Qass LA_ Book. o i o Digitized by tine Internet Arciiive in 2010 witii funding from The Library of Congress http://www.arcliive.org/details/reportofsurveyofOOsalt i;il!BI!::i:li!J!!ili!liiiliieiill!l!illSlil!l|{|iiM^^^ REPORT of a Survey of the School System of Salt Lake City, Utah ■■illHKIIIIieiBllllliliiBIIIIHIIIiig Authorized by a Resolution of the Board of Education May Fourth, Nineteen Fifteen niiiiiiiiiiiiiinuiniiiiDBiaiiiHiMiiiiiwiiniiim^^ ■IIHIIIIIHHinWIIHinK^^^^^ Submitted to the Board of Education j June thirtieth. Nineteen Hundred Fifteen ■ iiiiililliilllli^^^^ J Report of the Survey of the Public School System of Salt Lake City, Utah Authorized by resolution of the Board of Educatioi^ "H^ May 4, 1915. SURVEY STAFF Ellwood P. Cubberley, Professor of Education, Leland Stanford Junior University. Director of the Survey; Administra- tion ; Finances. James H. Van Sickle, Superintendent of City Schools, Spring- field, Massachusetts. Courses of Study ; Instruction. Lewis M. Terman, Associate Professor of Education, Leland Stanford Junior University. School Buildings; Health Supervision ; Physical Education. Jesse B. Sears, Assistant Professor of Education, Leland Stan- ford Junior University. Efficiency Tests. J. Harold Williams, Research Fellow, Leland Stanford Junior University. Progress of Pupils ; Statistical Work ; Draw- ings. Submittedto the Board of Education, June 30, 1915. i'. Of JD. JAN 18 1916 (^,5 LETTER OF TRANSMITTAL. DIRECTOR'S LETTER OF TRANSMITTAL. Mr. Ledyard M. Bailey, Chairman Survey Committee, Salt Lake City, Utah. Dear Sir: I have the honor to submit to you herewith, for your com- mittee, the final report of the survey of the public school system of your city, as authorized and directed by resolution of the Board of Education on May 4th, 1915. The work on this survey was begun in Salt Lake City on May 10th, and finished on May 28th. During the progress of the work the meml)ers of the staff were in constant consulta- tion, and the nature and scope of the report gradually shaped itself while ive were in Salt Lake City. Before leaving the city the report was outlined, in some detail, and formed the subject o'f discussion for a number of evenings. As an outgroAvth of this discussion the conclusions here presented were agreed upon. To facilitate the work of the survey, as well as the writing of the different chapters, each member of the survey staff gave particular attention to the parts which he was to organize in written form. Since leaving Salt Lake City each member of the staff has written the parts assigned to him, the drawings to illustrate the conclusions have been made, and all have been submitted to the director, who has organized and unified the report. The responsibility for the report as a whole rests with the director of the survey, though the proper credit for the chapters written by the different members is indicated in parentheses at the beginning of each chapter. In preparing the report we have tried to commend the good features of your school system, and to use criticism only as a basis for constructive recommendations. The larger aspects of your problem relate to buildings, teachers, and finance, and these have naturally received the major emphasis. It is hoped that the report may prove of much service to your board in handling the educational problems with which you have to deal, and in securing the new legislation which is so necessary if your schools are to make th*- progress they ought iv SCHOOL SURVEY REPORT. to make. A city the character of yours cannot afford to rest content with the present situation. It is also hoped that the people of your city may find much in the report that will be of interest to them, and will serve to give them a more intelligent conception of the magnitude and intricacy of the problems of public education in a city such as yours. The rapidity with which we were able to do the work is in part due to the courteous and helpful assistance rendered the members of the survey staff by every one with whom we had to deal. Especially is an expression of appreciation due to the entire office force of the different administrative departments of the school system, the school principals, and the teachers who assisted in the grading of the pupil tests. I also wish to take this opportunity to express my appreciation of the large capacity for work on the part of those associated with me on the survey. Respectfully submitted, ELLWOOD P. CUBBERLEY, Director of the Survey. Stanford University, California, June 25th, 1915. TABLE OF CONTENTS. ANALYTICAL TABLE OF CONTENTS. PART I. ORGANIZATION AND ADMINISTRATION. Page. CHAPTER I. THE PR0BLE:\I BEFORE US 5 Position of the city — Comparative isolation of the city — Growth in population — Character of the population — Percent- age of children — Occupations of the city — Wealth of the city — The city and its needs — Order of procedure. CHAPTER II. THE ORGANIZATION OF THE SCHOOL SYSTEM 22 General State control — Carrying out the State purpose — The Board's proper functions — The Salt Lake City organiza- tion — Committees and departments — Right principles in school organization — A proper administrative reorganization — The public and the superintendent — A more fundamental reorgan- ization desirable — Summary of recommendations. CHAPTER III. THE ADMINISTRATION OF THE EDU- CATIONAL DEPART]\IENT 36 Work of the educational department — The supervisory staff — The present special supervision — Further supervisory needs — The worth of supervision — The school principals — Rea- sons for this difference in Salt Lake City — The premium on individual initiative. CHAPTER IV. THE TEACHING STAFF 47 Growth of the school system — Position of Salt Lake City as to teachers — Other bad features of the teacher situation — The salary schedules — Comparative salaries paid — Conclusions as to teachers. CHAPTER V. SCHOOL CENSUS AND ATTENDANCE 59 The increase in both — A school census bureau — ^Value of in locating school buildings — Enforcement of compulsory at- tendance — Where the schools are increasing — Pupils complet- ing the high school course. PART II. THE WORK OF THE SCHOOLS. CHAPTER VI. THE PRINTED COURSES OF STUDY 71 Order of procedure — Opinions and tests. I. The kindergartens — The kindergarten theory — More kindergartens needed. Ti SCHOOL SURVEY REPORT. II. The courses of study for elementary schools — How the courses of study were made — What the courses prescribe — Diversity in time allotments — Pupils who cannot accomplish the minimum. III. The school subjects in detail — 1. Morals, manners, and civics — 2. The language, or English group — Emphasis on English work — Reading and literature — Good oral reading — Where improvements might be made — Phonics — Language and grammar — 3. Spelling — Time given to spelling— 4. Writing — The method used — 5. History, Civics, and Sociology— The general plan — Attention to local history — Excellent features of the course — 6. Nature study — The printed outline — Di- versity in kind and amount of work done — School and home gardening — 7. Arithmetic — Nature of the printed course — The teaching observed — 8. Geography — The course good — The in- struction observed — 9. Music — The instruction observed — 10. Art and Construction — Need for more supervision — The Art and Handwork outlines — Drawing in the lower grades — Model- ing — Other constructional activities — 11. Manual Training — A poor course of study — Work needs enlarging — Suggestions for improvement — 12. Domestic Arts and Science — 13. Phys- ical Training. CHAPTER VIT. THE INSTRTTTION AND SUPERVI- SION AS SEEN ; DESIRABLE EXTENSIONS lOS I. The instruction and supervision as seen — The quality of instruction— An observed characteristic — The principals and their work — The supervision of work in the common branches — Promotion of pupils — Types of examination tests used — The quality of the grade supervision. II. Desirable extensions — The Junior high school — The plan as yet imperfectly developed — Types of courses needed — The Senior high schools — Ungraded classes. CHAPTER VIII. THE EFFICIENCY OF THE INSTRUC- TION MEASURED 127 Purpose of this section of the report— Extent of the tests made — Nature of tests given — What such tests should reveal — How the tests were conducted — 1. The test in spelling — Status of spelling in the city's curriculum — The test and how it was conducted— The results of the test— Results of the test by individuals — Uneven ability shown — Comparison with three other cities— 2. The test in composition — Nature and method of the composition test — The results of the test— Children not well classified for language work — Samples of average com- position — Salt Lake City's composition work — Conclusions and recommendations — 3. The writing test — Writing in the school curriculum — How the writing was measured — Results by schools and by grades — Variability among individuals in the same grade — Comparison with other cities — How well the average child can write — Needed changes in instruction — 4. TABLE OF CONTENTS vii The test in reading — How the reading was tested — Results of the test — Variation between individuals — The speed test — The problem the schools must meet — 5. The tests in arith- metic — Arithmetic in the course of study — How the arithmetic was tested — Results of tests in the fundamentals — Widely dif- ferent results in different schools — Comparison with other cities — Accuracy in use of number combinations — The reason- ing test — Comparison with other cities in reasoning test — 6. Summary and recommendations — The use of standardized tests. CHAPTER IX. THE PROGRESS OF CHILDREN THROUGH THE SCHOOLS 187 Importance of proper school progress — Age and grade dis- tribution — High percentage of retarded pupils — Distribution of the retarded pupils — Conditions in one room— A proper redis- tribution of the pupils — The fifth grade as an example of uneven distribution — "Repeaters" — Causes of retardation — Age at entering the first grade— Other explanations for retarda- tion — Subnormal and backward children — Mental classification groups — Children examined by the intelligence tests — The measuring scale used — Backward children studied — Feeble- minded children — These waste both the teacher's time and their own — Number of such found in every city — The ungraded school — Mistaken aim of the ungraded school — Proper training for such pupils — The so-called ungraded rooms — In reality "Batavia" rooms — What is needed — The principal of such a school — Ungraded rooms for the different schools — Otherwise ■ exceptional children — Typical cases found — The problem of de- linquency — Summary of recommendations. PART III. BUILDINGS AND HEALTH. CHAPTER X. THE SCHOOL PLANT 221 The present buildings — The school sites — Size of school grounds — Waste of space in buildings — The result of such excess — Lighting — Light tests — Heating — Ventilation — Other factors in v'entilation — Poor ventilation common — Basement and hall class rooms — These should be abandoned — School desks — Blackboards — Cloak rooms — Special rooms — Open air schools — School baths— Toilets — ^^Vhat this table reveals — Drinking fountains — Roller towels — Janitor service — Need for greater cleanliness — Fire protection — Quality of construction and costs — Repairs — Summary and recommendations. CHAPTER XL HEALTH SUPERVISION 259 Standards for comparison — Officers and assistants — Scope and nature of work — Costs — Stages in the development of health service — The second stage in development — The third stage — Health supervision becomes an educational service — Nature of the school health work in Salt Lake City — Stage in viii SCHOOL SURVEY REPORT. development represented — Results from the present service — Effectiveness of the school nurse — Expansions planned by the health commissioner — Health conditions of Salt Lake City school children — Summarizing the data on health conditions among the children — Headaches — Ears and hearing — Eyes and vision — Nose and throat troubles — Teeth — What this examina- tion revealed — General weakness — Mentally or morally excep- tional children — Speech defects — Malnutrition — Health work should be extended — Conclusions and recommendations. CHAPTER XII. PHYSICAL EDUCATION, PLAY- GROUND ACTIVITIES, AND HYGIENE TEACHING..283 L Physical Education — Two types of physical training — The type in Salt Lake City — An average and fair example of the indoor games — Other exercises seen — Character of the yard play — Play teachers needed — Physical education in the high schools — The military drill — Better physical training de- sirable. n. Playground activities — Small school playgrounds- Larger use of playgrounds desirable — Vacation playground activities. III. Hygiene teaching — The present course of instruction —Practical instruction — The buildings negative the instruc- tion — Summary and recommendations. PART IV. FINANCES'. CHAPTER XIII. THE FINANCIAL PROBLEM 301 City costs for maintenance — Costs per capita for schools — Why these figures are misleading — A real basis for comparing school costs — The median western cost — Where Salt Lake City stands — Wealth and tax rates — Need for a larger school tax — The remedy a legislative one — Distribution of expenditures — Distribution of expenditures during the next two years. APPENDIX A. A SUGGESTED LAW FOR THE MANAGEMENT OF THE SALT LAKE CITY SCHOOL DISTRICT 319 Schools in cities of first class — The board of education — Conduct of elections — Organization of board — Executive offi- cers — Superintendent of schools — Clerk and purchasing agent — Treasurer — Superintendent of buildings — Superintendent of attendance and census — Superintendent of health work — An- nual report — Annual budget — Annual school tax — Other powers. LIST OF FIGURES. ix LIST OF FIGURES IN REPORT. Figure. Page. 1. The elements of the population of Salt Lake City 8 2. Age distribution of the population 13 3. Portland, Ore., and Salt Lake City compared as to children 15 4. Present administrative organization of the Salt Lake City school system 27 5. An administrative reorganization along proper lines 31 6. A quarter century of growth in the schools. 37 7. A quarter century of growth in children in school, and in teachers employed 47 8. Distribution of salaries paid elementary-school teach- ers, 1914-10 : 51 9. Where the teachers of Salt Lake City have received their education 52 10. Distribution of salaries paid high-school teachers, 1914-15 53 11. Tenure of teachers, as shown by year of first appoint- ment to the teaching force 54 12. Increase in school census, enrollment, and average membership , 59 13. Age distribution of pupils in Salt Lake City 63 14. Changes in the enrollment by grades in twenty years 64 15. The percentage which the attendance at the high schools represents of the attendance at all schools... 66 16. Results- of the spelling test, by schools 132 17. Showing for the city as a whole, and by grades, the percentage attaining each of the possible scores 135 18. Results of the composition test 141 19. Showing the percentage attaining each of the possible scores ..— 150 20. Sample representing the median achievement in writ- ing in each grade : 153 X SCHOOL SURVEY REPORT. Figure. Page. 21. Showing the distribution of scores in the speed reading test 161 22. Rate of reading in Salt Lake City compared with tests made in other cities 162 23. Relation of speed test to memory test in reading 164 24. Distribution of scores attained in addition test 171 25. S'tandi'ng in the four fundamental operations of arith- metic - 175 26. Relative accuracy in addition 179 27. Distribution of results in the Stone reasoning test 181 28. Relative proportions of normal, retarded, and accel- erated pupils 190 29. Degree of acceleration or retardation of pupils 192 30. Distribution, by grades, of nornl^l, accelerated, and retarded pupils 193 31. Percentage of retarded pupils, by grades 194 32. Accelerated, normal, and retarded pupils in one room 197 33. Age distribution of all fifth-grade pupils 198 34. Relative number of promotions and failures, by grades-199 35. Distribution of ages at which children enter first g''rade...201 36. Actual and mental ages compared for a group of re- tarded pupils 205 37. Percentage of children having playgrounds of various sizes 224 38. Percentage of school rooms having various areas 226 39. Proportion of class rooms in relation to window area and floor space _ 230 40. The Bishop Harman Photometer 233 41. Frequency of different temperatures in class rooms 237 42. Results of examination of children's eyes 274 43. Some health conditions among school children 280 44. jMinutes per week devoted to physiology and hygiene 295 45. How Salt Lake City spends its dollar 302 46. Tax rate for maintenance in different cities compared...312 47. Increase in expenses and children in schools compared. .315 LIST OF TABLES. xi LIST OF TABLES IN REPORT. Table. Page. 1. Size and rate of growth of twenty-six selected cities 10 2. Composition of population of twenty-six selected cities... 11 3. Percentage of children in the total population com- pared 12 4. Percentages of children in the total population 14 5. Number engaged in each occupation, for each 1000 employed 17 6. Assessed and real wealth per capita of total popula- tion ., 19 7. Assessed and real wealth per capita for western cities... 20 8. Number of pupils in average daily attendance for each supervisory officer 39 9. Number of pupils in average daily attendance per teacher employed, in all schools 49 10. Comparative salary schedules in western cities 55 11. Wage scale for different types of employees in Salt Lake City 57 12. Weekly time schedules by subjects and grades 76 13. Time schedules by subjects in twelve different cities 89 14. Occupational statistics for Salt Lake City 121 15. Results of spelling test, by schools 131 16. Distribution of results of spelling test, by grades 133 17. Comparison in spelling test with other cities 137 18. Distribution of composition scores, by grades 140 19. Comparison of median composition scores with those of other cities 145 20. Distribution of average scores in penmanship 148 21. Distribution of scores on 2685 samples of penmanship, by grades 149 22. Results in penmanship compared for different cities 152 23. Results of the reading test, by schools 158 24. Results of the silent reading test, by grades 160 25. Number of words read per minute, by typical classes 160 26. Distribution of points read and number remembered 163 27. Amount and distribution of time in arithmetic 165 28. Distribution with respect to number of examples fin- ished 170 xii SCHOOL SURVEY REPORT Table. Page. 29. Relative standing of schools in the fundamentals of arithmetic 173 30. Comparison of results in arithmetic with other cities 174 31. Distribution of attempts and corrects in arithmetic test : 177 32. Comparison in arithmetic tests with other cities 178 33. Distribution of scores in reasoning test in arithmetic 180 34. Distribution of scores of individual members of typical classes 180 35. Average score in reasoning test in arithmetic, by schools and grades _ 183 36. Age and grade distribution on May 10th, 1915 188 37. Accelerated, normal, and retarded pupils, by grades 189 38. Retardation in American cities 191 39. Size of present school sites 223 40. The lighting of Salt Lake City school rooms 228 41. Results of light test on darkest desk in 32 class rooms...234 42. Temperatures found in class rooms 236 43. Seating, lighting, and toilet facilities in the different schools - - - 249 44. Drinking fountains provided 251 45. Effect of treating floors with oil 253 46. Health questionnaire. 1 271 47. Health questionnaire, II 272 48. Results of mouth examination of 4363 school children...276 49 Comparison of expenditures for city maintenance with other western cities 301 50. Per capita costs for city maintenance, and per capita and percentage amounts for schools 303 51. Cost per capita for schools, based on each 1% of chil- dren 307 LIST OF TABLES. xiii Table. Page. 52. Median and actual cost per capita for schools for western cities 308 53. Maintenance cost per pupil in average daily attend- ance 310 54. Necessary tax rates to produce estimated school sup- port 311 55. Comparison of distribution of school expenditures with other western cities 317 Report of the Survey Staff PART I Organization and Adminstration THE PROBLEM BEFORE US CHAPTER I. THE PROBLEM BEFORE US. (Cubberley) Position of the City. It always leads to a clearer under- standing of a problem such as we have before us for study if we first locate the city with which we are to deal. By this is meant not its geographical location, as that is well known, but rather its social and economic location among cities of its size and class. From such a study of the social and economic position and relationships the problem of public education, which is essentially a social and economic prob- lem, stands out more distinctly than it otherwise can do. Such a social and economic study we shall first make, before proceeding to a detailed study of the accomplishments and needs of the educational organization of the city. For the purpose of this study we shall compare Salt Lake City with a number of other cities of its size and class. In doing this we shall use in part the twenty-five other northern and western cities which, hy the U. S. Census of 1910, were classed as growing cities and as having, at that time^ 'between .75,000 and 125,000 inhabitants. As Salt Lake City had a population of 92,777 in 1910, and is estimated as now having a population of approximately 110,000, it will be ..«en that this group of cities includes those of a size and class with which Salt Lake City may be properly compared. For purposes of comparing Salt Lake 'City with western cities alone, another table of sixteen distinctly western cities, all of which had 25,000 or more inhabitants in 1910, will also at times be used. For all these cities, the reports of the U. S. Census for 1910, and the U. S. Census Bureau's annual Statistics of 'Cities, provide good data for comparative pur- poses. 6 SCHOOL SURVEY REPORT Comparative Isolation of the City. One of the most con- spicuous features of Salt Lake City, and one which in a way modifies its activities and needs, is its comparative isolation. One must travel to the east as far as Denver before one finds a city of its class, and to the west as far as Sacramento. Within a radius o'f 700 miles there is not only no community the size of Salt Lake City, but within this same radius but three cities having more than 15,000 inhabitants are found. One of these is the neighboring city of Ogden, and the other two are 400 miles to the north, in Idaho and Montana. In travelling to the eastward the summit of the continental divide must be crossed, while to the westward the desert and the Sierra Nevada Mountains block the way. Beautifully situated on a rising slope between the "Wa- satch and the Oquirrh ranges of mountains, in a country rich in mineral and agricultural resources and in a valley of great fertility, with the state university and the state capitol with- in its bounds, the city stands as the mineral, agricultural, po- litical, financial, social, and educational center of the state, and, to a large degree, of the inter-mountain plateau as well Blessed with a fine climate, plenty of good water, abundant sunshine, good educational facilities, and a progressive peo- ple, the city has attracted to itself a population of good char- acter and great virility, and one which has made for the city a somewhat independent position along social, educational, financial, and industrial lines. Forced to depend largely upon itself, the city has developed in a small way into a manu- facturing and producing center of some local importance. The mining industry tributary to it is of large commercial value, and is destined to remain such for a long time to come. But, notwithstanding these developments, the city is essen- tially a home city, its population consisting very largely of a substantial middle class of the home-building and home-own- ing type, interested in good government, good schools, and the promotion of the home. THE PROBLEM BEFORE US Growth in population. The growth of the city within the past quarter century has been very rapid. This may be seen from the following tabular statement. Per Cent oi ' Incr Year. Population. During Period, 1880 20,768 44,843 1890 115.9 % 1900 53,531 19.4 % 1910 92,777 73.3 % 1915 110,000* ♦Estimate for July 1, 1915. Among the cities of its size and class it was exceeded in rate of growth, from 1900 to 1910, by but three of the twenty-five cities we shall use ifor comparative purposes, as may be seen from the following table. SCHOOL SURVEY REPORT TABLE NO. 1. SIZE AND RATE OF GROWTH OF TWENTY-SIX SE- LECTED CITIES'.* City. Population 1910 Rate of Increase 1900-1910 1. Troy, N. Y 76,813 77,936 78,466 79,066 79,803 82,331 83,743 85,892 86,368 88,926 89,336 92,777 94,538 96,071 96,652 96,815 98,915 100,253 102,054 104,402 104,839 106,294 112,571 116,577 119,295 124,096 26.6 % 25.3 % 48.1 % 76.2 % 66.5 % 60.1 % 122.0 % 37.3 % 39.0 % 43.3 % 30.4 % 73.3 % 24.5 % 21.7 % 54.8 % 32.1 % 23.9 % 6.5 % 43.7 % 183.3 % 14.1 % 11.9 % 28.6 % 36.6 % 13.8 % 21.0 % 2. Somerville, Mass 3. Duluth, Minn 4. Youngstown, Ohio 5. Yonkers, N. Y 6. Kansas City, Kan 7. Taconia, Wash 8. Lawrence, Mass 9. Des, Moines, la 10. Springfield, Mass 11. Lynn, Mass 12. Salt Lake City, Ut... 13. Camden, N. J 14. Reading, Pa. ... 15. New Bedford, Mass.... 16. Trenton, N. J 17. Hartford, Conn 18. Albany, N. Y 19. Bridgeport, Conn 20. Spokane, Wash 21. Cambridge, Mass 22. Lowell, Mass 23. Grand Rapids, Mich. 24. Dayton, Ohio . 25. Fall River, Mass 26. Omaha, Neb. . •This table contains every northern and western city which in 1910 had between 75,000 .ind 125,000 Inhabitants, and which had increased in population during the preceding decade. Of the distiiictiA^ely western cities, with which Salt Lake City will also be compared for items of expense, only the Pa- cific coast cities exceed Salt Lake City in rate of growth from 1900 to 1910. THE PROBLEM BEFORE US 9 This means that Salt Lake City was among the few most rapidly growing American cities during the period. Averaged over the entire ten years from 1900 to 1910 the increase was equal to 11.2 persons per day. As the rate oi growth, judged by the number of children in the schools, was more rapid toward the end of the period than during the earlier part of it, the rate toward the latter part of the period must have , been at least as high as fifteen persons per day. The increase in the number of children in school would indicate that a growth at least as rapid as this still continues. Character of the Population. In character the population is mostly of excellent racial stock. Figure 1 shows that 78 out of every 100 persons in the city, in 1910, were born in the United States, and 41 out of every 100 were born of parents both of whom also were born here. This is about average for all northern and western cities, being higher than in the man- ufacturing centers of the east and lower than in the resi- dential cities of the West. Of the 21.0 % who were of for- eign birth, it will be noticed that 9.3 per cent came from Eng- lish-speaking lands, leaving but 11.8 per cent from non-Eng- lish-speaking countries. Three-fourths of tbese were from Ger- man, Austrian, or Scandinavian countries. But 1.1 per cent were, at that time, from countries to the south and east of Europe (Italians, Greeks, the Balkan States, Armenia, Turkey) and but eight-tenths of 1 per cent were of the negro race. The miscellaneous group included but few Orientals. This means that the city, in 1910, had a particularly select class of people, with no serious educational or social problem arisinig from the presence of a large number of foreign born, Orientals or negroes. Coming from countries where primary education has long prevailed, the number of illiterates in the population is naturally low. The average for the city in 1910 was 1.6 per cent, as against 7.7 per cent for the United States as a whole, and 6.9 per cent for the Mountain States. The foreign-born element showed an illiteracy of 4.4 per cent, and the native born but 0.25 per cent, with most of this among the few negroes. 10 SCHOOL SURVEY REPORT. The number of foreigfn born from the south and east of Europe has since increased, both in actual numbers and in percentage of the total population, and their settlement largely in that part of the city lying along the railroad tracks is cer- ma. 1. THE ELEMENTS OF THE POPULATION OF SALT LAKE CITY. tain to develop there what will in time become a serious educa- tional and social problem. In a sense it has already become such. With the marked turn of immigration from the north and west of Europe to the countries to the south and east, that has characterized the immigration of the past fifteen years, Salt Lake City cannot hope to escape receiving an increasing THE PROBLEM BEFORE US 11 percentage of these more poorly educated and less well de- veloped racial stocks. The following table compares Salt Lake City with other cities of its size and class in the matter of the elements of its population. TABLE NO. 2. COMPOSITION OF THE POPULATION OF 26 SELECTED CITIES. Percentage of the WholeWho Are Foreign Born City Native Born of Native Parents Native bom with or both Parents Foreign Born Negroes 1. Reading, Pa 77.8 % 62.3 62.0 58.3 52.4 52.3 44.4 43.6 42.6 42.0 41.1 40.0 40.2 38.3 37.1 36.2 32.4 31.4 27.1 26.6 24.4 19.7 19.5 19.4 13.6 13.3 12.2 % 22.3 21.9 17.8 24.5 26.1 36.4 28.5 31.9 37.1 37.0 30.2 32.2 34.5 31.3 38.0 33.7 35.2 37.5 36.6 38.0 40.6 39.5 33.5 37.9 43.7 9.2 % 12.0 11.9 12.6 16.6 20.3 18.1 25.6 21.8 20.1 21.1 27.2 25.9 26.9 30.6 25.2 31.4 31.6 33.3 35.5 33.3 39.1 40.9 44.1 48.1 42.6 0.8 % 3.4 2. Des Moines, la 3. Dayton, Ohio 4.2 4. Kansas City, Mo 5. Camden, N J. . 11.3 6.4 6. Spokane, Wash 0.7 7. Albany, N. Y 1.0 8. Tacoma, Wash 0.9 9. Omaha, Neb 3.6 10. Troy, N Y. . 08 11. Salt Lake City, Ut 12. Trenton, N. J 0.8 2.7 13. Springfield, Mass. 14. Somerville, Mass 15. Lynn, Mass 1.7 0.3 0.8 16. Grand Rapids, Mich. ... 17. Youngstown, Ohio 18. Hartford, Conn 0.6 2.4 1.8 19. Yonkers, NY 19 20. Bridgeport, Conn 21. Cambridge, Mass 22. Duluth, Minn 1.3 4.5 0.5 23. Lowell, Mass 0.1 24. New Bedford, Mass 25. Lawrence, Mass 3.0 0.3 26. Fall River, Mass. . . . 03 U. S. a*s a whole 54.1 20.5 14.7 107 12 SCHOOL SURVEY REPORT Percentag-e of Children. In the percentage of children in the total population, Salt Lake City ranks high among west- ern cities. The general characteristics of a western city are a marked preponderance of males, a small percentage of married males, and a small number of children. In these respects Salt Lake City is an exception, as it has but a small preponderance of males, a large percentage of the males are married, and in number of children it ranks with the markedly-foreign-born manufacturing cities of the east and the cities of the south. Only one other western city, Ogden, exceeds it in percentage of children. This may be seen from the following table. TABLE NO. 3. PERCENTxVGE OF CHILDREN IN THE TOTAL POPULA- TION CO:\IPARED FOR WESTERN CITIES. Percentage of Children City. 5 to 15 yeara of age, in- clusive. Under 15 years of age. 1. Ogden, Utah 20.0 % 18.5 16.0 15.2 15.2 15.1 14.7 14.0 14.1 13.8 13.6 13.4 13.0 12.5 12.1 12.0 11.9 32.1 % 29.6 23.3 23.6 2. Salt Lake City, Ut 3. Colorado Springs, Col. 4. Tacoma, Wash 5. Denver, Colo 23 1 6. Butte, Mont 23.9 7. Berkeley, Cal. . oo 7 S. Spokane, Wash 23.2 9. Oakland, Cal 22.5 10. San Jose, Cal 214 11. Pasadena. Cal 20.3 12. San Diego, Cal. .. . 20 2 13. Los Angeles, Cal 14. Seattle, Wash 20.1 19.7 15. Sacramento, Cal, 19 8 16. Portland, Ore _ 17. San Francisco, Cal 18.8 18.9 U. S. as a whole 17.4 27.3 THE PROBLEM BEFORE US 13 Distributed by age groups the population is as shown in Figure 2. From this figure it will be seen that Salt Lake City is essentially a community of young people, there being an excess of children and a shortage of those 45 years of age UNTTED' STATES UNDER SALT LAKE CITY 5 YtARS 9.9 -a 1 ^i^H^I /r.4% 5 TO 14 YEARS \S TO a4 YEARS zo.it 1 ^^^■^■■■1 liO.4% 33.Z% 3.S TO 1 44 YEARS .52.9^ 1 ■ AS TO 84 VEARS is.z-z 1 ^B^^l^l /3.6 OYER 4.0 7. 1 65 YEAR* !■ 3.3% FIG. 2. AGE DISTRIBUTION OF THE POPULATION. or over. The U. S. Census figures gave 4.6 persons to a fam- ily and 5.2 persons to a dwelling for the city in 1910. Such a condition should mean a live and vigorous city,— a city of young people, and with their 'families as yet young. Such a community is usually self-reliant and resourceful, and willing to provide the best it can afford for its children. The following table compares Salt Lake City wdth other cities of its size and class in the matter of the proportion of children in the total population. 14 SCHOOL SURVEY REPORT. TABLE NO. 4. SHOWING THE PEE CENT AGE OF CHILDREN IN THE TOTAL POPULATION. Percentage of children City. 5 to 15 years of age, in- elusive. Under 15 years of ■ age. 1. Fall River, Ma^s 2. Yonkers, N Y 20.4 % 18.9 18.5 18.1 17.9 17.5 17.2 17.2 17.0 17.0 16.9 16.8 16.8 16.8 16.8 16.6 15.9 15.9 15.6 15.4 15.2 15.2 15.0 14.9 14.6 14.5 32.1 % 29.9 3. Salt Lake City, Ut 4. Camden, N. Y 29.6 28.4 5. Lawrence, Mass 28.3 6. Cambridge, Mass 7. New Bedford, Mass 8. Duluth. Minn 27.8 28.9 26.0 9. Grand Rapids, Mich 10. Lowell, Mass 27.0 26.8 11. Youngstown, Ohio 12. Kansas City, Kan 13. Bridgeport, Conn 14. Hartford, Conn 27.9 27.9 27.2 26.6 15. Trenton, N. J 26.6 16. Des Moines, la 25.6 17. Reading, Pa 27.2 18. Springfield, Mass 19. Somerville, Mass 20. Davton, Ohio 25.3 26.0 24.5 21. Omaha, Neb 23.7 22. Tacoma, Wash. 23.6 23. Lvnn, Mass 24.0 24. Albany. N. Y 22.6 25. Troy, N. Y 23 2 26. Spokane, AVash 23.2 V. S. as a whole 17.4 27 3 The significance of this large number of children of school age may be better appreciated if it be stated that, for a, city the size of Salt Lake City (estimated now at 110,000) every increase of 1 per cent in the percentage of the popu- THE PROBLEM BEFORE US 15 latioii between 5 and 15 (the so-called school age) means at least 1,000 more children enrolled in the schools, 30 more teachers to be provided for the schools, and approximately two more school buildings to be erected within the city. Put FIG. 3. PORTLAND, OREGON, AND SALT LAKE CITY CO^IPARED AS TO CHILDREN. In making the school survey in Portland in 1913, as in Salt Lake City in 1915, the number of children actually in the schools early in May was taken in each place. Reducing the Portland figures so as to give the results if the city were the same size as Salt Lake City (110,000) we get the above figure. The black represents the children in Portland, and the white represents the excess in each grade for Salt Lake City for the same total population. Portland at that time had nine grades in its elementary school course. The increased num- ber of schools which Salt Lake City must maintain per thousand of its population will be at once evident. U". SCHOOL SURVEY REPORT nnotluM- way. Salt Lake City must iM'o\ido ."lO per cent moro toai'hors aiui Iniildiiiii-s per 1.000 of its total population tlian do siu'li oitios as Seattle, Portland. Saeramento, or S'an Franeiseo. and lU^ per eent more than do Taeoiua or Denver, to be able to niaiiitaiu merely equivalent sehools. This is the price the eity must pay for its larixe families and its hirge exeess of ehildren. Occupations in the city. It was stated on a preeeding l>aii-e that Salt Lake C^ity had developed a somewhat independ- ent {H^sition for itself along eommereial and industrial lines, llisi'h freii^ht rates have eom[H^lled the eity to make many ar*' tieles usiuilly brought in from the outside, with the result tliat many small industries have been developed which afford employment and contribute to the wealth of the conuuunity. Sixty-five per cent of the factories of the State of Vtah are in Salt Lake City or county, and these factories furnished an output in IJn4 valued at $(U.4r'»0,Ol>0. and paid out in wages nearly $10,000,000. Located as the city is, and with abund- ant raw materials in many lines close at hand, it is a natural manufacturing community. According to the census tigurcs for 1910, 40.7 per cent ,>f the total population of the city were engaged in some oe- cupation. with the distribution as follows: Kngaged in mechanical and maufacturing industries 12.5% Knga ged in tra de 7.0 Kngaged in douu^stie and pei*sonal service 5.4 Kngaged in transporta tion 4.6 l\ngaged in clerical occupations -. 4.4 Kngaged in professional service 3.6 Engaged in public ser\ice 1.7 Engaged in extraction of minerals 0,9 Engaged in agricultural ]uii*suits - 0.6 Compared with all other American cities. Salt Lake City gives the following results for each 1,000 peisons employed, distributed by occupation and by sex. THE PROBLEM BEFORE US 17 TABLE NO. f). NUMBP]R ENGAGED IN EACH OCCUPATION, F'OR EACH 1,000 EMPLOYED. Occupation MALES 1 FEMALES In Salt Lake City In all Cities In Salt Lake City In all Cities 1, Manuif'acturing and me- chanical industries 2. Trade 339 189 74 133 94 71 52 30 18 473 175 69 119 82 43 23 6 10 172 97 365 26 164 158 1 17 313 96 3. Domestic and personal service 348 4. Transportation IS 5. Clerical occupations 135 6. Professional services 7. Public service 88 8. Extraction of minerals 9. Agricultural and animal husbandry 2 Totals 1000 1000 1000 1000 An examination of the detailed distribution u'nder any one occupation sliows that almost all the industries, trades, and forms of service are followed. Under manufacturing and the mechanical industries the occupations concerned with the building trades predominate, though the machinery trades employ quite a large inuml)er of men ; in transportation, the railway service predominates; in trade and the clerical occu- pations there is a general distribution from clerks and stenog- raphers to commercial travellers and retail dealers; while in professional service designing and engineering work predom- inate. A rather unusual percentage of men, are engaged in domestic and personal service. As will be pointed out later on, in connection with the discussion of the courses of study in the schools, such a distribution of occupations calls for a rather varied educational experience in the schools. Wealth of the City. We pass finally to a study of the real wealth of the community, to see how able it is to pro- vide the type of educationi needed for its large number of 18 SCHOOL SURVEY REPORT children. The best basis for comparison here is the average actual (not assessed) wealth per capita of the total population. To obtain the actual wealth we must take the per capita as- sessed wealth, divide it by the basis of assessment, and mul- tiply the result by 100. This is the same as putting all cities on a 100 per cent basis of assessment, and hence compares their actual wealth. Using the figures given in the IT. S. Census Bureau's annual publication, Statistics of Cities for 1913,* we thus get the following comparative table for the twenty-five cities of the size and class of Salt Lake City with which we have proposed to compare it. "This is the most recent issue of this valuable yearbook. THE PROBLEM BEFORE US 19 TABLE NO. 6. ASSESSED AND KEAL WEALTH PER CAPITA OF THE TOTAL POPULATION. ^ City. Assessed wealth per capita Basis of assessment Real wealth per capita 1 Camden, N. J $ 593.69 710.43 553.41 593.69 771.65 789.92 807.67 825.33 846.08 848.39 232.15 944.12 944.91 965.00 985.60 772.49 1063.30 1014.16 547.64 1228.76 742.33 249.82 1526.11 1536.11 669.77 589.23 100 100 75 80 100 100 100 98 100 100 25 100 100 100 100 75 100 89 46 100 60 20 100 100 42 35 $ 593.69 9, Trenton, N. J 710.43 8 Reading, Pa. 737.88 4. 5 Hartford, Conn Lowell, Mass 742.11 77L65 6. 7. 8. 9. 10 Fall, River, Mass Lawrence, Mass Troy, N. Y Somerville, Mass Lynn, Mass 789.92 807.67 842.18 846.08 848.39 11. 12. 13. 14 Des Moines, la New Bedford, Mass. Bridgeport, Conn Yonkers, N. Y 932.60 944.12 944.91 965.00 15. 16. 17. 18. 19 Kansas City, Kan Grand Rapids, Mich. Cambridge, Mass Albany, N. Y. Duluth, Minn. . 985.60 1029.99 1063.30 1139.51 1190.52 20. Dayton, Ohio Tacoma, Wash 1228.76 1237.21 ?p, Omaha, Neb 1249.10 23. 24. 25. 26. Youngstown, Ohio Spring-field, Mass Spokane, Wash Salt Lake City, Ut 1526.11 1536.11 1666.12 1683.52 Average for the group Median for the group $1038.94 954.96 This shows Salt Lake City to be the richest city in the group. Compared with Camden, F'all River, Lawrence and Yonkers, cities which have somewhere near the same percent- age of children- (see Table No. 4) Salt Lake City is indeed a wealthy city. Compared with western cities Salt Lake City 20 SCHOOL SURVEY REPORT occupies a somewhat middle position, being a little higher than the average for the group, and markedly exceeded only by Portland, San Francisco, and the three wealthy residential cities of southern California. This may be seen from the fol- lowing table. TABLE NO. 7. ASSESSED AND REAL WEALTH PER CAPITA FOR WESTERN CITIES* x\ssessed Citv. wealth Basis of Real wealth per capita. assessment. per capita. 1. Butte, Mont $ 596.91 75 $ 795.88 2. San Jose, Cal 648.61 60 1081.02 3. Denver, Colo 563.25 50 1126.50 4. ColoradoSprings. Colo 400.77 742.33 33 60 1202.31 5. Tacoma, Wash 1237.22 6. Berkeley, Cal 822.68 60 1371.13 7. Oakland, Cal 738.96 50 1477.92 8. Seattle, Wash 721.24 45 1602.77 9. Spokane, Wash ... 699.77 42 1666.12 10. Salt Lake City, Utah 589.23 1042.03 35 58 1683.52 11. Sacramento, Cal... 1796.60 12. Pasadena, Cal 1280.94 66 1921.41 13. Portland, Ore 1212.40 63 1924.44 14. Los Angeles, Cal. 880.20 46 1930.87 15. San Francisco, Cal 1193.32 1051.05 45 39 2561.82 16. San Diego, Cal 2695.00 Average for the group $1630.85 Median for the group 1634.45 *Ogden unfortunately cannot be included in this table, for the rea- son that the United States Census Bureau does not publish financial statistics for cities which in 1910 had a population of less than 30,000. These two tables show Salt Lake City as of large per cap- ita wealth, even though the number of children in the total population is large. If the city had the usual small proportion of children found in western cities, it would almost equal THE PROBLEM BEFORE US 21 Pasadena, Portland, or Los Angeles in its per capita wealth. As it is, it must be classed as among one of the few very rich cities of the United States. When we remember, further, that the city has very few really rich people, we can appreciate what a wide distribution of property there must be among the population. It is essentially a city of the so-called middle class. This should make the maintenance of any public enter- prise, such as schools, a relatively easy matter. The city and. its needs. We have then, for study, a rap- idly growing western city of the best type. It is a city which, by reason of its comparative isolation, has developed aoi inde- pendence for itself which few cities are able to do or feel the need of doing. Its population is, as yet, very largely al the best American and foreign stocks, though a change in its char- acter is beginning. The city is a city of young people, of large families, and of large per capita wealth. The pinch of competition, which in most places has led to a somewhat general reduction in the size of families, has been scarcely felt here. There is still plenty of elbow room and opportunity. The city has the vigor and the confidence in itself which belongs to youth. The location of Salt Lake City makes it certain that it has a large future before it. This, the needs of its occupations and its industries, the general needs in our national life for good education, for all, its large number of children of good stock, and the increasing number of children coming from homes of an inferior type, — all alike make it important that this particular city maintain for its children as good an educa- tional system as it can possibly afford. Its large wealth, and, as will be shown later, its low per capita expense for city main- tenance, make it possible for the city to afford as good an edu- cational system as is to be found anywhere in the land. Order of procedure. Having now examined somewhat in detail the character and position of Salt Lake City among cities of its size and class, we shall next pass to an examination of the organization of its educational system, the scope and needs o'f the system provided, the school plant and its needs, the health and play needs, and the financial problem of the system. 22 SCHOOL SURVEY REPORT CHAPTER II. THE ORGANIZATION OF THE SCHOOL SYSTEM. (Cub'berley.) General state control. To provide for the education of its children the State of Utah has, in its constitntioii. made the maintenance of a general system of public schools a state duty, and has charged the legislature to provide for the establish- ment and maintenance of schools in all parts of the state. The public school system is, in the constitution, declared to include all schools from the kindergarten to and through the state university. Certain permanent funds to aid in the support of schools are dedicated to the purposes, the general control of the system is vested in a state board of education and a state superintendent of public instruction, rates of taxation for state aid for education are fixed, and the separate organization and control of city school systems is provided for. The educational provisions of the constitution of the state have been amplified in the school law, Avhich now forms a sub- stantial A'olume of one hundred and forty printed pages. The powers and duties of the state board of education and of the state superintendent of public instruction have been specified, in some detail; the counties of the state have been organized into county-unit organizations, under the educational over- sight of county superintendents of schools; cities of the first and second class have been allowed to organize separately under city boards of education, and the powers and duties of such have been laid down at some length; the schools have been made free to all. and the attendance of all children be- tween the ages of eight and sixteen years has been made com- pulsory for thirty weehs each year in cities, and twenty weeks elsewhere in the state. ORGANIZATION OF SCHOOL SYSTEM 23 Carrying- out the state purpose. Education in Utah, as in practically all other American states, has been conceived as something of such great importance to the future welfare of the state tliat it has not been felt safe to entrust it to the cities to manage. Education has been regarded as a "major claim" of each new generation on the one that has gone before, — a form of debt which each generation owes to the new generation it brings into the world, — and as such the state has not been willing to trust entirely the carrying out of this important obligation' to local governmental units. Accord- ingly the state has provided by general law for many details of local school administration, and has given boards of educa- tion power, within certain legal limits, to determine the sums needed for carrying out properly this state purpose. The qualifications of members for boards of education, how they shall be elected, when they shall take office, how they may be removed, their compensation, the duties of the officers of the board, the department officers they may appoint, the general corporate powers of the board, their general powers and duties, hoAv they shall estimate the city school tax, under what condi- tions and how they may incur indebtedness and issue bonds, and how they may erect school buildings, — all these matters are laid down, in some detail, in the school laws of the state, instead of being left to the different cities to determine. The board of education, elected by the people to represent it in the management of their schools, in reality represents the state much more than it does the city. The state purpose of seeing that its future citizenship is properly- educated is the important thing; the city is merely an agent of the state in the matter. The powers possessed by the board of education are derived from the state, and not from the city; the state can add to or subtract from these, as it wills, or it could abolish the board of education entirely and substitute some other agency to do its work. If the board needs new or addi- tional powers it must ask the legislature for them; if its funds are not sufficient for the work the legislature has given it to 24 SrilOOL Sl'KVKY REPORT. do, il. luust pi\\S(Mit its oaso to tlie loirislaturo, and ask for an iiuToaso in tlio S(.'liO(>l tax rate. A boiU'd's proper functions. The board of oduoatiou, aotini^- as a body. oousoiiiuMilly acts for the stato in the matter of school control. Since tlie people of the city are also citizens of the state, — in the case of Salt Lake City they constitute one fonrih ol' the citi/.ens oi' the entire state, — the board of edu- cation also re[M"eseuts the citizens of the city as mcII. It rep- resents tliein, lunvever, in their capacity as citizens of the state of I'lah, rather than as citizens of Salt Lake City. It represents them, thouiiii. not individnally. but as a body, and only \\ hen in fornuil session. It is only by formal and recorded vote that boards o\' education can properly exercise any eontrol. All individual direction of the schools, unless such individual power is formally delegated to the individual member by vote of the board, is usurped direction. For such individual direction the state has provided other officers, who devote tluMr entire time to the work, and who are much more likely to direct the schools wisely and well. When a board of education directs the work of the schools properly, carefully selecting its executive officers, sustainiugr them in their official acts, and rcplaciuir them Avhencver they fail to act wisely or efficiently or honestly, it renders a conspicuous service to the people of the conuuunity and to the state it serves. AVheuevcr. on the contrary, the board assumes executive as well as legislative functions, begins to participate in exec- utive work instead of acting as a board for school control, and interferes with or usurps work which it should entrust to its executive ottlcers, it almost invariably begins to lose the con- ddence of those whose confidence it should retain. The prin- cipals and teaehei*s. and ultimately the people as well, lose contidence in its wisdom, with the inevitable result that the efficiency of the schools themselves is impaired. A funda- mental principle of prv>per city school administration is that it is primarily the business of the board of education to receive reports as to conditions and needs, to weigh recommenda- ORGANIZATION OF SCHOOL SYSTEM 25 tions, to determine the broader lines of policies, and to legis- late, while it is primarily the business of the executive officers it employs to execute the legislation and policies which the board, after hearing reports and deliberating, has decided upon. It will be seen from the above statement of principles that a board of education for a city school system occupies a very important position, and that upon its good judgment as to what to do and what to let alone depends much of the success of the administration of the schools. By improper organization, by doing too much, by attempting to handle too many things, by interfering too much with the work of its executive officers, or by indecision as to purpose, a board of education may inter- fere seriously with the proper working of the schools under its control, with the esprit de corps of those who render service in its schools, and with the proper carrying out of that large and important state purpose for which they were elected to office. The Salt Lake City organization. To carry out the state purpose in 'Salt Lake City the city has been classified by law as a city of the first class, and for the government of the schools in cities of the first class a board of education, con- sisting of ten members, two elected from each municipal ward in the city, has been provided. The term of office is four years, one member being elected from each municipal ward in December of the odd-numbered years. The school corporation is separate and distinct from the municipal corporation with which it is here coterminous. So fully has this separation been accomplished that in the city auditor's reports, covering the different departments and phases of work of the Salt Lake City corporation, the school department does not appear. The school district is a state corporation, existing for the carrying out of a state purpose ; the city is a local organization primarily for local municipal government. They are separate and distinct corporations, though their boundaries and elec- torate are one and the same. The board of education has provided, under its rules and 26 SCHOOL SURVEY REPORT. regulations, for the appointment of five standing eouimittees, each consisting of five members and the president of the board. These standing committees are (1) Rules, (2) School Law, (3) Teachers and School Work, (J:) Building and Grounds, and (5) Finance. A careful reading of the minutes of the board for more than a year would seem to indicate that the first two committees are not especially important ones, but that the other three are committees which transact a large amount of business and assume many important functions. The board has further orgtinized the administration of the school system under three separate and distinct departments. These are (1) the clerical and purchasing department, in charge of a School Clerk, (2) the building department, in charge of a Superintendent of Buildings, and (3) the educa- tional department, in charge of a Superintendent of Schools. A Treasurer is also appointed, to care for and pay out the school moneys. Committees and departments. As far as could be ascer- tained by inquiry, by a reading of the official minutes of the proceedings of the board, and by au examination of the printed Tules and regulations of the board of education, these three departments seem to be on a plane of tlieoretical equality, each handling the business within its own field somewhat inde- pendently of the other two. The School Clerk works largely through the Committee on Finance, the Superintendent of Buildings largel.y through the Committee on Buildings a"nd Grounds, and the Superintendent of Schools largely through the Committee on Teachers and School AYorlc. These commit- tees then report to the board of education, which serves as a co-ordinating body for the three separate administrative de- partments and the three important board committees. In effect, three separate boards exist, each large enough to be a board of education in itself, and each handling an important division of the educational work of the city. To harmonize results the three boards meet together as a body, after they have come to independent decisions. 28 SCHOOL SURVEY REPORT. The diagram on the preceding page shows the existing form of organization, and the existing relationships. The board of education is shown as large and important, as it now is. Below it and intermediary between it and the heads of its departments are the board committees, and then come the heads of departments and their staffs. The position of any person on the diagram indicates his authority and responsi- bility to those below him and above him, and the connecting lines indicate lines of relationship and responsibility. A lack of connecting lines in the same way indicates lack of co- ordinating authority or responsibility. Present organization wrong in principle. The inevitable result of such an arrangement is frequent and long committee meetings, much discussion, and board meetings often lasting until late at night. The constant tendency under such a system of administration is for the committees to become very important administrative bodies, and for the chairman of each to usurp some or many of the functions of the executive heads of departments. Especially is this likely to prove dangerous in the. case of the Committee on Teachers and School Work, the chairman of which is very likely, almost unconsciously, to take over many of the functions that properly belong to the Superintendent of Schools and to become, as it were, a second head of the educational department ; passing, in turn, on all the superintendent's recommendations as to teachers, prin- cipals, and supervisory officers, and substituting his opinion or the opinion of his committtee for that of the superintendent as to the employment, retention, and service of members of the educational force. The present organization is not only wrong in principle, but it is fraught with continual danger of misunderstandings and trouble. The committees are too prominent in the admin- istration, and the school clerk and the superintendent of buildings enjoy too large independence in action. An exam- ination of the printed annual reports of the board for a number of years past would seem to indicate that the school clerk is ORGANIZATION OF SCHOOL SYSTEM 29 the real head of the school system, rather than the superin- tendent of schools. His reports come first and are the most elaborate, and he rather than the superintendent of schools discusses the question of finances and says what he thinks as to possible economies.* The present large independence of *By way of illustration the following quotation from the clerk's report to the board, printed in the 24th annual report (1913-14) p. 16, may be cited. "For twenty years the cost per pupil has been steadily increas- ing', and if the special efforts put forth this year have stayed that advance, and in fact reduced the cost per pupil, there is no doubt that much more could be accomplished by continuing the efforts for a more efficient and economical administration of our school system." Such a statement, well intended no doubt, is nevertheless mislead- ing, and only ,serves to raise hopes that cannot be realized without impairing the efficiency of the system. An analysis of the tables sub- mitted in the clerk's report shows that the reduction in cost mentioned was only made by employing cheaper teachers, increasing the number of pupils per teacher, and reducing the expenses for renewals and re- pairs. Such reductions could not be continued without seriously impair- ing the efficiency of the schools, yet the statement as printed leaves the opposite inference. As a matter of fact, the reduction in expenses by such means has gone too far now, and the printing of such a statement tends to make more difficult a change in the right direction. All such statements should meet with the approval of the superintendent of schools before being given to the puplic, and only serve to emphasize the necessity of having one and only one head to the administrative system. the superintendent of buildings, especially in the matter of repairs and alterations and the employment of janitors, is also fundamentally wrong, and is certain to result in expenditures which ought not to be made, and in the failure to perform work which ought to be performed. That it has done so is well pointed out in Chapter X. One gets the idea from reading a few years of the annual printed reports and the rules and regulations of the board that the educational department in the Salt Lake City school system occupies a rather inferior position in the administrative organ- ization, and that it is allowed to exercise but little supervisory control over the other administrative departments. Only the compulsory attendance work is specifically placed under the direction of the superintendent of schools. The underlying theory seems "to be that the educational department is a sep- 30 SCHOOL SURVEY REPORT. arate aud isolated department instead of being the premier department of the whole system. Right principles in school organization. A thoroughly fundamental principle in all proper school organization and administration is that there should be a real unity in the organization and a responsibility to one head in the adminis- tration, aud that the head of the school system should be no other than the superintendent of schools. Through him, as the head of tlio school system, the board should Avork. The educational dcartment is not a minor or a subordinate or even a co-ordinate department, but is the one for which all the other departments exist. All forms of administrative machinery, anc* 'vll officers of control aud department heads, exist for the pri»oe purpose of assisting the educational depart- ment to get tejvehers and children together under the best possible educatioto OoOOOOoOoioOoOoOOO Otot^iOO'^O^Ot-'OoOioO'OO FIG. 10. DISTRIBUTION OF SALARIES PAID HIGH SCHOOL TEACHERS, 1914-15. may be seen from Figure 10. which doubtless accounts for the greater percentage of outside teachers shown in the lower part of Figure 9. As the salary schedule in Salt Lake City is graded largely on the basis of the number of years of teaching service, the great massing of salaries toward the lower end of the scale indicate the employment of young and inexperienced teachers. Figure 8 shows that 41.6 per cent of the elementary-school teachers this past year have been paid $750 or less. Salt Lake City is employing for its schools too many girls of little 54 SCHOOL SURVEY REPORT. teaching experience. This is further brought out by Figure 11, which shows that 50 per cent of the teachers in the city have been in the schools five vears or less. /^t/M5£T OF TttCHlHys ZO ZS 30 3S 40 4S 30 SS &0 iS 70 7S ~^.]^S9 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 "1 ■ — ■ -1 — )590 Bi 1S91 ■ j ]S5Z H 1 \S93 ■IH ! 1?94 ■■ 1S95 ^ I?96' B )F97 IH ]S3S ■n \%99 ■IH 1900 MMjl 1901 HHIJ^^B i 1902 I^^H^HH 1905 ■■■■■■ = 1904 ■■IHH J 905 1906 s ^s 1907 19QT ^^h* 1 ■ 1 J\JO 1909 { ;9// A S= ZZaLmm 191Z^ 1913 /9W I ss ^ -■ FIG. 11. TENURE OF TEACHERS IN SALT LAKE CITY, AS' SHOWN BY THE YEAR OF FIRST APPOINT- MENT TO THE TEACHING FORCE. The Salary Schedules. That teachers' salaries in Salt Lake City are low there can be no question. Salt Lake City is not a cheap city in which to live, and a public school teacher should be paid a salary sufficient to enable her to live as a person of education and refinement should. This demands a salary large enough to enable the teacher to secure a good quiet room in a house where she has regular use of a bath, good food, reasonably good clothing, some money for books and better-class amusements, something left for sum- mer schools and a summer vacation, and a little margin for THE TEACHING STAFF. 55 the unexpected. $800 a year, considering the training re- quired and the cost of living, is low enough ifor a minimum in a western city, and $1,200 a year is low enough for a max- imum for teachers in elementary schools. For high schools, a beginning salary of $900 and a maximum of $1,500, with $1,800 to $2,000 for heads of departments, are salaries which are not too high when it is remembered that graduation from a university is required to enter the work. That such salaries are comparable to those paid in other western cities where living costs are somewhat similar, and where good school systems are maintained, may be seen from the following table, comparing teachers' salaries in Salt Lake City with salaries paid in the sixteen ether western cities used in other tables in this report. TABLE NO. 10. COMPARATIVE SALARY SCHEDULE IN WESTERN CITIES. CITY TEACHERS PRINCIPALS Minimum Salary Maximum Salary Minimum Salary Maximum Salary I. Elementary Schools. 1. Salt Lake City, Utah.... 2. Tacoma, Wasli $480 600 600 600 720 725 750 768 768 780 800 840 840 840 900 960 $1020 960 960 1000 1200 1100 1200 1200 1200 1200 1100 1024 1050 1110 1200 1200 $1350 1140 1150 1050 1400 1050 1200 1200 1300 1500 1200 2340 1800 1440 1560 1500 $2350 1800 3. Colorado Springs, Colo. 4. Spokane, Wash. 1800 1800 5. Denver, Colo 2000 6. Portland, Ore 2150 7. Butte, Mont 1700 8. San Diego, Cai 2004 9. Los Angeles, Cal 2400 10. Oakland, Cal 2400 11. Pasadena, Cal 2100 12. San Francisco, Cal 13. San Jose, Cal 2460 1920 14. Seattle, Wash 2160 15. Sacramento, Cal 1560 16. Berkeley, Cal 2280 56 SCHOOL SURVEY REPORT. TABLE 10, CONTINUED. COMPARATIVE SALARY SCHEDULES IN WESTERN CITIES. CITY. Teachers Heads of Depart- ments Maximum Minimum Salary Maximum Salary Principals IT. Hish Schools. 1. Salt Lake City. Utah... 2. Tacoma, ^^'ash $800 810 900 1000 1020 1100 1100 1150 1200 1200 1200 1200 1200 1250 1260 1500 $1400 1350 1600 1600 1560 1400 1500 1350 1500 1600 1680 1680 1500 1600 1500 1730 $1600 1600 1600 2200 1680 1800 1700 1600 1800 1800 2160 1680 2200 ISOO 2100 2040 $3800 2500 o. Colorado Springs, Colo. 4. Itonvor. Colo 1800 5. Seattle, Wash 3600 6. Spokane. Wash 3300 7. Tasadena. Cal 3300 S. Portland. Ore 3000 9. r>erkeley. Cal 10. San Dies;o. Cal 3000 3000 11. Los Ans;eles, Cal 3600 12. Sacramento. Cal 2300 13. San Jose. Cal 3600 14. Butte. Mont 3000 15. Oakland. Cal 3300 16. San Francisco, Cal 3600 In both olouioutary and soooiidary soUool salaries, as shcnvu by tlie abovo table. Salt Lake City pays the lowest iiiin- imuiu and also nearly the lowest maximum of any western eity. Only in the salaries paid priuoipals should Salt Lake City be eommended. Comparative Salaries Paid. That the salaries paid teach- ers in Salt Lake City are also lower than are paid other types of eity employees, and employees in other loeal lines of business, may be seen from the foUowinir table giving wage scales eommon in Salt Lake City. For purposes of proper comparison all have been reduced to a twelve-mouth basis. THE TEACHING STAFF. 57 TABLE NO. 11. WAGE SCALE FOR DIFFERENT TYPES OF' EMPLOYEES IN SALT LAKE CITY. PUBLIC SCHOOL EMPLOYEES. In elementary schools $ 40.00 to $ 85.00 per month 12 In high schools 41.66 to 116.66 per month 12 Department heads in high schools 100.00 to 133.33 per month ? School janitors ^ CITY EMPLOYEES. Policemen $ 80.00 to $112.50 per month Firemen 80.00 to 100.00 per month Street sweepers 1.75 per day Clerks in city offices 75.00 to 100.00 per month Stenographers in same 60.00 to 75.00 per month Policemen $ Per month Firemen, Street Sweepers per month Clerks in City and County Offices . . per month Stenographers in City and County Offices per month BANK EMPLOYEES. Head bookkeepers $ 90. to $125. per month Assistant bookkeepers 75. to 100. per month Collectors 30. to 75. per month Tellers 100. to 150. per month RAILROAD EMPLOYEES. Bookkeepers $ 90. to $110. per month Traveling men 100. to 150. per month Stenographers and secretaries 50. to 100. per month Telegraph operators 85. to 100. per month STORE EMPLOYEES. Bookkeepers $ 75. to $110. per month Clerks, male 60. to 100. per month Clerks, female 80. to 60. per month Conclusions as to Teachers. It will be seen from the tables and charts giveu in this chapter that the number of teachers now employed is too small, and that the tendency in employment is in the wrong direction; that the schools are securing too many inexperienced teachers, from the immed- iate neighborhoods, and with purely local outlook and train- ing; that the tendency in salaries is downward, below what is a living wage for any person of education and retinepjcnt, and 58 SCHOOL SURVEY REPORT. below a remuneration -which will make teaching attractive to the better class of young people ; and that the salaries paid are lower than in other western cities, or in other t3'pes Qif city service. What ought to appeal to the best minds as the highest and most attractive service is rendered just the opposite, from a monetary point of view. To supply the present needs of the schools for regular class teachers and for special teachers, as A^^ll be pointed out further on in this report, would require the addition of ap- proximately 100 more teachers to the elementary school serv- ice. To pay a salary schedule such as well-trained teachers demand would require, including the new teachers to be em- ployed to meet present needs, an addition of probably 40 per cent to the present allowance for teachers' salaries. This is doubtless impossible under the present tax limits, but it is no less a necessity if the schools are to be put in condition to render the full service that they should. A continuation of present tendencies eannot fail to interfere seriously with the efficiency of the instruction in the schools. In presenting these criticisms of the present policy as to teachers, necessitated by the present financial situation, the survey staff do not wish to leave the impression that they feel that the teaching force is not rendering good service. On the contrary, we felt that the city was getting more for its money than it had a right to expect. In every school we found a few excellent teachers, a number of good average teachers, and one or two teachers who seemed to lack ex- perience and grasp. The last is not at all surprising, consider- ing the t^•pe of young people being taken for the work. That the teachers were rendering as good service as they were, considering the inexperience and lack of contact with life elsewhere of many of the newer ones, was in large measure due to the good supervision given their work by the prin- cipals and special supervisors. SCHOOL CENSUS AND ATTENDANCE. 59 CHAPTER V. SCHOOL CENSUS AND SCHOOL ATTENDANCE. (Cub'berley) The Increase in Both. The drawing which appears on this page shows the increases in school census, school enroll- ment, and average membership in the schools of Salt Lake City for the past quarter of a century. In a general way the three follow somewhat parallel lines, though the increase in enrollment and average membership during the past fifteen years has not quite kept up with the increase in the school /^^ -^:S- c^-^ ^^ SCHOOLCt^iSiLS . r- - UTuTp\H scnoots ^^ --'-'^i^.hSii I MN\BERS»^**^ y 30 OOO Children 0\ CV C\ 5» C\ 0\ o\ o\ o^ o> FIG. 12. INCREASE IN SCHOOL CENSUS, ENROLLMENT, AND AVERAGE MEMBERSHIP. census. The increase in school census as reported by the en- umerators has also been less regular than has the increase in enrollment and average membership, as shown by the more 60 SCHOOL SURVEY REPORT. jairixod lino. A natural question raised by such a eurve is as to ^^•lletller the different enumerations have been earefully made. It is liard to explain the deereases in 1906, and again in 1912, on any other basis than a failure to enumerate all the existing ehildren. .\s all apportionments of state sehool money are based on the sehool eensus returns (ehildren over G and under IS years of age reported as living within the city) and as the amount apportioned is a considerable sum ($13.00 per child in 1913-14) it doubtless would pay the board of educa- tion to revise the methods in use for taking the annual sehool census. A School Census Biu'eau. A sehool eensus bureau should be created, in eonneetion with the department of compulsory school attendance, and it should compile accurate records of tlie children living in every block or school district in the city. Such records might be collected by the school princi- pals, by the department of compulsory attendance, or by some other means. Each pupil-record should show the following in- formation. 1. Name of child (surname tirst). 2. Sex of child. 3. Month, day. and year of birth, from which the num- ber of years old, at last birthday, is also to be set down. The authority upon which the age is t<\keu (word of parents ; birth certificate: baptismal certifi- cate; passport; etc."* shall also be set down. 4. Country of birth. o. Name of parent (father or mother\ guardian, or other person standmg in parental relation. 6. Abode, including school-attendance district, post-of- tice address, and street and number. 7. Physical condition (good: deaf: dumb: blind: crip- pled \ 5. ^lental condition (good; otherwise). 9. School attending (public: private: parochiaD. 10. Position in school (grade\ SCHOOL CENSUS AND ATTENDANCE. 61 11. Reason, if not attending scliool. 12. If employed, where and how. 13. Vaccination certificate record. A duplicate card system should be employed, one card to be retained in the office of the department of compulsory school attendance, and one at the school the child attends. This form of school census should be always in the making, so as to keep it accurate and reliable. School teachers and prin- cipals should report all changes and additions, and the school principals could be employed on Saturdays or in vacation to check up and keep accurate the information for their school districts. All such data should be sorted and tabulated by schools, or attendance districts, and the attendance of each child at public, private, or parochial school, or non-attendance at any school, should be indicated on the records. The annual state school census, required by the laws of the state, could be taken each July from the card records on file in the office of the attendance department. By using some care to main- tain such records in accurate form, the whereabouts of every child of school age could at all times be known. Such a form of continuing school census has been established by a few of our cities, and is the only form that possesses much real value as a record, or for the enforcement of the compulsory- attendance, child-labor, or working-permit laws. Such a plan calls for the appointment of a man or woman who will give full time to keeping the records accurate, and some extra clerical assistance at certain times of the year. The school principals could be used for much of the work, as they constitute the most intelligent body of assistants obtain- able. Such a census bureau would of course cost something to maintain, — perhaps $5,000 a year, — but it probably would more than save its cost in increased earnings from the state grants, in addition to affording a much better basis for the enforcement of the state laws relating to the education and protection of children. 62 SCHOOL SURVEY REPORT. Value of such Records in Locating School Buildings. A tabulation of such records, from year to year by blocks and by districts, would also be of much value to the officers of the school department in determining the growth, the rate of growth, and the changes in character of the school pop- ulation in the different districts of the city. Prom such data the needs of the school department in buildings, rooms, equip- ment, and teachers could not only he somewhat accurately determined, but determined sufficiently long enough in ad- vance to enable the school department to provide proper school facilities. It is from some such form of record that a telephone company knows where to locate a branch ex- change, and when to replace its lines with others capable of caring for increased business. With such records available, such errors of personal judgment as 'the board of education made last year in deciding to locate a new building on the already over-crowded Hamilton School site, and later, afteir the type of building had been decided upon and plans had been drawn, reversing itself and locating the building as orig- inally recommended by the superintendent of schools, could easily be avoided. From reading the minutes of board meet- ings for July, August and September of last year, one would be led to infer that this needless mistake cost the board a large amount of time, and caused much bitter feeling. Under a good record system, such a case could easily have been avoided. Enforcement of Compulsory Attendance. The school law of the State of Utah requires the attendance at some school of practically every child in Salt Lake City, between the ages of 8 and 16, for at least 30 weeks each year. The reports of the school truant officer, as printed in the annual reports of the board of education, would indicate that the attendance of children is looked after as well as one man can do such work in a city of 110,000 inhabitants, and cover- ing fifty square miles of territory. Figure 13, showing the ages of all children belonging to SCHOOL CENSUS AND ATTENDANCE. 63 the schools in May, 1915, shows that attendance holds up fair- ly well to the end of the 15th year. Figure 14. however, ZOOO Pupils ■I500 -moo ^^f^^ 10 l\ IZ 13 /4 IS 10 n It IS zo yns: F'IG. 13. DISTKIBUTION OF PUBLIC SCHOOL PUPILS IN SALT LAKE, BY AGES. shows that attendance drops very rapidly in Salt Lake City after the completion of the 6th school grade, and this fact, together with the large number of over-age children in the 64 SCTTOOT. SURVEY REPORT. grndos, as shown by Fitj^nre 28, makes it almost certain that ft largo number o[' tlie older ehildren, held in school by the enforcement of the eonipnlsory education laws, are pupils Avho are "mired doAvn" in the grades and are hopelessly re- penting Avork Avhieh is not at all vsnited to their needs. This nmst be i>articnl;ivly the case with many o\! the boys. It is almost certain that a vocational school for such children Avould be of great benetit not only to them, but to the grades from which they would be withdrawn as well. No school system consisting of grade instruction alone can ever meet the educa- tional needs of those markedly over-age boys and girls who find themselves unable to make satisfactory progress in the work of the ordinary school course of study. The needs of sucli cliildrcn arc considered more at length in Chapter IX. 41.VIO Pupils .''DOO - 3orc Z600 zooo I500 lOOO sec • 1 ^ ' 1 f9/4 ' ^^^-^^ I 1 J?-» 1 ^ 1 4000 Pupils 3SOO 30OO 1500 lOOO JOO &ftnD£ I XL m _ u X XI 3iii "sm tt t -ct ttt FIG. 14. CHAXGKS IX THE KXROLL.^IENT BY GKADES IX TAYEXTY YEARS. SCHOOL CENSUS AND ATTENDANCE. 65 Where the Schools are Increasing. Figure 14 shows the increase in pupils enrolled in the schools at the close of each ten-year period for the past three decades, and their distribu- tion throughout the school system by grades. This is an in- teresting chart. In 1894, th« great dropping out of children took place after the completion of the 4th school grade, the iuunl)er remaining to the close of the 8th or going on through the high school being quite small. During the ten-year per- iod up to 1914, the schools actually increased more in the four upper grades than in the four lower, a rather anomolous situation. During the last ten-year period, the great gain has been in the first six grades. The marked falling off in a1 tendance is now seen to take place at the close of both the 4ti' and the 6th school grades, with another heavy mortality at V^e end of the first year of the high school. The loss a^: the end of the 9th grade is almost as large as the loss at the end of the 8th. These curves naturally raise a question as to whether the courses of study and the types of education provided for the children l)elow 16 years of age is the best the community can provide. This question will be considered more in detail in' the succeed- ing chapters of this report. Pupils Completing the High-school Course. The small number of pupils finishing a high school course, or even qon- tinuing into the second year ol" the high schools, is a notice- able feature of the distribution shown in figure 14. In a community such as Salt Lake City, a community of good racial stocks, low illiteracy, good educational traditions, a state university at its doors, and much wealth, this is a rather surprising condition to find. One would expect, in such a city, to find a large rather than a small percentage of pupils in attendance at the high schools. But, notwithstanding the rather marked increase in high school enrollment during the last decade, the percentage in the high school grades is still quite low. This condition naturally raises questions as to the adaptability to community needs of the instruction now Oti SCHOOL SURVEY REPORT. CITIES IBERKELEVCAL e NEWTON. MA35. 3 3ANJ03E.CAL 4PASADENA,CAL 5WALTHAN\.fV\ASS 6 SAN DIE60.0AL. 7 5EATTLE.VyA3H. SSP0KANE.VVA3H 9CAMBRIDGE.MA33 IO0E5 MOINES, lA 1ISACRAN\ENT0,CAL 12.L0S ANGELES. CAL. ID OMAHA. NEBR 14 DENVER, COLO 15 TACOMA.WASti. laSPRINGFIELD.fAASS. 17 PORTLAND. ORE ISOAKLAND.CAL. 19.DL)LUTh.N\lfiN 20 BUTTE. MONT eiOGDEN.UTAti 22.Y0NKLRS,N,Y. 23SALTLAKEC1TY 5 10 16 CO Z5% 1 . 1 , . , . j , . , , 1 . . , . Ik'^.i HH^HpHHl ■i4G ■■■■■■■■ ■i4..s ■■■■■■I ■i4'3 I^H^^pllB ■t^ '^ I^IH^HH ll33i^M^^1 ii3.z liiiiiiiiipiii ■ l3.l ^l^M ■124 ^i^^^M^ ■iz.oiiH^^H ■ |1.G ^M^^ ■10.^ ■■■■lil 1 '<^ ^~ ■HHp ■ .V5 ^^ ^^?.2 >^%^ 24rALLRIV[:R.NV\S3, 25 SAN FRANCISCO Ft FTO 15. THE PERCENTAGE AVllICH THE ATTEND AXOE AT THE HIGH SCHOOLS KEPKESENTS OF THE ATTENDANCE AT ALL SCHOOLS. SCHOOL CENSUS AND ATTENDANCE. 67 offered in the Salt Lake City high schools. This question we shall consider at length in the second part of this report. To compare Salt Lake 'City in this respect with other cities, Figure 15 has been prepared. This shows, in a series of percentages, the relation which the number of pupils in at- tendance at the high schools in the different cities bears to the total numher of pupils attending all schools in the city. Salt Lake City is here compared with twenty-four other American cities, including the sixteen western cities previously used. The data used for all cities is from the published reports of the United States Commissioner of Education, and covers the school year 1912-13, which is the last year for which reports are as yet available. Salt Lake City has also heen calculated for the year 1914-15, from figures furnished by the superin- tendent as to this year's attendance. It would be expected that the opening of the new East Side High School would have materially affected the attendance, but the increase is only from 8.2 per cent to 9.2 per cent. This raises Salt Lake City only from the twenty-third place among twenty-five cities to twenty-second place. This chart tends to confirm the impression, raised by a study of the curves of Figure 14, that the courses oif study offered in the Salt Lake City high schools are not as well adapted to the needs oif the children of the city as they should be. The last two years of the elementary-school course also probably lack in power to interest the pupils in carrying their studies further. These questions will be considered fur- ther in the second part of this report, where certain reor- ganizations, calculated to improve the upper-grade work and make the entrance to high school more attractive, are pre- sented. PART II The Work of the Schools THE COURSES OF STUDY. 71 CHAPTER VI. THE PRINTED COURSES OF STUDY. (Van Sickle) Order of Procedure. Turing now to the work of the schools themselves, we shall attempt to evaluate, with some care, the work which they attempt and carry out. First we shall examine the printed courses of study and outlines for work that are issued for the guidance of teachers in the schools, to see in how far these meet the best standards as to what should constitute school instruction. This will be done in the present chapter, taking first the kindergarten, and then the different subjects taught in the elementary school, and in the order in which they are presented in the printed courses of study. In the chapter which follows we shall attempt to evaluate the instruction and supervision as seen by the different members of the survey staff, and shall make recommendations for certain .desirable extensions of the school work. Opinions and Tests. Both oif these chapters will, of nec- essity be based largely on the personal opinion of the mem- bers of the survey staff, based in turn, we hope, on a knowl- edge of what constitutes good theory and current practice in the best of our American school system. Following these two chapters, and in a way supporting their conclusions, will come two other chapters, which are in no way based on personal opinion, but instead on careful measurements as to the results of the instruction and administration of the schools, using standard tests and carefully collected statistical data. This second part of the report must, by its very nature, be somewhat scientific and technical, as any other than a scientific and technical treatment of the problem would be 72 SCHOOL SURVEY REPORT. of but little value, but to those charged with the admin- istration and instruction of the schools the results here of- fered should prove o'f very great use. We also venture to hope that this second part has been put in such form, and the results so illustrated by diagrams, that the laymen, as well, may be able to understand it and from it derive an accurate and intelligent idea as to the actual work which the schools of his city are doing. I. THE KINDERGARTENS. The Kindergarten Theory. As outlined by the supervisor of primary schools and kindergartens this seems to be of the liberal type, but the equipment for carrying out this theory is inadequate, in that it consists of the old-time small gift blocks and occupation materials. A theory in line with the best modern thought cannot be consistently worked out by means of an equipment designed for an extremely conserva- tive and now almost abandoned practice. A valuable feature of the printed directions to kinder- garten teachers consists of suggestive exercises for the train- ing of the senses of touch, sight, and hearing similar to those cited by Halleck in his "Education of the Central Nervous System. ' ' To quote from the outline in this connection : "The development of the senses always precedes Intellectual activ- ity, but we often demand the activity before we have given any train- ing to the senses, or at least any regulated, purposeful training. "Because the period of life between the age of three and the age of eight is one of rapid sense development, and because during this period the child responds readily to the sense stimuli of his environ- ment and but little to reason, the kindergarten should make sense training one of its chief lines of work. "Sense training exercises are exceedingly valuable not only because they result in trained servants but because they demand more or less concentration and therefore beget the habit and increase the power." 'Considering some of the other aims of the kindergarten work, the outline continues as follows : THE COURSES OF STUDY. 73 "We must remember that a kindergarten is not an entity, it is a link in a chain, and as such we should see to it that it will fit into the next link. Teachers of the first grade have a right to expect children who have had a kindergarten training to come to them with greater sensory power, with some ability to receive and follow direc- tions, some manual power, some idea of self-control in the interest of the social group, a desire to achieve an independent solution of their little problems, and possessed of an alertness of sense perception not looked for in children who have not had such training." More kindergartens needed. The more prosperous por- tions of the city are well supplied with kindergartens. It would appear that in locating kindergartens there has been no comprehensive study of the needs of the various sections. Some of those in greatest need of them have none at all. Where there is great need there is naturally little realization of the need, and therefore no demand has made itself felt. This does not relieve the school department of the duty to look out for portions of the city in which the people do not know how to look out for their own interests. A kindergarten is greatly needed in each of the following schools : Bonneville, Irving, Onequa, Poplar Grove, "Washington, and Webster. II. THE COURSES OF STUDY FOR THE ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS. It may be said at the outset that with two principal excep- tions to be discussed later, manual training and physical train- ing, the courses of study as outlined for the Salt Lake City schools are worthy of much commendation. ' Unlike many similar publications, the volume does not appear to be a mere compilation. A definite theory of education underlies the development of each subject, and unusual attention has been paid to the relation which one subject bears to another. By means of the close correlation thus worked out great economy of time is possible, both in teaching and in learning. 74 SCHOOL SURVEY REPORT. How the courses of study were made. It is noteworthy that in preparing the present courses of study the superin- tendent and the supervisors were aided by the advice of a committee of five teachers from each grade, and a similar com- mittee of principals. The writing of the courses could without doubt have been more quickly done in the superintendent's office, without time-consuming consultations with members of the teaching force. Thus prepared, they might have been quite as good, or even better, and yet have failed to serve as useful a purpose. They would have seemed to have been imposed by authority rather than adopted as a result of co- operative effort, whereas courses formulated in part hy the teaching force, as in this instance, will be understood by all and all, having had a certain responsibility in their prepara- tion and adoption, will be in sympathy with their aims and standards. The making of courses of study is best managed when the preparation is utilized as an opportunity, as has been done in this case, to increase the efficiency of the teaching force by securing the thoughtful participation of teachers in the work and responsibility involved. For these reasons the plan under which the Salt Lake City courses of study were formulated is to be commended. The committees to which reference has been made were appointed by the superintendent. Similar committees elected by the teachers themselves are now delib- erating, not only on further desirable revisions of the courses, but also, at the invitation of the superintendent, upon any other feature of school procedure about which they care to make recommendations. Wherever such co-operative relations exist between the supervising oificers and the teaching force in a school system one may reasonably expect the favorable results that always come from team work. In their visits to the schools the mem- bers of the survey staff have been at some pains to find out whether there is in fact in the Salt Lake City schools the mutual confidence land co-operation between teachers and THE COURSES OF STUDY. 75 supervisory officers which their plan would lead one to expect. It is our opinion that such a relation has been developed to a good degree, and that its effects are evident in the daily pro- cedure in most of the school rooms visited. What the courses prescribe. The courses of study pre- scribe minimum attainments which children must possess as a condition of promotion. Beyond this minimum great freedom is allowed. In developing any course of study for any grade beyond the minimum which is deemed attainable by the slowest pupil, the superintendent places large responsibility upon the principal, so that he may adapt the work to any need peculiar to the local community. The principal in turn gives large liberty to the teacher in meeting individual needs of pupils, and in following out lines of interest. Under such conditions the teacher cannot degenerate into an automaton. She re- quires the children to think for themselves, to use their heads. This emphasis upon thought rather than mere memory was noticeable in nearly all school rooms that were visited. There was evidently much to be desired on the score of broader pre- liminary education on the part of many teachers, yet this lack was evidently being met, to a considerable extent, by the stu- dent attitude and consequent growth in power characteristic of a body of teachers who are being stimulated to regard their work as the solution of a series of vital problems rather than as a routine task. Diversity in time allotments. As might be expected in a system of schools in which considerable freedom is accorded teachers, there is much diversity in the time allotted to the various subjects in different school rooms of the same grade. This IS clearly shown in Table No. 12. One cannot say so many minutes per day are devoted to spelling in the sixth grade of the Salt Lake City schools, so many to arithmetic, and so many to reading. The needs of the particular class deter- mine the time. No teacher can excuse poor work by saying, "I have used faithfully each day during the semester the time prescribed for the subject. It is therefore not my fault that X 2 S i s 5 s s o s o g g i5 g > s l,•^ i CM 2 o g CM s o g g 5g 5 8 g ' *< s CM o i s to 8 s g CM S S o oo o oo 1 o o If? 5 to o CM i 1 lO o to g o to 8 > s 1 M w? o o o S3 o CM o cf'"l g to § g g g *< o X5 1 i i § 5M g to to CO i CM s>j o CM o g ii 3 8 o to g ^ s CM 2 o 8 o o g > w ^ 5 1 lO s? o S3 CM 00 •0 to oi o as 8 g o i i 1-5 I g o i 1 o 5S CO S to CM i i z o § g g in o t.-5 o CM g i to O o o »9 g o > g § ss o CO U5 CM •3 to s CM g g to o o 8 8 o to e M o R ra in CM § g s o 1 o o o o JO o o < ii o s O s to to o CM o 8 i o g kO o to ,8 > s s C4 g US s g g o to to to cc to 8 c to *< E s to C4 i s o to CM to Si o o to s 5 § s g S o s U3 S o g o o 8 o oo o o to 8 ■* - s s re s 1 to to Cvl g 8 to 13 o CM to 1> 8 to CM »< s s «5 •a s r4 o s o 1 g g i to o CM ii s o CM o s o C4 to o o TO o ^ g to - -=3 O «5 KS 8 s • g g 8 o g 8 o CM >» § 1 1 o § to 8 s >o g CM o e4 o 1 « § e> 3 l tirsi, is its vnhu* for \\\e vcudcv's own biMiolil. In ilu> I'ourso of Iho sur\oy uiiu'h o\'i\\ Vi'i\d\niX \v;is hoafd. aiul. on tlio \vhoU\ it was <;oi\l rojulinij"; lull (ltMinilt> jM\'U'li^'i> in siliMii roadinii' for tho {lioiii^iit ivf (lio soKv'tion was n^^viM- sihmi in proiiross. Towoi* in this dii'iH'tivMi is inipliod in tho jn'v>\ ision for homo iw-uiinii'. Inir thiM'o shouKl ho ilotii\ito sohool praotioi^ in onlor to mako snro of adtMjiiato rosults. Tho sohiH>l rooms o\' \\\c oity aro \\iil sm>plioii with roadinsi- maloriah Tins is osiHH'ially notiooahlo in tlio pri»na»\v i^-railos, wlioro ovon in tlio tirst li'rado ohiUlron rt\avl from ton to iwolvo or niiM-o primers and tirst roadors. In (ho intonuodiato jirades sonio of tho work in history is dono in tho roadinii" poriod. This is tnio akso »>f hyijfiono. In both oasos tlio to\t books iisod, havinir boon writton witli tnoro rojytu'd to litoravy form tl\an somo books of thoir oknss, UmuI thonisolvos vory ayoH to this tinio-saviivjr plan. Phonics. Tho ontlino in Phonies providos for tho nooos- sary funonnt of work it\ oar training? and jyivos a good working list of phonogratns. sntlixos. and protixos. Tho introihu'tion of diaoritioal niarkinirs is vory wisoly pv^stponod nntil tho latter Italf of the third year in sohool. Tho ontlino niakos no detinite pixmsiou for instruetion in the use of the diotionary, but the phouetie study pivparos pupils to interpret dietionnry markings and to distiitgnish tho root foruis from whioh worvls aiv evolved. The eou»*se is progressive and praotioal. Lai\g-uage tvnd gi*ainmar. The streugth of tho work in the primary grades seems to be found in: 1. Making grammar work dramatie and in oontiuing the exeivises to tnniblesome verbs, as, '' action and object exercises involving the verbs, pnuiouus, and adjectives used iu class B of t\»*st grade; also set : sit: sat: lie: lain: lay: laid." i^p. 72. "> 2. Stimulating the inu^ginatiou of the v^wpils by the \ise of pictwivs, ''Pictuivs aiv always available, and, if gv^od, never fail to stimulate the interest of children. * * Piotuivs fur- TJIIO (!()IH{SIOS OK STUDY. 85 uisli iiM cxccllciit, l);isis for iiiiii^'iiiiit i\'(' slor'ics, wliidi iiuiy bo fi'ivcti or'iilly or in written Focni." (p. (i7.; In cifcuhir Xo. 14, the priiiiiiry supervisor gives a valuable; discussion ol' stories from pi(ttures. She begins tin; discussion with this nnicn needed caution : '"JMie pii'lni'e story b;is too oj'ten inejint to both tcjidier and pupil a descr-ipt ion of tlic [)ic1ure, wlieti it slionid mean th(! stor'y wliicli IIk; ])ictur(; tcills." 3. (iliving iiiucli time to or-al expression before beginning AVT'itlen work'. "The sUmulation of the desire to use good language, and much practice in correct oral expression in the school, are imperative to counteract the tendency to use incorrect forms on the play-ground.' (p. 68.) "No written work to be required in this class (Second A), but much drill in the retelling of short stories limited to one or two characters, and a single action, previously told by the teacher." (p. 72.) 4. Making every lesson a language lesson. "All the lan- guage work of this class (F'irst A) should ])e oral work', and every recitation should ])e in a greater or less di^grec;, a lan- guage lesson." (p. 69.) 5. Cominilting to memory many fine models of literature. "Selections of poetry should be committed to memory to be re- cited, to be sung, to be made the subject of conversation. This exer- cise may be conducted on a generous scale." (p. 67.) 6. The frequent use of the dramatic methotl in or'al coni- position. "Dramatization of simple stories to give freedom in oral expres- sion and make the thought of the story real." (p. 68.) "The stories and poems of this grade (First A) are to be told and recited by the teacher, and should not be read to the children." (p. 69.) Spirit of the upper-grade work. The s|)iiit of the course in Jjanguage and Grammar outlined Uw the grammar grades 86 SCHOOL SURVEY REPORT. is illustrated by the following paragraphs under "Suggestions for Grrammar Grades." "The first requirement of the school is to cause the child to be at home in his school world; to express his thoughts here as freely and frankly as he does elsewhere; to be as spontaneous in his expression in school as he is out of it. This will scarcely come to pass if his mind is centered too much on the form, if he is too conscious of the possibility of error. ^'The function of all language and grammar work is to cause the learner to come into full possession of himself; to be sensitive and responsive to the influence of thought; to be able to express himself fluently, elegantly, thoughtfully; to know the fitting word or phrase and to know why it is the most fitting term to use. To know the parts of speech, the rules and definitions of technical English, and the analysis of each and every sentence, only is really worth while when this knowledge can be transformed into working capital which can be invested properly and profitably in all the occasions of the life of thought." Some of the admirable qualities in language work for grammar grades are : 1. Composition laws and grammar rules are considered of value only so far as they aid the pupil to speak and write with clearness, force and ease. 2. The insistence upon the study of model selections in teaching composition and appreciating the ideal in literature. 3. The idea that language study is a part of every lesson. "Language teaching is not to be confined to the language lesson alone. Every lesson is to a degree a language lesson. It is of little avail to lay stress on rules of language during the regular lesson, and then for all the rest of the day permit children to be careless in their talk and written work." (p. 84.) 4. The equal emphasis upon oral and written expression. 5. The emphasis upon content as well as form. "Subjects for conversation and for composition are always to be adapted to the age, knowledge, and interests of the children. Some- thing to say and a desire to say it are both e'ssential prerequisites to good language." (p. 86.) THE COURSES t5F STUDY. 87 6. Constant attention to enlarging the students' vocab- ularies. "In all language work the child must not only be taught to master his vocabulary, but he mtist be taught to acquire a vocabulary worthy of mastery. If the child is to acquire an adequate and worthy vocab- ulary, the teacher must purposefully guide him in the acquisition and use of that vocabulary." (p. 85.) 3. SpeUing Directions for the work in spelling. The suggestions and directions for teaching spelling given in the course of study are excellent. A spelling book is used, beginning with the third grade. Work in phonics which, as a distinct course, terminates with the third grade, is not to be neglected. A review of the phonograms previously taught is called for in the fourth grade course in spelling. In the fourth and every suc- ceeding grade to the eighth the correlation idea is emphasized in the following direction : "Many words are to be learned as they are needed in the study of different subjects, or as the child's written expression demands. Spelling drill should be a lively exercise." This excellent suggestion also appears : "Prevention is better than cure in spelling, and the skilled teacher will aim to avoid all errors by making necessary suggestions before the lesson is studied, not after. There will be some errors even with this careful assignment, but the number will be small and may receive individual attention." And again : Anticipate errors in spelling and try to safe- guard the pupils against making them. It is easier to do than to undo and do. Also : Oral spelling is advocated "for guar- anteeing the correct sound interpretation, but — "The written form is the final form and the one most used in normal life after school ; cjDnsequently it should be the real test of a pupil's capability." 88 SCHOOL SURVEY REPORT. The use of the dictionary is enjoined and some of the pos- sible causes of poor spelling are pointed out. Time given to the spelling. Although the time devoted to spelling is not prescribed in the course of study, it is evidently regarded by the teachers as a highly important subject. In many of the grammar grades fully half an hour per day, or one-tenth of the entire school time, is devoted to study and recitation in this subject, and even a longer expenditure of time is not uncommon. Keen interest is stimulated by a lively competition between schools, and by uniform competitive tests formulated in the office of the superintendent. As measured by the survey by means of the Ayres standard tests, as Avill be described in some detail in Chapter VIII, the results of this rather extreme attention to spelling show in a very high score ; but it is a question whether the children of Salt Lake City are not sacriiicing something in other lines by devoting so large a proportion of the total time available to spelling. The first investigator of note. Dr. J. M. Eice. concluded that more than fifteen minutes a day devoted to spelling was time absolutely wasted. According to this view five per cent of the total time would be ample, yet, estimated on the basis of the median of the table. Salt Lake City children spend eight and three-tenths per cent of the total time upon this subject. During the year 1909 the elementary schools of Boston, New York, Cliicago, Eochester. Cincinnati, Indianapolis, St. Louis, Milwaukee, Kansas City, San Francisco and Cleveland devoted an average of only five and seven-tenths per cent of their time to spelling (estimated from Table No. 13\ a proportion not greatly in excess of Dr. Eice's suggested maximum. Accord- ing to average standards the children in the Salt Lake City schools are good spellers, '\^"e would not say they spell too well, but we believe as good results could be secured with less expenditure of time. Some admirable characteristics of the course of study in spelling are : 1. The insistence in all spelling work upon anticipating errors. M Eh < o (:/2 I — I oo :oo Sq o ^ J/2 ^ fe < o o p^ w (—1 o C/2 Alio mi lies C0i0l0OCC^ sinoT •IS C5 11.1 6.4 11.1 OS CO -!*< lO 1—1 CO siiode -ueipui CO T— 1 (M CO OS o id t- oc- C^ GO OS CD T<1 iipuuin I-< COCO-* co^ OS (M -uiO J81 -saiioou oo -^ CO 1—1 L~ O lO lO o3E3|1|3 CO d vn MaN (M £ en JO CO L- 2i /-I CO CO 00 ooco '^ o s^ i-i id rtl 1— I OS CO CO -^ S' 1^ 5P > 3.S (B c3 g 2^ 3 ca M . CO ^ >-. fe «3 O bjc;:i; -i^ .i: .- o "^ 'O r,j iD X5 CS QiK^ :^ " "^ >- -fl pO tiL o o o C to 03 ca g J - 0) be t« T3 o n.S o 0) s ■^ ^tJ . CO'TS-ti 3 CO 03 © "^ ca o o £ c o CJ -2^ £ c8 o 3 00^ is due courses a changes t TI c > c than 1 e some a this 3 ( / 'r', fed 1 3 00 to more that whe . Thou y o o s CO ounts I fact e time -^3 .i! ,^3 eg !^ S ? ja "-^ =8.2 -U bn 02 fl (B r^CO •73 C8 01 . C8 03 n ':3 's-'^ 3 (M ^ jj i-( be fl CO <» Mc 4> o t- a ® o ;^^ n, u- 0-" 2: o OJ C8 O 3 >» s.2>.-i T-! of tl ucat the as b 03 t3 3 b — CO o ^ Hm 3 0) S_ ts 2 r5 n *■"• ^ a.2£c cS r/1 03 t. O tS ^ - MCO s 03 -U «_i 'r! 33 'T3 to O I'S-^ ^T3 O 03 rj O CO 03 H.S:2:2 I - c O 03 OJ 03 iS a 3 O c3 eS 03 O) O ^ O 3 c o C8^ ' ~^^ 03 !^ 1=1 h3 W SCHOOL SURVEY REPORT. 2. Emphasis upon the volation of pronnneintion to spell- ing. 3. The constant injnnotion to relate spelling to eoniposi- tion activities. "The real test of good spelling is found in the written composition.'' 4. I'huphasis npon training eliildren to use the dictionary. r>. Insistence upon selecting words froni geography, his- tory, etc. (>. ]\Tnch drill npon lists of words commonly misspelled. 4. Writing-. The method used. In the tirst half of the first grade the course ol" study calls for free Avork with chalk on the black- board, to train the children to the eonti'ol of their larger arm muscles. In the second half unruled paper is used in addition to the blackboard. Large writing with full arm movement is eu.ioined, — no guide lines until the second-B grade is reached. The course allows comparatively little writing with pencil, but much upon the blackboard. After this more writing may be required of pupils, but care is to be exercised lest fatigue engender carelessness of ett'ort. Correct movement, proper position, and reasonable speed are to be insisted upon. The letter forms are those now generally used in schools, a medium slant. The survey staff is of the opinion that the writing of the children in the Salt Lake City schools compares favorably with that found in other cities, and the tests described in Chapter Till show that it is considerably above the average. 5. Histoiy, Civics, and Sociology. The g-eneral plan. The course of study in history pro- vides for the teaching of United States history in the fifth. sdxth. and eighth grades. In the eighth grade, B class, a THE COURSES OF STUDY. 91 general review of United States history is called for, following a well-prepared outline. Besides the regular text-book with which each pupil is supplied, several reiference books of wider scope are accessible to the pupils of each eighth-grade room, and several desk books of excellent quality are provided for the teachers. In the seventh grade United States history is incidental to the work in geography. North America is the topic, and it is enjoined that historical information pertaining to the division being studied shall receive special consideration. United States history through biography has a place in every grade below the fifth, through such study of one or more of our great historical personalities as is suited to the age of the chil- dren. It is included in these grades chiefly on account of its ethical value. The ethical aim, in fact, dominates the course in history as a whole. The following statement found in the course of study will illustrate this: "No other subject so touches both the head and heart of man- kind. The ethical impulse should be the basis of all instruction in all grades. It is the goodness of mankind that has evolved the good of civilization, and the child should be taught to appreciate the nobility of those whose acts constitute the history of the race and have determined the progress of ideas." (p. 108.) Attention to local history. Much attention is given in each grade to local history and institutions. In the fifth grade, A class, the history of Utah receives especial emphasis. An excellent outline is furnished. In the fifth grade, B class, and in the sixth grade, emphasis is placed upon the functions of the various departments of the city government. Too much praise cannot be given to the treatment suggested for such topics as the police department, the fire department, the health department, the garbarge system, irrigation, public parks, the city's water system and the general plan of city government. An especially noteworthy feature of the work in Civics is the way in which each city department head has been led to 92 SOIUHM. SlUVKY KKTOKT. v'o-oporato with iho schools by t'unusluuir an outliuo or descrip- tion o\' tho t'mu'tions of his dopartniont. and tho way it tits into tho lionoral si'liouio ot' city ii-ovornuiont. At tho invitation of tho 4i-raiuniar-ii'rado snporvisor tlio dopartniont hoads meet the toaehers, tVoiu time to tinio. and oxphiin in detail the scope of the work wliich tliey have [u-evionsly ont lined in somewhat brief form. The survey statV is of the opinion that like enter- prise on tl\e part of supervisory otiicers. resnltiui;: in hearty oo-operation on the part of city department heads in dealiuar with commnnity civics, is far from common, and they com- nuMid it witliout reservation. Excellent features of the oom-se. .Vmong the excellent features of the course under discussion we note: \,P The emphasis placed upon nuiking history (^a"* vivid, vb"* a source for ereatinir ideals, v*^'^ correlation in the method of presentation with the composition approach to a subject », pa ires ik^ and oJ\ with 109 \ (,2^ The emphasis upon purposeful work. The purpose in the early work is apparently not to teach facts, but to instill ideals by making historic pei'soualities and national and local scenes live airaiu in the imaginations of the children. 1^3'» That directions are given to consider much of the subject matter as suited to the language work. (,4^ The deliniteness with which the cotirse in history is presented to the teachers. ^,5^ Investigations by classes are recommended. VC"* The course for upper grammar grades should stim- ulate a sei\se of gratitude for. and loyalty to the city govern- ment, (.T'^ The use of literary selections to supplement history talks is suggested, and a suitable list is given. 6. Nature Study. The printed outline. Although nature study is outlined as a separate subject, the fact that §^H>g^aphy. historj-, and nature^ THE COURSES OF STUDY. 93 woi"k in the elementary scJiool sliould be fonsidct-ed ns ;i iiiiil is not lost sight of. We find this |)aragrapli : "Nature study and hi.story, industrially and socially considered, can not be separated from geography in the primary grades. Many ot the basic geographical concepts depend upon certain physical laws which must be understood to gain the concept, and a mental picture of some of the great migrations of the race, of the adjustments and readjustments of a people to a changing and developing environment on the great march of progress, are n<>cessary to give meaning and value to a study of the earth as the home of man." (p. 128.) The desired correlation is left for the tea(;her to work out. The outline might to advantage do more in this direction. The correlation of nature study with language is iiinted tit in the language course (p. 78), but not emphasized. In Ihc case of other subjects the correlation idea is usually kept in the fore- ground. The human aspect of the course is made prominiMit. "Children are not interested in the contour or relief of a body of land. They care nothing for land forms or water divisions, but they are intensely interested in children of other lands. How these chil- dren look, what they do, how they live, are subjects of unfailing interest and wonder, and it is through these subjects that we must reach land and water divisions and strictly geographical concepts." (p. 128-9.) The work in each grade is well within the grasp of the average city child with limited opportunity for observation. It is very evidentlj^ a minor course in the primary-school cur- riculum. The natural working from the home out into the nation is a commendable feature of the course fo7- i)rimary grades. The woi-k outlined for the grammar grades is largely geo- g)raphical, though some definite work in physics is included. It is suggested that in the last two grammar grades at least one regular period per week be devoted to this subject. Diversity 'in kind and amount of work done. There is 94 SCHOOL SURVEY REPORT considerable diversity in the interpretation of the course in different schools, and by teachers of the same grade. This, however, is seen to be desirable when the purpose of the course is taken into account. The training in observation and reason- ing from cause to effect is considered, as it should be, of more importance than the acquisition of set facts. The teacher can best develop these powers iu children by giving most prom- inence to those topics which most appeal to her own interest, and which therefore she can cause to be of interest to her class. >^ature study is the one subject in the course in which wide latitude nuiy be accorded to the individual teacher with- out defeating the purposes which the course is intended to serve. Tliis would seem to be the theory also as to dift'erent schools. For instance, in one s^-hool, the "Webster, bird study seemed at the time of the survey to be receiving much more attention than Avas in evidence at any other school visited by the survey. In each of the IS rooms of the school a diff'erent bird had been chosen from a list of fifty, common to the locality. After reasonable time for study of the bird of her choice, each teacher made an outline which she used with her own class, and which she then explained to the other seventeen teachers of the school, the principal having meanwhile caused copies to be made for their use. Each teacher devoted the nature study i")eriods of six weeks to the bird of her choice, and later two periods to each of the other seventeen birds, having as an aid in this task the outlines prepared by her colleagues. Some encroachment on the time usually devoted to drawing was permitted. The bird chosen for intensive study by a class was studied first from life, then more closely from a stuffed specimen. In the course of this study it was drawn by the children in plain crayon, then its habitat was drawn, then the bird in its habitat; then the process was repeated by the children in the same order, using appropriate colors. Finally the bird was modeled in clay and cast in plaster. All drawing was on large gray THE COURSES OF STUDY. 95 paper, mounted on the blackboard. Surprisingly good results were 'shown, and astonishingly free and rapid work. The children will never forget the characteristics of birds thus studied. A fitting climax was afforded for this piece of co- operative work by the grammar grade supervisor, who saw to it that mimeograph sets of the outlines prepared by the teach- ers of the "Webster school were furnished to all other schools of the city. This particular instance of sharing the benefits of the enterprise of one school with the city as a whole is only a single sample of a highly commendable custom in vogue in the Salt Lake City schools. School and home gardening. The course of study lays stress upon the school garden and the home garden as ad- juncts in nature study. In this particular, as well as in its aim to cultivate habits of observation and incidentally to im- part a body o'f useful information, the course suggested for 'Salt Lake City is in keeping with the courses suggested for other cities. The members of the survey did not see evidences that practice was generally up to the outlines provided. The school board has recently made provision for exceptionally good work in this subject in some of the outlying sections, by purchasing ample tracts of land in connection with a few of its newer buildings, but in connection with the older schools little or nothing is done. The Whittier school furnishes the best example of the use which may be made of the land for educational purposes. Of its nine-acre tract, two and one-half acres are devoted to the school garden. Plans for group gardens and individual gardens are worked out in the school as a part of the regular course in nature study. Garden work is done outside of school hours, and during the vacation period. The part of the product belonging to individuals is taken to the homes to supply family needs. The portion belonging to the school, after being displayed by sample at the State Fair and in bulk at the school, is sold to school patrons at regular mar- 51(5 SCHOOL SURVEY REPORT kot priees. Last year the money -was used to buy imported tUnver bulbs. These were planted in October by all teachers and pupils, in eonformity with a color scheme in the evolution ot which all had had a part. The aim was to secure individual interest in a community problem. At one time early last sprinii' 1200 to ir>00 flowers were in bloom. The school site purchased by the Board of Education in- cluded part of an old fruit orchard. The trees were pruned by school boys with tools from the manual training' shop, the work being- done under the direction of the principal of tlic school and the superintendent of parks. As a result of this pruning- tiie trees were loaded with fruit the next season. The fruit was green when school opened in September, but was allowed to remain on the trees untouched tor four weeks, until it was tlioroug'hly ripe. It was then picked by committees of pupils and taken to the domestic science room, where a part of it Avas canned by the girls as a lesson in the regular course m cooking. The portion that was not used in making jam, jelly, plum butter, etc., was distributed among the pupils in the various class rooms. The canned fruit was displayed at the State Fair. This eminently practical application of nature study, made under the direction of the pi'incipal of the AVhittier school, is not surpassed by any similar enterprise in a public school system elscAvhere with which the members of the survey are acquainted. Ir represents a tendency which is beginning to make itself felt in the "Back to the Laud" movement in many of our cities, and it is worthy of all the encouragement which scliool officials can give it. This case of individual work ought to become common in the city. The educational value of such work is very large. 7. Arithmetic. Nature of the printed course. Tlie courses of study in arithmetic throuiihout the couutrv are now so nearly alike in THE COURSES OF STUDY. 97 requirements that the chief difference between any two courses is in the form of statement and the kinds of exercises pre- scribed. Grade limits are practically the same. In Salt Lake City, children in the first grade count within the limit of 100, add within the limit of ten and they learn how many 2's in 4, 3's in 6, etc. There is no haste. Number facts are to be dis- covered, and not told or explained. The discoveries are to be made through the exercise of motor activity. Attention is called to the fact that mental growth is even more a question of time than physical growth. Therefore teachers are advised to see that conditions are such that the child if mentally ready will reach the number fact or relation desired. If he cannot reach that fact or relation without help he is not ready for that step, and the teacher is to wait patiently for growth in mental power. This is sound doctrine and it represents the practice now general in progressive school systems. Num'ber facts and relations are to be developed ob- jectively, with no written work in first grade, and only a mod- erate amount in the second grade. The multiplication tables are begun in the third grade, but their completion is not called for till the ifourth grade is reached. In the fifth grade the emphasis is upon fractions, though some simple oral fractional work has occurred earlier. In the sixth grade decimal frac- tions are to be carefully and thoroughly taught. Percentage furnishes the chief portion of the seventh grade work, and in the eighth grade special applications of percentage are con- sidered and the earlier work of the course is reviewed. This is essentially the work today in all good courses of study. Some changes in upper grade work for the seventh and par- ticularly the eighth will be discussed further on,, in connection with the Junior High School. The teaching observed. The methods of teaching this subject observed in the school rooms visited were substantially in accord with the sound pedagogic directions of the course of study. The time devoted to the vsubject shows the same wide variation that has been pointed out in connection with spelling. 98 SCHOOL SURVEY REPORT The average time given to arithmetic in the eleven cities given in Table No. 13 is 15.2 per cent of the total time. Tlie median time devoted to the subject in Salt Lake City is 16.6 per cent of the total time. Both the time given to the subject and the results shown by the standard tests, described at length in Chapter IX, make it clear that arithmetic is not neglected in Salt Lake City. A recent circular here reproduced will serve to show the intelligent care with which the brief directions of the course of study are supplemented, from time to time and as occasion arises : January 27, 1914. To Principals and Teachers: Arithmetic. The Course is to be considered as mandatory in all essential par- ticulars, and the subject-matter given in the text book is all to be taught. It is, however, necessary to consider some principles and processes as relatively more important than others. In these, pupils will be expected to reach a high degree of efficiency consistent with age and normal possibilities. In the following graphic representation an attempt is made to show at a glance which of certain essentials should be emphasized or reviewed. It will be observed that the fundamental processes are to be thoroughly taught in the fourth grade, however, that they are to be reviewed and strengthened in each succeeding grade. The sub- ject of fractions is to be thoroughly considered in the fifth grade, but must be reviewed and strengthened in each grade above the fifth grade, etc. Thus each grade above the grade in which any important principle has been considered will be expected to increase the effi- ciency of pupils in that subject in so far as reviews and limited teach- ing can make for efficiency. In the reviews care must be exercised to add new power and knowledge as well as to make present possessions clear and ready. Too frequently reviews cover the old ground in the old way with little or no profit. Grade 4 Grade 5 Grade 6 Grade 7 Grade 8 a a a a a Fundamental Processes. b b b b Fractions Denominate Numbers c c c and Measurements d d e Percentage and Interest Business Application G. N. CHILD, Supervisor of Grammar Grades. THE COURSES OP STUDY. 99 8 Geography. The course good. This course of study provides for the study of geography from the third to the seventh grades inclu- sive. When the Salt Lake City course of study in Geography is compared with the courses for our better city school systems, no significant differences appear. The general movement in all the courses is now from the home and its environment to the earth as a whole, and from this to North America and a detailed study of the United States. The Salt Lake City course emphasizes the study of home or local geography in an especially effective way. Fevv^ places afford better opportunities for teaching land and water forms by direct personal observation than does the Salt Lake Valley. The use of the sand table is advised and practiced in the third grade, so that as soon as the impression is gained through observation its expression may follow. Pictures and objects are collected by teachers and pupils and freely used. The outlines and the suggestions for teaching contained in them are admirable. They ara definite, without being too exhaustive, and the plan of work as outlined is especially adapted to the region about Salt Lake 'City. A brief survey of the modes of life of primitive man leads up to a study of farm- ing and cattle raising under modern conditions in the neigh- borhood of the Great Salt Lake. The outline includes an ex- perimental study of the geographical features of the city and surroundings, and of the formation of soil; a 'brief sarvey of dry farming in Utah; the sugar-beet industry; sheep and cat- tle raising, and the leading manufactures. It is a question whether the study of the sugar-beet indus- try should be carried so far in this grade, since eight-year-old children are scarcely capable of contrasting the political effects of the sugar-cane industry with the political effects of the sugar-beet industry. Studies of social and political causes and effects may well be postponed until pupils are sufficiently matured to 'form intelligent conclusions. Initial study of the 100 SCHOOL SURVEY REPORT world's commerce and of the reasons for the exchange of goods between states and countries is, however, quite within the grasp of third grade pupils, and the teachers who present the subject as outlined are laying a broad foundation for future study of commercial exchange. On the whole, these outlines for third grade geography are models of their kind. The instruction observed. The home city and the home state having been studied intensively, the child is prepared to comprehend what his teacher and his books have to say about other political divisions and cities. This is the method advo- cated in the course. It is the method of comparison. Map drawing is practiced wholly from the point of view of gaining power to interpret maps. It is justly regarded as of indis- pensable importance. Rapidly drawn relief and outline maps, with just the amount of detail called for in the topic under consideration, are therefore emphasized in all grades. A modern course in geography makes large demands upon the scholarship and resources of teachers. In a recent report of the Massachusetts Board of Education we find a recogni- tion of immensely increased scope of the geography of today as compared with that of half a century ago : "It is hard to realize the immense distance that separates the scanty sailor geography of half a century ago from the complicated network of relations of physical, social, and political facts, gathered in 50 years of untiring research, which now, under the name of geography, form a part of the daily food of all children in the ele- mentary schools." In view of this situation it is essential that schools be liberally supplied with suitable books, so that the children can obtain for themselves the greater part of the information for which the course of study calls. The school board of Salt Lake City has met this requirement with liberality. The chil- dren are well supplied with supplementary geographical read- ers, as well as with modern basal text-books in the subject. THE COURSES OF STUDY. 101 9. Music. The course oi' study in music appears to be very carefully arranged as to grading-, with especial and detailed directions to the teachers in the lower grades. These indicate an appre- ciation of the ideals of primary-grade methods in music as advocated by the leaders in the teaching of the subject. Instruction observed. It M^as evident to members of the survey, as they observed the manner in which exercises in music were conducted, that much well directed effort has been devoted to this study through a series of years. When the junior high school plan becomes fully established, so that all instruction in the seventh and eighth grades may be on the departmental plan, the music work of these grades will un- doubtedly show better results than are now generally obtain- able, for then it will be possible to have the instruction given by teachers who have shown special aptitude for the work. At present, as might be expected, there is considerable varia- tion in the enthusiasm for music manifested in different schools, according as they are less or more fortunate in having upper-grade teachers who have talent in this direction. In the Lafayette School an extremely effective plan for furnishing motive for good music work is carried out in the morning exercises. The children of each of the twenty-two classes sing in turn for the entire school. As the school has no auditorium, the children who are to sing assemble in the corridor of each floor on successive mornings. All doors are open and the children in the rooms sit at attention. Thus they learn to be appreciative listeners. Several of the teachers contribute to the success of the plan by singing in their turn for the entertainment of the pupils. 10. Art and Construction. Need for more supervision. At the time of the survey the art work in the grammar grades was suffering from lack of 102 SCHOOL SURVEY REPORT. supervision, and apparenth" but little was being done. Those of the grade teachers who had some special talent for the work Avere able unaided to keep up their interest and secure results, but the majority of the teachers were in need of the constant inspiration, help, and suggestion which a competent supervisor could give. The course of study appears, in the main, to be in line with the best thought on the subject, but to a teacher who has not had excellent art training it would seem too indefinite to serve as a sufficient guide. There are few grade teachers who can do creditable work in this department with- out the advantage of frequent supervision, no matter how minutely the course is laid out for them. It is hard to understand how the small financial saving brought about by relegating the supervisor of art work to a part-time assignment in one of the high schools can be con- sidered, by any one conversant with the principles of good school management, as a justifiable piece of economy. As mat- ters now stand, the art and construction work is planned and supervised in the primary grades, while between these grades and the high school there is a vride gap where the work ap- pears to be deteriorating by reason of lack of expert guidance. Other cities as large as Salt Lake City employ a supervisor and one or more assistants. The unfortunate effects of neglect in this department should be remedied without delay. There should be a supervisor in charge of the department of art in- struction, and the director of art and construction in primary grades should be an assistant in the department. Eespon&i- bility should not be divided. If such severe economy as has been practiced in this instance had been really necessary, a less harmful plan to bring it about would have been to retain the supervisor in the field and divide the primary work be- tween the art supervisor and the primary supervisor, the latter taking the work in construction. This, however, is not advo- cated. Salt Lake City should employ a supervisor in this department and at least one assistant, if it is desired to keep the art work of the schools abreast of the times. As much THE COURSES OF STUDY. 103 supervision of art as this is found in cities no larger than Salt Lake City, and in some of these special teachers are employed in addition to teach drawing in the seventh and eighth grades. The art and handwork outlines. The designs used as plates in the special course of study in art and handwork for primary grades have elements that are too scattered, with a very poor relation of the several parts and proportions. The design shapes are clumsy and uninteresting, and have little or no relation to the objects which they are supposed to dec- orate. Free paper cutting is almost entirely ignored. This activity is most valuable to pupils in acquiring ability to repre- sent form and general proportions. It should be used fre- quently with young children as a means of free expression. The drawings printed in the course of study are very weak. The lettering is poor, and the arrangement uninteresting. Every plate reproduced in any course of art instruction should be a model in itself of good drawing, proper arrangement, ade- quate spacing, and well proportioned lettering. However, the photographs accompanying later circulars show articles in considerable variety, and these are well proportioned. It is fair to assume therefore that the next edition of the course in primary art and handwork will be comparatively free from the faults just noted. Drawing in the lower grades. The illustrative drawing in the primary grades should have a closer relation to primary grade reading and dramatics, and should occupy more of the time allowed for drawing. Too much of the primary construc- tion work is imitative or else is done entirely from dictation. In the kindergarten initiative is encouraged and the imagina- tion given scope. Seeing only the printed course of study in art and handwork one would infer that all this comes to an abrupt end in the first grade. The art supervisor in these grades should be in closer touch with the primary supervisor, so as to utilize stories and games for illustrative purposes. The outlines in construction for grades one to four, furnished in typewritten form by the supervisor, presumably for inclusion 101 SCHOOL SURVEY REPORT. in a revision o^f the present printed conrse, meet this require- ment. They are sensible, well arranged, and adapted to sup- plement and illustrate school activities. Modelmg". Nearly all branches of modeling seem to be emphasized in each grade. We suggest that it would be better to emphasize low relief in certain grades, high relief in certain grades, modeling in the round in certain grades, and pottery in certain grades. Clodding in clay is hardly adapted for execution in the ordinary class room with its sloping desks. Casting in plaster of Paris should always be done in a separate room adapted to the pui-pose. The manual training shops in most schools are without classes some portion of each week. They might well be utilized for clay and plaster work. It would save much labor and conserve the time of teachers and pupils if the material for this work Avere kept and used in one place, instead of having to be distributed in small lots to the different rooms of a building. Some of the manual training rooms are large enough to afford space for modeling, even while other work is in progress. Other constructional activities. The work of book binding in the fifth grade is not made to serve a real end. Only the boys of a class now take this work, and since the portfolios that are made would serve but half the class, they are not used. These projects should serve the admirable purpose of giving concrete application to the otherwise abstract principle of design, by providing objects of real use which lend them- selves to decoration. There appears to be no connection between sewing and art. The principle of correlation, so well worked out in the academic part of the course of study, should find its most effective appli- cation in art and handwork both for girls and boys. The sub- ject of design is not developed in a progressive manner from grade to grade, as it might easily be if manual training, sewing, and art were included in the scheme of correlation. THE COURSES OF STUDY. 105 11, Manual Training-. A poor course of study. The shop work is limited to wood- working processes of a single type — cabinet making — and tlie related drawing is extremely limited in scope. The course lacks justification from the standpoint of application in Iocs! industries, as well as on the score of' educational value. The content of the course is extremely limited, considering the time given to the subject, and some of the work, for example letter- ing, comes far too early in the course. Working drawings are not, as a rule, taught with any degree of profit to grades below the eighth, yet a greater emphasis is placed on working draw- ings in the earlier part of this course than in the later part ; the fifth grade having 29 1-3 hours, the sixth 21 1-3 hours and the seventh 17 1-3 hours given to such work. Time spent on working drawings below the eighth grade is time practically wasted. The child does not get his working facts from the drawing, but depends upon the teacher. To understand the conventional procedure usual in making clear working drawings, greater maturity is required than the fifth, sixth, or seventh-grade pupil has attained. The plsce for drawings for children of these ages is in connection with de- sign, which this course wholly lacks. The uniformity in the work throughout the city, observed by the members of the survey, indicates that there is no attempt at adjustment to individuals or groups. Work needs enlarging. In the selection of projects one interest only seems to have been in mind, that of supplying needs for the home, and the same objects are made by all boys till the eighth grade is reached, when some little choice is allowed. It can hardly be assumed that all homes have the same needs. Additional interests should be drawn upon, such as sports, industrial studies, and trade activities. Printing, the study of home carpentry, the making of play-ground appa- ratus and simple laboratory equipment, readily suggest them- selves. As the course stands, little initiative is possible for 106 SCHOOL SURVEY REPORT teacher or pupil. The work as planned is stereotyped, and seems to have only a disciplinary aim. One material, wood, is involved throughout the entire course, and the kinds of this are limited. The most common uses of wood seem to be igr- nored. The shop processes connected with "squaring off" are continually emphasized, for four years. The printed steps are not correct as to teaching practice or shop practice. It seems unfortunate that this particular process should be given such prominence. Suggestions for improvement. The fifth and sixth grades would get more out of construction work if they should make a study of machines used in the mining industry on a working- model basis, introducing thin sheet metal, wire cloth, sott metals, and cement, in addition to wood. The making of foun- dry flasks and tools, and the casting of objects in soft metal would be appropriate projects. The study of transportation, involving the making of models of railroad tracks, switches, hoists, etc., would furnish occasions for the exercise of in- genuity. Bridge construction is also appropriate work. It is clearly suggested by the trestle over Salt Lake. In grades seven and eight more advanced work in metal as well as in wood is appropriate. It should be in part applied art, as hammered copper or brass, and, in part, along the line of applications of mechanics. The supervisor of manual training and the supervisor of art should co-operate in making out the course of study in these two phases of school work. These courses should be closely related. The art department should co-operate in working out designs in manual training. It needs this motive to keep the principle of design 'from becoming abstract, and in his manual work the pupil needs to have his attention di- rected toward attractiveness of form and appropriate decora- tion. Manual training as now conducted in Salt Lake City causes boys to resort to furniture catalogues for designs instead of working out their own ideas of form. They have no con- fidence in their ability to work out appropriate designs. Their THE COURSES OF STUDY. 107 training tends to make them mere copyists. It is highly im- portant that the emphasis placed upon design in the course in art should have an outlet in the manual training activities. There is little to commend in the scheme of manual train- ing now in vogue in the Salt Lake City schools. It should be radically reorganized. 12. Domestic Ai-ts and Science. A commendable feature of the work seen in this subject was the effort to adapt the instruction to the home needs of the children attending the different schools. The same course of study was not followed in all of the schools, nor were the grades in which the instruction was given the same. The teachers of the subject seemed to be making an earnest effort to adapt the work to the needs of the children. This is a desirable feature, and should be continued. It was the feeling of the survey staff that much more could be done in this line than has so far been done. There are too few properly equipped centers for this work in the schools of the city, and enough is not made of it, and in one of the high schools no opportunity is provided for girls who wish to continue this important study. 13. Physical Training. This is considered at some length as a part of the health work of the schools, and the reader is referred to Chapter XII for a detailed consiSeration of the work in this subject of instruction. 1( 8 SCHOOL SURVEY REPORT. CHAPTER VII. THE INSTRUCTION AND SUPERVISION AS SEEN DESIRABLE EXTENSIONS. (Van Sickle) I. THE INSTRUCTION AND SUPERVISION AS SEEN. The Quality of Instruction. Enough has already been said to indicate that the survey was favorably impressed by the teaching observed in the class rooms of the city. We found the work in general on a fairly high plane. The neces- sity of utilizing each year the services of so many young teachers just out of the normal school makes for a lower average level of instruction than is best for the system, but this tendency, so far as the common branches are concerned, is offset in large measure by the employment of expert super- visors in grammar and primary grades who supplement the weaknesses of the young teachers and, in time, bring them out as worthy members of the teaching force. The normal school sends them into the service with the right attitude toward the work, and this is one absolutely indispensable factor in their training. Thus they are prepared to accept, in the best possible spirit, the training in service which con- tinues through the early years of their employment. Without expert guidance from grade supervisors Salt Lake City's method of recruiting its teaching force would be fatal to progress ; but the weaknesses inherent in the plan of recruiting the force exclusively from the home product and at low sal- aries, is offset in such measure by the systematic after-train- ing which the system affords that better results are secured than might reasonably be expected. Much of the work done by the more experienced teachers is superior iu quality. Some mediocre work was seen, and some that would be called poor, but the greater part of the teaching must in fairness be classed as good. INSTRUCTION AND SUPERVISION SEEN. 109 One important aid which the teachers have is the free text book system maintained by the city, and the freedom which the city enjoys in the selection of the books to be used. Fortunately, the State of Utah has had the good sense to ex- empt the city from following the uniform series of text books adopted for its district schools, and the city has made ex- cellent use of the exemption. The books supplied are both varied in character and excellent in quality. Classwork Observed. It was not possible in the time available to observe a class exercise in every school room of the city, but enough work was seen to afford a safe basis for opinion. Fully 300 class exercises were observed by the members of the survey, — some in full, and all for a sufficient length of time to catch the method and spirit of the work. The attainments of the children in reading, spelling, writing, arithmetic, and composition, as measured by the standard tests employed are seen, by reference to the tables and charts in Chapter VIII, to compare favorably with those of children of like grades in other cities where the same standards have been applied. In visiting classes, many of those in which the tests had been given received particular attention, because it seemed desirable to know whether the results of the tests were such as might have been anticipated by a competent observer. It is interesting to note that those members of the survey who applied the observation test to these classes, till recently the only test available, were not surprised to learn, after the tabulations had been completed, that the nineteen schools in which the standard tests were used had made a good showing. An Observed Characteristic. One marked characteristic of the Salt Lake City school system that impressed the mem- bers of the survey in their visits to class rooms was the cheerful, optimistic tone of the teachers. No burden seemed too great, no work so hard as to cause complaint. The fine professional attitude of the teaching force deserves the high- est commendation. As might be expected this attitude is re- 1 10 SCHOOL SURVEY REPORT. fleeted iu the attitude of the ehildreu toward the school. Re- pression was nowhere in evidence, nor was any needed. The children were free and natural in their movements, yet there was no disorder. Not a single instance of cross word or stubborn manner was noticed by any member of the survey during- the entire three weeks of their stay in the city. Doubt- less cases of discipline do arise. However, the records show that offenses calling" for severity are of rare occurrence. Principals and Their Work. A principal is both an ad- ministrator and a supervisor. In his role as administrator he acts as the responsible head of his school in all matters of organization and management. He represents the school de- partment in his community, and in proportion as he has en- ergy and discretion and an aptitude for leadership he causes his school and its work to be known and appreciated and loy- ally supported by the people of his community. In the Salt Lake City school system the principal's position is one of dignity and authority. He is the head of his school in super- vision, as well as in administration. All directions to teach- ers given by the superintendent or by supervisors acting for him are given either through the principal or with his full understanding. His range of observation is more limited than theirs, since his work is confined to a single school. He needs to avail himself of the wider view of the supervisors who see the entire lield, in order to make the work of his school har- monize in essentials with the general policy of the admini- stration. There is a Avide range for variation within this field, and each principal is expected to make definite contributions toward the improvement of the service. He knows that if he wishes to try some plan which he thinks will work better than the customary one he will have full liberty to make trial of it. providing after explanation it does not appear to the superintendent to be contrary to the general policy of the schools. Not only does the principal have liberty to try new thina:s: he is definitely encouraged to seek paths leading away INSTRUCTION AND SUPERVISION SEEN. Ill from the beaten track of routine for in this direction lies growth. The principals' salary-schedule puts a premium upon this very thing by basing increase above a certain minimum upon university work. In consequence many of the principals have taken a college degree, some at the agricultural college and some at the state university. They seem to the survey staff to be well poised, self-respecting, and capable. It was the general feeling among the members that they had seldom if ever seen greater professional zeal on the part of prin- cipals in devising ways to improve their schools, both in matters of detail and in those larger phases of a school's life which affect life of the community and influence its ideals. The supervision of work in the common branches. Under the present system of recruiting the teaching force, the good results realized in the common branches in the Salt Lake City schools could not be realized if the supervision were not sys- tematic and intelligent, for whatever strength the work man- ifests must in large part be due to the wise guidance which makes seasoned veterans out of raw recruits. The efficiency of grade supervision may be shown in sev- eral ways, — first, of course in results; second in helpful pro- fessional relations which the supervisors establish in their contact with the teachers in the school rooms of the city; and, third, by the suggestions and directions they give to the teachers by means of detailed outlines, and orally in the teachers' meetings. As shown by standard tests and verified by observation of regular class work, the results are good. In judging whether helpful relations had been established, members of the survey accompanied the grade supervisors in certain oi' their visits for the purpose of actually seeing how they did the part of their work which brings them into contact with teachers and children in the school rooms. Two half days were spent in this way with the supervisor of grammar grades, and one with the supervisor of primary grades. Both super- 112 SCHOOL SURVEY REPORT. visors apptvir to bo well equipped in personality, edueation, and professional skill, and it is the opinion of the survey tliat they have the riii'ht point of view o^ tlieir fnnetion in the system. This is that they are in the serviee for the purpose iu')t simply of inspeeting" the work of others, though, of eourse, this is a part of their duty, but for the larger }>urpose of helping the teaehers to teaeh well. To this end they make plain the meaning" of the neeessarily limited statements in the eourse of study, and are always ready to illustrate the proper method of proeedure by aetual teaehing. This is often the surest way of getting any proeedure understood. Any one who has had experience in sending- out written in- structions cannot fail to realize the utter impossibility of so wording a statement, involving many particulars, that all to whom it is addressed will interpret it in the same \>ay. Es- pecially is it trne that comparatively inexperienced teachers, of whom there are so many in the Salt Lake City schools, need the illustration which the supervisor stands ready to give. Promotion of pupils. The system in use for promotion to the high schools, depending" in part, as it does, upon the records made by children in formal examination, makes test- ing: an exceedingly important part of the supervisors' duty. In any promotion system involving set examinations the dang'cr is that the examination will loom larg'e in the minds of children and teachers, and that chief attention will be centered upon the more formal portions of the work. Even though examination results count only one-third, the members of the survey are not in favor of this phase of Salt Lake City's promotion scheme. They believe in examinations, both oral and written, as teaching exercises, but not as tests of fit- ness for promotion. The inevitable tendency of such exami- nations is to narrow instruction. Xevertheless, since examination for promotion is a fea- ture of the system, it is important to note Avhether the ex- aminations which are set tend toward formality and a nar- row interpretation of the course of study, or whether, as INSTRUCTION AND SUPERVISION SEEN. 113 far as may be, they have the opposite tendency. The samples in language and arithmetic which follow show the character of the examinations which the grade supervisors set. It will readily be admitted that they are excellent samples of their kind. They would be extremely useful as teaching exercises. If examinations are to be employed as elements in the pro- motion of pupils from grade to grade, those of the type used in the Salt Lake City schools are as free from objection as any that could be devised. Types of examiilation tests used. To show the type of examinations given by the supervisors, and the mental qual- ities they are designed to test, we reproduce a few typical examination papers from the collection supplied us while at work in Salt Lake City. I. LANGUAGE. REPRODUCTION. A CLASS, THIRD GRADE. Thursday, P. M., January 22nd, after test paper and all nec- essary material have been furnished the pupils, read or tell, slowly, very deliberately, — in order that the children may be able to get the mental pictures, — ONCE only, the story which follows. Suggest three or four titles and allow each child to select his own. One very hot day a little boy was lying on his stomach under a big tree, reading a story. "Little boy," said his mother, "will you please go into the garden and bring me a head of lettuce?" "O, I — can't!" said the little boy, "I am too hot!" The little boy's father happened to be close by, weeding the flower bed, and when he heard this he lifted the little boy gently by the waistband, and dipped him into the great tub of cold water that stood ready for watering the plants. "There, my son, now you are cool enough to go and get the let- tuce for your mother, and the next time she asks you to do some- thing for her you may not feel so hot." Note how readily this would lend itself to reproduction with the picture 'idea in the child's mind. 2U SCHOOL SURVEY REPORT. II. GEOGRAPHY. B CLASS, THIRD GRADE. 1. Where do the dairy farmers of Salt Lake Valley have their hay farms? 2. Why must a dairy farm be near a community center or near a railroad station? 3. Why must milk be kept very, very clean? 4. When the milker begins his work what does he do? Why? 5. Just as soon as he finishes milking a cow what does he do? Why? 6. Why does each cow have a report card? Is her name on the card? 7. How do they get the milk from the dairy farms to the cities? 8. Why is all milk bottled now? 9. Name the Utah counties that rank high in dairy products. 10. What dairy product is Utah turning out in larger and larger quantities each year? III. GRAMMAR. FINAL EXAMINATION— EIGHTH B CLASS. GROUP I. 1. Illustrate, (a) a phrase as subject of the sentence, (b) a clause as object of a preposition, (c) a co-ordinate clause, (d) a phrase modifying a noun used as subjective com- plement. : 2. Choose the proper word and fill in the blanks of the fol- lowing sentences, also give reasons for your choice: (a) Not one of the boys (was, were) there. (b) The book (lay, laid) on the table yesterday. (c) Deal (gentle, gently) with them. (d) For you and (me, I) there are many oppor- tunities. (e) (Has, have).- either of you girls an extra pen- cil? 3. Diagram the following sentences: At the back of Mount Tipanogas, not fifty miles away, is a glacier exhibiting all the characteristics of ice streams. 4. Use each of the following words first as a noun, then as an adjective, then as a verb: — ^blind, sound, spring. 5. Classify (a) words, (b) sentences, (c) phrases, according to use. INSTRUCTION AND SUPERVISION SEEN. 115 GROUP II. 6. Write the plural form of the following words: Tooth, Mary, Miss Clark, German, baby, journey, chief, wolf, father-in-law, hero. 7. Give the principal parts of the following verbs : Go, sit, lie, dig, set, see, do, eat, come, lay. 8. Account for the case form of the underlined pronouns in the following sentences: (a) WE girls are going on an excursion. (b) Did you see Mary and ME at the theater? (c) Neither speaker had prepared HIS speech. (d) I am in a higher class than SHE. (e) The money belongs to US four boys. 9. White a sentence containing two subordinate clauses, one performing the office of an adjective, and the other the office of an adverb. 10. Explain and illustrate the difference in meaning between the following words: At and in, between and among, beside and besides, by and with, in and into. Note that children compose in answering these questions. They are not analyzing the sentences of others. IV. ARITHMETIC. EIGHTH A AND B CLASSES. GROUP I. 1. Solve: 54 3-4 -f 9 17-28 + 7-13 +8 2-7 + 13 2-3. 2. Divide 49 5-7 by 21 3-5. 3. Multiply .045 by 40.4 and divide the product by 6.45. 4. Simplify: 3-4 of 20-27 5-6 of 1 2-3 5. Multiply 1,786,905 2-3 by 78 3-4. GROUP II. 1. How many square feet in the walls, floor, and ceiling of a room 16 feet six inches long, by 12 feet 4 inches wide, by 9 feet 6 inches high? 2. A farmer bought 80 sheep for $500. He sold 45 per cent of them at $8.00 apiece, and the remainder at $7.50 apiece. Find his per cent of gain. lU! SCHOOL SURVEY REPORT 3. At o\-2 per cent commission, what were the earnings in one week of an agent who sold property as follows: ?G.875. $5,400, $11,- 400, and ?S,725? 4. A steam boat makes a trip of 148.75 miles in 9.4 hours. Find the speed per hour. (Give the answer to the nearest hundredths). 5. $75.50 was paid for oats at 45 cents a bushel. Find the total weight, reckoning 32 pounds to a bushel. Note the separate groupiug of problems by means of which a eomparison may be made between a pupil's ability in funda- mentals ami in reasoning-. The quality of the grade supervision. Sets of eireulars or bulletins issued by the grade supervisors, as interpretations of the course of study, have been placed at the disposal of the members of the survey. Tlie outlines in third-grade geogrraphy. issued in bulletin form by the primary supervisor, have already been commented on ns models of their kind. A grammar-grade bulletin on arithmetic has been quoted in connection with the discussion oif that subject. In a bulletin on hygiene, issued by the gram- mar-grade supervisor, an excellent way is pointed out to se- cure the observance 'by the pupils of hygienic rules: ''Habit iformation should constitute a chief part of tht, educational training in hygiene. The pupils will be rated on the quality of their class work and their daily physical habits." And in another bulletin the following sound characterization of the use of grammar is given for the benetit of principals and teachers of seventh and eighth grades : The teaching of grammar must be justified by the educational results that are immediate rather than those remote. These re- sults should be (a) clearer thinking, (b) increased ability to judge the quality of langueage. (,o"» increased power to interpret lang- uage. It is better to select a few topics in grammar and to teach them well than endeavor to teach too many topics. Whenever the facts and principles being studied have no concrete meaning to the child they are not serving the educational purpose intended. Verbal mem- DESIRABLE EXTENSIONS. 117 ory has little place in the teaching of this subject. Classifications and definitions should follow concrete knowledge of many individual words or expressions and not precede this knowledge. In other words, they should grow out of the child's fund of information and his powers of comparison. Good points about the bulletins are : (1) Flexibility — the supervisor realizes that conditions determine the remedies to be applied. (2) Definiteness of directions. " (3) The ultimate end is never lost sight of. The va- rious means suggested are always practical. They reflect su- pervisors who have studied the results of the teachers' work and who possess readiness and resourcefulness in suggesting remedies for difficulties. (4) The insistence upon thoroughness, upon student power, not alone a mastery of facts, as an ultimate test of teaching is constantly emphasized. (5) The human element in the directions should tend to make the teachers sympathetic and stimulating. (6) The relation of subject to subject is well brought out indicating supervisors who see all of the subjects as parts of a plan to develop a single consistent purpose. II. DESIRABLE EXTENSIONS'. The Junior High School. The plan now well under way in Salt Lake City, by which grades seven, eight, and nine are organized departmentally as the Junior high school, is in line with progressive practice elsewhere. Already sixty- eight cities have such organizations, and many more are contemplating this feature. These organizations differ as to the grades included, whether two or three; as to housing, whether in a separate building, or with lower grades, or high school proper; and again as to the subjects included in the course of study. Some common characteristics appear. After the sixth grade, pupils are allowed some choice among stud- US SCITOOT. SURVEY REPORT. ios, tlu\\' aiitic'ipato soiuo of the Avovk ol" tlie liiii'h school proper, and tlu\\- are taught on the departmental plan. The plan as yet imperfectly developed. In Salt Lake City the organi/ation ealls ultimately for three grades, the seventh, the eighth and, as pupils of the t\vo g"rades beknv aeeomplish Avork whieh ealls for hig'h school credits, the ninth. A good hegimiing has been made, and the plan merits full development. U seems to the survey, however, that instead of scattering- the units of the org-anization throughout the city it would be far better, both tinancially and educationally, to bring the pupils of tliniior high school grades tog'ether in larg-er numbers. Since the schools throughout the city are now so crowded that rooms not intended for school use are being utilized as class rooms, it is evident that new buildings must be erected to relieve the congestion. The needed relief sluuild be provided by erecting: four or five new buildings ex- pressly for the Junior high school work, leaving existing build- ing:s for the use of g:rades one to six. This would make better grading possible and would provide larger classes, thus reduc- ing the per capita cost of instruction. Ir would also remove two grades, the seventh and eighth, from all existing build- ings, in itself a gain of no small importance. The work cannot be properly developed in so nmny small scattered eenters. Not enough differentiation can be ar- ranged to meet the varying needs of the children. At present pre-vocational needs of the children of Salt Lake City are not sufficiently provided for. A choice of German. Latin, or French is open to pupils, and in one center the arithmetic of the eighth grade has a commercial treiul : but there is little provision for those non-literary pupils who. though not de- fective in intellecr. are not sufficiently apt in dealing with symbols to get their education chiefly from books. Not only for these but also for another group of boys and girls, normal in every respect but Avho will inevitably leave school at an early age, courses should be ott'ered which give detinite indus- trial trainiufir. The work in such courses should differ from DESIRABLE EXTENSIONS. 119 that in the ordinary manual training classes for boys, and classes in cooking and sewing for girls, in the greater variety of materials dealt with, in the increased time devoted to prac- tical work, and in the approach to the academic work through the industrial projects of the shop and home. Ten hours per week is not too much time to devote to this work. The courses should provide real vocational experience, with materials and processes as extensive as the leading occupations followed in the city and state. Through such experience the hoys and girls can form some notion of what they are fitted to do for a livelihood. Types of courses needed. The Junior high school scheme, when fully developed, should provide at least four courses at each center. One strongly academic has now been well worked out. Another tending toward the commercial has been begun. Another in practical arts for boys is needed, and still another in practical arts for girls. Both of these should include agri- culture as an optional subject. It should be po.ssible for a boy or girl who has taken any one of the courses to enter the Senior high school, if circumstances are such as to make a longer period of schooling possible. As has already been said, this variety of opportunity can not be offered in scattered centers. Four or five buildings Avith ample shop and laboratory facilities are needed. Each should be conveniently located to receive pupils from several six-grade schools. On the basis of the present enrollment, four schools, each with a capacity for 950 pupils, would accom- modate the seventh, eighth and ninth grades of the entire city. For the present, one of these would as now be the new high school building. In the year 1914-15 there were 1616 pupils enrolled in the seventh grade, 1243 in the eighth and 856 in the ninth. The falling off in attendance in the eighth grade was 23 per cent; in the ninth it was 47 per cent. It may be confidently ex- pected that after the Junior high school plan has been fully developed, with differentiated courses of study and in build- 120 SCHOOL SURVEY REPORT. iiii^s of suitable plan and equipment, this heavy mortality at the end of the eig-hth grade Avill be greatly reduced, and a fifth school would be needed. It ought to be the purpose of every city to carry as nuiny pupils as possible through a six-year elementary and some one of the three-year Junior high school courses. Normally these would be completed by the close of the fifteenth year, or at the end of the compulsory school period. That Salt Lake City fails to accomplish such a pur- pose now may be seen by an inspection of Figures 13 and 14, which show the ages and grades of the pupils at present in the schools. Vocational training. Approximately 1600 children leave school each year in various grades after the sixth, 800 boys and 800 girls. It is important to know what preparation they have had for the practical duties that await them. The exact loss by grades, computed from the Age Grade Distribution sheet, is: Grade YI to YII 215 Grade VII to YIII 253 Grade YIII to IX 552 Grade IX to X 312 Grade X to XI 145 Grade XI to XII 117 Total 1594 Approximately two-thirds of those leaving are from grades below the ninth, and eighty-four per cent of them are from grades below the Senior high school. Yocational preparation is seen therefore to be chielly a problem for the Junior high school and the grades immediately beloAv it. Vocational training in any city must have reference to the oi>portunities for employment which the city afl:'ords. for it is safe to assumt^ that the majority of the boys and girls now in the schools will find their place in the life of the local com- munity. "We cannot know what occupation any child will follow, but from census reports we do know what occupations are open to choice, not only in Salt Lake City, but also in the couutiy as a whole, and what proportion, of the population is now engaged in each occupation. DESIRABLE EXTENSIONS. 121 Vocations in Salt Lake City. The vocational distribution of the entire wage-earning population of Salt Lake City, male and female, according to the census reports for 1910, was as shown in the following table : TABLE NO. 14. OCCUPATIONAL STATISTICS FOR SALT LAKE CITY. (U. S. Census, 1910, Vol. IV.) Total Population 92 I. Total population 37,730 or 40.7%. 1. 566 or 0.6%. (a) Most important ■] 904 or 0.9%. (b) 11,564 or 12.5%. (c) Most important Over 200 in each ,777. Salt Lake City, 1910. Male Female 10 years of age or over 37,905 35,627 Engaged in all occupations 30,279 7,451 Agrig. forestry and An Husb 553 13 Farmers — farm' laborers 195 5 Gardeners, nurserymen, florists . . . 161 7 Stock raisers, tenders 157 Extraction of minerals 903 1 Manf. and Mech. industries 10,260 1,304 Apprentices 239 31 Blacksmiths — forgemen 273 Brick — Stone masons 367 Builders — Bldg. Contractors 586 2 Carpenters 1,425 Compositors — Typesetters 240 12 Dressmakers — Seamstresses 1 546 Electricians — El. Engineers 448 Stationary Engineers . . . : 304 Laborers in building trades 1,492 20 Machinists — Tool makers 516 Manufucturers, Supt., — Officials... 420 8 Milliners — M. dealers 10 192 Painters, varnishers, etc 494 Plasterers 151 Plumbers — Gas — Steam fitters .... 313 Food Industries 106 155 Jron — Steel industries 290 Tailors— Tailoresses 183 19 122 SCHOOL SURVEY REPORT 4,235 01- i.6^/c. (d) Transportation 4,038 Draymen, teamsters, expressmen . 851 Chauffeurs 65 Steam Ry. Conductors 208 Over 200 in each Street Ry. Conductors 145 Brakesmen 161 Locomotive Engineers 323 Locomotive Firemen 191 Motormen 131 Laborers 667 Summary: Male Water transportation 11 Road — Street transportation 1,039 Railroad work 2,183 Exp., Post. Tel.— Telephone 346 Other transportation pursuits 459 4,038 6.454 or 7' < . (e) Trade 5,726 Bankers, Brokers — money lenders 290 Clerks in stores 599 Commercial travelers 394 Over 150 in each Deliverymen 475 Insurance agents — Officials 175 Real estate dealers 370 Retail dealers 1,630 Salesmen — Saleswomen 1,207 Wholesale dealers — Importers . . . Ill 1,583 or 1.7';;. (f) Public Service 1,569 Firemen 69 Guards, watchmen, bookkeepers . . 120 Laborers 20S Marshals, sheriffs, detectives 41 AH Officials — Inspectors (C.-Co.) 85 Officials— Inspectors (St. U. S.) . . 112 Policemen 73 Soldiers, sailors, — marines 846 Other pursuits 15 3,342 or 3.6<"( . (g) Professional Service 2,146 Authors, editors, reporters 98 Civil — Mining engineers 444 Designers, draughtsmen, inventors 118 197 ^emale 6 183 197 728 5 274 9 2 8 64 339 1 10 1.196 12 15 DESIRABLE EXTENSIONS. 123 Over 100 in each Lawyers — Justices 273 2 Musicians — Teachers of music... 174 195 Physicians — Surgeons 188 26 Teachers 113 614 Nurses 9 112 5,016 or 5.4%. (h) Domestic and Personal Service... 2,253 2,763 Barbers, hairdressers — -.manicures 266 75 Bartenders 275 Boarding — Lodging hs. keepers... 63 331 Housekeepers — Stewards 15 135 Janitors 211 59 Launderers — L'dresses (not in Is.) 7 201 Over 100 in each Laundry operatives 105 325 Midwives — Untrained nurses 22 249 Porters 141 Restaurant — Cafe keepers 106 16 Saloon keepers 99 1 Servants 417 1,227 Waiters 268 81 4,066 or 4.4%. (i) Clerical Occupations 2,827 1,239 Agents, canvassers, collectors 366 14 Bookkeepers — Cashiers 804 315 Clerks (not in stores) 1,150 156 Messenger — Office boys 294 11 Stenographers — Typewriters 213 743 MANUFACTURING CONDITIONS. Salt Lake City. 1909. 1904. 1899. No. of Manfg. Establishments 245 192 J 54 Av. No. of Wage Earners 4,287 2,776 2,154 Value of products $13,351,000 $7,544,000 $4,279,000 "Values added my manufacturing 6,736,000 4,029,000 2,302,000 Wage Utah. Employing Earners No. of manuf . Estabs. in 749 11,785 Total popl. of Utah 373,351 Total popl. of Salt Lake City 92,777 Salt Lake City has 33% of establishments of State of Utah. Salt Lake City employs 36% of wage earners of State of Utah. Per cent of total popl. engaged as wage earners in manufacturing establishments, 4.6%. l-.M SCHOOL sruvKY Kv:roKT. b'rom ili\'ado to doo;ulo tliero Nvill doubtless be slight ehauii'es in the voeational distrihution shown in the tabU\ but the proportions are not likely to ehaiiire materially in the next twenty years, hei\ee boys nt^w in the sehools. it' they ivniaiu iu Salt Lake Oity. will be enoai^ed in the oeenpatioiis listed above about iu the same proportion that obtained in 1910. Tt' they go elsewhere they will tind voeational demands widely ditl'erent. The present distribution of wage earners in Salt Lake City, iu the nine leading oeeupations. is given in Table No. o. page IT. Vocational education needed. It would uu\nitestly be im- possible to prepare eaeh ot" the SOO boys who leave sehool each year speeitieally for the partieular oeeupation whieh he will follow out ot" the vast variety open to ohoiee. even if the ehoiee of eaeh were kitowu iu advanee. A general voeational training intetuied to lay a broad foundation of voeational understanding may, however, be given to all. A still more secure foundation may be laid for eaeh of tiu^ half dozen broad tlolds of human labor represented in the eity. the work in eaeh tield being taken only by those who intend to tind their speeialty there. The boy should be permitted to try himself out in as many voeational tields as possible. The range of experimental aetiv- ities should be as wide as the resources of the eity will permit. There slunild be work with wood of all varieties, and in eon- neetion with the woodwork experiences in the use of finishes of every sort. There should be woi'k with metal, leather, clay. iuul textiles. There should be electric work, printing, garden- ing, buying, selling, banking. The list might be greatly ex- tended. Sewing and garmenr making for girls already receives attention, but luH enough time is given to the work to make it of high voeational value. Some speeialization should be open to girls who will not pursue their education beyond the Junior high school. This is true also of domestic science. In the good beginning thus far made in teaching these subjects the schools are reiulering a far-reaching social service. Training DESIRABLE EXTENSIONS. 125 for clerical service is well provided for in tlie present courses of study. Vocational training for girls should look beyond the commercial and clerical work which will necessarily be but temporary, and toward the wise management of a home in all its varied relations. The Junior high school organization is well adapted to foster the wide variety of prevocational or try-out activities through which only can a boy or girl be sure of making a wise choice of vocation. The Senior high schools. The Senior high schools, two in number, ofi'er seven courses. Classical, Scientific, English, Normal Preparatory, Mechanics' Arts, Domestic Science, and Commercial. In view of the importance of agriculture in the Salt Lake Valley a good course in agriculture should be added. With this addition the high school opportunities furnished would be sufficiently varied to meet present needs. Provision for variation from a single fixed course, alike for all, has been in vogue in high schools throughout the country for many years, whereas in the upper grades of elementary schools a more conservative policy, amounting to rigid adherence to a single course, has till quite recently been the universal policy. The Salt Lake City high schools have been of the progressive class, and they are now able, without at all disturbing their or- ganization, to receive pupils ifrom the new Junior high school courses of the modern varied type and carry them forward along the lines oif work started in the seventh grade. For this reason the high school situation has not seemed to call for much attention from the survey. The small percentage of pupils enrolled in the high schools, and the heavy mortality during the first year, as shown by Fig- ures 14 and 15, seem to indicate that the high schools are not making the educational opportunities they provide as apparent to the young people of the community as they should, and perhaps are not adjusting their work as closely as they might to the individual needs of the pupils who enter the schools. Ungraded classes. The Junior high school does not re- 12(5 SCHOOL SURVEY REPORT. eoive pupils until thoy have oouipleted the work of six grades. The statisties of retardation in the Salt Lake City schools disclose the fact, common in the experience of all school sys- tems, that there are many children in the lower grades who, though not feehle minded, are slow to grasp the fnudamcntals which, in the main, constitute the work of the tirst six grades. They caimot work to advantage in regular classes becanse they need more individiial attention than they cau get there. Fail- ing of promotion term after term they become discouraged and inditferent. It is expensive to keep them in the regular classes becanse they must be taken over the same ground repeatedly, owing to their inability to keep the pace of the class. Not only is it expensive, but it is also wasteful of human life and capacity. Children of this type can master the rudiments of education if allowed to move forward slowly but regularly. They need to be organized in special classes of moderate size, and to move forward at their OAvn pace, without repeating. Such groups are sometimes called auxiliary classes, sometimes ungraded classes, A few such classes have been organized in Salt Lake City. On a false theory of economy some of them have recently been discontinued. Each large school should have at least one sueli class. Fnlike some of those now conducted, such classes sliould be managed with no expectation of meeting grade re- quirements of the coui"se of study. The teacher should regu- late the course in accordance with individual needs, and there should be much objective work. Practical arts, of a less ad- vanced type than those in the Jiiuior high school, should pro- vide motive for reading. Avriting, composition, and arithmetic. Instead of reducing the number of ungraded classes the city should increase their number, and should adjust the character of the work done in them, not on the basis of the regular cotii*se of study, but on the basis of adaptation to the peculiar aptitudes of the pupils. This subject is considered more in detail in Chapter IX. THE INSTRUCTION MEAKURKI). 127 CIJAI'TKR VJir. THE EFFICIENCY 01^' THI<: INSTRUCTION MEASURED. (Sears.) Purpose of this section of the report. To be fil)U; to stale in quantitative terms just what the efficiency of instruction in a given school or subject is, is a recent innovation in school practice w^hicJi is })Ccorning of increasing importance as scales for this purpose are perfected. It is not enough to get results in teaching, but we must be able to define those results. And it should be emphasized that, until this can be dorifi, we really know yary little about tlic rr'siiits obtained. It is the pvirpoHd here t(^ report the results of a series of tests which were designed to measure the present state of efficiency of instruction in the Salt Lake City schools in those subjects which are intended to provide the children with the common tools of knowledge, and which everyone recognizes as the basis of all education. Extent of the tests made. To this end tests were given in the subjects of reading, writing, spelling, composition, and arithmetic, to from 9 to 22 per cent of the children in the elementary schools of the city. For this purpose 19 of the 30 schools were selected, taking care to touch every type of com- munity from the standpoint of population, social and economic status, and general school conditions as to size of school, quality of building and in.struction, etc. From each of these schools the "B" or upper classes were chosen for the tests. Whatever results appear are therefore fully typical of the schools as a whole, probably little if any different from what they would have been had every child iii the system been included in the test. Dealing with the upper classes of each 128 SCHOOL SURVEY REPORT. grade, and at the close of the school year, the results repre- sent practically the final achievements of the different grades. Nature of tests given. The tests used are all standardized tests, and while no adequate explanation of any one of them can be given here, it should be noted that each one has been specially designed for its purpose, and not only represents the best scientific achievement in that line, but has proved its value in practical use in many school systems in teaching and supervision. Results obtained from these tests in other cities are there- fore serviceable, and fully trustworthy for comparative pur- poses here. What such tests should reveal. The forces and conditions determining the results of teaching these, as well as all other subjects, are extremely varied. The responsibility of the school lies in discovering, defining, and controlling those dif- ferent factors, to the end that the greatest economy in instruc- tion shall obtain. Time allotment, teaching equipment, method, hygienic and aesthetic conditions of the room, etc., are all factors of importance in determining the efficiency of the in- struction which can be attained, but it is clearly recognized that no single factor is so great as that of individual differ- ences in mental ability. The school can easily control the time, equipment, and method factors, but it cannot determine original mental endowment. This only emphasizes the fact that it is the function of the school to organize and operate in terms of child nature, justifying its plan of supervision, pro- motion, grading, methods of instruction, etc., always in terms of the degree to which they aid in the adjustmnet of the school to the individual needs of children. Such tests as are employed here are well adapted to the problem of finding out how fully the schools are meeting this important responsibility. A bad classification of children is a greater handicap than can be offset by the greatest excel- lence in methods, supervision, or equipment. How the tests were conducted. With the exception of THE INSTRUCTION MEASURED. 1^9 writing and composition the tests were conducted by members of the survey staff, all of whom were engaged at this work for from three to five full days. The tests were given under as nearly normal schoolroom conditions as was possible. The papers were scored by teachers and principals under the care- ful instruction of a member of the staff, no teacher scoring her own papers where more than mere counting or checking was involved. The results of the scoring and recording were gone over with sufficient care to guarantee that no unusual errors crept into the final results. A few papers, and papers for a very few classes, had to be discarded because instructions were not carefully followed. It is believed that the results as shown below are fully trustworthy as evidence of the efficiency of instruction in these subjects as they are being handled at the present time. I. THE TEST IN SPELLINGS'. Status of spelling^ in the city's cmriculum. The subject of spelling is begun in the second grade, and continued through the eighth. The average amount of time given to the subject is approximately 100 minutes per week for all grades save the third, which devotes 150 minutes per week to this subject. (See Table No. 12.) The general suggestions and plans out- lined in the printed course of study for spelling are excellent. The work is carefully correlated with other work in English, and the spelling text is supplemented by lists of words made up by the supervisors and teachers. It should be said at the outset that the amount of time devoted to this subject is at least 25 per cent too high, 50 per cent in ease of grade three, and that a fair interpretation of the results of this test must bear this fact in mind. The test and how it was conducted. The test, which was given to the "B" class in each of the grades, 3 to 8 inclusive, in nineteen schools, was that devised by Dr. Leonard P. Ayers, which he used in the Springfield survey,* and which he has 130 SCHOOL SURVEY REPORT. latoi* ouibodiod in a oomplete spelling seale.**. eomposod of tlie following sixty -words: The test is (^KAOK -.]. GRADE 4. GRADE 5. 1. till 1. forty 1. several .> point o rate o leaving o. state o. ehildren o. publish 4. reaily 4. prison 4. o'clock 5. almost 5. title 5. running t;. liigh li getting 6. known 1 . event 1 . need 1 . secure s. done J^. th row- s. wait 9. pass 9. feel \^. nnmner 10. Tuesiiay 10. speak 10. flight CiKAOK d. GRADE 7. GRADE S. 1. deeide 1. distriet 1. petrified .1 general o eonsideration o t a rift o. manner 3. athletics 8. emergency 4. too 4. distinguish 4. corporation 5. antomobile a. evidence 5. convenience (i. vietini ll eonferenee 0. receipt I . liospital 1 . aiuendntont ( . corilially <;. neither j%. liquor s. discussion J). toward 0. experience 9. appreciate 10. business 10. receive 10. decision *Tho Public Schools of Springfield. lUiuois. An educational sur- vey. Division of Education. Russell Sage Foundation, bulletin E 137. 1913. **A Measuring Scale for Ability in Spelling. Leonard P. Ayers, Division of Education. Russell Sago Foxmdation, 1915. THE INSTRUCTION MEASURED. 131 Each word was selected from the ]000 words found, after a leng'thy investigation, to be the 1000 most commonly used words in writing, and placed in groups by grades, on the basis of an extended test of each word in the schools of 84 cities. Each word appears in the grade in which it was spelled cor- rectly on an average by 70 per cent of the children. "We may therefore accept 70 per cent as the standard which each grade in Salt Lake City should attain, if the instruction in this sub- ject is as good as the average in a large number of cities in the United States. The list of words was pronounced to the children by the regular classroom teacher, in the presence of a member of the survey staJff, ordinary class procedure obtaining in matters of writing, pronunciation, explanation of words of more than one meaning, etc. The papers were collected, immediately scored by the teacher, and turned over to the member of the survey in charge. TABLE 15. SPELLING. DISTRIBUTION OF AVERAGE SCORES BY SCHOOLS', BY GRADES, AND FOR THE CITY AS A WHOLE. (Ayres Test.) School. Total for City Emerson School Forest School Grant School Hamilton School . . . . Jackson School Jefferson School . . . . Lafayette School Lincoln School Lowell School Onequa School Oquirrh School Poplar Grove School. Riverside School . . . . Sumner School Training School Wasatch School Washington School . . Webster School Whittier Schdol Total Ave. Grade. 86 81 83 86, 89 77, 1 9 1 5 2 89.0 84.5 89.0 92.4 84.4 89.1 87.8 84.8 83.3 68.9 93.0 82.9 84.4 91.8 82.2 80.2 79.5 VIII I VII 87TT 95.7 78.8 89.1 95.2 82.3 88.7 82.4 93.3 94.4 82.3 87.8 90.0 89.7 80.6 71.0 91.3 91.3 86.0 95.4 78.2 86.5 84.6 86.1 73.1 89.5 76.8 76.1 97.9 76.8 89.0 VI 8678" 82.5 82.1 88.8 85.8 90.4 90.0 90.3 92.5 98.3 83.9 96.9 86.9 84.1 73.8 65.2 98.4 89.7 86.9 97.1 V 87.6 81.4 94.5 92.5 92.6 94.6 92.0 82.8 91.1 96.4 85.9 93.0 76.8 77.1 90.0 83.1 96.9 79.3 86.5 89.7 IV 78.8 62.4 77.0 79.5 80.9 64.5 85.3 75.9 87.8 98.7 85.9 85.1 87.4 81.0 76.6 58.8 78.7 73.9 79.9 85.8 III 8979" 84.1 94.5 90.7 94.4 92.5 92.0 90.6 86.5 91.2 95.9 85.7 93.9 98.7 95.5 66.4 97.2 75.8 87.3 94.4 132 SCHOOL SURVEY REPORT The results of the test. The results of this test appear in the t'olknviiig tables aud diagrams, which preseut the facts by sehools, by grades, for the city as a whole, and in comparison with results obtained in three other cities where this test has been used recently. In Table Xo. 15 the average score for each grade in each school, graded on the scale of 100 per cent, is presented in detail, ami at the top, combined for the city as a whole by grades. The important features of this table . are shown graphically in Figure 16, in which the upper margin of the shaded surface indicates the highest average score made by any grade in each of the schools, the lower margin the lowest average, the central line the complete school average, aud the straight line the average for the city. Certain facts stand out here which may be studied in detail in the above table. First of all, the ditference in the 2 ttCt; s2 r; z -» ^ ce od. — i § ^ Lj _ t- ccr or i < s g ^ -r CO CO uu^ Q;uj--Q_^:s:5coco^ — ^uj uici)ii-i>-5_i_j_jOOQ.ct;cOfZ$5:>5 75J755J7.4 3 C- 33356736 5 J ^AAAA4A:5SSA'5-SS'4A-4 g 4 owfsr Atemse FIG. 16. RESULTS OF THE SPELLING TEST, BY SCHOOLS. THE INSTRUCTION MEASURED. 133 efficiency of different grades in the same school. From the figures above and below the margins, it may be seen that the fourth grade in the Emerson school made only slightly above 60 per cent, whereas grade seven made above 95 per cent. The Jackson school is a similar extreme case, which contrasts with the record of the Jefferson school. Either the average child in the fourth grade of the Emerson, Jackson, and Train- ing schools cannot be promoted in spelling this year, or, if so, then the basis for promotion in grade 4 must be much lower than that used in promoting children in the grades of these same schools which are represented by the upper margin of the diagram. The second suggestion offered by the diagram is the dif- ference in school averages, varying as they do, from slightly under 70 per cent to 93 per cent. One must ask if that dif- ference represents the difference in the basis of promotion in spelling in the different schools, since these children are to come up for promotion in a few weeks. Similarly a compar- ison of schools based on the best average score made by any grade, or on the lowest average score made by any grade, or a comparison of any given school with the city average, shows this same wide diversity of standards which exists between dif- ferent schools, and, in several cases, between different grades in the same school. TABLE NO. 16. SHOWING THE PERCENTAGE OF CHILDREN OF EACH GRADE WHO ATTAINED EACH OF THE POS- SIBLE SCORES IN SPELLING. (Ayers Test.) Grade Score. 100 1 90 1 80 1 70 60 50 15.8 2.4 4.5 2.7 5.3 2.7 5.6 2.7 11.4 4.3 3.7 1.3 6.2 2.7 40 30 20 10 VIII 31.6|20.6|15.310.4 3.1 0.8 VII VI V 39. 8|24. 5119.3 39.624.8|17.6 43.126.2|12.9 23.821.0|18.7 53.220.2|12.4 40.0|23.1|16.1 7.1 7.2 7.2 14.2 6.7 8.8 1.2 0.5 0.2 1.6 0.9 .... 1.7 0.6 0.2 0.3 IV 3.5 2.3 0.8 1.2 0.7 0.3 1.8 1.0 0.2 Ill Total for City 0.3 0.1 134 SCHOOL SURVEY REPORT. Another fact which comes out in this diagram is that grade four most often ranks lowest, and that grade three most often ranks highest. It will be recalled that grade three devotes 50 per cent more time to spelling than do the other grades. Results of the test by individuals. Such diversities as these suggest the importance of studying the children indi- vidually rather than by schools or grade groups. This is done in Table No. 16, which shows the percentage of children from each grade, and for the city as a whole, who attained each of the possible scores. These facts are shown graphically in Figure 17, in which the children of each grade may be studied individually, and in comparison with those of other grades, and with those for the city as a whole. Looking first at the distribution for the entire city, includ- ing the records of nearly 1000 children — over one-fifth of all the children in the elementary schools — it will be seen that 40 per cent, or 4 oif every 10 children tested, spelled all the ten words correctly; that over 20 per cent, or 2 of every 10, spelled nine words correctly, and that all the other scores, except zero, are represented in the diagram by a rapidly de- creasing per cent of the children. The distributions for grades five, six, and seven are much similar to this, while those for grades eight, four, and three are different. More than half the children in grade three, and less than a fourth of the chil- dren in grade four, attained perfect scores. Similar compar- isons may be made by reference to the median score, which is indicated for each section of the diagram. The median or middle score for all the 3988 children tested is 91 per cent, which means that one-half of the group, or 1994 children, at- tained a score above 91, while the same number fell below 91. As was shown by Figure 16, grade four ranks lowest with a median of 82, and grade three highest with a median of 96. Uneven ability shown. It is clear from this showing that the test was too easv for two-fifths of the children in the Salt THE INSTRUCTION MEASURED. 135 Lake City schools. How many more words of equal difficulty these children might have spelled can only be conjectured. It is enough to say that two-fifths of the children of these grades - lO • L 6RADE:2I 634. CHILOKPf ENTIRE CITY 39Sg CHILDREN - iOO 90 to 10 ^ ^ AO 30 3j0 IM 90 U~10 U> So At 30 ZO GRADEIZ: TOZ. CHIUOHeN 100 don 7DW50«)3O GRADES Tia CHILDKEI* I00 30ioio uSb tcsc U GRADE IL 5 30 %o lomso tcx 20 10 SPELLING TEST. FIG. 17. SHOWING FOR THE CITY AS A AA^HOLE, AND BY GRADES, THE PERCENTAGE OF CHILDREN ATTAINING EACH OF THE POSSIBLE SCORES. iph? school survey report. have loiiiT since boon ready for promotion, according to the standard of this test. There is another feature of this diagram, however, that must not be overUioked. and that is the fact that in each grade there are a lew cliiUlreu who fail to spell more than luilf of the ten words correctly. For the city as a whole this group amounts to nearly six per cent, or approximately 250 of the children tested. ^Yhile it is true that Salt Lake City is not mdike other cities in this respect, yet this question should be nu^t squarely. AYhile the details for individual classes cannot be shown here, the sanu^ condition which obtains with respect to whole grades in the city obtains also in single class rooms. Pedagogically this makes a teaching situation which no teacher can hope to meet adequately. YVitli such extremes of abilities in a class, some children may dawdle their time away, while others are being overworked. It should be remembered that dawdling is not mere resting, or waiting. On the con- trary, it is a constructive part of the child's training, which is developing for him slovenly, half-hearted habits of work which do not make use of his full capacity for achievement. With the child who ranks far below his class average the case is dittV-rent. It is the unusual teacher who does not finally count him a hopeless case, and permit him to drift, or, to save her own teaching reputation, drive him along by the most uupeda- gogical nunhods until the process finally eliminates him. Comparison ^rith three other cities. A comparison of the showing in Salt Lake City with that made in three other cities in which this test has been used recently seemed desirable, and is i-iresented in Table Xo. 17. From this it will be seen that the Salt Lake City schools rank well above those of the other cities in all grades except the eighth, and that, for the city as a whole, they stand G per cent above all the others. Discounting this showing liberally because it represents the final product of the grades, the midyear classes not being included, and it can still be said that Salt Lake City ranks high, probably highest 'for the city as a whole, and for at least THE INSTRUCTION MEASURED. 137 TABLE NO. 17. SPELLING TEST-hSALT LAKE CITY COMPARED WITH OTHER CITIEvS. (Ayers Test.) City. Grade. Ave. II 1 "I 1 I^ V VI VII ~7370^ 76.2 79.7 87.1 1 VIII 75.0 89.4 76.3 82.2 Springfield, 111. . *Butte, Mont. .. **Oakland, Cal.. Salt Lake City. . 70.0 86.2 60,4 65.0 81.8 66.7 89.9 70.0 78.7 75.9 78.8 72.0 84.5 84.7 87.6 68.0 75.0 80.2 86.8 70.0 80.3 76.5 86.0 ♦Includes only B classes. **The test in Oakland was given at the beginning of the year, and includes results from both A and B classes. Note: Salt Lake City should rank slightly higher than Oakland since the test included only the B section of the grade. three of the grades. But again, reference must be made to the fact that in Springfield the amount of time given to spell- ing ranges from to 40 minutes per day, e. g., from to 200 minutes per week; that in Oakland the range is from 10 to 200 minutes per week, with an average of slightly less than 100 minutes; while the range in Salt Lake City is from 30 to 300 minutes per week, with an average of 115 minutes. "While the question of time cannot be settled absolutely for all classes and schools alike, the best investigations of this subject do not seem to warrant the recommendation of more than 75 minutes per week as a maximum amount of time for the subject of spelling. While Salt Lake City has made a decidedly high showing, the large time cost which it places upon the schools must be taken into account. Nor must this excellent showing in general obscure the sit- uation pointed out above. It is true that this brings to light one of the most difficult problems in school organization. It is true too that much the same situation exists in other cities. In a highly complex system the individual child is too apt to be lost in the midst of machinery. The cure is individual pro- motion, at reasonably frequent intervals, on the basis of single 138 SCHOOL SURVEY REPORT su'bjeets, instead of grade or g-roiips of subjects. There are many difficulties attending the administration of such a rem- edy, but with adequate supervision it can be accomplished. 2. THE TEST IN COMPOSITION. Some form of language work is taught in all grades. Story telling and dramatization in the early years anticipate the work in written composition, which begins in grade three in the form of letter writing and story reproduction. The outline for this work in the printed course is most suggestive. leaving wide freedom to the teacher, but freedom in the midst of rich suggestions as to what ends to seek and what motives to provide. Especially is it noticeable and commendable that formal grammar is presented only as a means of explaining and clarifying oral or written expression. The amount of time devoted to the subject varies widely in every grade, but on the average increases gradually from 75 minutes per week for grades one and two, to 255 minutes per week for grade eight. Twenty-five per cent more time is given to spelling in grade two than is given to language work, and in grade three fifty per cent more time, while an. equal amount is given the two subjects in grade four. This is obviously so unreasonable a distribution of time between these two subjects that it should only be necessary to discover that such a dis- crepancy exists in order to have it changed. Nature and method of the composition test. The test, which is explained in the following paragraphs from a circular placed in the hands of the teachers, was given in grades four to eight inclusive, in the 19 schools selected for the testing work. COMPOSITION TEST. 1. Each teacher is requested to ask her children to write a com- position for her on the following theme: "Suppose that you have twenty dollars, which you have been THE INSTRUCTION MEASURED. 139 given to spend. You have five friends, and you decide to spend it in such a manner as will give the most pleasure to each. Tell what you would do or buy for each friend. The amount spent for each friend need not be the same, but the total for the five must be twenty dol- lars." 2. The composition should be written with pen and ink on the regular writing paper. 3. After the children are ready for writing, read the subject to them, give them a minute or two to ask any questions, and as soon as you are sure that the children understand what they are to do, start them at writing. 4. When the children have finished collect the papers, fasten those for each class together with a clip, and send to the office of the school principal. No teacher marked her own papers, hence the personal equation probably entered very slightly into the scoring, which was done by the use of the Hillegas scale for measuring the quality of English composition.* *Hillegas, Milo B. — A Scale for the Measurement of Quality in English Composition by Young People. Published by Teachers Col- lege, Columbia University, 1912. In all there were 3043 compositions written, representing a sample of slightly more than 16 per cent of the children in the elementary schools of the city. The results of the test. The results of this test are shown briefly in the following tables and diagram. In Table No. 18 a complete distribution of scores attained by each of the grades is shown, together with the median score attained by each grade. From this table it may be seen that the degree of efficiency rises gradually from grade four to grade eight. That is, from this test it appears that the aver- age child in the Salt Lake City schools, during the course of 4 years' training in English composition, may be expected to gain in efficiency the equivalent of 21^ points on this scale, or at the rate of .6 point per year. According to the Butte Sur- vey** the progress of a child in that city is at the rate of .45 **Report of the Survey of the School System of Butte, Montana. Published by the Board of Education, 1914. 140 SCHOOL SURVEY REPORT. TABLE NO. IS. STTOWING DTSTKTRFTIOX OF CO:\rPOSTTION SCORES OR RATINGS, BY GRADES. (Hillegas Scale.) Grade. Ratings and Nnniber in Each Grade Making Each Rating*. N»"* Msdiin Sample 12 3 4 1 5 6 7 8 9 1 VIII 1 3 20 44 17 51 84 38 89 120 100 115 140 136 159 157 81| 87 92 165 95 88 123 106 67 133| 69 53 159| 51 43 82 29 70 13 31 8 21 1 15 45 13 4 483 5 4 VII .. .j 1 597 4 4 VI . . .1 1 587 3 8 V IV . ..' 21 ...1 3 653 3.1 723 2.9 ♦The actual values are not 0, 1. 2, 3, 4, etc., but 0, 1S3, 260. 369, 474. 5S5. 675, 772, S3S, and 937. Full explanation of how these values were derived, and of the nature and purpose of the scale are explained by its author in Teachers' College Record for September, 1912. point on the scale per year. Most of the points in this table are broufirht otit more eft'eetively in Figure 18, which shows for each grade the percentage of the children who attained eacli of the possible scores. The achievement for the median child in grade four, and that for the median child of grade eight, are indicated by the long vertical lines drawn through the entire diagram. Be- tween these, at fairly regular intervals, with one exception, appear the short vertical lines representing the medians of the three intervening grades. This seems to suggest that the com- position work is equally well done in all these five grades. Closer examination of the exception referred to shows that the rate of progress for grade four has been substantially higher than that for the other grades. It will be recalled that grade four ranked lowest in spelling. If that was because this grade was Avorkiug harder on composition, then it is the writer's opinion that the schools can well alford to permit the spelling scores of all grades to drop from 5 to 10 per cent more, especially since more than 25 per cent more time is given SCORES: 01 23456 7^9 MEDIAN SCORES: PER CENT. OF PUPILS H IPH rZO GRADE 33 GRADE mC GRADE 21 graded: GRADE JY SCORE: g- 9 FIG. 18. RESULTS OF THE COMPOSITION TEST. 142 SCHOOL SURVEY REPORT. to spelling" than is desirable. Pavtieiilarly iu the language work of the early grades eoiild this time be used to far better advantage. Children well classified for language work. By this dia- gram attention is also ealled to the wide variety of abilities found in eaeh grade. This was found to be eharaeteristie also of individual eiasses. and presents the same teaehing diftieulties as were pointed out above in connection with spelling. How to assign a lesson, or how to discuss sentence or paragraph formation, or the details of letter writing, with a class con- taining children as widely apart in ability as are those repre- sented by the outer ends of the dift'erent sections of this dia- gram, would be difficult to state. In fact it cannot be done without losing time for some members of the class. The diagram shows that there are nearly S per cent, almost 60 children of the fourth grade, whose composition scored higher than that written by the average child in grade eight. It is not merely unfair to these 60 children, but unfair to the city's future citizenship, to say nothing of the money cost involved, that these 60 children, who probably represent the real future leadership of the city, should not be promoted to where full, not half opportunity, will be given them iu this subject. Samples of averag-e composition. In order that the reader may judge for himself of the quality of work the schools are doing in composition, the children's papers from the different schools have been looked over and those papei-s from eaeh grade which received the score nearest the median (approxi- mately the average) for the grade have been sorted out. From these the following compositions have been selected as typical illustrations, not of the best or the poorest, but of the average compositions from each grade tested. They are presented here exactly as written, spelled, and punctuated in the original, except that proper names have been omitted. THE INSTRUCTION MEASURED. 143 NO. 1. GRADE 4B, SCORE 2.60 (WRITTEN BY A GIRL AGE 11 YEARS, 9 MONTHS). On Christmas my uncle came on a visit. He gave me twenty dol- lars to spent. I planed what I could do to make some one happy. While I was thinking I thought of some poor people. Which had five children. So that I could see what they needed most. I went and played with them. After I saw what they needed I went home. And with some of my friends I went up town. And bought five pairs of shoes for eleven dollars, five dresses for six dollars, two loaves of bread for twenty cents, and five pairs of stock- ings one dollar and ten cents five gloves for one dollar and seventy cents. So not I was the only one happy but they were also happy and glad. NO. 2. GRADE 5B, SCORE 3.69 (WRITTEN BY A GIRL AGE 11 YEARS, 7 MONTHS). The other day as I was playing in the yard, I spied something in the grass which looked like a penny. But when I came near it was much larger and heavier. The next day I called five of my friends in, M — , D — , B — , A — ■, and H — . I told them to get ready, and we would go to Lagoon. At last we were ready and now we are on our way. The train stops and we get of ready to give the rest of our ticket to the door tender. I have spent two dollars already, but now I am going take them on the chutes and next the cenick railway. We must not forget the boats and the little train and merry-go-round. After that comes the lunch, for we did not bring any. After that we must all play some kind of a game, and win a little poodle dog. Next the doll game which all of us will play for. The fishing game is the game that you play for jewelry. I bought a vase which cost six dollars, and that was the prize for the one who got the most peanuts after they were hiden. We have ($5.40) five dollars and forty cents left for which will by ($.40) worth of nuts and the rest will be for carfare home. NO. 3. GRADE 6 B, SCORE 3.69 (WRITTEN BY A BOY, AGE 12 YEARS AND 9 MONTHS). I have friends who live in the country. Their names are P — C— , C— C , F— C— , R— C , and M— C . They had never visited t-he city One summer I was out there. I allways piled with questions about the city. One day I asked them how they would like to go back with me and see the city. They were so delighted IH SCHOOL SURVEY REPORT. that they could not keep still. In P — *s delightment he ran into the cow which politely lifted in the air an set him on top of the hay stack. The next day we started for the city about noon and we reached it. The minute we were off the train they began pointing to sky scraper and crying excitedly. Oh isn't it a tall one. F — said he sposed it reached to heaven. While C — was looking at one of the tall buildings he ran into a man. We went into a resteront a had a good dinner which costs us two dollars apiece. After the dinner we went to the show which was one dollar. M — wanted to know what made the trolley cars go. We went for a ride, we rode about five miles. It cost me one dollar for the ride. When we got ready to go home we got on the cars and found out that I couldn't find my pocket book. We walked all the way home. We got home I found the pocket book in my hat R — had put it there. I gave the four dollars for their home. They said they hadent a better time. NO. 4. GRADE 7B. SCORE 4.74 (WRITTEN BY A BOY. AGE 14 YEARS, 3 MONTHS) One sunny n\orning in May my five cousins who where on their way to see the fair at Frisco stopped on their way and came to see me. My father gave me twenty dollars to intertain them. I was busy thinking of the best way to do it. I finally decided to go to the Bingham Copper Mines. This was satisfactory to all and tak- ing along a hmch we started off. When we got there it was noon and everybody was hungry so we opened up the lunch and ate until there was not a crumb left. Next we hired a guide to show us through the mines and what a sight we seen. There were walls of dirt seemingly covered with the yellow mettle. Our guid showed us where the elevators were on which they sent the copper to the top. Next he showed us the don- keys which hauled the little dump cart to the elevators. After taking us trough all the mines he showed us where the minors lived. Here our journey ended after each buying a souvenir we de- parted for home each one satisfied with the way of spending twenty dollars. NO. 5. GRADE 8B. SCORE 5.S5 (WRITTEN BY A BOY. AGE '?) DEAR J—. Two days ago uncle gave me twenty dollars, to get Christmas presents with. I was on my way down town, to get them, when I saw two ragged little boys. I stopped and said, to them. "Well Johnny what are you going to get for Christmas." •'I aint going to get nothing this Christmas, for mamma hasn't THE INSTRUCTION MEASURED. 145 got any money. Where do you live, "Across the street in that wooden house," answered the boy. You take this five dollars over to your mamma and then hurry back and I will take you up town. So I took them up town, and got them some warm clothes and then took them to a show. So I spent fifteen dollars on three of them. There was Mother and Father left so I got father a shaving set which cost three dollars and a half and I got Mother some Handkerchiefs for a dollar and a half which took all my money. Merry Christmas. Your old friend, H . On the formal, side there are plenty of errors in these papers, in spelling, in punctuation, in sentence formation, etc., and one or two seem rather formal and dry. But in most of them there is evidence of some play of the imagination, and fairly free expression. Most of the vocabularies seem ade- quate, and in such details these samples seem to indicate that the composition work is fairly well taught. It must be remembered that these are but average compositions, and not compositions selected because oif their special merit. Salt L£uke City's Composition! w^ork. There is but little data which can be offered for comparison, ^but such as is available is presented in Table No. 19. From this it is seen TABLE NO. 19. COMPARING SALT LAKE 'CITY'S MEDIAN COMPOSI- TION SCORES WITH THOSE ATTAINED IN OTHER STATES. Grade Score Median Butte, Mont.* SaltLake City Maryland, & N. Y.City*" Oeleware Co. O.*** Delaware City. VIII VII 5.4 1 4.4 3.8 3.1 2.9 4.11 3.75 3.40 2.87 2.34 3.94 5.75 to 7.0 5.15 5.27 . VI V IV *The Butte Survey, p. 74. *. **rF\ -l-. ^elly. Teacher.s' Marks, Their Variability and ,Standardiz£ tion. Col. Univ. 1914. ♦♦•Report of the Ohio State School Survey, 1914. 14(5 SCHOOL Sl'UVFA' KEVOKT. that in ovory g-rado Salt Lako City ranks ayoU above Butte, above the eiiiluh grade rural schools of Dela^Yare Co., Ohio, and above tlu> eiirlith grade elnUh'en of DelaAvare City. Ohio, but below the classes in Maryland and N. Y. City. Conclusions and recommendations. It should be ^aid then in conchision : 1st. That while the schools rank fairly well as compared in Table >so. lt\. yet the fact that some classes in N. Y. City have nuide higrhcr scores indicates that there is yet room for improvement. There were individual classes in Salt Lake City which ranked as high as the N. Y. City classes, which shows that higher standards than are shown by the table have already been attained by some schools in the city. 2nd. That the fonrth grade which ranked low in spell- ing is doing superior Avork in composition, and that other- wise the progress has been abont equal in the other grades, which indicates that there is in general a common standard for pi\Mnotion in English work thronghont the city. ord. That there is ample evidence that classes are not well graded, when so large a number of foni-th grade chil- dren are doing work eqiial to that of the average eighth grade pnpils, and when nearly an equal number of eighth grade pupils rank below the average fourth grade pupil. 4th. From the oompositions written tlicre is ample evi- dence that the excellent aims for English work, as set forth in the printed course of study, are being achieved, and that many of the common errors of teaching the formal and techni- cal aspects of English work are being successfully avoided. 5th. It is recommended that a portion of the time now devoted to formal spelling drill be given over, in the early gi-ades, to the broader work in English, and that by the use of ungraded rooms, smaller classes, and more elastic methods of promotion, the very bright and the very dull j>upils be given more adequate attention than is either possible or economical under the present dassifieation. THE INSTRUCTION MEASURED. 147 3. THE WRITING TEST. Writing in the school curriculum. AVriting is taught in all grades, beginning with free arm work at the blackboard, gradually taking up the pencil, and in the third grade the pen. During the first two years an average of 50 minutes per week, and through the other grades an average of 7'5 minutes per week is given to the subject, which is slightly less than has recently been found to be the average for 66 American cities.* The aim for teaching writing appears to be that of legibility rather than mere beauty, and the instruc- tions in the printed course of study lay appropriate emphasis upon the hygienic aspect of the teaching of the subject. How the writing" was measured. The test was gi^en to the same classes and schools as were tested for spelling, including about 20 per cent of the children in the elementary schools of the city. For this test each child was provided with a blank sheet of unruled writing paper, at the top of which was printed the following brief instructions and para- graph, as shown here : WRITE THE FOLLOWING AS WELL AS YOU CAN AT YOUR USUAL SPEED. DO NOT WRITE SLOWLY, AND DO NOT HURRY BUT WRITE JUST AS YOU WOULD WRITE A LESSON. After this the squirrels used to come in every day, and when she put corn in her hand and held it very still, they would eat out of it. Finally they would get into her hand, until one day she gently closed it over them so that Frisky and Titbit were fairly caught. Oh, how their hearts beat! But the good fairy only spoke gently to them, and soon opened her hand and let them go again. These were given to the children hy their teachers just as a class exercise, and when finished the papers for each class were turned over to the principal, who forwarded them to the principal of another school across the city, whose teach- ers scored the papers by use of the Thorndike scale for mea- suring handwriting.* Results by schools and by grades. The results of this *Freeman, Frank N., in the Fourteenth Year Book of the National Societj' for the Study of Education, Part I. Chicag-o Univ. Press. -148 ols and by irrailos in tho fol- UnviniT tables ami diajrranis, Tho scoring is dono. aooovding tv> tho soaU\ vm tho basis of 4 to IS. instoad of from to 100. Tlio roason for tl\is is itunialorial. bnt should bo inulorsiood in ordor 10 intorprot tho foUowiuij tabb^s. Konioniboriuir that 4 moans praotioally 0. and that IS n\oans approxiniatoly 100. tlio roador will roadily undorsiand 'Pablo No. "JO. whioh pro- soi\ts tho avorajjo sooros by sohools and by jrrados, and thou oombiuos ihoso for tho ovty as a wliolo. .\ oaroful study of this tablo shows that, judirovl by irrado avorajros. tio ono sohool vaiiksi ospooially low or ospooially hijrh. though tho Siunuor ivooni is oousistontly above tho average for the oity. In other words, the differeuoes botweeu sohools are nowhere strikiuar, and tho gradual ris<* of the average seore from 9.3 in grade thivo. to l.'vl in grade eight shows ovidonoo of uniforniiiy in TAIU.K NO. IV. PlSTKllUriON OK .WF.K.VOK SOOKKS IN rKNM.VNSHir BY SOHOOl.S .VNO KY OKAOKS. O.U.VPK For the City Viti\oi-i50n Sohool Oraiu Sohool i lla.miUon Sohool . , , ' Jackson Sohool JoftVi'^on Sohool j l^fayoilo Sohool ! lanoolt\ Sohool \ Low oil Sohool OUOQVl.«» SohvH^l OQUirrh Sohool ^ . . . | Poplsr Giwo Sohool Rivorsido Sohool Sxniinor SohiX^l Trainius SohiH>l ' Wasatch School Washington School Webster SchiH>l Whittier School ! Ill IV 1 V 1 VI VII 1 VIII 9.S 10.7 I 10.9 1 11.2 12.1 13.1 9.6 9.S 1 12.5 10.9 12.4 U.S 9.S 10.4 10.2 9.9 11.9 IS. 2 8.2 10.1 10.9 1 10.9 10.4 11,9 10.1 11.5 1 12.9 12.5 10.7 10.7 9.9 I :o.5 11.4 IS. 9.5 1 11. S ! 11.5 1 ll.S 11.6 10.5 11. S 1 10.6 10. S ' 12.2 14.7 9.0 9.2 i 9.0 ! 11. 1 11.2 S.6 10.6 ! 11.7 ; 11.8 14. 14.6 10.5 11.6 10.9 9.9 12.2 IS. 5 S.7 10.7 12 2 ' IS.S 12.1 9.5 9.S ll.S 11.6 :2.4 9.4 12.7 1 9.8 i 11. 12. 12.2 10.2 1S.8 12.4 12.2 12.7 IS. 9 7.1 9.0 1 9.8 ! 9.6 11.6 12.5 12.7 IS. 4 ll.S 1 12.4 12. S S.9 9,7 9.5 ' 10.7 11.2 7.$ 11.1 1 10.7 12.1 12. S 11.6 9.1 U.T 1 11.4 1 12.0 12.8 14.7 •Thv^rndtktN K\ Col. Univ.. X. Y, For full <>xi>lanation of hv>w th SCHOOL SURVEY REPORT. (Iron who si'orod botu oou S ami 17. thus showiiii,' fht- exteti- sive t>\ orhippiutr botwoon ixrades widoly apart. seM£^: I 2 3 4 J 6 7 r '3 /O 1112 /3 U 15 I6>17 /f Fh^, l:>. SHOAVlXt^ THE PEKCEXTAGK OF CHILDREN WHO ATTAIXEP EACH OF THE P0SS51RLE SCORES. iThorndike Scale. Sinoe the iiistnietion in writing is an individual rather than a group proeodniv. elassitieation of children on the basis THE INSTRUCTION MEASURED. l.'l oi' this subject is not at all inipoi'taiil. I>iit tcadiors will no) need to study this diagram long to discovei- that thc-ic :ir( <|uite a number of third grade chihlren in the schools who wen now are ready for the eighth grade writing (;lass<'s; or, vice versa, that there are many children now in the eighth grade who write no better than the better writers in grade three. Assuming that all have had approximately similar training, as far as they have gone, we may reasonably con- elude that these differences are largely due to ditferences in the .native abilities of individual children. However true this may be, the results of the test cm- phasize the importance of making provision for these difit'er- ences by furthei- individualizing the instructi()n. and by pro- viding special treatment foi- the few who do not understand and do not impro^'e under ordinary methods. This is as eco- nomical as it is wise from the children's standpoint. Still fui-- ther, if third, fourth and fifth grade children can now ^vrite as well or better than is expected of the average eighth grade pu- pil, then it is entirely wrong to have such children spending 75 minutes per week on this subject. Such children should be excused from formal work in writing, with the understand- ing that so long as their written work shows a certain quality this extra time may be used on other studies. Such methods of saving time are commendable because they stimulate those children to do their best 'SNdio might otherwise merely drift, for the reason that it is no trouble for them to keep ahead of their classes. Comparison with other cities. To compare the residts of this test in Salt Lake City with those achieved elsewhere, comparable data from several sources have been brought to- gether in Table No. 22. Here the median, which differs very slightly from the average, has been used, and it will be seen that the schools of Salt Lake City rank high in two respects. First, with the exception of a few cases in the seven school svstems tested bv Dr. Stone, no schools cited rank as high : 152 SCHOOL SURVEY REPORT. TABLE NO. -22. aiOWlNG THE COMPARATIVE STANDING OF THE SALT l..\KF CITY SCHOOLS IN rEN:\LVNSTnP. AS JUDGED BY THE MKDLVN SCOKE FOR EACH GRADE. (^Thomdike Scale.) City GRADE, and Median Score 11 III IV V VI VII VllI Butte 1 8.2 8.0 10.3 8.8 10.0 8- 10. 9 3 11.6 11.7 i 11.2 1 11.7 12'. 1 Corner:>vine, Ind, 2 11.0 Soiithinston. Conn. 3.. ( i 10.0 10.3 11.1 10.6 10.3 11.2 11.0 j^ovon School S>:?toms 4 \ 11.3 12.7 13.0 13.0 11.7 11.6 13.7 14.0 Salt Lake City 9.2 10.7 11 1 11.3 i 12.2 12.8 1. Butte School Sxirvey, Chap, IV. 2. Wilson — Writing of school children: in Elem. Soh. Tr.. June. liUl (1,200 children') . 3. Witham — All the Elements of Handvrriting measured: Educl. Admin, and Supv,. May. 1915. 4. Stone — Quoted by Thorndike. Investigation covers seven school systems and about 3.000 children. Trs.. Col. Record. March. 1910. and seooiid. boi-aiiso tho progress from grrade to grade is much more even hi the Salt Lake City schools than in uwst of the other cases. In time it Avill be possible to standardize the matter of pivgress from grad*.^ to grade. Iiitil then it is fair ro assume that a reasonably even rate of progress is more nearly normal than is an uneven rate. How well the average child can write. As ;u the case of tlie i-ompositions there is presented here, in Figure 20, a sample specimen of the writing from the papers in each grade whicli received a mark approximately that of the gi*ade median. Selection on the basis of the median means that there are as many children in these grades in Salt Lake City who can write better than the specimens shown in Figure 20 as tb.ere are who cannot write so well. THE INSTRUCTION MEASURED. 153 SRAOE HL GRADE TV 6RADE X GRADE 3n GRADE 2ni FIG. 20. SAMPLE REPRESENTING THE MEDIAN ACHIEVEMENT IN WRITING IN EACH GRADE. (Reduced y^ in size.) It can be said that these samples fairly represent the kind of writing which is now being done by the average children of each grade in the city. That is, there are as many children in the city who can write better than these samples (grade one and two omitted) as there are children who cannot write as well. The average business man will do well to place his 154 SCHOOL SVKVEY REPORT own writiuir by tl\o side of either of the last two of these speeimeiis before ai'^viiii^ that the children of the piiblie schools cannot write. It is trne that some of the writing Avas done \Yith a cramped hand, and that it is somewhat childisli looking, bnt it must be added that it is easily legible and that legibility is the iinal test which the Avorld puts upon Avriling. Ne^-dtd changes in instruction. In conclusion we must say that the writing work in the schools of this city is well np to the standard: that in the light of present practice this AYork is being accomplished in a resonable amount of time; and that the basis for piH>motion in the different schools appeal's to be equal, bnt that more careful individualization of instruction for the lower tive to ten per cent of each grade, and the temporary relieving from formal training of those who are several points ahead of their grades, are lines along which the schools may look for even greater progress. A THK TEST IX READING. Reading' in the course of study. Almost every classroom visited by the membei's of the survey showed evidence that the point of view, the aim and purpose, and the general method for teaching reading, so clearly set forth in the print- ed course of study, are being effectively carried out. The time allotment, which varies from 50 to more than 900 minutes per week between classes in the city, with an average of from 200 to 375 minutes per week in the different grades: and the constant attention to home as well as school reading, which one finds in every classroom: give evidence that the schools of the city have not underestimated the importance of this subject, nor the fact that teaching children how to read is but incidental in teaching them to read. Speed, getting the meaning, rememberirg the language used. — ^that is, develop- ing vocabulary, — and that clear expression which is evidence of appreciation, all are ends to be sought in teaching read- ing. THE INSTRUCTION MEASURED. 155 How the reading was tested. To provide a test by which we may be able to make a quantitative statement of the de- gree of efficiency attained by a given child or class in all these features, is in large part the work of the future. A simple test of speed and of accuracy of memory for words used has been devised, and this was applied in thirteen schools, The test, which is printed on pages 156 and 157, and which is known as the Courtis test, consist of a simple prose story which the children were asked to read silently, with as great speed and with as great care as possible. They were told that they would be permitted to read a certain length of time, after which they would be tested to see what they knew of the part they had read. Exactly one minute was given, at the end of which each child drew a ring around the last word he had read. By use of the figures on the margin the num- ber of words read in one minute (the child's speed) was quickly ascertained and recorded in the square at the upper left hand corner of what was called Test No. 1. In Test No. 2 no time limit was enforced. In this test the same story is used, but instead of the subject being "'■'Bes- sie's Adventures," we have "Bessie's (Experiences, Adentures. Story." This same idea is carried out throughout the body of the story, and the test, which is a test of memory for words used, consists in checking the one of these three words (three words always appear in italics enclosed in parentheses) which the pupil remembers as the word he read in Test No. 1. These puzzles, or points, as they were termed in the explanation to the children, are numbered on the margin, as were the words in Test No. 1. "When the child had checked the words down as far as he had read the story in Test No. 1, he drew a lice around the last word, and. with assistance, recorded in the proper place the number of points he had read. The papers were then taken by the teacher, who verified the count made by the children and assembled the scores for her class on a record sheet designed for that purpose. 1^ SOHOO\ ^IKVF\ \xKrOUT KXOiaSU NOKMAl. KKAlMNiV B«««i»'$ v^viv(fnturt> »ho tVist^toxx^Nj MttU> ^irl could «J«xude whst lo do, the do^ sat up IS Ott hi* hUxd l«i^^ !snd lH^;*» to b«?^. H«;> s«\o another mvpatic^ut Uitlo "Bow!."* S2 but th\* v««e hi?i MrK dul not *tvn\ $o s^tiaiv* awd territVuA^ to Bt^^sie, aad 47 ht^r tVax-:* h^^^n to dt^ainn^r, '^Wlxy. ho's^ rxiNnlly a e«to little do^ie."* she! 60 thott^ht^ aixd sitting tUV =!**i* timidly offered htxtx her K^wl, The do^ ne^ed TS tto sec\>ttd iuviiatxoix, httt e^A^erly lapj^ed the wtillv xmtil every drv>p wa* §xme, S<5 I Bessie set the en\j>ty bowl dovrm t^¥>n the doorstep and patteiJ the little \ S$ dv^^s he<*d. He is tun\ was e^ivxally tYiendly. vrajti^Uxsi his tail and tryiiii: to IIS lieis. her haad. In a tew nxinxttes TOorr> the two wer>? the best of tYiends, 12S raei^x^i about the jjarv^en in a wild ^^n\e of ta^. ^xmetitxies it was Bessie, 143 lati^hnt^ and serxNsttxxt^. whv> was cha^in,* the do^ this wa>- aixd that in and I$i5 Ottt anxoiixs^ the bxtshe 1$S xnneh ii\ each other>s waj that both fell down, rvxllin^ o\er and over on the IS>S soft stas*. Not for a lv>n^ time had Be^ssie had sueh a pleasant playmate, 212 They wx>re on the t>v«xt lawn now. ressting a minute aftwr a pwrtieularty 225« wild ronuv !?wddexxl>. thrvu^h the pieXets of the fene^. the do^ spiessi;tx^ the strxvt 05ats.ide, Inxtnediately he dasheil after her. saueeaing 249 between the pieXets. and ninning down the strv^^t at top spe^xJ, '^Her^. 261 dly to be 27S stopiH>J by ?he fenw, Ftotn betwe^^n the pickets, she could se^ both the c«t 2S$ and the dos rapidly disappearing dv>wn the str>er>t. Hot tears of disas^ SOO pointment w->i;»ei;* from her eye^ ^e hurrieii te> the gate and shook it: it S14 wa* secu^\ xi. Could she open itt Many timers Ktore had she S25 tried.. b*« .,ccr^^ Little girls grow, howover. and sta-,d:n^ on the $S7 K>wear tCv and stretching tv> her utmost, she was past able to §5S poross ;rs against the latch. Click, and the gate swung open. StW Bessie v^.^s -,ve ,.^ hurry down the stre«et. Tho c«t and do§t had disa]?- 57^ pe«r^ around the c\>mer of the next block. SSS Xi'^.e C;radidly) lappod tho xriilk until 11 every drop wan (k wallowed, eaten, gone.; 12 UeHKle net th<; empty bowl down upon thf; (graHH, doorHtep, ground) and I'i patted the little dog'H (head, back, neek.) He in turn waH (very, alHO, 15 equally) friendly, wagging hiK tail and trying to (paw, kinH, lick) her hand. 16 In a few minutcH more the two were the beHt of (cornradcK, friendn, play- 17 niateH) racing about the (grounds, lawn, garden) in a wild game of tag. 18 SometimeK it wan iieHBie, laughing and fKcreaming, dancing, Hkipping) who 19 waH chasing the dog this way and that in and out among the H.reeH, buHhen, 20 benchcH) of the garden; Hometimen it wan the dog, barking and fHquealing jumping, biting) who was chasing lieKKie. More than once dog and girl 21 were ho much in each other's way that (they, both, each) fell down, rolling 22 over and over on the (soft, green, cool) grass. Not for a long time had 23 Bessie had such a pleasant fgarne, frolic, playmate.) 24 They were on the (front, side, back) lawn now, resting a minute after 25 a particularly wild (race, ganje, romp.) Suddenly, through the pickets of 26 the fence, the dog (noticed, saw, spied) a cat crossing the street outside. 27 Imniediatr;ly he (ran, dashed, chased) after her, squeezing between the 28 pickets, and running down the street at (top, high, great) speed. "Here, 29 doggie, doggie," the little girl cried, and ran after her (friend, playfellow, 30 companion) only to be stopped by the fence. From between the (pickets posts, palings) she could see both the cat and the dog (gradually, rapidly, 32 slowly) disappearing down the street. Hot tears of (anger, grief, disappoint- 33 ment) welled from her eyes. She (hurried, ran, went) to the gate and 34 shook it; it was (safely, firmly, securely) latched. Could she open it? Many 35 times (before, yesterday, halfheartedly) she had tried, but without success. 36 Little girls grow, however, and (resting, standing, stepping) on the lower 37 part of the gate, and (reaching, stretching, pushing) to her utmost, she was 38 just able to (press, push, touch) her little fingers against the latch. Click 39 and the gate (came, was, swung) open. Bessie was (free, able, quick) to 41 hurry down the street. The cat and dog had disappeared around the comer I of the next (street, block, square.) 42 loS SCHOOL SURVEY REPORT AVhile the children ay ere reading Test No. 1, they did not know Avhnt sort of tost was to t'oHow. The two pages wore print- ed together on one sheet, hut in sueh a manner that when read- ing one the other was upside down. They only knew that they would he tested on what they had read. This would naturally have the effeet of retarding their natural normal speed in reading, and the results of Test No. 1 are therefore more nearly eomparahle with the tentative standard whieh the auth- or of the test has defined for ''careful reading." This com- hination of the two tests seemed to more nearly meet the needs of the situation, in view of the fact that two members of the survey staff were to devote some time to hearing reading recitations, to a study of reading texts and coui-ses of study. and to methods and devices in use. Results of the test. The results of these tests are shown in the following tables and diagrams, and the reader is at liberty to try his own rate of reading the selection presented TABLE NO. 23. SHOAVINOt THE NUMBEE OF AYOKDS BEAD PER MIN- UTE BY THE :\IEDIAN CHILD IN EACH CLASS TESTED. (Courtis Test^ SCHOOL GRADE I vni ; Forest TT7|~213~i Grant I f Hamilton v I Lafayette i 199 Lincoln | i LoAYoU I 210 ! Onequa i 190 ! Oquirrh . . . '. ' 190 ' Riverside Sumner . . Trainina Wasatch . Whittier . 199 14S 217 i 287 I 239 ! vn ~230~ 219 225 230 219 293 199 213 226 219 17S 215 207 YI_! 206 I 223 i 219 I 222 I 213 i 220 I 173 I 210 I 206 199 205 ' 246 ' 239 ' 224 214 "159 179 159 203 239 203 214 159 202 167 190 *The rate of silent reading shown here was attained by the chil- dren, nnderstanding. that they ^^ ere later to bo tested on the content of what they read. THE INSTRUCTION MEASURED. 159 above, in comparison with the results here shown for 1,624 children in thirteen schools, from grades five to eight inclu- sive. Table No. 23 shows the median number of words read in one minute by the children oif each grade and school tested. The range between classes is from 148 to 287 words in grade eight, from 178 to 293 in grade seven from 173 to 246 in grade six, and from 159 to 239 in grade five. The differences be- tween schools as a whole are not specially marked. Whether a foreign language in the home increases the difficulties of learning to read English is perhaps a fair question. Some schools have no children from such homes, Mobile others have a high percentage of such. Other factors, such as a large per- centage of children from homes with no facilities for stimulat- ing intellectual ideals, etc., probably tend to make slight dif- ferences hetween community or school records in a reading test, for very many children learn more reading at home than they learn at school. Variation between individuals. The variation between in- dividuals, however, is extreme, as shown by Table No. 24, which presents a complete distribution of the individual scores by grades. This table also shows the median s^core for each grade, and the tentative standard which Mr. Courtis, the author of the tests, has established. Speed in reading would to some extent depend upon qual- ity of vision. If, as is shown in Chapter XI of this report, 15 per cent of the children have defective vision, we could expect the extreme cases from that group to produce some low scores. As an illustration of the wide difference in ability to read rapidly, which was found to exist between children in the same class, the records from four rooms are shown in Table No. 25. Knowing what we do of children's reaction time, it is not surprising to find these differences. It is important, however, that they should be clearly set forth here for the reason that these very differences are the basis of important problems in S o ••p lo VO O Of ^S O QO to 1— I g"S d T-< r-1 :- ^ £ ,. m o T- I'- ^ T- cc i it-- , .-Ni :^■^ T— 1 si ^ ;c tr-^ "*' i.t vrr vrt -ell |5| CO .^_ >^ u I ' ^ 'x § '^^ « -^ ?t — - t, ^ yi yi -•5'^ i: c: o - -, -. C^l ^ c^ C^ :cX = c *=, ; ^ yi CO > J; £ ■§ -r; C o Ci '^t^ SO "^ S i- i |bc5 fr 3 a' i' 5 c-^ H =- X ■^- ^ •^ ."^ *^ ^ ^ >» -T X •^ — ■ > w t c — i C'r vr: t— »- CO CO CO '— i "&= cc t^c:c>i I = ?o !^f CO CO ! -1^ 1 1 1—1 ! 1 ^^ -r*s t IN cc !X Cs ; "v^ Ti- >.;? \'7r , Zfl Ci ^ CO 1 ,< 1 Ci 1 CO ' occ^l 1. — c: .^ »— CO C"? '■ < ' '^ ^— T^ j — C^ »— '— c>c i li_ 1 CO c^T ! >- ''— •'-~ '. icD c; !^- <— CO ^c : =^ i^ >r^ | >.;'-•'! I "^ C^ i?0 ifj CO ins ' ; — ' ■ :r^ t- I i_ ,'— T— j OC Ci ; ir? i:^ CO M« ^"^ '■^ i X, c: 1^ t- oc cc CO ?ci ; ^ .^ - s t; >, < ^ S Tr i C s CO ?t CO CO c^c ^C -* (M ^ CO CO CO CO CO < CO CO CO ■* T-^ CO CO '~ u-r § § ,^~ CCI r- 5 CO ?? '"" r, O C: CO £ — — X ^ii li sms X c- to U-; = 2 ~ £_ — ^ THE INSTRUCTION MEASURED. 161 method, promotion and grading, amount of roading to assign, etc. Referring to this table again, let ns ask what the upper ten children do while the lower ten are reading aloud in class. This is concretely what is meant 'by the statenu'nt that these differences constitute important teaching and organization problems. Just as it is good method for a teacher to demon- strate good reading to her class, so it is good to relieve the brighter children of the necessity of droning over a passage in the lesson while some extremely poor reader is struggling through it word by word. , If these ten children can show equally well in expression and getting the meaning out of what they read, they should recite reading in some higher grade, for they certainly do not have to study where they are. The speed test. Reference to Table No. 24 with these points in mind, and a study of Figure 21 will make it plain, GRADE GRADE Yir FIG. 21. •s * I a 2 5 ^ READING- SPEEDIEST. STIOWTNa THE DISTRIBUTION OP SCORES IN THE SPEED READING TESTS. 16: SCHOOL SURVEY REPORT. that, so iar as speed is eoneenied, one could not judge in which grade any single child's score might appear. It will be seen that there are only seven children in grade five whose scores are below the lowest score in grade eight, and there are no scores in grade eight which are above the best live in grade five, and by the diagram it appears that all children, irrespec- tive of grade, average somewhere near 200 words per minute as their rate for rather careful reading. Salt Lake City compared. As compared with the Courtis standard (see Table 24) all grades rank high. The surprise is that grade eight ranks between grade five and six. For com- parative purposes Figure 22 is introduced, which indicates the WORDS PER KMN. 4-00 :500 ZQO 100 1 i ^ \ \ i 1 1 175 CHILDREN (AFTER COURTIS) SALT LAKE CITY. 1624 CHILDREN: AFTER COURTIS, 103 CLIXSS AAtDIAN? AFTER COURTIS, 1060 CHILDREN FIG. 22. RATE OF EEADING IX SALT LAKE CITY CO:\I- PARED A\^ITH TESTS MADE IN OTHER CITIES. rate at which these passages have been read by three other groups of children. The showing which the Salt Lake City THE INSTRUGTION MEASURED. 163 schools has made stands well above these records, with the ex- ception of three points at which the small group of 175 children surpassed them. This would seem to indicate that Salt Lake City ranks well in point of speed in reading. The memory test. As explained above the second test was a check on memory of what was read. In this test the same wide variety of results were found to appear, and are shown in Table No. 26, both with the median for each grade and the per cent of the points- which were correctly checked. In the per TABLE NO. 26. SHOWING THE DISTRIBUTION OF POINTS EEAD AND OF THE NUMBER WHICH WERE REMEMBERED, WITH THE MEDIAN, AND THE PER CENT, CORRECT. (Courtis Test) GRADE NUMBER OF POINTS Points VIII. VII. VI. V. Read Right Read Right Read Right Read Right 10 14 IT 49 14 58 23 85 32 101 15| 20| 25 19| 24| 29 67 30| 35|40 341 39|ovr 67 122 66 152 86 146 112 133 121 78 145 104 135 94 126 60 7| 0|79.3 9| 4J72.8 7| 5|77.1 8| 5174.0 cent correct the eighth grade stands somewhat above the others, but the seventh grade falls below the sixth, none averaging far from three-fourths correct. In Figure 23 the relation of the amount remembered to the amount read in one minute is clearly shown. By tjie solid line one sees the number of points read, and by the dotted line the number correctly checked. The 16i SCHOOL SURVEY REPORT. GRADE 'VTTT *a *fl 3J 3t. 34 Ji 3o 2S St 24 i2 ^0 (5 lb '^ li. :o 5 b 4- Z o FIG. 23. EELATIOX OF SPEED TEST TO MEMOEY TEST IX KEADIXG. scale at the bottom shows the uumber of ji^-^iuts, aud the scale on the left iudieates the uumber of children attaiuiug these scores. The medians are marked by vertical lines, solid for the number read, and dotted for the number right. It is regretted that there are no available data with which to compare these facts. They may stand, however, as a valuable basis for later tests by teachers and supervisors who wish to measure progress from time to time in this feature of reading. The problem the schools must meet. The main suggestions that grow out of these tests of reading are that, as in the other subjects, the real genius in the schools is not being instructed THE INSTRUCTION MEASURED. 165 under the best conditions. These children should be so class- ified that they will need to work up to their full capacity. On the other hand, the extremely slow pupils shown in these tests should be receiving special instruction which cannot be given economically in the ordinary classroom and with the regular class. Less emphasis needs to be placed upon school grades, and more upon proper classification of the individual child. Along with the excellent standing which the city's schools are showing in these tests they must bend their ener- gies to this problem' of refining the teaching adjustments to more adequately meet the needs of individual children. So far as these tests go they show this to be an immediate and a pressing problem in instruction and internal organization which the schools are now facing. 5. THE TESTS IN ARITHMETIC. Arithmetic in the course of study. Arithmetic is taught in all grades, and the course outlined seems in the main in keep- ing with the best thought on this subject. The degree of im- portance which attaches to this subject in the schools of the city is well indicated by the amount of time which is devoted to it. The amount varies greatly between schools, and between grades. Some classes are spending as much as 500 minutes per week on the subject, while others are spending but 20 or 30 minutes. The approximate average ranges from 50 minutes per week in grade one to 290 minutes for grade eight. Rather ex- tensive investigation of this matter has lead to the recom- mendation of the following grade distribution of time for TABLE NO. 26. AMOUNT AND DISTRIBUTION OF TIME IN ARITHMETIC. Grade 1 1 2 1 3 4 15 6 1 7 8 Per cent of total time Proposed maxi- mum Standard 75|1001125 150|150 150 150 170 290 10.7 Salt Lake City ., 50|100|225 225|250 240|250 14.3 166 SCHOOL SURVEY REPORT arithmetic, with which that for Salt Lake City may be com- pared :* From this it will be seen that arithmetic is receiving more than its fnll share of attention in the city, approximately 14.3 per cent of the school time being' devoted to the snbject, whereas this investigation supports argument for but 10.7 per cent. It should be added here that another investigation has shown that, of twenty-six cities devoting from 7 to 22 per cent, of their school time to arithmetic, those devoting more than the median amount for these twenty-six cities ranked very little higher in the reasoning test reported below than did the cities using less than that amount.** In interpreting the following results in the tests this time cost must not be overlooked, even if there are numerous cities whose time allotment for arithmetic is equally high. The tests in arithmetic covered the four fundamental oper- ations, and their application in a series of problems involving a test of the children's ability to reason. The first are known as the Courtis Standard Tests,t and the second as the Stone reasonino' tests. tt * ^ How the Arithmetic was tested. The following instruc- tions, followed by typical examples, illustrate the nature of the tests in addition, substraetion, multiplication and division. *The distribution recommended is based on the median recitation time expenditure in 630 cities. W. A. Jessup: The Fourteenth Tear Book of the National Society for the Study of Education, Ch. VITI. (1915.) **Stone, C. ^^'. Arithmetical Abilities and Some Factors Determin- ing Them. Teachers" CoUeg-e, Publications, N. T., 1908. ■rCourtis. S. A. Standard Tests. S2 Eliot St.. Detroit, Mich. ■rtStone, C. V\'. Arithmetical Abilities and Some Factors Determining Them. THE INSTRUCTION MEASURED. I67 ARITHMETIC. FOUR FUNDAMENTAL OPERATIONS. (The following are selected examples of the problems given the chil- dren to solve m the assigned time. Four printed pages, one for each of the fundamental operations, were used. The problems have been so arranged that each presents equal difficulty. ) You will be given eight minutes to find the answers to as many of these addition examples as possible. Write the answers on this paper directly underneath the examples. You are not expected to be able to do them all. You will be marked for both speed and accuracy but It IS more important to have your answers right than to try a great many examples. 927 297 136 486 384 176 277 837 379 925 340 765 477 783 445 882 756 473 988 524 881 697 682 959 837 983 386 140 266 200 594 603 924 315 353 812 679 366 481 118 110 661 904 466 241 851 778 781 854 794 547 355 796 535 849 756 965 177 192 834 850 323 157 222 344 124 439 567 733 229 953 525 You will be given four minutes to find the answers to as many of these subtraction examples as possible. Write the answers on this paper directly underneath the examples. You are not expected to be able to do them all. You will be marked for both speed and accuracy but it is more important to have your answers right than to try a great many examples. 115364741 67298125 92057352 113380936 80195261 29346861 42689037 42556840 You will be given six minutes to work as many of these multiplica- tion examples as possible. You are not expected to be able to do them all. Do your work directly on this paper; use no other. You will be markfed for both speed and accuracy, but it is more important to have your answers right than to try a great many examples. 8246 3597 5739 2648 9537 _29 73 85 46 92 You will be given eight minutes to work as many of these division examples as possible. You are not expected to be able to do them all Do your work directly on this paper; use no other. You will be marked for both speed and accuracy, but it is more important to have your answers right than to try a great many examples. 25)6775 94)85352 37)9990 86)80066 (On the following page is a reduced reproduction of the sheet given each pupil for the reasoning test. The use of scratch paper was permitted, and the results were entered after each problem on this sheet. 16S SCHOOL SUKVEY REPORT School. ARITHMETIC. REASONING TESTS. Grade . . Name of Pupil Problem Value 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.4 1.2 1.6 2.0 2.C 2.0 2.0 PROBLEMS. Solve as many of the following problems as you have time for; work them in order as numbered: 1 If you buy 2 tablets at 7 cents each and a book for 65 cents, how much change should you receive from a two-dollar bill? 2 John sold -i Saturday Evening Posts at 5 cents each. He kept i^ the money and with the other ^■2 he bought Sunday papers at 2 cents each. How many did he buy? 3 If James had 4 times as much money as George, he would have $16. How much money has George? 4 How many pencils can you buy for 50 cents at the rate of 2 for 5 cents? 5 The uniforms for a baseball nine cost $2.50 each. The shoes cost $2 a pair. What was the total cost of uniforms and shoes for the nine? 6 In the schools of a certain city there are 2,200 pupils: ^2 are in the primary grades, ^^4 in the grammar grades, ^s in the High School and the rest in the night school. How many pupils are there in the night school? 7 If 31^ tons of coal cost $21, what will SVo tons cost? 8 A newsdealer bought some magazines for $1. He sold them for $1.20. gaining 5 cents on each magazine. How many magazines were there? 9 A girl spent ^s of her money for car fare, and three times as much for clothes. Half of what she had left was SO cents. How much money did she have at first? 10 Two girls receive holes. One makes 42, they divide the money. 1 1 Mr. Brown paid one-third of the building: Mr. Johnson paid ^2 the cost, son received $500 more annual rent Brown. How much did each receive? 12 A freight train left Albany for New York at i 6 o'clock. An express left on the same track at 8 o'clock. It went at the rate of 40 miles an hour. At what time of day will it overtake the freight train if the freight train stops after it has gone 56 j miles ? i Total Score Made by Pupil. Directions to Teacher: 1. Cross off the problem value for each problem not correctly solved or not attempted by the pupil named, and then add up the remainder. This will give the score earned by this pupil. $2.10 for making button- the other 28. How shall cost of a Mr. John- than Mr. THE INSTRUCTION MEASURED. 169 There were more examples in each of the four sets than any child would be likely to work in the time allowed, which was 8 minutes each for addition and division, four minutes for subtraction, and six minutes for multiplication. The ex- amples were all printed, and the necessary oral explanations were made by the member of the survey in charge, who timed the classes and instructed teachers how to score the results. The same schools and classes as were used in the other tests were used for all the arithmetic tests. The reasoning test was presented to the child in the form printed on page 168. On the left are the values assigned to the problems, each of' which has been carefully standardized for testing purposes, and the values assigned represent the relative difficulties of the different problems. Results of tests in the fundamentals. The tables and dia- grams given on the pages which follow will show the results of the tests, first presenting those for the fundamentals, and later those for reasoning. Table No. 28 shows the full distribution of scores, by grades, ifor each of the subjects, and with the median score attained in each case. It will be seen that the same wide range of abilities as was shown in the other tests appears here also, and in each grade. The nature and extent of this dis- tribution is clearly brought out in Figure 24, which shows on each section the median score attained by each grade. It appears that the median child in the seventh grade is not as far ahead of the median child in the sixth as is the sixth grade child ahead of the fifth, or the eighth ahead of the sev- enth. In the matter of accuracy, v/hich will be discussed later, this difference does not appear. From this test, the average, or median child in the Salt Lake City schools may be expected to work examples in the funda- mentals, such as those used, at the following rates (using 8 minutes in addition, 4 minutes in subtraction, 6 minutes in mul- tiplication, and 8 minutes in division) : Jf in grade 5, he can add 4.1 examples, subtract 5.2, mul- tiply 4.3 and divide 3.0. 170 SCHOOL SURVEY REPORT. TABLE XO. 2S. Showing the distribution of children with respect to the number of examples finished. (Courtis' Standard Test.) ADDITION (Time 8 minutes) Grad3 Total Papers NUMBER OF EXAMPLES WORKED Median 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 S 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 Score VIII 350 4 14 IS 27 37 45 47 27 38 37 IS 17 8 1 7 2 2 1 8.8 VII 447 5 9 22 38 36 44 45 66 59 31 39 21 13 6 6 2 2 1 1 1 6.9 VI 416 13 24 36 32 57 39 a^ 38 32 2S 22 13 9 9 1 1 1. 1 6.4 V 460 24 31 60 7S 66 66 47 32 21 16 10 2 4 1 1 1 4.1 SUBTRACTION (Time 4 minutes) Grade Jotal Papers NUMBER OF EXAMPLES WORKED Median 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 Score 9.8 VIII 351 3 4 4 11 27 33 36 44 50 32 26 IS 14 10 17 7 7 3 13 1 VII 437 4 S 6 19 27 40 46 52 53 63 42 30 15 8 5 10 3 2 2 1 1 8.8 VI 423 4 8 13 17 36 43 46 56 61 43 29 30 23 7 1 3 3 7.8 V 4t«.i S 19 38 54 57 75 64 41 33 33 19 11 3 2 1 1 1 5.2 MULTIPLICATION Time 6 minutes) ''^'^ plSrl NUMBER OF EXAMPLES WORKED Median Score 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 VIII 353 1 1 4 3 11 29 3S 59 37 42 33 29 24 7 11 11 7 1 2 1 2 8.3 VII 443 1 7 19 22 31 50 59 59 69 47 37 20 11 2 5 2 2 7.1 VI 412 10 9 20 51 54 76 68 30 40 20 17 10 5 1 1 5.3 V 458 10 IS 50 7710283 53 26 16 16 3 3 1 4.3 DIVISION (Time 8 minutes Grade Total Papers NUMBER OF EXAMPLES WORKED Median 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 S 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 Score vin 3.' 2 2 1 2 3 17 19 26 37 33 38 31 36 41 19 11 15 6 4 5 4 1 1 9.5 vn 450 4 14 16 26 30 43 37 40 45 44 40 26 36 21 10 6 4 3 2 1 2 7.7 VI ^2 10 23 30 45 49 52 49 44 32 33 18 13 14 7 1 1 1 5.5 v 457 42 72 78 81 79 45 29 20 6 2 2 1 3.0 I I I I I I I '^ ' I I I I t I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I > I I I I I 172 SCHOOL SURVEY REPORT. If in grade 6, he can add 6.4 examples, subtract 7.8, mul- tiply 5.3, and divide 5.5. If in grade 7, lie can add 6.9 examples, subtract 8.8, mul- tiply 7.1. and divide 7.7. If in grade 8, he can add 8.8 examples, subtract 9.8, mul- tiply 8.3, and divide 9.5. Widely different results in different schools. The full details of this is shown, for the fourteen schools tested, by Table No. 29, which gives the score of the median child in each grade and in each subject, combining them for the city as a whole at the bottom of the table. From this table it appears that there is a wide difference between schools. In addition we find a range in grade five of from 2.8 to 6.5 ; in grade six from 2.5 to 9.3 ; in grade seven from 3.7 to 9.9 ; and in grade eight from 5.3 to 10.0. In the other subjects the range is approximately the same. It is in- teresting to add that in three of the four grades taking the addition test, those classes which made the highest standing are using exactly the same number of minutes per week on arithmetic as are the classes which made the lowest stand- ing. If the amount of time used on the subject does not ac- count for the wide differences which this table reveals, and apparently it does not, then this would seem to be a condi- tion worthy of study by principals and supervisors. Just what ought to be accomplished in a given grade, with a given time allotment, is a question which can well be raised in con- nection with each of the subjects presented in this chapter. Every city system of schools should have standards of its oavu for everj^ subject, which each school should strive to approx- imate. These standards need not be identical with those in other cities, but should be determined by the relative im- portance of the different subjects for its own community. The same principle will justify slight variations in those standards for different schools, as they represent varying types of community life within a city. But this table reveals fcc cS n> '^ IM !-l ^ w O «w s '^ o ^ tj &q +3 s ^-:! PI ffl CO < 1 — 1 o c6 ^ 03 be o J=l Z o I- < o _l Q. H -I 3 > ■ ; L~iccO'tit-in!X>^cocc 05 lO i.O CO CO 1-H O t- (M ^ LC Tji O O Lf^ lO lC CO cj oit- 5 cooc cot^coocaoiOi— iiMin-^iineo 05 -tJ CD in t~ Ln m m cc" ci co un od •<* 174 SCHOOL Sl'KVEY REPORT t'xtrenu'ly wido dift'eroiu'cs, whicli t-oiulitioiis in Salt Lake City do not seom t(» warrant. A reasonable nniforniity in rv- snlts is as desirable as is a wholesome lack ot" unit'oruiity in nietliods of iiettiiig- those results. Compai*ison with other cities. To nieasnre the results aehieved in Salt Lake City with similar results attained in other cities, Table No. 30 is presented. Here Hie relative stand- ing of Detroit. Boston, a ijroup of smaller cities, called "'other cities." Butte, and Salt Lake City, arc phuwl side by side for each of the four subjects. These results are absolutely TABLE NO. 30. THE STANDLXO OF SALT LAKE CITY IN THE FUNDA- MENTALS OF .VKITIDIETIC AS COMPARED WITH OTHER CITIES. jrDGP:D BY THE .MEDIAN SCORE ATTAINED BY EACH GRADE. ADDITION MULTIPLICATION V 1 VI 1 VII VIII 3.9 4.6 5.4 6.7 ; 3.7 4.9 5.6 7.S 3.9 4.4 4.7 5.6 2.9 3.4 3.8 5.3 4,1 6.4 6.9 8.5 V I VI I VII ,VI1I Detroit Boston Other Cities Butte Salt Lake City 3.8 3 .3 2.6 4.1 4.3 4.8 6.0 ! 4.8 5.1 1 4.5 5.2 5.0 6.5 5.3 7.1 7.5 6.5 6.4 8.1 8.3 SUBTRACTION DIVISION 5.5 6.2 :.."> 9.5 ' Detroit 2.7 4.4 7.1 S.S 4.9 6.3 \ 6.9 1 8.6 Boston 2.0 3.3 i 5.1 6.9 4.5 6.1 ! 7.8 j 8.4 i C)ther Cities 2.3 4.3 5.8 6.3 2.9 3.4 1 3.8 j 5.3 i Butte 3.6 4.3 • 7.2 10.2 5.2 7.8 8.8 9,8 Salt Lake City 3.0 5.5 , 7.7 ; 9.5 comparable, and shv>w the Salt Lake City schools to stand well ahead in all gfrades in addition and multiplication, in two irrades in subtraction, and in two grrades in division. Nowhere are the Salt Lake City sehools more than .7 of one score behind the best. Figure 25 presents this data graphically, and by fol- lowing the dotted line act\^ss from each of the grades it will be seen that in many eases Salt Lake City is fi\>m one-half to a full grade ahead of other cities, rarely being surpassed by any ex- cept Butte. This is perhaps an enviable record, but it must DETROIT -go SALT LAKE cmr \^. c m k— £^ O c ►-»■ fe ^ o ^-■ •^ a% 12: te nmeh to aeeoniplish by way of tiner internal organization auil more eareful individualized instnie- tion. Accuracy in use of number combinations. The above has dealt only with examj)les eorreetly worked, and does not show how many were attempted, or for whieh ineorreet answers were given : that is, how dependable the tignring- of the ehil- dren really is. A lypieal illustration of the distribution of attempts iss shown in Table No. 31, which gives the nttmber of addition examples attempted by eaeh grade, the median number attempted, and finally the per eenr whieh the median number eorreetly Avorked is of the median number attempted. That is, the per cent of aeenraey. o < O f^ Q Oh e S pq P o o f^ o O o I— ( Q P <1 Q H H H <1 CQ o p:! H pq 2 CO CO CD LO CO t~- C- IGO o o T-I 'cD CO to CO CO rH CO I 1— I I C- ICO l '^ rH ItH ,co i Tf LP |T-H OS O ,Oi lt--_ lO_ IkO Ci I vO CO iCO CO I cO ' tH ' lO CO CO o ¥1 o > > > 17S SCHOOL SURVEY REPORT. In the luattor of aoeuraey thus measurod, Table No. 32 eomparos the seliools of Salt Lako City with those of ]>oton. De- troit and twontv eities in Indiana roeentlv tested. The median TABLE NO. S'2. SllOAVlXO THE .AIEDIAN XOIBER OF EXA.AIPLES TKJED AND THE MEDIAN NUMBER CORRECTLY WORKED IN THE SALT LAKE CITY SCHOOLS, AND THE PER CENT OF exa:mples tried ayihcii were CORRECTLY "WORKED IN SALT LAKE CITY AS COMPARED WITH OTHF^R CITIES. Salt Lake City Subject Grade Median Per Gent of Examples Correct Worked iktttmpts Rights Salt Lake City Boston Detroit | ^cit"et* Tin 9.9 8.5 88.8 70.9 65.7 ! 56.8 Addition VII 9.1 6.9 75.8 60.8 59.8 1 60.5 VI 7.9 6.4 81.0 59.0 54.7 1 59.4 V 6.9 4.1 56.9 51.4 58.2 j 54.5 vin 11.8 9.8 S3.1 75.4 77.2 ! 68.5 Subtraotioi I VII 10.1 8.8 S7.1 69.0 1 74.5, 73.0 VI 8.5 7.8 91.7 70.0 70.4 76.4 V 7.5 5.2 69.3 64.4 68.7 79.5 VIII 10.8 8.3 76. S 6S.4 I 71.4 1 6:. 9 Multiplicat ion VII 8.6 7.1 82.5 63. S 1 62.5 1 67.1 VI 7.7 5.3 66.8 69.5 ! 64. S ' 68. 6 V 6.6 4.3 9.5 65.1 92.2 56.8 ' . 59.3 ' 71.5 VIII 10.3 77.1 I 55.1 ; 57.8 Division VII 8.7 7.7 88.5 73.9 ! 68.7 1 84.2 VI 6.7 5.5 82.1 56.9 1 82.5 ! 78.8 V 4.4 3.0 68.2 44.4 1 85.4 1 85.8 ♦Indiana University Bulletin. Vol. XII. No. IS, Mar.. 1915. These figui-es represent the record attained by the median city of the twenty cities studied. A co-operative study, directed by Prof. M. E. Haggerty. attempts and median rights are shown for Salt Lake City, the rights being divided by the attempts to ascertain the per cent of aeenraey. Here again Salt Lake City stands high. In aeouraey the eity is snrpassed in bnt one grade out of the four tested: in subtraction in but one grade: in multiplication, by- two grades: and in division by two. The seventh and eighth grades are not surpassed in aiiy case. THE INSTRUCTION MEASURED. 179 A graphic illustration, fully typical of the results in this table, is shown in Figure 26, where Salt Lake City is compared with Detroit, and the twenty Indiana cities in respect to ac- curacy in addition. X So /2n Z t^ 6R/ 7 f— \r\F ^ 5 7 6 5 K 6 5 ^ 7 > 6 ■ Bl ■ I ■ m 1 I ■ zo DETROIT 5ALTLAKE ^0 CITIES CITY IN INDIANA FIG. 26. RELATIVE ACCURACY IN ADDITION. It is clear then that Salt Lake City, as compared with other cities, is achieving nothing short of excellent results in the fundamentals of arithmetic, and that not only with re- spect to the number of examples worked in a given amount of time, that is, speed, but also in respect to the degree of ac- curacy with which this work is done. The reasoning test. AVhere reasoning is involved, the test is not only one of correct use of number combinations, but also one of analyzing simple arithmetical problems. In this test the children of Salt Lake City again rank high. The CO CO d <1 I— t cz:; W (—1 o s - ■^ a: [£; - <; CO O o P PQ t— < 02 a; X :/: P f> h3 O P2 O P^ O Ttl to uo Tl a> CO to 00 o ^ tH "~^ . — f— 1 •+-3 CO 00 Ci '!*l LO CO O 00 e Tjl -* ^ - Tji (M O O t~ 00 t- Tti to -^ r- 1 1 UO UO O 'vf ( > > >l Z/2 PI o l—i > Q O ;y2 CO K W ;z; c^ ■v EhO , ^ < ^ ^? < K o: ^ ri h X x: X e 1 ! ~ to iH o o E '^ ^ r-i "^ So o (M 00 tr- W 9 ■* CO Of ■^ ~b> M 1 c~ (M '^i tH to r-i tH rH -tJ — 00 lO CO 00 E^ " o ■ s xH CQ tH o tH -u CO CO iH c- rH P — — K CM r-i -* ^ l> r-i i-:; o 02 ^ 1— 1 lO uo zn — — m O (M VO s iH P5 O rH r-i In" IrT c P^ rH ^ co" CO p^ 00 ^ CO CO CO CO o t- p^ ^ rT oT cT H CO pq > 1— 1 t— 1 1— ( as > h-i > r— 1 o be .s i o 1 > S 3 Co '^ Op. P 'S: '3L 'M IZDE- MEDIANS 6RADE3Z: 5C0RE: • 2 4 6 g" 10 12 14- 16 FIG. 27. DISTKIBUTION OF RESULTS IN THE STONE REASONING TESTS. 182 SCHOOL SURVEY REPORT distribution of individual scores are set forth in Table No. 33 which shows also the achievement for the median child of each grade. These facts are presented graphically in Figure 27. Here the same wide varia'bility as has appeared in other tests is again evident. In grade five there were fifteen chil- dren who could not solve one of the seventeen problems set for the test, while more than sixty children solved seven or more. In grades seven and eight the distribution is still wider. In order to show that this is fully typical of the condition existing in almost every individual class, Table No. 33, pre- senting the exact scores made by one class from each grade is given. On the basis of these facts we must again ask: How can a lesson be assigned to such classes so that, on the one hand it is not so difficult as to be impossible for the children at one extreme of this table, or on the other hand so easy as to 'be a mere bore to the children at the other extreme. Here it is not a question of high average results, for these are high enough; it is one of refining organization and instruction to the end that children of extremely high and extremely low a'bilities will not constitute handicaps for each other. The improvement from grade to grade, as is shown in Figure 27, seems all that could be desired, and Table No. 35 shows, with some exceptions in grade five, a fair degree of uniformity of results between schools. These facts seem to argue that the schools have a clear notion of what is to be attained by each grade, but that they are getting results only in terms of class averages and at the expense of right class room conditions. By giving attention to these inner details 'Salt Lake City can raise the excellent standards she has already achieved. Comparison with other cities in reasoning test. The au- thor of this reasoning test has presented the records made by the sixth grade in twenty-six different cities. Add to these the records of Bridgeport, Conn., Springfield, 111., and Salt Lake City, and Salt Lake City stands 9th from the top of the THE INSTRUCTION MEASURED. 183 TABLE NO. 35. SHOWING THE AVERAGE SCORE ATTAINED BY CLASS- ES IN THE VARIOUS SCHOOLS IN THE REASON- ING TEST IN ARITHMETIC. (Stone Test). School GRADE VIII VII VI V 10.5 8.6 6.4 3.7 9.3 10.6 6.6 2.9 7.7 7.4 4.6 8.2 5.4 4.6 11.7 8.3 6.5 4.0 10.8 4.1 2.2 10.6 8.6 7.4 4.8 9.1 9.5 6.2 3.2 8.9 7.6 4.6 9.7 7.6 5.3 3.3 10.0 6.2 4.4 9.0 7.8 4.8 4.4 8.0 7.2 3.4 10.2 10.4 5.9 4.1 14.5 7.0 5.5 Total for City Forest Grant Hamilton . . . Lafayette . . . Lincoln Lowell Onequa Oquirrh Riverside . . . Sumner Training .... Wasatch .... Webster .... Whittier .... list. The highest score, based on the score per each 100 pupils, attained by any one of these twenty-nine cities was 914; the lowest was 356. That for Salt Lake City was 646. As compared, grade by grade, with the results in Butte, Salt Lake City's median fifth grade child can solve 1.5 more problems of this test than can the median fifth grade child of Butte ; the sixth grade child of Salt Lake City can solve 2.5 more ; the seventh grade child 2.8 more, and the eighth grade child 2.8 more. From these results it is clear that the schools of this city rank high in the ability of their children to reason. It is also true, as stated above, that the present problem is one of perfect- ing the details of class organization and instruction. IS4 SCHOOL SURVEY REPORT. G. SIT]\IMAKY AND EECO^IMENDATION. This chapter has not dealt Avith the quality of instruction iu general, but only as quality has boon revealed by aetnal results, stated iu terms of standardized tests. It is therefore eoneerned with the eanses of poor or excellent quality, only as the data Avith Avhieh it deals makes these causes evideui. Conclusions. Iu so i'ar as the resvdts fonud have shown that the schools aro controlliug', with good effect, those uu\in factors which were enumerated at the outset of the chapter as beiuii' principally responsible for the quality of instruction, those results have been connnended. On the other hand, where the schools are clearly not exercising" such control, the nature of such failure has been pointed out. and the responsibility placed. It is only necessary to summarize the findings here, and to furtlu'^r emphasize the lines along whieli improvements and further progress should be sought. 1. It should first of all be said that Salt Lake City ranks high among cities of her class, in each of the tive studies in which tests were given. The comparison being made in terms of average attaiuu\ent. i!. In spelling, so large a percentage of children made a perfect score that full interpretation of the results is ditHeult. The city's average standing being Iti per cent above the stan- dard. 3. In spelling, language, writing, and in the fundamen- tals of arithmetic, wide dilferences exisft between the results shown for dilferent schools. Foreign languages at home may partly account for such differences, particularly in composi- tion. There is a limit, though, to which even such causes sliould be permitted to modify the school standards. If a child is doing tifth grade language work he should not ordinarily be classed as an eighth grade pupil. 4. The differences between grades are. with few excep- tions, approximately what they should be. 5. The range of abilities in any given grade is entirely too great, as judged by all of the five tests. THE INSTRUCTION MEASURED. 185 G. Siniihirly the range oi abilities within a given class, again in all subjects tested, is far too great. 7. At least one-fourth more time is being given to spelling and more than one-fourth more to arithmetic than is justified in the light of the best knowledge on llie subject. Recommendations. "With these facts before us the follow- ing recommendations are made: 1. 'Spelling should not have more than GO to 75 minutes per week, and aritlnnctic from 75 minutes in grade two, to 200 minutes in grade eight. A part of the surplus time from these two branches should be given to language work, and part to other parts of the curriculum than the subjects dealt with here. 2. The only economical and pedagogical way of meeting the needs of the extremely dull and extremely bright pupils (perhaps from four to ten per cent of each class tested) is by a nuu^h larger use of ungraded rooms to which the most skillful teachers should be assigned. It would be easy for all the larger schools of the city to find from 25 to 50 children who ought for their ow^n sakes, and for the sakes of other children as well, to be placed in such rooms. This would pro- vide an inestima'ble relief in all class work in the school. This is the most evident and the most important need which is brought to light by these tests. 3. The best and most constant supervision of this work is needed to work out necessary readjustments. It should be added that, so long as the grade lines are stiffly maintained as the only basis for the classification of children, part of the value of expert supervision is nullified. 4. In addition to this, promotion by subjects ought to be a possibility more frequently made use of. When a fourth grade child can read as well as a seventh grade child, he ought not to be kept in the fourth grade for reading just be- cause he cannot leave his fourth grade arithmetic. 5. Briefly, what the schools have achieved in general, they should now set themselves to achieve in particular. 186 SCHOOL SURVEY REPORT. The use of standardized tests. A final word may be said about the use of standard tests. First, we desire to commend the use the supervisors and principals have been making of these modern educational tools. Teachers should become famil- iar with such scales and tests as have been used here, not with how they were made, but with how to use them. The teacher who is able to measure her own product,- or to have it measured by the supervisor, will develop confidence in her methods or discover reasons for changing them. As an instrument in supervision, tests are indispensable. Of course testing can never displace constructive helpful crit- icism, but standardized tests furnish a rational basis for such criticism, without which the best supervision is handicapped. So far as was observed they are being properly used by the principals and supervisors, but they may even go further in displacing the ordinary form of school examination. PROGRESS OF THE CHILDREN. 187 CHAPTER IX. THE PROGRESS OF CHILDREN THROUGH THE SCHOOLS. ("Williams.) Importance of proper school progress. A problem which is of increasing importance in education today is that of school progress. Since the welfare of the individual child is the aim toward which every good school system works, the recognition and analysis of the differences among children calls for much greater attention than is usually given. Children are ordi- narily expected to enter the first grade of the elementary school at the age of six, and to complete the eighth grade dur- ing their fourteenth year. Those who accomplish this are said to have made normal progress. It is for these, who con- stitute the majority of our school children, that the course of study and the system of grading are best adapted. Those who complete the eighth grade in less than eight years after entering, or whose age at any time during that period is less than that of the child whose progress is normal, are said to be accelerated. There is still another group of children, who require more than eight, years to finish the elementary school, or whose age at some time is greater than that of the normal child. These are said to be retarded. Age and grade distribution. Statistics were collected in regard to the ages and grades of all the children in the public schools of Salt Lake City on the tenth day of May, 1915. The results have been tabulated, and are shown in Table No. 36. The number of children of each half-year of age, and in each half-grade are given, and the heavy-faced figures running diagonally through the center of the table indicate the number of children who are normal for each age and grade. For exam- ple, this includes those in the first grade who are between the m IN c5 o 1 00 i t^ s i i 05 in S s 05 S3 s X X OS i i 55 5 tor m g 8 05 in (N i 3 CO 2 in 2 x' ¥ «| 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 ri"i^i"i"i^i B 1 in »! 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FiiTuvo 'JS. in wliich tho distribution of the total school en- rolhuont in this respect is sho\vn. o-ives the same result in graphic I'orni. L FIGUKK •:>. SllOAVlNG EELATIVE PKOPORTIONS OF NOKMAL. KETARDED AND ACCELEKATED PU- PILS IX THE SAET LAKE CITY SCITOOLS. High percentage of retarded pupils. The sii^-niticant fact in regard to this distrilnitioit is that the retarded grotip is the largest of the three. The backward children in I'ae ungraded school are not iui'luded in these percentages. If these \Yere PROGRESS OF THE CHILDREN. 191 added, the proportion represented by the dark area of the circle would be still greater. This city ranks among those having a relatively high per- centage of retarded pupils. Table No. 38 gives a list of cities in which similar studies have been made. All, with the excep- tion of Salt Lake City and Butte, Montana, have been taken from Ayres' "Identification of the Misfit Child.**" TABLE NO. 38. RETARDATION IN AMERICAN CITIES. Retarded Normal Accelerated 1. Quincy, Mass 19% 31% 50% 2. Racine, Wis 28 42 30 3. Amsterdam, N. Y 28 23 49 4. Syracuse, N. Y 29 29 42 5. Indianapolis, Ind 29 37 34 6. Danbury, Conn 31 31 38 7. Milwaukee, Wis 31 41 28 8. Rockford, 111 32 40 28 9. Canton, 34 38 28 10. Elmira, N. Y 34 28 38 n. New Rochelle, N. Y 34 30 3(5 12. Muskegon, Mich 35 40 25 13. Niagara Palls, N. Y 36 33 31 14. Topeka, Kansas 36 3'8 26 15. Danville, 111 38 34 28 16. Trenton, N. J 38 31 31 17. Reading, Pa 40 35 25 18. Plainfield, N. J 40 30 3i/ 19. Perth Amboy, N. J 41 32 27 20. Bayonne, N. J 42 31 27 21. Hazelton, Pa 42 36 22 22. Salt Lake City 43 40 16 23. East St. Louis, 111 44 34 22 24. Elizabeth, N. J 46. 31 23 25. Kenosha, Wis 48 36 16 26. Montdair, N. J 48 34 18 27. New Orleans, La. (White) 49 31 20 28. Butte, Mont 51 41 7 29. Passaic, N. J 51 32 17 **Russell iSage Foundation, Bulletin No. 108. 192 SCHOOL SURVEY REPORT. It is of further importance to note that not only are 43.3 per cent of the school children in this city retarded, but in many cases the degree of retardation reaches two. three, or even more than four years. The amount of each is shown in Figure 29. .THOUSAND. ^ ^^^ ^ -Q:^ 2, 1 ACCELERATED 1 Z Z> RETARDED 4 YEARS FIG-. 29. DEGKEE OF ACCELEKATIOX OE KETAEDA- TION OF PUPILS IX THE SALT LAKE CITY SCHOOLS. Thus it will be seen that althougrh in the shaded area the number retarded one year make up the largest group, nearly one-half as many are retarded two years: and that the num- ber retarded three and four years is half as large as the two year group. Such a condition emphasizes anew the need for more ungraded rooms and those pupil adjustments pointed out in the last chapter. Distribution of the retarded pupils. Figure 30. on the op- posite page, shows the extent of this problem in detail, in- dicating how each grade in the school is affected by the great number of children who varv from the normal. ACCELERATED O 10 20 _B ^g^ VVVVVV vV^ FIG 30 SHOWING DISTRIBUTION OF NORMAL, ACCELERATED, AND RETARDED PUPILS, BY GRADES 194 SCHOOL SURVEY REPORT. Retardation liegins early in the grades and increases to the sixth grade, ^vhen there is a noticeable falling off. This falling off is due in part to the fact that the regular routine school work offers little attraction to a child who has be- come greatly retarded, and in part to the fact that many reach the end of tlif^ compulsory school age by the time this point is reached. (See Figure 13, page 63.) Repeating the same work over and over again becomes monotonous even for nor- mal adults. In Fig 31 the num'ber of children in the A and B tc ) z 3 o ■* 5C J GO GRADE I GRADE n GRADE lii GRADE TV GRADE Y —J GRADE YT GRADE , Vll GRADE vm FIG. 31. PERCENTAGE OF RETARDED PUPILS, BY GRADES. PROGRESS OF THE CHILDREN. 193 sections of each grade have been added together, and the increase in retardation to the sixth grade and the falling off thereafter are more clearly shown. The amount of retardation in Grade I is 29.5 per cent; in Grade VI, 56.6 per cent; and in Grade VIII, 50.4 per cent. Dropping out of school on the part of retarded pupils is not an uncommon occurrence in our city schools, and has been noted in many cities. Investigations show that the children who drop out at that time are usually those who have be- come discouraged through failures, and through the embarrass- ment of being greatly over age. It would be comparatively easy to show that dropping out of school before reaching the eighth grade is many times as common among retarded chil- dren as among those who have made normal progress. Conditions in one room. The following is an example of the conditions found in one class in Salt Lake City. The con- dition shown here is not unusual for the city. Such condi- tions are not infrequently brought about by the wide range of ages in a single room : Miss G., teacher of Grades II-B and III- A, in the F. school, has in her room thirty-nine pupils, who are distributed by ages thus : AGE II-B III-B 7.0—7.5 2 4 1 1 7.6 7.11 Accelerated. 8.0—8.5 6 3 8.6—8.11 1 4 Normal. 9.0—9.5 3 1 9.6—9.11 1 4 10.0—10.5 1 1 1 Retarded. 10.6—10.11 3, 1 1 11.0—11.5 11.6—11.11 12.0—12.5 12.6—12.11 196 SCHOOL SURVEY REPORT Only those enclosed by the heavy lines can be said to be normal. Those above are accelerated, and. those below are retarded. "With the accelerated pupils in this room the teacher will have little difficulty. True, they may be of superior in- telligence, and capable of doing much more work than and teacher of thirty-nine pupils can afford to arrange for them. But their progress is assured to a reasonable de- gree. The striking feature of the class is the "over-ageness" with which the teacher has to deal. The seventeen pupils represented below the line will require her attention during the entire school day, if they are to be properly instructed. In fact, a class of seventeen retarded pupils is larger than the generally accepted maximum for such classes. Fortunately, all of the pupils below the line in this in- stance are not mentally below normal. Those nearest the line may have been held out of school for a time, or may be retarded for reasons of such slight consequence that no unusual amount of special attention need be given them. There are at least seven pupils in the class, however, who are seriously over-age. We may be sure that all of those below the dotted line are in need of a great deal of individual instruction or training. A proper redistribution of the pupils. Assuming that chil- dren can be properly graded in the schools, Figure 32 repre- sents the pupils in this room, arranged in order of their ages, to show how a reasonable separation could be brought about. Such a separation, however, requires the general provision of ungraded and special classes. After removing the extreme cases, this still leaves thirty pupils whose ages vary from 71/2 to 10 years. Considering fur- ther the conditions relative to the lighting and ventilating of the basement room in which this class was found, it is not diffi- cult to see that the teacher will still have a task equal, at least, to her compensation. The fifth grade as an example of uneven distribution. In further illustration of the uneven distribution of children in the PROGRESS OF THE CHILDREN. 197 grades, data concerning all fifth grade pupils in the city have been brought together and presented in F'igure 33. The enrollment and age distribution in this grade are such that the group is fairly representative of all the grades, and this diagram is not an exaggeration of the unevenness found through the school sytsem. "Repeaters." Inability on the part of pupils to do the work oif their grade usually results in non-promotion, and hence the necessity of repeating the work another year or half-year. Some children have repeated the work as many as six times, and cases of even a larger number of repetitions have been found. There were at the time of the survey 1570 pupils in Salt Lake City who were repeating their grades. This is approximately 9 per cent of the entire number belonging. The _ _ __ 1 m Y«5. ' II- — _ _____ to- - -_:;;--- 9- - - _ — — — — _ ■ ~ ~~ g ■ :'iiiiiii T- - - G J W z JO 1 ■ TOTAL, 39 PUPILS. FIG. 32. ACCELERATED, NORMAL, AND RETARDED PU- PILS' IN ONE ROOM. 40 o S 2 CTv I 0^ o - '9 :^ i^ ^ "9 ^ csi fO t^ ^ ^ . iO lO) ~p P P .0 p P P ^ 'o :^ "9 ^ ^ d: ^ *9 9 JO '>3 PROGRESS OF THE CHILDREN. 199 teacher was asked in each case to state whether the work of each child was being taken for the first, second, third, fourth, or more times. The number in each case of repetition is as follows : Taking work the second time 1555 pupils Taking work the third time 101 pupils Taking work fourth time, or more 14 pupils In Figure 34 the relative number of promotions and fail- ures are shown for each grade ifor the year 1913-14, as printed in the last annual report of the hoard of education. ilo.ef cmioneM i ^.^^_ 3000 f- ZSoo Zooo 1 1 ■ ■ ■ I h ISOO ■ ■ ■ m_ 1000 ■ J _> § r o to SCO OD < (0 < CO < CO < (Q < ca < CO < a iS ■ ^ N C4 F> n ^ 'i- "o CO t- £- OQ to X- t e g ? g ? £ f e g o »- £ o >• ? £ < (O < CO < CO < CO < 00 < to < CO < Q " " Oi M m to "^ ■t •O ■o y) o t- c- w bo RESULTS OF PROfAOTIONS, J9I3-/4. [ 1 PRowoTtra ■B FAILED FIG. 34. RELATIVE NUMBER OF PROMOTIONS AND FAILURES, BY GRADES. 2VX1 SCHOOL SVKVVIY KEFOKT. All of the children represented in eaeh grade by the dark- ened area \Yill beoome '"repeatei-s" for the next half-year, pro- vided they remain in school. It >Yill be observed that the rel- ative nnmber of failnifs decreases somewhat through the grades, until the mimber who are not promoted to the high school grades is very small. This is nuquestionably dne to the dropping ont of the backward pupils before reaching the higher grades. The number retained in the tii*st grade is ap- pivximately 16 per cent of the total number belonging. Causes of Retai'datlon. The teachers were asked, in eaeh case of repetition or serious retardation, to make some state- ment relative to the probable cause. The folloA^•iug were the most frequently given reasons : 1. Poor home conditions. 2. Physical ailments. 3. Transferring from another school. 4. Retarded mental development. 5. Difficulty with the English language. 6. Lack of application. 7. Poor attendance. S. Laziness. 9. Laxe entering. 10. Pelinquency. Miiny more interesting reasons were given, and while pi\>babl\^ in certain cases each could be justitied as a separate excuse, it is obvious that there is a close relation among several of those given here. After analyzing many cases, and inquiring into the exact conditions, the writer has found that, with a few possible exceptions, the following have produced prac- aically all of the retardation in. the city : 1. Mental deficiency. 2. Physical ailments. 3. Poor home conditions. Age at entering the first grade. It is not uncommon for teachers and principals to assume that much of the retarda- tion in their i*ooms is due to the lateness with which the chil- PROGRESS OF THE CHILDREN. 201 drcfi enter selioo). Tluit 111 is is not, iin important cause, eon- sidering the larj^e amount of retardation, may be easily proven. Children in Salt Lake City commonly enter the first f?rade at the age of six years, some enter even earlier, and, although some enter later, the number whose retardation is the direct result of late entering is small. Figure 35 shows the distribu- tion of the entering ag(;s. Nearly 70 per cent have entered at five or six yciars, and neaj-ly 90 per cent at not later than seven years. FIG. 35. DLSTJinUJTION OF ACES AT WIirCTT FULT LAKE CITY CHILDREN ENTER THE FJRST SCHOOL GRADE. Other explanations for retardation. "]*oor home condi- tions" is one of the most common reasons given by teachers to account for a child's retardation, or his slowness in school. In some cases this is beyond a doubt a valid explanation. This is especially true where children are needed for long hours of work out of school, or where there is drunkenness, immorality, and other forms of social degeneracy which would cause dis- couragement and even contempt for school. There are, how- ever, relatively few such homes in Salt Lake City, One in- stance of the kind was noted, but the amount of mental de- ficiency in the family would easily account for the conditions. 202 SCHOOL SURVEY REPORT "DifSciilty with the English language" is also a common answer. Since, however, the proportion of foreign persons in this city is so very small, and most of these being from North- em Europe, this can seldom account for slow progress. Fur- ther, many cases are on record oif foreign children of normal mentality who have made even better than average progress. Physical defects and ill health are probably more com- monly causes of retardation than any factor except mental deficiency. How the health conditions of children are related to school progress are discussed in another chapter. With the development of the system of medical inspection these causes can be controlled. Subnormal and backv^^ard children. The vast majority of the children who are retarded in school are making slow prog- ress because their intelligence is below the average for children of their ages. By no means, however, are all of these mentally defective ; children vary in mental capacity just as we all vary among ourselves in height, weight, strength, and ability of all kinds. There is thus often a degree of mental retardation which accounts for the retardation in school. This mental re- tardation is now measurable, and intelligence testing has been so perfected that by means of a brief examination with a series of psychological tests the child's mental age can be determined. This mental age represents the approximate level of intelli- gence of the child, by which he can be compared with other children, and his general ability determined, as far as this depends upon intelligence. Usually about 75 per cent of ordinary school children have normal intelligence levels ; that is, their mental age is approx- imately the same as their actual age in years and months. The remainder of the children deviate from the normal either above or below. Those whose mental ages are decidedly above their actual ages 'are said to be of superior intelligence. Those who are slightly below are said to be dull-normal, or backward; while there are some whose deviation is so far below the aver- age that they are classified as feeble-minded. Another group. PROGRESS OF THE CHILDREN. 203 just above the feeble-minded, consists of those who are above, but very little above, the lowest group. These are called border-line cases. Mental classification groups. In the mental classification of children, then, we have five general groups : 1. The feeble-minded group. 2. The border-line group. 3. The dull-normal group. 4. The normal group. 5. Children of superior intelligence. Not every child can be definitely placed in one of these groups. The names used here are but arbitrary, and do not represent the various "types" into which it was formerly sup- posed that children could be classified. In fact, each group contains so many varying degrees of intelligence that it is difficult to draw a line between any two groups. The classifica- tion is used merely for the sake of convenience in discussing the several relative levels of intelligence. All of these groups are represented in the public schools of 'Salt Lake City. Children of all of these varying degrees were examined during the progress of the survey. It is not surprising that children should be greatly variable in their school ability and in the progress they make, When we con- sider that actual mental capacity is of such varying degrees. And it is important to remember that the degree of success or failure which will be met in the later life of these children is largely dependent upon these levels of intelligence. Children examined by the intelligence tests. A number of children were examined duricg the survey, and their mental ages determined. Records were also obtainable of children who had been examined by school principals and the psychol- ogist in charge of the ungraded school. Enough records were obtained so that the mental ages of about 120 children were secured. The children selected for examination were of three groups : 1. Those of supposedly normal intelligence. 20i SCHOOL SURVEY REPORT. 2. Those of superior ability. 3. Those who were backward iu their work. The children selected by their teachers as being of normal intelligence usually tested approximately normal. In one case, a child who was thought to be normal was found to be somewhat mentallj^ retarded, his quickness and alertness hav- ing misled persons in estimating his intelligence. In another case, a child supposedly no brighter than the average was found to be decidedly above the average for her age. These examples illustrate how the teacher may sometimes be mistaken in a child's mental capacity, and these mistakes sometimes lead to the misplacing of children in school. Not infrequently teachers of many years" experience will make such errors. On the whole, however, the teacher is better able to judge the intelligence of her pupils than any one else, except the psychol- ogist, or one who is capable of giving intelligence tests. Teach- ers rarely make a mistake in selecting a child of superior intel- ligence, and almost never is a child found to be normal whom the teacher thinks is sub-normal. Since mistakes do occur, however, it is best not to trust the judgment of any person who is not a psychologist, and even he will make use of what is known as the Scale for Measuring In- telligence before making any statement as to the mental level of the child. The measuring scale used. In making the examinations, use was made of the Stanford Revision of the Binet-Simon Measuring Scale of Intelligence. This consists of a series of psychological tests which have been arranged in such order that from the number and kinds of tests which a child can pass the examiner can calculate the child's general level of intelli- gence. This scale was formulated in 190S by Dr. Biuet, a French psychologist, and Dr. Simon, a physician of Paris. Since that time many thousands of school children have been examined by this method, and it has been found eveiywhere to be surprisingly accurate and practically indispensable in judging intelligence. It has been successfully used with nor- PROGRESS OF THE CHILDREN. 205 mal children, children of superior intelligence, and with back- ward and feeble-minded children and adults. It has been used in so many different countries, cities, and schools, and leading psychologists have so admired its usefulness, that scientific investigations have been able to revise and extend the scale until its value and accuracy are much greater than with the original set of tests devised by Binet and Simon. The Stanford Revision,* which was used during the survey, is the most carefully worked out revision which has been made up to the present time. Backward children studied. To illustrate what a serious problem the mental retardation of some children presents to the school, the distribution of 108 backward children, for whom records were obtained, is shown in Figure 36. CHILDREN ]—Z5 -zo 15- -10- -J AGES AND MENTALASES OF \0S BACKWARD SCHOOL CHILDREN IN SALT LAKE CITY -w ^Ty^TTPi 3 a S C r r 9 10 II 12 13 14 15 16 17 I? 19 YEARS FIG. 36. ACTUAL AND MENTAL AGES COMPARED FOR A GROUP OF RETARDED PUPILS. *The work of Dr. Lewis M. Terman. This revision, and a manual for lis use, will shortly appear in print. 206 SCHOOL SURVEY REPORT. The area enclosed by the heavy line and shaded shows the distribution of the ages of these 108 children. The young- est is 7 years, while the oldest is 19. The dotted line encloses the area which represents the distribution of the mental ages of these same 108 children. The youngest mental age is 3 years, while the oldest is 13 years. Had a group oif normal children been thus arranged, the dotted line would be super- imposed upon the heavy line, and the area of mental age would be the same as that of actual age. The median mental age of this group is 9 years, while the median actual age is 12. Thus there is a general retardation of 3 years, or 25 per cent. In some individual cases, the retardation is much more than 3 years. For example, the child who tested 3 years mentally in this case is actually 9 years of age, and thus his retardation is more than 66 per cent. Such a child, of course, is of extremely low intelligence, and does not belong in any public school, but should be placed in an institution for the feeble-minded. When the State of Utah builds such an institution, or colony, the teachers in the public schools wall not be burdened with chil- dren who are so helpless. Very fortunately, there are but few such low grade children in the public schools of Salt Lake City, Feeble-minded children. There are many children in the schools of this city, however, who just as properly belong in institutions or colonies for the feeble-minded as the one just mentioned, although their deficiency is proportionately so much less that it is not so easily recognized. For these cases the Intelligence Scale is of much greater importance. Ordinarily, children whose intelligence is found, by measurement, to be less than 75 per cent of their actual ages, are feeble-minded. This means that their intelligence, as long as they live, will not develop to a level much beyond that of the average child of 12 years. It must be remembered that this 12 year level is the upper limit, and that most feeble-minded persons never reach this level. Many of them, although they may be nearly normal physically, have never developed mentally beyond the PROGRESS OF THE CHILDREN. 207 10, 9, 8, or 7 year level. Such persons cannot, of course, be expected ever to be able to compete in life with normal per- sons, or even to make a living for themselves if left unassisted. Many of those who are not cared for become criminals, pros- titutes, paupers, or become socially degenerate in some other way. Among school children mental deficiency often expresses itself in the form of delinquency. These waste both the teacher's time and their own. Fee- ble-minded children are not always vicious. Often their tem- perament is such that their teachers and friends are inclined to overlook their mental deficiency, and good conduct and obedience is mistaken for intelligence. Clara F.,* for example, is 15 years of age. She is in the seventh grade, and has been making such slow progress that the teacher had become dis- couraged with her. She was examined, and found to have a mentality of IQi/o years. Because she has been a "good plod- der" and has presented no difficulty in discipline, she was not considered feeble-minded, or even much below normal. In fact, she has long since reached the grade of work possible for one of her level of intelligence, and it is a waste of time and an injustice to the child to keep her in the regular school any longer. Much of the teacher's time has been taken from the already too large class in futile attempts to teach her things which she cannot learn, and which would be of little use to her if she could retain them. Clara should be in an institution or colony for the feeble-minded, where she could be taught at least how to do housework of the simpler kinds, where she will not be a burden upon those who have her in charge, and where normal children will not be neglected in order that she may be instructed. Numerous other examples just as striking have been found in the schools. Some of them, of whom space does not permit further description, are as follows : George B. ...Age 15, Mentality 8. In Grade 4. Francis A. . .Age 10, Mentality 8. In Grade 1. Amy C Age 15, Mentality Qi/o. In Grade 7. *Names used here are fictitious. 208 SCHOOL SURVEY REPORT. Verna K Age 12, Mentality 10. In Grade 3. Everett D. ..Age 13, Mentality 91/2. In Grade 4. Ernest L Age 121/2, Mentality 9. In Grade 2. All of these children are either feeble-minded or border- line eases, and none of them should be in the regular grades with normal children. Number of such found in every city. It is generally esti- mated that in any city the number of feeble-minded children is between 2 and 3 per cent of the entire school enrollment. Prob- ably the latter number is a safer estimate. Although there is reason to believe that the average intelligence among the pop- ulation of Salt Lake City may be slightly above that of the average city, on account of the freedom from slums, etc., yet the number of feeble-minded children in the city cannot be much below 3 per cent of the school enrollment. The number is somewhat increased by the lack of state facilities for the care of mental defectives. "We may be reasonably certain that there are not less than 600 children in the public schools who are mentally retarded to such a degree that no amount of teaching can ever make them normal. In addition to these there are many more chil- dren who are mentally retarded to a less degree, but are still so far from average-normal that in classes with normal chil- dren they are likely to receive little benefit. It is these chil- dren who are the direct cause of much of the school retardation in the city. Apparently the problem has been recognized, and an attempt has been made to solve it. For this attempt, although inadequate, the city is to be commended. Provision for back- ward children has been made (1) by the Ungraded School, and (2) by ungraded classes. The UngTaded School. This now occupies one of the oldest school buildings in the city. The school consists of five teachers and a principal. There are five rooms, and about 90 children were belonging at the time of the survey. The usual enrollment is about 100. The building is very poorly lighted. PROGRESS OF THE CHILDREN. 209 and the heating and ventilation facilities are worse than should be tolerated in any school. The principal's office occupies a basement room, which can be directly entered only through a back door. The conditions in the school rooms are no better. The property on which the building stands is of relatively high value, however, and since with adequate transportation facil- ities the location is of secondary importance, it is probable that the land could be sold at a figure which would apply sub- stantially toward a new building on 'a less expensive site. The children are given individual attention, especially in the subjects in which they seem to be the most backward. The principal is a university graduate in psychology, and is qual- ified to give mental tests and to judge the intelligence of the children. During the past four years he has made about 90 of such examinations. He is frequently called upon to examine children in the regular schools to determine their degree of defectiveness or backwardness, and to advise principals and teachers concerning the proper placing of certain children who offer difficulties of instruction or discipline. Mistaken aim of the unladed school. For the most part, the teachers in the ungraded school are energetic and inter- ested. None have had special training for this work, how- ever, although some are contemplating this for the present summer. Little manual training is taught, and the chief aim has been to instruct children in the subjects in which they are the most deficient, with a view to their being placed again in the grades. To make this the aim of the ungraded school is misleading. Although it is a splendid thing for children who are slightly back in arithmetic, for example, to be specially assisted in mak- ing up their particular difficulties, this is not what the un- graded school should be doing. Fully 75 per cent of the pupils in the school are mentally so far below normal that they will not be able, even with this special instruction, to "make up" their grades, and continue thereafter to make normal progress. Practically all of those now enrolled in the school, and many 210 SCHOOL SURVEY REPORT more who should be enrolled when provisions are made for a larger ungraded school, are in need of continued special class work. Teachers and principals should not be deluded by thinking that children are normal because the special class has improved them. Proper training for such pupils. When the State Legis- lature makes adequate provision for the care of the feeble- minded, the public schools will 'be relieved of many of their defective children. This it should do without further delay. There will still be need for the special school, however. Prob- ably none of the border-line and dull-normal cases will be removed, and there will always be many of the higher grade feeble-minded children who must be trained in the public schools. There s'hould be a special school of not less than 15 teachers, equipped not for average children, as in other schools, but especially for children whose minds have not developed normally. This should include, first of all, material for manual work. In no other line can defective children, be trained to any degree of usefulness. It is folly to waste much of their time in reading, arithmetic, etc., beyond the work of the lower grades. While it may happen frequently that feeble-minded children can retain for a short time some of the things they have been taught in these subjects, it is far from efficiency to learn things which can never be used. Backward and feeble- minded children can be trained in manual work, however, and in some cities and institutions much has been done in this line which has added to their happiness and usefulness. The so-called ungraded rooms. Another method which has been used in dealing with retarded pupils is that of the ungraded room. There are at present six teachers giving full time in ungraded rooms. Four teachers of domestic science are giving approximately half-time to this work. In several schools, the ungraded room has been discontinued for financial reasons. In reality, these rooms are not ungraded rooms at all. In fact, the children who make use of them are enrolled in the PROGRESS OF THE CHILDREN. 211 regular grades, and one or more periods of thirty minutes each are given to their special instruction in the subject or subjects which present the most difficulty. A large number of children can be ''coached" in this manner, and one teacher reported a class of 70 pupils per day. The following is the daily schedule of one of these classes : 9:00 to 9:30 Arithmetic 7B. 9:30 to 10:00 Reading 2B. 10 :00 to 10 :30 Arithmetic 5B. 10:30 to 10:45 Recess. 10 :45 to 11 :00 Reading and Phonics 3B. 11:00 to 11:30 Reading 6B. 11 :30 to 12 :00 Grammar 7A. 1:00 to 1:40 Geography 7B. 1:40 to 2:10 Arithmetic 6B. 2:10 to 2:20 2:20 to 2:30 Recess. 2:30 to 3:05 Grammar 8B. 3:05 to 3:30 Grammar 9 and 7. 3 :00 to 3 :30 Reading 4A. In reality "Batavia" rooms. This form of special instruc- tion is similar to what is known as the "Batavia plan." While this work is of extreme importance to every school, and fur- nishes much relief to teachers, it is by no means a correct sub- stitute for the special class for backward children. Quite naturally, children who are backward or sub-normal mentally are most commonly sent to these classes, and the writer has observed many feeble-minded children who have been sent to these Batavia teachers with the expectation that they could discover in what subjects they were in need of the greatest attention' In one case, the teacher pointed out a boy who has been retained in one of these classes for two years. In any school, even if made up entirely of normal children, there is a place for this work ; but it is unfortunate that it has been instituted instead of the much needed special rooms, where the teacher may devote all her time to children who are men- 212 SCHOOL SURVEY REPORT. tally sub-normal. In nearly every school in the city there is need for such a class. As in the ungraded school, none of the teachers of these rooms have had special training, and it is not surprising that there is no one in such schools who can recognize feeble- minded children. None have made use of tests for this pur- pose. This, of course, is a serious handicap in the conducting of an ungraded room, or any form of special class work. What is needed. To what extent the school retardation has been affected by the presence of sub-normal children cannot be determined to an exact figure. To do this, it would be necessary to examine the mental condition of each retarded pupil, and to inquire into the other conditions which might have been responsible for his slow progress. Many cities are introducing research departments where this and other impor- tant work can be carried on. Little of value can be deter- mined except by continued scientific investigation. About 9 per cent, or 1570 pupils in the city schools, are repeating their grades one or more times. This means that the city is expending more than $90,000 per year for repeated in- struction. Calculating on the basis of the amount paid each year for teachers' salaries alone, $40,000 per year is paid di- rectly for this repeated instruction. This sum represents the salaries of 50 teachers at $800 each. This $40,000 would pro- vide : 15 teachers in a special school; 15 additional teachers in ungraded rooms ; each receiving a salary of not less than $1200. These 30 teachers could re- lieve the regular classes of 450 sub-normal children, allowing each teacher 15 special pupils. The value of this to the schools, and to the happiness and usefulness of these pupils, need not be reiterated. To say nothing of these, the change is justified from a purely business standpoint. The principal of such a school. The principal of the un- graded school should be a psychologist. This the city has already recognized. He should have jurisdiction, not only PROGRESS OF THE CHILDREN. 213 over the ungraded school of 15 teachers, but over all of the special class work in the city. In: the latter, he would have the co-operation of the school principals. He should be given a clerical assistant, to relieve him of routine office duties, in which otherwise he would lose much valuable time, and should devote at least one-half of each day to research work and investig-ation into such problems as retardation. Under his direction all retarded and greatly accelerated pupils should be examined, and the records permanently kept in the laboratory, which should be provided in the ungraded school. In a single year records of the intelligence of the 600 sub-normal children in the schools could be made. The amount of retardation could be greatly reduced, by the proper placing of pupils, and by the additional assistance rendered to the health officers in the diagnosis of cases. Ungraded rooms for the different schools. In each school provision should be made for at least one real ungraded room. This is particularly important in planning new school buildings. The following are the salient points in the construction of a standard ungraded room.* 1. The room should be well lighted and ventilated. 2. Not more than 15 children should be provided for. 3. The room should be approximately 30x40 feet in size. 4. The windows should be adjustable, so that an open-air room can be made. 5. The walls should be of a neutral tint. 6. Instead of school desks, movable tables and chairs of various sizes should be provided. 7. There should be 8 work benches for manual training. 8. There should be cupboards and cases for the display and keeping of work. 9. The walls should be provided with plenty of black- boards, built low, so they can be reached by the smallest pupils. 10. A bathroom or shower should adjoin the room. 11. There should be equipment for training in practical ♦Goddard, School Training of Defective Children. N. Y., 1914. 214 SCHOOL SURVEY REPORT. housework. This should be the essential equipment of a home, including a bed, stove, dishes, etc. 12. Books, play apparatus, etc., should be available. It is obvious that such a room is not meant for the teach- ing of reading, writing, arithmetic, etc., except in an inci- dental manner. Trained teachers in charge of these rooms, under the supervision of an expert, will know to what extent the minds of the children are capable of each kind of work, and the instruction of each child will follow accordingly. As has already been pointed out, the greatest success with sub- normal children has been obtained by placing emphasis upon manual work of a practical sort. Exceptional Children. Although the greater portion of this chapter has been devoted to the problem of backward and sub-normal children, there are other ways in which children may vary from the average, and for these special attention is just as necessary. Often the importance of the problem of retardation overshadows this fact, and these children are neg- lected. There are many children whose minds have developed more rapidly than those of average children, and whose intelligence is such that they are capable of work which ordinary children cannot do at the same age. In some cases such children have been .promoted to a grade or more beyond that in which they would be according to actual age. Some have been allowed to "skip" grades. Often the intelligence of these children is underestimated, and still more often teachers and parents are prevented by tradition and custom from allowing them to go beyond the work which seems to be suitable to their ages. On the other hand, parents not infrequently insist that a child is capable of advancement, when the school records plainly show that he is not. Here again psychological tests are of great assistance. With the child's mental age known, teachers, parents, and principals will not need to rely upon personal opinion, and the child's course can be 'based upon scientific facts. PROGRESS OF THE CHILDREN. 215 Tjrpical cases found. The following cases are representa- tive of school children of superior mentality. Both of these, and many others, were examined during- the progress of the survey. Lucile E. — Age 13. Mentality about 16. Is in the seventh grade. With special instruction for a time could be doing the work of the second year in high school. Temperamentally pleasant, and much devoted to her work. In good health, not nervous, and offers no special diffi- culty, except that the work of the seventh grade is too easy for her. Is from a home where less than average opportunities are available. Father "does not believe" in high school training, and expects to remove Lucile from school when she has completed the eighth grade. George N. — Age 9. Mentality about 13. Is in fourth grade. From an average home. Has been well trained in politeness and obedience. Could be doing the work of which any normal child of 12 or 13 years would be capable. In excellent physical condition. We little know what immense possibilities lie in these and other gifted children. Many cases of this kind are on record, and too often insufficient attention is given in the conserva- tion of these possibilities. In some instances, capabilities just as remarkable have been found, but in some special direction, such as music, art, etc. It is of the greatest importance that children who early in life show such ability should be educated according to their levels of intelligence, rather than be held back with other children of the same age. The problem of delinquency. This is fundamentally a problem for the public schools to handle. Many boys and girls are now in our reformatories and juvenile institu- tions who might have been saved through vocational guidance and other provisions which the public schools sliould have made for them. It is generally recognized that the feeble- minded child is a potential delinquent. The minds of these children will always remain like those of young children, and 216 SCHOOL SURVEY REPORT. consequently they will have neither the a'bility nor the desire to resist the temptations which cause their downfall. Even some children of normal mentality are weak in will power or have emotional characteristics which lead to crime. In 1910 there were 25,000 children in institutions for de- linquents. Of these, 14,000 had been committed in less than one year. Not less than one-third of these are feeble-minded; and not less than one-half are mentally retarded to such a degree that this deficiency would account for their delin- quency. There are fully 12,000 who do not belong where they have been placed, and for whom no form of punishment can be of great benefit. Many, when released, will again enter lives of crime, and will spend many of their later years in prison. Hence the responsibility of the public school in the classification and guidance of children who exhibit these ten- dencies. Smnmaiy of recommendations. As a result of the studies recorded in this chapter the following recommendations are made : 1. That a new special school, for ungraded work, be erected. This should contain not less than 15 rooms, and 20 would be a better number. 2. That the principal of the ungraded school be given such clerical assistance as to permit him to direct the work of the psychological laboratory, and to have direction over all ungraded rooms in the city. 3. That there be established not less than 15 ungraded rooms in regular schools, in addition to the Batavia teaching Avhich is now provided for. It would be still 'better if at least one such room were provided in connection with each large school in the city. 4. That trained teachers be secured for this ungraded school work. 5. That no ungraded room contain more than 15 pupils permanently enrolled. PROGRESS OF THE CHILDREN. 217 6. That in providing for ungraded rooms, especially in new buildings, the plan of the standard room, as outlined by Dr. Groddard, be followed as closely as possible. 7. That special classes, wherever practicable, be estab- lished for gifted children, or that some plan he adopted by means of which they may make more rapid progress through the course of study. 8. That greater attention be given to the problem of children who show evidences of becoming socially undesirable. PART III Buildings and Health THE SCHOOL PLANT. 221 CHAPTER X. THE SCHOOL PLANT. (Terman.) The present buildings. Of the 34 buildings at present in use, 30 belong to an obsolete type of school architecture. The heating, lighting and ventilation of most of these buildings are unsatisfactory. There are not enough class rooms to accom- modate the children. Dark, damp, and dingy basement rooms which are totally unjfit for human occupancy are used as class rooms, as are also poorly lighted and ill-ventilated halls. Many of the rooms used for domestic science are objectionable, both from the hygienic and the aesthetic point of view. There are hardly any assembly rooms. There are no school baths in any primary or grammar grade school. The toilet arrange- ments are in many cases unsanitary and unsightly. The jan- itor service is partly good and partly bad. A few of the sites are not well suited to school purposes, and in the case of more than half the schools the playground space is extremely inade- quate. These and other items relating to the school plant war- rant individual treatment in this report. The school sites. A school is not properly located when it is in too close proximity to railroads, car lines, streets, noisy fac- tories,, saloons, or other otherwise morally objectionable places. It is also necessary, in selecting a school site, to take account of possible shifts of population and of possible objectionable changes which may later take place in the environment. Above all, playgrounds of adequate size should be obtained before the increase in value of the surrounding real estate renders this prohibitive. Little adverse criticism can be made as to the location of the school sites except in two or three cases. Two railroad lines within a block of the Lincoln building detract from this 222 SCHOOL SURVEY REPORT. site, and a few others are located rather closer to street car lines than is desirable. There is no school located where the surrounding popula- tion seems likely to decrease to a point which would render the building or any part of it unnecessary. Unfortunately, however, there has not always been sufficient foresight in anticipating the increase of needs incident to the growth of population. Many of the school sites are so small as to make it impossible to locate the buildings the requisite distance from the street, or to provide playground facilities for the children. Size of school grounds. In a city no larger and no more crowded than Salt Lake City a school site ought to contain not less than 200 square feet for each child. This rule will require about five acres for a site which may reasonably be expected sometime to accommodate 1000 to 1200 pupils. In order to provide for possible increases in attendance and enlargement oif buildings, every new school site provided ought to contain, if possible, not less than five acres. The very minimum which should be regarded permissible even in a large city is 100 square feet of a playground space for each child. Even the city of London has made this amount the legal minimum. The figures of Table 39 show how far many of the Salt Lake City school grounds fall below the minimum. The figures given are based on the entire area of the school site, inclusive of the ground on which the building is located. If the area of the building had been deducted the figures would have been in most cases very greatly reduced. THE SCHOOL PLANT. 223 TABLE NO. 39. SIZE OF PRESENT SCHOOL SITES. Group I. Less than 100 sq. ft. per child. Sq. ft. School. Enrollment. per child. Emerson 1,090 40 Grant 783 69 Fremont 302 74 Oquirrh 724 75 Longfellow 352 77 Lafayette 853 84 Lowell 615 88 Franklin 615 93 Wasatch 780 95 Hamilton 710 96 Total enrollment in this group, 6824. Group 11. 100 to 130 sq. ft. p€r child. Sq. ft. School. Enrollment. per child. Webster 719 102 Sumner 756 108 Lincoln 450 112 Forest 560 129 Jefferson 760 129 Poplar Orove... 417 130 Total enrollment of Group II, 3662. Group III. 170 to 200 sq. ft. per child. Sq. ft. School. Enrollment. per child. Jackson 802 171 Riverside 820 189 Irving 291 189 Monroe 320 200 Total enrollment of Group III, 2233. 224 SCHOOL SURVEY REPORT. TABLE NO. 39, CONTINUED. Group IV. Above 200 sq. ft. per child. School. Enrollment. Washin^on 721 Onequa 436 Ensign 421 East High 1,299 Bonneville 105 Hawthorne 538 Bryant 30O West High 870 Whittier 750 Twelfth 96 Training 362 Total enrollment of Group IV, 5668. Sq. ft. per child. 223 256 517 385 403 404 412 500 522 567 1,037 "6]% OVER 200 5QJT. PERCHILD 170 -ZOO SQ.FT. PER ChILD 100-130 SQ.n. PER CHILD LESS TtiAN 100 SQ.riPCRCHILD FIG. 37. SHOWING PERCENTAGE OF CHILDREN HAV- ING PLAYGROUNDS OF VARIOUS SIZES. THE SCHOOL PLANT. 225 The preceding" diagram shows the percentag^e distribution of children among the sites of these four sizes: It is a pleasure to note that the last three buildings erected, Whittier, Hawthorne, and East Hig'h, all have ample grounds. This is also true of the two now being^ built in the vicinity of East High School, but it is not true of Jefferson, which was erected only five years ag'O. Nowhere else in the school system is forethought more important than in the selection of well-located and ample sites, in anticipation of future needs. Blessings or tragedy hangs upon the choice. Some of the cramped sites listed above could not now 'be enlarged except at prohibitive cost. In the case of others, additions are still feasible and ought to be made at the earliest possible moment. Wa^te of space in buildings. Some or all of the class rooms or halls in nearly every building have an excess of floor space, and the ceilings of practically all the buildings are from 1% to 21/2 feet higher than the standard. This is true to a certain extent even in the new buildings, barring possibly the East High and the Hawthorne school. The best size for a class room is 22x28 feet, with a 12 foot ceiling. The greatest size permissible is 24x30 feet, with a 13 foot ceiling. Class rooms of' 30x33 or 30x30, with a ceiling of 14 feet, are almost the rule in Salt Lake City. Measurements of the floor area of all the class rooms in the city, which were made by the teach- ers at the request of the survey, gave the facts set forth in Figure 38, reproduced on the following page. The intent of such construction was doubtless that of giving children and teachers ample room for carrying on their work. The result, however, is a building which in many re- spects is far from satisfactory for the work of the school. A class room needlessly large is more costly to heat, and usually not as well lighted. The children in the rear seats have to strain their eyes to see what is written on the blackboard, and the teacher has to strain her voice to make it fill the room. Order is more .difficult to maintain. Moreover, the large 226 SCHOOL SURVEY REPORT. ,^3JI~^ ^^^^ /^ ^C^ ^ / A l^^^k^^ ^/ ,^1 ^^^^^^ "^/ H^^^H^^ ^P ^/ ^^^^^^cP 1 l^^^^^^^^^^l * \ •T^^^^^^^d^^^^t^^^ / <^ 'DS OOS-' FIG. 38. SHOWING PERCENTAGE OF SCHOOL ROOMS HAVING VARIOUS AREAS. room offers a constant temptation to enlarge classes beyond the point where good teaching is possible. The result of such, excess. The cost of such excess space is no mean item. A room 30x30 has nearly 50 per cent more floor space than the standard room of 22x28, and one of 27x30 has an excess floor area of about 25 per cent. A room 30x30, with a 14 foot ceiling, has 70 per cent excess of cubical con- tents as compared with one which is 22x28x12 ; or an excess of 56 per cent as compared with one 24x28x12. The cost of a school room is almost (though not quite) in proportion to its THE SCHOOL PLANT. . 227 cubical contents, and the cost of building 400 school rooms having an average excess of 30 per cent in cubical contents above the standard has certainly involved a waste of more than a half million dollars. The practical outcome of extravagance in space is likely to be the omission of much-needed special rooms and equipment, and we are now in better position to understand why, in the schools of Salt Lake City, the domestic science work is usually relegated to some dingy corner which is unfit for regular class purposes; why manual training must so often be carried on by artificial light; why there are no assembly rooms; why toilet arrangements are so inadequate and cheap ; why there is not a single bath or a single nurse's room in the primary or grammar schools; why approximately 2000 children are compelled to attend school in dark cellars. Reasonable econ- omy in school planning would have supplied most if not all of these unfortunate omissions. Much space is also wasted in halls. Instead of the stan- dard width of 12 to 14 feet, a width of 16 to 24 feet is found in a, majority of the buildings. The Washington and Lowell schools have each two halls approximately 24x100 feet. The wasted space would have given each school four or five addi- - tional class rooms, or a commodious assembly room. Lighting. Following is a statement of the cardinal laws of school lighting, and of the departures therefrom in the schools of Salt Lake City. 1. The light should enter from one side of the class room only, and at the pupils' left. If it enters from two sides there are sure to be annoying cross-lights in certain parts of the room, and if there are win- dows in the rear the teacher is compelled to face a direct light. This is trying to the nerves and injurious to the health. The following table shows existing conditions in the Salt Lake City school buildings. 228 SCHOOL SURVEY REPORT. TABLE NO. 40. THE LIGHTING OF SALT LAKE CITY SCHOOL ROOMS'. Lighted from left only, 96 rooms (Standard method). Lighted from left and rear, 250 rooms Lighted ifrom right and rear, 3 rooms Lighted from left and right, 3 rooms Lighted from right only, 2 rooms Lighted from rear only, 1 room \ All incorrectly Lighted on three sides 46 rooms ( lighted. Lighted partly from front, 39 rooms More than half of light from rear, 120 rooms Prom this table it is seen that less than 22 per cent of the rooms are lighted from the proper direction, and over 88 per cent are improperly lighted. Even the buildings erected four to five years ago (Jefferson, Poplar Grove, and the new parts of Riverside and Wasatch) have a large proportion of their rooms lighted from two sides. 68.2 per cent of all the teachers in the city are compelled to face light entering from the rear win- dows. In 27.3 per cent of the rooms, more than half the lig'ht enters from the rear. Questioned as to the effects on health resulting from facing the light, 77 teachers stated that ill effects had been experienced, and 15 of these stated that the health had been seriously injured in this way. It must not be inferred that the 22 per cent of rooms hav- ing light on the left only are properly lighted. As a matter of fact, hardly any of them are. Some of them are lighted from the north or south, some have too little window space, others have windows placed too far forAvard. 2. The building should be so oriented that the windows of each class room are on the east or west side, not the north or south. Rooms lighted from the north are too dark on cloudy days and are less healthful than rooms which receive THE SCHOOL PLANT. 229 direct sunlight a part of the day. If the room is lighted from the south, however, the direct sunlight enters during the entire school day and, falling on the desks of pupils, is annoying and injurious to the eyes. In such cases the shades are likely to be drawn until the light admitted is too small in amount, and badly distributed. A possible exception in favor of south lighting may be made in the case of kindergarten rooms, but in no other class rooms. In Salt Lake City no rational attention seems to have been given to the matter of orientation, previous to the last three or four buildings erected. If anything, south lighting seems to have been preferred. The Washington and Lowell schools were evidently planned with the idea of giving the sun direct access to as many rooms as possible throughout the day. On the other hand, there are dozens of rooms in the city which never get a ray of direct sunlight, and some of these rooms are in damp basements. The only way to secure the proper orientation of class rooms is to construct long narrow school buildings, running north and south. Those of Salt Lake City are predominantly of the square type, with eight to twelve corner rooms lighted on one side and rear and a number of side rooms in between the corner rooms. The side rooms are lighted in about equal number from the north, east, south, or west. 3. The window space should be between 20 per cent and 25 per cent of the floor space. The following tabular statement shows the number of rooms having various percentages of window space as com- pared with floor space. 230 SCHOOL SURVEY REPORT 19 have less than 10 per cent ) 54 have between 10 and 15 per cent >• Below standard. 154 have between 15 and 20 per cent ) 139 have between 20 and 25 per cent Standard 72 have 25 per cent or more \ Above standard. The following drawing shows the same facts graphically. FIG. 39. SHOWING PROPORTION OF CLASSROOMS HAV- ING SUFFICIENT AND INSUFFICIENT WINDOW AREA IN PROPORTION TO FLOOR SPACE. THE SCHOOL PLANT. 231 While these figures show that a numher of rooms are seriously deficient in lig-hting area, it is seen that nearly half are generously supplied with windows. Taken alone, how- ever, these figures are misleading. A room may have more than the standard amount of window space and still be badly lighted, owing to such factors as the improper location of win- dow®, north orientation, unsuitable colors for walls and ceiling, the improper use of window shades, or the presence of trees, buildings, or other light obstructions near the windows. These are the critical factors in the school lighting of Salt Lake City, and in by far the larger proportion of rooms they more than offset the advantages of liberal window space. No fewer than 146 of the 440 rooms, or 33 per cent, have trees, walls, or other light obstructions within 50 feet of the windows and as high as the tops of the windows. This is also true for 72 of the 154 rooms which have a window area below standard. 4, The windows should not extend lower than 314 feet from the floor, and they should reach within a few inches of the ceiling. They should begin within 18 inches of the rear end of the left wall, and approach no closer than 7 or 8 feet to the front of the room. The purpose ol these rules is to control the direction from which the light shall come. The only light which does any good is that M'iiich strikes the pupil's book, and at an angle not too acute. Light which strikes the pupil's eyes directly is not only of no value, but actually prevents clear vision. In this city the bottom of the windows is usually about the right height from the floor, but there is often too much dead wall space above the top. A far worse fault, however, and a more common one, is the improper distribution of win- dows along the side of the room. Even in the few rooms which are lighted entirely from the left there is ordinarily too much dead wall space behind the back window, and too little in front of the front window. That is, the window area as a whole is placed too far forward. Architects are prone to do this in order to secure symmetry, but it should in no case be 232 SCHOOL SURVEY REPORT permitted. Even the last buildings built in 'Salt Lake City have this fault in practically every room. In many rooms the lighting would be better if the front window were kept perma- nently shaded. 6. The windows should be separated by mullions not much more than eight inches wide. This is to prevent trouble- some wedges of shadow caused by the dead space between the windows. The rule is broken in nearly every school room of the city. Often the wall space between the windows is three to five feet wide, and the pupils who sit in the shadows thus produced are greatly handicapped. 7. The color of the walls should be a light buff or a very light green, and that of the ceiling should be white or an extremely light cream. The reason for this rule is ob\4ous. Dark walls and ceil- ings absorb the light instead of reflecting it upon the desks. A very light buff reflects nearly twice as much light as a medium shade of green. The wall and ceiling colors prevailing in Salt Lake City are several shades too dark. Many a room which would be other- wise reasonably light and inviting is given a dark, dismal, and cheerless aspect. This effect is often enhanced by blackened streaks oif dirt and smoke which have come from the inlet ducts of the ventilating system. Five minutes in some of these worst rooms is positively depressing. A serious mistake has been made in adopting a uniform color scheme for all the schools. Badly lighted rooms should have walls and ceiling practically white. Many of the base- ment rooms and others which are objectionable as regards lighting could have their light almost doubled by proper color treatment. It is strongly urged that practically all the rooms in the city, except in the latest schools, be re-tinted at once, and under the direction of someone who understands the needs of a class room. 8. Window shades, when used at all, should be trans- lucent, and their use should be regulated by definite rules to be followed by all the teachers. THE SCHOOL PLANT. 233 Shades are necessary for south windows, but should ordi- narily not be permitted in rooms depending solely on north light ; nor are they seriously needed on east or west windows. If present they are often drawn over windows which ought to be left unobstructed, hence the need for rules to regulate their use. In this city the shades are uniformly bad, all being opaque, single, and fastened at the top o"! the window. They can not be drawn, even part way, without cutting off the best light of the room, namely, that which comes from the upper part of FIG. 40. THE ' ' BISHOP HARMAN ' ' PHOTOMETER, USED IN THE EXAMINATION OF THE LIGHTING OF SCHOOL ROOMS. 234 SCHOOL SURVEY REPORT. the window. What is worse, the teachers gave no evidence of having had any instruction in regard to the proper use of shades. In many rooms which would be too dark under the best conditions, and where no excuse exists for cutting off any of the light at any time, shades were found drawn clear to the bottom of the windows. In one room, about 16x30 feet in size, having only two windows and those directly behind the backs of the pupils, one window was found entirely darkened on a cloudy day. Light tests. Though the facts set forth above ought to be convincing, we are able to add to those the results of light tests in 32 rooms. A ''Bishop Harma'n" photometer was used. It is a photometer of recent English make, and is well adapted for the purpose. The following table gives the results of the tests made. TABLE NO. 41. SHOWING RESULTS OF LIGHT TESTS ON DARKEST DESK OF 32 CLASSROOMS. Name of School No. of Time Room of day 6 11:15 7 11:20 1 11:25 5 11:30 1 2:30 5 3:00 c 3:10 9 2:00 5 2:10 2 2:00 5 2:10 7 2:15 Weather conditions Light in foot candles (min. permissible is 9 feet candles) Lincoln Lincoln ..... Lincoln Lincoln Riverside . . . Webster .... Webster Grant Grant Longfellow . Longfellow . Longfellow . . Longfellow .. Franklin . . . Franklin Franklin . . . Franklin Poplar Grove Bryant Bryant Bryant Lowell Monroe Monroe Monroe Lafeyette . . . Lafayette . . . Lafayette . . . Lafayette . . . Jackson . .No? b Fremont . . 12 2:20 3 3:00 1 3:10 2 3:15 4 3:20 3 3:30 3 11:30 5 11:40 7 11:45 3 11:00 I 29 |As'ly| 36 10 1 20 22 asemt No? 3:40 3:45 3:50 3:15 3:20 3:25 3:30 10:00 11:00 partly cloudy partly cloudy partly cloudy partly cloudy cloudy cloudy cloudy cloudy cloudy cloudy cloudy cloudy cloudy cloudy cloudy cloudy cloudy partly cloudy partly cloudy partly cloudy partly cloudy clear clear clear clear clear clear clear clear clear clear 5.5 4.5 2. 3.5 3. 2.5 8. 2. 2.5 2.5 4. 1.5 2. 1.5 2 lis 2. 6. 4.5 4. 4.5 3.5 5. 1. 1.5 2.5 3. 4. 3.5 2. 3.5 THE SCHOOL PLANT. 235 The above tests were nearly all made while classes were in session. Window shades were left as they were found. The rooms selected for the tests are among the darkest in the city, but they do not include anything like all of those which are very badly lighted. About 10 per cent of the schoolrooms in the city use artificial light a part of the time, and seven rooms all the time. The method of artificial lighting is unsatisfactory. The lights are not numerous enough and they are usually not properly distributed. Often they are placed so that the light strikes the pupil directly in the face. The light shades are also unsatisfactory. If the walls and ceilings were of a lighter color it would perhaps be preferable to use the indirect system where artificial lighting is necessary. Heating: AVhile the- heating plants in general use would seem to be well suited to the climate and the type of school buildings, there are individual rooms in many buildings which, according to the statements of principals and teachers, are not properly heated. The following are some of the chief com- plaints voiced: Not enough heat (Monroe, Franklin, Lincoln, Freemont and AVest High) ; heat not well distributed (Ham- ilton, Irving, Lowell and ^Sumner) : heat especially unsatisfact- ory in basement (Franklin). Other complaints came from Bonneville, Jackson, Longfellow, Twelfth and East High. Complaints based on the every-day experience of princi- pals and teachers do not, of course, give us the facts about the system which a heating engineer would want to know, but they do indicate in a general way whether faults exist. Only extended observation and tests by a qualified expert would give the remedy in each case. The best test of whether a heating plant is working sat- isfactorily is the simple one of making temperature records in each room of a building at successive hours of the school day. During the months of November and December, 1914, and January, 1915, the school nurses of Salt Lake City re- corded thermometer readings in nearly all the rooms below the high Schools. The temperature of each room that had a ther- 236 SCHOOL SURVEY REPORT. mometer was recorded three different times, once in November, once in December, and again in January. In all, 1157 records were made. These were placed at the disposal of the survey staff by the board of health, and their results are summarized in the following table : TABLE NO. 42. TEMPERATURES FOUND IN CLASSROOMS. Readings below 60 degrees 1-1 or 1 per cent Readings either 60 or 61 degrees 25 or 2 per cent Readings either 62 or 63 degrees 56 or 4.8 per cent Readings either 64 or 65 degrees 109 or 9 per cent Readings either 66 or 67 degrees 160 or 13 per cent (Standard) readings either 68 or 69 degrees 343 or 29 per cent Readings either 70 or 71 degrees 248 or 21 per cent Readings either 72 or 73 degrees 113 or 9 per cent Readings either 74 or 75 degrees 61 or 5 per cent Readings either 76 or 77 degrees 14 or 1 per cent Readings either 78 or 79 degrees 7 or .6 per cent Readings either 80 or above 7 or .6 per cent If we call 68 to 69 degrees standard, it is seen that only 29 per cent of the records are entirely satisfactory. If we de- fine standard as everything in the range from 66 degrees to 71 degrees, inclusive, we have 63 per cent of the records sat- isfactory. Even on this liberal basis, considerably more than a third of the rooms were improperly heated at the time the records were taken, and ^v'hat was true on those days doubt- less holds for most of the other days of the school year. Members of the surv^ey staff repeatedly entered school rooms which had the stifling temperature of 75 to 80 degrees. Judg- ing from the records, we may conclude that more than 1,200 children (more exactly 7.2 per cent of the number attending) are daily subjected to suffocating temperatures above 74 degrees. It is little wonder that 20 per cent are subject to THE SCHOOL PLANT. 237 frequent colds, or that more than 8 per cent have chronic nose or throat trouble. (See Figure 43, page 280.) It is evident from the above facts that either the ther- mostats need some attention or else the method of their su- pervision by janitors ; probably both. Professional training of janitors and strict supervision of their work by the school principals would doubtless increase materially the effective- ness of the heating systems. ^^jlg^^ >, //o i^ ^H^HnH^^IHHil ^ ^ /<^>?SHHHH^hHI ^p^v iS" /xXxOoVI^hH^^^HI^^^^ \ ^ lyy^^\/y/^I^^K^^^^KH^^^ \ 1 .•^ //>^/v'>^^?i^^^B^^^^ ■ feJ^^^^SP^^ |o ^ rxy\/yyy'C'''yyy / ^ V>vvvvvi^vvv c^ 1 # / *«^^$$^ ^^ />%:%>;< ^ /(o y f oe><^ - — FIG. 41. SHOWING FREQUENCY OF DIFFERENT TEM- • PERATURES IN CLASSROOMS. 238 SCHOOL SURVEY REPORT. Ventilation. The pleunni system, aspiration, and natural ventilation are almost equally employed. The East High School has the exhaust system. Those depending entirely on natural ventilation are Bonneville, Irving, Jordan, Forest and Whittier Annexes, Lake Breeze, Twelfth, and West High (main building). Although time was not available for making tests, the fact was evident that the ventilation of many of the schools conld not be satisfactory. This is of course necessarily true of those buildings having only natural ventilation, and it is probably true of manj'- of the others. There is no satisfactory system of ventilation for school buildings which does not em- ploy some mechanical means of driving the air in as it is needed. The gravity system is satisfactory only when the temperature of the air outside the building is at least as low as thirty degrees. When the Aveather is warmer than this no gravity system ever devised will afford the desired circulation of air. Each child should be furnished with at least 2,000 cubic feet of air per hour (the standard for high school pupils is 2.500 cubic feet per hour), and this is of course just as necessary in warm as in cold weather. In weather which is nuieh above 'freezing, however, a building Avliich depends on the gravity system will have very much less than the amount of air renewal. The etfieiency of natural ventilation, which is doubtful at best, is also greatly reduced when the difference between the indoor and the outdoor tem- perature is not very great. Mechanical means are therefore necessary for accelerating the rate of air circulation. For this purpose either plenum or exhaust fans, or both, may be used. The exhaust system alone is never satisfactory, because of the impossibility of com- pletely controlling the source of supply of fresh air. Leakage into the room occurs at doors and windows, and sometimes through the walls. Often air is sucked into the classrooms from basements, toilets or other unwholesome quarters. Plenum fans are the only means of controlling the source of fresh air. THE SCHOOL PLANT. 239 Other factors in ventilation. However, the installation of a plenum system does not of itself guarantee satisfactory- ventilation. Other factors of great importance are size and location of both inlet and outlet ducts, location of main in- take, size of fan, number, size, and location of aspiration flues, etc. The most common mistake is that of making the inlet and outlet duct for each room so small that an adequate supply of air cannot be furnished without being driven in at too high a speed, causing a draft. If the ducts are not properly located there is no guarantee against short-circuiting or other fail- ure of air circulation. If the main intake is located near the ground, or near a dusty street or playground, the air driven in is likely to be impure or dusty. The same result takes place if the fan room is not clean, or if it is not separated from the boiler room. If aspiration flues are employed these must be sufficiently numerous, and they must be properly located, high, and well heated to insure adequate circulation of air. All of the above are common faults in the ventilation of school buildings in Salt Lake City. In some buildings it is doubtful whether the mechanical system in use is very much more effective than natural ventilation would be. Com- plaints from teachers and principals come from buildings with various types of ventilation. Among these are Franklin, Fremont, Wasatch, Hamilton, Jackson, Washington, Onequa, Oquirrh, Sumner and West High. Poor ventilation common. That imperfect ventilation is rather widespread is also indicated by 1,090 records taken by the nurses, who, when making the temperature records also reported on the satisfactoriness of ventilation in each room. This was done in November, December and again in January, for almost every schoolroom in the eity. These records are based on the general impression made by the air of the rooms upon the nurses, and, while these are doubtless less trustworthy than tests would have furnished, they give at least a rough 240 SCHOOL SURVEY REPORT. idea as to the quality of vetitiiation. These records show the ventilation as less than satisfactory in 42 per cent of the rooms, and bad in 8.2 per cent. Ventilation "good" 638, or 58.5 per cent Ventilation '"fair" 362, or 33.2 per cent Ventilation "poor" 90, or 8.3 per cent The choice and control of a ventilating system is of course bound up with the question of heating. In respect to neither heating nor ventilation it is not possible here to set forth in de- tail the methods which should be followed. Nor should this be necessary. A superintendent of buildings, himself an engi- neer, familiar wath the latest developments in this line, and clothed with the proper authority, could be depended upon both to correct the faults of the heating and ventilating sys- tems in use (as far as correction is possible) and to furnish expert advice in the planning of future buildings. It cannot be too strongly emphasized that these are matters for the ex- pert. No board of education is competent to decide questions either of heating or ventilation, and experience also proves that it is far from safe to leave the decision as to the system and details of arrangement entirely to the architect. It is recommended that in future buildings, and where- ever possible in old buildings, air-w^ashers be installed. The discolored walls of very many rooms show that dirty air is being forced into the buildings. Air-w^ashers are not expen- sive, and they prevent the breathing of much injurious dust. The prevalence of smoke in the atmosphere of Salt Lake City during certain months of the year renders their use more than ordinarily urgent in this city. It is also recommended that adequate arrangements be made for the humidification of the schoolroom air. At present no special effort is made in this line. Without proper humid- ifying apparatus the humidity of the air in the schoolroom is certain to be often as low as 25 to 30 per cent, which is as dry as the air of Sahara Desert. Excessive dryness of the THE SCHOOL PLANT. 241 air causes nervousness and restlessness, and gives rise to nose and throat troubles. Even plants have a hard struggle to live in such an atmosphere. Basement and hall classrooms. In Salt Lake City there are seventy-four basement rooms used as regular classrooms, besides a few others which are used for special class pur- poses. Halls are also utilized for classes to the equivalent of forty-six classrooms. If the attendance in these basement and hall groups averages 30, which is probably a low estimate, it is seen that there are not far from 2,220 children who have no proper accommodation. This is more than 10 per cent of the entire enrollment. AVhile it may be possible to defend the use of a few of the best basement rooms, such as those at the Wasatch school, there is no questioning the fact that most of these under- ground rooms are utterly unfit for use. By far the majority of them are dark, gloomy, damp, and ill-ventilated. Accord- ing to statements made by teachers and principals a number of them are also improperly heated. Some are so dark that artificial lighting is necessary, even on clear days. The amount of light on the darkest desk of some of these rooms was found by actual measurement to be less than one-fifth the minimum which should ever be permitted. It is unnecessary to argue the unfitness of such dismal and unhealthful cellar rooms for school purposes. A city which reqiTires children to attend school in such quarters in- curs a grave responsibility. The children enrolled in the base- ment rooms are largely in the first and second grades and the kindergarten, the very children who are most susceptible to injury from unwholesome physical environment. One may well wonder, too, whether such an environment does not have its subtle mental effects, and whether it tends to provoke on the part of children just entering school the right outlook upon, and the desired attitude toward, things educational. These should be abandoned. Steps should be taken with- out delay to abandon the use of nearly all of the basement 242 SCHOOL SURVEY REPORT. rooms. Many of them could be made over into baths, nurse's rooms, toilets, etc. Some, however, are hardly fit even for these purposes. In future buildings no basement rooms should be provided which could by any possibility be used for classes, except, under the right conditions, rooms for manual train- ing or domestic science. We would emphasize the phrase "under right conditions." Most oi the basement rooms now in use are unfit even for manual or domestic work. Most are so thoroughly bad that it is hard to say which should be abandoned first, but those of the following schools are among the worst: Jackson, Lincoln, Franklin, Sumner, Oquirrh, Lowell and "Washington. Other cases, however, are almost as urgent. As already stated, forty-six class groups recite in hall- ways. The use of halls for class purposes is hardly less ob- jectionable than that of basements. Halls are less subject to dampness, but their lighting, heating and ventilation are often as bad or worse. The danger from dust in much greater, and the noise is likely to be disturbing. On the whole, however, halls 'are to be preferred to basements when it is necessary to choose between two such undesirable evils. Better than either is the portable school house. If pro- vided in sufficient numbers to take the place of basements, though, these would seriously reduce the ground area avail- able for play, but in themselves they are far from bad. AVhen the ceiling is painted white they are well lighted, and their ventilation can be made fairly satisfactory by means of the jacketed stove. Those now in use have ceilings too dark and a poor type of stove. Portables are likely to be uncom- fortably warm in warm weather, and the floors are usually cold in Avinter. With all of their faults, however, they are a great improvement over basement and hall rooms. School desks. The main requirements of school seating are: (1) that the seat should be the right height to permit the feet to rest easily on the floor; (2) that the desk should be high enough to render stooping unnecessary, and low enough THE SCHOOL PLANT. 243 that the arms will not he unduly elevated; and (3) that the seat project under the edge of the desk at two inches. There are other minor requirements, but these are the most essen- tial. The first two rules cannot be followed unless each room contains adjustable desks to the extent of about 30 per cent of the entire number, or at least three sizes of ordinary desks. It is never possible to fit all the children of a given room in seats of one size, because in practically every class the largest children are from eight inches to sixteen inches taller than the smallest. Of 440 rooms from Avhich data were secured in this city, 284, or 86 per cent, have no adjustable desks, and only 10 per cent have 10 or over. Even where adjustable desks have been supplied they are not always adjusted with the proper frequency and care. In 13 out of 45 rooms with adjustable desks the desks had not been adjusted since last December. At least twice a year should be the rule. In one case the prin- cipal was not even aware that certaim, desks were adjustable, and when his attention was called to the fact he was evi- dently surprised. The adjusting of desks seems to be left largely to the janitors, who, of course, know little or nothing ■ about the requirements of school seating and are prone to neglect the matter. Many of the rooms lacking adjustable desks are equipped with desks of only one size. Whether the third rule is followed, namely that the seat should project at least two inches under the desk, depends entirely on the authority responsible for putting down the seats. It is of course as easy to set them correctly as in- correctly. Failure to follow the rule on this point inevitably causes round shoulders and cramped lungs. And yet, in Salt Lake City, the rule is uniformly and consistently broken. In more than 200 rooms visited by the writer there was hardly a desk correctly set. It is necessary to make one other criticism of the desks. Many of these look so old and worn that the attractiveness 244 SCHOOL SURVEY REPORT of the room is severely marred. The worst of these, unless they can be replaced 'by desks of a better type, ought to be re-finished. In various respects most of the desks now in use belong to an obsolete type. In the future purchase of desks it is urged that careful study be made of some of the modern types which are more satisfactory from the hygienic point of view. Though it should go without saying, it needs to be emphasized that cheapness in school desks is not the main desiratum. Blackboards. The blackboard space in practically all the schools is generous. The composition blackboard is the type in general use. This gives fairly satisfactory results if kept in repair, and if the room is not too damp. Except in the damp basement rooms, most of those seen were in reasonably good condition. The slate blackboard is to be preferred, but in set- ting it much eare is necessary in order to prevent uneven joints. It is also more costly. Blackboards should reach within 26 inches of the floor in the primary grades, and within 30 inches in the grammar grades. They were found from 4 to 6 inches too high in 52 classrooms, and from 7 to 12 inches too high in 22 classrooms. Cloak rooms. Unsightly rows of coats and hats disfigure the halls of all the schools. In future buildings cloak rooms should be provided, one for each classroom. The best loca- tion for it is directly behind the teacher's desk. The cloak room should have no door entering from the hall, but should be connected with the classroom by two doors, one on either side of the teacher's desk. This arrangement permits suit- able control of the room by the teacher, and minimizes the danger of pilfering and other annoyances. The cloak room should of course be well lighted and ventilated. Ventilation can be managed by having a part of the air of the classroom circulate (through perforated doors) into the cloak room on its way to the outlet ducts. Special rooms. In order to be regarded as strictly mod- ern, a city school building should ordinarily have the follow- THE SCHOOL PLANT. 245 ing specially-planned rooms : An assembly room, a library, a rest room, a kindergarten room, a nurse's room, shower baths with dressing booths, and rooms for manual training, sewing, and cooking. An art room is also desirable. Proper provision should be made for these in the original plans, as the ordinary classroom can seldom be worked over satisfactorily into a special room. The kindergarten room (or rooms) should of course be on the first floor and should be extremely well lighted. A south exposure, though objectionable for other classrooms, is well adapted for kindergartens. The kindergarten (preferably also the first grade) should have its own toilet. The rooms to be used for cooking should of course be planned for the special equipment needed and should be bright and attractive. To use for this purpose a room which is dark, dingy, and ill-ventilated is subversive of the very purposes for which domestic science is taught. The manual training rooms should be located where the noise will not disturb clas,ses, and should always be well lighted. These should have a store room of liberal dimensions. The library need not be large, but it should be excep- tionally well lighted and attractively furnished. The art room should be given a north exposure, in order to avoid direct sunlight, but it must have a large amount of lighting surface. The nurse's room should be on the first floor, and need not be large. It should have abundant light, running water, and a built-in cabinet for the storing of first-aid material and other equipment. The assembly room is the most important part of the building. Its inclusion in all new buildings is one of the most important steps toward the "wider use of the school plant." Nothing else about the building so operates to bring the school and the home together. The total valuation of the school buildings and grounds of Salt Lake City is given as $3,041,343. This investment is productive only six hours a 2i6 SCHOOL SURVEY REPORT. day for 200 days of the yoar; m- a total i>r \:200 hours por year. Everythinji' that proiuotos inoroa^iod \iso of the sohool plant oiig'ht to bo eiuH>iu'aged, and tlie assendily room oor- tainly belongs in this oatagory. Some of tlie most impovtant eonsiderations in its [danning are size, easy aeressibility, and safety from tire. Special sohooliM>oms in this eity are usually eonspimunis for their absence. Only a small minority of the buildings are provided with an assembly room. Kooms nsed for cooking, sewing, manual training, and library are seldom adapted to the purpose, and are often rooms which are too dark, damp, or inaccessible to be nsed for regular classes. The buildings constructed in the last two or three years are improveu\ents in this respect, but there is still not a nuinse's room in the city, and not a bath in the grades below the high school. Nor do all of the recent buildings contain an assembly room. Special rooms of the above types are to be regarded as necessities, not as luxuries. They should be included in fu- ture school buildings aii a mere matter of course. The ar- gument that they cost a gi.HHl deal of money has no weight. School facilities which poorer cities can and do afford are surely not too costly for Salt Lake City. As already shown this city has wasted enough money in luieconomical building plans to have supplied most of the special rooms needed. Open-air schools. Salt Lake City is one of the few cities of its size in the country without ai\ open-air scliool. The impression seems to prevail that they are unnecessary here because of the excellence of the climate. There is absolutely lu^ ground for such a view. Recent aiul wide-spread investi- gations justify the conclusion that in the schools of any cli- mate there are nunu^i'ous children with latent tnbercuU>sis, and many othei"s who are predisposed to it. The disease is rapidly coming to be looked upon as a "children's disease.*' one which is acquired by a large proportion of children every- where. There is reason to believe that a majority of the cases which do not become ' 'manifest" until adult life have existed in latent form since childhood. THE a(;il<)()l. I' I. A NT. 247 Tlic |)r(»|)(»r| ion of si'lntol cliildi-cii v\'illi iiuiiiirrst liil»cfcii losi.s is (tl' course (•(•l;il,ivcly siiiiill, iisiially iiol, iiiorc lli;iii ;i liiilT of one per cent of the loliil oirolliiKMil,. I-Wcn ;il, I his rate t,li(! sliHCd ol' SjiII, lijikc i'My would ))(; 100. Tliciw. in lil.lh; ,^ U ^ PQ PM >> aj >. »^ o P si O ""-I 01 -tJ O <4H >. w '-^^r, ^ 02 ^?^n O Ph bJOv o d Bonneville Bryant Emerson Ensign Forest Franklin Fremont Grant Hamilton Hawthorne Irving- Jackson Jefferson Lafayette Lincoln Longfellow Lowell Monroe Onequa Onequa (Annex). Oquirrh Poplar Grove Riverside Sumner Training Twelfth Wasatch Washington Webster Whittier E. High W. High 18:138% 19:131 30: 83 27: 92 35: 71 38: 65 19:131 39: 64 24:104 22:113 19:131 25:100 19:131 28: 89 32: 78 11:230 26: 96 32: 78 21:119 9:277 30: 83 26: 96 23:108 ■|54: 46 117:147 (24:104 122:113 |31: 80 |36: 69 .|27: 92 ,|24: 62 ,114:104 53: 37% 18:138% 4/5 400% 4/5 : 30: 66 15:100 4/5 400 1/3 : 90: 22 23: 60 1/7 71 1/7 : 27: 74 21: 71 11/50 110 11/50 : 21: 95 35: 42 1/18 27 1/11 : 51: 41 25: 66 13/100 65 13/100 : 19:105 13:115 12/197 30 12/197 : 39: 51 25: 66 1/4 125 1/4 : 59: 33 24: 62 1/7 71 1/7 : 27: 74 16: 93 67/652 50 67/839 : 95: 21 19: 78 * * : 40: 50 17: 88 19/100 95 19/100 : 21: 41 16: 93 1/11 49 1/5 : 43: 46 25: 66 1/4 120 1/3 : 45: 44 28. 53 3/10 150 4/10 : 17:117 9:166 3/25 60 2/25 : 26: 96 25: 66 13/100 65 17/100 : 32: 62 80: 18 1/22 22 1/14 : 21: 95 15:100 4/25 80 4/25 : 18:111 9:166 * * : |36: 55 23: 65 7/24 140 5/12 : 42: 48 17: 88 17/1000 8.5 17/1000: 38: 52 16: 93 1/7 71 1/7 : 1/4 125 1/4: 63: 31 32: 46 1/4 125 1/5 : 22: 99 14:107 11/100 55 11/100 : 24: 83 6:250 1/6 83 1/9 : 30: 67 19: 79 1/5 100 1/6 : 52: 38 26: 57 1/8 61 1/7 : 45: 44 22: 68 1/5 100 1/5 : 29: 69 |27: 55 21: 95 17: 88 1/5 100 1/5 : 17:117 17: 88 1/8,1/12 : 61 :41 l/S : :400% :166 71 :110 45 65 30 :125 71 39 95 :100 :166 :200 40 85 :125 80 :200 8.5 71 :125 :100 55 55 83 71 :100 :100 :100 :100 ^Data not secured from school. 250 SCHOOL SURVEY REPORT. What this table reveals. Some of the most striking facts shown in the above tahle are as follows : 1. Less than 25 per cent sufficiency of urinals at Emer- son and Irving; 2. Less than 45 per cent sufficiency of urinals at Bonne- ville, Franklin, Hamilton, Jefiferson, Sumner, Lincoln, AA^ash- ington and Webster; 3. Less than 50 p^er cent sufficiency of seats for boys' at Sumner; 4. Less than 20 per cent sufficiency of seats for girls at Monroe ; 5. Less than 50 per cent sufficiency of seats for girls at Sumner and Forest; 6. Equal proportion of seats for the two sexes in six schools ; 7. Astonishing variation from school to school in the apportionment of seats and urinals, ranging, for example, from one seat for nine girls at Longfellow to one for eighty girls at Monroe; from one seat for eleveni boys at LongfelloM" to one for 54 boys at Sumner; from one urinal for seventeen boys at Longfellow to one for ninety at Emerson and one for ninety-five at Irving. 8. Similar lack of standards as regards the lightning of toilets, the ratio of window to floor space ranging from 4-5 down to 1-59. Surely the above facts show chaos compounded. The laws of chance would have given about as correct proportions. The need for some educational oversight of the building de- j>artment is certainly evident. At least ten toilets have less than half the standard amount of window area, and the lighting of toilets is often less satisfactory than the ratios given in the table would sug- gest. In many cases the windows are partly below ground, often the panes are not fully transparent, or the light is ob- structed in some other Avay. Generally the seats are arranged in double rows, in which case the row facing awav from the THE SCHOOL PLANT. 251 windows is almost sure to be poorly lighted. Only one row of seats should be permitted. Toilet rooms should always be made large enough to permit the observance of this rule. The method of dispensing toilet paper is very unsatisfac- tory. Ordinarily there is only one dispenser for a toilet room, jione being placed in the individual stalls. The dispenser used is the familiar lock-box variety, which works so slowly that in the rush periods at recess pupils can not possibly be prop- erly supplied. In one school boys were seen to go to the stalls without paper rather than stand in line to wait their turn. In another toilet the dispenser was empty and no paper was to be found. The object of the single-dispenser plan was said to be economy! Surely one of the wealthiest cities of its class in the United States ought not find itself driven to such disgusting economy. Economy is a good think in its place, but children ought to be encouraged or even explicitly instructed to avoid economy of this kind. What possible connections can be established be- tween such a type of building supervision and the hygiene instruction in the schools? Drinking fountains. It is a pleasure to find inviting, bubbling fountains at all the schools. In sixteen (half) of the schools, however, there are no fountains inside the building. It is recommended that half the fountains, at least, should be placed inside. More attention should also be given to the ratio TABLE NO. 44. DRINKING FOUNTAINS PROVIDED. Less than 25 children per fountain, 2 schools ; Between 25 and 50 children per fountain, 3 schools; Between 50 and 75 children per fountain, 11 schools; Between 75 and 100 children per fountain, 9 schools; Between 100 and 125 children per fountain, 8 schools ; Between 125 and 150 children per fountain, schools; Over 150 children per fountain, 2 schools. 252 SCHOOL SURVEY REPORT. of fountains to school children. The table just given shows this to be very uneven. Some of the schools having more fountains than necessary, others too few. Probably one foun- tain for about 75 to 100 children is the correct proportion. Roller towels. In schools where the common drinking cup has long been banished it is surprising to find the common roller towel everywhere in evidence. No school is without it. Many of those seen were unspeakably dirty, as of course roller towels are expected to be. One of the principals testi- fied that he had recently acquired pink-eye from drying his hands on one and then rubbing his eye with the finger. It has been often enough demonstrated that the roller towel is a frequent means of spreading contagious disease. It should of course be banished forthwith in favor of sanitary paper napkins. Janitor service. The janitor service, though perhaps on the whole not greatly inferior to that of the average city, is in a number of schools not satisfactory. A majority of the prin- cipals questioned testified, however, that the janitors are con- scientious in their efforts to do the work as it should be done. The fault, where any exists, appears to be chiefly in the lack of persistent and intelligent supervision, especially the latter. Feather dusters are used exclusively in three of the build- ings (Emerson, Longfellow, and "Wasatch), and in part in six- teen others. The feather duster is a criminal offender and should not be tolerated. iS'till worse, dry sweeping is regularly practiced in both classrooms and halls of seven buildings, namely. Ensign, For- est, Onequa, Oquirrh, Poplar Grove, Sumner and West High. In certain other buildings sweeping compound is used in the halls, but not the classrooms. It would appear that many of the janitors use the sweeping compound only intermittently, as four out of eleven were found sweeping without it. "When questioned, each gave the same reply, namely, that the supply had just been exhausted ! In all these cases choking clouds of dust were being raised. Another prevailing practice to be THE SCHOOL PLANT. 253 strongly condemned is that of sweeping the halls while the school is in session. All the class rooms are swept daily ex- cept in the West High School. There are no vacuum cleaners in the schools. This method of removing dirt and dust is wonderfully satisfactory in school buildings when the cleaning plant is properly installed. Care- ful attention, however, must be paid to size and location of duets, power of fans, etc. It is strongly urged that vacuum cleaners be given a thorough trial in buildings erected in the future. The floors of most, but not all, of the buildings have been oiled, though in some cases not for many months or even years. The use of floor oils should be required in all buildings, regardless of protests on the part of a few teachers. The oil should be applied lightly at least twice a year. The floor should first be thoroughly cleaned, and the oil which does not penetrate the wood should be carefully mopped up. If these precautions are taken the oiled floor will not look un- sightly and it will not soil the clothing. Oiling the floors is imperative in the interests of health. Over and over again it has been experimentally demon- strated that it decreases the number of floating dust particles and of bacteria to one-fifth or one-tenth that found in un- treated rooms. This is illustrated in the following tests made by Dr. Lam- bert in an English school : TABLE NO. 45. EFFECT OF TREATING F'LOORS WITH OIL. Plates exposed Colonies of bacteria Floors treated by oil Floors not treated 5 minutes in still air 7 30 minutes in still air 2 12 5 minutes during sweeping 38 456 5 minutes just after sweeping 11 79 5 minutes beginning 10 minutes after sweeping 6 62 minutes beginning 15 minutes after sweeping 1 31 254 SCHOOL SURVEY REPORT Need for greater cleanliness. Unqnestionably much of the nasal catarrh and throat trouble found among the children (See Figure 43) is accounted for by the antiquated methods of school housekeeping in vogue in this city. Every effort should be made to keep the school building as neat as a well- kept home and as clean as a hospital. This should be the aim, even though it is not always possible to attain it fully. More could be done in this direction if the school grounds were always well drained, properly graded, and in part grav- eled. More attention should be paid to having children clean their shoes before entering the building, and for this purpose door mats and scrapers should be more liberally provided. On rainy days the members of the survey staff saw many school buildings in which the floors of class rooms were covered with mud. It was not possible to gather extensive data regarding the compentency of janitors in the management of the heating and ventilating apparatus. The temperature records given on p. 236 show that some fault exists here, but exactly how much of this is to be charged against the janitors, and how much to the imperfection of heating plants, we do not know. The matter is recommended for further investigation by the school authorities. The same may be said in regard to the imperfec- tions of ventilation. Next to the principal, the janitor is the most important officer in the school building. The duties are so varied that it is not easy to find persons who have all the needed quali- fications. Janitors should combine the neat housewife's ideals of cleanliness with a fair knowledge of mechanics. The right moral and temperamental qualifications are no less important. It is evident that it is impossible to give too much care to the choice of janitors. After the selection has been made, efficiency should be the only ground for retention. Efficiency of janitors can be greatly increased by super- vision and training. Professional study, including lectures and required reading, should be arranged at least every second year for the entire janitorial force. THE SCHOOL PLANT. 255 Fire protection. Only the newest buildings are fire proof. The stairs are usually woodeD, the furnace rooms are not al- ways fire proof, and the fire escapes are in a few cases either lacking" or inadequate. One of the outside doors was found locked during school hours at two buildings. Only a few of the schools have panic bolts for the outside doors. The fire drills, five of which were witnessed, were reasonably good, but not always as orderly as could be desired. The time for clearing the building ranged from a minute and twenty sec- onds to two minutes and five seconds. Serious fire tragedies have occured in school buildings no worse than the majority of those in Salt Lake City, "and it is recommended that precautions be taken on all the points enumerated above. Panic bolts should he immediately pro- vided for all outside doors, and fire drills should be subjected to more uniform control. Future buildings should be made more nearly fire-proof. Quality of construction and costs. The limited time for the survey did not permit a careful study of these questions. Costs vary so much in different parts of the country that only a searching investigation w^ould have made possible any criti- cism on this point. The quality of construction appears to have been, on the w^hole, very substantial, — unfortunately so, considering the primitive type of" architecture in all but the most recent buildings. All hut those erected in the last four or five years are so faulty in plan that it is a pity they are not now rickety enough to demand replacement. It is depress- ing to think that some of these will last a quarter of a century yet and that many thousands of children will have to suffer from their defects. The planning of school building should be looked upon, indeed, as a solemn undertaking. It is a task which calls not only for the highest class of professional skill, but also for a readiness to regard every other interest as sec- ondary to the welfare of children. Repairs. The annual budget for the maintenance and re- 256 SCHOOL SURVEY REPORT. pairs of the school buildiugs, which for the past six years has averaged about $55,000 a year, seems rather large, when we consider the present condition of the buildings. The question raised is Avhether the monej' expended for this purpose has always been devoted to the kind of repairs most urgent. Many new floors have recently been laid, at considerable expense, in buildings where alterations of rooms and improved toilet fa- cilities were much more needed. These old floors would have had to be very bad indeed to justify their renewal at the ex- pense of other needed improvements. Grood floors are important, but it maj' be well to empha- size the fact that in disposing of a repair budget there seems to be a natural tendency to give preference to the kind of re- pair work which is simplest, which requires the least planning and the least supervision, and which carries with it the least educational significance. Floor renewal falls in this class. Fundamental alterations, the reconstruction of toilets, changes in lighting, etc., all require better school-engineering knowl- edge, more forethought in the planning, and more expert supervision. As a matter of fact it requires more thought to distribute to the best advantage $50,000 for repairs than to plan a new school building costing $100,000. It is evident, however, that the matter has not been viewed in this light in Salt Lake City in the past. Summary and recommendations. 1. About half of the school sites are of inadequate size. Approximately 10,500 children attend schools where the available playground space amounts to less than 100 sq. ft. per child. Several of these sites could yet be enlarged, and it is recommended that steps be taken to this end. Future needs in this line should be an- ticipated. 2. The architectural plans in all but the most recent buildings, and to a certain extent these also, have involved veiy great waste of building space, amounting in many of the buildings to 40 per cent in terms of cubical contents. THE SCHOOL PLANT. 257 3. There are no baths, no cloak rooms, no nurses' rooms, and few assembly rooms in the city. The quarters for domes- tic science and manual training are in many cases unsatis- factory. It is suggested that most of these conveniences could be provided in future buildings by proper economy of space. 4. It is recommended that most of the 74 basement rooms be abandoned at the earliest possible moment, and that base- ment rooms be avoided in future buildings. The same recom- mendation holds for the 46 hall classrooms. 5. There are relatively few classrooms in the city which conform to all the standards of lighting. In more than half the lighting is very objectionable. It is recommended that the walls and ceilings be re-tinted; that light obstructions be re- moved where possible; that translucent, double-roller window shades be substituted for those now in use ; and that in future buildings the following standards be observed : (a). Avoidance of north or south lighting; (b). All rooms to be lighted from left only; (c). Ratio of window area to floor area, 20-25 per cent; (d). Six to eight feet of dead space in front of first window. 6. Temperature records collected at three different times in the school j'^ear show that out of 1157 records, 71 per cent are unsatisfactory, and that 16 per cent are as much as 5 de- grees too high or too low. Other facts indicate that the ven- tilating systems in use are also often at fault. It is recom- mended that the heating and ventilating apparatus be thor- oughly gone over with a view to the correction of as many defects as possible. 7. Adjustable desks are present in sufficient number in only 10 per cent of the classrooms. In the future only adjust- able desks should be purchased. Practically all desks are in- correctly set. The arrangement should be changed from "zero- distance" to "minus distance" throughout the city. 8. The blackboards are generally in good repair, but a large number are placed too high from the floor. 258 SCHOOL SURVEY REPORT. 9. The janitor work should be improA'ed and more care- fully supervised. Dry-sweeping" and dry-dusting should be eliminated. The school principals should be given larger con- trol over the selection and work of the janitors. 10. Several of the toilets need improvements, and a few should be entirely replaced. The fixtures are often of au un- satisfactory type, seats and urinals are often insufficiect in number, and the method of dispensing toilet paper is very objectionable. The lighting should be improved where possible. 11. The roller towel and common soap' should go. 12. Drinking fountains should be more carefully appor- tioned according to the number of children, and half of them should be placed inside the buildings. 13. Showers for both boys and girls should find a place in all new buildings. 14. Open-air classes should be provided for tuberculous and pre-tuberculous children. 15. The worst of the present buildings should be aban- doned as early as possible. 16. A new building-, somewhat centrally located, should be provided for the sub-normal children, to take the place of the present Twelfth School. 17. Special forethought should be given to the repair budget, in order to insure that it be used to better advantage. .18. The superintendent of buildings and the janitor force should be made responsible to the superintendent of schools. 19. It is especially urg:ed that in all matters pertaining to heating, lig'hting, ventilation, and school planning generally, the services of a qualified full-time expert be secured and re- tained. HEALTH SUPERVISION. 259 . CHAPTER XI. HEALTH SUPERVISION. (Terman.) Standards for comparison. Before offering a criticism of tlie health supervision in the Salt Lake City schools it will be well to set forth the standards which have been generally agreed upon by the best authorities as constituting the essen- tials for this phase of school work. While a few good school systems are at present lacking in some of the following items, the effort is being made in all progressive cities to incorporate as many of them as possible, and many school systems have the equivalent of them all. The standards set forth are meant to indicate the requirements in cities of from 75,000 to 150,000 population. Officers and assistants. One full-time medical director; one half-time assistant physician for each 10,000 children in the grades ; one full-time female physician for each 800 to 1200 high school girls; one full-time male physician for each 800 to 1200 high school boys ; a nurse lor every 2000 pupils in the grades ; one half-time dentist, and one half-time specialist in diseases O'f the eye, ear, nose and throat, for each 10,000 pupils. Scope and nature of work. The work should include the following : (1) Frequent inspection of all the children by school nurses for the control of transmissible diseases, with proper re- gulations for exclusions ; (2) A thorough medical examination of each child at least every second school year, for the purpose of detecting chronic defects as well as acute disorders ; (3) Annual tests of vision and hearing, either by nurses or teachers ; 260 SCHOOL SURVEY REPORT (4) Persistent follow-up work by nurses, in order that parents may 'be convinced of the necessity of having their children's defects attended to; (5) Free medical and dental treatment in a central clinic, for the children of poor or indigent, by a regularly employed school physician and dentist, this to be supplemented by co- operation with local dental and medical societies and with hospitals and dispensaries; (6) Sanitary inspection of school buildings by nurses and physicians ; (7) Medical examination of candidates for teaching posi- tions ; (8) Open-air schools for tuberculous or anaemic children ; (9) School lunches for the ill-nourished, furnished gratis to those who can not afford to pay ; (10) The education of the home in matters of child hy- giene by means of parent teacher associations, distribution of health leaflets, etc; and (11) Publicity work for enlisting the co-operation of the general public. In order to give proper scope to the work, and in order to insure effective co-operation among its various branches, it is usually advisable to have it under the control of the board of education rather than the board of health. Costs. Director, $3000; full-time assistant physicians or dentists, $1800 to $2200; half-time physicians or dentists, $1000 to $1200; head nurse, $100 per month; regular nurses, $75 to $90 per month. Total cost, between 75 cents and $1.00 for each school child, or $15,000 to $20,000 for a city the size of Salt Lake City. To this should be added the outlay for equipping a central dinic, and for the nurse's room which should be pro- vided in each new school building. In judging the school health work of this city it is neces- sary to keep the above standards rather fully in mind. No other function which the school has assumed in recent years exceeds health supervision in importance ; and yet, partly be- HEALTH SUPERVISION. 261 cause of its newness, it is often carried on with little vision of the larger purposes it ought to serve. Even cities which are otherwise commendably progressive in school matters some- times rest content with half-way measures in health super- vision, not realizing their inadequacy. This is especially true in localities which are geographically isolated, and where there is only limited opportunity to observe the work of other cities and to learn from their experience. Stages in the development of health service. The growth of school health work in the cities of the United States, and other countries as well, is marked by certain well-defined stages. It always begins in an effort of the board of health to prevent the spread of transmissible diseases in the schools, to eradicate parasites, and to improve the sanitary conditions of the buildings. The work indicated represents the first stage of health supervision, and is usually called ''medical inspec- tion." Because of the obvious duty of the public to counteract the increased danger of contagion, incident to compulsory at- tendance of all classes of children in the same school, this was the logical and natural first point of attack. After this phase of the work has been gotten well in hand, and when the medical inspectors have had more opportunity to observe and study the physical needs of the children, they are brought to a keener realization of the large number of children who have one or more serious physical defects other than a contagious disease. Among the defects, often neglected or unnoticed even by intelligent parents and teachers, are adenoids, enlarged tonsils, visual defects, partial deafness, de- fective teeth, malnutrition, physical deformities, heart trouble, diseased glands, incipient tuberculosis, etc. While only about 2 or 3 per cent, of the school children of a city need to be excluded in any one year because of a contagious disease, ah out 60 to 75 per cent, are always found to have one or more serious physical defects of the chronic type. The second stage in development. When such conditions are understood and appreciated the nature and purpose of 262 SCHOOL SURVEY REPORT. medical iuspeetion must be differently eoiieeived. In addition to the frequent and hasty inspections for contagion, thorough physical examinations are then instituted, including examina- tions of heart, lungs, nutrition, teeth, eyes, ears, and throat. Assistant, physicians and school nurses, in rather large number, become necessary in order to meet the extension and increased thoroughness of the work. Since many parents fail to realize the seriousness of tJie defects discovered, and disregard the notices sent out by the medical director, it becomes necessary to organize a vigorous foUov-up service. In this the well trained and tactful nurse has proved herself indispensable. Be- cause some parents are too poor to pay for the medical or dental treatment recommended, free clinics must he organized and the co-operation of local medical and dental associations, charity organizations, hospitals, and dispensaries must be en- listed. This may be called the second stage in the development of school health work. The third stage. This is represented by a shift of the em- phasis to preventive work. The attempt to bring about the cure of defects after they have become Avell established is praiseworthy, but the task is ditiicult, and the results are often partial and unsatisfactory. It is far more rational to exercise such constant and close supervision over the health and physical development of the school children that detects will be prevented, or else remedied before they have become a menace to healthy growth. The acceptance of this point of view necessitates : (1) Increased thoroughness of the examinations in the lower grades : (2) Extension of free medical and dental treatment : (3) The establishment of open-air schools for anaemic and pre-tuberculous children : (■1) School feeding; (5) School baths; (6) Special schools for the cure of speech defects; (7) ^Medical supervision of physical training and ath- letics; HEALTH SUPERVISION. 263 (8) Modifications in the program and discipline of the school in order to guard against fatigue and to prevent injury to neuropathic children ; (9) Special classes for the mentally subnormal; (10) Increased attention to standards of heating, light- ing, and ventilation ; (11) Improvement of janitorial service ; (12) More practical and effective hygiene teaching; (13) Enlarged playground facilities and play supervision ; (14) Systematic enlightenment of the teachers in matters of health ; (15) Organized publicity and extension work, designed to improve the hygienic standards of the home. '^School health Avork of this inclusive and preventive nature goes far beyond what has usually been called "medical inspec- tion" and may be fitly termed health and development super- vision. Its aim is to organize all the forces and departments of the school, not only for the prevention of disease, but also for the more positive cultivation of physical efficiency. Health supervision becomes an educational service. It is at once evident that health work of this broad scope, inter- woven as it is with the everyday educational activities of the school, can not be carried on as an incident in the public health work, or as-. a side issue from the office of the board of health. It must have a full-time and responsible head who is not only well trained in preventive medicine generally and child hygiene in particular, but who has also the educational viewpoint and the ability and authority to aid in shaping the activities of the school so as better to accord with the child's physical needs. Accordingly it is found necessary in nearly all cases, before health supervision can enter fully into the third stage above described, for the board of education to a'ssume responsibility for the work and to finance and control it. In the first stage the work can be perfectly handled by the board of health, and, though somewhat less satisfactorily, in the second stage also. 26i SCHOOL SURVEY REPORT. Very much depends, however, on the personal equation of the man behind the work. Better results will of course be secured by a first-class director employed by the board of health than by a second or third rate director working under the authorit}^ of the board of education. Nature of the school health work in Salt Lake City, In the light of the above discussion we are noAV in position to judge the school health work in Salt Lake City with reference to widely accepted and impersonal standards. The leading features of the sj^stem are as follows : 1. The work is carried on under the authority of the city board of health, and under the general direction of the health commissioner. It is more immediately under the direction of one of the board of health's assistant physicians, who devotes to it a large share of his time. 2. There are six nurses, including a head nurse, all of whom give most of their time to school work as long as the schools are in session. 3. The efforts of the above corps of officers are at present devoted mainly to the prevention and control of contagious diseases. Recently, also, a good deal has been done to bring about the treatment of adenoids, diseased tonsils, and the more serious cases of eye defects. 4. Each school is visited from two to four times a week bj^ a nurse, who spends on an average from one to two minutes in each class room, walking down each aisle and inspecting the faces and arms of the children for signs of contagious dis- ease. In some of the schools the hair is also inspected for pediculosis. More careful examinations are made of children who show symptoms of contagious disease, and exclusions are ordered in the cases which seem to require it. At the same time, permits are issued for the re-admission of children who have been previously excluded and are in condition to return to school. Such children are allowed to report to the nurse at the school which they regularly attend, instead of being compelled to HEALTH SUPERVISION. 265 journey down town to the office of the health commissioner for this purpose. Before leaving the building the nurse makes note of any unsanitary conditions which seem to demand attention. Most of her remaining time is taken up with home visitation, and in making arrangements for the free medical treatment of the children of the poor. 5. When a child has been excluded by the nurse, as de- scribed in the last paragraph, a visit is made to the child's home by one of the assistant physicians for the purpose of making a diagnosis of the case. Most of these visits are made by one physician. 6. There is no medical examination, periodically or other- wise, of the entire school population, and there are few indi- vidual instances of medical examination except in cases of sus- pected contagious disease. 7. Neither a medical nor a dental clinic has yet been established. 8. High school pupils do not have the advantage of medical examinations or advice, and there is no medical super- vision of athletics. However, a commendable beginning has been made in this line by the supervisor of physical education, who examines high school boys for defects of vision, hearing, heart, and posture. 9. There are no bathing facilities in the grades below the high school. 10. Little has been done toward providing school meals for ill-nourished children, 11. In contrast v\^ith nearly all other cities of its size in the United States, Salt Lake City has not yet established an open-air school. 12. The cost of the above work can not be ascertained exactly, because all who are engaged in it give a portion of their time to other duties. The six nurses are paid $5080 per year and the assistant physician who has direct charge of the work is paid $1500 per year. The cost of the school work may be estimated as between $5000 and $6000 per year, which is a 266 SCHOOL SURVEY REPORT. little over 25 cents per pupil enrolled, or about one-third to one-fourth the cost of an adequate system of health supervision. 13. In addition to the work carried on by the board of health, the board of education also employs an emergency physician to answer calls from the schools. Although the title of this physician is "medical inspector of schools," the office is at present a rather nominal one, as the duties are light and the pay proportional to the number of calls made. Another function of this branch of the school medical service is to pro- vide for the medical examinations of candidates for teaching positions, and to require, when it is deemed advisable, medical examinations of teachers in service. For this purpose a "board of medical examiners for teachers" has been selected, con- sisting of thirteen physicians with the physician by the board of education as chairman. Stage in development represented. Comparing now the scope of service attempted with the recognized standards al- ready set forth, it is immediately obvious that school health work in Salt Lake 'City has not progressed far beyond what we have described as the "first stage" of development. Trans- missible diseases are admirably controlled, sanitary inspection of the buildings is carried on, a few examinations for chronic defects are made, the nurses are doing as much follow-up work as time will permit, but the 60 or 75 per cent, of children who have chronic defects receive little attention as compared with the relatively small proportion who acquire a contagious dis- ease. The larger and more important fields of work which fall within the "second stage" and "third stage" already de- scribed have been little developed. The importance of this wider field will be set forth presently. It is a pleasure to add, however, that whatever work is attempted is apparently well done. The records show unmis- takably that contagious diseases have been significantly re- duced in the last two or three years. Parasites have been largely eradicated, and all the teachers questioned bore wit- ness to the fact that the work of the nurses had broug'ht ex- HEALTH SUPERVISION. 267 cellent results in the improvement of health conditions and in the promotion of cleanliness. That the follow-up work has been fruitful in spite of the large number of pupils assigned to each nurse (3000 to 3500) is indicated by the fact that 10 per cent, of the pupils enrolled have had adenoids or tonsils removed, and that 3.4 per cent, have had such an operation within the last year. Results from the present service. Important evidence as to the efficiency of the nurses in controlling contagious diseases was secured in the following manner. It will be remembered that in making the routine inspections at a school the nurse excludes pupils who show symptoms of contagious disease, after which the assistant physician visits the child's home and makes a diagnosis. In each such case the office record shows what disease the nurse "suspected" and what the physician actually found. All these individual records for the school year 1914-15 were turned over to a member of the survey staff and were summarized. The results show that 60 per cent, of the sus- picions were fully confirmed by the diagnosis of the physician, that in 23 per cent, of the cases in which the suspicion was not confirmed, there existed a condition of disease or defect which called for medical attention, and that in only 17 per cent, of the cases was there no need of a physician. On an average, therefore, five out of six cases reported by the nurses are found to need immediate medical care. This is certainly a splendid record. The contagious diseases discovered in the schools during the last year include, among others, the fol- lowing: Chicken pox, 41 cases. Impetigo, 11 cases. Mumps, 57 cases. Pink-eye, 43 eases. Scabies (itch), 22 cases. Whooping cough, 38 cases. Small pox, 3 cases. 26S SCHOOL SURVEY REPORT. Seaiiet fever, 2 cases. Diptlieria, 2 eases. Measles, 2 eases. Eingworm, 7 cases, lu all probability each ease discovered in the first stages in the schools means the prevention of several additional cases. Effectiveness of the school nurse. These findings regard- ing the ability of school nurses to detect contagious diseases in the early stages are fully in accord with the experience of other cities. No better evidence could be desired that this phase of the work can be adequately taken care of by school nurses. To employ expensive physicians for the routine inspections would be a. waste of money. Even the best medical authorities (such as Dr. E. C. Cabot of Harvard, for example) admit that the well trained school nurse acquires a degree of skill in recognizing the early symptoms of contagious disease which is not excelled by the average practicing pln-siciau. One explanation is the large amount of experience secured by the nurse in a relatively short period of time. She is likely, indeed, to meet more cases of whooping cough or measles in the early stages in a single month than the practicing physician would ordinarily meet in the course of ten years. Another function well performed by the school nurses of Salt Lake City is that of vaccinating children against small pox. Vtah has no compulsory vaccination law and a majority of the school children have not been vaccinated, although no data were available to show the exact number of unvacciuated. Prompt action is therefore necessary when a case has been dis- covered in the schools. To meet the situation the nurses are allowed to perform, free of charge, vaccinations of school children who have been exposed to the disease. The practice is somewhat exceptional in the cities of the United States, largely because of the conservatism of many physicians who oppose it. There is absolutely no ground, however, for such opposition. Vaccinations are just as effective wheu performed gratis by the nurses as wheu performed by the physician at HEALTH SUPERVISION. 269 the rate of $2.00 per child. That they are also fully as safe is demonstrated by the fact that in the two years 1913 and 1914, 1331 vaccinations were performed by the school nurses of Salt Lake City without serious complications in a single case. The practice should by all means be continued. Expansions planned by the health commissioner. The fact that the health work has thus far progressed little beyond the first stage is not offered as a criticism of those in charge of it. Because of possible misunderstanding and opposition, both on the part of the conservative element of the medical profession and of the public, it is often not the best policy to try to inaug- urate at one stroke an ideal sj^stem of school health supervis- ion. In a gradual expansion the wisdom of each step proves itself, and smoothes the way for still further progress. This has marked the development of the department in Salt Lake City. First one nurse was appointed, then a second, and two years ago the number was increased to six. An effort will be made to add two more next year, and ultimately others until there shall be one nurse for about 2000 children. Ar- rangements 'have been made for opening a dental clinic at the central office in the immediate future. Temporarily the dental work will be done without expense to the city by members of the local dental association. This will finally result, without doubt, in the employment of a regular school dentist. A similar arrangement is contemplated which will make possible the opening of a medical clinic. It is evident, therefore, that where the system is new, as is the case here, it should be judged less by what it has already accomplished than by the limits which are set for future accom- plishments. Judged by this standard the system of Salt Lake City merits a great deal of praise. The authorities in charge are fully cognizant of the work to be done, and appear to have the determination and the tact to bring about the desired ex- pansions. The point of view is strictly in harmony with mod- ern tendencies in child hygiene. Health conditions of Salt Lake City school children. In 270 SCHOOL SURVEY REPORT order to indicate some of the unsolved or only partly solved health problems among the school children, the following two questionnaires were sent to each teacher in the city. It will be noted that the data called for in the first questionnaire were secured by the teacher asking the questions of the children, and that the second questionnaire was filled out by the teachers on the basis of their own obserA^ation. While, of course, absolute accuracy can not be claimed for data gathered in this way, it is probable that in most cases they represent the facts fairly closely. Dr. E. B. Hoag, who has used similar question lists with more than 100,000 school children in California and Minnesota, has always found that the results thus obtained do not ditfer materially from those secured by his actual medical examinations. Indeed, when the data from these question lists are compared with the statistics resulting from the medical examinations which liave been given to millions of school children in hundreds of cities of the United States. Germany, France, England. Japan, Australia, and other countries, the anmunt of agreement is found to be remarkable. HEALTH SUPERVISION. 271 TABLE NO. 46. HEALTH QUESTIONNAIRE I. (One to each teacher.) Name of school Grade Room Name of teacher Total number pupils (DIRECTIONS) Ask the children the following questions and record the results. It is important to ask the questions Avith the proper degree of seriousness, and to urge the pupils to answer as correctly as possible. 1. How many have headache often (two or three times a month) ? 2. How many have earache often (two or three tiraes a month) f 3. How many sometimes have running of the ears? 4. How many have had hearing tested sometime? 5. How manv have had hearing tested in this school year? 6. HoAv many have sore throat (u- colds often (two or three times a month) ? 7. How many have had adenoids or tonsils removed? .... S. Ho"w many have had adenoids or tonsils taken out in the last year? 9. How many O'tten have pain or watering of eyes? 10. How many can not easily read the writing on the blackboard? • 11. How many find that the print often seems to blur, or run together, or look double ? 12. How many have had the eyes tested sometime? 13. How manv have had the eyes tested in the last year? 14. How many have gone to a dentist sometime ? 15. How many have gone to a dentist in the last year? 16. How many have a tooth brush ? 17. How many have used a tooth brush in the last twenty- four hours? 18. How many have toothache often (two or three times a month) ? 19. How many eat breakfast every day? 20. Ho'w manv eat lunch every day? 272 SCHOOL SURVEY REPORT. TABLE NO. 47. HEALTH QUESTIONNAIRE II. (One to each teacher.) Name of school Grade Room Name of teacher Number of pupils (To be filled out without asking children. Accuracy im- portant). 1. Numher of pupils who have frequent or chronic dif- ficulty in breathing through the nose 2. Number who have frequent or chronic nasal discharge 3. Number who have nasal or thick voice 4. Number who show symptoms of imperfect hearing .... 5. Number who stutter or stammer 6. Number who show symptoms of eye defects (redness or watering of the eyes, squinting, frowning, cross-eye, holding book too near, miscalling well known words, etc.) 7. Number who wear glasses regularly 8. Number who have some marked peculiarity, such as irritability, muscular twitchings, nervousness, excessive tim- idity, tendency to cry without cause, tendency to worry, mo- roseness, moral abnormality, etc 9. Num'ber who show marked lack of mental alertness 10. Number who are noticeably lacking in play activity 11. Number who are delicate or frequently ill . 12. Number whose posture is habitually faulty Summarizing the data on health conditions among the children, obtained from the questionnaires sent out, we get the following significant information : Headaches. More than 26 per cent, of the children (4409) have headaches often. This is about the usual percentage found. Dr Hoag's figures for several other cities range from 20 to 25 per cent. Headache is an indication that something is wrong, and when the trouble is chronic we are always justified in suspecting eye-strain, nervousness, constipation, or some kind of digestive disturbance. It is often associated with poor nutrition and general weakness. HEALTH SUPERVISION. 273 Ears and Hearing. 7.5 per cent, of the children, (1243) have earache often, 5.5 per cent. (942) have had at sometime running of the ears, and 5.1 per cent. (883) have marked symp- toms of imperfect hearing. Dr. Hoag's figures from other cities give 10 per cent, for earache, 3 per cent, for running of the ears, and about 4 per cent, for imperfect hearing. Ear- ache often means an infection of the middle ear, and the dis- charge which sometimes follows the earache means that the pus has broken through the drum. The result is likely to be impaired hearing for life. In any school system, anywhere, tests of hearing will show that from 3 per cent, to 5 per cent. ol the children have seriously defective hearing in one of both ears, and that at least 1 per cent, have not over one-fourth normal hearing. In Salt Lake City only 13.6 per cent, of the children have ever had the hearing tested, and only 2.6 per cent, within the last year. Each child ought to have a hearing test every year. They can be given by the teachers, under proper supervision, and the time required for such tests is negligible. Annual tests of hearing are required by law in several states. Usually a fourth of one per cent are found to be so nearly deaf as to warrant their removal to special classes. At this rate the number in Salt Lake City who need such attention is not far from 50, or enough for two or three special classes. Eyes and vision. 22 per cent of the children testify that the print sometimes blurs, 23 per cent that the eyes sometimes pain, and 11.1 per cent are said by the teachers to show symp- toms of subnormal vision. 33 per cent have sometime had the eyes tested, 7.7 per cent within the last year. These results agree closely with the figures in other cities. It is safe to saj' that in any city at least 15 per cent of the children have im- perfect vision and that at least 10 per cent ought to wear glasses. In this city only 2.7 per cent of the children enrolled have glasses, which means that three-fourths of the cases of defective vision have been neglected (probably 1460). 274 SCHOOL SURVEY REPORT 111 order to check up the data secured from the teachers, the MeCallie vision test was given by Mr. AYillianis, of the sur- vey staff, to 510 children. As shown in the following" chart, 15 per cent of these children had defective vision, while only 3.5 per cent of those tested were wearing glasses. WEARING GLASSES, FIG. 42. SHOWING THE RESULTS OF THE EXAMINA- TION OF CHILDREN'S EYES IN SALT LAKE CITY. (MeCallie vision tests). Tests of this kind should be given to every child each school year. Like hearing tests, these are required by law in a number of states. They can be given readi.'y by the teachers HEALTH SUPERVISION. 275 after a little instruction. The teachers can not determine the cause O'f the defective vision, but they can usually determine whether a defect exists. The oculist will do the rest. Nose and throat troubles. 19.8 per cent have sore throat often, 8.6 per cent have obstructed breathing, 4 per cent have chronic nasal discharge, and 5.7 per cent have a marked nasal voice (indicative of obstructed breathing). It is certain, there- fore, that not less than 10 per cent of the children (2000) have neglected defects of nose or throat. The number would be far greater but for the fact that another 10 per cent have had adenoids or tonsils removed. As with other defects, the per cent having nose or throat trouble agrees closely with similar data from other cities. The injuries produced by such defects are so well recog- nized that extended discussion here is not necessary. It is sufficient to point out that obstructed breathing nearly always reduces the lung capacity, and retards mental and physical growth. Many a ''backward" child can be made over by the removal of breathing obstructions. Neglected adenoids lay the foundation for a number of constitutional weaknesses which may not become apparent until adult life. The trouble often spreads to the ear. Most cases of partial deafness can be traced to neglected throat troubles. Teeth. Fortunately for our purposes the teeth of 4363 of the school children of the city had recently been examined by deniu rom the local dental association. These included all in attendance at the Riverside, Jackson, Whittier, Lowell, Lafayette, Popuar Grove and "Wasatch schools. The results were summarized by us for the schools separately, and are shown in the table given tin the folloAving page. What this examination revealed. Some of the most strik- ing facts shown in the above table are as follows : That with 19 per cent the general condition of the mouth is distinctly "bad*', and with 34.1 per cent only "fair." That the condition of the gums is "bad" with 9.7 per cent, and only "fair" with 17.4 per cent. CO CO CO '^ o O Eh . o m P m P^ • • • suAioar :jsoi JO -ON papaea suot;o^j;xa: PIRo Jact q:j8a:^ snoiJBo JO 'ON aSBaaAv I^;oj, ifjBJOdraaj, ^uauBraaaj SutuBap paaN: uoisniooo-iBiv[ pailM ^991 qsrua 9SX1 ° a ■T30 p^a JIB^ pooo pBa JIBJ pOOf) :^u^^^^xa sitdnd "ON 00 t^ 00 O to Ki Oi OO (M 00 t- (M O rH ■<*< i-i T-l t-1 00 t- lO O -^ -^ OO 00 00 tH 05 C3 O t- <» tH T-l 1-1 m * o C^ CD no 00 00 -^ lO CO Cq T-t 1-1 CO r-l C<) O O C^ en t^ o «o (O CO 00 t- CC O iH to C<1 Tt< 05 t- CO O UO O to O t^ 00 o 05 O lO CO -^ to O t~- CO T-l 00 OO 05 fiJ5 cq to 00 OS 1-1 t^ to ■* 00 C<1 tH t- oo t^ LO C 00 LO LO O l>- -^ 00 t- ■* tH U5 C<1 Ca OO iH CO O t^ cq CO cq CO t^- iH ■* CO CO o uo cq to lO t^ to LO O O O O CO M OO lO Cq O^ O C^ 00 CO ■•tl U5 1-1 CO CO (rq iH 00 lo t~ LO C<) CO O 00 -^ 00 tH tH -- '^ ABABABABA I u nr H X MAXI/V^UM N\EOIUM AAlNir^UM A B A B A B H 'W 'ML FIG. 44. SHOWING MINUTES PER WEEK DEVOTED TO INSTRUCTION IN PHYSIOLOGY AND HYGIENE. 296 SCHOOL SURVEY REPORT of time per week for the city as a whole, the lower line the amount for the school giving least, and the upper line the amount for the school giving most time to the subject, in all eases the time including both recitation and study periods. Practical instruction. Altogether about a dozen hygiene les- sons w^ere witnessed in w^hole or in part by the various members of the survey staff. The instruction ranged from excellent to mediocre, but on the whole was of superior quality. Especially commendable was the effort, frequently observed, to make the hygiene instruction carry over into the everyday habits of the children. The children in one school (and this may have been true in other schools also) had been organized into a clean-up brigade, and were engaged in abating such nuisances and dangers as dirty streets, unclean meat shops, and breeding places for flies and mosquitoes. The Board of Health lends its active support to such work, and stands ready to invoke the authority of the law, if necessary, in order to remedy the evils disclosed by the school pupils. Work of this kind goes beyond mere instruction in hygiene and becomes training for effective citizenship. Another well-directed effort toward making hygiene in- struction practical was found in a school where the teachers, acting under the direction of the principal, require the every- day practice of personal cleanliness as a necessary condition o'f receiving a passing grade in the su'bject. In other instances, however, the lessons were bookish and theoretical. That great- er emphasis could well be placed on making the hygiene in- struction practical is illustrated by such facts as the following : that only 50 per cent of the pupils in the grades use a tooth brush regularly; that 63 per cent have not been to a dentist in the last year and that 36.8 per cent have never been to one; that in several of the schools personal uncleanliness and lack of neatness are common among the children. In many rooms the last is attested by strong and disagreeable odors emanating from the unclean bodies and clothing. The building's negative the instruction. In this connec- HYGIENE TEACHING. 297 tion it is to be regretted that the schools themselves do not set better examples of hygiene. The effectiveness of hygiene in- struction is weakened if it is carried on in school buildings where the floors are dirty, where the feather duster still ling- ers, where walls and ceilings are discolored, where classrooms and halls are dark and dingy, where physical training is un- necessarily carried on indoors, where bathing facilities are totally lacking, where filthy roller towels are in evidence, where toilets are dark, unclean, loud-smelling, and crowded, or where disgusting economies are practiced in the supply of toilet paper. Some of these examples are before the children in every school, and certain schools are guilty of every sin above listed. It must never Tje forgotten that the teaching of hygiene and physiology is to be judged solely by its actual influence on the lives of the pupils. However ideal the course of study and the actual instruction, from an academic standpoint, the aim of the work is attained only in so far as practical results are secured. A little more insistence on this point of view, together with the improvement of hygienic practice on the part of the school, will add greatly to the efficiency of the hygiene instruction. iSummary and recommendations. On the basis of the re- sults of this chapter the survey makes the following recom- mendations as to needs and lines of future development : 1. Physical education as carried on below the high school is based on a fundamental misconception as to the true pur- pose of such work. In the main it is extremely formal, is car- ried on chiefly indoors, and has little signiflcance for health. The work should be entirely reorganized and directed along the lines of outdoor play and other recreational activities. The instruction in dancing, however, is good and should be re- tained, with somewhat more attention to folk-dancing. 2. The playgrounds in about half of the schools are ex- tremely inadequate, and insufficient use is being made of those which exist. It is urged that a number of the present play- 298 SCHOOL SURVEY REPORT grounds be enlarged, that the school authorities endeavor to anticipate .future needs in providing sites for new buildings, that the school playgrounds be equipped with apparatus by the school board, and that they be kept open under paid super- vision after school hours, on 'Saturdays, and during vacations. 3. It is recommended that education through play Tdc more systematically fostered by the department of physical education, and that a sufficient number of well-paid assistants be provided for this purpose. 4. The time for physical education in the high schools is too much monopolized by the system of compulsory military training. It is recommended that the military training either be made elective, and placed under the direction of the depart- ment of physical education, or that it be eliminated altogether. The latter is perhaps preferable. As conducted at present the military training involves serious danger to the health of many pupils compelled to take it. 5. The hygiene teaching is on the whole good, though in certain schools hardly enough time is devoted to the sub- ject. In certain schools commendable devices are employed for the purpose of making hygiene teaching effective in the daily lives of children, and it is recommended that this kind of practical hygiene teaching be more generally emphasized. 6. It is suggested that the effectiveness of hygiene in- struction could be increased by the correction of bad hygienic examples set by the school itself. Improvements in this line would include enlargement of playgrounds, the elimination of dry sweeping and dry dusting, the installation of baths, en- largement and improvement of toilet facilities, the elimination of roller towels, the use of liquid soap, and, where possible, the correction of defects in lighting, heating and ventilation. PART IV Finances THE FINANCIAL PROBLEM. 301 CHAPTER XIII. THE FINANCIAL PROBLEM. (Cubberly.) City costs for maintenance. In the study of costs for city maintenance in Salt Lake City, with special reference to schools, the city will T^e compared chiefly with the other west- ern cities, and for the reason that only where the costs for service and materials are comparable are total costs compar- able. Comparing all general city costs in Salt Lake City with TABLE NO. 49. RANK OF SALT LAKE CITY AMONG SIXTEEN WESTERN CITIES IN ITEMS OF EXPENDITURE FOR CITY MAINTENANCE. ITEMS Per Capita Cost for Rank of Salt SaltLake City 16 Western Cities Average | Median Lake City in Amoun Spent 1. 2. General expenses of the city government Police department Fire department $1.44 1.14 .90 1.43 1.42 .14 6.71 .16 .42 .12 $1.84 1.74 1.76 1.49 2.09 .30 6.27 .34 .59 .92 $1.52 1.47 1.61 1.45 2.10 .11 5.73 .35 .51 .23 10th 15th 16th 4. 5 Health and sanitation Care of streets 9th 16th 6. Charities, hospital and cor- rections 8th 7 Schools 5th 8. Libraries, art galleries and museums 16th 9. 10. Parks and playgrounds Miscellaneous expenses . . . 10th 13th 11. Total per capita cost Interest on public debt . . . $ 13.88 3.29 $ 17.34 3.06 $ 15.08 2.70 12th 7th Total per capita rate |$ 17.17 |$ 20.40 |$ 17.78 13th the fifteen other western cities first used in Table No. 3, page 12, and used continuously throughout this report, we get the Table No. 49, calculated from the U. S. Census Bureau's last published volume on the Statistics of Cities. 302 SCHOOL SURVEY REPORT. From this table we see that the costs for all items of city maintenance in Salt Lake City are low. In other words, it is a very economically administered city. The figure given below shows the distribution of city expenses for annual maintenance, reduced so as to show where each dollar of taxes raised goes. FIG. 45. HOW SALT LAIvE CITY SPENDS ITS DOLLAK. Only in the expenditures for schools and for interest on the bonded debt do the costs for any items in the list reach the average for other western cities. In three items Salt Lake City's costs are the lowest of the list, while in totals the city is thirteenth among the sixteen cities. The larger per capita THE FINANCIAL PROBLEM. 303 expense for schools is only what would be expected in view of the large number of children in the population, as was shown in Table No. 3, page 12. Costs per capita for schools. An examination of the per capita costs for schools in the twenty-six cities used in previous tables in this report, as well as in the sixteen western cities with which comparison has also been made from time to time, gives us the next table. This shows the total city maintenance costs, the costs per capita for schools, and the percentage of the total city expense^ for annual maintenance that go to the sup- port of public education, for each of the two groups of cities. TABLE NO. 50. SHOWING PER CAPITA COSTS FOR CITY MAINTEN- ANCE, INCLUDING INTEREST CHARGES, AND PER CAPITA AND PERCENTAGE AMOUNT FOR SCHOOLS.f I. Western Cities * 1. San Francisco, Cal 2. Portland, Ore $36.09 17 71 $4.27 4.73 4.95 5.06 5.41 5.71 5.72 5.72 5.74 6.01 6.26 6.71 7.60 7.64 8.66 10.11 11.9% 26.7 24.7 24.8 29.7 31.6 28.6 32.7 32.5 26.8 42.0 39.1 51.3 38.9 31.9 43.3 3. Tacoma, Wash 4. Seattle, Wash 5. Spokane, Wash 6. Butte, Mont 7. Denver, Colo 8. Sacramento, Cal 9. Oakland, Cal 10. San Diego, Cal 11. San Jose, Cal 12. Salt Lake City, Utah . . . 13. Berkeley, Cal 19.99 22.15 18.87 18.25 21.00 17.49 17.77 22.44 14.91 17.17 14.74 19.63 26.17 23.38 14. Colorado Springs, Colo. 15. Los Angeles, Cal 16. Pasadena, Cal Average for the group Median for the group . . $20.48 19.27 $6.27 5.73 32.3% 31.8 *Ogclen is omitted from this group for the reason that the United States Census Bureau does not publish financial statistics for cities which in 1910 had less than 30,000 inhabitants. Ogden population in 1910 was 25,580. tStatistics here, as elsewhere, are from the U. S. Census Bureau's last issued annual volume on Statistics of Cities, and compare all cities for the year 1912-13. 304 SCHOOL SURVEY REPORT. TABLE NO. 50, CONTINUED. II. Cities of the class of Salt Lake City. CITY Total Maintenance Cost Per Capita Cost Per Capita for Schools Per cent of Total for Schools 1. Reading, Pa $ 9.33 13.24 14.72 15.63 14.40 14.46 14.99 17.10 13.10 18.40 11.86 18.57 14.88 13.83 19.99 20.82 17.83 22.30 13.81 17.22 18.87 22.69 20.94 17.17 22.55 16.86 $ 3.13 3.29 3.99 4.02 4.07 4.15 4.16 4.17 4.22 4.24 4.37 4.41 4.85 4.90 4.95 4.99 5.04 5.14 5.21 5.24 5.41 6.22 6.26 6.71 7.07 7.26 33.6% 2. Bridgeport, Conn 3. Lowell, Mass 24.8 27.1 4. Lynn, Mass 25.8 5. Lawrence, Mass 6. Dayton, Ohio 28.2 28.7 7. Fall River, Mass 8. Albany, New York 9. Kansas City, Kan 10. Troy, New York 11. Youngstown, Ohio 12. New Bedford, Mass 13. Trenton, N. J 14. Camden, N. J 15. Tacoma, Wash 16 Omaha Neb. 27.8 24.4 32.2 23.1 36.8 23.8 32.6 35.5 24.8 24.0 17. Somerville, Mass 18. Cambridge, Mass 19. Grand Rapids, Mich 20 Duluth Minn 18.4 23.5 37.8 30.2 21 Spokane Wash 29.7 22. Yonkers, N. Y 23. Hartford, Conn 24. Salt Lake City, Utah 25. Springfield, Mass 26. Des Moines, Iowa 27.4 30.0 39.1 31.3 33.6 Average for the group Median for the group . . $16.75 16.98 $4.80 4.88 29.0% 28.5 Compared with first half of the eastern cities of the above table, Salt Lake City appears high, hoth in the per capita cost for isehools and in the percentage of city funds given to education. With the second part of the eastern cities table, and with the western cities, Salt Lake City occupies nearer an average position. Why these figures are misleading. These figures, though, are somewhat misleading, notwithstanding they are the ones commonly used in comparing costs. In the first place, most eastern cities pay a much lower salary schedule to Avomen THE FINANCIAL PROBLEM. 305 teachers than is the case in the west, and, as approximately 65 per cent of all expenses are for teachers' salaries, it will he seen that few eastern cities can with fairness be compared with western cities in the matter of per capita school expendi- tures. An eastern city spending $4.00 per capita for schools, and paying its elementary school teachers $40.00 a month, is exactly the same as a middle western city paying its teachers $60.00 a month and spending $5.30 per capita, and the same as a western city paying its teachers $80.00 a month and spending $6.60 per capita, assuming that each devotes 65 per cent of its maintenance costs to teachers' salaries. For this reason any comparison of eastern with western cities is likely to he very misleading. Accordingly, we shall from this point on compare Salt Lake City only with other western cities, where salaries and other school costs are more comparable. The figures given in the last table, both for eastern and western cities, are also misleading for the reason that they fail entirely to take account of the percentage of school chil- dren in the total population. A community such as Salt Lake City, as was pointed out in Chapter I, must spend more money because of the much larger number of children it contains. A per capita expense of $6.71 for schools, and 39.1 per cent of the total city maintenance costs for education may at first glance look large, but, as will be shown further on, it really is not so. The large number of school children in the city necessitates a high per capita cost for schools, without the cost per child educated being high at all, while the large percentage of city funds devoted to schools is fictitious for the reason that all city costs for other items are low. If Salt Lake City's ex- penditures for other items of city expense were at as high a rate as is the case in many western cities, the percentage de- voted to education would be reduced to somewhere near 25 to 30 per cent. This would be low, considering the large num- ber of children of school age in the population. A real basis for comparing' school costs. To get a real basis for comparing school costs we must take into considera- 306 SCHOOL SURVEY REPORT tion the number of children to 'be educated, and reduce all per capita costs for schools to what it costs per capita for each 1 per cent of the school population. For example, if a city spends $6.00 per capita for schools, and 12 per cent of its population consists of children between 5 and 15 years of age, * it can be iseen that it spends "50 cents for each one per cent of its school population. If another city also spends $6.00 per capita and has 15 per cent of children, this second city spends but 40 cents for each 1 per cent of its school popu- lation. Similarly, a third city having 20 per cent of children spends but 30 cents per capita. Though each city is given, in statistical tables, as spending the same amount per capita of its population for schools, in reality the three cities are spending entirely different amounts. Any real comparison of per capita costs requires that we first reduce our cities to com- mon terms, and see what each is spending for each 1 per cent of its school population. Using the age groups 5 to 15, and reducing all to a 1 per cent basis, we get the next table. *These two age limits are used in this report because for them we have accurate percentages for aH states and cities of the United States, coUected by the United State Census Bureau. They correspond to the ages from the kinderga.rten to the completion of the ninth grade, if the pupil advances normally. THE FINANCIAL PROBLEM. TABLE NO. 51. 307 COST PEE CAPITA FOR SCHOOLS, BASED ON EACH ONE PER CENT OF CHILDREN (FROM 5 TO 15) IN THE TOTAL POPULATION. CITY Cost per capita total population for scliools Per cent of popu- lation 5 to 15 years of age Cost for schools for each 1% of children In the population 1. Tacoma, Wash $4.95 6.71 4.27 5.41 5.71 5.72 4.73 5.06 6.01 5.72 5.74 6.26 7.64 7.60 8.66 10.11 15.2% 18.5 11.9 14.5 15.1 15.2 12.0 12.5 13.4 12.1 14.1 13.8 16.0 14.7 13.0 13.6 $.32 .36 .36 37 2. Salt Lake City, Utah 3. San Francisco, Cal 4. Spokane, Wash. 5. Butte, Mont 37 6. Denver, Colo 37 7. Portland, Ore 39 8. Seattle, Wash 40 9. San Diego, Cal .46 10. Sacramento, Cal 47 11. Oakland, Cal .47 12. San Jose, Cal .48 13. Colorado Springs, Colo 14. Berkeley, Cal .48 .52 15. Los Angeles, Cal .67 16. Pasadena, Cal .74 Average for the group . . . Median for the group . . . . $.45 .43 The last column of this table gives a real basis for com- paring school costs in different cities, — that is, Avhat each city is spending per capita for each one per cent of its school children. As parochial and private schools have never flour- ished in western cities, with the possible exception of San Francisco, the comparison of costs is all the more accurate. Similar comparisons for the tAventy-five cities of the first part of Table No. 50 show a range of from 30 cents to 45 cents for eastern cities, but the low salaries paid women teachers there and the large hold of both private and parochial schools make the comparisons less accurate than for western cities. Hart- ford, Conn., however, shows a per capita expense of 40 cents for each 1 per cent of its children between 5 and 15 years of age; Des Moines, Iowa, 44 cents; and Springfield, Mass., 45 cents. 308 SCHOOL SURVEY REPORT. The median western cost. It will be seen from the last column of the last table given that the average cost for the sixteen western cities is 45 cents, as against Salt Lake City's 36 cents, and that the median western cost is 43 cents. The cities which are caring properly for their children are those which are spending more than these amounts. Averages and medians show only a half-w^ay point between good conditions and poor conditions, and almost never represent a desirable stopping place. Still, to see the position of the different cities in the matter of caring for their children, and to set up a tentative standard for school maintenance, let us take the median of 43 cents as a standard below which a city ought not to go, and apply it to each of the cities of the table. Mul- tiplying the percentage of children of school age in the total population by the median cost of 43 cents for each 1 per cent, we get the next table. TABLE NO. 52. MEDIAN AND ACTUAL COST PER CAPITA FOR SCHOOLS FOR WESTERN CITIES. CITY % of popula- tion from 5 to 15 years of age Desirable cost per capita S,43 for each 1 ''jc of cliildren Actual cost per captia 11.9 $5.12 $4.27 12.0 5.16 4.73 12.1 5.20 5.72 12.5 5.38 5.06 13.0 5.59 8.66 13.4 5.76 6.01 13.6 5.84 10.11 13.8 5.93 6.26 14.1 6.06 5.74 14.5 6.24 5.41 14.7 6.32 7.60 15.1 6.49 5.71 15.2 6.54 4.95 15.2 6.54 5.72 1 16.0 6.88 7.46 1 18.5 7.96 6.71 Excess or deficit over estimate 1. San Francisco, Cal. . . . 2. Portland, Ore 3. Sacramento, Cal 4. Seattle, Wash 5. Los Angeles, Cal 6. San Diego, Cal 7. Pasadena, Cal 8. San Jose, Cal 9. Oakland, Cal 10. Spokane, Wash 11. Berkeley, Cal. 12. Butte, Mont 13. Tacoma, Wash 14. Denver, Colo 15. Colorado Springs, Colo 16. Salt Lake City, Utah \ .85 .43 .52 .32 3.07 .25 4.27 .33 .32 .83 1.28 — 1.59 — .82 + .58 — 1.25 THE FINANCIAL PROBLEM. 309 Where Salt Lake City stands. The second column of fig- ures shows what each city of the table should spend per capita of the total population for the maintenance of its schools, merely to bring that city up to the median point for the sixteen western cities. To bring any city up to the average for west- ern cities would cost slightly more. For Salt Lake City it would raise the desirable per capita cost from $7.96 to $8.33. On the basis of a cost of $7.96 it is seen that 'Salt Lake City is spending, on the maintenance of its schools, $1.25 less per capita of the total population than it should, merely to put the city in a middle position in the matter of annual school maintenance. On a basis of a total population of 110,000, this would mean that the city should raise and expend on mainten- ance alone $137,500 more than it now does, merely to care for its present children as well as is done in the median western city. To rank with the better Avestern cities in the matter of public education would mean an additional expenditure for maintenance of approximately $200,000 a year. These figures tally well with the statement made in Chap- ter IV, after considering the increasing number of pupils per teacher, that the city needs now about one hundred additional teachers merely to care properly for its present number of children. The table which follows, showing the amount ex- pended by the different western cities for each child in average daily attendance at school, here based on figures collected and published by the ,U. S. Commissioner of Education, also con- firms the above estimate as to the need for large additional funds to maintain properly the present schools. 310 SCHOOL SURVEY REPORT. TABLE NO. 53. MAINTENANCE COST PER PUPIL IX AVERAOE DAILY ATTENDANCE. CITY Cost per Pupil Id average dally attendance 1. Tacoma. Wash $4o ;>2 2. Salt Lake City, Utah 44.81 o. Saai Fraiioisoo. Cal 4. Peuvor, Colo 44. S6 4S.07 5. San Joso. Oal 6. Portland. Oro 44 . 86 49.95 7. Oakland Oal 52.33 S (.''olorado Sprinsis Colo 52 . 65 Spokano AVasli 54.94 "10 San Diosi'o. Cal fiO . 90 11. Soattlo. AVasli 12. Borkoloy. Cal 13 Bntto !Mont (U^.oO ti2 . 20 63.45 14 Sacra nionto, Cal 64.75 15 Los \nsieles Cal 68.03 16 Pasadena, Cal 86.87 Avprace for tliC' srroup $55.23 Modian for thp a,"i"oup 52.65 From this tablo it will bo soon that Salt Lako City is noxt to tlio lowost i'or all Avostorn oitios in tho aiuonnt spent per pupil, aiul imioh bolow both the median and the average for the group. The ditVeronee of $T.S4 below the median, for the L^.oi^T pupils in the sohools during 1914-lo, would require an inoveaso of $14;>,;>J^7 nioroly to bring tho oity's expenditures up to the middle point of expenses for western eities. To bring the eity up to tlie average western eity in expenditm'es would require $10L3S4 inoroaso. Wealth and tax rates. Thoro still remains to be oonsid- erod tho real wealth of tho oity. and tho tax rate roqnirod to produee the median rate of 43 eents for eaeh 1 por eont of the sehool population in Salt Lake City, and in other western eities. Takiujr now the aetual wealth of eaeh western eity, as THE FINANCIAL PROBLEM. 311 shown ill Table No. 6, ini Chapter I, and the desirable per capita support for schools at the western median figure of 43 cents for each 1 per cent of the school population, we get, 'by divisions, the next table. This shows the actual wealth in each city upon which each dollar of the tax for schools must be raised, and the rate of tax per $100 of actual wealth neces- sary to raise this median sum. TABLE NO. 54. TAX RATES, BASED ON ACTUAL WEALTH, NECESSARY TO PRODUCE ESTIMATED PER CAPITA SUPPORT FOR SCHOOLS. CITY Actual Wealth per capita Desirable per capita support for schools at $.43 for each 1'/'<' school population Actual wealth for each dollar of estimated per capita support Bate of tax on each $100. of actual wealth nec- cessary to produce eslimate 1. Butte, Mont $ 795.88 1126.50 1202.31 1081.02 1237.22 1683.52 1371.13 1477.92 1666.12 1602.77 • 1791.41 1930.87 1796.60 1924.44 2596.00 2561.82 $6.49 6.54 6.88 5.93 6.54 7.96 6.32 6.06 6.24 5.38 5.84 5.59 5.20 5.16 5.76 5.12 $122.62 172.25 174.75 182.30 189.17 211.50 216.95 243.88 267.01 297.90 306.75 345.41 345.50 372.95 450.69 500.35 $.814 2. Denver, Colo .58 3. Colorado Springs, Colo. . 4. San Jose, Cal .572 .546 5. Taconia, Wash .527 6. Salt Lake City, Utah 7. Berkeley, Cal .473 .461 8. Oakland, Cal .41 9. Spokane, Wash 10 Seattle Wash .375 .335 11 Pasadena, Cal .326 12. Los Angeles, Cal 13. Sacramento, Cal 14 Portland, Ore .289 .289 .269 15 San Diego Cal .■ . .222 16. San Francisco, Cal .20 Average for the group . . Median for the group . . $1630.85 1634.45 $6.06 6.00 $281.25 255.44 .405 .397 It is here that the large per capita wealth of 'Salt Lake City tells. Were the city as poor as Butte, it would require a tax of over one dollar; had the city as few children as Port- land, the tax would be reduced to a trifle over 30 cents. It is very evident that Salt Lake City can ailEord large families. 312 SCHOOL SURVEY REPORT "Tax hAt[1, iN c^eNts. ZO 30 40 GO I SAN FRANCISCO Z. PORTLAND 3 SACRAMENTO, 4 SEATTLE .5 L0SAN6LLLS 6 SAN DIEGO 7 PASADENA S'SAN JOSC 9 OAKLAND 10 5P0KANL II BERKELCY 12 BUTTE 13 TACOMA 14- DENVER 15 COLORADO SPR. 16 AVF0RALLCITIL5 17SALTLAKECITY m^ I^.YONKERS.NY 19SCRAHT0(M.PA ^0 FALL RIVER. MAS 3 FIG. 46. TAX RATE IN CENTS ON EACH $100 OF REAL WEALTH WHICH WOULD BE REQUIRED FOR PROPER MAINTENANCE IN SALT LAKE CITY, IF THE . PERCENTAGE OF CHILDREN WERE THE SAME AS IN THE OTHER CITIES OF THE TABLE. Figure 46 shows clearly how the tax rate for schools must increase proportionally to the number of children of school age in the population. The figures and lines of this chart give the rate of tax for school support which would be required, in THE FINANCIAL PROBLEM. 313 Salt Lake City, to provide merely the median rate of 43 cents for each. 1 per cent of school population, if the city had the same percentag'c of children in its population as have the dif- ferent cities given on the figure. That is, if Salt Lake City had as few children as Portland, which is in many respects a com- parable city, the tax required would be but $.307 on. the $100, instead of $.473; if it had as many children as Fall River, the tax required would be $.o22. Need for a larger school tax. A tax rate for schools of $.473 per $100 of real valuation is equivalent to a tax rate of $1.3514 on the present assessed valuation of 35 per cent. This is the same as 13.5 mills, as taxes are usually calculated in Utah. As the money received from state and county sources is worth somewhere near 3.5 mills, the total local tax desir- able for proper maintenance is about 10 mills. Under the new state law requiring property to be assessed at its full value, beginning with 1916, the maintenance rate should not be less than 4 mills. The legislature, however, in ordering assess- ments advanced to full value, has at the same' time cut the rate of tax allowed proportionally. This leaves the schools with two mills in place of their present six. That the assessor will treble the assessed valuation of the property in Salt Lake City may be seriously doubted. If valuations are actually increased two and one-half times the result will be as satis- factory as has usually taken place elsewhere. With a tax rate, for maintenance already wholly inade- quate, and the new rate reduced in proportion to the expected increase in valuations, just what the schools of Salt Lake City are to do in the immediate future is rather hard to see. It looks as though even more serious cramping and crowding of the schools, and the employment of more cheap and inex- perienced teachers, with little or no new development, would be the inevitable result. At the present time the schools of Salt Lake City can hardly claim a high place in any single phase of recent public school development, and largely because the city school authorities have had so little money with which 314 SCHOOL SURVEY REPORT. to develop the system. It has taken all of the money to main- tain the traditional type of school and teach the so-called fun- damental school subjects. Where the schools will be in a de- cade more of the present policy of pinching to make both ends meet is not hard to guess. The drawing on the opposite page shows that for years the schools have not kept up their ex- pense for maintenance proportionally with the increase in pupils, and that a material part of the recent increase in ex- penses has been due to rapidly increasing charges for bond interest and expenditures for buildings and sites. The ex- penditures for annual maintenance, represented 'by the space in white, has hardly widened in proportion to the increase in membership in the schools. Under the present tax limit neces- sary educational increases are difficult, while the desirable new features and additions recommended in this report are not financially possible. The remedy a legislative one. The trouble, however, does not lie with the people of Salt Lake City. They are willing enough to educate their children properly. Recent editorials in the leading newspapers regarding the schools and their sup- port would lead one to feel that they, the people, are willing to go even further and support the schools even generously. It is the people of Utah, as represented in the state legislature, who stand in the way. This is done by imposing .a mainten- ance tax-limit so small as to make really good schools for the future entirely out of the question. This is neither justice nor sound public policy. Public education is the great means for improving government and advancing intelligence. If any community desires to provide better schools for its children, and is willing and ahle to do so by local taxation, it is exceed- ingly short-sighted for the state to stand in its way and prevent its doing so. That the people of Salt Lake 'City are able to pay a much larger local school tax for maintenance has been shown. That they must provide from 25 per cent to 50 per cent more schools and teachers than the average western city has also ExpenoLitu»-cs § FIG. 47. INCREASE IN EXPENSES AND CHILDREN IN SCHOOLS COMPARED. 316 SCHOOL SURVEY REPORT. been shown. That the people are willing to pay more is con- fidently believed. Such being the case, the legislature ought to enlarge materially the local tax permitted to be levied. Under the new assessment law a tax of at least 4 mills, clearly for maintenance, should loe provided, and if interest and sink- ing funds are to continue to be paid from this, the rate should be 5 mills. In but few cities are bond interest and sinking funds required to be paid from the annual maintenance rates. It would be better to shift these items to the building tax, leaving the maintenance fund clear for school support. With the many pressing building needs, both for new buildings to keep up with the growth of the city and for the alteration and gradual replacement of rooms not now fit for use as school rooms, as is pointed out at some length in Chap- ter X, an annual building tax of 2% or 3 mills, under the new assessment 'basis, is not too high. Salt Lake City needs many new school rooms, and so far as possible these ought to be paid for as built. In a city as wealthy as this one the annual interest charge on 'bonds ought not to be increased where it can be avoided. The city's interest bill is relatively high now. There can of course be no relief from present conditions until the legislature gives the city larger freedom to spend what it has in its own pockets, and is willing to spend if per- mitted to do so. The enactment of a new governing school law, embodying the main lines of the law suggested in the Appendix to this report, would solve the difficulty entirely and enable the city's educational system to advance to the place it ought by right to occupy. Distribution of expenditure. But one question of a fi- nancial nature still remains to be considered, and that is arei the present expenditures properly proportioned. Tabulating for the same sixteen western cities previously used we get the following table. THE FINANCIAL PROBLEM. TABLE NO. 55. 317 DISTEIBUTION OF SCHOOL EXPENDITURES IN SALT LAKE CITY, COMPARED WITH SIXTEEN OTHER "WESTERN CITIES'. ITEMS For administration For supervision For teachers' salaries For janitors and labor For text-books and school supplies For fuel, water, power and other supplies For maintenance and repair of plant For health conservation . . . For miscellaneous Percentage of total spent for each In Salt Lake City Average City Median Highest Lowest 3.0% 9.9 64.1 5.5 3.3% 9.1 67.2 5.9 3.0% 9.7 64.8 5.5 4.6% 15.3 71.6 10.8 1.8%| 3.4 60.0 4.2 7.9 5.4 4.8 11.9 1.6 3.4 3.7 3.5 8.0 1.2 5.8 0.2 0.2 6.0 0.4 0.5 5.7 0.2 1.9 12.1 1.2 2.7 3.1 .0 .0 This table answers the question. Excepting for text-books and supplies, Salt Lake City's distribution of expenditures follows closely the average for the sixteen cities, and is also close to the median. The higher percentage for text-books and supplies comes from the free text-books supplied by the city. In all California cities these are supplied by the state, while in Washington, Oregon, and Montana, the pupils furnish their own. books. Distribution of expenditures for the next two years. For the next two years, until some adequate legislative relief can be obtained, it is important that the board of education devote as large a proportion of its funds as is possible to the first three items of the table. All repairs which the educational department does not certify as absolutely necessary ishould wait, and all expenses not necessary for instruction should be curtailed. Even then there may not be sufficient funds to maintain the schools during 1916-17 for longer than nine and a 318 SCHOOL SURVEY REPORT half months, or possibly nine. The people of Salt Lake City as a body scarcely realize how inadequately their schools are supported, or what a handicap they labor under by reason of the restrictions laid upon them by the laws of the state. SUGGESTED NEW LAW. 319 APPENDIX A. A SUGGESTED LAW FOR THE MANAGEMENT OF THE SALT LAKE CITY SCHOOL DISTRICT. The following is a suggestion for a new law for the Salt Lake City school district, based on the needs presented in this report. For the reasons for the different recommendations, made in the fol- lowing suggested law, the reader is referred back to the different chapters of the report itself. An Act, Providing for the Organization of Schools in Cities of the First Class. Be it enacted by the Legislature of the State of Utah: Section 1. Sections amended. That Sections 1892 to 1961, in- clusive. Compiled Laws of Utah, in so far as such relate to the gov- ernment of schools in cities of the first class, unless otherwise herein provided, are amended to read as follows: Section 2. — Schools in cities of the first class. Each city of the first class, and all territory which shall hereafter be added thereto, shall constitute one school district, and shall be under the control of a board of education to be elected as herein provided, separate and apart from the counties in which the cities are located. All public schools and property shall be under the direction and control of the board of education for such city, and the schools therein shall be free to all children of the city between the ages of five and twenty- one, and to such other persons as the board of education may decide to admit. Section 3. — The board of education; how constituted. The board of education in each city of the first class shall consist of five mem- bers, to be elected from the city at large, one each year on the first Wednesday in December, and for a five-year term; provided, however, that of boards of education in cities of the first class in existence when this act takes effect, the five members which have the longest remaining time to serve shall constitute the new boards of education, and the five who have the shortest time to serve shall pass out of the office the day this act takes effect; and provided further, that the five members who remain shall forthwith proceed by lot to so provide for the termination of their terms of office that the term of one member shall expire at the close of the year in which this act takes effect, and one other at the close of each year thereafter for the following four years. All elections thereafter shall be for five-year terms ex- 320 SCHOOL SURVEY REPORT. cept in the case of vacancies caused by the death, resignation, or removal of a member from office, in which case elections shall be for the unexpired term. The board of education shall fill, by appoint- ment until the next annual school election, any vacancies occuring in its own membership. All members elected shall qualify previous to, and take their seats at the first regular meeting in January next after their election, and shall serve until their successors are duly elected and qualified. Each member shall be and remain a qualified registered vo*er of the city, and shall receive no compensation for his services. Section 4. Conduct of Elections. Elections for members of the board shall be called and conducted, and the canvass of returns shall be made, and the qualification of electors shall be as provided in the general registration and election laws, except as herein provided. There must be at least one poling place in each municipal ward, which may be at a schoolhouse or schoolhouses to be designated by the board of education. It shall not be necessary to file certificates of nomination of candidates, nor to publish a list of nominations. Appointments of judges of election shall be made by the board of education, at any convenient time prior to the day of election. Any form of ballot which is simple and plain and which conveys the in- tention of the voter may be used. In case a member is to be elected to fill out an unexpired term, as well as one for the full term, the ballots shall specify the term which each person voted for is to serve. The ballot shall be folded, and no designating mark or device of any kind shall appear on the outside thereof, and shall be deposited in the ballot box by the presiding judge of election, in the presence of the voter, on the name of the proi»sed voter being found on the registry list, and on all challenges to such vote being decided in favor of such voter. Boards of education shall exercise all such powers rela- tive to school elections in their respective cities as are conferred upon the boards of county commissioners in other elections, so far as conformable with this title. Section 5. Organization of board; executive officers. The mem- bers elected as herein provided, before entering upon the discharge of their duties, shall take and subscribe the oath of office. At the first regular meeting in January of each year each board shall reorganize by electing one of their number as president, and one other member as vice president. Each board shall also appoint a superintendent of schools, a clerk and purchasing agent, a superintendent of buildings, a super- intendent of attendance and census, a superintendent of health work, and a treasurer, and may appoint such other officers as the needs of SUGGESTED NEW LAW. 3il the schools shall require; provided however, that all such officers now employed shall continue to serve for the terms for which they were originally appointed, and thereafter such officers shall be appointed for two-year terms, unless otherwise provided in this act. Any officer appointed by the board may, however, be removed at any time, for cause, by a four-fifths vote of the board. Their salaries shall be as fixed by the board, but a salary once fixed cannot be reduced during the term of office of any officer. It shall be the duty of the president, or in case of his absence the vice president, to preside at all meetings of the board, to appoint any necessary special committees, and to sign all warrants ordered by the board of education to be drawn upon the treasurer for school m'oneys. It shall be the chief function of the board of education to hear reports, settle matters of school policy, decide upon extensions and improvements, appropriate funds, and adopt rules and regulations for the government of its executive officers; it shall be the chief func- tion of the executive officers appointed by the board of education to execute the policies decided upon and to work in accordance with the rules and regulations adopted for their government by the board. Section 6. The superintendent of schools. The board of educa- tion shall appoint a superintendent of schools, for a four-year term, who shall be an educator of rank and experience, and who shall be the chief executive officer of the board of education. He shall have super- visory and co-ordinating oversight of the work of all other department officers, shall be notified of and be expected to attend all regular and special meetings of the board of education, or any special commit- tees of the same which may have been created, — except when his position, services, or salary is under consideration,^ — and shall have the right to speak on any question under consideration, but no right to vote. He shall have the exclusive right to nominate for election the superintendent of buildings, the superintendent of attendance and census, the superintendent of health work, and all assistant super- intendents, special supervisors, principals, and regular and special teachers, and shall assign to them their duties. He. shall also have exclusive control of the outlining and directing of the instruction in the schools. For incompetency, immorality, or insubordination, he may remove any teacher, principal, or supervisor from office, and shall report his action to the board. Section 7. The clerk and purchasing agent. The clerk and pur- chasing agent shall be appointed for two-year terms, and before en- tering on the duties of his office he shall give a bond running to the board of education, in such sum as the board may require, conditioned on the faithful performances of the duties of his office. It shall be 322 SCHOOL SURVEY REPORT his duty to attend all meetings of the board and its committees, and to act as the secretary; to keep an accurate journal of its proceedings, and have the care and custody of the seal, records, and papers not otherwise provided for; to countersign all warrants drawn upon the treasurer by order of the board; to keep an accurate account of all moneys paid to the treasurer on account of said board, and from what source received, and all moneys paid on orders drawn on the treasurer by order of said board; and to prepare and submit to the board an annual statement, under oath, of the receipts and disbursements dur- ing the year ending June thirtieth, showing: 1. The amount on hand at the date of the last report; 2. The amount of sinking fund and how invested; 3. The moneys paid out, and for what paid; 4. The balance of schools money on hand; 5. The number, date, and amount of every bond issued and re- deemed under the authority herein given, and the amount received and paid therefor. The clerk shall also act as purchasing agent for the board, unless the board should decide to divide the duties and appoint a purchasing agent, and he shall buy, under direction of the board, the superin- tendent of schools, or the executive officers concerned, all materials and supplies needed by the school department. Section 8. The treasurer. The treasurer shall give a satisfactory bond running to the board of education, in such amount as the board may require, conditional on the faithful performance of the duties of his office. He shall be the custodian of all moneys belonging to the corporation, and responsible upon his bond for all moneys received by him as treasurer. He shall prepare and submit in writing a monthly report of the receipts and disbursements of his office, and pay out school moneys only upon a warrant signed by the president, or in his absence or disability, by the vice-president, countersigned by the clerk, and shall perform such other duties as the board may require. Section 9. The superintendent of buildings. The superintendent of buildings shall be a person who has been trained as an engineer, and shall have charge of the maintenance and repair of the school plant, under the direction of the superintendent of schools. All re- pairs and alterations must first be approved by the superintendent of schools. The superintendent of buildings shall employ all janitors, mechanics, and laborers as needed, and shall direct them as to their duties. Section 10. The superintendent of attendance and census. The superintendent of attendance and census shall have charge of the SUGGESTED NEW LAW. 323 enforcement of all laws relating to the attendance of children at school, the granting of working permits to children from whom such permits are required, and the taking and maintenance of detailed and accurate records as to the age, nationality, whereabouts, physical con- dition, and attendance or non-attendance at school of every child between the ages of five and sixteen in the city, and shall supply such information in duplicate form to the schools of the city. From the card records on file the annual school census, required of all districts annually in July, shall be compiled and forwarded to the state super- intendent of public instruction. In cities of the first class all children within the compulsory school ages, and not exempted from attendance by law, shall be ex- pected to attend school every day the public schools are in session, and to provide for the proper enforcement of this law all private and parochial schools shall make reports as to children within the com- pulsory school ages attending their schools, and the public school at- tendance officers shall in turn enforce the attendance of pupils en- rolled in private and parochial schools. Section 11. The superintendent of health work. Where the health work is efficiently conducted by the board of health, the board of education may permit it to remain under such jurisdiction, but at any time it may co-operate with the board of health in further de- veloping the work, or take over the work in part or in whole. In any case it shall be the duty of the board of education to see that an efficient school health service is provided for the schools of the city, with nurses, physicians, and such specialists as may be needed prop- erly to carry on the work. Section 12. Annual report. It shall be the duty of the board of education in each city of the first class to see that an annual report, covering the operations of the schools, the finances, and the operations of the different departments or divisions of the school system, with sufficient statistical matter properly to illustrate the progress of the schools, is compiled and printed for distribution among the people of the city. The superintendent of schools shall report on the educa- tional work, progress, and needs of the schools, and the other execu- tive officers shall report through him as to the work of their depart- ments. Section 13. Annual budget. Each year the board of education in each city of the first class shall cause to be compiled, on or before the first day of May of each year, a detailed budget covering the needs of the schools for the school year commencing on the first day of July next thereafter, in all of their departments. When prepared 3-24 SCHOOL SURVEY REPORT. this budget shall be submitted to the board of education for its ap- proval. The budget shall show the amounts necessary to carry on the school system as it is, the amounts needed for necessary addi- tions, and the amounts desired for extensions or expansions of the school system. The budget shall also be classified so as to show the needs for each department, and the amounts needed for maintenance of the schools, maintenance and repair of plant, additional sites and buildings or additions to existing sites or buildings, bond interest and sinking fund requirements, and such other items as the board of edu- cation may direct. Section 14. Annual school tax. When the budget has been ap- proved by the board of education, the amounts estimated to be re- ceived from state and county school taxes shall first be deducted, and the board of education, through its proper officers, shall forthwith cause the same to be certified to the officers charged with the assess- ment and collection of taxes for general county purposes in the county in which the city is situated, and such officers, after having extended the valuation of property on the assessment rolls, shall levy such per cent as shall, as nearly as may be, raise the amount re- quired by the board, which levy shall be uniform on all property with- in the said city as returned on the assessment roll; and the said county officers are hereby authorized and required to place the same on the tax roll. Said taxes shall be collected by the county treasurer as other taxes are collected, but without additional compensation for assessing and collecting, and he shall pay to the treasurer of said board, promptly as collected, who shall hold the same subject to the order of the board of education; provided, that the tax for the support and maintenance of such school system in cities of the first class shall not exceed, for annual maintenance, five mills on the dollar in any one year upon the taxable property of said city, of which at least sixty per cent shall not be used otherwise than for the payment of teachers and supervisory officers; nor three mills on the dollar in any one year for repairs or extensions of the school plant, new sites or buildings, and bond interest and sinking fund or bond redemption requirements. Section 15. Other powers. Boards of education in cities of the first class shall exercise all rights and powers and be charged with all responsibilities and duties now by law given to boards of educa- tion in cities of the first and second class, except in the matter of the examination and certification of teachers as provided for in Sections 1916 to 1926 inclusive of the compiled laws of the state, except in so far as such may have been amended by the provisions of this Act. 6-^. ^. CROC EH PRINTING COMPANY SALT LAKe