs in family life education. The areas chosen for the operation of these programs were Obion County, Tennessee; Box Elder County, Utah; Toledo, Ohio; and Wichita, Kansas. The results of the program are described in the article “Community Organization for Family Life Education,” by Edna P. Amidon and Muriel W. Brown, writing in the November issue of School Life. You may ask, “Is it possible for a community to organize itself so as to discover the needs of its own families, and to adequately mobilize its own resources?” The answer is yes, according to the four experimental centers described in this story. VIRGINIA PROVIDES SKILLED WORKERS—“Where can I get a job?... “I’m a high-school graduate, but nobody will hire me.” .. . “Will you help my son get into the apprentice school? ... “Does the state conduct a trade 1940} News Notes 117 school?” These and numerous other questions and problems of Virginia’s unemployed youths are being attacked by the state. Writing in the October issue of the Virginia Journal of Education, B. H. Van Oot, State supervisor of trade and industrial education describes the part- time co-operative programs in Diversified Occupations and Distributive Edu- cation, promoted by the State Board of Education, as being one of the most effective types for supplying training. This plan provides high-school students and a few post-graduates with the opportunity to spend half their time in school and half their time working in some place of employment. The program is so arranged that students are enabled to complete their high-school courses while earning enough money to support themselves, to save for further edu- cation, or to contribute toward family support. “For THESE AmMeRIcas”—“Education for inter-American friendship needs university exchanges, scholarly and artistic and scientific co-operation, his- torical and literary and linguistic studies of the Americas, but it needs some- thing more. The greatest need is for education for inter-American friendship in the elementary and secondary schools.” The above statement is quoted from For These Americas, a pamphlet issued by the Educational Policies Commission of the National Education Association. This pamphlet states not only the need of educating for American friendship but also some of the various attitudes and means of realizing it. For These Americas, price ten cents, stimulates inspiration and enthusiasm. MeetiIne Youtu NEEps—Bill H. R. 9763 to establish a Youth Reference Service in the Library of Congress is now pending before the House Library Committee. An identical bill (8.3987) is pending before the Senate Library Committee. At this time of writing neither bill has heen reported out. At present there is no agency in this country which centers all relevant material in the youth field and makes it continuously available to persons and organiza- tions interested in youth. To correct this situation, these bills propose legis- lation setting up a Youth Reference Service in the Library of Congress, to: 1. Act as a clearinghouse of information on youth needs, problems, studies, significant experiments, and programs. 2. Stimulate other libraries to similar activities. 3. Keep youth leaders and other interested persons informed on cur- rent contributions in the youth field. 4. Provide a source of curriculum materials for schools and colleges. 5. Make the research, recommendations, and experimental findings of emergency and permanent youth-serving agencies available to others. 6. Give counsel to persons preparing theses, conducting research, or writing books or articles on youth topics. 7. Prepare special youth bibliographies. Sonoo.t-LEAVING YouTH.—Are you working on or planning to work on the problem of your school’s education program by studying your school leavers? If so, you are undoubtedly interested in using some of the materials developed by the Occupation Adjustment Study during the last two years and described quite extensively in the November 1940 issue of THE BULLETIN. For further information write to the Occupational Adjustment Study of the National Association of Secondary-School Principals, 425 West 123rd Street, New York City, New York. Your school can join with others under the leadership of the staff of this Adjustment Study in an inquiry into your local situation. She Paik: Ceclliana BOOKS AND PAMPHLETS PROFESSIONAL Books: Berkson, I. B. Preface to an Educational Philosophy. New York: Teachers College, Columbia University, 1940. 250 pp. $2.50. A discussion of a philosophy of education which is related to the economic and political tendencies of our day. An attempt to clarify differences of opinion on philosophic and social fundamentals now engaging the attention of edu- cators. Deliberative Committee Reports in Secondary Education. Washington, D. C.: American Council on Education, September, 1940, 37 pp. 25 cents. Sum- maries of deliberative committee reports on various publications in the field of secondary education made during the past four years. Prepared by the Educational Policies Commission of the N. E. A. HAMBRIDGE, GOVE. New Aims in Education. New York: McGraw-Hill Co., 1940. 226 pages. $2.00. This book brings into focus many of the vague criticisms now being made of the whole educational system. It is based on the results of ten years of research conducted by the Carnegie Founda- tion for the Advancement of Learning among schools in Pennsylvania. Harris, A. J. How to Increase Reading Ability. New York: Longmans, Green and Co., 1940. 403 pages. $3.00. The first part lays emphasis upon the importance of reading as a tool subject and critically examines | various’ teaching systems. There follows a detailed treatment of the factors which retard the development of normal reading skills. Diag- nostic processes are then discussed together with remedial methods. The appendices contain a list of reading tests and a graded list of books for grades two to six. While the book deals largely with the elementary grades, it is also applicable to the slow-reading secondary-school pupil. McKown, H. C. ano Roperts, A. B. Audio-visual Aids to Instruction. New York: McGraw-Hill Co., 1940. 385 pages. $3.00. Offers assistance to the teacher and administrator in the selection, organization, and utilization of audio-visual aids of all types. Emphasis is upon actual practice. Occupational Follow-up and Adjustment Service Plan of the National Asso- ciation of Secondary-School Principals. New York: The Occupational Adjustment Study of the National Association of Secondary-School Prin- cipals, 425 West 123rd Street, November, 1940. 6 pages. Free. A summary of the plan answering such questions as, purpose, schools interested, instruments used, staff organization needed, help to participating schools, and cost of materials. The following instruments are available from the aforementioned address to those interested in introducing the Follow-up Adjustment Plan in their schools: Follow-up Record Card, .6 cents each; Post-school Inventory, .8 cents each: Follow-up Interview Schedule, 1.8 cents each; Employer Interview Schedule, .8 cents each. These prices pre- vail when ordered for school use. One copy of the manual is given free with orders of the forms. Addi- tional copies of the manual are available for 85 cents each. Sample set of the four instruments costs ten cents. Proceedings of the Seventy-eighth Annual Meeting of the National Education Association held in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, June 30-July 4, 1940. Wash- ington, D. C. The Association, 1940. 990 pages. $2.00. In most instances, an abstract of the addresses delivered before the convention. Reavis, W. C. (editor). Evaluating the Work of the School. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1940. 236 pages. The proceedings of the Ninth Annual Conference for Administrative Officers of Public and Pri- vate Schools held by the University of Chicago. The first part deals with 118 1940] Tue Book CoLuMN 119 the nature and purposes of evaluation; the second with the appraisal of instructional services; the third, with the appraisal of administrative and supervising services; the fourth, with the evaluation of the socializing functions of The Modern School; and the fifth, programs of evaluation. SCHOENCHEN, G. G. The Activity School. New York: Longmans, Green and Co., 1940. 359 pages. $2.50. The first part presents a history of this movement, its philosophical foundations and its practical aspects. The second part discusses method used while the third part is devoted to the possible application of this concept to educational theory and practice. Witey, G. M., Jr. The Redirection of Secondary Education. New York: Mac- millan Co., 1940. 493 pages. $2.50. The author points out what the interrelation of society and the educative processes is, what the func- tion of secondary education in terms of democratic living is, what social significance is attached to an increased and heterogeneous enrollment and what the social implications of the core curriculum are. The con- tributions of the assembly, the home room, the library, the laboratory, and the health education program are discussed in terms of their social implications. The part that the principal plays as an educational leader, both within the school and within the community, is shown in terms of a social approach to the problems of youth and developing maturity. ZACHRY, C. B. Emotion and Conduct in Adolescence. New York: D. Appleton Century Co., 1940. 563 pages. $3.00. Tasks of life adjustments with which the adolescent must cope are discussed in the light of interacting personal and cultural demands. The needs of adolescents are shown and the po- tential function of the educator in helping the adolescent toward construc- tive and satisfying adjustments is indicated. A report by the Commis- sion on Secondary School Curriculum of the P. E. A. TEXTBOOKS: Barnes, C. C., AND Dat, J. B. American Life and Problems. New York: Longmans, Green and Co., 1940. 626 pages. $1.76. DALE, EDGAR, AND VERNON, NoRME, Propaganda Analysis, An Annotated Bib- liography, Series I, Vol. I, No. 2. Columbus, Ohio, Bureau of Educational Research, The Ohio State University, May, 1940. 29 pages. 25 cents. Con- tains 65 references. Hart, A., AND LegungE, F. A. The Growing Vocabulary. New York: Dutton and Co., 1940. 126 pages. $1.00. Hoppin, F. 8. Great Adventures in History and Legend. Philadelphia: David McKay Co., 1940. 181 pages. $2.50. JAFEE, BERNARD. New World of Chemistry. New York: Silver Burdette Co., 1940. 692 pages. $1.84. A 267-page workbook to accompany, 92 cents. MEISSNER, W. E., aND Myers, E. Y. Basketball for Girls. New York: A. S. Barnes and Co., 1940. 87 pages. $1.00. Ponp, F. L. Inventory of Reading Exaperiences. Stanford University, Cali- fornia: The University Press, 1940. Sample set, 15 cents; 25 copies, $1.75; 50 copies, $3.00. An 8-page manual together with a 7-page test form and scoring key designed to appraise the quality and quantity of the reading experiences of secondary-school and college students. A diag- nostic instrument, practicable for group administration. Townes, Mary E. Teaching With Motion Pictures. New York: Bureau of Publications, Teachers College, Columbia University, 1940. Revised edi- tion, 29 pages. 35 cents. A guide to sources of information and materials. WILtrIAMs, C. S. Our Freedom Series. New York: Row Peterson and Co., 1940. 10 titles; available, The Right We Defend, Right of Free Speech, Liberty of the Press, Religious Liberty, Fair Trial, In Preparation, Universal Suffrage, Protection of Home, Right of Petition Regardless of Race, and 120 Nartonat AssoctaTion oF SeconpaRy-ScHoot Princtpats [December In Defense of Discovery. 83 pages. 48 cents each. Each book deals with an important aspect of democracy as related to the student in an effort to equip him to meet intelligently and effectively, today’s challenges to defend these freedoms, Illustrated in four colors. Two manuals (free with the books) accompany the series. These provide aids for a func- tional program in the teaching of democracy, serve as guides for the study and analysis of content and offer definite suggestions for discus- sion, projects, and related activities, and additional reading and research. Wo re, D. M., anp Geyer, E. M. Enjoying English. 1940, Vol. I, 419 pages.; Vol. II, 391 pages. Pamphlets of the American Youth Commission, Washington, D. C. Finding the Facts About Youth. 1940. 16 pages. Free. Concerns surveys used to gather information about the youth problem in three community areas so that constructive action could be undertaken. New Strength for America. 1940. 12 pages. Free. Presents the recrea- tional project in Columbus, Indiana. Rallying Resources for Youth. 1940. 20 pages. Free. Describes the com- munity council development in Los Angeles County, California; Dowagiac, Michigan; and Greenville County, South Carolina. Pamphlets of the National Education Association, Washington, D. C. Consumer Co-operatives. June, 1940. 39 pages. 25 cents. Education and the Defense of American Democracy, by the Educational Policies Commission, July, 1940. 23 pages. 10 cents; 10 to 99 copies, 25 per cent discount; 100 or more copies, 33 1/3 per cent discount. Promoting World Goodwill in High Schools. June, 1940. 39 pages. 25 cents. State Minimum Salary Standards for Teachers. 1940, 95 pages. Mimeo. 25 cents. EDUCATIONAL EVENTS Calendar December 16-13. American Vocational Association, San Francisco, California. Informa- tion can be secured from L. H. Dennis, Executive Secretary, 1010 Ver- mont Avenue, N. W., Washington, D. C. 26-28 State Association of Secondary-School Principals annual holiday con- ference. Syracuse, New York, at the Hotel Onondaga. Theme: Social Competence. ; 27-30 American Historical Association, New York City, Pennsylvania Hotel. 27-31 National Council of Geography Teachers, Louisiana State University, University, La. February 7 State Association of Secondary-School Principals annual meeting in conjunction with the State Teachers Convention, Tulsa, Oklahoma. 22-27 American Association of Schoo] Administrators, Atlantic City, New Jersey. 27 to March 1 American Association of Junior Colleges, Chicago, Illinois, March 13-15 Wapbington State Association of Secondary-School Principals annual - 0) meeting. Seattle. Headquarters, Edmond Meany Hotel. BER o