UNIVERSITY OF OREGON BULLETIN New Series JULY, 1915 VoLXII.No. 11 CONSTRUCTIVE SURVEY OF THE PUBLIC SCHOOL SYSTEM OF ASHLAND, OREGON imm^ Published monthly by the University of Oregon, and entered at the postoffice in Eugene, Oregon, as second-class matter. Itn.9grtpli CONSTRUCTIVE SURVEY OF THE PUBLIC SCHOOL SYSTEM OF ASHLAND, OREGON FINAL REPORT, APRIL 15, 1915 FRED C. AYER Professor of Education, u'niversity of Oregon, Director of the Survey CHARLES R. FRAZLER Superintendent of Schools, 'Everett, Washington ^ DON C. SOWERS Professor of Municipalities and Public Accounting, University of Oregon "^ Salem, Oregon : State Printing Department 1915 ■ l\(o^^ TABLE OF CONTENTS OF THE REPORT Page Introduction 5 1. Letters of Transmittal 5 2. Scope of the Survey 5 Chapter I — Grounds, Buildings, and Equipment 7 1. External Appearance 7 2. Internal Appearance 7 3. Fire Drills 10 4. Sanitation 10 5. Regulation of Noise from the Manual Training Rooms 10 6. Special Data 11 Chapter II— The Teaching Staff 12 1. General Statement 12 2. Training, Experience, and Retention 12 3. Methods of Improvement 13 4. Salaries of Teachers 14 Chapter III — The Course of Study in Its Relation to the Educational Needs of Ashland 16 1. The Community and the Public School Graduate 16 2. Vocational Education 17 Commercial Training 17 Teacher Training 18 Domestic Science and Normal Training 19 Agriculture 20 The Vocational Problem 20 3. Physical Education 20 Recess 20 Athletics 21 4. Incidental Civic Conditions 21 Chapter IV — Instruction. Methods and Supervision 23 1. General Methods and Results of Instruction 23 2. Cooperative Supervision 25 3. Departmental Instruction and Supervised Study 27 Chapter V — Instruction. Special Tests 29 1. Dictation Tests 29 2. Tests in Spelling 32 3. Tests of Handwriting 33 4. Eighth Grade Examinations 36 Chapter VI — Progress of Pupils 38 1. Retardation 38 2. Promotion 40 3. Elimination 41 CONSTRUCTIVE SURVEY OF Page Chapter VII — Administrative Organization 43 1. Organization of the School Board 43 2. Financial Procedure 43 3. Recording of Teachers' Certificates 45 4. Payroll 45 5. School Records at High School 46 6. The Budget 47 7. Record of Receipts 47 8. Perpetual Inventory 49 9. Annual Report 49 Chapter VIII — Summary of Recommendations 51 ASHLAND PUBLIC SCHOOLS INTRODUCTION 1. LETTERS OF TRANSMITTAL March 8, 1915. To THE Board of Education, Ashland, Oregon. Gentlemen: In response to your invitation issued through your Superintendent of Schools, Mr. George A. Briscoe, the undersigned committee has made a study of the Ashland Public Schools and submits its report herewith as follows. Signed : Fred C. Ayer, Charles R. Frazier, Don C. Sowers. To the Patrons of the Ashland Schools: The Committee for the Constructive Survey of the Ashland Public Schools wishes to assure you that your school system is rendering efficient and economical service. We believe that your sons and daughters are receiving excellent training. Moreover, the parents and taxpayers of Ashland are to be congratulated upon possessing a public school system of exceptional merit in spirit and practice. It should be remembered, however, that the standards of education are progressive and that the opportunities and demands of life daily grow more complex. It will not do to rest upon the oars now. We therefore urge you to be ever on the alert to keep your schools in the van of progress so that Ashland's greatest product, the coming genera- tion, will grow to its fullest fruition and yield returns in most abundant measure. 2. SCOPE OF THE SURVEY The materials upon which the report of the committee is based have been gathered from various sources. During the year 1914 the superin- tendent of the Ashland schools under the direction of Professor Ayer of the University of Oregon (a member of the survey committee) made an exhaustive analytical survey and statistical report of the grounds, buildings, equipment, enrollment, distribution, teaching staff, and admin- istrative and instructional units and costs of the Ashland schools. In this work the forms used were those elaborated by Dr. J. F. Bobbitt of the School of Education, University of Chicago. This was followed by a detailed analytical study of promotion, retardation, and elimination in which, for the most part, the forms elaborated by Dr. Leonard P. Ayres of the Russell Sage Foundation were followed. Much credit must be given to this preliminary work on the part of Superintendent Briscoe in supplying data to the survey committee which has taken occasion to verify the authenticity of the statistics. Two members of the committee, C. R. Frazier, Superintendent of the Everett, Washington, Public Schools, and Fred C. Ayer, Professor of Education, University of Oregon, worked diligently for six days in a CONSTRUCTIVE SURVEY OF personal examination of the Ashland system. After a preliminary survey of the entire system, daytimes were devoted to the collection of data, while evenings were given to joint analysis of the facts at hand. At all points the committee worked in cooperation and all differences of opinion, which were rare, have been excluded from the final report. Superintendent Frazier and Professor Ayer were joined the last two days by Don C. Sowers, Professor of Municipalities and Public Account- ing, University of Oregon, (formerly connected with the New York Bureau of Municipal Research), who made a special study of the business administration of the Ashland schools. The main report has been prepared and elaborated since the time of the local survey. Some of the students in Professor Ayer's advanced classes in education at the University of Oregon have assisted materially in judging and tabulating the results of some of the special tests of instruction. The committee has conscientiously endeavored to make the survey upon a scientific and impartial basis, and in their recommendations have constantly kept in mind the future needs of the Ashland schools in particular rather than school systems in general. The report represents the unanimous and unreserved opinions of all the members of the survey committee. No effort was made to make an exhaustive study of every phase of the Ashland school system but the time and attention of the committee were so distributed as to consider adequately the educational factors which seemed of greatest import to future constructive effort. ASHLAND PUBLIC SCHOOLS CHAPTER I BUILDINGS, GROUNDS AND EQUIPMENT 1. EXTERNAL APPEARANCE Ashland has three school buildings. The high school building, the newest of the three, has been in use for five years. It was erected at a cost of $75,000.00. It is a handsome building of unique construction and highly satisfactory in its arrangements. There are six acres in the high school grounds. Aside from standing room for the building, there is a school garden covering an acre and a half, an athletic field covering two acres and generous parking strips of lawn. The East and West grade schools are well housed in well kept brick buildings. The East School has three acres in grounds and the West School two acres. Portions of both these grounds are parked and the balance is devoted to playgrounds and athletics. Both grounds are equipped for baseball, basket ball, volley ball and tennis. Upon all three of these grounds very complete sprinkling systems have been established. It is evident that much thought and care have been expended upon the school buildings and grounds by the school authorities and that the work of the janitors at all three buildings is being thoroughly and conscien- tiously done. 2. INTERNAL APPEARANCE Aesthetic surroundings have long been recognized as a prime agency in forming good taste and a discriminating appreciation of the beautiful. The natural environs of Ashland are a powerful asset in this direction. Moreover the school grounds and buildings of Ashland are uniformly artistic; indeed rather exceptional in this respect. Probably the most potent influence of static beauty upon school children lies in the decora- tions which ornament the walls and interiors of the rooms in which they spend a large share of their time. Conditions in the Ashland schools are variable in this respect, even within the same building. On the one hand we desire to commend very highly the admirable selection and . arrangement of pictures found in the high school assembly room. The aesthetic effect is unusually pleasing and can not fail to exert a powerful refining influence upon the pupils. On the other hand, while certain rooms in the grade buildings are artistically decorated, the colorless pi-ints and bleak photographs which hang upon the walls of many of the rooms are not of a nature to guide children to better standards of taste and appreciation of what is good design or artistic decoration. The committee recommends immediate attention to the interior deco- rations of the rooms of the grade buildings. We suggest that efforts be made to encourage various agencies to present good pictures, mural decorations, and pieces of sculpture to the schools. We also suggest that parents and friends make temporary loan of good examples of the spatial arts to the schools. We believe that this practice will result to Ashland children in a decided uplift in aesthetic appreciation. CONSTRUCTIVE SURVEY OF ASHLAND PUBLIC SCHOOLS 10 CONSTRUCTIVE SURVEY OF 3. FIRE DRILLS The provision made for fire drills is commendable. A fire drill at the East School was given at the request of the committee which resulted in the emptying of the building of its 300 children in 58 seconds. The children had returned to their rooms, marching to music, and all doors were closed with classes ready to work within two and one-half minutes after the first alarm sounded. 4. SANITATION In the grades hourly blackboard records of temperature are kept. In spite of these and other precautions we found so many instances in the different buildings of a temperature of 73 degrees or 74 degrees and even 76 degrees that we believe the working efficiency of pupils and teachers is interfered with and we recommend that the temperature be kept at 68 degrees as the standard with a permissible range of two degrees either way, and that means be found for making permanent a temperature between 66 and 70 degrees. We found the buildings clean and neat and that disinfectants are used frequently in corridors and toilets. In the East School the hallways and corridors are cold at all times. It would be an improvement if heat were provided so that pupils passing from class rooms to basement or from room to room would not experience too sudden changes in tempera- ture. We found in both grade buildings that the stalls in the toilets were not provided with doors. The advisability of providing doors for these stalls or of providing a sort of partition or screen, placed 3 or 4 feet in front of these stalls is urged by the committee. The committee believes it is wise to conserve the natural sensitiveness of childhood. The objections made by social reformers do not hold, it seems to us, against our recommendation of having a partition or screen placed in front of these stalls. 5. REGULATION OF NOISE FROM THE MANUAL TRAINING ROOM The manual training shops at the high school are placed in the basement. The class rooms meeting directly overhead are much disturbed froni the necessary noise arising from the operations of the manual training classes. This condition should be remedied either by providing very effective deadening for the floors above the manual training rooms or by moving the manual training work to special shop rooms to be constructed on the outside of the main building. Since it is only a question of a little time until the present high school building will be overcrowded, the committee is of the opinion that steps should be taken soon to provide a suitable frame building for the shopwork erected somewhere on the high school grounds. We further suggest that when this project is undei'taken, the boys who have had training in the manual training shops of the high school should be employed to do much of the work under the direction of an instructor or a master carpenter. ASHLAND PUBLIC SCHOOLS 11 6. SPECIAL DATA The following data with reference to the buildings and grounds shows definitely the provisions that have been made for the Ashland schools together with certain items of cost valuable for comparison. East School Value of all science apparatus and equipment Value per pupil in average daily attendance Total No. hours janitor and engineer services per week.... 60 Average No. pupils per hour, of service 6.8 "Weekly cost per pupil 033 Weekly cost per 1,000 sq. ft. floor space cared for 1.08 Total No. hours per week building is used by pupils and community 37.5 Cost of janitor service for each hour of use 36% Cost of janitor service each hour of use per 1,000 cu. ft. of building space 0017 Cost of fuel for each hour of pupils' and community's use .156 Cost of fuel for each hour per 1,000 cu. ft. building space .00072 Total cu. ft. of building space (used or usable) 215,740 No. cu. ft. per pupil 523 Size of school site in sq. ft 133,375 Total outdoor play space in sq. ft 115,570 Total school garden space in sq. ft No. sq. ft. per pupil No. toilet seats for boys 5 No. toilet seats for girls 6 No. times per year recitation rooms are scrubbed 2 No. times per year windows are washed 3 No. times per year walls are cleaned or brushed down.... 2 No. times per week erasers are thoroughly cleaned by janitors 1 Chalk ledges 1 Blackboards sponged 1 Total No. books in library 303 No. books per child 1.7 No. books of fiction 126 No. books per child .3 Total floor space in recitation rooms (not laboratories) 7,664 No. sq. ft. per pupil 18.1 Floor space of corridors 792 No. sq. ft. per pupil 1.9 Total window area in recitation rooms 996.8 Total floor area in recitation rooms 5,694 Ratio of window area to floor area .17 No. of drinking fountains 4 Average No. pupils to each drinking fountain 100 No. stationary washbasins for pupils' use 4 No. pupils per washbasin 100 West High School School $1,300 7.61 60 70 6 3.4 .044 .09 .774 .748 37.5 50.0 .43 .45 .0011 .00088 .216 .000597 372,645 508,372 1,226 2,117 85,224 267,320 53,497 173,938 48,000 200 6 8 8 8 2 2 3 3 2 2 1 1 1 1 1 1 495 1,200 1.3 5 145 340 .4 1.4 8,000 7,000 21.7 29 4,053 5,000 11 21 1,176 1,000 8,000 5,000 .22 .20 4 4 92 60 4 16 92 15 12 CONSTRUCTIVE SURVEY OF CHAPTER II THE TEACHING STAFF 1. GENERAL STATEMENT In great part our description of instruction in a later chapter indicates the efficiency of the teaching staff of the Ashland schools. Favorable comment upon the type of instruction reflects favorably upon the teaching staff while the reverse is equally true. Nevertheless, whether instruction be good or bad, it is a matter of importance to note in so far as possible the peculiarities of the teaching staff which produces the results and to emphasize such characteristics as are seemingly related to good or bad teaching. The unanimous verdict of the survey committee is that the chief cause of the efficiency of the Ashland school system is to be found in its superintendent, George A. Briscoe. The more the committee has studied existing conditions the greater has become its admiration for the head of the Ashland schools. He is superintendent of the system in the fullest sense of the word. Quiet, dignified, considerate, we have found him master of every phase of administrative work with time left over to devote to class instruction and clerical duties. In short, the Ashland school system is a reflection of the personality of its most excellent superintendent. 2. TRAINING, EXPERIENCE AND RETENTION Tables one and two present data which show the training and experi- ence of the grade and high school teachers. Table One — Training and Experience of Ashland High School Teachers. Teacher's Name Graduated High School When and Where a'i Yrs. University Yrs. Experience to 1914 Yrs. in Ashland to 1914 F. E. Moore, Prin Astoria, Oregon, 1903 Peru, Nebraska, 1911 Medford, Oregon, 1910 Tabor, Iowa, 1905 3 1 4 fi 4 Delmar C. Harmon Cordelia Goffe . 4 4 Laura McCormlck *Otto Klum Asliland, Oregon, 1914 .. .. 1^^ 1 2 ! 6 1 1 1 4 3 4 1 Sterling, Nebraska 2 4 *Madge Eubanks .... Ashland, Oregon, 1911 Denver, Colorado, 1908 Eugene, Oregon, 1910 Providence, Kentucky, P)10 New Albany, Indiana, 1907 Bdgington, Illinois, 1908 .... Marengo, Indiana, 1887 2 1 W. Hassinger 2 G. M. Ruch L. T. Hodge 2% 4 2% 5 4 8 2 C. Kennard 6 Anne B. Harris i) Geo. A. Briscoe, Supt. ... 22 4 * Graduates of local high school. ASHLAND PUBLIC SCHOOLS 13 TABI.E Two — Training and Experience of Ashland Elementary School Teachers. Teacher's Name Graduated from High School When and Where Yrs. Normal Training , > o a « G. W. Milam, Prin Drippery Springs Academy, Texas, 1886 . .. 2 2 6 2 2 3 1 4 2 21/2 1 2 2 1 2 3 % 1 1 1 1 2 22 15 4 4 3 6 6 8 2 1 8 8 10 1 6 8 13 15 6 12 *G. Engle . . Ashla'nd, Oregon, 1898 12 2 N. B. Ross Ft. Morgan, Colorado, 1908 Ashland, Oregon, 1909 Adams, Nebraska, 1905 .... Spencer, Indiana, 1906 1 *B. Eliason B. Dunham 2 1 M. Johnson 2 M. M. Muir ... Portland Academy, 1908 .... Attended 3 years Storm Lake, Iowa, 1906. .... Ashland, Oregon, 1905 2 years in Ashland Ashland, Oregon, 1911 Ashland, Oregon, 1908 St. Louis, Missouri, 1907 .... McMlnnville, Oregon, 1903 Cliariton, Iowa, 1896 Ulysses, Nebi-aska, 1905.... S. Brown 4 *E. Foley 4 *E. Hurley 5 *C. Morehouse *B. Caldwell 4 A. Thompson . 3 G. Updegraf 5 I. M. Myers 12 J. Creekpaum 2 * Graduates of local high school. The two tables show that the teachers of the Ashland schools are well prepared by way of training and experience, averaging well above the mean found in cities of similar size in the west. Including all subjects the average length of training of the high school teachers is over 3% years beyond the high school, while in every instance save one the standard subjects are taught by university graduates with profes- sional training. The medium length of experience for the high school teachers is four years. This is the same as found in the high schools of the middle west belonging to the North Central Association of Colleges and Secondary Schools. One-half of the high school teachers are new this year in Ashland. This is an undesirable situation but is caused partly by the addition of new departments. School work is carried on to greater advantage from year to year by slight changes in the teaching staff, rendering as little readjustment necessary as possible and permitting increasing accommodation to the local environ- ment on the part of the retained instructors. Conditions are bad in this respect in schools throughout the country, two years being the median term of tenure in similar North Central high schools, although about 40 per cent of the teachers stay three or more years. The committee recommends that the present high school staff with possibly one or two exceptions be retained for several years and that future changes occur as gradually as financial pressure will permit. In point of training, experience, and local retention the teaching staff of the elementary schools is commendable. There is a conspicuous absence of untrained teachers, while the average experience (seven and two-thirds years) and the average local retention (three and three - fourths years) are unusually high. 3. METHODS OF IMPROVEMENT The survey committee made careful inquiry into the methods of improvement which were being used by the Ashland teachers. They were questioned as to magazines and books read (both pedagogical and 14 CONSTRUCTIVE SURVEY OF general), teachers' meetings and institutes attended, correspondence work, summer schools and special courses attended, and plans for self- improvement. The committee found much to commend. Practically every teacher is endeavoring to better his or her ability as a teacher, both by reading and by attendance at higher institutions of learning. One rather serious drawback in this respect for those who plan to remain progressive teachers is the general lack of records of methods and progress. Few of the teachers keep records of their plans and methods of teaching, depending upon the text-books or course of study to supply the organiza- tion and stimulus for preparation of lessons from year to year. The committee believes that a permanent written record of such items as references, materials and methods used, successes and failures of attempted plans, when and where to get teaching accessories, and similar notes of class-room procedure will prove of great value to the growing teacher and we urge more general use of what may be called a diary of plans and progress. It is suggested in this connection that several of the teachers may well take account of their own grammar and pronunciation. We have described the spirit of cooperation in another part of the report but it seems proper to emphasize here the esprit de corps of the Ashland body of teachers. The spirit of a "common cause" is every- where present and whether it be athletic, academic, social, or cultural function, mutual friendship and common endeavor prevail and present ample evidence of their ultimate worth. 4. SALARIES OF TEACHERS The schedule of salaries for the elementary teachers is as follows: Flr.st Year Second Year Third Year Fourth Year $65.00 $70.00 $72.50 $75.00 The high school schedule begins at $80.00 and reaches the maximum of $90.00 the third year. There is no schedule for principals or superin- tendents. At present the superintendent receives $1,800 annually. How this compares with the salaries of superintendents in other cities in the first class districts of Oregon outside of Portland is shown in Table 3. Ashland ranks twelfth in total enrollment and is tied with three other cities for thirteenth position in size of superintendent's salary. Table Threk— Enrollment and Superintendents' Salaries !?i Oregon First-class Districts. Enrollment, 1913-14 Superintendents' Salaries 1. Salem 3306 1. Salem $2,750 2. Eugene 2635 2. Eugene 2,700 3. Astoria 1727 3. Baker 2,400 4. Medford 1584 3. La Grande 2.400 5. Baker 1556 3. Pendleton 2,400 6. La Grande 1450 6. Astoria 2,100 7. Albany 1292 7. Albany 2,000 3. Corvallis 1238 7. McMinnville 2,000 9. Roseburg 1152 7. Medford 2,000 10. Pendleton 1096 7. The Dalles 2,000 11. St. Johns 1067 11. St. Johns 1,950 12. Ashland 1034 12. Oregon City 1,900 13. Oregon City 1015 13. Ashland 1,800 14. The Dalles 1009 13. Corvallis 1,800 15. Newberg 913 13. Grants Pass 1,800 16. Klamath Falls 899 13. Klamath Falls 1,800 17. Grants Pass 845 17. Roseburg 1,500 18. McMinnville 830 18. Newberg 1,350 19. Dallas 670 19. Dallas 1,200 ASHLAND PUBLIC SCHOOLS 15 Ashland pays its high school principal $1,250 annually and its grade principals $1,000 annually. Table 4 shows how this compares with similar salaries in other Oregon first-class districts. As against twelfth in enrollment, Ashland is thirteenth in salary of high school principal and seventh in salary of grade principal. Ashland pays to its high school teachers an average annual salary of $742 and to its grade teachers an average annual salary of $630. Table 5 shows that Ashland ranks seventeenth in average high school salary and twelfth in average grade salary. Table Four — Salaries of Principals in Oregon First-class Districts. 1, 2. 3, 4. 4, 4. 4. 4. 4. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 15. 17. 18. 19. High School Principal's Salary- Eugene $2,000 Klamath Falls 1,800 Salem 1,600 Pendleton 1,500 Astoria 1,500 The Dalles 1,500 Medford 1,500 Corvallis 1,500 Roseburg 1,500 St. Johns - 1,400 La Grande 1,350 Albany 1,300 Ashland 1,250 Baker 1,215 Oregon City 1,200 McMinnville 1,200 Newberg 855 No principal No principal Elementary School Principal's Salary 1. Eugene $1,200 2. Oregon City 1,150 3. St. Johns 1,092 4. Astoria 1,050 5. Salem 1,043 6. Medford 1,025 7. Ashland 1,000 8. Roseburg 967 9. The Dalles 900 10. Baker 855 11. Pendleton 855 12. Corvallis 825 13. Albany 795 14. Klamath Falls 788 15. La Grande 780 16. Newberg 765 17. Grants Pass - 765 18. McMinnville 700 19. Dallas 585 Table Five — Average Salaries of Teachers in Oregon First-class Districts. Average Salary Grade Teacher 1. Oregon City $ 879 2. The Dalles 764 3. St. Johns 760 4. Astoria 750 5. Eugene 731 6. Salem 723 7. La Grande 715 8. Pendleton 701 9. Klamath Falls 686 10. Medford 678 11. Albany 676 12. Ashland 630 13. Baker 630 14. Roseburg 621 15. Corvallis 615 16. Grants Pass 591 17. McMinnville 585 18. Dallas 540 19. Newberg 514 Average Salary High School Teacher 1. Klamath Falls $1,299 2. La Grande 1,069 3. The Dalles 1,009 4. St. Johns 1,007 5. Medford .. 6. Pendleton 6. Baker 8. Astoria 9. Salem 10. Eugene .... 11. Roseburg 9 88 971 971 942 935 909 905 12. Albany 837 13. Corvallis 14. Grants Pass 15. Oregon City 1 6. McMinnville 17. Ashland IS. Dallas 815 808 806 765 742 698 19. Newberg 698 The committee believes that the city of Ashland is getting full measure for money paid to its teaching staff. While its salary budget is not as heavy as in many other first-class districts, it is undoubtedly true that this deficiency is made up by the vigor and discrimination with which the superintendent seeks out new teaching talent, a condition made possible by the commendable non-interference of the school board. In this respect there is a desirably limited number of local graduates in the teaching staff, all of whom have taken work elsewhere and who are well up to the average of the entire group of teachers. The committee does not recommend a general increase in salaries at present, but it suggests to the board the advisability of making occasional specific increases to the best members of the teaching staff rather than lose them to other districts. 16 CONSTRUCTIVE SURVEY OF CHAPTER III THE COURSE OF STUDY IN ITS RELA- TION TO THE EDUCATIONAL NEEDS OF ASHLAND 1. THE COMMUNITY AND THE PUBLIC SCHOOL GRADUATE Each community presents its own educational problems. In attempt- ing to get some light upon the needs of Ashland from the standpoint of the pupils themselves, certain information was collected from the members of the senior class in the high school and from members of the eighth grade classes. From this it would appear that the population of Ashland does not fluctuate seriously. Of the 42 members of the senior class, including those doing post-graduate work, only eight have attended school in Ashland less than four years, and 34 have attended school in Ashland four or more years. These pupils were asked what they expected to do next year. To this 12 replied that they expected to attend college or university, seven expect to do post-graduate work in the local high school, six expect to work and some of these are working with a view to gaining funds for a future education. Two expect to attend normal school, seven expect to teach and eight were uncertain. To the question, "Have you definitely decided on a life occupation?", 15 replied "Yes," 24 replied "No," and three gave a qualified answer. An opportunity was given for those who were in doubt to express what they now considered their preference of occupation. These preferences, including those who answered positively are as follows: Teaching 16, business 5, agriculture 2, engineering 2, and one each cartooning, civil service, law, librarian, draftsman, artist, physician, metal worker, stenographer, journalist; and one expressed the intention of trying several things. Also six expressed themselves as doubtful. To the question, "Do you expect to make Ashland your future home?", 22 answered "No," 12 "Yes," and 8 were doubtful. Those who expect to remain in Ashland gave several reasons reflect- ing intense loyalty and pride in the community, some saying, "It is the best place in the world," others expressing confidence as to its future when the spring^^ are developed. Of those who do not expect to make their future home in Ashland, several gave as their reason that there were no occupational opportunities or that there were no opportunities for their particular line of work. The statistics obtained from the eighth grade class will not be given in detail as they have the same general tendencies. 73 of the 76 expect to be in school next year. The other three expect to work. 16 have already decided to become teachers, 10 to become farmers, 5 engineei's, 5 will enter business, 6 nursing, and 18 occupations claimed from one to four each. 43 out of the 76 expressed themselves as not definitely decided upon an occupation. ASHLAND PUBLIC SCHOOLS 17 There is no one large industry in this community attracting young people in large numbers. There is a population above the average in intelligence and a large appreciation, both on the part of parents and children, of the advantages of a good general education. So far as the young people have shown an inclination towards their future occupations, the figures point quite overwhelmingly toward the occupations in which a good general education is essential. Basing our opinion upon the character of the population, the limited industrial opportunities and the bent and inclination of the pupils them- selves, we feel convinced that the main effort of the educational authori- ties in Ashland should be directed toward maintaining strong courses in so-called academic branches with fundamentals, character, mental disci- pline and culture as the chief aims. There are, however, other educational needs so fundamentally important in the community that they should be considered as almost equally important with the foregoing. We refer to physical education and industrial education. These are discussed below. Important as it is that those who are to go into the professions and into business and technical occupations calling for extensive preparatory education should be provided for, there is also an imperative demand that those who would enter the so-called humbler occupations should have provision made for their specific needs. The fact that twenty-seven of the forty-two high school seniors and forty-three of the seventy-six eighth grade pupils are still very much in doubt as to their preferences for an occupation seems to argue for some sort of provision for vocational guidance in order that the choice of an occupation may be intelligently made when the time comes. While following the State Course of Study as a general guide, there is much evidence that the Ashland course has been worked out with the particular needs of Ashland young people in mind. 2. VOCATIONAL EDUCATION Under this caption we include a discussion of the commercial work in the high school, the teacher training course, and the industrial work carried on in both grades and the high school. Commercial Training. — The commercial work in the high school includes a one-year course each in bookkeeping, typewriting, shorthand, penmanship and spelling, with an additional year each in bookkeeping and shorthand. Students are, under certain circumstances, permitted to double up on commercial work and take a two-year course. At the present time there are 31 eni-olled in bookkeeping, 28 in shorthand, 78 in typewriting, while over 100 are taking penmanship and spelling. There probably are in the city of Ashland 25 positions for stenogra- phers and 15 positions for bookkeepers. It would therefore seem that possibly this branch of work is being overdone and that many of the young people will be disappointed. Upon inquiring among the students the committee learned that many of the students look upon this work as a stepping-stone to some other occupation. Some count on making use of it while doing college work and others are looking toward the civil service. However, we believe that the school authorities will be 18 CONSTRUCTIVE SURVEY OF justified in hedging about to a certain extent the privilege of taking these courses. For instance, excellent preparation in penmanship should be a prerequisite for bookkeeping and an inquiry into the purpose of each applicant might well be made to prevent pupils enrolling in type- writing because it is new or attractive and without a more serious purpose. The equipment and character of the work being done in this department justifies us in saying that the department is meeting a real vocational end and meeting it in a good way. Teacher Training.— The chief vocational activity of the Ashland schools is devoted to the Teachers' Training Course which, therefore, merits specific treatment in the report. The emphasis given to this course relates directly to the vocational opportunities of the community. Twelve of the graduates of the high school Normal Training Course in 1914 are now teaching at salaries ranging from $55 to $80 per month. Teaching careers lead as the choice of both high school students and eighth grade pupils. The Oregon school law provides that a one-year State certificate (renewable only once) shall be granted without exami- nations to applicants who have completed four years' work in an accredited high school upon completion of the teachers' training course. Among other requirements, the law provides that the course in Teachers' Training shall consist of: (a) A review of at least nine weeks each in reading, grammar, arithmetic, and geography. (b) A study of American history. (c) At least twenty periods of professional training to include a study of methods, school management, and observation work. The class is also required to take elementary agriculture, spend at least one hour a day for at least sixteen weeks in observation and practice work, and such other work as the Superintendent of Public Instruction may require. This regime has been somewhat modified in practice by the interpretation of the State Superintendent, but in spirit is carried out both in the superintendent's instructions and by the Ashland schools. One year in civics and American history is required and may be taken in the junior year. One and one-half units of professional training are required in the senior year. This embraces the following three courses, each the equivalent of one-half a unit, i, e., one-fourth of the student's entire work for one-half of one year: (1) Methods, school management, etc. (a) Nine weeks' work follow- ing Strayer's "Brief Course" and O'Shea's "Everyday Problems." (b) Nine weeks' work in Oregon school law and history of education, (lectures from Monroe) . (2) Professional reviews. (a) Nine weeks, Watson and White's Complete Arithmetic, all topics not exempted by State in eighth grade examinations, (b) Nine weeks, Kimball's Elementary English, Book II. (3) Observation and practice teaching. Fifteen weeks in the elemen- tary grades. In connection with (3), the first two days in each week are given to observation of the work of a regular teacher, the second two days to teaching, and the fifth day to writing a report. Lesson plans must be submitted in advance which are satisfactory to the regular teacher, and cadet teachers must do standard teaching or with- draw from the course. ASHLAND PUBLIC SCHOOLS 19 Wherever normal school or university training is beyond the reach of prospective teachers, the committee recommends the high school training course. We believe that the Ashland course is well arranged and efficiently administered. The hearty cooperation of the grade principals and teachers greatly strengthens the local course. The course, moreover, meets a present vocational demand and, in our opinion, is decidedly superior as a criterion for certification to the examination system also in operation in the State of Oregon. The high school training course is an agency adapted to the training of rural teachers and its completion should not certify graduates to teach in city schools or in one, two or three-year high schools. We advise prospective teachers who plan to take advanced work in a Normal School or in a university to defer the professional training until they reach such institution. This will add approximately two units to the cultural work in the high school and permit the student to take his professional training at a more mature age. At present there is but a single normal school in Oregon, which is situated at Monmouth. The Monmouth Normal is so far distant from the counties of Southern Oregon that only a few students are attracted fi'om this region. Some years ago there was also a normal school at Ashland which was legislated out of existence. The buildings still remain but are vacant. In light of the numbers of possible teachers to be trained in Southern Oregon and who are now receiving limited training, the committee desires to go on record as favoring the re-establishment of a State normal school at Ashland. Domestic Science and Manual Training. — All the girls in the sixth and seventh grades are enrolled in sewing classes and all the girls in the first year of high school do sewing with their regular course. In addition to this a one-year elective course is offered. A minimum of time is spent upon working models and the classes are wisely, we think, set at work early upon useful articles. The courses are logically arranged and are being well carried out. During the first year of high school these girls make one complete outfit of underwear, two dresses, have some work in crocheting, some fancy work, draft patterns and do fitting. The second year they study household decoration, make a study of materials and make a tailored suit. Cooking is taught to all eighth grade girls and to all girls in second year of high school with one additional year elective. The accom.moda- tions of cooking and sewing in the high school are not adequate to the real needs of the large classes. As it is, much of the work has to be done by girls sitting in ordinary recitation chairs without tables, there being insufficient room for the tables. The cooking department could make use of a dining room, although the present arrangement by which one of the sewing rooms is used for a dining room is not a serious handicap. Manual training is taught in the sixth, seventh and eighth grades and for two years in the high school. The work is confined to wood work and drawing. The interest in the classes seems to be good. The boys are allowed much choice as to the articles which they shall make and this tends to keep the interest high. There seems to the committee to be a lack of real vocational purpose in this department and we believe 20 CONSTRUCTIVE SURVEY OF that boys should be encouraged to master the elements of the carpenter's trade, cabinet maker's trade or other wood working trades, and that definite undertakings should be launched from time to time in more pretentious constructive work. It is entirely possible for two or three groups of boys to be working at the same time on different courses, some taking conventional manual training work, some working toward carpentry, others toward furniture making, etc., all being directed by the same instructor. Excellent work is being done in mechanical drawing in connection with this department. Agriculture. — In agriculture the Ashland schools are complying with the State requirement that agriculture shall be taught in the eighth grade. This course is organized with the manual training course in such a way that a portion of the students are working in the school gardens while others are working in the shop. The boys are permitted to have what they raise and are encouraged to develop gardens of their own at home. There is also a high school course in agriculture covering one semester. This course is based upon a text, is taught in the laboratory and is supplemented by work in the high school garden. Instruction is given by the regular biology teacher. The Vocational Problem. — The problem in vocational work in Ashland is not the same that would be encountered in an industrial center. Nevertheless, Ashland has its vocational needs and while the committee has nothing but praise for the development that has been made in providing for these needs, we desire to recommend that the vocational aim be made more pronounced in the shop work. The agricultural work should be placed upon a firm basis with the supervision of home gardens, and poultry raising clubs on the part of boys and girls from both grades and high school made a prominent feature. We recommend that wherever possible the boys taking the manual training course be given work on the making of furniture, running partitions, doing repair work or erecting buildings, for the schools. This will afford excellent educational opportunities for such boys. 3. PHYSICAL EDUCATION Making a study of the physical education in the Ashland schools, the committee found that no supervisor or special teacher was employed for this work. In the Grades. — The teachers are directed to give calisthenic exer- cises when children show evidence of fatigue or restlessness. As a matter of fact, we find, upon investigation, that while teachers mean to conscientiously carry out this plan, in many rooms these exercises are not given with regularity or, indeed, with frequency. A teacher interested in her work and pressed for time to accomplish results is not always conscious of this need. Recess. — The morning session begins at 8:45 and continues until 11:30, when an intermission of an hour and a half is given. The after- noon session continues from 1:00 until 3:40. These sessions are broken by short rest periods of not exceeding five or six minutes. The pupils ASHLAND PUBLIC SCHOOLS 21 pass out or to the basement but no play or physical exercise is indulged in during this rest period. No other recess is provided for in the grades. The advisability of a so-called wild recess in the grades is perhaps debatable. The committee is inclined to favor such a recess about the middle of each school session but recognizes the fact that it is perhaps more or less a local question. The committee is emphatic in recommend- ing that in the absence of a recess there should be from five to ten minutes of vigorous, enjoyable calisthenic exercises about the middle of each session regularly or a run into the open air for a similar length of time. We also recommend that during all or part of such time the windows of each room be thrown open so as to thoroughly flush the class rooms with fresh air from the outside. If at a given signal, the windows are thrown open in all the rooms at once it will not interfere with the ventilating system and if the windows are not kept open too long it will not cool the walls sufficiently to prove an extravagance in the matter of fuel. High School. — The high school is fortunate in having a gymnasium, size 57x90 feet, well adapted for carrying on systematic instruction in physical education and also well adapted for basketball, volley ball, and indoor baseball. At the present time no class work in the gymnasium is undertaken but large use is made of the gymnasium in connection with the athletic activities of both boys and girls. It would seem to the committee that the next step in physical education would be to make provision for class instruction in gymnasium work and at the same time provision should be made for supervision of physical training in the grade schools. A physical training teacher or supervisor who appreciates the possibilities of this kind of work can be of great assistance, not only in improving the bearing and physical health of the children, but in quickening their mental and moral activity. Athletics. — The committee found that both in the grades and high school the athletic activities of boys and girls were wisely encouraged. In the grades, baseball, basketball, volley ball and tennis, with the running games for little folks, such as blackman, tag, etc., are being played under the direction and supervision of principals and teachers. In each grade building two teachers assist in this work both noon and evening. In the high school, football, basketball, tennis, baseball, and the various track events are being carried on under faculty supervision and direction. The spacious grounds referred to in the chapter on buildings and grounds are a great boon to these activities in both the high school and grades. 4. INCIDENTAL CIVIC CONDITIONS From the chief of police it was learned that during the past two years two juvenile offenders have been sent to the State Training or Reform School. At one time during 1914, eighteen different boys were on probation making regular reports, most of them having been in an escapade not of a really criminal nature. There have been some cases of stealing during the past two years. These boys who have been in the hands of the police for stealing, truancy or depi'edations and 22 CONSTRUCTIVE SURVEY OF escapades have, so the chief of police testifies, always spoken highly of their teachers and the schools. At the time of this investigation no juveniles vi^ere on probation and no cases of truancy have been reported during the current school year. All the evidence obtained from this investigation indicates that the schools are gaining a stronger and stronger hold on the boys and are doing all that can be reasonably expected of them in this respect. Interviews were had with several mothers and several business men. Without exception these spoke in the highest terms of appreciation of the schools, expressing the greatest confidence in the school board, superintendent and teachers. Upon being pressed for suggestions as to how the schools might be improved, several suggestions were made. One thought that there was not enough analysis of problems in the intermediate grades. Another thought high school pupils were worked too hard. One mother expressed some disappointment that her boy did not get a great deal of good from one certain subject but was working hard and doing well in other subjects. One mother considered the history work too difficult in the fifth grade. One mother, prominent in the Parent-Teachers Association work, expressed herself in much the same way as Superintendent Briscoe expressed himself to the effect that the Parent-Teachers Association did good but failed to reach the parents who would be most benefited. One mother was very strongly of the opinion that the children without home conditions where it was possible for them to receive some help in their studies could not be adequately taken care of in the schools as now constituted. She considers that not only the Ashland schools but schools generally are inadequate in meeting the needs of the children that cannot have the work of the school supplemented by assistance at home. This is food for thought and a recommendation contained elsewhere in this report if carried out would make provision for auxiliary work done by regular teachers with such pupils as need it in every room while special teachers of music and drawing have charge of their rooms. The idea of having more physical training in the schools and of no recesses met the approval of the parents questioned upon this matter. An excellent plan of cooperation between the city library and the Ashland schools is in operation. A written contract exists between the two institutions according to the terms of which the district pays the city library a certain sum each year, of which a portion is to be spent for children's books and the remainder to be used to pay the expense of cataloging and repairing the books in the school libraries. The teachers are permitted to draw any reasonable number of books from the library and take them to their schools for the use of the children. ASHLAND PUBLIC SCHOOLS 23 CHAPTER IV INSTRUCTION, METHODS AND SUPERVISION The actual vitality of a school system varies directly with the quality of its instruction. The structure of a school system is important because it supports and renders possible the functioning processes within, but in itself is no guarantee of life and activity. Teaching is the life blood of the educational process and the measurement of the daily current of instruction is the surest index of the virility of the entire system. The committee has, therefore, given the largest share of its attention to the factor of instruction. 1. GENERAL METHODS AND RESULTS OF INSTRUCTION On the first day of the survey the members of the committee in company with Superintendent Briscoe visited each class room in the two grade buildings and all but three of the high school teachers. These short visits were followed on the following days by at least one longer visit to each class room, the members of the committee working separately. These visits were made delightful by the uniform courtesy of the super- intendent, principals and teachers, by the manifest devotion of teachers to their tasks, and by the wholesome cheerful atmosphere of work prevailing in the system as a whole. Teaching the Child.^ — ^While the Ashland schools are conforming to the requirements of their local course of study and to the State require- ments, which apply to certain districts of the first class, it is the opinion of the committee that it would be unfair to say that the Ashland teachers were teaching subject-matter rather than children. Teachers are aware of the child's viewpoint, adapting their instruction to the individual pupils in a way which shows real sympathetic insight into the workings of the child's mind. These characteristics stand out in the work of teachers both in the grades and high school. One of the evidences of this is the manner of criticizing imperfect recitations in such a way as to encourage and inspire to better efforts rather than to discourage or humiliate. Out of several similar instances two are here cited to illustrate how this is done. In a second grade a boy misspelled "thirsty" and had to go from midway to the foot of the class. The teacher remarked kindly, "Go down now but next time you will get it." A moment later she selected this same boy and one other pupil to play a prominent part in the class going to the blackboard to point out words. The members of a high school class in English Composition, working under a really excellent assignment, were reading original stories based on a previously approved original plot. One pupil read a story which left his hero a pretty ordinary character with much to condemn and 24 CONSTRUCTIVE SURVEY OF little to admire. The language was rather stilted. The teacher, instead of telling him he had written a poor story or in any way inciting a derisive attitude in the class, said, "I don't believe I quite understand the meaning of some of your hero's actions in the last part of the story but you can explain that to me when we look your paper over together. Do you think your language was sufficiently different from the language of the plot?" Pupil, "No Ma'am." Further adroit but kindly questioning made the pupil aware of exact weakness of his story and left him anxious to improve it. The way was thus prepared for a helpful, sympathetic conference with the pupil later. This rational and sympathetic appreciation of the pupils' point of view is commended. It should, however, be remembered that this attitude is not inconsistent with a policy of exacting a definite compliance with the requirements of a high standard of excellence in work and indeed it is evident that most of the Ashland teachers are conscious of both ideals. School Spirit. — Among the notable results attending the class room instruction upon which the committee feels justified in speaking positively is an intangible something which might be called the Spirit of the School. The spiritual product is large. There is a cheerfulness and a joy in work, a fullness of life and a contentedness evidenced in almost every room in the Ashland schools. Interest in work and an almost entire absence of any "problem of discipline" tend to confirm the minds of the members of the committee in the belief that the "Spirit of the School" above referred to is a very real as well as a very valuable product of the school. Fundamentals, Reading. — The practical subjects of writing, spelling, arithmetic, and reading are being well taken care of. One class that had just finished the second grade read such words as professor, Oxford, awkward, pretending, etc., as they appeared in the context without any hesitation but rather with fluency. A class that had just finished first grade and been two weeks in the second grade read from the blackboard the following sentences furnished the teacher by a member of the committee, "Mr. Briscoe is superintendent of the Ashland schools," "Mr. Engle is president of the First National Bank." These sentences were read by several members of the class with no assistance whatever, the pupils interpreting the difficult words by silently sounding them out. The same test was given another class of the same grade in another building with equally good results. Several tests made in these and other grades confirmed the committee in the opinion that the power which the children in these schools are gaining over new words is all that could be expected or desired. We do not advise attempting to improve the record now being made in this respect, believing that such effort would result in crowding the children too hard. Indeed, there is serious question if the course of study being followed in the first grade at the present time does not result in rather too much crowding for children of six years of age. The work necessary in carrying out the assignment in the State course of study interferes rather seriously with the freedom of the teacher in adapting subject matter for blackboard reading to the needs and interests of the particular classes. ASHLAND PUBLIC SCHOOLS 25 The committee wishes to express approval of the rich supply of reading matter provided for the grades and also of the amount of reading done by each class. The class vi^hich has just finished the first grade has read six primers and three first readers. This is an excellent record as to amount of reading to be done the first year, especially considering the difficulty of one or two of the books read. We recommend that emphasis be laid upon silent as well as upon oral reading. The power to get thought rapidly and silently from a printed page is in everyday life a more important acquisition than oral reading. This is not said to indicate that less emphasis should be placed upon oral but rather that more emphasis be placed on silent reading, especially in the upper grades. In this connection the committee desires to commend the plan of having both oral and written work in spelling daily, although of the opinion that the written work should be regarded as more essential than the oral. Arithmetic. — While the children seem thoroughly keen in their work in numbers and arithmetic we believe that the text-books in use set forth too many problems. The emphasis in the third and fourth grades should be upon processes with accuracy and speed as the main aims. The problem work undertaken below the fifth grade should be given orally rather than from the text, the teacher formulating problems and giving them out to the class as the class solves them mentally. The best problems will deal with objects not only concrete but familiar to the children. This should be varied by giving children practice in formulating problems for the rest of the class. This kind of work is valuable for the reason that it is a thought provoking exercise and at the same time affords practical application of the arithmetical processes. When problems are read from the book by the children, too much of the attention of the child is consumed by the interpretation of the printed page while the method above described has the advantage of leaving his mind free to attack the arithmetical problem unhampered. We believe that only very simple forms of analysis should be employed below the fifth grade, while in the fifth or sixth grades it should be made a very definite task of the teacher to develop power in the analysis of problems and that this be continued as a part of the work through the grammar grades. 2. COOPERATIVE SUPERVISION Early in our investigation it became clearly evident that the system of supervision of class-room instruction and other practices pertaining to the welfare of the children of the Ashland schools was unique in spirit and fruitful in operation. The supervisory relationships existing among the superintendent, the several principals, and the various teachers struck us as being decidedly at variance with conditions known to exist in many cities of similar size elsewhere. From the very outset we sensed a vital relationship between the seemingly evident efficiency of the school system and the plan of supervision. We were, therefore, led to give the type of supervisory practice a very thorough investigation. To this end practically all of 26 CONSTRUCTIVE SURVEY OF the teachers, the principals, and the superintendent were questioned in detail as to their parts in the existing scheme of supervision and as to their attitudes toward it. The result of this inquiry disclosed a system of supervision remark- ably free from discord and effective in administration which might well be copied elsewhere, and which may be described as cooperative super- vision. In this system of cooperative supervision and direction, influence radiates from the superintendent to the principals and to the teachers, but nowhere is to be discovered the presence of arbitrary exercise of power. Superintendent, principals and teachers are dominated by the aim: what is best for the welfare and development of the pupil. With this aim in view, the method of attaining it is cooperation of all forces. Consultations between and among the various members of the staff of the Ashland schools are frequent, remarkably so, in fact, but while suggestions for betterment come more frequently from superintendent or principals it is by virtue of their greater knowledge and experience and not by authority of position. Each teacher is free to use his or her own method when it seems to the best interest of the children. The principals and superintendent are quick to accept suggestions from any teacher as to means of bettering the efficiency of the work of the schools, and helpful ideas, regardless of the source, spread with great rapidity and are eagerly accepted by all who can use them. With this spirit of cooperation thoroughly dominant the teachers welcome every suggestion from the principals and superintendent. In such a system of cooperative supervision it is interesting to note the spirit of loyalty on the part of the teachers for their principals and superintendent. It is seldom the lot of the surveyor to witness a finer spirit of loyalty than exists among the Ashland teachers. In spite of the most searching inquiry we were unable to elicit one word or sign of criticism or complaint from a single teacher or principal in the Ashland system concerning a superior. On the other hand, all available evidence, which was plentiful, indicates clearly that the support given by those in authority from the school board down, has been in every case prompt, adequate and cheerfully given. In our opinion the most important factors of supervision are embodied in the aim and spirit of cooperative supervision. We add some of the details of practice in the Ashland system. Superintendent Briscoe normally visits every teacher in the elementary schools from ten to thirty minutes once every week. The teachei-s are pleased with his supervision. The elementary school principals are in and out of the classes frequently; as one of the teachers expressed it, "Oh, she is here all the time." The teachers are pleased to have the principals present. The teachers of the grade schools have weekly meetings to discuss common problems. There are also frequent meetings between teachers of similar grades as the fifth and sixth grade teachers' meeting. The teachers act through their principals in routine matters. Both teachers and principals deal through the superintendent and never directly with the school board. The teachers in all cases are selected by the superin- tendent although the principals place instructors in their respective buildings. While members of the board are friendly with the teachers, all school relations are, without exception, carried on through the superintendent. ASHLAND PUBLIC SCHOOLS In the high school there is much less supervision. Under the existence of departmental instruction individual teachers are given great liberty. While this is well for the most part, the committee found existence of a lack of knowledge of comparative values on the part of several high school teachers who could undoubtedly profit by more supei'vision. One of the characteristics of good teaching is the placing of emphasis upon the elements of the lesson which are of chief importance as related to human welfare in general and the child's own life activities in particular. All text-books contain details of varying importance which pupils by good teaching may learn to recognize and to discriminate. The com- mittee believes in thorough drilling wherever drill will eventually prove economical but it urges the danger, particularly in mathematics and the languages, of subordinating more important values to the single end of disciplinary drill. The high school teachers meet once a week under the principal for discvission of immediate problems and the occasional presentation of papers by teachers. The high school teachers have little to say in forming general policies. These are usually established by Superin- tendent Briscoe in consultation with the principal, and all work cheerfully in carrying them out. In both high and elementary schools the teachers report that they are thoroughly supported by their principals and superintendent. With the exception of a few instances of high school instruction the committee has only words of commendation to offer concerning supervi- sion in the Ashland schools. By relieving the superintendent and high school principal of part of their instructional duties, the time saved to be spent in high school supervision, an ideal system of supervision may be easily attained. 3. DEPARTMENTAL INSTRUCTION AND SUPERVISED STUDY For the past three years instruction has been given in the West Side School on the departmental basis. All of the eighth grade pupils of Ashland attend the West Side School and the departmental teaching in this school involves also the sixth and seventh grades. The sixth and seventh grades in the East Side School continue on the former basis. Penmanship has been placed in charge of one well qualified teacher in each grade school, and is reported to have improved under this plan. By virtue of the plan in the West Side School, teachers are enabled to give instruction in the subjects to which they are best adapted by train- ing and disposition. The committee believes that this change has been distinctly instrumental in improving instruction since its initiation. Coincident with departmentalization have come auxiliary teaching and supervised study. Each departmental teacher in the West Side School now has about four periods per week which are free from class or assembly work. Children not reciting remain in the large assembly room for the purpose of study. Here individual effort in an atmosphere of unbroken quiet, rather than directed or supervised effort, seems to be encouraged by the teacher in charge. During this time, however, the various instructors who are not teaching give their time to the interests 28 CONSTRUCTIVE SURVEY OF of needy pupils. By ones, by small groups, or if occasion demands, by entire classes, pupils with various difficulties are taken to the instructors' class rooms and helped according to their special needs. By this agency the school is enabled to set and maintain standards of progress to which a very large percentage of the pupils attain. The committee heartily approves of this type of supervised study and recommends its extension, for despite the evident utility of the present plan of auxiliary teaching there is evidence that there has been an occasional child who has failed because present facilities in supervised study have not reached all. We recommend that music and drawing be departmentalized above the second or third grade. The addition of another music or drawing teacher will permit all of this instruction to be given directly by specialists approximately two times per week. This will relieve the regular grade teachers and permit them to use this time for giving special aid to needy pupils in the same manner as now prevails in the West Side departmentalized grades. ASHLAND PUBLIC SCHOOLS CHAPTER V INSTRUCTION-SPECIAL TESTS There has been a growing' belief among school experts for the past decade that such general descriptive terms as "good," "excellent," and "poor," do not measure adequately the results of education, but are relatively as indefinite as the terms, "warm," "cool," and "hot," when applied to such substances as iron or water. Moreover, just as the invention of the thermometer has established an exact scale of measure- ment for various degrees of heat, so too has the invention of various quantitative scales of mental ability permitted accurate measurement of individual skill or attainment in certain school subjects. Considerable progress has been made in the formation of definite standard tests, such as the Courtis tests in arithmetic, and in the construction of objective scales, such as the Ayres' scale for measuring the quality of handwriting. The use of such objective scales does not necessarily do away with the more common and general methods of observation of the results of school progress, for it is by no means certain that the results most easily measured by quantitative scales are the most important in school work. But wherever quantitative measurement is possible there can be no question of the greater merit of the scientific scale. Time limitations and the lack of exact comparative data have pre- vented the committee from making use of all of the standard tests. We have, however, given a dictation test for the purpose of measuring ability in punctuation and capitalization among the children in the fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh, and eighth grades. The handwriting thus obtained furnished material which has been graded on the Ayres' scale of handwriting. In addition to this, a special test was given in spelling, while the State eighth grade standard examination has afforded a com- parative test of a more general character. It should be noted here that the tests were given in Ashland just after the midyear promotion. Thirty-two of the eighth grade pupils (just graduated) are not represented in the results and part of the fourth grade is in reality "just over" third grade. The figures shown are at least one-fourth of a year inferior to actual average of annual conditions. 1. DICTATION TESTS Punctuation, Capitalization and Spelling. — One of the members of the committee dictated the stories given below to all the pupils of the fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh, and eighth grades. The stories were read slowly while the children wrote the same sentences with pen and ink as accurately as possible, being cautioned to write, spell and punctuate as well as they were able. 30 CONSTRUCTIVE SURVEY OF 1. THE FOX AND THE CROW Once a crow was sitting on a branch of a tree witii a piece of cheese in her mouth. A fox who wished to get the cheese said to her, "Good-morning, Mrs. Crow. How glossy, bright and beautiful your feathers are. If the crow's voice is only as fine as her looks, she is surely the queen of birds. Will you not sing for me?" The crow lifted her head and began to caw. The fox snapped up the cheese and ran off. "How foolish I've been," thought the crow, "to let him flatter me." 2. THE FOX AND THE STORK One day a fox invited a stork to dinner. The fox thought he would have some fun, so he had soup which he served in a plate. The fox lapped the soup with his tongue, but the stork's bill was not even wet. "I am sorry that you do not like the soup, Mrs. Stork," said the fox. "Don't be sorry," replied the stork. "Will you not come to dinner with me on Monday?" When the fox came, the stork had meat in a tall, slender, long-necked jar. She could get the meat with her long bill but the fox could not get his nose in the jar. "I see that you have fun, too," said the fox. After the test had been completed, the papers were collected and corrected for selected mistakes. Five capitals, five spellings, and ten punctuation marks were arbitrarily selected in each story and each paper was graded according to the number of mistakes in the twenty chosen places. All other mistakes were neglected. This method is not satis- factory for the exact measurement of the ability of any certain individual pupil but is excellent for obtaining the average ability of entire classes or of schools. The results obtained are shown in Table Six. Table Six — Average Number of Mistakes by Ashland Pupils in Dictation Tests. Grade Capitals (Five) Spellings (Five) Puncutations (Ten) Total (Twenty) Fourth 2.96 1.13 .92 1.21 1.21 1.27 .87 .73 3.88 1.74 2.40 1.95 1.30 2.06 1.02 1.27 7.84 5.78 4.77 5.35 4.65 5.90 4.60 5.10 14.68 Fifth Sixth-B 8.65 8.09 Sixth- A 8.51 Seven tli-B 7.16 9.23 Eighth-B 6.49 Eighth-A 7.10 All 1.11 1.85 5.10 8.06 Before commenting on these results it will be well to present Table Seven showing comparative results of the same test when given in (1) Ashland, (2) Pendleton, Oregon, (3) Boise, Idaho, and to (4) one thousand Oregon grade pupils selected at random throughout the State. ASHLAND PUBLIC SCHOOLS 31 Table Seven — Total Mistakes in Spelling, Punctuation, and Capitals Out of Twenty Chances {First Trials). Grade Ashland Pendleton B^H 1 Oregon Fourth 14.68 8.65 8.09 8.51 7.16 9.23 6.49 7.10 11.14 9.54 8.11 8.11 6.52 6.50 6.34 6.34 13.40 9.80 7.60 6.10 5.80 5.00 5.00 .t; on 12 50 Fifth 11 81 Sixth-B Sixth-A 8.33 Seventh-B Seventh- A 7.49 Eighth-B Eighth-A 7 24 All 8.06 7.77 * 9 06 * Not recorded. The mistakes recorded in Table Seven are shown in graphic form in Figure 1 in which the height of the various curves varies inversely to the number of mistakes and thus depicts the improved standing from grade to grade. H 6 < 7 m S8 §<» m %'^ > »4 15 HfAVY L1J1P - ASHLAHD 6 ea €>A SCHOOL GRADE 7S 7A. SB SA. Figure 1. — Progress in Punctuation, Capitalization and Spelling among four groups of children in the Upper Elementary Grades. The results of these tests as indicated in the tables and the graph above indicate to the committee that, as a whole, the efficiency of the public school children of Ashland in the fundamentals of punctuation and capitalization is about the same as that in the one other first-class Oregon district recorded (Pendleton), is somewhat inferior to the ability of Boise, Idaho, pupils, and is noticeably superior to the conditions found among average Oregon school children. 32 CONSTRUCTIVE SURVEY OF The results show, on the other hand, that, while there is general progress through the grades, it is neither steady nor satisfactory. Eight A is but little better than Seven B. There are numerous fifth grade pupils who are better than one-half the pupils of the entire eighth grade, while the average of nearly seven mistakes in twenty is certainly too large a percentage for pupils about to finish the grammar school. This condition is not peculiar to Ashland but is widespread. The com- mittee believes that this condition is due to lack of attention to the fundamentals indicated in the test, rather than to poor methods or teachers. Attention is called to the steady progress made from grade to grade in the Boise schools, where Superintendent Meek has been giving attention for several years to this work. The committee lacks definite information as to the conditions at the beginning of Superin- tendent Meek's work but the following comparison exhibits the improved result due to emphasis on this field of instruction. Table Eight — Percentages of Correct Punctuation, Etc., in Dictation Exercises at Boise, Idaho, in Successive Years. 4B 4A 5B 5A 6B 6A 7B 7A 8B October, 1913 February, 1914 .. 44 68 52 74 59 77 71 84 71 87 77 88 79 89 81 91 82 93 The committee recommends that more attention be given to the funda- mentals of punctuation and capitalization. This should be accomplished either by special exercises in dictation or by critical attention given this phase of the pupils' regular written work, or if found necessary, to both. We believe, however, that a minor amount of definite concentrated effort in this field will accomplish satisfactory improvement. 2. TESTS IN SPELLING The part of the dictation test which included the spelling of a few simple words was far too restricted to be used as a basis for measuring the spelling ability of the Ashland schools as a whole. For this purpose the method used by Dr. Leonard P. Ayres in the survey of the Spring- field, Illinois, public schools was followed in detail, and may well be described by quoting from the Springfield report, (p. 71) : "Spelling tests of ten dictated words were given through the system in all of the grades from the second to the eighth inclusive. The words used in these tests were chosen from lists used by the Division of Education of the Russell Sage Foundation in an investigation that it is now conducting of the spelling ability of children in elementary schools. The Division has conducted studies to discover the 1,000 words most commonly used in writing and it has made these words into spelling lists with which children in nearly 100 American cities have been tested. From among these words 10 were chosen which this investigation has shown are on the average spelled correctly by 70 per cent of the children in the second grades of other cities. Similarly 10 words were chosen which children in the third grades of other cities spell on the average ASHLAND PUBLIC SCHOOLS 33 of 70 per cent correctly. In the same way 10 words were chosen for each of the other elementary grades and in each case they were of such difficulty that on the average seven out of ten children spell them correctly while three misspell them." These lists of 10 words for each grade are shown in Table Nine, Table Nine — Words Used in Spelling Tests. (On the Average Seven Children Out of Ten in the Same Grades in Other Cities Can Spell Them Correctly.) Second Third Fourth Fifth Sixth Seventh Eighth Grade Grade Grade Grade Grade Grade Grade foot fill forty Several decide district petrified get point rate leaving general consideration tariff for state children publish manner athletic emergency horse ready prison o'clock too distinguish corporation cut almost title running automobile evidence convenience well high getting known victim conference receipt name event need secure hospital amendment cordially room done throw wait neither liquor discussion left pass feel , manner toward experience appreciate with Tuesday speak flight business receive decision The results of this test which was given to the children of the Ashland schools show that they spell on the average noticeably better than children in other cities. The average of 3,612 children in Spring- field, Illinois, is 70 per cent, or the same as the general average in other cities. The average of the Ashland children is 75 per cent. Out of 18 grade schools in the city of Springfield, but three average higher than either of the Ashland schools, one is equal to, and fourteen are below the Ashland standard. Table Ten shows the relative standing of the Ashland schools with those of Springfield, Illinois, and the general average of city schools. Table Ten — Per Cent of Words Correctly Spelled by Children in Each Grade in Ten Word Spelling Lists. Grade Per cent correct in all cities Per cent correct in Ashland Per cent correct in Springfield Second 70 70 70 70 70 70 70 86 73 81 88 61 73 66 70 Third 65 Fourth Fifth . . 70 72 Sixth 68 73 Eighth 75 Total 70 75 70 3. TESTS OF HANDWRITING The specimens of handwriting of the pupils in grades five to eight obtained in the dictation tests described above were graded by use of the Ayres Handwriting Scale. This scale is a device for measuring the quality of children's handwriting constructed by Leonard P. Ayres of the Russell Sage Foundation.* The scale measures the quality of hand- * A scale for measuring the quality of handwriting of school children. Division of Education. Russell Sage Foundation, 1912. 34 CONSTRUCTIVE SURVEY OF writing from very poor specimens graded 20 up to very excellent speci- mens graded 90. The average quality of writing for children of the fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth grades combined the country over is scaled at 50. Each specimen of handwriting of the upper elementary pupils of the Ashland schools was graded on the Ayres Scale by twelve judges and the average of the twelve taken as the final gi-ade. The average quality of each of the four grades is given in Table Eleven. Table Eleven — Average Quality of Handwriting of School Children of Ashland. Grade Fifth Sixth Seventh | Eighth 1 All Average quality .... 37 -'/.'/ ',6 ! 1 51, Jio The average quality of the four grades at 45 as compared with the average of the country at 50 indicates that the handwriting of the Ashland schools is below the average standard. Further investigation to discover the cause of this condition has revealed certain factors which tend to modify this judgment. During the year 1913 the vertical style of penmanship was superseded in the State of Oregon by the State adoption of the Palmer system. The Palmer system has now been taught over a year and the resultant slant is quite noticeable in contrast to the older vertical style. The tests revealed the fact that a large number of children are in the midst of a transition stage as far as actual practice is concerned. Some still used the old vertical style under the stress of the dictation test, some used the Palmer style, while many showed traces of both styles. The judges were unanimously of the opinion that as far as legibility was concerned (speed was not tested) the transfer in style has lowered the average quality of writing through- out the upper grades. The most significant result of the tests in handwriting is not the discovery of the general average quality maintained by the school but the remarkable variation which exists among pupils of the same grade. Reference to Table Twelve will reveal this condition which, it should be added, is not peculiar to Ashland alone. Table Twelve — Percentage of Pupils of Grades Five to Eight Writing Qualities Twenty to Eighty on the Ayres Handwriting Scale. Quality W 30 iO 50 60 70 80 Grade Five Grade Six 3 40 22 9 54 44 42 24 3 25 26 26 "9 14 24 9 24 .... Grade Eight o All 1 18 40 20 12 8 1 The figures opposite each grade indicate what per cent of that grade wrote the quality in handwriting shown at the top of the column. Thus in grade five, 3 per cent of the class wrote quality 20, 40 per cent wrote quality SO, 54 per cent wi-ote quality .^0, and 3 per cent wrote quality 50. Inspection discloses some noteworthy facts. Over one-half (57%) of the fifth grade pupils write as well (iO) as one-fourth (24%) of the ASHLAND PUBLIC SCHOOLS 35 eighth grade. One-third (34%) of the sixth grade write better (50) than one-half (51%) of the seventh grade and one-fourth (24%) of the eighth grade. One-fourth (23%) of the seventh grade w^rite better (60) than one-half (50%) of the eighth grade. While the committee recognizes that schools should not be organized upon the basis of ability in handwriting, the great overlapping of the present classes in achievement in this art can not promote the best efficiency in teaching. When pupils writing the very poor quality 30 are in the same classes with pupils writing 70, group methods are greatly weakened and the economy of proper classification lost. The degree to which the four classes overlap is concretely shown in Figure 2. One means of improving the effectiveness of instruction in penman- ship lies in a better classification of the groups of pupils receiving instruction at any given time. With a homogeneous group assembled, special methods may be used to bring the pupils to an appropriate standard. The Ayres scale may well be used both as a scale and as a standard. 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